I appreciate how much thought and care you obviously put into making the best choices for the site/newsletter, for readers, and even for the shows themselves. Finding the right balance between the needs of the business, obligations to subscribers, and dedication to the television medium seems quite challenging, but your reasoning makes sense—and I'm grateful for the transparency, as always.
For what it's worth, as a subscriber, I would like it to be known that there are many, many reviews I have yet to grace with my clicks simply because I haven't had time for those shows yet. I'm not the most current TV viewer; instead, I maintain long lists of things that interest me and tackle them when I can, often years after they were fresh. What series have been covered here is sometimes a factor in what I choose to watch and when since I know I can look forward to reading reviews and discussion in between episodes. What I'm trying to say is that, while I'm probably not checking out the reviews for a lot of limited series at publication, I usually do intend to later, since there's very little covered here that doesn't interest me. That's probably not very useful, and I'm just one subscriber, but I wanted to put it out there.
the Slow Horses conundrum is kind of a blow. Some of us subscribe and watch show after show we have no interest in get covered and the ones we do get ignored. I understand the need to chase the moment, but is there really more interest in an OC rewatch or a bad reality show like survivor than one of the best spy shows on TV in years with a bravura performance by Oldman. Put me in the old man yelling at cloud on this one.
I find reality TV insipid. Not scripted enough to have juice but edited too heavily to be a game. I understand people like it though. I feel that a site geared toward TV should prioritize scripted content and current shows. But each their own
Thanks for explaining your thinking Myles. I’m sad the limited series coverage didn’t get more reader attention as they were interesting shows and the discussions here were very good. Looking forward to this fall’s schedule!
Me too! To be fair, there were some gaps between comments (which were pretty uniformly bad) and readership (which was less bad than the comments compared to other reviews), so I know some folks were reading without commenting and don’t want to say that’s inherently bad. But when it’s a matter of balance, the one-and-done shows that seem to draw crickets are going to be the first to go.
As someone banging the drum in the comments about Slow Horses, I appreciate the explanation. Hadn't considered the point that this is season 4 of the show and that might be an obstacle compared to a show earlier in its run. Looking forward to discussing it in chat; perhaps we'll get a week-to-week newsletter when it ends?
Sorry to hear those limited series didn't get much traction. I'm immediately part of the problem. A lot of them sounded interested, but early reviews I read kind of killed my interest, and I just didn't get a chance to dive into them (and of course there's no reason to now watch them since there won't be a second season).
"...Hulu is launching four episodes of the Natasha Rothwell comedy How to Die Alone before shifting to weekly for the other four. I don’t like either of those models, and hope that whatever research data they’re getting will get us somewhere more solid in the future."
I know streamers are trying to find a balance between binging and weekly, but I have to agree with this. If you're dropping more than two episodes the first week I feel like I'm already behind, especially since I am very much not a binger.
I love Slow Horses and will continue to ride or die with it in the chat. (An aside, does anyone know where episodic reviews are happening? I haven't found any and really think this is a gap in the world as it's the best show on TV.)
I always go into limited series with the idea to engage with them on here but, honestly, most of them suck. Masters of Air was pretty mid that I gave up on it a few episodes in, and the others never really caught my attention. I don't know if the "10-hour movie" syndrome has finally burned me out on limited series or if streamers are just greenlighting half-baked ideas to drive subscriptions but I'm over it.
As for the rest: I am excited to see how St. Denis goes--I love Superstore and enjoyed American Auto even if it didn't feel as essential to me. Excited to see what Spitzer can do in the medical comedy field. Will I care about Agatha All Along? I've soured on almost all the Marvel shows (and movies by now) but Wandavision was exceptional. I'll give it a shot but feeling unsure about it. And I'm not even gonna bother with The Penguin.
Sad news about Slow Horses, but I do understand the reasoning. Looking forward to Shrinking!
One (binge-released, unfortunately) series I’m enormously looking forward to is ‘Say Nothing’ on FX; an adaptation of a fascinating book, a stellar cast, and Michael Lennox’s brain touching on events that are still raw. Could be remarkable…
I also appreciate the explanation of why coverage of Slow Horses S4 doesn't make sense at the moment, and will check out the conversation in chat. I'm looking forward to the coverage of Silo and Agatha All Along. Especially looking ahead to Dune: Prophecy, can I put in a plea for a reviewer with more than passing familiarity with or casual interest in the lore? It's rather frustrating to read reviews that write off lore-intensive shows due to "bad" writing/characterization when that assessment is partially related to a lack of familiarity with the subtler points of related lore.
In terms of binge release, I was hoping Batman: Caped Crusader would have some kind of coverage. It’s an imperfect but welcome new take on the Dark Knight, and proves that Bruce Timm’s tendencies are better for television than films, give or take Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker.
