Ask Matt: ‘Way Home’ Ending Too Soon? ‘Audacity’ Not a Drama & More Streaming Rants and Raves

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.

Not Ready to Leave Home

Question: The Way Home on Hallmark is ending soon. It seems that even if they tie up the series, there will be opportunity for more time-travel stories. Is there any way that this series could end up on Netflix, or could Hallmark make a movie sequel or even a set of movies? Ponders don’t want it to end! — Jojo

Matt Roush: It’s never easy to let a favorite series go, but it’s preferable when a network announces a final season and lets the producers end the show on their own terms, as apparently is happening here after four seasons. There’s still a lot to unpack in this Sunday’s series finale, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it left fans wanting more. For now, though, we should take them at their word that the series is over. Still, Hallmark knows the value of a popular brand and franchise, so let’s just say I wouldn’t be shocked if somewhere down the road, there will be more stories told from this world. Until then, though, you have my permission to tell the programmers to go jump in the proverbial lake for taking away your favorite show.

How Audacious to Consider This Show a Drama!

Question: Wow! I just binged AMC‘s The Audacity. It’s brilliant! I almost wish there would not be a Season 2, though. I fear they may ruin it, and they could easily have wrapped it all up at the end of the eighth episode. Instead of discussing its many merits, though, I want to point out that this show illustrates the fallacy of the TV Academy deciding that hour-long shows are presumed to be dramas and half-hour shows presumed to be comedies. Through at least the first six episodes, I don’t think anyone would have trouble arguing that The Audacity is a pure comedy. There’s hardly a scene in the first six episodes which wasn’t written and performed for comic effect. Things took a turn in the last two episodes, but the water was already muddied by then on this issue.

On another note: While the last five minutes of episode 9 and most of the episode 10 finale of Your Friends & Neighbors were exciting, getting there was crushingly tedious. Season 1 seemed all fun and interesting, with new ideas, but it really was a bit of a struggle to get through most of Season 2, which was mostly ideas and plotlines we’ve seen too often before. The acting was fine, but I didn’t like this season. — Paul T.

Matt Roush: Without getting into the merits, or lack thereof (in my view) of The Audacity, I agree that its broadly satirical tone was much more comedic than dramatic. Maybe AMC thinks this has a better chance of being noticed among drama contenders, which seems doubtful, but if they’d entered it in the comedy arena, the show would have had plenty of company. I looked through this year’s official Emmy ballot and discovered quite a few genre-blurring shows that submitted as comedy despite longer episode lengths, a list that includes All’s Fair (which felt more like an inadvertent comedy), Best Medicine, Boots, The Burbs, Elsbeth, Gen V (though The Boys submits in drama), The Hunting Wives, The Lowdown, Palm Royale, Poker Face, Ponies, Resident Alien, Spider-Noir, Tulsa King, Twisted Metal, Wednesday and Young Sherlock. These are all long-shots, to put it mildly, although if FX‘s terrific The Lowdown and/or its star, Ethan Hawke, broke through, I’d be mightily pleased.

Regarding Your Friends & Neighbors, which appropriately submitted in drama, I found the second season uneven but still enjoyable, at its best when dealing with the impact of the new character played by the always-charismatic James Marsden, though I was sorry the show mostly downplayed the cat-burglar element — and the whole bad-neighbor conflict involving the perimenopausal Mel (Amanda Peet) was truly painful to endure.

Neglecting This Show Would Be Criminal

Question: I liked Season 2 of Apple TV‘s Criminal Record more than the first. And I agree with your comments about the cynical ending. My comment is that this is a perfectly good show of its genre, and I don’t understand why it’s among the lesser-viewed shows on Apple TV. As the season progressed, whenever I was on Apple TV, I noted that it was towards the bottom of its Top 10 list. The last I looked, it was at #8, three spots lower than Ted Lasso, which hasn’t had a new episode in years. Is it bad marketing, or does it just not resonate with viewers? — D.P.

Matt Roush: As I’m writing this, Criminal Record is #10 on the chart, which indicates it’s the least-watched of Apple TV’s current slate of originals. What this actually means I couldn’t tell you, because it’s unclear how many are actually watching any of these shows and how wide a gulf there is between #1 (currently Widow’s Bay) and 10. But there is a noticeable deficit of buzz surrounding this British crime drama, which I’m thinking has more to do with its generic title and its lack of star power (though Cush Jumbo and Peter Capaldi each has excellent track records) and its grim tone. There’s no shortage of first-rate British crime dramas on streaming platforms — two more show up this week on Peacock (The Capture) and BritBox (Trigger Point) — which might also make it harder for this to break out. Whatever the cause, it’s fair to worry about its chances of getting a third season.

A Menagerie of Pet Peeves

Question: I get it, there has to be a certain suspension of belief in order to watch most network TV dramas. But there are things going on in many of them that are making it almost impossible for me to accept them.

