Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Under the Bridge and Dinner with the Parents plus giving thoughts on the Emmy race for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. I also have a few thoughts on Palm Royale and Manhunt!
Hulu premiered the first two episodes of their murder mystery series Under the Bridge last week and although it follows most standard murder mystery tropes, it does them well and creates a solid mystery through the first pair of episodes. The Canadian-set drama was not immune to some eyeroll moments. Like nearly every TV limited series whodunit, the series splits time between getting to know the victim before the murder and the murder investigation. It has a standard opening for the shows with a melodramatic voiceover and darkness that then leads into a much happier time months earlier.
The show shines at times though thanks to its very strong cast. That includes Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone, who play former friends now coming at this murder from very different angles. It also includes Archie Panjabi, who is in a different type of role for her as the mother of the victim. But those three awards-baity actresses don't have the best moments in the first two episodes. That belongs to a group of teenage characters who are a bit like a very dark re-imagining of Mean Girls. At least through two episodes, the story seems to propel forward much quicker when it's focused on those characters and not on the adult ones, whose stories were hit and miss in the first two episodes despite the solid performances.
Under the Bridge (and yes, Riley Keough used that phrase directly in the second episode) is incredibly dour, there's very little levity at any point. But it also is competently done. I've turned a little jaded with these true crime, murder mystery shows after seeing so many of them so I feel a bit like I sit with my arms crossed planning to roll my eyes and give up on the show. While I wasn't fully enthralled by the first two episodes of Under the Bridge, I never felt close to turning it off. I think the mystery and the performances are strong enough to sustain this one, even if it's not anything truly special.
I'm not sure anyone else is even watching this show but something compelled me to check out Dinner with the Parents, a Freevee sitcom starring Michaela Watkins, Dan Bakkedahl and Carol Kane as well as the lesser known Henry Hall and Daniel Thrasher. I didn't really have any expectations for this one going in but I actually found it pretty funny and wound up watching all four episodes that are currently available to air (it continues with two more a week for the next three weeks).
This series is based on a popular British series, Friday Night Dinner, and there were several failed attempts by network TV in the 2010s to remake it as an American series, including one try from Greg Daniels that was to star Tony Shalhoub and Allison Janney. The current version very much has the feel of an ABC sitcom from the 2010s, something along the lines of the long-titled but short-lived How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life). But comparing it to a sitcom of that era is not a knock on the show. It has a strong cast - Michaela Watkins is always a gem with great comedic timing, Dan Bakkedahl is doing the same schtick he did on Life in Pieces but it works for him, and Carol Kane is of course a legend. I'm a little less sold on Henry Hall and Daniel Thrasher as the adult sons but Hall has some good moments.
Each episode is a different night of dinner at the parents' house so it's almost entirely self-contained, at least through four episodes. I don't need to get too far into detail with this show because it's not something spectacular, but it does deserve a little more attention than being thrown on Freevee with absolutely no attention at all. I'm not trying to make it sound like some hidden gem but if it were on a broadcast network, I feel like it would be a welcome addition/
The drama in the Lead Actor in a Comedy Series category is who will get nominated because it's pretty clear to everyone who is going to win. Jeremy Allen White is going to repeat in this category for The Bear. No one else seems even a little bit close. But this preview is about predicting the rest of the nominees and that's where things get trickier. There's one other possible returnee from last year and that's Martin Short for Only Murders in the Building. He seems likely to get a third consecutive nomination. His co-star Steve Martin was snubbed last year but could definitely get back into the category as it's weaker overall than last year. Then there's two long time nominees. Larry David has been nominated for six times for Curb Your Enthusiasm but never one. Although he hasn't been nominated since 2018, he could sneak back in for the final season. Then there's Kelsey Grammer, a four time winner for the original run of Frasier. Although the revival didn't get great notices, I wouldn't rule him out given his history with the Emmys. So those are five names the Emmys could go with if they want to stick to the status quo. But it seems hard to believe they'll play it that safe. Theo James was a nominee in the Drama Supporting Actor category last year for The White Lotus and his show, The Gentlemen on Netflix, is a huge hit so I wouldn't be shocked to see him get a nod. There's a lot of critical love for Jharrel Jerome of I'm A Virgo and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai for Reservation Dogs but their shows were underseen so it feels like an uphill climb. What We Do in the Shadows has gotten a series nod and writing nods before but their actors have never gotten in so it'll be tough for Kayvan Novak and Matt Berry. Beyond that we're looking at dark horses. That includes John Goodman for The Righteous Gemstones, Rhys Darby for Our Flag Means Death and Seth Rogen for Platonic. And you can't fully count out another multi-year winner for his first go-round with a show: John Larroquette for Night Court. However, if he were going to get nominated for the revival, it feels like it would have happened last year.
Current Projected Nominees (ranked in order of confidence):
1. Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
2. Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
3. Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
4. Theo James, The Gentlemen
5. Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Possible Spoilers:
6. Kelsey Grammer, Frasier
7. D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Reservation Dogs
SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
It's a pretty quiet week for premieres as most shows that want to get in before the Emmy window ends on May 31 have already started (though a couple big ones like Hacks remain). Wednesday has the second season premiere of The Big Door Prize on Apple TV+. The first season did not get much attention so it's hard to imagine it suddenly breaking out. Thursday has the premiere of Netflix's Dead Boy Detectives from the Sandman universe. The series will probably hit the YA Netflix crowd but that's about it. Thursday also has the second season premiere of Velma on Max and the second season of the anthology Them on Prime Video. The latter aired its first season over three years ago. Does anyone even remember this show exists?
ODDS & ENDS
- I'm getting increasingly frustrated by Palm Royale because I just feel like it could be so much better but it just can't focus to save its life. The main story doesn't work because the show can't decide what type of person Kristen Wiig's Maxine is. Is she a bumbling con woman? A sympathetic figure? A devious schemer? A well-intentioned pot stirrer? Through seven episodes, she's been all those things and I don't feel like I have any real grasp on what the creative team (and even Wiig herself, even though she's giving it her all) thinks of the character. The side stories are also piling up and none of them are all that interesting. But I'll see it through at this point if only to keep watching Carol Burnett and to see if it can somehow congeal by the finale.
- Manhunt came to an end this week. I kept watching the show even though I didn't keep writing about it. I would categorize it in a familiar Apple TV+ category of "good, not great." Apple always has such interesting shows but the execution is hit or miss and often lands somewhere in the "meh" territory. Manhunt had a great lead performance from Tobias Menzies and some other interesting supporting characters but it ultimately felt stretched a little too long for a seven episode series. It wanted to be about more than just the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth but that decision led to a show that couldn't focus all that clearly.
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