Thoughts on 'Fleishman Is In Trouble,' 'Abbott Elementary,' the end of an era in network television, and the possible end of Twitter (TV and otherwise).
I really admire the network schedulers of yore. Such a fascinating job. Sometimes I wish I could hire them to manage my TV schedule! I have a set of shows I am watching but sometimes I sit down and don’t know what to watch. A hard nosed scheduler telling me it’s Thursday and you will be sitting down at 8 PM to watch X would cure the paralysis of choice!
So far I absolutely love The White Lotus but we’ll see how I feel by the end.
Really enjoying the newsletter, Alan. A definite silver lining of the potential destruction of the bird app is getting to hear a few more of your longish-form thoughts on TV on a regular basis.
thanks for kind words alan. deeply appreciated. i still don’t think you give network shows their due (& lean into precious, plodding shows that 8 people watch), but have always enjoyed that respectful give & take w/you. you are off on #ghostscbs tho!
and at least with networks, perhaps ironically, scheduling is more important than ever. with unlimited viewing options out there, the single best way to get people to try a new show is put it on the doorstep out of an established one. (streamers do this too fwiw.) can’t be beat.
I really enjoy Abbott, but the obvious copying of the Jim/Pam story from The Office, including Gregory's glances to camera, are my least favorite part of the show. And Krasinski did them better.
Re: Abbot: I think it’s not so much about Janine being too optimistic and wrong, although it is that- I think it’s dismantling the worldview she needed to cope first with her mom, and then with Tarik. Her rosy views got her through, but they prevented her from being a mature person. She’s learning a new, more whole way to be a person.
There’s nothing hard about the comment section. You can just invite people to comment. (Or not, since I just did). You can also pin certain comments to the top if you want to.
All this talk of old school broadcast TV reminded me I just finished watching Maximum Bob, which wasn’t even available on home video, and earlier this year, Action! Both one season cancellations, unceremoniously dumped even before they had completed their runs but I found both of them terrific, and amidst traditional network TV they were really trying something different and bold in terms of storytelling and humour for the time (both would be on FX if they were made in mid to late 2000s, mirroring Terriers, Justified and Entourage).
Have you commented on or have any thoughts on the following shows: British Bake Off, The Crown, Mosquito Coast (Apple TV+), Pachinko, or For All Mankind?
I really admire the network schedulers of yore. Such a fascinating job. Sometimes I wish I could hire them to manage my TV schedule! I have a set of shows I am watching but sometimes I sit down and don’t know what to watch. A hard nosed scheduler telling me it’s Thursday and you will be sitting down at 8 PM to watch X would cure the paralysis of choice!
So far I absolutely love The White Lotus but we’ll see how I feel by the end.
Really enjoying the newsletter, Alan. A definite silver lining of the potential destruction of the bird app is getting to hear a few more of your longish-form thoughts on TV on a regular basis.
thanks for kind words alan. deeply appreciated. i still don’t think you give network shows their due (& lean into precious, plodding shows that 8 people watch), but have always enjoyed that respectful give & take w/you. you are off on #ghostscbs tho!
and at least with networks, perhaps ironically, scheduling is more important than ever. with unlimited viewing options out there, the single best way to get people to try a new show is put it on the doorstep out of an established one. (streamers do this too fwiw.) can’t be beat.
— former network hack kelly
Personally, I still think scheduling is important for me on tv because it allows you to take stock of something, even if you’re not watching it live.
I really enjoy Abbott, but the obvious copying of the Jim/Pam story from The Office, including Gregory's glances to camera, are my least favorite part of the show. And Krasinski did them better.
Re: Abbot: I think it’s not so much about Janine being too optimistic and wrong, although it is that- I think it’s dismantling the worldview she needed to cope first with her mom, and then with Tarik. Her rosy views got her through, but they prevented her from being a mature person. She’s learning a new, more whole way to be a person.
There’s nothing hard about the comment section. You can just invite people to comment. (Or not, since I just did). You can also pin certain comments to the top if you want to.
All this talk of old school broadcast TV reminded me I just finished watching Maximum Bob, which wasn’t even available on home video, and earlier this year, Action! Both one season cancellations, unceremoniously dumped even before they had completed their runs but I found both of them terrific, and amidst traditional network TV they were really trying something different and bold in terms of storytelling and humour for the time (both would be on FX if they were made in mid to late 2000s, mirroring Terriers, Justified and Entourage).
What are your thoughts on those shows?
Hey Alan, new reader here.
Have you commented on or have any thoughts on the following shows: British Bake Off, The Crown, Mosquito Coast (Apple TV+), Pachinko, or For All Mankind?
Useful post Alan! Been reading or listening to you since TNSL hired you AND MZS together to run their TV pages in 93 or something.
I want you to write deeper into the gestalt of tv in the way you have here.
Also, i have literally ZERO things to watch in 2023 via networks. Help?