BENJAMONSTER NEWSLETTER: November 9, 2026
Welcome back to my Monday newsletter! This week, I am looking at the third season of St. Denis Medical and the second season of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins plus the latest episodes of Phony, Abbott Elementary and Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage. Also, a Top 10 of shows starting with the letters Q, V, X, Y and Z and some NFL musings from Week 9!
WHAT'S NEW
THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS SEASON 2
Two NBC comedies returned this week for their new seasons. I don't suspect I'll often write about St. Denis Medical this season, but it has evolved into a rock-solid workplace comedy. I thought the first season was a little rocky as the show was finding its way before it was more assured in its second season and then hit the ground running for Season Three. While it may never reach the levels of shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation, it is solidly on a Superstore-level tier, a comedy I really enjoyed. Characters who frustrated me at first (David Alan Grier, sometimes Wendi McLendon-Covey) have become more nuanced and funnier. The sweet romance between Matt and Serena (Mekki Leeper & Kahyun Kim) is one of the best since Jim and Pam, and the show had a great start to the season by acknowledging its massively successful fellow medical show The Pitt in a funny way. I hope St. Denis sticks around for a long time.
As for The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, I watched the whole first season but I decided I am officially out on the series. It really bothers me with how much I struggle to put into words what bothers me about the Tina Fey and Robert Carlock sitcom factory. I know a lot of TV critics are huge fans who consider 30 Rock one of the best comedies ever. They always point to how many jokes and references their shows can cram in but I just really hate that style of writing. I hate how everything is ironic or a play-off of words. Trust me, I like my comedies to be funny (ahem, The Bear). But I want the characters to be real and I want some real human qualities. Most Fey/Carlock characters are cartoons making "look how smart and clever we are" references and I just decided I need to be done s I stop getting annoyed on a weekly basis with a TV show.
LAST WEEK ON...
I've been a big supporter of Phony but this was the first week that I started to get frustrated. It's time for this show to give us some answers. This was the fourth episode and there's really not much more that we have found out since the first episode. I mean seriously, what has Sam Nivola's Sonny figured out now that we are halfway through the season? It makes me nervous that this show will ultimately prove to be a letdown. I still do like the vibes of this show, but I need some answers.
Abbott Elementary "Courtney"
I think this week's episode of Abbott Elementary was the strongest of the season so far. It was yet another school-related story, and I've appreciated that there have been so many of those this season. But this week had some really good stories with some different pairings. While I will miss Luke Tennie in the cast, I thought his character's take on teaching was real and honest. I also am very intrigued by the show going down the Barbara retirement story.
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage "A Snotty Attitude and a Party on a School Night"
I don't think I've written about Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage since its premiere but I felt it worth mentioning that I think this show has really found its groove in its third season. I often lament how bad multi-cam sitcoms are (Newlyweds was the latest abomination). This isn't at the level of the great multi-cams of yesteryear but it is more sure of itself and its brand of comedy, especially as the characters have settled in. It's a very pleasant week to week watch that has leveled up in its own broadcast multi-cam way.
THE BEST TV ALPHABETICALLY: LETTER Q, V, X, Y, Z
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 finishing things off with a grab bag of Q, V, X, Y and Z because none of them had enough shows I have seen (or remotely liked) to make a list.
Despite there being five letters to choose from, it was still a tough list to put together. I actually don't remember a ton about this series except being intrigued by the setting and the performances. It was an early entry in the streaming era and might be worth a re-look at some point.
9. Yes, Dear (CBS, 2000-2006)
This was your standard fare CBS sitcom of that era. Not as good as Everybody Loves Raymond but I did like it more when I caught it than The King of Queens (sorry Kevin James fans). It wasn't anything special but it was an easy background show.
8. The View (ABC, 1997-Present)
I've never been a regular viewer of The View but I've been fascinated by its controversies and news-making moments over the year. I have read parts of the book "The Ladies Who Punch" and thought that was really interesting. YouTube clips are better than the show when it comes to this one.
7. Quiz (ITV/AMC, 2020)
This is a show I watched among so many prestige shows in the COVID year and it's one that I would like to re-visit. I find any game show cheating scandal interesting and this was a competently done dramatization in a nice, clean three episodes.
6. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (NBC, 2020-2021)
A very quirky dramedy that had several winning performances, I wanted this to be a little better than it was but I admired the ambition, especially on network TV in the 2020s. I think there was a really good show in there that just needed a bit more focus.
5. Yellowjackets (Showtime/Paramount+, 2021-Present)
I did not stick with Yellowjackets, I gave up at some point in the second season. But I really enjoyed the first season and its twisty, disturbing plot. It was always gonna be a tough sell for me so it's more surprising how much I liked the first season than the fact that I gave up on it.
