With 22 New Shows To Pick From, TV Is No Longer A Communal Experience
#175: A TV State of the Union, and capsules on 12 shows you should watch
Edition 175:
Hey movie lovers!
As always, you can find a podcast version of this newsletter on Apple or Spotify. Thank you so much for listening and spreading the word!
In this week’s newsletter: We gotta talk about television, again. The number of shows that are “can’t miss” sure makes me miss a lot of them. Then, in this week’s trailer watch, Olivia Wilde is giving us exactly what we want — which is a Harry Styles-Florence Pugh love scene — and much more in her new dystopian drama.
NOTE: For the purposes of this edition, I’ll be using italics for the titles of TV shows. Otherwise all the quotation marks would break your eyeballs. But starting next week it’ll be back to italics for movies and quotations for TV.
A TV State of the Union
Ladies and gentlemen, the state of the TV union is strong.
Perhaps even too strong, one might argue. Two months ago, I recommended 11 different shows (that should’ve been movies) that were simultaneously on the air at the time. It’s only gotten more overwhelming since. This week I set out to list all of the shows that have made some noise in the collective pop culture conversation, each with more than enough sticker appeal to make me want to try them out, and found 22 more projects that have debuted just since my lost post in March.
I look back and laugh now at a time like late 2020, when HBO hit “The Undoing,” a slightly-better-than-average crime drama, held the cultural consciousness for several weeks thanks to the star wattage of Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman. Just 18 months later, three or four shows of that caliber and prestige are coming out every week.
Obviously, in this heavily oversaturated market, it’s impossible to watch everything. My advice to you is the same that I’ve given myself: don’t try to watch a couple episodes of a dozen different offerings, just find your show or couple shows and watch them faithfully.
The real shame of this, other than the FOMO of “have you watched that show? It’s so good,” is that the same quality that makes TV special, its immediacy, also makes it have a far shorter shelf life than movies.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a few shows I mentioned two months ago, and you tell me when’s the last time you thought about or heard somebody talking about them: Pam and Tommy? Inventing Anna? Even buzzy shows of the moment like Station Eleven and Yellowjackets feel lost to time. Meanwhile, the movie that came out on the same day I posted that, March 4, was The Batman. I’ve probably had three conversations about that movie just this week. So if you miss a show now, it’s highly unlikely you’re ever going to “get around to it,” no matter how many times we’ve said that.
The sad reality is that TV, once the embodiment of a communal experience (everybody gathering together around TVs all across the country at the same time on the same night watching the same thing), has now become deeply individual. You’re not watching the same shows as your friends, family, roommates, or significant others, and even if you are, you’re on different episodes and can’t talk about it. Your shows are just that, yours, and no one else’s.
So I could sit here and tell you that Barry is quickly becoming my favorite TV show of all time, its mix of comedy and action and drama always perfectly timed and brilliantly written. I could make an appeal for Tokyo Vice, which is imperfect but viscerally thrilling. Or I could tell you how I almost cried at the beauty and comfort in the season two debut of Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.
But those are MY shows. I’m here to help you find yours. Rather than break down each one, I’m going to do a rapid-fire primer on the current TV slate.
In the interest of full transparency, I’m not going to include these popular shows returning for new seasons which I’m not caught up on. I can say I’ve seen some episodes of all of them and they’re all quite good: Better Call Saul S6 (people are now saying this show is better than Breaking Bad), Atlanta S3 (one of the best shows of the decade), Ozark S4 (first season was great), Hacks S2 (definitely going to watch this), Russian Doll S2 (first season was good), Made for Love S2 and The Flight Attendant S2 (both good but not for me).
A few more I’m knocking off, for my own sanity: Halo (if you’re a fan you’re already watching and if not why bother), Candy (despite the buzz it hasn’t actually premiered yet), and Shining Girls (Elizabeth Moss and Phillipa Soo are great but it’s not a show I’d watch).
That still leaves us with 12 shows to hit:
Barry (Season 3) - HBO Max
IMDB log line: A hit man from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city's theatre arts scene.
Why you should watch: Bill Hader writes like an SNL veteran, directs like a 70s auteur and won an Emmy for his acting in one of the most clever and entertaining shows I’ve ever seen.
For people who like: Coen Brothers movies, Bill Hader, dark comedy, Los Angeles
Tokyo Vice - HBO Max
IMDB log line: A Western journalist working for a publication in Tokyo takes on one of the city's most powerful crime bosses.
Why you should watch: Legendary director Michael Mann’s fingerprints are all over this All the President’s Men meets, well, Miami Vice show that drops fascinating characters into a Japanese-style mafia.
