Tube Notes with Ryan Benharris

1. The Last of Us (HBO)

I remember being fascinated in 2019 when HBO’s Chernobyl climbed to the top of IMDB’s all-time series list and remained at number one (ahead of perennial leaders Band of Brothers, Planet Earth, and Breaking Bad) for several months. For obvious reasons, Chernobyl deserved the accolades it got and when creator Craig Mazin turned to his next project it seemed almost impossible that he could match the reception.

Impossibility wasn’t actuality when he released The Last of Us in January of 2023

Based on an incredibly successful video game of the same name The Last of Us follows two unlikely partners in a cross country mission to potentially end a destructive illness decades after a horrific outbreak leaving the world in dystopia.

There’s “zombies,” sure. There’s a horror element to The Last of Us, sure. But the show isn’t about those things…at all. It’s about the value of human connection and what the world is and what the world isn’t.

Fans of the game would say, “It has one of the greatest stories of all time,” and I would think to myself (not being a gamer at all), “How the hell does a video game have a compelling story? Let alone a great one?” They couldn’t have been more dead-on.

I honestly think that knowing nothing of the source material was beneficial to me as getting to experience The Last of Us for the first time on screen was a true gift. There was no doubt that fans of the game were left satisfied by the adaptation beyond their wildest dreams.

The ending of the first season of The Last of Us exactly matched the game (so I’m told). It’s the best ending to a series’ first season I’ve ever seen in my life. Much like the greatest series ending of all-time, The Sopranos, you will never stop thinking about it and internally debating it in your head. It’s about as perfect a first season as you could possibly conjure, and it was my favorite thing on television in 2023.

2. The Bear (Hulu)

The second season of The Bear took more risks than its stellar first season. It expanded on its deeply enriched characters behind immaculate acting. Leads Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri give sophomore season performances for the ages. The series has quickly become one of the most watched on television for obvious reasons. It’s going to maintain its place on the top shelf of the golden age of television for as long as it runs.

3. Succession (HBO)

After its first season I wrote that Succession will become HBO’s most popular series once Game of Thrones bows out. Not only did that happen, but it clearly leap-frogged Game of Thrones in the pantheon of great TV as fans frantically tried to rank it amongst the greatest series of all-time. The final season of Succession did all the things it was supposed to and it did them right. It tied up loose ends with nearly all of its main characters while desperately trying to cling to the bare bones of a plot without getting stuck in its own way. Succession will forever be remembered for its exceptional performances and its unique, twisted characters. Most importantly, its final season stuck the landing with a satisfying ending that stayed true to its chaotic nature.

4. Reservation Dogs (Hulu)

When Reservation Dogs ripped off the band-aid to formally announce that its third (and arguably best) season would be its last there was a collective gasp amongst its amassed crowd of loyal fans. One of the most inspirational and moving series in recent history ended the way all shows should…on top and leaving viewers clambering for more.

5. How To with John Wilson (HBO)

John Wilson’s bizarre voyeuristic documentary about humanity in New York City came to the end of its three season run this year. It’s the most in-your-face commentary on the weirdness of behavior patterns of people you will ever find. It’s also tremendously sweet, endearing and arguably the funniest thing on television.

6. Poker Face (Peacock)

Peacock’s anthology series starring Natasha Lyonne as an amateur sleuth on the run who always seems to find her way into a murder she had nothing to do with takes a few episodes to truly set its pace. Once you’re deeply into it there’s really nothing like it on TV. Reminiscent of old school mysteries of the week, each episode creates a personality and charm of its own.

7. Beef (Netflix)

Netflix’s miniseries Beef received countless accolades for its tremendous performances and its unique story. A plot that develops meticulously over its short episodes finds heroes worth rooting for and the most genuinely awful villain imaginable.

8. A Murder at the End of the World (Hulu)

Hulu’s murder mystery about a hacker stranded in the cold mountains of Iceland is a combination of new age thriller with old school David Fincher mindbend. Another series with incredible performances and a new twist on an age old genre. Its commentary on climate change, gender stereotypes, drug abuse love and loss heavily resonates behind its solid whodunnit plot. It hasn’t finished its season yet, so I’m eager to see if it’ll stick the landing. However, five episodes in, it’s easily as good anything else I’ve seen all year.

