The title of this particular post is an homage to a good Substack you should be reading if you are fans of TV. Am I a fan of TV? What an interesting question, dear reader. There was a time when I watched a fair amount of non-sports TV and felt plugged in to the pop culture world of prestige television shows. Then I got older, had kids, and now by the time everyone is in bed I just want to sit and turn my brain off. Or write posts that people may or may not read, which is another version of turning my brain off. Most nights, I can’t fathom putting on a show that I’m sure is good, but requires some mental and emotional investment. Instead I watch an NBA game, or put on something I’ve seen before as a kind of white noise. I will add the Golden State Warriors/Oklahoma City Thunder game I’m watching as I write this has been wildly entertaining.
Despite this recognition of my reluctance to watch captivating, engaging, provocative, or emotionally gripping shows in the evenings, I remain determined to keep up on all the good television out there. I know there are many good things to watch, so at some point last year I put a bunch of things that I knew I wanted to watch into Google document and figured I would just check them off as I watched them, or added to it when I heard of others. The list remains long, but I figured why not use this forum to make it public in hopes that writing about the shows might encourage me to watch them, and engage with the culture a bit more. So here’s my current list of shows I want to either watch, or finish. I put them in alphabetical order since there’s no real order of preference, and I will include my general thoughts about each of them. If you feel strongly about any of these, or think I should add others, put it in the comments and I will take it under advisement.
Andor: The latest Star Wars saga adjacent show is considered by many critics I read to be the best of the new content in that universe. I was a Star Wars fan as a kid, and have seen all of the primary movies — but never watched any of the auxiliary content, including Rogue One, which I believe is related to this. Feels like I need to watch that movie first, and then could give this a try, but I watch even fewer movies than television shows. Only one season, though, so could theoretically get through it quickly.
Bad Sisters: Hey, I’m actually watching this one! I think I have four or so episodes to go to get through it. My wife does not have the same issue I do when it comes to watching new TV and actually burns through things pretty quickly and several of the things on this list are shows she has implored me to watch. This is one of those examples, and I have enjoyed it thus far.
Barry: I’m a few episodes into the second season of this show, and while I’ve liked it I think I’m surprised that I haven’t liked it a little bit more. I’m a huge fan of Bill Hader and the premise is entertaining, for some reason I’ve just never felt compelled to stick with it. I have heard the most recent third season is quite good, so hopefully I can catch up and finish that one before the fourth season premieres later this year.
Better Call Saul: Okay, this one is just weird. I really like this show, and actually have only one episode left to watch. Just one. Yet this is the sort of mental gymnastics I do where I’m convinced I have to be in some sort of perfect headspace to watch this final episode that I have not done it. It’s quite weird. I really should just watch it. One of these days.
Chernobyl: Because nothing says let’s unwind after a long day like watching a harrowing mini series about a horrific nuclear accident. By all accounts it is an incredibly gripping and well done show, but given the topic I think it’s probably pretty far down the list.
For All Mankind: Yet another show I’m roughly halfway through. I finished the first season and then stopped an episode into the second season — which was universally praised as the best season. I think this new era of television with streaming, and bingeing has created a situation with me where I don’t have any urgency watching a show because I know I can always catch up. So even when it’s really more fun to watch something week-to-week when it airs, I fall behind and then don’t have the energy to catch up. First world problems, for sure, but I would like to stick with these things a bit more.
Hacks: One more time…I watched and really enjoyed the first season, haven’t checked out the second one. A rare comedy on this list, even though it can be serious in tone, so maybe I could squeeze this one in a little easier. I do have lots of NBA to watch, though. Going to make it tough.
Pachinko: Probably the artsiest entry on the list, definitely one I need to be fully focused on to enjoy. Not quite Chernobyl in terms of subject matter, but has a seriousness to it that makes it unlikely I will tackle it anytime soon. We shall see.
Poker Face: Oh, a show currently airing! This is a new throwback show that is essentially modern Columbo with a different mystery every week. This feels like something a little lighter I could keep up with pretty easily.
Severance: Another one my wife watched and really liked and that received many good reviews — just feels like another dour topic I need to focus to watch. I do really like Adam Scott, so maybe I can convinced myself to give it a try.
Slow Horses: Supposedly very entertaining show about failed British spies. Seems like one that is a little bit lower stakes than some of these other options, and I think it’s only on season two, so I don’t have all that much catching up to do.
Station 11: Was the best show of 2022 according to a pop culture podcast I like, so I definitely want to give it a try. Though it deals with a post-apocalyptic world, which isn’t something I’m super eager to dive into at the moment even considering I believe it is somewhat lighter than the topic would suggest.
Succession: There’s a clock on Succession as it returns for a new season in March. Maybe the most popular ongoing show on this list, and I would love to be able to follow along with the conversation out in the world as it airs this spring…but that’s a lot of episodes to watch before I get there.
The After Party: No urgency to this one, it looked like a pretty light mystery show featuring a bunch of performers I really like. I could see this sliding down the list because I believe it only has one season, so I don’t feel a need to catch up with it.
The Bureau: Another strong recommendation from the aforementioned podcast, my wife and I got a few episodes into the second season before we stalled out. Trying to watch shows together with a spouse who is on a very different sleep schedule than me is a tricky needle to thread, and sometimes leads to things getting dropped. No ticking clock on this one either as it has already wrapped up.
The Leftovers: Ugh. I’ve had this one on the to-do list for several years, and just can’t bring myself to watch it. The first two seasons were really good, and I only have the third and final season still to watch. But it is among the most impactful, effecting, and emotionally fraught shows I have ever watched which has me feeling reluctant to dive in.
What We Do In The Shadows: This could be a palate cleanser among the dreariness of some of these other shows as it’s a pretty weird comedy. I have heard it described as the most consistently funny show on TV which is why I want to give it a try, and could maybe slowly work my way through while mixing in some of these other shows.
Yellowjackets: Finally we wrap up the list with one I know I will be getting to. My wife LOVED this show, and has strongly requested I watch the first season before the second season premieres in March. Very heavy on the ‘90s nostalgia and with a mystery element, I watched a few episodes and enjoyed it, but as with so many of these, I lost the thread somewhere. Will presumably be picking it up soon.
Okay, having typed all that out, I’m now going to do create a list of what order I will try and watch/catch up on these shows. That I certainly will not hold myself to, but maybe having this structure will make me actually watch things. Not having committed myself to writing every night would also help me watch things, but clearly that ship has sailed.
Watching order:
Bad Sisters
Better Call Saul
Poker Face
Yellowjackets
Barry
Succession
For All Mankind
What We Do In The Shadows
Slow Horses
Station 11
Hacks
The Leftovers
The After Party
Severance
Andor
Pachinko
The Bureau
Chernobyl
Leave some comments on what you think of this list and if there are any glaring omissions!
Nice. Only Murders in the Building is worth it. Really funny.