Benjamonster's TV

Welcome back to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Apple TV's new comedy Brothers and NBC's new drama Line of Fire ! Plus, a look at the most recent Ted Lasso , a few brief thoughts on the New York Times' list of 100 Best TV Shows This Century, my Top 10 TV shows starting with P, a look at the Oscar race for Best Actor and Actress and some NFL Musings from Week 3! WHAT'S NEW BROTHERS I think Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are both good actors. But their public personas leave a lot to be desired as far as I'm concerned. Look at the Emmys appearance as proof. I've never been into the "alright alright alright" side of McConaughey even when I've liked him as an actor, most recently Apple's underrated  The Lost Bus . And Harrelson often plays the same type of role in the movies but he's done it expertly for decades. And yet, I also tire easily of Harrelson's "stoner anarchist" shtick when it's not channel...

Welcome back to another season of my Monday newsletter. It has now been 16 years since I started this blog and I'm continuing to enjoy it so I'll keep doing it until I don't feel like it anymore! I have considered switching to some sort of e-mail distribution since e-mail newsletters are the thing now. But this works for me so I'm going to leave it as is for now. This year, the newsletter will continue to be mostly about TV but I will also have some other things about other interests: movies, theater & even the NFL! Also, I am a contributor to  The TV Ratings Guide  and posting there on Tuesday evenings with a look back at old network pilots. I am currently working through the 2011-12 season! This week, I am looking at Summer TV and the Emmy Awards. Plus, my Top 10 Shows Starting with O, some NFL thoughts, an early look at the Oscars Best Picture Race and more! WHAT'S NEW SUMMER TV RECAP While the blog was on a break this summer, there was still TV worth talking...

I hope you enjoyed my month of awards! Here's a recap of all the awards, check below this post for each individual award post. This blog will take the next several weeks off and will resume with weekly newsletters on September 21. See you then!! In the meantime, you can continue to check out my posts on  The TV Ratings Guide  on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings! Past Recaps:   2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 Outstanding Comedy Series:  Shrinking  (Apple TV+) Outstanding Drama Series:  The Pitt  (HBO Max) Outstanding Limited/Anthology Series: Death by Lightning (Netflix) Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Elle Fanning, Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV) Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus (Apple TV) Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series: Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story (FX) Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Steve Ca...

It's time for the final award - Outstanding Comedy Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... ABBOTT ELEMENTARY (ABC) ENGLISH TEACHER (FX) THE FOUR SEASONS (Netflix) HACKS (Max) MARGO'S GOT MONEY TROUBLES (Apple TV) ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (Hulu) SHRINKING (Apple TV+) And the Winner Is... SHRINKING Apple TV This was an interesting year for comedies and it took awhile for me to determine a winner but I ultimately went with a repeat of Shrinking . I don't know if I liked the third season of Shrinking quite as much as the second season but it was real close. This ensemble is second to none on TV (yes, that even includes The Pitt ). Every single cast member on Shrinking is capable of carrying a meaty major storyline or just making wisecracks throughout the episode. They seem like a group of friends who have been in each other's lives for a very long time...

Today's award is Outstanding Drama Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... THE BEAR (FX/Hulu) THE DIPLOMAT (Netflix) ELSBETH (CBS) THE LOWDOWN (FX) THE PITT (HBO Max) PLURIBUS (Apple TV) TASK (HBO) And the Winner Is... THE PITT HBO Max It was a tall task to follow up a breakout freshman season that is pretty much universally loved. I don't know if The Pitt 's second season was quite as good as its first season but it was really wonderful and worthy of a second straight Outstanding Drama Series crown. The show showed that its format works even without a mass casualty event. The show zeroed in on some of its best characters with leveling up for Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy. And it still had the weekly cases and patients that make it such compelling TV. Yes, there were sometimes frustrating moments with Dr. Robby but I like that the show chose to not make...

We are at the big three awards! Today's award is for Outstanding Limited/Anthology Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... BEEF (Netflix) DEATH BY LIGHTNING (Netflix) DEVIL IN DISGUISE: JOHN WAYNE GACY (Peacock) HALF MAN (HBO) JURY DUTY PRESENTS: COMPANY RETREAT (Prime Video) LOVE STORY (FX) And the Winner Is... DEATH BY LIGHTNING Netflix This show was a true limited series - only four episodes! I consider myself a US History buff but I admit this is an era and a presidency that I know very little about. So I was really entertained by Death by Lightning , which put together beautiful technical details with compelling performances. Perhaps most impressively, the series never felt stodgy or like a museum piece. The show had a breakneck pace of storytelling while letting the performances breathe and the show felt very modern in its sensibility without ever lea...

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series! Past Awards in This Category: 2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are...  KRISTEN BELL as Joanne Williams in Nobody Wants This (Netflix) QUINTA BRUNSON as Janine Teagues in Abbott Elementary (ABC) HANNAH EINBINDER as Ava Daniels in Hacks (HBO Max) ELLE FANNING as Margo Millet in Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV) WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY as Joyce Henderson in St. Denis Medical (NBC) TAYLOR ORTEGA as Morgan in Big Mistakes (Netflix) JEAN SMART as Deborah Vance in Hacks (HBO Max) And the Winner Is... ELLE FANNING Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV) It was hard to not give this award to one of the two Hacks ladies but this year's best Lead Actress performance came from the always reliable Elle Fanning in perhaps her best role yet. As Margo Millet, Elle Fanning had a lot of life to navigate. She was a new mother of a baby without a fat...