9. Shrinking (Apple)

As Bill Lawrence was bidding farewell to Ted Lasso this year he brought Shrinking to Apple TV with a whole new slew of likable flawed characters lost and searching for purpose. Highlighted by top notch supporting performances from Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams and newcomer Lukita Maxwell, Shrinking was the brain child of not just Lawrence, but his Lasso Cohort, Brett “Roy Fucking Kent” Goldstein who acts as an executive producer and writer.

10. Dave (FX)

No series bounced back from a terrible sophomore slump harder than Lil’ Dicky’s tremendous third season of FX’s Dave. Going back to the style that made the first season so good, Dave leaned heavily on its core stars to try to adapt to a celebrity world they probably don’t belong in. An amazing crop of guest stars including Rachel McAdams and Brad Pitt brought some legitimacy to the quality of the series. If you punched out after a lousy season two, do yourself a favor and punch back in.

11. Jury Duty (Amazon Freevee)

I will bring my hot take that this entire thing (including the lead) was fake with me to my grave…that being said, it’s impossible to deny how fun, sweet and endearing this series was. Flaws aside, with a premise that could truly be appreciated by anyone and an ending that paid dividends by the millions, it was impossible not to fall in love with Jury Duty.

12. Barry (HBO)

Despite feeling like a bit of a rushed sprint to the finish, HBO’s Barry stayed true to its form in its final season raising the level of anti-hero to new heights. Brilliant performances by its lead, Bill Hader as well as Sarah Goldberg, Henry Winkler and a host of others made for fitting finale to one of the best series of the last ten years.

13. Telemarketers (HBO)

MAX’s documentary mini series about a pair of unlikely former telemarketers looking to bring down the scam industry from the inside was an eye-opening (albeit not very surprising) delight. In particular it reminds you about how out of touch (and out of reach) politicians can be and then spins that on its head. The weird familiarity with its subject matter makes the viewer feel like they’re in on the job, and it exposes the grossness of an industry everyone already knew was completely disgusting.

14. Perry Mason (HBO)

Unfortunately the tremendous second season of HBO’s Perry Mason origin story just wasn’t compelling enough to find an audience to keep it on television. Despite that it came back stronger and more confident than its excellent first season. With outstanding performances from lead Matthew Rhys, and an under appreciated remarkable supporting case in Chris Chalk and Juliet Rylance, it’s truly a shame that it won’t be back for a third round of legal drama…but if you back-burnered it hoping to get to it at some point, you absolutely shouldn’t forget about it.

15. Swarm (Amazon)

Amazon’s based-on-a-true-story (kinda) telling about a young woman obsessed with a Beyoncé-like mega star who spans time and space doubling as a serial killer gets a majority of its inspiration from the mind of Donald Glover. An incredible performance from lead Dominique Fishback was tough to top by anyone in 2023…and her character’s transition from the first to the last episode is truly remarkable. The final episode is something that sticks with you for a long time and will definitely leave you with a sleepless night.

16. A Small Light (NatGeo)

NatGeo (I actually watched it on Disney +) had one of the most talked about original series in 2023 with A Small light…the story of Miep Gies who helped hide the Frank family during the Holocaust. An obviously difficult series to watch at times, the series was a celebration of heroism in a time when the costs were unthinkably high.

17. I’m a Virgo (Amazon)

One of the weirdest shows on TV in 2023 was Amazon’s series about a 13 foot tall man hidden by his parents from the rest of the world and what happens when he takes it upon himself to break out. The world Boots Riley creates is equally a weird as it is compelling.

18. Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark (HBO)

Marc Maron’s post-pandemic HBO special was the most personally revealing stand-up comedy show in a very long time. His stories of personal grief, loss and self-reflection made for one of the more moving performances of the year. I actually saw this performance live about a year before it aired on television and it definitely was better the second time around.

