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
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. Aside from a little bit of a flourish to kick the episode off, it was fully still the show I fell in love with last year. It's just another hour at another shift at the ER. Trying to do too much, especially in the premiere, wouldn't have made sense for a show grounded in realism.
I know there is some hope for a night shift spinoff starring Shawn Hatosy and another scene with the night shift charge nurse, Lena (Lesley Boone) made me full on-board with that internet dream. I think the show was effective at showing where the characters would be about 10 months after the first season. The residents were more confident as they would be after being on the job. There wasn't dwelling on a mass casualty event that is now firmly in the past (though not gone from their minds). The addition of Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) provides a different dynamic and conflict for Noah Wyle (as well as a mystery at the end of the episode). My only quibble? I thought Taylor Dearden's Mel was dealt a bit of a bad hand in the premiere in terms of her material. And she has a deposition scheduled for the 4th of July? That seems a bit strange.
Also...
I watched the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night and don't have much to say. It was mostly a retread of the Emmys with The Pitt, The Studio and Adolescence cleaning up. I did get all my TV predictions right though so there's that! As far as the telecast itself, I enjoyed Nikki Glaser again but I thought the production was a mess. From the very annoying announcers (though they did seem to modify as the shows went on) to the second year in a row of a really weird choice for presenting the nominees, it just wasn't any good. And I didn't think the presenters or speeches were particularly interesting either.
I checked out the premiere of Best Medicine on FOX. It was a bit aggressively quirky but it had its charms in a fun setting. I'm not sure if Josh Charles is a great fit for this role but I think he's a good actor so maybe he'll find his way. I always enjoy Abigail Spencer and Annie Potts. I'm not sure I'll stick with this long term but I'll give it another look. I also watched one episode of His & Hers but tapped out on that one. It felt like a bunch of shows I've seen before and not a show I want to devote six hours to.
LAST WEEK ON...
After a strong end to the previous season, I felt like Abbott Elementary has meandered a bit this season with some good moments but a general lack of focus. The decision to move the school to an abandoned mall (due to a busted furnace) was exactly what this show needed to get itself focused this season and this week's episode was the best one so far. This was despite a few things that didn't make sense (how long has this mall been abandoned because parts look like they've been dead for forever but there's also very fresh Christmas decorations and setups? But I digress). It just felt like a fresh jolt for the show that still kept it firmly in the school world while giving a new setting and, as someone who lived through teaching online during the pandemic, I laughed out loud at the reaction to the new teacher's suggestion to just do school on Zoom. While they can't do the mall thing forever, I hope it lasts several episodes because I think it could be remembered as a very strong arc when all is said and done.
Chicago Med
No medical show is going to come close to The Pitt but I have to acknowledge that the only other medical show I watch regularly is having a pretty good season. The episode before the winter hiatus (which I just watched recently) was super intense and well done while the first episode back this week had an interesting way of portraying resolutions to a lot of the storylines. This isn't an Emmy winning show, nor should it be, but it has the potential to go on a good run of episodes sometimes thanks in large part to a strong current cast including Sarah Ramos, Steven Weber, Darren Barnet and the always reliable Oliver Platt and S. Epatha Merkerson. For what it's worth, Chicago Fire has long been my favorite Chicago show but I think Med is better this season.
Landman 2x9
2026 PREVIEW
There's a lot of great TV coming in 2026! Some have premiere dates or windows, others are likely to come in 2026 but not confirmed. Here are the ones that sound the most interesting to me. I did not include returning shows like The Pitt (see below), Shrinking (coming Jan 28) and many more including Euphoria, Hacks, Ted Lasso and others.
