Ask Matt: TV’s Short Runs, Nitpicking ‘Nashville’ & 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.

Now You See Them, Now You Don’t

Question: I was surprised to learn that Grey’s Anatomy and ABC‘s other Thursday dramas will be signing off for the fall on Nov. 13. I know it takes a lot of work to make these shows, and I don’t want to be that person who complains about scheduling without respecting how much effort it must take to do 18 episodes a year on a broadcast schedule as they do. I also prefer the broadcast model with breaks over a streaming-style binge drop. But returning in mid-October as they did and then signing off on Nov. 13 seems like a really short run before the break. We just got these shows back a few weeks ago, and already they’re talking about a hiatus. Doesn’t this seem likely to stall the narrative momentum? — JL

Matt Roush: It’s another sign of the challenging times for broadcast TV when seasons start so late and then break so early. Used to be not that long ago that you could count on most network series to start in late September and run mostly uninterrupted until early to mid-December. In ABC’s case, most of these shows will return the first week in January, but that doesn’t soften the blow of airing only six episodes (when the norm used to be somewhere between 8 and 10) before the holiday-season hiatus. In a “normal” season when there are no strikes or pandemics to disrupt production, this sort of scheduling seems designed to parcel out these precious few episodes (compared to the 24 or more a show like Grey’s used to churn out in its heyday) over as long a period of time as possible. But it’s not going unnoticed. It’s harder to get attached to a weekly series when it airs so few weekly episodes.

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Hitting a Sour Note in Nashville

Comment: I’ve enjoyed 9-1-1 from the beginning (although not thrilled with the space odyssey) and looked forward to 9-1-1: Nashville. But the whole premise of the stripper son he knew about and immediately welcomed to become a firefighter, and the son’s mother using him as a plot to “get what’s owed” was just too much. That seems to be the central plotline, and I just didn’t care. Not to mention the tornado with the singer getting the audience to help move the heavy beam. It was just too much. Too bad. I’m going to miss the potential. — Lilith, Ventura, CA

Matt Roush: Kind of makes you wish they’d just transferred 9-1-1: Lone Star from Fox instead, no? (I miss some of those characters more than I’d imagined.) Suspending disbelief is a prerequisite for enjoying most of the shows in this extreme first-responder genre, but the soapy spine of this spinoff really is just too dreary.

Have the Networks Given Up on Original Storytelling?

Question: I just watched the first two episodes of Apple TV‘s newly released Down Cemetery Road, which is superb and superior to anything on network television. Why aren’t the networks producing shows of this quality, instead of the same old Law & Orders, NCIS‘s and the murder-of-the-week AKA Murder She Wrote rip-offs? Apple TV is really knocking it out of the park — can’t wait to see Pluribus. — John L.

Matt Roush: Your question feels rhetorical to me, maybe even existential. The simplest answer is to state without equivocation that broadcast networks are no longer in the prestige-TV business. If something works, they’ll franchise it. Too much originality almost seems like a third rail. Case in point: CBS‘s brilliant Evil moving to the company’s Paramount+ streamer after the first season, and The Good Wife spinoff, The Good Fight, never even being considered for network. (We’re lucky to get a second season of something as compelling as NBC‘s medical drama Brilliant Minds, and even that plays mostly within the rules of a defined genre.) The networks are aiming for more of a mass audience, and they’ve abandoned entirely the sort of ambitious short-form limited series that might attract talent like Emma Thompson, who’s killing it in Down Cemetery Road (whose source material is from the same author of the Slow Horses book series).

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And you’re in for a treat with Pluribus. Each episode of this truly original series leaves me breathlessly wondering what’s to come next. (Look for my preview later this week.)

Netflix’s Funny Lady

Question: I just finished watching Leanne on Netflix and thought it was a very funny and promising first season. I’ve always enjoyed Chuck Lorre‘s comedies — Mom in particular — and I found Leanne strongest when it focused on her dynamic with her friends. Those ensemble scenes had that classic Lorre rhythm and warmth. I was curious about your take: Do you think Season 2 should lean more heavily into Leanne’s group of friends and her new relationship with Tim Daly‘s FBI agent? For me, those storylines really clicked, along with her interactions with her sister Carol. In contrast, the material around her parents, kids, and ex-husband felt a bit weaker or familiar, perhaps already played out. Do you see Leanne evolving more as a comedy about her new chapter, as a single woman rebuilding her life with new people, rather than revisiting her old one? — Héctor

Matt Roush: If Leanne follows the playbook that Mom executed so successfully, although perhaps not entirely by design, then it’s quite possible that the show will evolve into an exploration of her new freedom with her support group the way Mom dropped most of its more domestic aspects to become an ensemble female-buddy comedy, especially once Christy left the show, though even well before that. It might be too soon to excise all of Leanne’s family elements, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the focus shift if Netflix gives it ample room to grow. Mom was a very different show at the end than at the beginning, and I imagine Leanne could take a similar route. By the way, Leanne Morgan fans should know that her second Netflix stand-up comedy special, Unspeakable Things, premieres today (Nov. 4).

Boston‘s a Keeper

Question: I’ve read that Boston Blue has been sold already to over 100 countries. Isn’t this really early to do this, as they have aired only a few episodes? What if this show doesn’t do well in the ratings and is canceled, or will this give CBS incentive to keep the show on the sir? — Greg W.

Matt Roush: Robust international sales are likely to keep a show alive, especially in this corporate environment, even if domestic ratings are disappointing, which I don’t imagine will be the case here. The early success at marketing Boston Blue abroad probably has a lot to do with the high profile of Blue Bloods, the show that spawned it, making it something of a pre-sold commodity (like anything with NCIS in the title). It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where Boston Blue isn’t around for years to come.

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And Finally …

Question: The other night, watching the credits for High Potential, I noticed that star Kaitlin Olson is one of the show’s executive producers, while Katie McElhenney (her married name) is listed among the show’s producers. Is there some sort of legal or professional reason that she gets the double credit? And yes, I know, I really shouldn’t pay that close attention to the credits. — RJ

Matt Roush: You’re not seeing double. These are two different people, amazingly enough. Katie McElhenney is Kaitlin’s sister-in-law, a sibling of Rob Mac (Kaitlin’s husband) who has also written for Rob’s shows It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mythic Quest, and Side Quest. Small world, huh?

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.)