Ask Matt: ‘Madison’s Mixed Reception, Benching ‘Ghosts,’ ‘DTF St. Louis’ & More

Welcome to the Q&A with longtime 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 every other Tuesday.

Judge the Show, Not Its Creator

Question: I have just finished The Madison on Paramount+. It’s been a long, long time since I cried so much with a show, and I wanted more. I love how it handled grief — it felt so real and intimate. I connected to this on a deep spiritual level. It is also so beautifully filmed. Michelle Pfeiffer‘s performance is on another level of exceptional. I don’t get why she is not a front-runner to win every award over the next year. This is an exquisite performance. Every scene was like an acting masterclass. I am reading everywhere how big of a hit it was (and even renewed already for a third season). Everyone I recommended this show to loved it. So why don’t the critics?

I like to read reviews and look at the awards sites, and what disappointed me is how much The Madison‘s reviews have focused on critics’ dislike for its creator, Taylor Sheridan, rather than the show itself. I don’t know anything about Sheridan and haven’t liked all of his shows (Yellowstone bored me), but I have enjoyed Landman‘s soapy-Dallas feel, and The Madison made me tear up. Why can’t we judge a series for its merit rather than spend the review focused on their dislike for its creator (Ryan Murphy similarly gets unnecessary flak). I have done my homework, and I have read at least 15 reviews where it’s about their disdain for him. And yes, if it helps, Pfeiffer’s performance in all of the reviews has been universally praised. But she’s far from even a nomination. — Madison C.

Matt Roush: This is an interesting question, and while I can only speak for my own review, which mostly accentuated the positive — Michelle Pfeiffer’s luminous performance, the cinematography showing Montana at its most gorgeous — I will agree that you’re absolutely right that each show should be judged on its own individual merits. But it’s also impossible to review a show in a vacuum when it’s produced by someone as prolific and currently pervasive in the culture as Taylor Sheridan.

A review wouldn’t be much good if it weren’t put in a cultural context, and for me, one of the biggest drawbacks of The Madison was how often it scored cheap points off of the naivete and self-centeredness of the big-city slickers, a trait common to Sheridan’s shows. By other measures, this wasn’t a typical Sheridan series, leaning more into emotional angst than violent or contrived melodrama. And I’ll be surprised if Pfeiffer doesn’t score an Emmy nomination. In fact, I’ll be shocked if she doesn’t get a second one, for comedy, for her equally impressive work on her husband David E. Kelley‘s (talking about prolific) Apple TV comedy Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

Ghosts MIA in the Fall, and a Noticeably Absent Ghost

Question: My jaw dropped when I saw that CBS is benching Ghosts for the fall. I figured Eternally Yours (from the same creators) would be a companion for it rather than a replacement. I’m going to miss these characters in the fall. What do you think here?

And while we’re on the subject, the most recent episode of Ghosts highlighted a problem when they debated whether or not Flower could be trusted to help with the poker game. If Thor (long established as her boyfriend) had been around, the obvious answer would have been for him to participate in her place, as there is no obvious reason why he wouldn’t pitch in to help Sam and Jay save the house. But Ghosts, like other shows (Grey’s Anatomy, etc.), has to have actors missing an episode here and there for budget reasons, and the plot usually doesn’t draw attention to how many ghosts there are at any given time. So if this was Devan Chandler Long‘s turn to sit out an episode, it should have made more sense to the story. They should have done a better job at making a ghost’s absence less conspicuous, particularly when the storyline they went with so heavily featured his girlfriend. Still, the episode was funny, and the Iain Armitage guest spot worked better than I thought it would. It just doesn’t do the show any favors when a significant ghost is temporarily absent. — Jake

Matt Roush: I’ll tackle the scheduling question first. CBS took some of the sting out of the announcement by noting that Ghosts will present its annual Halloween and Christmas specials during the first half of the season before the show returns at midseason in 2027. And once it’s back, it will get a full season of 22 episodes, which probably means few if any repeats or absences. But this strategy of sharing a time period is becoming more common on the networks, and for a few years we’ve seen them hold back some of their best material until midseason, rendering fall something of a non-event. What bothers me most, though, is that CBS can’t somehow conjure more than two comedies on its fall lineup (echoing ABC this season), which is just sad.

Regarding the absence of Thor, or whichever ghost sits out a given episode, you make a good point that since they’ve paired off so many of these characters — Alberta and Pete another example, though in this episode they were operating in different subplots, her above ground with the game, Pete in the basement — it stands out when one of a couple is missing, especially when Flower could have used a defender when her impaired cognitive abilities came under attack.

Death Be Not Obvious

Question: I should say “spoiler alert,” though the show has already finished its run. Yesterday I binged HBO‘s DTF St. Louis. I should say right away that I thought it was very good: well-acted and cleverly written. But boy, is it unusual! Unusual themes, unusual situations, unusual ending. I can understand if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. [Spoiler alert] Have there been other prominent murder mysteries in which it turned out that the victim committed suicide? I imagine that there must have been, but I cannot think of any. – D.P.

Matt Roush: It’s always hard for me to answer these absolutes, because I know I’ll miss something obvious. The first show that comes to mind is another that’s not exactly a murder mystery (which is not how I categorize DTF, either). In the first season of Apple TV’s Your Friends & Neighbors, Coop (Jon Hamm) stumbles across a dead body during one of his break-ins and is framed for murder. [More spoilers] We later learn that the dead body was a suicide, not a murder, which cleared Coop from staying in jail. While DTF hinges on an investigation into the puzzling death of Floyd Smernitch (a poignant David Harbour), the meat of the story is the offbeat relationship that develops between him, his new best friend (Jason Bateman) and his dissatisfied wife (Linda Cardellini). It’s kinky without being exploitative, and the inevitable sadness of how it all plays out is what will stay with me.

