TV Check-In, 2024

I think this Slog has done a decent job of tracing the highlights of ambitious TV over the past 16 years. If you’re looking for binges, start off with my “You’ll Never Be Whole Until You View” list from 2021 here, and then browse, in reverse chronological order, my other TV writings.

The following is more of a spot-check than a thorough catch-up. Just me hollering from the couch. As always, my main source for recos is Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall, whose taste comes reasonably close to my own. I suggest subscribing to his (free) email newsletter here, in addition to reading his Rolling Stone critiques.

If Alan doesn’t review a series, I read Donald Feinberg at Hollywood Reporter. And, for comic takes of series in-progress, I sometimes scan Brian Grubb’s feed at Uproxx (if you ever rewatch Succession, definitely follow up each episode with Grubb’s “Power Rankings”).

ON QUEUE
I have a pretty exciting to-watch queue (these are all current or very recent shows). I haven’t supplied links, but just Google “[Show Name] Sepinwall”:

The Jinx Part 2 on HBO/MAX. You may recall the wildly popular true crime series ten years ago about Robert Durst, the extremely strange and sinister real estate scion who “killed them all”. Durst died a few years ago, after serving some time. But director Andrew Jarecki (himself a super-rich scion) never stopped digging, and apparently has new juicy revelations. Nothing’s leaked; we just need to tune in.

Ripley (Netflix) Yet another take on “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Along with Shogun, this is the current hot show among TV nerds. As Sepinwall notes in his newsletter, the Matt Damon film really stands up, and is worth another view, too.

Three Body Problem (Netflix) I’m a super-fan of Liu Cixin’s sci-fi trilogy, a deliberate invocation of 1950s-style sci-fi, particularly Asimov. No one goes Cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs for Netflix’s TV adaptation, so it seems to be no substitute for the book (which I recommend even though characterization - ala 1950’s sci-fi - is pancake-flat and pacing can be maddening). But people I trust dig the show as its own thing, and say it’s a big improvement in terms of drama.

The book’s very worth plowing through because the ideas; my god, the ideas are just astounding. Don’t sweat any spoilers, just definitely read the book (or, better, listen on audiobook) and maybe check out the series, too. I'd think of them as different entities.

The Pigeon Tunnel (Apple) The great Errol Morris interviews the great John La Carre. What more do you need?

Mr & Mrs Smith (Amazon) I’m a huge Donald Glover fan due to his series, “Atlanta”, which I’ve written about before. This is nothing like Atlanta, but everyone seems to really enjoy it.

Formula 1 (Netflix) I’ve been watching this series all along, not for revelation or subtlety, but for top-drawer brainless entertainment. Very well produced. New season recently dropped.

Against All Enemies (Apple) Sepinwall raves.

The Sympathizer (HBO/MAX) Sepinwall raves

Einstein and the Bomb (Netflix) Curious about how Einstein fit into the atom bomb development?

Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War (Netflix) More meaty Manhattan Project exegesis, filling in around “Oppenheimer” et al.

Fallout (Amazon) with the great Walter Goggins. Supposed to be solid sci-fi (Feinberg liked it better than Sepinwall did).

Silo (Apple) I watched this in its original run. It’s one of those shows I didn’t love while watching it, but it really stuck with me. I’m gonna rewatch. It hits some Logans Run nerves.

RECENTLY VIEWED
In no particular order (though all are at least somewhat recommended; I’m leaving off shows I disliked, e.g. “The Crown”, “Yellowstone”, “The Peripheral”, “Raised by Wolves”, recent seasons of “For All Mankind”, etc.)

Deadwood (HBO/MAX) Yeah, I’m late to the party. But great. Shakespeare. Deeply moving. Viscerally inhabit 1870s South Dakota and participate in the camp’s growth from untamed frontier outpost to legit American town. A legend.

