Benjamonster's TV

Welcome to my Monday newsletter!  WHAT'S NEW THE 'BURBS Amidst the Super Bowl and Olympics, Peacock launched The 'Burbs on Sunday, based on the 1989 film. I watched the first episode, it was all I had time for. I'm not sure if I'll keep watching the show. On the one hand, I like a lot of the cast: Julia Duffy, Paula Pell and Mark Proksch have all been reliable scene stealers in other shows while Keke Palmer is a charming lead. I'm also always intrigued by a "suburbia is not what it seems" plot in shows. However, this all felt a little undercooked to me. There was a completely wooden performance by Jack Whitehall but I could have gotten over that if the how had a little more to offer. Nothing was funny enough (with the exception of Proksch stroking Palmer's hand when they were introduced or spooky enough to make me sure I want to commit to eight episodes. I either needed it to be genuinely creepy with a mystery that felt worth exploring or a really ...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the third season of Shrinking and Disney+'s Wonder Man . Plus the latest episodes of Memory of a Killer, Abbott Elementary and Hijack . I am also counting down my Top 10 TV Shows that start with the letter A and taking a look back at Mr. Sunshine ! WHAT'S NEW SHRINKING SEASON 3 It is great to have Shrinking back for a third season. I liked, but didn't love, the first season but then became completely hooked on the show during its second season. My eyes bugged out a bit when I saw the premiere of the third season was over an hour long and it took a bit for the new season to wind up. There are so many characters and I don't know if the show needed to catch up on each one of them in the first few minutes (nor do I think they need to hit their huge rolodex all the time - did we really need Brett Goldstein in this first episode? Or in this season at all?) But once it got past the awkward exposition that dominated th...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am taking a look at FOX's new Memory of a Killer plus the lates episodes of The Pitt and SNL . I am also taking a look back at my review of Bob's Burgers from 2011. WHAT'S NEW MEMORY OF A KILLER FOX debuted its new thriller Memory of a Killer after a thrilling NFC Championship Game. When I was previewing my most anticipated shows of the year, I put this on the list mostly because it seemed more ambitious than your averaged broadcast drama these days. After watching the pilot, I stand by that belief but that doesn't mean it's not real silly and melodramatic in places. The show centers on Patrick Dempsey living a double life as a congenial copier salesman in upstate New York and a highly skilled assassin in Manhattan. And on top of that, he thinks he's showing signs of early onset Alzheimer's. So, the premise is a bit silly and the execution is too. There were a lot of frames where everything slowed down in a reall...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins and Season 2 of Hijack plus the season finale of Landman and the latest episode of  The Pitt . Plus, I am giving my Oscars nominations predictions and taking a look back at Off the Map ! WHAT'S NEW THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS NBC gave an early release last night of the pilot of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins after football. It won't return until February 23 after the Olympics. This series has some interesting elements but I do have some concerns. Some are my own personal preference concerns. Despite how many feel, I often find the shows from the Robert Carlock/Tina Fey world to be a little too much. I don't need all my sitcoms to have drama but I feel like the incessant jokes and quick cuts that made shows like 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt famous are a bit much at times. And that happened in the pilot here too. I know some people absolutely love their approa...

Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the second season of The Pitt and the latest episodes of Abbott Elementary and Chicago Med . Plus, my Most Anticipated New Shows of 2026 and more! WHAT'S NEW THE PITT Season 2 I was excited all day on Thursday for The Pitt premiere. Just as a generation before me looked forward to ER on Thursday nights, I was excited for this ritual from last winter to return to my life and be my Thursday night routine for the next 15 weeks. Last year, The Pitt was not a phenomenon when it premiered and it flew under the radar for awhile. This year, it came back as the reigning Outstanding Drama Series Emmy winner and a show that has developed quite a following. There was part of me that worried the show might overplay its hand and lean too far into certain things but I should have known better because I know how much care the team behind this show has and they knew that the best thing to do was to still keep things small and focused. Asid...