Appreciate the thought and all the work put into this community!
I gave the Regime a solid try but your criticisms of it were fair and I dropped it for similar reasons. It also seems like I stopped reading about it online at all. The Sympathizer, however, was really interesting, and I did finish it and appreciate both the show and its reviews here - I just wish I had had more interesting thoughts to share in the comments.
Excited for Agatha All Along (please don't screw this one up, Marvel...the trailers look great), Silo coverage (even though I'm so-so on the show itself, I'd like to read other viewers' thoughts!). The Penguin I'm iffy on since he was fine in The Batman, but I don't know if I care for a whole TV series about him.
The Franchise is definitely intriguing. I listen to the podcast The Rest is Entertainment (highly recommend for anyone interested in what goes on behind the scenes in tv, movies, music, news etc) and one of the hosts is a writer for The Franchise so she has dropped little tidbits here and there about it, although of course she's never been allowed to say a whole lot.
FWIW, wikipedia lists The Penguin as airing on sunday nights after its Thurs premiere (I guess after Industry ends?) No idea if thats accurate or why they would schedule it that way, but it would indeed for the sunday night drama slot to be empty the whole rest of the year.
Rough year for the Josh Spiegel Beat. I don't have high hopes for the Penguin and everything else he's covered here (admirably, to be sure) has kind of landed with a thud for one reason or another
I guess in general, I'd like to see more shows I watch covered, but on the other hand, my tastes skew so much toward comedy-- and away from shows that receive lots of hype-- that any TV-reviewing business that tried to cater to me would probably not be successful.
I had lunch with Emily St. James in the wake of the A.V. Club's "cover everything under the sun" moment, and I remember so vividly the way she made clear that what we had done was truly insane. I covered Strike Back! Top Chef Masters! And it worked because in the beginning weekly reviews were $30 a pop, and it was the wild west, but even at those rates it wasn't sustainable practice from a business perspective. However, for anyone who was reading during that time, it created an imagined model where there was a review for EVERYTHING you might be watching, and it's hard to shake that desire for a more personally curated experience when the system once worked to give it to you.
For sure. And 15 years ago or so, in my late twenties, I was probably more inclined to check out shows just because they were popular or buzzy, which made it more likely I'd have something to read about them and somewhere to discuss them as well. I still occasionally do that, but in my early forties, I have a better understanding and acceptance of my own tastes (which is not to say I won't try new things, but I have often found that what makes TV click for me isn't always the same thing that gets it a lot of hype or praise elsewhere).
And, a lot of the shows I like, like I said, are just comedies, so I don't know how much there would be to critique or discuss with them other than "What was funny and why?" (although I would certainly try). And you actually have covered almost all of my favorite dramas and story-based comedies of the last couple of years-- Shōgun, Hacks, The Righteous Gemstones, The Curse, etc. (And the ones that used to be favorites but I didn't think were so good their last couple of seasons-- Barry and Ted Lasso.)
I guess mostly I'd like to see shows I really like given more attention, at least, so that people will check them out, even moreso than weekly reviews. Which is, I suppose, a lot of why I do my own occasional TV writing, and a year in review every year since 2017. Last year's serves as a pretty good sampling of where my tastes lie:
(I won't be offended if you don't take a look, but you definitely can't if I don't provide the link, so.)
Anyway, examples of such shows: English Teacher and Mr. Throwback right now; Digman!, Royal Crackers, American Auto, Solar Opposites, Shoresy are some examples of the last couple of years. (Especially with the latter two, I thought there'd be more of a natural audience from Rick and Morty and Letterkenny, respectively. And I don't know why American Auto didn't get more traction after Superstore ran six seasons-- I thought it was really good, especially, like Mr. Mayor, in season two.)
Paul T. Goldman and The Great are two examples of shows that didn't really get covered anywhere that I do think would've had a ton for viewers to discuss, but they also never really seemed to catch on with a bigger audience. (I can't understand why The Great didn't in particular, given the apparent popularity of other period-piece costume-dramas.) Black Monday from a few years ago is another great example-- as funny as you'd expect from a David Caspe show but also a really engaging story. And I think I've run out of things to say other than continuing to list shows I like, so I'm going to stop.
I appreciate how much thought and care you obviously put into making the best choices for the site/newsletter, for readers, and even for the shows themselves. Finding the right balance between the needs of the business, obligations to subscribers, and dedication to the television medium seems quite challenging, but your reasoning makes sense—and I'm grateful for the transparency, as always.
