BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: October 5, 2026
Welcome back to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am taking a look at Netflix's East of Eden and HBO's War. Plus, the latest episode of Ted Lasso, my Top 10 Shows starting with R, the Oscar Race for Supporting Actor and Actress, some NFL Week 4 thoughts and more!
WHAT'S NEW
I have never read East of Eden and actually knew next to nothing about it before diving into the Netflix limited series. But the positive reviews made me intrigued. While some have probably finished the series already, I am two episodes in and really enjoying the show. The first episode is the story of two brothers, Adam and Charles (played as adults by Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist) while the second episode focuses primarily on Cathy (played as an adult by Florence Pugh). I would imagine this is the last episode that is filled with flashbacks and the future episodes will start being told in a more linear fashion.
While I don't always love back stories and flashbacks, these first two episodes were very well put together and very clear to someone who has no knowledge of the source material. Abbott, Faist and especially Pugh are all strong but so were their younger counterparts as was Tracy Letts as Adam and Charles' father in the first episode. The production values are top notch and the episodes were quite engaging start to finish (even though the second episode ran around an hour... grr). Even though it is not important IP to me personally, it's nice to see the show that is getting the most buzz at the moment comes from a novel that is nearly 75 years old.
If War was on Netflix or some platform other than HBO, I think I would have been less interested because I would know exactly what that show would be - a glossy, sometimes lurid melodrama that might be entertaining but ultimately feel sort of shallow. The fact that it was on HBO made me much more interested. Even though HBO doesn't hit 100% of the time, they almost always see something interesting in a property and that's how it ends up on their channel. I wasn't sold on War for a lot of the first episode, which premiered this past week. But I did get sold after the last ten minutes that really crystallized what the show will be going forward. The first episode had an awful lot of exposition to get through and while it was told decently with sleek production values, I just wanted to get to the heart of what the show was going to look like on a weekly basis. I feel much more encouraged after the intense end to the episode and look forward to seeing what comes next.
LAST WEEK ON...
Ted Lasso had its penultimate episode of the season with the (SPOILER) death of recurring character Mae (Annette Badland). I'll reserve judgment on this story until I see how it impacts the finale, but it feels a little like it was done for no other reason than to hit everyone in the feels, which is not the reason to do something like that. Given that she was a smaller (albeit quite beloved) character, I'm not sure how much this impacts the other character journeys so then it makes me question why and questioning if it was a manipulative move. But again, we'll see. Maybe I'll be surprised in the finale. Speaking of the finale, it feels like there are a lot of unresolved stories and a fifth season feels inevitable. I'm curious to see how things wrap up. Aside from my reservations already listed, I have been happy with how much more focus the team has gotten in recent episodes and Tanya Reynolds continues to just be incredible.
THE BEST TV ALPHABETICALLY: LETTER R
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). I will include Q at the end with some other letters that don't have many shows. This week, I am looking at letter R.
I really loved the first season of Russian Doll with its twisty plot and unique look at New York City. I didn't enjoy, and don't remember much of, the second season which is why it is only at #10. The first season alone as a limited series would have probably charted higher.
9. Rooster (HBO, 2026-Present)
The newest entry on the list, I thought the first season of Rooster was up and down. But I have high hopes for it to improve the way Bill Lawrence comedies often do. It already has a great performance by Steve Carell at the center.
8. Reading Rainbow (PBS, 1983-2006)
I love the theme song. Reading Rainbow was never one of "my" PBS shows as a kid but I always enjoyed when we got to watch it at school (probably because we were watching a TV show). It's impact though on reading and kids in incalculable.
7. Revenge (ABC, 2011-2015)
This show fell off the deep end and I gave up on it eventually but I will always remember fondly that first batch of episodes set in the summer in the Hamptons. It was such a delightfully twisted soap that I so badly wish had been a limited series.
6. Rugrats (Nickelodeon, 1991-2004)
While I'm more partial to Doug, I also loved Rugrats as a kid. It's been a long time since I've revisited the show but I wonder what I would think of it now as a parent of a rugrat myself. It was definitely a clever concept that maybe got overexposed and overdone during its long run but before it was everywhere, it was just a clever Nicktoon.
5. The Righteous Gemstones (HBO, 2019-2025)
A very unique show that had its ups and downs but the highs were awfully high with a great satirical look at megachurches and the incredibly unique performance from Edi Patterson as Judy Gemstone, one of TV's great creations.
4. Roseanne (ABC, 1988-1997, 2017)
It's easy to look down on this show because the original run ended so badly and then the revival went down in flames thanks to its star's horrible tweets. But it was groundbreaking television with the way it portrayed a blue collar family and those early seasons of the show are comedic greatness that make it easy to see why it was a phenomenon.
3. Rhoda (CBS, 1974-1978)
While it lost its way eventually, Rhoda was one of the first and best TV spinoffs, taking a beloved character from The Mary Tyler Moore Show in her own world. Yes, the show never quite knew what to do with the character as she went from married to divorced but it had some great episodes and characters and the MTM polish.
2. The Rosie O'Donnell Show (Syndication, 1996-2002)
I've been all over the place on Rosie O'Donnell since she ended her talk show but she has remained endlessly fascinating. However, she was at her best in her less jaded version when she was a starstruck, pop culture obsessed Queen of Nice who had the most joyful hour on TV for several years. I don't think it was all an act, I think she changed a lot over the years which is ok. But my favorite era of Rosie was this talk show era, a staple of after school watching in the late 90s for my family.
1. Ripley (Netflix, 2024)
One of my favorite shows I've watched since doing this blog. This pristine black and white limited series was never afraid to be silent and its stunning cinematography is among the best there has ever been on TV. I haven't revisited the show because I'm not much of a re-watcher but I absolutely will come back to this show at some point and marvel at it all over again.
