Benjamonster's TV

Welcome to my last Monday newsletter of 2024. This week, I am looking at my Top 10 Shows of 2024 plus the series finale of What We Do in the Shadows and thoughts on Laid, Accused and Silo . This newsletter will take a week off next week and then return on January 6 with my most anticipated shows of 2025 among other things! YEAR IN REVIEW: TOP 10 SHOWS OF 2024 Here it is, my Top 10 Shows of 2024. It was an interesting year for TV. There were some great shows as evidenced by this list, but there was a vacuum with the departure of shows like Succession and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel plus no new seasons of shows like The Last of Us, The White Lotus, Poker Face and more. The after-effects of the strike and general industry contraction meant less scripted shows. That was felt in the summer with slim pickings but the fall ramped back up and there's plenty coming in 2025. Even if the numbers are down from their peak, it's not like we are hurting for content! So, here are my Top 10 Shows...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am sharing My Top 10 Episodes of 2024 plus thoughts on Netflix's No Good Deed and the series finale of Blue Bloods as well as  Shrinking and Silo ! YEAR IN REVIEW: TOP 10 EPISODES OF 2024 Continuing my Year in Review, this week I have my Top 10 Episodes of 2024. Last year was a banner year for individual episodes. All time great episodes: "Long, Long Time" from The Last of Us , "Connor's Wedding" from Succession , "Four Minutes" from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and "Forks" from The Bear made up the Top 4 and could have all been #1 this year. Despite the fact that none of this year's episodes top those four, there was still much to celebrate! 10.  Mr. & Mrs. Smith "First Date" (Prime Video, February 2) The first episode of Mr. & Mrs. Smith really set the tone for what kind of show it was going be. It was a big-budget, action-filled spy show as we expected but what we didn...

Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week, I am looking at my Top 12 Performances of 2024 and the Somebody Somewhere finale. Plus, thoughts on Black Doves, What We Do in the Shadows, Shrinking, Abbott Elementary, Silo and Landman ! YEAR IN REVIEW: TOP 12 PERFORMANCES OF 2024 I am kicking off my three week Year in Review posts with my Top 12 Performances of the year. Why 12 instead of 10? Well, because I felt like my #11 and #12 really deserved to be on this list so why not list 12? Next week, I will take a look at my Top 10 Episodes and finish off with my Top 10 Shows of the year.  12. Kathy Bates, Matlock & Carrie Preston, Elsbeth The two CBS ladies of Thursday nights kick off this list in large part because of how they elevate their shows. These are really just average CBS procedurals but Bates and Preston keep them a cut above the rest with their quirky performances. That's especially true of Bates in her legal drama that is by the books despite the pilot twist. Preston som...