Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the newest season of The Morning Show plus the finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty and the latest episodes of Task and Only Murders in the Building. Also, I am continuing my Top 25 Shows Since 2000 and doing a pilot re-review of $#*! My Dad Says.
WHAT'S NEW
The Morning Show returned for its fourth season last week and it's a show that takes me back in time. I really transitioned from mostly watching network shows to getting into more cable and streaming prestige fare during the COVID lockdown in 2020 (though I still watch my fair share of network shows). Most of the prestige shows I got into at that time - Succession, Ozark, The Handmaid's Tale, Pose, etc. have ended but The Morning Show is still kicking. I loved the first season (it won my 2020 Benjamonster Award for Outstanding Drama Series). But I was much less enthralled with the second season (which was nauseating with its COVID storylines) and the third season (which was just wacky). Now, the fourth season is here and it still has a lot of the same problems. Watching the "Previously On" to start the new season, I had forgotten just how wacky the show had gotten.
The problem with The Morning Show for its entire existence, even the first season that I really liked, is it always feels a step behind the times with its stories and that's because the stories are so blatantly based on current events. So the first season had a #MeToo story about two years after #MeToo. The second season was set during the COVID lockdowns of 2020 when it came out in Fall 2021. The third season, in Fall 2023, touched on January 6. Now we're in Fall 2025 and the show is set in 2024 with storylines surrounding the Paris Olympics and California wildfires while also bringing in clear AI themes and a Joe Rogan-esque character played by Boyd Holbrook. Now I'm not saying that there aren't themes in those topics that could be explored on a show but The Morning Show isn't about themes. It's about the news and everything feels a few steps behind from where the ever-changing news cycle is currently. That's the problem with trying to tackle current events so overtly instead of thematically.
The dialogue is still preposterous and the characters are getting broader and broader by the day. Would Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) really have helped an Iranian defector back in Season 1? You could make the argument that she's changed but the show hasn't done that work. It just services its stories by putting its characters in the middle of every major event since the show was last on the air. They are all like modern day Forrest Gumps. The performances still outshine the material (with an intriguing arrival from Marion Cotillard this season) and the show is still gorgeously shot. But it is such a full on soap opera that the ridiculous quotient is getting worse by the season. And yet I can't quite it but it's morphed from a genuine enjoyment to something much closer to a hate watch.
Also...
After complaining about it happening on The Girlfriend last week, Black Rabbit started with a flash forward. I am so tired of that trope. So tired. I only made it partway through the pilot of Black Rabbit before deciding it wasn't for me (and I wanted to punish it for the flash forward) so no review for that show. I'm sure it's fine but it felt just dark and moody and there's so many shows coming out this fall that feel dark and moody, I'm going to have to pace myself.
I also watched the second season premiere of High Potential. It feels like a broadcast show that's more confident in what it is doing for its second season. The show was a success last season and there was even some fringe Emmy conversation about Kaitlin Olson. So it came back with a more assured version of itself to kick off Season 2 and it was enjoyable. Olson continues to be the main reason to watch.
LAST WEEK ON...
The Summer I Turned Pretty came to an end this week after three seasons though a movie was greenlit at Prime Video the same day the finale dropped. That news and the finale itself further confirmed what I talked about last week - that it felt like this show had more it wanted to say. It really felt like it became more of a sensation this summer. I have to wonder if that happened sooner if it would have just gotten another season. The finale was great if you watch the show for Belly and Conrad (let's be real, most people do). But pretty much every other character got the short shrift, especially the dynamics between Conrad and Jeremiah. I get that the show had to spend a whole lot of time with Belly and Conrad to get them to the happy ending that everyone knew was coming, but it goes back to the idea of the final season feeling rushed thematically especially as it barreled to the end. But I have to admit, I felt something when they finally get together so maybe I'm more of a sucker than I thought or care to admit.
Task
I think it was partly my own fatigue after watching the Emmys last week but I couldn't totally get into the second episode of Task. I watched the third episode earlier in the night and really enjoyed it as the story starts to come more into focus. The show did a great job of setting the mood in the first episode and then filling in the backstory in the second. Now, it's really getting into the meat of the plot and it was a very satisfying episode. Something I really appreciate about this show is how interesting each side of the story is. The first half of the episode featured some great moments from Tom Pelphrey and Emilia Jones and had me thinking that Pelphrey is really the MVP here and has all the best stuff. Then Pelphrey vanished for the entire second half of the episode as the action pivoted to Mark Ruffalo and his team, and it was just as compelling. The show is well cast and well written so it doesn't matter where the focus is.