19. The Curse (Showtime)

Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie created what was one of the buzziest series of the year with The Curse. The show follows Emma Stone and Fielder as a married couple with seemingly good intentions to stimulate a downtrodden part of a small New Mexico town with their access to money and a HGTV-like television series. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the entire series, so I’m not entirely sure what The Curse even is…but it’s as compelling as it can be, no less. Fielder slowly, but surely, has become one of the most beloved content creators for millennials and gen-xers because of his originality and commitment to thinking and being outside of the box. Safdie, coming off the polarizing Uncut Gems, transitions from writer/director to creator/star in a role that, for me, is the most intriguing part of the entire series. The jury is out for me as far as how good The Curse is or will be…but I guess that’s a discussion for 2024.

20. Party Down (STARZ)

Party Down got the reboot treatment fans of the series have been clambering about for more than a decade, and it is easily in the conversation as the best reboot for any series to date. The series matched its original humor. It naturally eases into the inevitable life progression of its characters without having to make it silly or ridiculous. It never tries to follow the cookie-cutter reboot or sequel formula of rehashing old material simply for nostalgia.

21. Never Have I Ever (Netflix)

The final season of Netflix’s most underrated series went out the same way it came in…funny, deeply emotional, and eager to satisfy its most loyal fans. One last time I’ll lobby for the award show circuit recognition of its lead actor, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan who should, without a doubt, be one of the biggest starts on the planet. As I bawled my eyes out at the final scene I realized how much I’m truly going miss one of the better “sitcoms” of the 21st century.

22. Single Drunk Female (Freeform)

Freeform’s excellent comedy about a recovering alcoholic navigating family, love, and loss was cancelled after its terrific second season. It’s a series I hope receives some sort of a redemption somewhere (I’m looking at you, Netflix), and absolutely worth you seeking out to find. Sofia Black-D’Elia’s lead performance is Emmy-worthy, and if this is truly the end of the exceptional series, I have no doubt she’ll go on to do something else equally as good.

23. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (Netflix)

Tim Robinson’s insane world of sketch comedy returned for its third round of absurd nonsense…complete with random screaming, masked pigs and “shirt brothers.” Fans of the series noted a bit of a downtick, but it still remains the best sketch comedy on TV.

24. Cunk on Earth (Netflix)

Diane Morgan’s portrayal of Philomena Cunk, a dim-witted well-intentioned investigative journalist setting out to to tell the story of the invention of the world is one of the funnier diamonds in the rough of Netflix’s sea of content. Morgan’s cynical sarcasm is the backbone of the show’s undeniable charm.

A Selection of My Favorite Television Episodes of 2023

As the year starts winding down and I start fine-tuning my list of the best series of the year, I thought it would be prudent to list off some of the better episodes of television of the year. This is, by no means, an all-inclusive list. There were countless episodes of TV that made me laugh, cry, and wish I was was watching something else. Some of these series didn’t even make my year-end list.

Feel free to jump into the discussion and I look forward to seeing you next month with my annual recommendation of what you should go back and binge.

These episode discussions are riddled with spoilers. Quite frankly you shouldn’t read any of the ones where you haven’t watched the series. This is your only warning.

Succession – “Connor’s Wedding” (Season 4, Episode 3)

There’s a scene in “Connor’s Wedding” where Jeremy Strong’s character Kendall Roy lectures his brother Roman (Kieran Culkin) and his sister Siobhan (Sarah Snook) about their reaction to their father’s death. “what we do today, will always be what we did the day our father died,” he explains.

What was deeply hidden in that lecture was essentially the series self-reflecting on how it handled the exit of its most polarizing character, Logan Roy (Brian Cox).

Creator Jesse Armstrong had to know that “Connor’s Wedding” would be the series’ defining moment it would always be judged upon. And much like the series’ iconic main title theme music, it imbeds itself into your brain never to be forgotten.

How the big twist in Connor’s Wedding came to fruition was expert bait and switch. By the time Succession got to Season 4, Episode 3 we had already seen two weddings in the series. We expected them to look a certain way. We expected the characters to behave a certain way. We were distracted. The tip-off that something is going awry was completely missed by all of it. As Shiv sends a call from her estranged husband Tom (Matthew Macfayden) we all silently mumbled a course, “ugh fuck that guy,” to ourselves…but the second call directly after it…

That’s when Armstrong taps you on the shoulder to let you know that Connor’s Wedding isn’t going to look like Shiv’s wedding…or Caroline Collingwood’s wedding from Season 3.

