Benjamonster's TV

For the second annual year, I will be presenting an extended end of season awards show. It will have some similarities to the Emmys in terms of categories and eligibility but will of course be completely based on my preferences and what I have watched.  Here are the rules for eligibility: - Shows had to have aired the majority of its season between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021. - A show is considered eligible if I watched at least three episodes of it. Many of them I have watched the full season, but three episodes is the cutoff for eligibility. - I am making my own calls for whether an actor/actress fits into a leading or supporting category but in general sticking with how they are submitted for the Emmys. Same for the different genres. - A limited series is any series that was designed to be close-ended. An anthology series is any series that airs as an anthology either season to season OR episode to episode. - For Guest Actor or Actress, they can appear in up to four episodes ...

This is my final regular blog post of the season. I will be back in July for my second annual Benjamonster Awards with daily posts and then I will resume the weekday blog posts in September. Thanks for reading! I will be ending with a supersized Friday Five handicapping the lead acting races and series races for the Emmys! #1 - OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES Thanks to COVID, there will be tons of turnover in most Emmy categories this year and then 2022 will likely be a mix of 2021 and 2020 nominees. The only comedy series nominee from last year that is eligible again this year is the final season of The Kominsky Method which could easily snag another nomination. A couple other former nominees are also eligible - Master of None , for its first season since 2017 and Black-ish , which was last nominated in 2018. There are likely to be a lot of new shows in the mix. Most notable of course is frontrunner Ted Lasso , which seems to be a lock. The Flight Attendant has underperformed in other award...

Here is a look at both seasons of  F Troop  including the ultimate countdown of the best and worst episodes! F TROOP September 14, 1965 - April 6, 1967 65 episodes Starring Forrest Tucker as Sergeant Morgan Sylvester O'Rourke  (65 episodes) Larry Storch as Corporal Randolph Agarn  (65 episodes) Ken Berry as Captain Wilton Parmenter  (65 episodes) Melody Patterson as Wrangler Jane  (65 episodes) Frank de Kova as Chief Wild Eagle  (63 episodes) James Hampton as Private Hannibal Shirley Dobbs  (65 episodes) Bob Steele as Trooper Duffy  (63 episodes) Don Diamond as Crazy Cat  (49 episodes) Joe Brooks as Trooper Vanderbilt  (47 episodes)

On Wednesdays, I look at shows that lasted one season or less. Today I am looking at 2000s flop Accidentally on Purpose! ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE Programming Details: September 21, 2009 - April 21, 2010 18 episodes CBS Starring: Jenna Elfman, Jon Foster, Ashley Jensen, Lennon Parham, Nicolas Wright and Grant Show Created by: Claudia Lonow Plot: Billie (Elfman) is a San Francisco movie critic who has a one night stand with a younger man and aspiring chef, Zack (Foster) and ends up pregnant. While dealing with her pregnancy and new complicated relationship, she also has to deal with ex-boyfriend and boss James (Show). Rounding out the main cast are Billie's friend Olivia (Jensen), Billie's sister Abby (Parham) and Zack's friend Davis (Wright).

Tuesdays are Top 10 Tuesdays where I count down a topic in the TV realm. This week is  Top 10 Sitcom Series Finales! Close Calls The Wonder Years "Independence Day" That 70s Show "That 70s Finale" Superstore "All Sales Final" 10. Happy Days "Passages" (May 8, 1984) The finale to Happy Days was very sweet. It was an 80s version of a series finale complete with a montage at the end but it also gave happy endings to all the main characters who had grown and changed so much during the 11 year run of the show. And Ron Howard was back, as he needed to be. 9. The Good Place "Whenever You're Ready"  (January 30, 2020) The finale of The Good Place was a fitting end for a very unusual show that dealt with much bigger existential topics than most network sitcoms do. It was an uneven run for the show overall but the finale answered some of the questions about life it had been answering and left others open-ended.

