Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week I am looking at The Girlfriend and the newest season of Only Murders in the Building. Plus some thoughts on the Emmys and the latest episodes of Task and The Summer I Turned Pretty. I am also continuing my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 with #12 and doing a pilot re-review of Detroit 1-8-7!
WHAT'S NEW
Before I get into The Girlfriend, I just want all shows forever to stop with the flash forwards to start a series. It's such a tired trope and I instantly get annoyed when I see it. We don't need to see something intense that the show is working towards. JUST STOP IT.
Anyway, now that I have gotten that out of my system, I am mixed so far on The Girlfriend (I am three episodes into the six episode season, which dropped as a binge on Wednesday). I like the dueling narrators approach where it's really not clear where the truth lies because the two interpretations between Robin Wright's Laura and Olivia Cooke's Cherry are vastly different. Wright and Cooke are the reason to watch this show as every other character, including the son/boyfriend, Daniel (Laurie Davidson) feel pretty secondary. The show does a nice job of making Laura more likeable and Cherry more of a villain when Laura's perspective is being show and vice-versa for Cherry's perspective.
I was feeling like it was starting to get repetitive by the third episode but a major event happened in that episode that made me feel like maybe the final three episodes will move in a different direction. The production values are all adequate but nothing to write home about. This is the kind of show I might have bailed on if my TV schedule was a little more full, like it will be in a couple weeks, but it's enjoyable enough as a catty thriller.
If you've been following me for awhile, you know that I was a big fan of the first season of Only Murders in the Building but found each subsequent season to be less interesting and less good to the point that I've openly wondered why I'm still watching the show especially during the awful fourth season. But then a new season rolls around, usually launching when things are still relatively quiet (end of summer or very, very beginning of the fall) and I jump in again.
Usually "seeing through a show" does not work out well for me. It's how I wasted time watching later years of Modern Family and The Goldbergs. But I'm happy to report that I think the fifth season of Only Murders in the Building, which premiered last week with its first three episodes, is shaping up to be the best season of the show since the first one. The biggest reason? It's felt like a back to basics season so far. The first and third episode was very heavily dependent on the main trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez and not relying much on a litany of guest stars who have overpopulated the show, particularly in the dreadful fourth season. The show still had its share of names (Keenan Michael-Key, Bobby Cannavale, Tea Leoni and Beanie Feldstein among others) but they felt very much secondary to the big three. Now, the end of the third episode gave me a little pause as we welcomed in Christoph Waltz, Renee Zellweger and Logan Lerman but we'll see where things go. On top of it all, I think Martin, Short and Gomez are having the most fun as a trio since the first season (the http and www bit in the third episode was hilarious). All three characters are in a pretty healthy (for them) place right now and I think that's helping things.
You'll notice I mentioned the first and third episode featured the big three primarily. The second did not, but it was an absolutely delightful look at Lester's life as a doorman at the Arconia. Played with so much charm by Teddy Coluca (and Emory Cohen as a younger version), it was a really sweet episode that was full of cameos and easter eggs through the eyes of the doorman. It even had something to say about the role a person like that plays amongst a changing world and the connections you can make with people who come into your orbit all the time. It was an interesting choice to have one of their breaking form episodes so early in the season but I think it was absolutely the right choice here and a fantastic episode.
So, for the first time in a long time, I'll be excited to watch Only Murders in the Building this week. Let's hope it continues.
LAST WEEK ON...
The penultimate episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty still seemed to be in the business of introducing new characters as the series jumped forward a few months and it left me wondering: why is this show ending? It is a huge hit (granted, it broke out more this season than in the past) and it seems like it has a lot more story it wants to tell I know the book series was a trilogy but to my understanding, it has already deviated from the books. It just feels like the finale is going to have to rush to wrap everything up and there's easily an entire season that could have been Belly in Paris. Oh well. I'm not real broken up over it. It's just odd to me.
Task
I thought the second episode was a lot of character building as we got a lot more depth for a lot of the characters, including those who were shortchanged in the first episode. In fact, Mark Ruffalo and especially Tom Pelphrey did not feel like major characters in this episode. I didn't find it to be the most thrilling for a lot of the episode but it definitely found its way late in the episode with a very tense scene involving Maeve (Emilia Jones). I don't have too much more to say because it's late and I watched this after the Emmys! But I definitely continue to really enjoy this show.
AWARDS CORNER
The Emmys were last night and there was a lot to be happy about. I'm absolutely thrilled that The Pitt beat Severance for Drama Series. What a thrill also to see Noah Wyle win (which was expected) and Katherine LaNasa (which was less of a sure thing). I was also really happy for Hannah Einbinder finally winning for her best season yet on Hacks (and of course Jean Smart. While a fourth win is getting a little boring, she is no less deserving than she was in the first season). Although I wasn't as high on The Studio as some, I thought Seth Rogen deserved his Lead Actor award and of course the show deserved Directing for "The Oner." I was also thrilled for Cristin Milioti despite being mixed on The Penguin and Adolescence cleaned up not surprisingly. The biggest surprise of the night was Jeff Hiller for Somebody Somewhere. I would have loved to see Harrison Ford there (the show didn't get their big moment for Ford or Kathy Bates) but Hiller was great in his role. And The White Lotus went home empty-handed. Yikes! Of course one of the best moments was Stephen Colbert winning for the first time for the soon-to-depart The Late Show and the crowd going absolutely nuts.