Honorable Mention
12 12 12 (Apple TV, TBD)
Half Man (HBO, TBD)
DTF St. Louis (HBO, TBD)
Phony (Hulu, TBA)
Widow's Bay (Apple TV, April 29)
10. Lucky (Apple TV, TBD)
There's no premiere date yet for this show, so it seems more like a fall release. It's also a little vague in a logline as it's about a woman who was raised in a life of crime and reformed but now must dip her toe back in. As with so many Apple shows, the question is the execution but the cast is spectacular. This cast includes Annette Bening, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Timothy Olyphant and William Fichtner. However, the reason this show is on this list is because it marks the return of Anya Taylor-Joy in her first series role since The Queen's Gambit and that has me very excited.
Formerly known as American Love Story (like American Horror Story, American Crime Story and American Sports Story), this is Ryan Murphy's latest anthology series and the first season is centered on the romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in the 1990s leading to their tragic deaths in 1999. Murphy is so very mixed for me but generally I've liked his shows that don't have to do with horror or serial killers more and this is certainly in that camp. It's a topic that interests me more than some Murphy shows but I'm definitely approaching this with trepidation.
8. Imperfect Women (Apple TV, March 18)
Another year and another list of star-studded entries from Apple that could go either way in terms of quality. I'm hopeful for this one because of the cast: Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, Kate Mara, Joel Kinnaman, Corey Stoll, Leslie Odom Jr., Sheryl Lee Ralph and more are among the regulars and recurring players on this one. The logline sounds a little vague but it broadly seems to be about female friendship and betrayal. Again, we've seen shows like this a million times so what will make this stand out is if the cast lives up to the expectations of their names.
7. Big Mistakes (Netflix, TBD)
There isn't too much known about this show but the logline is "two deeply incapable siblings are blackmailed into the world of organized crime." Which sounds funny enough but then sounds extra funny when you learn that one of the siblings is played by Dan Levy, who also co-created the show. Levy played the "messy sibling" role so well on Schitt's Creek and I'm excited to see what he does with this show, which also stars Taylor Ortega, Laurie Metcalf (yay) and Elizabeth Perkins among others.
I'm mixed on David E. Kelley's shows but this one sounds like a good one. Based on the best selling novel about a young mother who turns to Only Fans to make ends meet, what has me excited is the cast. This series stars Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer and the cast also includes Nick Offerman, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden and others. Sometimes these star-studded Apple TV spectaculars turn out disappointing but I have high hopes that this will be a good one.
5. The Land (Hulu, TBD)
Known for a long time as "Untitled Dan Fogelman NFL Drama," this is not confirmed to launch in 2026 but I have a feeling it might be a fall release to coincide with football season. Dan Fogelman has lost a little bit of his goodwill with me from This is Us with the messy Paradise but this is more the type of show where I think he can shine (he also created the short-lived but intriguing Pitch). This show has a sprawling cast of regulars and recurring players including Christopher Meloni, Chace Crawford, Omar Epps, William H. Macy and This is Us alum Mandy Moore. I love the NFL and I loved This is Us. Will I love them put together? We'll see...
4. Dig (Peacock, TBD)
Although not confirmed for 2026, I'm guessing this show will be on the air this year, probably in the fall. The series reunites Amy Poehler and Michael Schur more than a decade after Parks and Recreation left the air. The show has a unique premise with four women working at an archaeological dig in Greece and also stars Fina Strazza (who was excellent on Broadway in John Proctor is the Villain last year) and Hugh Laurie. But this is all about re-making a match made in heaven: Poehler and Schur. Bring it on!
I'm not sure how this show will be but I am putting it so high on this list because it seems like the most ambitious a network TV drama has been in a couple years. It feels much more like a streaming drama and I really hope it does well because I don't want the networks to completely abandon higher concept ideas. Just like I want streamers to lean into high quality versions of network shows like The Pitt, I want networks to not abandon higher aims on a broadcast style and Memory of a Killer seems like it could be that show. Starring Patrick Dempsey and Michael Imperioli, I thought the trailer looked very intriguing and I'm excited to check it out.