This is the final regular week on my blog for the "season." I will return with my Benjamonster Awards in July and then be back to the regular rotation of posts including Schedules of the Past in September. In the meantime, here's a look at Sundays in the 1989-90 season! ABC 7:00 8:00 8:30 9:00 10:00 Sep Life Goes On Free Spirit Homeroom Sunday Night Movie Oct Nov Dec Jan America’s Funniest Home Videos Various Programs Feb Elvis Mar Apr Various Programs May For the Fall of 1989, ABC kept their Sunday Night Movie but completely revamped the first two hours of the night with three new shows. At 7pm was Life Goes On, a family drama starring Bill Smitrovich, Patti LuPone and Kellie Martin. The series was notable for featuring an actor with Down Syndrome (Chris Burke) playing a character with Down Syndrome. The series received critical acclaim and while the ratings weren't amazing, it did pretty well for the difficult Sunday 7pm slot and was an easy renewal for season two. ...

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week! This week and next week will be super-sized and Emmys focused. Next week is the final week of regular posts on my blog until September. I'll be doing my own Benjamonster Awards through the month of July but here's a handicapping of the Emmy races and my current predictions (note these are PREDICTIONS, not my personal votes. That will come during my July Awards!) This week will focus on the supporting categories for comedy, drama and limited series. Next week will look at the lead performances and the series  #1 - OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES This category is a bit of a mess and the question is how many Saturday Night Live  actors will get in? Kenan Thompson seems like a safe bet to return and both Bowen Yang and Pete Davidson have a shot as well. None of last year's nominees besides Thompson are eligible so there will be many new faces. If there's major love for Ted Lasso, then there's go...

On Thursdays, I go through classic series with a critical look at each season. Today I am looking at Season Two (the final season) of  F Troop ! F TROOP: SEASON TWO 1966-1967 31 episodes The second and final season of  F Troop  transitions to glorious color and definitely picks it up on the comedy. While there are still some clunkers, most of the best episodes of the series come from this season, not from season one. The show dipped a little more into the surreal and satirical and I have to think it would have headed even more in that direction if it had continued longer. But it became one of those "two and done" shows of the 60s just like fellow classics  The Munsters  and  The Addams Family . Starring Forrest Tucker as Sergeant Morgan Sylvester O'Rourke  (31 episodes) Larry Storch as Corporal Randolph Agarn  (31 episodes) Ken Berry as Captain Wilton Parmenter  (31 episodes) Melody Patterson as Wrangler Jane  (31 episodes) Frank de Kova...

On Wednesdays, I look at shows that lasted one season or less. Today I am looking at 1990s flop The Monroes ! THE MONROES Programming Details: September 12, 1995 - October 19, 1995 6 episodes ABC Starring: William Devane, Susan Sullivan, David Andrews, Steven Eckholdt, Cecil Hoffmann, Darryl Theirse, Tracy Griffith, Tristan Tait, Lynn Clark Created by: Rick Kellard Plot: A primetime soap centered on a very ambitious and powerful political family. John Monroe (Devane) is a power broker running for Governor of Maryland. The rest of his family includes supportive wife Kathryn (Sullivan), Congressman son (Andrews), attorney daughter Greer (Hoffman), former astronaut son Steven (Eckholdt), and photographer daughter Ruby (Griffith).

Tuesdays are Top 10 Tuesdays where I count down a topic in the TV realm. This week is  Top 10 Drama Series Finales! I will preface this by saying there's a few iconic drama finales like Breaking Bad and Six Feet Under that I have never seen so this is based purely on shows I have seen. Close Calls American Dreams "It's My Life" The Fugitive "The Judgment" The Good Wife "End" 10. St. Elsewhere "The Last One" (May 25, 1988) A very famous finale before many shows had big finales, this one was also quite divisive as the idea that (spoiler) the whole series could have been from the mind of a boy with autism was very unexpected. I think it was a whimsical end for a show that had so many moments of whimsy. 9. Timeless "The Miracle of Christmas" (December 20, 2018) I was a sucker for Timeless in its short two season run even though I knew it was just mindless fun. I'm so glad it got a chance to have a proper finale after it escaped ...