For what it's worth, as a subscriber, I would like it to be known that there are many, many reviews I have yet to grace with my clicks simply because I haven't had time for those shows yet. I'm not the most current TV viewer; instead, I maintain long lists of things that interest me and tackle them when I can, often years after they were fresh. What series have been covered here is sometimes a factor in what I choose to watch and when since I know I can look forward to reading reviews and discussion in between episodes. What I'm trying to say is that, while I'm probably not checking out the reviews for a lot of limited series at publication, I usually do intend to later, since there's very little covered here that doesn't interest me. That's probably not very useful, and I'm just one subscriber, but I wanted to put it out there.
I, for one, would love to see coverage of Dune: Prophecy!
Co-sign!
the Slow Horses conundrum is kind of a blow. Some of us subscribe and watch show after show we have no interest in get covered and the ones we do get ignored. I understand the need to chase the moment, but is there really more interest in an OC rewatch or a bad reality show like survivor than one of the best spy shows on TV in years with a bravura performance by Oldman. Put me in the old man yelling at cloud on this one.
"a bad reality show"
I don't watch Survivor, but I think those are fighting words for some on here.
I am willing to fight
As one of the loudest yelling for Slow Horses and also a diehard Survivor fan, I am so conflicted by your comment. 😅
I find reality TV insipid. Not scripted enough to have juice but edited too heavily to be a game. I understand people like it though. I feel that a site geared toward TV should prioritize scripted content and current shows. But each their own
Thanks for explaining your thinking Myles. I’m sad the limited series coverage didn’t get more reader attention as they were interesting shows and the discussions here were very good. Looking forward to this fall’s schedule!
Me too! To be fair, there were some gaps between comments (which were pretty uniformly bad) and readership (which was less bad than the comments compared to other reviews), so I know some folks were reading without commenting and don’t want to say that’s inherently bad. But when it’s a matter of balance, the one-and-done shows that seem to draw crickets are going to be the first to go.
As someone banging the drum in the comments about Slow Horses, I appreciate the explanation. Hadn't considered the point that this is season 4 of the show and that might be an obstacle compared to a show earlier in its run. Looking forward to discussing it in chat; perhaps we'll get a week-to-week newsletter when it ends?
Sorry to hear those limited series didn't get much traction. I'm immediately part of the problem. A lot of them sounded interested, but early reviews I read kind of killed my interest, and I just didn't get a chance to dive into them (and of course there's no reason to now watch them since there won't be a second season).
"...Hulu is launching four episodes of the Natasha Rothwell comedy How to Die Alone before shifting to weekly for the other four. I don’t like either of those models, and hope that whatever research data they’re getting will get us somewhere more solid in the future."
I know streamers are trying to find a balance between binging and weekly, but I have to agree with this. If you're dropping more than two episodes the first week I feel like I'm already behind, especially since I am very much not a binger.
I love Slow Horses and will continue to ride or die with it in the chat. (An aside, does anyone know where episodic reviews are happening? I haven't found any and really think this is a gap in the world as it's the best show on TV.)
I always go into limited series with the idea to engage with them on here but, honestly, most of them suck. Masters of Air was pretty mid that I gave up on it a few episodes in, and the others never really caught my attention. I don't know if the "10-hour movie" syndrome has finally burned me out on limited series or if streamers are just greenlighting half-baked ideas to drive subscriptions but I'm over it.
As for the rest: I am excited to see how St. Denis goes--I love Superstore and enjoyed American Auto even if it didn't feel as essential to me. Excited to see what Spitzer can do in the medical comedy field. Will I care about Agatha All Along? I've soured on almost all the Marvel shows (and movies by now) but Wandavision was exceptional. I'll give it a shot but feeling unsure about it. And I'm not even gonna bother with The Penguin.
Vulture recaps Slow Horses and pretty much everything else
But I want my money to go here
Sad news about Slow Horses, but I do understand the reasoning. Looking forward to Shrinking!
One (binge-released, unfortunately) series I’m enormously looking forward to is ‘Say Nothing’ on FX; an adaptation of a fascinating book, a stellar cast, and Michael Lennox’s brain touching on events that are still raw. Could be remarkable…
I also appreciate the explanation of why coverage of Slow Horses S4 doesn't make sense at the moment, and will check out the conversation in chat. I'm looking forward to the coverage of Silo and Agatha All Along. Especially looking ahead to Dune: Prophecy, can I put in a plea for a reviewer with more than passing familiarity with or casual interest in the lore? It's rather frustrating to read reviews that write off lore-intensive shows due to "bad" writing/characterization when that assessment is partially related to a lack of familiarity with the subtler points of related lore.
In terms of binge release, I was hoping Batman: Caped Crusader would have some kind of coverage. It’s an imperfect but welcome new take on the Dark Knight, and proves that Bruce Timm’s tendencies are better for television than films, give or take Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker.