As far as the telecast itself, I thought Nate Bargatze started really strong with a nod to his popular SNL George Washington skits that had a lot of funny moments. But after that, it got rougher. The idea of deducting money from the Boys and Girls Club if a speech goes long was a funny concept but then they committed to the bit for the whole evening, which was a major miscalculation. Bargatze made it work as best he could but it was clear that they should have bailed on the joke way, way sooner. It sort of consumed the whole telecast and Bargatze wasn't really able to do anything else. The presenters were pretty underwhelming aside from a very funny appearance from Ray Romano and Brad Garrett and I also enjoyed the crowd singing along to The Golden Girls theme and I thought Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel had a couple fun moments. So, a disappointing telecast but a lot of strong winners!
TOP 25 SHOWS SINCE 2000
It's always hard to evaluate on-going series but especially when each season is completely unique. The White Lotus is ranked as high as it is because of the first two seasons while the third season had its charms and was enjoyable, but was not worthy of a ranking this high. I will never forget that first season, in the summer of 2021. Especially in a time where COVID was still disrupting things, it felt equal parts a lavish vacation and a complete nightmare. I was in on the tone and vibes from the jump and was obsessed with the show. Then it held up exceptionally well in the second season with a new locale and an almost entirely different cast. I think if the third season didn't come after the first two exceptional seasons, I would probably think a bit higher of it. And those casts. Jennifer Coolidge! Parker Posey! Meghann Fahy! Walton Goggins! Jake Lacy! Theo James! Murray Bartlett! Natasha Rothwell! Carrie Coon! I could keep going, that's just scratching the surface. Everyone wants to be on this show and I hope it goes for many more years and many more locales (and yes, Mike White, I know you don't like snow but I would love to see a winter season).
PILOT RE-REVIEW
This season, I am traveling back in time to the 2010-11 season, the first season I did this blog. I will be re-reviewing the pilots from that season, at least as many as I can find!
Original Review: Click Here!
What I Think Now: I was very curious what I would think of this show watching it again. Back in 2010-11, it was my favorite new show of the season and I was actively campaigning for its renewal amid low ratings. But back then, I hadn't watched Breaking Bad or Mad Men. Heck, I hadn't even watched The Sopranos among many other prestige dramas. So my taste meter for good TV drama was not as refined as it is now. I would say it's better than your average police procedural but perhaps not as worthy of the acclaim I bestowed on it in 2010 and 2011. It's still a very good version of what it's trying to be even with a pilot that was clunky at times as it tried to marry its original documentary concept with a more straightforward drama. The reason it works as well as it does is an exceptional cast. Michael Imperioli, Jon Michael Hill, Natalie Martinez, James McDaniel, Aisha Hinds. They are all great here. The show also has a unique feel in Detroit (though the pilot was filmed in Atlanta, the series was filmed in Detroit). It's a city that doesn't have an abundance of TV shows set there and that feels as fresh now as it did in 2010. There are certainly vibes of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue and I may just re-watch this series when I get the chance because it is a quality cop show. It is still a network cop show though so the ceiling is only so high when compared to some of the dramas I have seen since.
What Happened to the Show: Detroit 1-8-7 was hailed as a successor to NYPD Blue and it got the old Blue timeslot on Tuesdays at 10pm for ABC in the Fall of 2010. It was a gritty drama that aired after the popular but incompatible Dancing with the Stars. The show was originally supposed to be a documentary-style concept before it was re-tooled following its pickup and a controversial police shooting in Detroit. The series struggled for its entire run but the only reason it probably lasted as long as it did, with a five episode add-on to its order, was because ABC was a mess in so many areas with other bigger flops like The Whole Truth and My Generation. It managed to stay a bubble show until May but its replacement on Tuesdays at 10pm, Body of Proof, was a bright spot in a messy season for ABC freshmen and that was the death knell for Detroit 1-8-7 as the show was cancelled even with some protesting from Detroiters, who embraced the show as their own. Many of the cast members went on to success. Aisha Hinds is on 9-1-1. Jon Michael Hill is just coming off a Tony-nominated run in Purpose on Broadway. Michael Imperioli (who was of course well known before Detroit for The Sopranos) received an Emmy nomination for the second season of The White Lotus. Natalie Martinez has appeared in a ton of shows in the last decade and a half, most recently Apple TV+'s Bad Monkey.
COMING UP
This week is a little busier than last with premieres starting with Futurama, which premieres its new season on Hulu today. Its the third season on Hulu and 10th overall for the show. In addition to several unscripted shows premiering on broadcast this week, there is one scripted show - the second season of High Potential. The series was a success story for ABC last year as a freshman and also performed well on Hulu so it definitely remains a priority for the network. On Wednesday, Apple TV+ has the fourth season premiere of The Morning Show. One of the original shows when the service launched in 2019, it remains one of its major shows even though it also gets a lot of ridicule. It seems to be on an every other year pattern as it was last seen in Fall 2023. Also premiering Wednesday is the second season of Prime Video's spinoff of The Boys, Gen V, which didn't seem to make the impression the parent series did. On Thursday, Netflix premieres the new thriller Black Rabbit, starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law. Bateman had a big Netflix hit with Ozark so we'll see if he can do it again. Also premiering Thursday is the third season of Reasonable Doubt on Hulu. It was the first Onyx Collective series for Hulu and one of the most successful. On Friday, Netflix has the premiere of the animated Haunted Hotel, featuring the voices of Will Forte, Eliza Coupe, Jimmi Simpson and others. Finally on Sunday, Paramount+ has the third season premiere of Tulsa King, which has fit in well with the originals on that streamer and is one of two Tulsa shows premiering within two days as The Lowdown arrives next week.
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