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... KATHY BATES as Madeline Matlock in Matlock (CBS) AYO EDEBIRI as Sydney Adamu in The Bear (FX/Hulu) MICHELLE PFEIFFER as Stacy Clyburn in The Madison (Paramount+) CARRIE PRESTON as Elsbeth Tascioni in Elsbeth (CBS) KERI RUSSELL as Ambassador Kate Wyler in The Diplomat (Netflix) RHEA SEEHORN as Carol Sturka in Pluribus (Apple TV) ZENDAYA as Rue Bennett in Euphoria (HBO) And the Winner Is... RHEA SEEHORN Pluribus (Apple TV) I still haven't watched Better Call Saul but I know that everyone who has sings the praises of Rhea Seehorn. I definitely got it watching Pluribus . If The Lowdown relies on Ethan Hawke's performance, Pluribus REALLY relies on Rhea Seehorn's performance. There are entire episodes where she's basically the only one on screen. On top of that, she...

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... OLIVIA COOKE as Cherry Laine in The Girlfriend (Prime Video) CAREY MULLIGAN as Lindsay Crane-Martin in Beef (Netflix) SARAH PIDGEON as Carolyn Bessette in Love Story (FX) SARAH SNOOK as Marissa Irvine in All Her Fault  (Peacock) KERRY WASHINGTON as Eleanor in Imperfect Women (Apple TV) ROBIN WRIGHT as Laura Sanderson in The Girlfriend (Prime Video) And the Winner Is... SARAH PIDGEON Love Story (FX) I get some of the concerns with Love Story , especially the portrayal of certain figures like Daryl Hannah. But Sarah Pidgeon was an absolute star on this show. I enjoyed her in The Wilds and especially in Stereophonic on Broadway so she's been on my radar for awhile but she's the reason this show worked as well as it did. It would have been another ...

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are...  ADAM BRODY as Noah Roklov in Nobody Wants This (Netflix) STEVE CARELL as Greg Russo in Rooster (HBO) COLMAN DOMINGO as Danny in The Four Seasons (Netflix) DAN LEVY as Nicky in Big Mistakes (Netflix) MATTHEW RHYS as Tom Loftis in Widow's Bay (Apple TV) SETH ROGEN as Will in Platonic (Apple TV) JASON SEGEL as Jimmy Laird in Shrinking (Apple TV) And the Winner Is... STEVE CARELL Rooster  (HBO) Steve Carell has won for Lead Actor in a Drama Series (for The Morning Show in 2020), Lead Actor in a Limited/Anthology Series (for The Patient in 2023) and now for Rooster this year. Watch out if he does a Drama in 2029! I wasn't completely enamored with Rooster but it's a show I wouldn't have liked at all if it wasn't for Carell. Carell has a mixed track record w...

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... ETHAN HAWKE as Lee Raybon in The Lowdown (FX) TOM PELPHREY as Robbie Prendergrast in Task (HBO) MARK RUFFALO as Tom Brandis in Task (HBO) RUFUS SEWELL as Hal Wyler in The Diplomat (Netflix) BILLY BOB THORNTON as Tommy Norris in Landman (Paramount+) JEREMY ALLEN WHITE as Carmy Berzatto in The Bear (FX/Hulu) NOAH WYLE as Dr. Michael Robinavitch in The Pitt (HBO Max) And the Winner Is... ETHAN HAWKE The Lowdown (FX) It's hard to not give this award to Noah Wyle for a second year in a row but Ethan Hawke completely captivated me in The Lowdown . It was an outrageous performance that was somehow grounded at the same time. Despite it being a new show, Hawke gave the character of Lee Raybon such a rich personality that I felt like I had been watching this character...

Today's award is Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited/Anthology Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... JAMIE BELL as Niall in Half Man (HBO) MICHAEL CHERNUS as John Wayne Gacy in Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (Peacock) RICHARD GADD as Ruben in Half Man (HBO) OSCAR ISAAC as Joshua Martin in Beef (Netflix) MATTHEW MACFADYEN as Charles Guiteau in Death by Lightning (Netflix) MICHAEL SHANNON as James Garfield in  Death by Lightning (Netflix) And the Winner Is... JAMIE BELL Half Man (HBO) Half Man was a real grim watch. It didn't work for me on all levels but the performances of the leads was very powerful. None more-so than Jamie Bell, who was such an interesting character. On first glance, he seems like the far more sympathetic character but as you get to know his character better, you see how flawed he is and how much he is to blame for the doo...

Today's award is Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series! Past Awards in This Category:  2025     2024     2023     2022     2021     2020 This year's nominees are... JANELLE JAMES as Ava Coleman in Abbott Elementary (ABC) JUSTINE LUPE as Morgan Williams in Nobody Wants This (Netflix) CHRISTA MILLER as Liz Bishop in Shrinking (Apple TV) KATE O'FLYNN as Patricia Moyer in Widow's Bay (Apple TV) MICHELLE PFEIFFER as Shyanne in Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV) MEGAN STALTER as Kayla Schaefer in Hacks (HBO Max) JESSICA WILLIAMS as Gaby Evans in Shrinking (Apple TV) And the Winner Is... JESSICA WILLIAMS Shrinking (Apple TV) Jessica Williams has been a huge boon to Shrinking since the beginning but she leveled up in the third season with her best season yet. She had some great comedic moments as always but also had the scene of the year with her monologue and rage towards Brett Goldstein's Louis. I could watch that scene ove...