Welcome to my Monday newsletter! Today I am looking at NBC's new drama Found, THR's Top 50 Shows of the 21st Century, the most recent episode of The Morning Show and more!
NBC "FOUND" A SERVICEABLE DRAMA
After The Irrational was a big stinker that couldn't pass muster by procedural drama standards, I'm happy to report that NBC's other new fall drama, Found (Tuesdays at 10pm), is an improvement. It's not amazing, mind you. But it has enough qualities that made me at least interested in possibly watching more episodes.
There have been many missing persons series on network television over the years and the problem they all run into is the stories get very repetitive. Unlike other crime dramas, it's hard to stray too far from the "locked in the basement" or "we have [blank] hours to find them" tropes. Because of that, it's very hard to find a harrowing or interesting case that can transcend the restricting subgenre.
Found manages to do so with its "twist" that could be seen a million miles away once you know there's going to be a twist. While the twist itself is not all that surprising or clever, I do have hopes for what it means as a series. Suddenly it feels like it could have more serialized elements. That there could be some glimpses of the psychological torment of a show like The Patient (no, I don't expect Found to be anywhere close to the level of intellect that show brought). With star Shanola Hampton bringing a little bit of Olivia Pope vibes, it feels like Found could blend a case of the week with a bigger story in effective ways if it chooses to go down that path (and the promos at the end of the episode seemed to play into the bigger story). Throw in the always reliable Mark-Paul Gosselaar and I'm at least a little intrigued to keep watching but it's going to have to show me quickly it can do something a little different.
THOUGHTS ON THR'S TOP SHOWS OF 21ST CENTURY
The Hollywood Reporter ranked its Top 50 shows of the 21st Century (so far). See the list here. I have some thoughts so here's a bullet point version. I stayed away from commenting on shows I haven't seen.
- I'm disappointed The Office (US) was only an honorable mention in a list of fifty shows. I know it had some rough outings in later years but its first several years are among the greatest comedy episodes of all time and Steve Carell's performance is one of the best in TV history.
- I feel like The Crown is placed pretty much exactly in the right spot (#45). It's impressive in so many ways but not an all-timer so sit feels right to get acknowledged but not near the top of the list.
- I don't think Beef (#41) belonged on this list. To me, it was a show that had a lot of interesting qualities and started really strong, but it didn't really stick the landing. Even among recent limited series, I don't think it was one of the very best.
- Despite my annoyance that The Office wasn't on the list, I do think Parks and Recreation (#27) is the superior show, a fact that many of my friends disagree with. I think it's notably more consistent than The Office.
- It's interesting how real-life issues can cloud a legacy of a show. Both Better Things (#22) and Atlanta (#15) were on the list but the show that clearly inspired them and many others, Louie, is nowhere to be found despite being beloved by critics at the time. The reason of course is what has happened with Louis C.K. since and a very clear example of a show, like The Cosby Show, that can't really be considered for things like this anymore despite how acclaimed they once were.
- Breaking Bad only being at #16 is definitely a choice and probably lower than a lot of critics would put it. It's definitely Top 10 material for me for its choice of making a fascinating yet completely unsympathetic lead character (even Tony Soprano and Don Draper had their likable qualities).
- I recently watched Enlightened for the first time and really enjoyed it but #14 is way too high for that show. It felt like a warm-up round for Mike White for the more engrossing The White Lotus and while it was a little bit ahead of its time in its sensibility, that doesn't mean its worthy of a spot this high. Maybe I would have felt differently if I had watched it when it originally aired.
- The Daily Show absolutely deserved its spot at #11. Well done.
- I knew it was going to be high on the list so I was prepared to be annoyed. But 30 Rock at #4 is crazy to me. I know I'm in the minority but I think 30 Rock is wildly overrated. To me, it was never as funny as it thought it was. It wouldn't have even been in my Top 50, much less my Top 5.
- Totally agree on Mad Men at #1. I wouldn't have put The Sopranos and Succession immediately behind it but they would have both been in my Top 10 so it's hard to argue too much.
- I knew it wasn't going to be on the list before reading it because critics seemed to sour on it but for what its worth, I think The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel deserved to be in The Top 10.
"THE MORNING SHOW" GOES TO ITS WORST INSTINCTS
I can barely believe The Morning Show dipped back into the 2020 well with its fifth episode this past week. After they did such a poor job incorporating COVID for the entire second season, the show chose to go right back to that same spot and it was incredibly nauseating. I've mentioned this before but almost every show that tried to incorporate COVID failed. Some were harmlessly half-hearted about it like some of the procedural dramas and The Conners. Others really hurt their show by trying to do it like This is Us. There were a few happy exceptions (Superstore and, more recently, The Other Two). The shows that fared best chose to pretend it didn't happen in their world or have made a passing mention since.
But The Morning Show just can't quit COVID. No one wants to go back to March 2020 except for this show. They might think they are being unique in the story they are telling but we all lived through it in the very recent past. We don't need a dramatization yet and we really don't need to know how it impacted fabulously wealthy fictional characters. I feel like The Morning Show is the Gal Gadot "Imagine" video of scripted TV. It's just so tone-deaf and self-righteous. Would viewers have wanted to watch a WWII movie in 1946? Or a 9/11 movie in 2002? People need a little space from collective trauma and The Morning Show is not smart enough to have anything insightful to say anyway.
Then they went a step further to include January 6, 2021 in the same episode. That was a dark day in American history and there should (and will) be dramatizations of it. But Reese Witherspoon's Bradley Jackson running through the Capitol Building recording videos with her cell phone ain't it. I almost laughed out loud when she saw her brother there. I'm sure that wasn't the response the show wanted but who is she, Forrest Gump? The Morning Show suffers from the same things The Newsroom suffered from where it tries to be current and insert itself into the conversation but the nature of TV production makes it just a little too late and the nature of the show itself makes it a little too dumb to do so. It fared so much better in the first season when it wasn't trying so hard to incorporate "current" events.
SCRIPTED SHOWS PREMIERING THIS WEEK
Despite the overall dearth of scripted shows premiering this fall, there are actually quite a few high profile premieres late in the week. On Thursday, Paramount+ premieres the revival of Frasier, which has been getting a ton of promotion. On the same day, Netflix has its final Mike Flanagan offering with The Fall of the House of Usher. Flanagan has since moved to Amazon. Max also has the premiere of the final batch of episodes of former DC Universe show Doom Patrol. On Friday, Apple TV+ has the premiere of the highly anticipated Lessons in Chemistry, based on the best-selling book. There's also two spooky-themed October offerings as Shudder has the return of Creepshow and Starz has the return of Shining Vale.
RANDOM THOUGHT TO END TODAY
Only Murders in the Building ended its third season this past week. It's been a show of diminishing returns for me. Even with the addition of Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd, I found the third season to be a step down from the second season (which was a step down from the first). The production elements are top notch and I do still enjoy watching Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez interact together. But I'm just not engaged with the storylines at all anymore. It has been renewed for a fourth season. I'll have to decide if I want to keep going with it.
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