Benjamonster's TV

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Your Friends and Neighbors, Season 2 of The Last of Us and Season 4 of Hacks . Plus the season finale of The Pitt and the latest episodes of The Righteous Gemstones, Good American Family and  The Studio as well as the Lead Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie Emmy race and #24 in My Top 25 Shows Since 2000! WHAT'S NEW YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS Your Friends and Neighbors is a new Apple TV+ show that marks the first starring TV role for Jon Hamm since Mad Men . While he has done other shows in supporting roles such as Fargo, The Morning Show and Landman , he has not fronted a TV show since he was Don Draper and there's plenty of Don Draper (2025 edition) in this new show, where he plays a wealthy man who hits a rough patch and starts stealing from his friends and neighbors to keep up his lavish lifestyle.  I'm a huge fan of Hamm even when he's in less than stellar shows (hello, The Morning Show ) so I'm goin...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Dying For Sex, The White Lotus, The Pitt, The Studio, Good American Family  and SNL plus the Emmy Race for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited/Anthology Series and kicking off my Top 25 Shows of the 2000s WHAT'S NEW DYING FOR SEX The big debut last week was Dying For Sex on FX/Hulu. The limited series, which is based on a podcast, follows the story of Molly (Michelle Williams), a woman with stage four breast cancer who ends her 13 year marriage to find more "fun" before her death. The series, despite being about cancer and starring a character who is dying, definitely takes on a more comic tone. I've seen the first four episodes of the eight episode season. Williams is really strong in the main role, but more than anything, this is a breakout role for Jenny Slate. As Molly's best friend, Nikki, this is the best Slate has ever been this side of Mona Lisa Saperstein. She adds a huge amount of comic re...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! As you can see, there's a new look for this blog and also a new format for the newsletter. Hope you enjoy!! WHAT'S NEW THE STUDIO Apple TV+'s The Studio premiered with two episodes this past week and the series is definitely a show for those who are either in the industry or follow the industry closely. I fall into the latter camp and really enjoyed the first two episodes. The idea of a movie studio trying to greenlight a Kool Aid movie in today's IP obsessed world was a pretty predictable topic for a show like that. But the execution of the episode, complete with a very funny appearance by Martin Scorsese really worked for me. The second episode, which was a meta take on filming a oner (the episode itself was a oner) almost didn't work for me considering how artfully the oner take was just used on Adolescence on Netflix. But it ultimately did work thanks to all the humor in the episode. Seth Rogen is terrific in this show and it...

Welcome to a fairly short newsletter as it's been a busy week. Here are some thoughts on the new season of The Righteous Gemstones plus the latest episodes of The White Lotus, Paradise, The Pitt and Severance ! "THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES" SEASON 4 The Righteous Gemstones made a very unusual decision for its fourth and final season premiere. The series did an origin story of the Gemstones set in 1862 and featuring none of the regular cast members. It instead starred Bradley Cooper as the first Gemstone preacher, a Civil War-era criminal who pretended to be a minister (yes, the Gemstones were scammers way back then). This was certainly a big swing for the series. The series has done "prequel" episodes before but it's always been directly related to the main characters. Some of those break-from-form episodes have been the best of the series. This was probably the biggest swing and it didn't totally work for me. I think it's rough to do for a season premie...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am giving a brief Oscars recap plus thoughts on Running Point, The White Lotus, Toxic Town, Paradise, Grosse Pointe Garden Society and Severance ! OSCARS RECAP The Oscars were on Sunday night and it was a huge night for Anora , which won five awards including Best Picture and an upset win for Best Actress for Mikey Madison (shout out Better Things !). I thought Anora was a deserving Best Picture winner of the five nominees I saw, and, as much as it would have been a great moment for Demi Moore to win Best Actress, that award was well-deserved by Madison. I'm also over the Adrian Brody acceptance speeches but sad there won't be anymore from Kieran Culkin for a bit. And I'm happy that Emilia Perez   is out of our lives (it went from what seemed like a lock for International Film to losing to I'm Still Here even though it still won two awards).  As for the telecast itself, I thought Conan O'Brien was a game host but there w...

Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week, I am looking at Zero Day, Good Cop/Bad Cop, the latest episode of The White Lotus and giving some Oscars predictions. Plus, thoughts on the SAG Awards and the latest episodes of  The Pitt and Severance ! "ZERO DAY" I'm sure some of you have already finished the entire series but I am three episodes into Netflix's new political thriller limited series Zero Day . The show had a fair amount of anticipation due to its great cast but the reviews weren't promising. Still, I went in hoping I would feel differently from the critics and I'm sorry to say that I don't. I will probably finish it since there's only three more episodes. But if this was a 10 episode season, I probably would have bailed by now. The series is a classic offender of the "tell, don't show" problem. Characters spend so much time filling in backstory or details by just giving clunky expositional thoughts that aren't natural at al...

