Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Prime Video's new series Etoile, plus the latest episodes of The Last of Us, Hacks, The Studio and the series finale of The Conners. I am also looking at the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Emmy race and continuing my countdown of the 25 Best Shows Since 2000 with #22.
ETOILE
Etoile is the newest series from the husband and wife team of Amy Sherman Palladino and Daniel Palladino. They have a very unique style of writing made famous by Gilmore Girls and then reaching its peak of critical acclaim with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Etoile is their follow-up to Maisel, an all-time favorite show of mine, so I was excited for this one even if I wasn't completely sold on the show being set in the ballet world.
Like Maisel, this show is gorgeous to look at. Although it is not a period piece like Maisel, it is still filled with beautiful cinematography and a romanticized look at both New York City and Paris. It also has that famous verbal back and forth that every Palladino show has. When you've seen enough of them, it starts to get a little grating. That was one reason I never was completely in on Gilmore Girls. I was on Maisel but that's because Rachel Brosnahan, Alex Borstein and so many others were so skillful at making the dialogue feel real and comedic even though it was incredibly heightened. In Etoile, at least through the three episodes I watched, it can be more of a bug than a feature as this cast still seems to be trying to figure it out.
One person who has figured it out in the huge cast is Luke Kirby. The Emmy-winning Maisel vet is easily the strongest part of the show and every scene involving his character is the most engrossing. The first couple episodes felt like they were throwing a million stories and characters at the wall to see what would stick. So far, everything in the NYC side of the swap is working better than the Paris side of the swap. Partly because Charlotte Gainsbourg isn't really doing it for me as Kirby's Paris counterpart. I'm definitely going to stick with this show and watch the rest of the season (all eight episodes are out). But so far I'm more mixed on the show than I wish I was.
The Conners (Series Finale)
The Conners came to an end after seven seasons and 112 episodes this past week. The show was born when Roseanne Barr's antics got the highly successful reboot of Roseanne abruptly cancelled. The return of Roseanne was a cultural moment that The Conners was never able to replicate and it sort of fell off the map after a few seasons. I kept watching it until the end as a background show but I watched the series finale more carefully. It wasn't anything special but it is wild to think about the actors who first started playing these characters in 1988. There was some raw emotion from them in the final scene for understandable reasons. In terms of revivals/continuations, this was one of the more successful ones and I thought it captured the tone of the original Roseanne series but, despite how Barr can be in real life, there was always something missing without her voice and character.
The Last of Us
It's always hard to follow an all-timer of an episode and that's what The Last of Us had to do. This episode felt a lot like it was setting up the rest of the series so it had to reset and lay the groundwork. The problem is they just did that two episodes ago with the season premiere. So we had two setting the table issues sandwiching an epic, all-timer of an episode. That's an unusual start to the season. That being said, there were still compelling moments and I feel like the show did prove that it can continue without Pedro Pascal and continue to work well as a show. But there was just so little action. I mean, I don't watch The Last of Us for the zombies, but there were literally no zombies in this episode!
Hacks
I am warming up more and more to this season of Hacks and I liked that the most recent episode, which centered on the premiere of Deborah's late night show, didn't quite go where I thought it would. The scene where Deborah was focused only on Ava (at guest star Carol Burnett's suggestion) was very touching and exceptionally well done. I thought Ava and Deborah would end up watching the show together but did not guess the way that would happen. I like that the show is taking its time with bringing them back as a force but it's not as antagonistic as it was at the beginning. Overall though, I just don't think the episodes have been as tight or funny this season even though there have been some exceptional moments. It reminds me more of the uneven second season than the brilliant first and third season. But it's still a great show.
The Studio
I've gotten more lukewarm on The Studio as the weeks have gone on after really liking the first couple episodes. I thought this week's episode had a funny concept but it just didn't have enough meat to be a full episode. The episode needed a B plot perhaps. The entire episode was just one joke about Seth Rogen's Matt trying to argue that his job was as hard and important as a doctor. Again, a funny gag, but it just was a bit too much of the same thing. I also wish the supporting cast was being used more.
THE EMMY RACE for SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
As we move into the Drama Series races, the two Supporting categories, especially Actress, are stacked like they are every time The White Lotus is in contention. In 2022, the Supporting Actress in a Limited Series had 5 out of 7 slots taken by the first season of The White Lotus. Then when it moved to Drama the next year, the second season snagged 5 out of 8 slots. So, even though the third season was more divisive, you have to start with HBO's dramedy and leading the charge is Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Aimee Lou Wood and Natasha Rothwell (who was nominated for the first season). If it really fills up the category again or overperforms, then I would look at Michelle Monaghan and Leslie Bibb. I can't imagine it would extend far enough to Sarah Catherine Hook. Among non-The White Lotus actresses, there are several strong contenders. Allison Janney is an Emmy magnet (remember all that recognition for Mom?) so she seems likely to get in for The Diplomat. It is not clear yet if Kaitlyn Dever will go Supporting or Guest for The Last of Us. If she goes Supporting, she's a very strong contender. If she goes Guest, that might create some space for Isabela Merced. Then there's the curious case of Patricia Arquette. She's a previous nominee for Severance but her part was the least well-received in an otherwise well-received season so we'll see if the name and history can get her in again despite her arc this season. Speaking of Severance, it might be worth keeping an eye on Dichen Lachman too. None of last year's nominees are eligible with The Crown ended and The Morning Show and The Gilded Age not doing new seasons but there are previous nominees from longer ago who are eligible again including Christina Ricci for Yellowjackets and the trio of The Handmaid's Tale actresses: Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley and 2017 winner Ann Dowd. I'd be surprised if any of those four get in as those shows are well past their prime when it comes to the Emmys. Kristin Scott Thomas did not make it in for Slow Horses in a weaker field last year so I'd be surprised if she gets in this time. A few contenders from new shows to keep an eye on are Julianne Nicholson for Paradise, Katherine LaNasa and Taylor Dearden for The Pitt (a show which could definitely overperform) and Skye P. Marshall for Matlock.
Projected Nominees (ranked by likelihood of a nomination):
1. Carrie Coon, The White Lotus
2. Parker Posey, The White Lotus
3. Allison Janney, The Diplomat
4. Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus
5. Kaitlyn Dever, The Last of Us
6. Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus
7. Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
Just Missing:
8. Patricia Arquette, Severance
9. Leslie Bibb, The White Lotus
10. Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
TOP 25 SHOWS SINCE 2000
#22 - BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (FOX/NBC, 2013-2021)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the great workplaces comedies of this century. Although public opinion on policing became a hot-button issue during its run (and it made some unfortunate attempts to address it in its final season), the show was really just there to have a good time first and foremost. There was a first-rate cast led by Andy Samberg and a brilliant performance by the late, great Andre Braugher. It also felt like a successor to Cheers with episodes almost exclusively focused on the workplace and some great recurring episodes (the Halloween prank episodes made me think of the Bar Wars episodes of Cheers). Brooklyn Nine-Nine is not a show I have revisited since watching it through its original run but it is a show I look forward to watching again at some point. Like any long-running comedy, it had some clunkers, but unlike some long-running comedies, it never fell off a cliff.
COMING UP
The traditional broadcast season is coming to an end and the Emmy window has about a month left so there isn't much in terms of premieres. The big one comes on Thursday with Netflix's The Four Seasons. Based on the movie of the same name and starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo and Will Forte, the show is a late Emmy play in Comedy and with those auspices and the Netflix of it all, it could certainly be a player. There's only one other premiere and that comes next Sunday with the second season of The Walking Dead: Dead City on AMC.
Comments
Post a Comment