2. American Classic (MGM+, TBD)
MGM+ is one of the few streaming services I don't subscribe to but I'll become at least a temporary subscriber when American Classic launches. The series stars Kevin Kline as a narcissistic Broadway star who returns to his hometown to run his family's community theater after a public meltdown. I love the premise alone and in addition to Kline, the series includes Laura Linney, Jon Tenney, Jessica Hecht, Len Cariou and more. I think this sounds like a real winner and I'm excited to see what the actual tone is - is is a straight comedy or more a comedy with heart?
Steve Carell continues to be a regular presence on TV but Rooster feels like the best TV vehicle for him since The Office. His brand of humor and his more recent forays into drama seem tailor made for a Bill Lawrence comedy. Lawrence has nailed the humor and heart on Shrinking and mostly on Ted Lasso, and I think together with Carell - starring as a college professor and author - that will happen again here. I will follow Carell anywhere but I'm more hopeful than usual that he has found the perfect project for his talent.
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 think Harry's Law is a good example of how my TV tastes have evolved when it comes to dramas. I feel as though I've had good discernment of TV comedies back to my childhood but I will admit, my drama tastes were pretty limited until about 5-10 years ago. So when I watched a show like Harry's Law, I thought things like "wow, Kathy Bates is amazing" or "this show is so quirky and fun." I'm not saying that Kathy Bates isn't great in this role, she does single handedly elevate this material. And I'm not saying the show isn't quirky or fun because it can be both of those things. But I'm less impressed by it now because I've since watched shows I could have been watching at the time Harry's Law was on like Mad Men and Breaking Bad to name just a couple. I think I knew it wasn't perfect but I maybe didn't know what perfect looked like. I do still think this was better than your average network procedural. It has a charm and quirkiness that most network procedurals do not. It felt goofy and it wasn't taking itself too seriously. I think a lot of that was the David E. Kelley influence. It had his writing style, at least at the time before he got more into the melodrama of shows like Big Little Lies and The Undoing. The cast was strong across the board. Bates was of course the standout and brought gravitas that really helped elevate the show. I think this is the most I've ever liked Nate Corddry in something and Brittany Snow is charming as usual even if the show didn't know how to use her. So I think Harry's Law was a solid show but it was still a network procedural at the end of the day.
What Happened to the Show: Midway through the 2010-11 season, NBC was in very dire shape. This was about a year after the Jay Leno 10pm debacle and a few months before The Voice started to turn around their fortunes. NBC had a terrible fall for their new shows and here came this little legal drama so expectations were low even with Kathy Bates starring and David E. Kelley writing. It surprised when it premiered in January 2011 with an old skewing demo but higher viewer totals than pretty much everything else on NBC at the time besides football. Although it felt like a CBS drama with its skew and high total viewer count, NBC was happy with it and easily renewed it for a second season while Bates earned a surprise Emmy nomination for the show. In its second season, it aired on Wednesdays at 9pm against hits Modern Family, Criminal Minds and the new The X-Factor. The show skewed even older and the viewer total wasn't as impressive though it still wasn't bad. NBC cancelled the series after two seasons and 34 episodes. Bates of course returned to network TV and the legal procedural world in 2024 with her acclaimed turn in Matlock on CBS.
COMING UP
January is a busy month for premieres with another slew of them coming this week. On Tuesday, Hulu has the third season premiere of Tell Me Lies. The twisty show has its fans, but hasn't broken through in the young adult space like some have. On Wednesday, Apple TV has the return of Hijack, last seen back in Summer 2023. This time, Idris Elba is dealing with a situation on a train instead of a plane. There are several premieres on Thursday starting with the latest Star Trek series as Star Trek: Starfleet Academy arrives on Paramount+. Also on Thursday, Peacock has the series premiere of PONIES, a 70s-set espionage thriller that has gotten a lot of promotion lately. Netflix has the three episode run of its mystery series Agatha Christie's Seven Dials while FOX has the return of Animal Control and Going Dutch. Finally on Sunday, HBO has the highly anticipated premiere of the newest Game of Thrones universe series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The show is meant to be a little more grounded than the fantasy elements of Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon so we'll see if it gets the same fanbase.
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