Welcome to this week's newsletter! This week, I am taking a look at the third season of The White Lotus and SNL 's 50th Anniversary Celebration. Plus thoughts on Severance, Paradise, The Pitt and Abbott Elementary ! "THE WHITE LOTUS" SEASON 3 The White Lotus returned on Sunday night for its third season. The first season, set in Hawaii and the second Italy-set season are two of my favorite seasons of any TV show in recent years so I have been eagerly anticipating the return of the show, now in Thailand. I tried not to really read reviews of the third season but did see a few critics note that the season starts a little slow but picks up speed. I think that's definitely true, but that's always a little bit true of The White Lotus . We have to get to know the characters and creator Mike White's way of writing is a slow build with themes developing and emerging. The first couple episodes always feel like we're feeling the characters out. That's especi...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at The Z-Suite and the latest episode of Severance plus thoughts on Clean Slate and Abbott Elementary ! "THE Z-SUITE" First of all, I find the Tubi intro when you launch the app so funny. Maybe it would get tiresome if I watched Tubi a lot but I just find it funny right now. Anyway, Tubi is the home to the new sitcom The Z-Suite , starring Lauren Graham and Nico Santos as prolific advertisement executives who lose their jobs to a trio of Gen Z roustabouts. And if you think roustabout is an outdated word, wait until you see how this show tries to write for both the Gen Z characters and the older characters who don't understand them. This is one of two generation gap comedies to come out this week, along with Clean Slate . And neither one is particularly good but I might stick with this one a little bit longer only because it's funnier. But that's not the same as saying I think it's a quality sitcom. Laure...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter. This week, I am looking at Paradise and the latest episode of Severance plus I have thoughts on Watson, Abbott Elementary and The Pitt ! "PARADISE" When Landman ended its first season earlier this month, I felt a bit sad because I didn't have an absolutely bonkers, ridiculous show to watch on a weekly basis. Well, that may have been short-lived because Hulu's Paradise is here. I thought this was going to be a prestige play and it's definitely trying to be. It came from Dan Fogelman and starred Sterling K. Brown. The two men are, of course, vets of This is Us , a show that was solid to spectacular for most of its run (save for the rough COVID-tinged fifth season). Paradise is silly with a capital S but, unlike Landman , it's taking itself far too serious to be as enjoyable as a show that knew how stupid it was. The first episode ends with a big twist. I won't spoil it here for those who still plan on watching, but knowing th...

Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week, I am looking at Season 2 of The Night Agent and The Hunting Party plus giving thoughts on Severance, The Sex Lives of College Girls and Abbott Elementary . "THE NIGHT AGENT" SEASON 2 The first season of The Night Agent was a real pleasant surprise for me. It filled the 24- sized hole in my TV schedule and was very addicting with its propulsive plot and cliffhangers with insanely high stakes even as I readily acknowledged it was all a bit silly. But I really did like it a lot, so much so that I nominated it for Outstanding Drama Series in my 2023 Benjamonster Awards. The series returned for a second season this week with a bit of a "here we go again" vibe. I'm sure some people have already watched the entire second season but I am only three episodes in. It's still a good, old-fashioned action show but at least through three episodes, it is not working nearly as well as the first season for me. The first season case...

Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week, I am looking at the second season of Severance and the documentary SNL 50: Beyond Saturday Night . Plus I have thoughts on The Pitt and Hollywood Squares .  "SEVERANCE" SEASON 2 Severance returned this week to much fanfare after a nearly three year break. I really enjoyed the first season of the show but I didn't remember a ton of the details, just the broad swaths and I was not about to rewatch the first season or even the finale because I just don't have the time. So I was very curious if I would feel confused or disoriented when the second season started. And the answer is... only in the ways I think I was supposed to. I think the show did a good job with bringing us back into the world after so much time off because the characters were a little disoriented too. So I felt like there was a conscious effort by the writers to sort of remind the viewers what was going on and not in a cheesy way, but in an organic way that mak...

Welcome to this week's newsletter! This week, I am looking at The Pitt, Shifting Gears and Doc plus thoughts on the Landman finale and the crossover episode of Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia . "THE PITT" I have to admit, I was a little skeptical of The Pitt going in. I thought it would be a serviceable medical drama but I also thought "what can a streaming version of a network procedural offer that a network can't besides some better production values and swearing a bit more often?" Well, at least with The Pitt , the answer is quite a bit. While the series is really just a traditional medical drama with the slight gimmick of being in real time (each episode is an hour in a 15 hour shift), the show feels better than anything a network can offer in this genre in 2025. It's apparent in both big and little things. The show has an incredible attention to detail. They take the time to show doctors getting a squirt of hand sanitizer...

Welcome to my Monday Newsletter! This week, I am looking at my Top 15 Most Anticipated Shows of 2025 plus a review of Going Dutch and thoughts on the Golden Globes and the Shrinking season finale. MY TOP 15 MOST ANTICIPATED SHOWS OF 2025 It's a new year so here's a look at my most anticipated shows of 2025! Some shows are dated and coming very soon. Others have much less information but here's my list based on what I know now.  Close Calls:  The Night Agent  Season 2 (Netflix, Jan 23),  Death by Lighting  (Netflix, TBD),  Mid-Century Modern  (Hulu, TBD),  The Artist  (The Network, TBD), The Hunting Party (NBC, Feb 3) 15.  The Four Seasons  (Netflix, TBD) Date Night  reunion alert! This project puts Steve Carell and Tina Fey together in a comedy based on the 1981 film starring Alan Alda and Carol Burnett. There is very little known about this show, which also stars Will Forte and Erika Henningsen and it's not even guaranteed a 2...