Cockpit Casual (YouTube) A sardonic airliner repo guy casually circles the world bringing this or that huge empty plane from here to there, dressed like a slacker. If this sounds dull, this might not be for you. But if it interests you even slightly, I promise this will exceed expectations. I lap this up like candy, wishing it would come out more frequently (as-is, the guy’s doing all the shooting and editing himself, plus he’s got a company to run and planes to fly).

Boardwalk Empire (HBO/MAX) I recently caught up on this. It never made me feel like I was wasting my time, and it has its moments, but, like everyone says, it’s not greater than the sum of its parts. Yet, like Mad Men, it’s sunk into the culture so deeply that you almost need to have watched it to be fully literate.

The Story of Film (Prime) Quirky, personal look through the history of cinema. An overcompensated effort to deemphasize Hollywood and pump up “foreign” cinema, which is fine by me (just never imagine it’s authoritative). I took a jillion notes of titles I need to check out (refer to Justwatch.com for streaming availability). I’ve been pretty hooked on (quality) TV, which has left me reluctant to dig into film. This reignited my interest.

Telemarketers (HBO/MAX) I just loved this. Hard to describe this portrait of the lovable shmucks, losers and creeps working in the industry, produced by those very same lovable shmucks, losers and creeps. But it works as pure art.

Peaky Blinders (Netflix) Ala Boardwalk Empire, this tale of Victorian gypsy gangsters is very good, very atmospheric, and very expensive, but never quite great. But, also like Boardwalk Empire, it’s baked into the culture, so you should probably watch it.

The Booth at the End (free with ads on Prime) Mind-fuck actorly series shot on a shoestring, extremely well-done, not at all flamboyant. I won’t spoil it, but this is a good series to watch on your phone. Short compact episodes are useful at moments where you don’t want to commit to anything longer. Perhaps the ideal content for airplane travel.

How To with John Wilson (HBO/MAX) Started off seeming like yet another self-indulgence by a quirky filmmaker (I imagine the producer telling the director, who also narrates, “let’s try it again with more stuttering”), but blossomed into something devastatingly beautiful. Stick with it. Watch carefully.

Beef (HULU) Everyone’s talking about it, I took my time finally viewing, but it’s GREAT. First, just a terrific piece of writing and ensemble acting. Second, it’s the most true-to-life look at restaurant culture you’ll ever see.

Primal (HBO/MAX) Hard to describe. Maybe you think you don’t like animation. This is different.

Scavengers Reign (HBO/MAX) Hard to describe. Maybe you think you don’t like animation. This is different. Also: totally different from Primal. And this is wildly popular, while Primal was cult-only. I loved both.

Reservation Dogs (HULU) I hated late seasons of MASH, when the cast and crew started feeling like they “had something special,” and it went from a funny war satire to a show where every damned week we were force-fed another Very Special Episode. 

It’s great to see a real native show produced by real natives about what things are really like on the reservation. But they got high on their own supply, and  while this is a very good show on purely artistic terms, it might have been great had the creators focused their sights on purely artistic terms rather than making this a flamboyant ONE FROM THE HEART or whatever.

Steve! (Apple) Steve Martin, before/after his phenomenal rise as a stand-up comedian, and the eject button he suddenly hit to completely bail out from it. I’m hardly subjective, having experienced a disorienting trajectory of my own, at 1/100000th scale. But I understand how he feels, and I can see his lingering disorientation, and I understand. It may be less interesting for others, Idunno.

Shogun (HULU) Everyone’s talking about it. Real plotty, so I need to read recaps (Vulture’s are reliably good). I’m not quite as berserk over this show as everyone else seems to be, but it’s definitely well worth watching.

Tokyo Vice (HBO/MAX) Basically Shogun set a few centuries later, a tale of warring yakuza factions. And I’m way more into this than Shogun. Another series where I require Vulture recaps, though.

Bad Surgeon (Netflix) The story (which I won’t spoil) is so eye-bugging that you won’t initially notice what a lazy, crappy job the filmmakers did (read this Reddit thread after viewing). Still, don’t miss it. How on earth is this not a bigger story?