Benjamonster's TV

Welcome to my newsletter, a day late! Today I am doing a season wrap-up on Abbott Elementary , looking at the latest episodes of Hacks  and looking at the Emmy race for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series! ABBOTT ELEMENTARY SEASON FINALE/WRAP-UP I haven't written about  Abbott Elementary  in quite a few weeks. I felt like the third season had some really strong weeks but also some duds. The dividing line for me was bringing Quinta Brunson's Janine back to Abbott. The show made a really bold choice by having Janine start to work for the district at the beginning of the third season. It was an inspired decision that led to some great new dynamics both for Janine and for the rest of the staff left at Abbott. The show explored new relationships and still found ways to incorporate Janine with her Abbott peers. It was really well done. But then... they brought Janine back to Abbott even though she was given a chance to get a permanent job at the district. It worked again...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. This week, I am looking at Young Sheldon, the latest episodes of Hacks , the race for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmys and some Upfronts wrap-ups! A LOOK BACK AT "YOUNG SHELDON" Young Sheldon came to an end this week after seven seasons and 141 episodes. I am a member of what I'm sure is a rare breed because I've never seen a full episode of The Big Bang Theory but I watched the entire run of  Young Sheldon . It reminded me so much of the ABC sitcoms that were airing at the time it premiered - shows like The Goldbergs, Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat and more. It was much more in the spirit of those single camera family shows than the mulit-cam series it spun-off from. My own relationship with Young Sheldon was also much like those shows. I liked them when they were airing and enjoyed watching them week to week but I can't pinpoint specific episodes the way I can with all-timer shows I love like The Office and Pa...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the season finales of The Girls on the Bus  and Palm Royale , the latest episodes of Hacks and the Emmy race for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series! Plus I have some brief thoughts on NBC's fall schedule and some VERY brief thoughts on Dark Matter .  SEASON IN REVIEW: "THE GIRLS ON THE BUS" AND "PALM ROYALE" The Girls on the Bus and Palm Royale reached the end of their first seasons this week. When they premiered less than a week apart back in March, I was sort of equally intrigued and annoyed by both of them. Over the couple months that followed though, they started to trend in different directions with The Girls on the Bus starting to win me over and Palm Royale making me increasingly annoyed. It felt like nobody was watching or paying attention to The Girls on the Bus over the past couple months so I'd be surprised if it got a second season. While I still stand by my feeling that it was basical...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. This week I am looking at the third season of Hacks , the twist in Sugar and the Emmy race for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. I also have some brief thoughts on The Veil, A Man in Full and the CBS Fall Schedule. "HACKS" SEASON 3 Hacks returned to Max this week after a two year break and it was back in fine form. This is the role of a lifetime for Jean Smart and she continues to knock it out of the park every episode. The show thankfully gave a lengthy "previously on" to help me remember what was going on two years ago and then the series itself wisely made a one year time jump where Smart's Deborah Vance has reclaimed her superstar status without the fired Ava (Hannah Einbinder). The show was obviously going to bring the two stars back together but the first episode did a great job of building up to the reunion by quickly summarizing where they are in their lives. It's always amazing how a well done show can ...