Appreciate the thought and all the work put into this community!
I gave the Regime a solid try but your criticisms of it were fair and I dropped it for similar reasons. It also seems like I stopped reading about it online at all. The Sympathizer, however, was really interesting, and I did finish it and appreciate both the show and its reviews here - I just wish I had had more interesting thoughts to share in the comments.
Excited for Agatha All Along (please don't screw this one up, Marvel...the trailers look great), Silo coverage (even though I'm so-so on the show itself, I'd like to read other viewers' thoughts!). The Penguin I'm iffy on since he was fine in The Batman, but I don't know if I care for a whole TV series about him.
The Franchise is definitely intriguing. I listen to the podcast The Rest is Entertainment (highly recommend for anyone interested in what goes on behind the scenes in tv, movies, music, news etc) and one of the hosts is a writer for The Franchise so she has dropped little tidbits here and there about it, although of course she's never been allowed to say a whole lot.
FWIW, wikipedia lists The Penguin as airing on sunday nights after its Thurs premiere (I guess after Industry ends?) No idea if thats accurate or why they would schedule it that way, but it would indeed for the sunday night drama slot to be empty the whole rest of the year.
An update: HBO has apparently decided to move Penguin to the Sunday slot starting with the second episode on 9/29.
Myles, you gotta update the "Calendar" tab at the top of the page
I’m glad I didn’t, honestly, because I had to change them when I realized HBO is pushing episode 2 of Penguin to two Sundays after the premiere?
like a 10 day wait between episodes? what do they think this is ? the NFL?
Rough year for the Josh Spiegel Beat. I don't have high hopes for the Penguin and everything else he's covered here (admirably, to be sure) has kind of landed with a thud for one reason or another
English Teacher weekly recaps would've been fun.
I guess in general, I'd like to see more shows I watch covered, but on the other hand, my tastes skew so much toward comedy-- and away from shows that receive lots of hype-- that any TV-reviewing business that tried to cater to me would probably not be successful.
I had lunch with Emily St. James in the wake of the A.V. Club's "cover everything under the sun" moment, and I remember so vividly the way she made clear that what we had done was truly insane. I covered Strike Back! Top Chef Masters! And it worked because in the beginning weekly reviews were $30 a pop, and it was the wild west, but even at those rates it wasn't sustainable practice from a business perspective. However, for anyone who was reading during that time, it created an imagined model where there was a review for EVERYTHING you might be watching, and it's hard to shake that desire for a more personally curated experience when the system once worked to give it to you.
For sure. And 15 years ago or so, in my late twenties, I was probably more inclined to check out shows just because they were popular or buzzy, which made it more likely I'd have something to read about them and somewhere to discuss them as well. I still occasionally do that, but in my early forties, I have a better understanding and acceptance of my own tastes (which is not to say I won't try new things, but I have often found that what makes TV click for me isn't always the same thing that gets it a lot of hype or praise elsewhere).
And, a lot of the shows I like, like I said, are just comedies, so I don't know how much there would be to critique or discuss with them other than "What was funny and why?" (although I would certainly try). And you actually have covered almost all of my favorite dramas and story-based comedies of the last couple of years-- Shōgun, Hacks, The Righteous Gemstones, The Curse, etc. (And the ones that used to be favorites but I didn't think were so good their last couple of seasons-- Barry and Ted Lasso.)
I guess mostly I'd like to see shows I really like given more attention, at least, so that people will check them out, even moreso than weekly reviews. Which is, I suppose, a lot of why I do my own occasional TV writing, and a year in review every year since 2017. Last year's serves as a pretty good sampling of where my tastes lie:
https://www.the-solute.com/tag/best-tv-2023/
(I won't be offended if you don't take a look, but you definitely can't if I don't provide the link, so.)
Anyway, examples of such shows: English Teacher and Mr. Throwback right now; Digman!, Royal Crackers, American Auto, Solar Opposites, Shoresy are some examples of the last couple of years. (Especially with the latter two, I thought there'd be more of a natural audience from Rick and Morty and Letterkenny, respectively. And I don't know why American Auto didn't get more traction after Superstore ran six seasons-- I thought it was really good, especially, like Mr. Mayor, in season two.)
Paul T. Goldman and The Great are two examples of shows that didn't really get covered anywhere that I do think would've had a ton for viewers to discuss, but they also never really seemed to catch on with a bigger audience. (I can't understand why The Great didn't in particular, given the apparent popularity of other period-piece costume-dramas.) Black Monday from a few years ago is another great example-- as funny as you'd expect from a David Caspe show but also a really engaging story. And I think I've run out of things to say other than continuing to list shows I like, so I'm going to stop.