Ask Matt: To Binge or Not to Binge, Blue-Sky TV & More
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, it’s the most frequent complaint, but there’s always closed-captioning. Check out this story for more tips.)
One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected]. Look for Ask Matt columns on most Tuesdays.
Let the Viewer Decide Whether to Binge-Watch a Show
Question: In your review of Étoile, you wrote “in an ill-advised move [Prime Video] is dropping all eight episodes at once for a too-much-is-too-much binge.” I would just like to say that dropping all episodes is welcome. Giving people the choice whether to binge or not to binge is not “ill-advised.” Perhaps you should say that bingeing this particular show is too much for you and advise your readers that they may want to take it slowly if they find it too much for them. Just because all episodes are immediately available does not mean that those who prefer to watch one or two at a time must binge all episodes. If it’s better for some to view over a period of time, they can easily do so. For my part, I watch so much TV, and so many different shows, that I often have trouble remembering what is going on unless I binge a whole season at a time. With most streamers, that means that I must wait until the last episode drops before I begin the first episode, meanwhile dodging spoilers all over the net.” — D.P.
Matt Roush: I get that the decision whether to binge or not binge a show is a personal matter. The point I’m hoping to make — and it was reportedly echoed by Étoile‘s creator Amy Sherman-Palladino in an online forum — is that many shows are not helped by the binge-release format. And in the case of a show as offbeat as Étoile, Amy apparently worried that a one-day drop would render her show “disposable,” more liable to vanish in the bottomless abyss of streaming choices. If it was airing episodes weekly, or in one of my favorite approaches (currently being adopted by Andor on Disney+), in bundles of two or three episodes weekly, the show can be promoted week after week and columnists such as myself can make note of standout episodes as they air and keep beating the drum.
I appreciate the freedom of choice that the binge model preferred by Netflix allows, but it works better for some shows than others, and it could be especially hurtful for a more delicate show like Étoile. The same creator’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel did just fine with episodes dropping weekly. Those who want to wait until the entire season is available can do that, but the weekly rollout has worked fine for most shows for as long as I’ve been in this business. It certainly didn’t hurt Max‘s The Pitt.
A Blue Sky Renaissance
Question: I cannot be the only person that sees similarities between these quirky Canadian shows on The CW and the “blue skies” shows on the USA Network of the 2000s. Wild Cards, which is a lot of fun, is even the same premise as White Collar. Sherlock & Daughter, the fantastic but all-too-short Season 1 of Good Cop/Bad Cop, and even the canceled Spencer Sisters all bring me back in time to ALL those HIT shows USA Network foolishly stopped making. I know it’s highly improbable, but are there any similar executives involved, or is it merely an inspired-by thing? Psyched for these shows and what comes next. — Rob
Matt Roush: I’d add entertaining network shows like High Potential, Matlock, Elsbeth, Poker Face, and to a lesser degree Will Trent (which can go dark) to the conversation. It’s a boom time, or at least moment, for this kind of escapist, feel-good procedural that leavens mystery with humor. Why is this happening? Where The CW is concerned, it’s good business, providing an alternative with financially feasible international co-productions. The broadcast networks, as well, have found success in lightening up some of their crime dramas. We often say TV is cyclical, and that applies here as well. The producers of these series often express nostalgia for the Rockford Files and Columbo-style shows of the 1970s, and I expect we haven’t seen the end of the trend.
Death Be Not Proud-Or So Brutal
Question: I had no idea what was coming on The Last of Us in the second episode of the second season. We’ve seen main characters die before (9-1-1 most recently), but I can’t recall one being tortured and beaten to death. Even the Red Wedding deaths on Game of Thrones were quick. What did you think? – Ed
Matt Roush: I think I’ll be having nightmares for quite some time after this. So will many TV fans, who are still writing me in anguish about these twists — many more regarding the heroic but sudden exit of Peter Krause/Bobby Nash on 9-1-1 than the brutal demise of Joel (Pedro Pascal) on The Last of Us. As I discussed in last week’s column, the nihilistic world of The Last of Us (not unlike The Walking Dead) conditions us for the worst — though maybe not something this grueling as taking out such an important character. Whereas 9-1-1 has for eight seasons lulled its viewers into believing that while these characters often risk their necks for their jobs, they’ll always somehow miraculously survive. The outrage over their decision to kill off their beloved leader in a last-act bait-and-switch may take some time to get over. Ditto for Joel. Whether these fictional tragedies will affect viewership remains to be seen.
Give Me a (Better Timed) Break!
Question: My husband and I watched (and LOVED) The Pitt on Max, but the ads just about killed us. Not only are they plentiful, but they come at the STRANGEST times! There’s no rhyme or reason for when they suddenly interrupt the show to play the ads. It totally breaks up the drama and action so many times and is so irritating! I am fine with ads, since we don’t want to pay for no ads, but why in the world are they doing them at such horribly bad timing?! — Jenny
Matt Roush: What a disaster! I’m so sorry to hear about this. And while I know many budgets are tight, if there’s one streamer I’d splurge on the no-ads option, it’s Max, which is basically HBO and then some. Unlike network shows, which build act breaks into the narrative structure, shows on HBO (and by extension, Max) are produced and written without regard to those artificial stops. It’s one of the creative lures. I’ve noticed this sort of abrupt interruption happening on FAST (free ad-supported) platforms as well. When I started a Knots Landing rewatch on a FAST channel (before it moved to Prime Video, where I also block the ads), a stack of commercials would pop up at the most inopportune times, and it’s a real turnoff. With the nonstop action of The Pitt, I imagine it’s difficult to find a good spot to insert an ad. Whoever’s responsible for such things should obviously be taking greater care.
Another Streaming Paradox
Question: Why isn’t CBS airing NCIS: Tony & Ziva on regular TV? Some people can’t get Paramount+. —Paulette K.
Matt Roush: From the moment this limited-series spinoff was announced, Tony & Ziva was always designed as a streaming series, and fans were as unhappy about it then as they clearly are now that the show is beginning to be publicly promoted. There may be creative reasons behind this move, allowing the former NCIS stars to play in a bigger sandbox without network TV’s content restrictions and limitations. But it’s really more about marketing, another push to get people to sign up for the streamer, which is a priority for the parent company and where the industry is heading. It’s always possible, though, that after a period of exclusivity for the streamer, these episodes may someday find their way to CBS, as Paramount+ shows like Tulsa King have done. I just wouldn’t expect it to be anytime soon.
And Finally …
Question: Now that 9-1-1: Lone Star is off the air, what are the chances of Gina Torres joining Suits LA? — Eve M.
Matt Roush: First, Suits LA needs to be renewed, which is far from a sure thing. Creatively, the show could use some juice, and the return of Torres as Jessica Pearson would qualify. But remember, she got her own spinoff, Pearson, which unlike the original Suits only lasted one season. Like NBC’s dreary current incarnation, that series lacked the sense of fun—let’s call it blue sky, calling back to the earlier question—that distinguished the New York version of Suits.
That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected]. (Please include a first name with your question.)
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