Logan’s death seems to come out of no where. One minute it’s the siblings scheming their move against their father and the very next second they’re thrusted into the reality that it’s all coming to an end. That was Succession’s entire final season in a nutshell.

As it was for the entire series, the strength of “Connor’s Wedding,” was largely due to its impeccable cast. Bouncing back and forth from trying to empathize with Roman’s inability to come to terms with his father’s death while weirdly aligning with the idea Kendall had to be the adult in the room was something that has repeatedly stuck with me.

If there was anything I thought the episode missed the mark on it was the almost cartoonish commitment the characters had to being in the moment. I thought the only thing that was lacking was at least one of them saying, “I mean..fuck that guy. I’m glad he’s dead.” Because, let’s face it, they all had the absolute right to say that. And in retrospect I don’t believe that none of them would have felt it…let alone said it.

Reservation Dogs – “Elora’s Dad” (Season 3, Episode 9)

Reservation Dogs was leaps-and-bounds ahead of the curve when it came to altruistic character study. It essentially used its final season to round-out the grounded stories of all of its characters in a manner that was realistic and ultimately satisfying.

None was more true than introducing the audience to Elora’s father, Rick Miller, portrayed by one of Hollywood’s greatest actors, Ethan Hawke.

In a masterful guest appearance, Hawke gave life to an entire backstory of where Elora came from and what life was like before she was born. He complemented the strife of the other characters’ loss of Elora’s mother while developing hope that what we know of Elora and Rick was simply the beginning of what will be a happy family with a happy ending.

Though the other characters took a backseat to Elora in “Elora’s Dad,” it’s impossible not to identify it as a pivotal mark in where she ends up with the other characters.

The Bear – “Fishes” (Season 2, Episode 6)

The matured second season of The Bear hit its height of maturity in a flashback episode surrounding the last Berzatto family Christmas before the untimely death of its patriarchal larger-than-life figure, Michael…the brother of series lead Carmy.

An incredible deep dive into the backstory of the complex characters of a series predicated on stress and emotion, “Fishes,” was less an origin story of people as it was an origin story of the anxiety that drives their lives.

The Last of Us – “Long, Long Time” (Season 1, Episode 3)

If we’re ranking things here (and we’re not), it’s hard not to identify “Long, Long Time” as the best episode of television of the entire year.

Essentially a one-off story about two men who fall in love in a world that has abandoned the emotion, I remember finishing it thinking, “That was one of the best episodes of television ever made.”

The episode lived and breathed as an example of the series entire underlying theme that the you don’t need to save the whole world to save your own world.

Performances from Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman were simply an exercise in perfection.

Jury Duty – “The Verdict” (Season 1, Episode 8)

One of the buzziest series of the year was Amazon Freevee’s mockudrama / reality series / prankathon “Jury Duty.” Every single person in a fictional trial from its parties, to the attorneys, to the judge to the case itself was fake…except for one juror…a guy named Ronald. I had my skepticism as to whether the series was what it claimed it to be, but none the less, it would be difficult to find a show that stuck the landing harder than the reveal episode of a show where you spent the previous four hours trying to figure out how they were going to keep this poor shcmuck from figuring everything out.

The Verdict, the series finale, was a look behind the curtain…and it was utterly delightful. It’s an episode of television that was impossible to walk away feeling wonderful about the world and the people in it. Good, old fashioned, smiley TV

Ted Lasso – “So Long, Farewell” (Season 3, Episode 12)

Speaking of old fashioned, smiley TV, Ted Lasso! Boy it drop an absolute turd of a final season. Regardless, the series finale was tremendous. With all of the bow-outs this year, Ted Lasso’s series finale (if it actually is that. Over/under on a spin off series has to be set at like, 2 years, right?) was my favorite of the entire year.

The hour-long send off for one of the most relevant good-natured shows in a post-pandemic world was everything you wanted it to be. You laughed, you cried, you wanted more Ted. Despite its plot well drying up and overstaying its welcome by about a full year, it left in a most memorable fashion.

