BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: October 26, 2026
Welcome back to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at Hulu's Phony and NBC's Newlyweds. Plus, the latest episodes of Cupertino, Abbott Elementary and 9-1-1 as well as my Top 10 Shows starting with U and some NFL thoughts!
WHAT'S NEW
I've been very curious about the new Hulu series Phony but was very unsure of what it would be like with little buzz and a trailer that didn't really convey the tone. I'm pleased to say that I was very engrossed in the first two episodes, which centered on teenager Sonny Cooke's (Sam Nivola) belief that his mother, Ellen (Connie Britton) is an imposter when he wakes up from a serious car accident. Unlike some mystery shows, I am really very curious about the resolution to this mystery. So many shows do a great job with build up and struggle with the payoff so I'm still a bit leery, but it's been awhile since I've really wanted to know "answers" when it comes to a show. Even a show like The Lowdown, which I love, is more about the journey then the destination. But I am really curious about the destination for this one.
Which is not to say that I don't also enjoy the journey with this show. I thought the dynamics within the high school were pretty fun and I actually loved the first couple "before the accident" scenes that showed Nivola as a friend to all and the dynamics within the school with his mother, the principal. I actually think there could have been a whole dramedy in that world without the mystery element. But the show has a bit of a quirky tone with the scenes with other students that let me know this show is not taking itself too seriously. I'm definitely in for the rest of the season on this one with hopes that the show sticks the landing.
Shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation are among my all-time favorite TV shows but one of my biggest complaints since the rise of single camera sitcoms thanks to those shows and many others is how dumb multi-cam sitcoms so often seem. This was the genre that was home to some of the best written shows in TV history: The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers to name a few. And yet, when's the last time we had a truly great multi-cam sitcom? Many would probably say The Big Bang Theory. I would go back further and say Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond. Nowadays, it has sadly become the lowest common denominator for TV comedies and the laugh track, which never felt odd, feels like a symbol of a regressive and bad TV show.
Which brings us to Newlyweds, the new NBC sitcom starring real life couple Tea Leoni and Tim Daly with guest appearances from co-creator Jamie Lee Curtis. All three are likable actors but this show is a dud. It's not the worst multi-cam sitcom of the last decade but it's just another in a long line of disappointments. Leoni and Daly have a natural chemistry and Curtis is giving it her all, but the writing is so bad and the rest of the cast (Leoni's on-screen kids do not talk like actual human beings and yet they aren't even as bad as the absurd character Arvid played by Bill O'Neill). I would love nothing more than a great multi-cam sitcom in the world but it's been a long time and I'm starting to think that will never happen again.
Also...
I have not yet checked out the third season of Nobody Wants This but plan to. Memo to Netflix - the binge drop makes me far less likely to keep up with a show. If it was a weekly drop, I absolutely would have watched the first episode or two by now.
LAST WEEK ON...
This week was my favorite episode of Cupertino to date and I give a lot of that credit to Renee Elise Goldsberry who joined the cast this week as a powerful attorney with a connection to Michael (Mike Colter). Goldsberry was fully in command in a role that was suited to her strengths. By adding her and her Girl5Eva co-star Busy Phillips in consecutive weeks, the show is already bolstering its cast and potential stories. I am also very encouraged by how they have so far blended the overarching story and the case of the week. They have done it a lot better than the legal show it replaced on Thursday nights, Matlock. The cases have been intriguing but they feel in service to the larger story and also haven't taken away from the larger story. That is not easy to pull off for a broadcast procedural but Cupertino is doing it very well right now.
Abbott Elementary
I think the new season of Abbott Elementary has been a little up and down but one thing I am appreciating so far is that they seem to have made a conscious effort to re-focus the stories on the school after last season spent more time on the personal lives of the teachers. I just wish the stories were a little bit better so far. The best possible storyline they had was Gregory going into administration as Ava's assistant principal and they seemed to have completely forgotten about that detail in the most recent episode.
9-1-1
Every year, I feel like I just have to get through the first couple episodes of 9-1-1 before I can get to the series I love. Zoo animals are loose in the city! A tsunami! Athena goes to space! The list goes on. This year is about a volcano in Los Angeles. I've always liked 9-1-1 most when it's been dabbling in absurd cases for one week and one week only. The multi-part "disaster" openings are played out and feel like something they just feel like they have to do at this point. I'm sure they'll do it again next fall. I'm just saying.
THE BEST TV ALPHABETICALLY: LETTER U
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 U!
I wasn't sure if I would be able to do "U" by itself and it's really tight but there were at least more than 10 shows starting with U that I could consider so I decided to do it. This show being on the list is absolutely more a product of limited options but it did nobly attempt to infuse the real life situation if Afghanistan into its second season premiere.
9. Undateable (NBC, 2014-2016)
Another show on this list because of a noble attempt. This comedy tried to do a third season full of entirely live episodes. It didn't really work but I liked the attempt to return to 1940s style programming with the weekly live sitcom episodes.