4. Zoobilee Zoo (Syndication, 1986-1987)
I know, you probably have no idea what this is. This is 100% a nostalgia ranking. This children's show was a favorite of mine as a child. It's super cringy to watch now but I'm always going to have a soft spot in my heart for the Zoobles and their crazy adventures.
3. The Voice (NBC, 2011-Present)
I don't watch The Voice anymore but I was all in for a few of the early seasons. I still think those blind audition rounds were a great twist on what American Idol had been doing for many years by the time The Voice premiered. It's tough that no winner has really made it huge but I'm sure I'd still enjoy it if I was still watching.
2. Young Sheldon (CBS, 2017-2024)
I didn't watch The Big Bang Theory but I somehow ended up watching every episode of Young Sheldon. It felt a lot closer to ABC's family sitcoms than Big Bang. With warm-hearted performances and a gentle spirit, it was a nice and steady show for a long time.
1. The Queen's Gambit (Netflix, 2020)
Another COVID year show except this one I remember quite well. One of the best limited series in an era where we had many great ones, The Queen's Gambit somehow made chess super cool while making a star out of Anya Taylor-Joy. With pristine production values and a unique directorial eye, it was deserving of being the huge hit that it was.
NFL MUSINGS
Here are some thoughts on a Week 9 with mostly expected results and some blowouts before the week wraps up with a big showdown between the Bills and Vikings in Minneapolis tonight.
- As we are about at the halfway point and the trade deadline looms, the two conferences are in very different situations when it comes to the playoff race. In the AFC, it's starting to get hard to imagine that we don't already know six participants: Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Kansas City and Denver while the last spot seems likely to be New England or possibly Houston as Cleveland and Las Vegas seem to be fading. The divisions are still anyone's game (except the South - congratulations Jacksonville). But the teams feel like they're starting to lock in.
- But the NFC is far, far less predictable in both good and bad ways. You have the Giants and Cowboys battling for one spot from the East and you have all four teams very much alive in the putrid South. So that's two spots guaranteed for the division winners and six of the eight teams realistically having a shot. For the other five spots, there are seven teams who seem legitimately strong contenders: every team in the North and every team in the West. To think that two teams out of Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota, San Francisco, LA Rams and Seattle will miss is wild. I'm always a proponent for not realigning the playoffs and keeping the division winners an automatic spot because it's the best apple to apples comparison and winning a division should mean something. But man, it's going to be tough to see two of those other teams sitting at home as it stands right now.
- His oblique injury may mess this up a bit, but there should be a world where the Seahawks consider sitting Sam Darnold for Drew Lock. Yes, I know Darnold won a Super Bowl for them last year. But he has made so many mistakes that have lost games for them. Their ceiling might be higher with Darnold, but Lock is not making mistakes and letting the defense do their thing. In a really tough division, that is how Seattle wins games.
- I was very wrong to bury the Packers so early in the season (and I am a Packers fan). They thoroughly dismantled the Patriots on their home turf today and Jordan Love is playing out of his mind with Christian Watson and now Matthew Golden. It looks like the WR by committee approach of the last couple years wasn't the right approach because they now might have the best WR duo this side of Cincinnati. If they somehow got Jonathan Taylor, they would be a legitimate Super Bowl threat (if they can survive their division).
- Speaking of that division, we'll see what happens tonight. But if Josh Allen and the Bills hand the Vikings their second straight loss, it's not hard to see Minnesota fading quickly in the division race the same way Cleveland has in the AFC North.
- I feel like it hasn't been talked about enough, but the downfall of the Los Angeles Chargers is staggering. Yes, they always tend to feel disappointing but this was a playoff team the last two years. And now they are 0-8 with absolutely no answers. It's truly stunning when you take a step back. Nobody, and I mean nobody, thought they would be anywhere close to this bad and many (like me) thought they were maybe ready to take a step forward with Mike McDaniel coming on board as OC. What a disaster.
COMING UP
This week has a few notable premieres. On Wednesday, Netflix has the premiere of The Body, a supernatural horror series that seems a bit like it could have come from Ryan Murphy. It could be a guilty pleasure hit for the streamer. Also premiering Wednesday is the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video. Once one of the most anticipated TV shows, the show now enters its third season with next to no buzz. On Thursday, Peacock has the premiere of the Rose Byrne/Meghann Fahy drama The Good Daughter, which will try to tap into the same audience that made The Five Star Weekend and All Her Fault hits on Peacock. On Friday, Apple TV has the premiere of 12 12 12. I've been interested in this show for awhile because the logline is very interesting to me. I'll be curious to see the reviews. Finally on Sunday, Prime Video has the premiere of the sixth and penultimate season of The Chosen.
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