Let’s start with crime/police shows. Why do they always yell at a potential suspect from across the street, “Matt Roush! Stop! Police!” At which point the guy turns and runs, creating a reason for a completely unnecessary chase scene. Wouldn’t it make more sense to come directly up to the guy in question and grab him before he gets the chance to bolt? Yet, there’s never a single show I can think of where that actually happens.

It doesn’t stop there. On CBS‘ highly rated Tracker, the lead character routinely picks locks to get into a residence — he’s not a cop, so it’s illegal — and nothing ever happens to him. The show is full of scenes where Justin Hartley‘s Colter Shaw shoots the bad guy, who is either killed or badly wounded. Never once is he charged by local authorities. He just shot somebody! At least he should be held by authorities until his court case comes up. But no, he just moves on to the next town, and the inevitable next shooting.

And one last real irritant: On shows like Chicago P.D., members of the Intelligence Unit frequently rush to a house to surveil or talk to a suspect at their LKA (Last Known Address). And they always seem to find a parking space directly in front of the place. No looking for an open spot like the rest of us have to do when we’re going somewhere. Nope! They always find a clear place to stop their cars that’s exactly where they need to be. No circling the block and no backing into a tight space. It’s unlike any neighborhood in Chicago I’ve ever heard of, or any other big city for that matter. Of course, it’s done to expedite the story and keep it moving. But just once I’d like to see a minor slice of reality in some of these shows and see the characters live up to the little annoyances in life that we all have to put up with. Just not, apparently, on TV. — Aaron F.

Matt Roush: Thanks for sharing. You somehow neglected to mention that almost never do we see these TV heroes take a potty break while on duty. A reminder that formula TV, which is the lifeblood of most network TV these days, exists to take us away from those aggravating daily annoyances to a more idealized world where things can be resolved in under an hour — which might be impossible if they had to worry about parking.

Monstrously Satisfied

Question: I waited two years for Season 2 of Apple TV’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. I WAS satisfied with the meandering storyline. I saw a peek of Rodan at the season conclusion. I was 5 when I saw that film. Any chance for another season? — Mark in Whitewater, WI

Matt Roush: Until they announce a decision one way or the other, there’s always a chance — but you may need to be patient, and even more so when it comes to actually seeing new episodes, because a series like this is (pardon the expression) a monster to produce. Until then, as we’ve reported, we can look forward to a spinoff being developed that would be built around the character of the younger Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell) involved in Russian and Titan intrigue during the 1980s heyday of the Cold War.

Bring on That Blue-Sky TV!

Comment: Just sharing some random thoughts about the network TV season that recently concluded: Can we just agree that Marshals is not as good as the ratings would indicate? They brood, they mumble, they bond, they drink at the same bar, they have a game room, and they have a lot of extras in the background of their headquarters, and they mumble some more. There just doesn’t seem to be much substance to the show otherwise.

Now, R.J. Decker is a show we have been enjoying a lot. The characters are fun, the scenery is nice, the stories are fun. It can be funny and serious and still very entertaining. It seems like there could be a lot of stories to come from all the characters and even the people he served time with while in jail. It’s so much like the old days of the USA Network shows, which is something we have been craving since they stopped.

Whereas with Will Trent, we’re just finding it harder to follow. Flashbacks, dreams, and hallucinations seem a bit overdone now. The weekly crimes and other main characters are more fun to watch now than Will Trent himself. Will is just so much more angst-filled than he ever was, and it’s just not entertaining to watch. He’s become selfish and mean to his colleagues, and I’m not just talking since Amanda’s death. Every week has been watching him go down a deeper hole of psychosis. Ugh. But I am satisfied with how Matlock wrapped up. It will be interesting to start anew next season. In fact, next season will be a little like Suits, refurbished with secret names and secret skills. — Teresa

Matt Roush: All fair observations. Marshals is a standard action series, and from what I can tell doesn’t pretend to higher aspirations. From your comments, it’s pretty clear that the “blue sky” programming that once typified the USA Network originals during cable’s glory days is your happy place, and R.J. Decker and Matlock fit within that category nicely. I’ve seen other feedback regarding Will Trent wishing it and he would lighten up, but if you know the source material (Karin Slaughter‘s much tougher novels), you might wonder if that’s even possible. Still, given the time jump in the Season 4 finale, maybe he and Angie will have moved on from the Amanda and Seth tragedies to find a bit of inner peace as they raise her child. We can always hope.

And Finally …

Question: There has been talk about bringing back to life (no pun intended) Pushing Daisies. To me, it was a sophisticated comedy. What were your thoughts? We need that kind of humor back. Any chance of a continuation? — Warren C.

Matt Roush: Rumors of the show’s resurrection in one form or another (comic books, a Broadway musical) have floated for years, which explains why this subject keeps coming up. It has been months since the show’s creator Bryan Fuller last floated this possibility, and as long as he stays attached, I’d remain cautiously optimistic, though not to the point of giving false hope. I loved the two seasons of Pushing Daisies (2007-09), a truly inspired fantasy-comedy, and as long as the same creative team and available stars can align, there would be little I’d be more eager to see. But am I counting on it? Not anytime soon. Someone, please prove me wrong.

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.)