Maligning Mandy Is No Laughing Matter

Question: If and when Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage gets to their breakup, it’s looking more and more like the show will blame Mandy for it. According to The Big Bang Theory, Georgie was a loud-mouthed, arrogant hound dog. But on his own program, he’s almost angelically perfect, if a bit stupid. On the other hand, Mandy is shown to be selfish, overbearing, and sometimes mean. I thought the show would provide a backstory for how Georgie became who he seems to be on Big Bang (according to both Sheldon and their mother). Or at least it could portray an evenhanded look at the couple’s lives, but it seems that’s not the case. I’m very tired of the blatant sexism towards Mandy. I also do not like the overwhelming favoritism towards Georgie. Thoughts? — Lila

Matt Roush: You have a point that Mandy’s flaws and missteps seem to be driving much of the action, but I’d hope that doesn’t make her the villain of this piece, if there even is one. (Her mother, Audrey, gets even worse treatment, from what I’ve seen.) There’s no question the show takes a more sympathetic view of Georgie than we ever saw on Big Bang, and to a much lesser degree on Young Sheldon, but I’d attribute some of that to this being a story seen from inside his world, not that of his judgmental family. I’m hoping that if their split-even happens during the run of the series, there will be a shared sense of responsibility. (Another explanation is that there’s just a natural charm to Montana Jordan and playing a creep may not come as naturally to him as it does to a more seasoned actor like Big Bang‘s Jerry O’Connell.)

Question: Is there a case to be made FOR the so-called “laugh track?” I refer to Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, a show whose funny moments, to me, often feel flat because of the seemingly half-hearted laughter coming from its studio audience. I think back to its mothership, The Big Bang Theory, and specifically recall moments like Sheldon receiving Leonard Nimoy‘s napkin from Penny and then giving her a hug, or Amy and her “tiara” moment, the way the audience would SCREAM with laughter. Overdone? Sweetened? Perhaps. But if a multi-camera show filmed before a studio audience is akin to performing “live theater,” and if theater and sitcom performers are known to feed off an audience’s energy, then no wonder it feels like Georgie & Mandy is often sluggish and lackluster. Not just in the subdued reaction to the jokes, but even in the cast’s performance (with the exception, perhaps, of Zoe Perry, who seems to be chewing the scenery of late with Mary’s righteous indignation).

A second gripe: is it just me, or do the writers seem to be shortening the scenes in each episode? Do any of them last for longer than a minute? Even a full episode’s runtime seems to be clocking in at under 19 minutes. Couple this with the muted audience AND a muted soundtrack (theme music in a minor key? What were they thinking?), and it feels like each episode simply doesn’t quite have the zest and “zing” I would expect from a Chuck Lorre multi-cam show. Of course, it’s entirely possible that the lowered “laugh track” volume is a deliberate production/editing choice. But I think there’s something to be said about the psychological nature of laughter: that it can be infectious! Downplaying the live audience’s reaction does the show and its punchlines a disservice. I say turn it up – or get rid of it altogether! — Nick

Matt Roush: The increased diminishment of prime-time run times in network TV is pretty much a given, but it’s particularly noticeable in comedies, such as they are, often resulting in choppy scenes. But this argument about a subdued “laugh track” intrigues me more, because I so often field complaints that viewers really hate it when they feel patronized by overamped laughter in a multi-cam comedy, as if they’re being told that something is funny when it’s so obviously not. (Check out NBC‘s Happy’s Place, where a mere eye roll can be greeted with guffaws.) It’s tricky to compare a domestic comedy such as Georgie with a heightened classic like The Big Bang Theory, which specialized in hard jokes delivered by over-the-top characters. I’ve not attended a live taping of Georgie so can’t attest to how authentically the audience laughter is being conveyed, but I give them some credit for not overdoing it.

More, Please!

Question: I enjoyed Kevin Kline and the cast of the MGM+ comedy American Classic. Any chance of a Season 2? — Scott S.

Matt Roush: Until they ever announce that a show is or isn’t coming back, there’s always a chance. My gut isn’t telling me anything on this one, because MGM+ is such a niche platform. But I also hope it returns, being a fan of theatrical comedies, especially one blessed with such a blue-chip ensemble.

Question: Any word on a new season of Crime Scene Kitchen? It’s a guilty pleasure. — Mike

Matt Roush: It appears that a casting call went out late last year for a fourth season, but Fox hasn’t said when it will air, whether in summer, fall or possibly later.

And Finally …

Question: CBS announced its fall schedule last week. I know most renewals/cancels were already announced, but isn’t mid-April really early for a network to announce? Don’t the networks usually announce over a week or 10-day period in May? — Scott

Matt Roush: Last year, CBS also announced its schedule early—though not this early—and bypassed the traditional Upfront presentation. A big change from when the network used to stage a big production on the stage of Carnegie Hall in the middle of what we called Upfront Week. Another sign that the industry has changed, and not always for the better where showmanship is concerned. There will still be a handful of network Upfronts and streaming presentations in May—NBCUniversal will once again be taking over Radio City Music Hall, and Fox will be at New York City Center, both on May 11 (with Amazon at New York’s Beacon Theatre, Fox’s old venue)—but in the last few years the broadcast networks have taken a back seat to streaming and other platforms, even often within their own presentations. It’s not like CBS had a lot to beat the drum about, with only three new shows in the fall, and one of them an NCIS spinoff. It seems the Upfronts are little by little going the way of Sweeps Month, an archaic concept reflecting a permanently changed (some might say broken) business model.

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.)