8. Unsolved Mysteries (NBC/CBS, 1987-1999)
This was a show I saw from time to time growing up and I'm sure I could get hooked back in if I had the time to watch shows like this because true crime is addicting. And yes, I know there have been many reincarnations of this show but I haven't seen any version since the original broadcast run.
7. Undeclared (FOX, 2001-2002)
I've only seen one episode of Undeclared but I really liked it and I know it draws a lot of similarities to the stellar Freaks and Geeks. The second Judd Apatow network show that was cancelled too soon is definitely on my list to finish someday.
6. Up All Night (NBC, 2011-2012)
This was a show with a lot of promise: Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph starring in an NBC sitcom! But it could never quite get the tone right and was often two shows in one. I gave up sometime during the first season but I remember feeling like it was pleasant enough.
5. Under the Dome (CBS, 2013-2015)
I remember the first few episodes of this show being quite riveting and I'm pretty sure I watched at least the entire first season. It definitely doesn't seem like a three season show which is why I gave up but it certainly had its strengths and was probably more fit for the streaming era.
4. The Undoing (HBO, 2020)
This was one of those COVID shows where it felt like everyone was home watching it. It was preposterous and yet addicting. I think it would annoy me now when I have better things to do but I was glued to the TV to find out what happened in 2020.
3. The Unicorn (CBS, 2019-2021)
A gentle sitcom that I haven't thought about in years and basically forgot about until I saw it on the list for shows that started with U. It was a different type of role for Walton Goggins but he was still quite charming in the show and the supporting cast was strong too. Crazy how it was memory-holed for me.
2. Unbelievable (Netflix, 2019)
A harrowing limited series that was a tough but compelling watch. A trio of brilliant performances by Merritt Wever, Toni Collette and Kaitlyn Dever really made this work. It's not a show I would watch again but I thought it was really well done and a thought-provoking and worthwhile effort.
1. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix, 2015-2019)
I've probably mentioned before how the Tina Fey and Robert Carlock sitcom factory is not quite my vibe. But I absolutely loved the first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I tired of it eventually but that first season with the wide-eyed Ellie Kemper and the absolute delight that was Tituss Burgess, was a really fun season. The later seasons had their highs too but I think it went on too long and slipped into the type of joke-telling that bother me with Fey/Carlock work.
NFL MUSINGS
Here's some thoughts on a Week 7 that saw two undefeated teams go down and one winless team get their first victory before the week wraps up in Philadelphia between two spiraling teams in the Cowboys and Eagles.
- I doubt anyone had the Minnesota Vikings as the last undefeated team and they might be one of the oddest 6-0 teams in NFL history. They still strike me as a team that is not as good as their record indicates but sometimes when a team just keeps winning like this, they grow into being a juggernaut and that could happen here. Obviously the defense is already there, but that offense...
- Meanwhile, good for the Dolphins for getting a win after showing scrappiness all year. Obviously they are severely undermanned and are not going to win many games this year, but they have played hard for new coach Jeff Hafley all year so it's nice to see that get rewarded.
- I feel like the Ravens are turning into one of those teams where everyone thinks they are going to be better than they are. Lamar Jackson can't stay on the field and they can't finish games. Conventional wisdom was that the new coach would light a fire under them but this team looks the same as the late-era Harbaugh teams and we're turning into Charlie Brown and the football with this team (for the record, I have been more down on them in the last two preseasons so I am not Charlie Brown here).
- The NFC South is better this year than last year but they are full of confounding teams. Carolina seemed like the best team in the division only to get completely trounced by Tampa Bay this week. Atlanta seemed to be on a downswing but then knocked off the mighty 49ers this week. And the Saints bounce between showing a ton of fight and looking completely lifeless.
- This was definitely a week of "get right" games for the Broncos, Rams and Seahawks. Yes, the Broncos had been winning but it had been so ugly that it felt like they were coming off a loss while the Rams and Seahawks were on a rough slide. But all three had dominating wins, none more impressive than the defending champs just trouncing the previously undefeated Chiefs. With the 49ers losing, the NFC West is starting to tighten back up.
COMING UP
Halloween Week and the World Series mean a quieter week for premieres. Netflix is getting into the micro content game with Minimum Wage dropping today. The comedy, starring Randall Park and a bunch of teenage actors, has a 28 episode first season with each episode only being about 12.5 minutes. The first half of the season premieres today. On Friday, Apple TV has the series premiere of the dark rural Pennsylvania-set drama Nocturne, starring Liev Schreiber, Stephen Graham and Zazie Beetz. Also premiering Friday is the second season of Dexter: Resurrection on Paramount+. Finally, Sunday brings the return of the Emmy-nominated drama The Gilded Age for its fourth season.
I am now a contributor to The TV Ratings Guide and posting them there on Tuesdays. Check it out!
Comments
Post a Comment