Try as I might, I don’t consider myself a TV guy so much. I have not watched a lot of popular shows. Amongst the the one’s I’ve missed – Ted Lasso, Game of Thrones, Entourage, The Morning Show, even Breaking Bad. I figure I’ll get to the lot of them at some point, but I’m in no hurry.
But sometimes I am on the pulse of television, apparently. Over the last few weeks, I did manage to watch all of Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, even though I’d skipped pretty much every season other than the first of the series. I appreciated the fact that I didn’t need to know too much about what came before; I have read a fair amount of Daredevil comics, so I didn’t need to bone up. While I wasn’t sure I’d stick with Daredevil: Born Again after the first two episodes, I’m glad I did. Charlie Cox is really the perfect Matt Murdoch/Daredevil, while Vincent D’Onofrio is pretty much exactly how the Kingpin should be delivered.
I thought being as regular watcher of a TV show like Daredevil: Born Again was a weird anomaly in my life, and that soon I’d go back to trying an episode of some show, not engaging and then moving on. However, in what I’d consider a big change in my pop culture consumption lifestyle, I now find myself watching not one, but two shows on AppleTV+ and eagerly awaiting each new episode.
The first show that hooked me in was The Studio, the stellar Hollywood satire from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in which Rogen plays Matt Remick, the newly minted head of Continental Studios, who is navigating his determination to make box office hits while also creating cinematic art. The Studio is full of lots of big name celebrity cameos, including a stellar appearance by Martin Scorsese in the premier episode, but the strengths of the show come from its writing and supporting cast, including Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders and Kathryn Hahn. The show is deftly created as it skews the movie business at every turn.
While every 27-minute episode has been gold so far, the latest episode, titled “The Pediatric Oncologist” touched a nerve with me, as Matt tries to impart upon his doctor girlfriend (Rebecca Hall) and her colleagues the importance of film in people’s lives while also working on a trailer for a new Spike Jonze film, DUHPOCALYPSE.
As someone who follows Hollywood shenanigans, checking Deadline multiple times a day, I loved The Studio from the get-go. I wasn’t sure if it would be too inside baseball for people who don’t care about the inner workings of movie studios, but I’ve spoken to more than a few people who are loving the show, which is a great indicator to me that The Studio is finding its audience.
Not long after The Studio debut on AppleTV+, Your Friends & Neighbors appeared on my screen. The hour-long show stars Jon Hamm as Andy Cooper, a hedge fund manager with expensive tastes who is let go from his job and turns to crime to make ends meet. He also navigates his relationship with his ex-wife (Amanda Peet), who he caught having an affair with one of his best friends (Mark Tallman).
I could have easily missed Your Friends & Neighbors, mainly because it’s an hour-long show and I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to that much television at a time. Nevertheless, I’m so glad I did. Created by Jonathan Topper, Your Friends & Neighbors is extremely well-written and well-acted by everyone involved. While Hamm’s Coop has some traits that can’t help but remind me of Don Draper, this character is arguably more likable and relatable, especially if you’re a single dad to a teenager like me. While Your Friends & Neighbors revolves around Hamm, the series has a great cast of supporting characters that makes it worth watching.
With so many series and movies to choose from in the age of streaming, I often feel inundated by choice, which leads me to not making any choices; of course, if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. That being said, I’m genuinely happy to have found two new shows that are destination tuning for me each and every week, just like the good old days of when I’d regularly watch various series.
Now all I have to do is stick with them both.
