Month-to-Month: Episodic Medium's Spring Schedule
Succession headlines our busiest season yet, with 30+ episodes reviewed each month
One of the natural byproducts of editing a newsletter about episodic television criticism is that you start, well, reading a lot more episodic television criticism.
To be honest, I had fallen out of the habit of this over the past few years. Some of this has to do with work obligations, but I don’t think this was just a “me problem.” Whether it’s because a lot of the theory/speculation content that drove engagement moved to other forms of media (YouTube, podcasts, etc.), or the shift to binge viewing disrupted the “watch and then read the review” to the point that people just stopped wanting to join the less synchronous conversations, I think a lot of people who used to live on sites like The A.V. Club drifted away from it even if we don’t take the Kinja1 of it all into account.
Needless to say, as someone working to build a sustainable business around this criticism, my appetite for it has shifted—over the past year, I’ve seen how engaged dialogue has enriched the experience of watching a show for both the critics writing about it and the newsletter’s subscribers, and I’m back to the episodic criticism evangelism I had circa 2010 when I wrote my first professional reviews. But as I’ve looked at the spring schedule and considered what shows we should be covering, it has forced a question to the surface: while I remain a strong believer that any show benefits from this form of criticism, what are the best uses of a limited budget in an era of Peak TV?
In the interest of transparency, I wanted to offer some insights into this process, with the caveat that this is far from scientific. However, generally speaking, there are two primary reasons we’re adding coverage of something here at Episodic Medium this spring.
To Be Part of the Conversation
Thanks to premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime, and streaming services like Apple and Disney+, watercooler TV has persevered through the binge dynamics of Peak TV, and it’s no shock that their shows have been a central part of our lineup over the last year. Their shows naturally create weekly dialogues among viewers, and our reviews serve as both a part of that conversation and a space where subscribers can join in.
This Spring, this means Ben Rosenstock moves from his “remindercaps” of Season 1 to covering Yellowjackets’ second season on Fridays, when the episodes will debut on Showtime’s non-linear platforms. In addition, after reviewing the third season after binging it last year, Zack Handlen tackles Barry’s fourth and final season starting in April.
But no doubt the biggest watercooler show this spring will be Succession’s fourth and final season, and I’m thrilled to welcome new contributor Erik Adams to cover the show here at Episodic Medium. And while Erik is a great writer, and it’s exciting to have him back writing weekly reviews after his own years at The A.V. Club, I think we can all agree that I gave him this assignment because of the thematic consistency with the time he succeeded me as the site’s The Office reviewer for the final season. Who’s the editor now, Erik? (But seriously—I’m really looking forward to editing his reviews, and the conversation that will result from them.)
To Help Start a Conversation
In some instances, though, episodic criticism isn’t contributing to a significant, ongoing discourse. In reading through comments on the site, people often speak about how seeing a show get coverage has encouraged them to watch, as it’s a sign that a show is worth paying attention to.2
In some cases, these are new shows that feel like they’re going to fit into the above categories. Peacock’s Mrs. Davis is the best example of this, coming with Damon Lindelof’s pedigree and an of-the-moment A.I. premise that feels rife for the kinds of conversations episodic criticism can create. I’m still a bit iffy on whether Peacock shows can really hit the zeitgeist once all the free cable subscriptions lapse, but I figure enough people will forget to cancel their subscriptions after Poker Face that it’s worth rolling the dice. (I’ve not assigned a writer yet).
In other cases, they’re returning shows that feel like they developed an audience after the fact. Like many others, I skipped Apple TV+’s Schmigadoon when it first aired, but the six-episode musical found an audience over time, and multiple contributors to the site inquired about covering it when Apple made screeners for the second season available. It’ll likely still be a niche show, but the shift to an entirely different era of musicals promises lots of opinions, and so Lisa Weidenfeld will return to the site after her Mythic Quest reviews late last year to take on Schmicago.
And while it is certainly a cult favorite, and much-anticipated, the combination of the low-key start on Comedy Central, the move to HBO Max, and the lengthy wait for the third season means that The Other Two isn’t a big mainstream hit. However, it’s literally one of the shows I started this Substack to write about, so needless to say that I’ll be covering the upcoming third season when it returns in May.
What about reviews of _________?
There is no doubt that there are shows currently airing or debuting this Spring that you’re watching that we’re not covering. In the comments of our periodic discussion threads and in the ongoing Episodic Medium chat (which you can now access on the web), people have brought up shows like Star Trek: Picard, Rain Dogs, and American Auto—among lots of others—that I have no doubt would benefit from reviews and conversations. And it’s probably inevitable there will be a new series that creates an exciting conversation, and it’s possible that we’ll see a resurgence of interest in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as it takes its final bow. And that’s not to mention the numerous shows released as a binge watch that simply don’t fit an episodic model, even if reviews would be a good companion for your viewing experience.3
The short answer to this question is that I don’t have an unlimited budget to work from, and as it is I have to make budget decisions with only an estimate of what revenue will come in, given the fluctuating subscription rates. But I suppose the slightly longer answer is that I have to operate from a cross-section of data based on my own observations of our subscriber base, what my contributors seem excited to write about, and the “vibes” of Peak TV as a whole. It’s far from a scientific process, and so I hope you’ll understand if the coverage we offer may not align perfectly with your own viewing patterns.
I also hope that you’ll take advantage of the opportunities available to you to have those conversations. With Chat now available on the web, I certainly hope that the subscribers who have had great conversations about shows we aren’t covering on the site proper will start threads as they continue airing. A key goal of weekly reviews is creating a community, and while I would love to cover more than we are (and trust me that I’m optimistically over-extending as it is) I’m excited to be creating a space where these conversations can happen with or without a review to start them off.
If you’re ever wanting to check ahead to what we’re covering, I’ve kept updated calendars buried on our About page to help new subscribers make a decision, but I’ve also created a “Calendar” page you can access on the site menu for easy access. Here’s a full look at Episodic Medium’s spring—while I know it can be easy to focus on absences, I hope you’ll see that we’re really covering a wide range of programming, and I’m thrilled at the amount of value we’re offering for just $5 a month (or, in the months ahead, roughly $0.35 cents a review).
For those not well-versed in A.V. Club war, the site changed from Disqus comments to Kinja, which killed a lot of the community-facilitating dynamics of discussion threads, among other problems.
They also talked about how seeing an “A” grade at The A.V. Club got them to pay attention, but I still refuse to add grades, so I’m gonna ignore that part sorry.
The only exceptions I’ve made for this were Heartstopper (which I’ll review again when it returns this year) and Russian Doll, and until we get to Stranger Things’ final season I don’t know if I’m willing to grant further exceptions.
Ugh, Kinja. What a disaster. I rewatched the New Girl episode where Nick and Jess kiss for the first time last night and wanted to go back and see what people were saying on the review and it's just unbearable to even look at, let alone function as an actual comment section.
Honestly I'm really surprised at the number of shows you're reviewing here now. And most of them are ones I watch. I'll never be a Survivor fan and there are a few I just haven't watched yet but most likely will at some point. You and all the reviewers have done an amazing job. Bravo!