Only Murders in the Building
The latest episode of Only Murders in the Building brought three suspects into the fold, who we saw briefly at the end of last week's three episode premiere. Played by Cristoph Waltz, Renee Zellweger and Logan Lerman, the bulk of the episode paired each billionaire with a member of the core trio of the show and the results for that part of the episode were mostly satisfying. There was sort of a surprising chemistry between Lerman and Selena Gomez particularly. But what I didn't like about this episode was the ending was treated like some major twist that both the audience and the main trio didn't see coming. Of course the billionaires were working together, of course the new podcast deal was going to prohibit them from talking about them. It all felt telegraphed a mile away to me. If a show is going to insist on dropping a new twist at the end of each episode, like Murders always has, it's gotta be at least a little surprising.
TOP 25 SHOWS SINCE 2000
Hacks has been a rarity in the streaming era: a show that comes back every year (aside from one strike-impacted year). It is so exciting every spring to know that we're going to get another 8-10 episodes of Hacks and has there ever been a marriage between role and actress more perfect than Jean Smart as Deborah Vance? When all is said and done, Smart's portrayal will and should go down among all time great TV performances. But if it was just about Smart's performance, it wouldn't be this high on the list. The rest of the show is great too. The other characters, especially Hannah Einbinder's Ava, have continually gotten stronger. The show has such a vibe, whether it's in Vegas, LA or on the road and the writing is top notch. I'm glad this show isn't done yet! And also YAY for Einbinder finally getting her Emmy to go with Smart's well-deserved four Emmys.
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: This show was famously based on a twitter feed and this terrible sitcom actually gave me a negative opinion of the feed. Whenever I hear the title, I think "lame CBS sitcom" not "clever relic from early Twitter days." William Shatner is just horrific in this pilot. I think his character plays even worse in the Trump era but the bigger problem is Shatner is just a terrible actor. Every line is delivered the exact same way. It very much sounds like someone reading each line for the first time. Of course even if he delivered them well, it's not like he had great lines to say. It's like they pulled out jokes from the twitter feed and then built a set-up towards it. Rinse and repeat. Jonathan Sadowski and Mad TV alums Nicole Sullivan and Will Sasso were game but they were dealing with a wooden prop on the set that looked like William Shatner. This could have been a show with potential with a better actor - someone like Judd Hirsch perhaps. And I remembered that horrible back and forth that ended with Shatner and then Sadowski saying "I see" and I hated it just as much this time around.
What Happened to the Show: $#*! My Dad Says didn't last quite a full season airing after The Big Bang Theory, which had made a big move to Thursdays from Mondays. The ratings weren't bad but the drop off from Big Bang was sizable so it had the notoriety of being the highest rated cancellation of the season. After 18 episodes, the series ended its season early (in February) and was cancelled in May. Twitter feed creator (and co-creator on this show) Justin Halpern basically admitted a few years later that the show killed the minor trend of basing TV shows off of twitter feeds. Shatner, now in his 90s, has stayed in the public arena but hasn't tried a scripted television show since this one while you can catch Will Sasso on Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage.
COMING UP
This week marks the traditional premiere week for the broadcast networks and there's a few scripted premieres sprinkled in the many unscripted premieres (such is life for network television in 2025). But there's also some high profile streaming premieres this week. On Monday, NBC has the second season premiere of Brilliant Minds, one of their only non-Dick Wolf dramas. Tuesday has one of the more anticipated premieres of the fall with The Lowdown on FX. Sterlin Harjoe's follow-up to Reservation Dogs has gotten some good buzz and should at least get some critical attention through the next couple months. Also on Tuesday, FOX has the second season premiere of Murder in a Small Town leading into an encore of the second season premiere of Doc. On Thursday, Netflix has the premiere of Wayward, a show that is timed well to enter spooky season. It doesn't seem to have a ton of buzz but you can never count out a Netflix show breaking out. Also premiering on Thursday on Netflix is House of Guinness, which is more of an international play. Premiering Thursday on NBC is the fifth season of the Law & Order revival (25th overall season) and the 27th (!) consecutive season of TV's longest running drama, Law & Order: SVU. At this point, it seems like it will get to 30 seasons at least. Also premiering on Thursday is the second season of English Teacher on FX. The show might have gotten a bigger second season push if not for behind the scene allegations against star Brian Jordan Alvarez that has kept FX from really pushing the show. On Friday, Apple TV+ has the premiere of its new drama The Savant, which stars Jessica Chastain so you have to think it could be an awards play. Finally on Sunday, FOX returns its Animation Domination lineup with Season 37 (!) of The Simpsons, Season 2 of Universal Basic Guys, Season 16 of Bob's Burgers and Season 3 of Krapopolis. It seems like The Simpsons will outlive us all.
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