AWARDS CORNER
Last week, I took a look at the Lead Actor and Actress races for the Oscars. This week, I am taking a look at the always competitive and hard to predict Supporting Actor and Actress races (ranked from most to least likely):
Best Supporting Actor
1. Paul Giamatti, The Debut
2. Sam Rockwell, Wild Horse Nine
3. John Leguizamo, The Odyssey
4. Colman Domingo, Michael
5. Guitarricadelafuente, La Bola Negra
Keeping an eye on: Robert Pattinson (The Odyssey), Edward Norton (The Invite), Steve Buscemi (Wild Horse Nine), John Goodman (Digger), Jeremy Strong (The Social Reckoning)
Best Supporting Actress
1. Anne Hathaway, The Odyssey
2. Penelope Cruz, La Bola Negra
3. Samantha Morton, The Odyssey
4. Mariana Di Girolamo, Wild Horse Nine
5. Olivia Colman, Elsinore
Keeping an eye on: Penelope Cruz (The Invite), Tao Okamoto (All of a Sudden), Sandra Huller (Project Hail Mary), Glenn Close (La Bola Negra), Esme Creed-Miles (Sense and Sensibility)
NFL MUSINGS
Here are some thoughts after a Week 4 in the NFL that saw a myriad of injuries, some teams get back on track and others fall into a deep hole with one more game to go on Monday night: a "Domecoming" in New Orleans commemorating the 20 year anniversary of the re-opening of the Superdome against the same team in that iconic 2006 game: the Atlanta Falcons:
- There are three undefeated teams left standing: the 49ers and Chiefs (are we already nervous about yet another Super Bowl between those two teams?) and the Minnesota Vikings. I'm having a hard time getting my head around the Vikings. Obviously their defense is ferocious but they needed a furious comeback to beat the Packers in Week 1 and slugged it out for a 9-3 win against the Bears in Week 2 before escaping two undermanned Florida teams in the Bucs and Dolphins the last two weeks. So I think their defense is legit, but do I think this team is? I'm not sold yet.
- Yes, their last two wins have come against the Titans and the Cardinals but as last year's Patriots showed, you can play your schedule well right into contention and the New York Giants are 3-1 and 2-0 since losing QB Jaxson Dart for the season. Sometimes a young team just needs to build some confidence before pretending becomes reality. I'm not saying that will happen with the Giants when they face tougher teams, but I don't think they're going away anytime soon.
- I predicted a Rams-Texans Super Bowl before the season started, and I still feel pretty good about half of that prediction. Nothing has been easy for the Rams and you could sense the euphoric relief when they came back to defeat the Eagles, but this is still a team capable of beating anyone. For the Texans though, they dropped a game they really needed to win and the Jaguars and Colts are quickly pulling away from them in the division with decisive wins. It's real close to being over for a promising team and their defense is not playing anywhere near as lights out as last year. CJ Stroud is playing OK but what does a terrible season mean for his future?
- Joe Burrow has gotten everything he wanted. He is healthy. His receivers, while injured today, are the best duo in the league and he finally has a defense that has made things easier on the offense (save for their Week 3 meltdown against the Steelers). But so far, Burrow is not holding up his end of the bargain. He is not coming through in the clutch when he is in positions to win games. Burrow is still an elite talent and he will likely get it together but it would be very ironic if Burrow can't come through when everything is finally clicking around him after he was the sole reason the Bengals were competitive in many games in recent years.
- Although they suffered their first loss of the season, this might have been the most impressive performance from the Las Vegas Raiders yet. Yes, they broke down in the fourth quarter but they were running right with the Chiefs that entire game and had plenty of chances to win. If they can build from here, they will continue to be a factor in the AFC playoff field.
COMING UP
It's a very busy week of premieres thanks to CBS's premiere week. The network that still has the most scripted shows in its arsenal is trotting out all of them this week (it began last night with Marshals and Tracker). Tonight brings Season 9 of FBI and Season 2 of CIA. Tomorrow is NCIS night with the mothership leading things off and beginning its 24th season. That is followed by the newest entry to the NCIS-verse with LL Cool J returning to the franchise and teaming up with Scott Caan in NCIS: New York, which should fit like a glove in the lineup. Ending the night is the third season premiere of NCIS: Origins. Thursday is the most intriguing night as the return of Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage (Season 3) and Elsbeth (Season 4) are joined by two new shows. The vampire comedy Eternally Yours comes from the team behind Ghosts and will try to succeed while keeping the timeslot warm for Ghosts. The night ends with the premiere of one of the more anticipated broadcast shows in awhile: Cupertino from Robert and Michelle King. The Kings being behind the show have given it more attention from critics than your average broadcast show these days. Finally on Friday, CBS has the return of Sheriff Country for Season 2, Fire Country for Season 5 and Boston Blue for Season 2.
There are several other premieres in addition to CBS shows. Tuesday has the return of Reasonable Doubt on Hulu, a show that is quietly already heading into its fourth season. Wednesday has the premiere of Carrie on Prime Video. Based on the Stephen King novel and classic horror movie, the show comes from horror master Mike Flanagan and has gotten mixed reviews thus far. Also premiering Wednesday is the sixth season of Abbott Elementary on ABC and the return of the Chicago shows on NBC: Chicago Med (Season 12), Chicago Fire (Season 15!) and Chicago PD (Season 14). Thursday has Netflix's suspense thriller Below starring Josh Hartnett and the return of Law & Order: SVU for a continuously record-breaking Season 28 and Law & Order for its sixth revival season and 26th overall. Finally on Friday, Netflix has the second season premiere of its animated Haunted Hotel.
I am now a contributor to The TV Ratings Guide and posting them there on Tuesdays. Check it out!
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