For people who like: Michael Mann movies (The Insider, Heat, The Last of the Mohicans), Japanese Culture, mafia movies, journalism movies
Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy (Season 2) - CNN.com
IMDB log line: Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines.
Why you should watch: Virtual tourism has never been so envy-inducing, as beautiful locations and even more beautiful food are explored with the loving embrace of a trusted friend.
For people who like: Stanley Tucci (duh), Anthony Bourdain, travel shows, Italy
The Offer - Paramount+
IMDB log line: Oscar-winning producer Albert S. Ruddy's never-before-revealed experiences of making The Godfather (1972).
Why you should watch: Behind-the-scenes Hollywood intrigue and a huge scoop of nostalgia in this incredibly rosy-eyed view at the making of maybe the greatest movie of all time.
For people who like: The Godfather, Hollywood stories, The Player, mafia movies, Miles Teller
Slow Horses - AppleTV+
IMDB log line: Follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve as a dumping ground department of MI5 due to their career-ending mistakes.
Why you should watch: James Bond but for screw-ups is a pretty compelling pitch. The setting is wonderfully drab and the writing is tightly wound and confident (if a little slow).
For people who like: spy movies, London, Gary Oldman, “M” in all the James Bond movies
Under The Banner of Heaven - Hulu
IMDB log line: A devout detective's faith is tested as he investigates a brutal murder seemingly connected to an esteemed Utah family's spiral into LDS fundamentalism and their distrust in the government.
Why you should watch: Andrew Garfield puts on an acting showcase in an adaptation of the brutal real life story documented in a book by John Krakauer (“Into the Wild”, “Into Thin Air”).
For people who like: True crime documentaries, Mare of Easttown, Mormonism
We Own This City - HBO Max
IMDB log line: Tells the story of the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption surrounding it.
Why you should watch: The showrunners of The Wire are back with another Baltimore crime show. Enough said.
For people who like: The Wire, Jon Bernthal
Pachinko - AppleTV+
IMDB log line: Based on the New York Times bestseller, this sweeping saga chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive.
Why you should watch: A gorgeously rendered, multi-generational story about the resilience of the Korean people that will make you cry on both sides of the emotional spectrum.
For people who like: Korean cinema, immigrant stories, The Underground Railroad
Gaslit - AppleTV+
IMDB log line: A modern take on the 1970s political Watergate scandal centering on untold stories and forgotten characters of the time.
Why you should watch: Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, and the criminally underrated Betty Gilpin star in a Watergate scandal mini-series. Count me in.
For people who like: Watergate content, 1970s vibes, true crime
Minx - HBO Max
IMDB log line: In 1970s Los Angeles, an earnest young feminist joins forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.
Why you should watch: It’s a super fun, easy to watch comedy that also just so happens to feature a long of shots of male genitalia.
For people who like: Jake Johnson, Boogie Nights, 1970s Los Angeles, journalism movies, strong female characters
The Staircase - HBO Max
IMDB log line: Tells the story of Michael Peterson, a crime novelist accused of killing his wife Kathleen after she is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home, and the 16-year judicial battle that followed.
Why you should watch: The original documentary series from 2004 is in many ways the “first” true crime phenomenon, now cast with Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Sophie Turner, Michael Stuhlbarg and Dane DeHaan.
For people who like: Prestige HBO shows, true crime, The Devil All The Time (same director)
Outer Range - Amazon Prime
IMDB log line: A rancher fighting for his land and family discovers an unfathomable mystery at the edge of Wyoming's wilderness.
Why you should watch: I haven’t watched this show but it seems like a Taylor Sheridan-style western meets crazy sci-fi, and the TV podcast I listen to loved it.
For people who like: No Country For Old Men, Yellowstone, 1883, Sci-Fi, 10 Cloverfield Lane
Trailer Watch: Don’t Worry Darling
It’s sometimes easy to forget, when the news cycle around a movie gets hijacked by the Hollywood gossip machine, that in the there’s an actual movie we have to watch (looking at you, Deep Water). Up to this point, all we’d heard about this movie was the burgeoning romance between star Harry Styles and director Olivia Wilde. But now that a trailer has been released we can talk about something even more exciting, which is an on-screen romance between the male (Styles) and female actor (Florence Pugh) with arguably the highest approval ratings in the industry right now.
Not to mention a deep supporting cast and what appears to be a pretty intriguing premise. I really enjoyed Wilde’s first directorial effort, Booksmart, so I’m really looking forward to what she can do with this Stepford Wives-style dystopian drama with a 50s aesthetic.
Thanks for reading, today and always!