Welcome to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Margo's Got Money Troubles, the season finale of The Pitt and the latest episode of Hacks. Plus my Top 5 Shows Starting with K and a look at the Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series races at the Emmys.
The newsletter will be taking a one week break next week. It will be back on Monday, May 4!
WHAT'S NEW
Apple TV's new dramedy kicked off this week with pretty solid reviews and I'm here to add to the chorus of voices saying this is a charming and fun show. Although I was excited about the cast, I wasn't totally sure about the premise which basically read as a "a young mom turns to Only Fans to make money." That is really underselling what this show is. The Only Fans story got a lot of attention (especially in conjunction with a similar story on Euphoria) but in Margo's, she doesn't even get her first "fan" until the very end of the third episode in the three episode premiere.
This is really a great family dramedy with top-notch performances from the lead actors. Elle Fanning is really commanding the title role and a sympathetic character (see more on here below). Nick Offerman seems to be combining a ridiculous persona with a whole lot of heart. Greg Kinnear is playing an interesting role that seems likely to grow. And, most of all, Michelle Pfeiffer is just brilliant and having a great time in her role. Pfeiffer has made lesser projects great in recent years (The First Lady, The Madison) and here she is in a winning show and getting back into comedy for the first time in forever, and she does it with reckless abandon and pizzazz.
There have been many TV stories about women navigating a pregnancy and a baby with little to no support and yet this all felt very fresh despite the familiar story. I think it was super important for the first three episodes to be what they were because it makes the turn to Only Fans very organic - not comedic and not in a way that it would be easy to judge Margo. I'm sure the show will get a little more salacious given the premise but they have done the necessary ground work to set up the rest of the season. I'm excited to see where things go.
Also...
This was a busy week so I haven't gotten a chance to check out the second season of Beef yet but I am looking forward to it!
LAST WEEK ON...
Well, now Thursday nights will be a little more empty again until January 2027 because another season of The Pitt has come to an end. I feel like I don't always have a lot to say about this show on a week-to-week basis because it's a show I have blinders on. I always find critiques more interesting to post, even shows I love (see below). But I just like to sit and watch The Pitt. Sometimes I'll hear a critique from somewhere else and say "wow, I didn't even think about that." So, needless to say, I loved the finale. I got a lump in my throat watching so many of my favorites in the fireworks scene and I thought it was a fitting and quiet end to the season for Robby, who was not bringing the ED together the way he did in Season 1. I also think the emergency C-section scene was one of the most harrowing and most impressive "doctor" scenes The Pitt has ever done. Is it January yet?
Hacks
The second episode of the final season of Hacks just didn't really work for me. That's not to say there weren't some funny moments - there always are especially from Meg Stalter, who is firing on all cylinders this season. But I felt like everything felt a little too easy in this episode. Deborah's attitude changed thanks to one brief conversation. Her fans turned around based on one short moment. And, most egregious, the MSG rejection turned around after a very brief montage of fan support. I don't know if they just have too much plot for this final season and had to rush through it, they sort of rushed through the EGOT idea in the first episode too, but I would like to see Hacks slow things down a bit even with limited time left.
THE BEST TV ALPHABETICALLY: LETTER K
In honor of 2026, I am looking at the 26 letters of the alphabet and listing my Top 10 TV Shows of All Time that start with that letter (no "The" or "A" don't count as the first letter of a show). This week, I am looking at letter K, which ha to just be a Top 5.
Yeah, if I thought I and J were tough, K was absolutely brutal. I couldn't even stretch it to include ten shows and these Top 5 wouldn't even sniff a Top 10 of several other letters. I have watched bits and piece of The King of Queens here and there. It's fine. That's all I got.
4. The Kelly Clarkson Show (Syndicated, 2021-Present)
I don't think I've ever watched a full episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show but I've seen clips and I like Clarkson. It's always good to have a good-hearted daytime talk show in an era with less and less of them (and of course, Clarkson is heading off the air this year).
3. Kenan (NBC, 2021-2022)
I really love Kenan Thompson. I've enjoyed him on Saturday Night Live for forever. His own show was pretty disappointing in terms of the material he was given, but he was still enjoyable on the show and did the best he could with it.
2. The Kids Are Alright (ABC, 2018-2019)
This 70s set comedy came towards the end of ABC's family comedy decade. I watched the whole series for its one and only season and haven't revisited but I have mostly good feelings about the show. It wasn't the best ABC family comedy or the worst. There were a lot of good to great shows in that era on the network.
1. The Kominsky Method (Netflix, 2018-2021)
A sign of streaming: this ran for three seasons over four years but ended with one less episode than The Kids Are Alright. I really enjoyed the first season of this show but then there were diminishing returns after Alan Arkin left. It's not a show I've felt the need to re-visit, but I enjoyed it when I watched it. And thank goodness we're done with K. L should be much better.
AWARDS CORNER
While the Lead Actor race already seems over (it would be a big upset if Noah Wyle didn't repeat), the Lead Actress race is more open with the defending champion (Britt Lower) not eligible and some intriguing possible winners including a critical darling, the recent Actor Award winner and a two-time former champion back in the mix for the first time in four years. Here are my current forecasts for the two races:
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
1. Noah Wyle, The Pitt
2. Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
3. Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
4. Mark Ruffalo, Task
5. Walton Goggins, Fallout
6. Peter Claffey, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Just Missing: Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat
Also in the Mix:
Billy Bob Thornton, Landman
Jon Hamm, Your Friends & Neighbors
Morgan Spector, The Gilded Age
Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager
Antony Starr, The Gilded Age
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
1. Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
2. Zendaya, Euphoria
3. Keri Russell, The Diplomat
4. Kathy Bates, Matlock
5. Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
6. Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
Just Missing: Michelle Pfeiffer, The Madison
Also in the Mix:
Chase Infiniti, The Testaments
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Marisa Abela, Industry
Ella Purnell, Fallout
Kristin Scott Thomas, Slow Horses
COMING UP
As we start to wind down on the Emmy eligibility season, there are less big premieres but there's still a fair number over the next two weeks (a reminder that there is no newsletter next week!). Today, Prime Video has the premiere of the animated comedy Kevin, a series about a talking cat in Brooklyn voiced by Jason Schwartzman. On Wednesday, Apple TV has the second season premiere of Criminal Record, a show last seen in January 2024. On Thursday, Netflix has the animated series Stranger Things: Tales from '85 as they continue to try to expand the universe of their biggest and recently ended hit. Also premiering Thursday on Netflix is the second season of the Kate Hudson comedy Running Point. Another Thursday premiere is Richard Gadd's first project after Baby Reindeer with HBO's dark Half Man. The following week has two intriguing premieres. On Wednesday, April 29, Apple TV has the premiere of Widow's Bay, a horror comedy starring Matthew Rhys. And then the next day, Netflix has the action thriller Man on Fire starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
If you are looking for my Pilot Re-Reviews that have been in this newsletter before, I am now a contributor to The TV Ratings Guide and posting them there on Tuesdays!
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