I’m a Virgo – “You a Big Muthafucka” (Season 1, Episode 1)

Boots Riley’s insane comedy about the absurd world of a thirteen foot tall teenager living in hiding by his parents was one of the weirdest and most intriguing series of the year. The pilot episode focused on Jharrel Jerome’s lead character Cootie’s unexpected introduction to the real world despite his inability to navigate it.

The episode itself works perfectly as a pilot because it’s perfectly captivating based on its weirdness and how endearing it is.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back in early December for my full list of the Best Television Series of 2023

The Emmys have announced they will be moved to January 2024 with hopes that the WGA and SGA strikes will not impact

Looks like my annual list will be dropped before we know who wins Emmys for the last year.

I honestly think this isn’t entirely unwelcome. The Emmys have, for years, said that they’d like to align with the other awards shows to have a. January to December eligibility.

Eligibility has historically gone from June to May because for decades television “seasons” ran from September to May to align with various sweeps weeks for ratings. Obviously streaming has changed all of that.

Regardless, stick around here for a breakdown of the Emmys when (if) they do, eventually happen.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming*

* – Watching shows that aren’t postponed to January

#IStandWithWGA

#IStandWithSGA

Angus Cloud in his extremely short life gave us but a glimmer of the massive shining star he could’ve been

Angus Cloud, the twenty five year old breakout star of HBO’s massive hit show Euphoria died today. And that just absolutely fucking sucks….everything about it. It’s tragic. It’s terrible and it’s heartbreaking

As Euphoria’s fame rapidly expanded so did the stardom of its relatively unknown cast. Aside from Zendaya who’s rocketed above the highest peaks of Hollywood’s elite, Angus Cloud lived in the class of Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer, Jacob Elordi, and Storm Reid who all appeared from the world of obscurity and quickly rose to god-like status with the show’s young fans.

In a series built on tragedy, death, grief, strife and alienation, it’s horrifyingly depressing that the loss of Angus Cloud in real life debilitatingly imitates the perfection in art he so brilliantly embodied.

Masked by the surreal over-the-top drama of high school nonsense was always the all-too-real depressing nature of the subverted context Euphoria is never shy about smashing you over the head with.

Death, drugs, suicide, finding and losing your personal identity, and the complete inability to prevent your own demons from thrusting you into a spiral of disaster run along the thematic roller coaster of the Euphoria as commonplace as dad-gags do on Impractical Jokers.

I’ve always felt that the show is one of the more misinterpreted and even misunderstood series on television. It’s almost too smart for its audience. Even the show’s most loyal viewers, more often than not, mistakenly experience it at face value rather than (how I’ve always assumed it’s supposed to be viewed) through the lens of its incredibly unreliable, drug addicted, narrator.

I’ve always said that the majority of what Rue tells us is straight-up bullshit. We’re not supposed to believe her. She’s a liar….a drug addict who is spinning yarns to convince us she’s alright.

Except for what she says about Fezco…

Fezco is her protector. He’s a genuine good soul who, despite his ambition to stay alive with the skills he has looks out for Rue when he easily could just let her die. He’s her moral rock. He’s her lifeline. He’s probably the only reason she isn’t dead

The irony of Fezco being Rue’s protection from herself while also being her drug dealer was always one of the most impressive nuisances of the series, for me. A character who could’ve been the most hated became the one that was easily the most beloved.

And that’s a testament to the flawless poignant performance of a young, brilliant Angus Cloud. Few could’ve pulled off such a complicated part…let alone with essentially no credits to his name prior to landing the role. Angus Cloud as Fezco was probably one fraction of what his talent could have been.

That makes today’s news of his tragic passing all-the-more difficult to take. The real life person who brought to life one of the most likable but flawed characters dying way too young with so much potential ahead of him is horrifyingly fucking devastating. You can’t help but weep for those who knew and loved him.

Emmy nominations have come and gone, and now we officially know who will be squaring off in September for “TV’s Biggest Night.”

The nominations overall were underwhelming and unsurprising. The White Lotus and Succession absolutely dominated the drama category while Ted Lasso, Abbott Elementary, Barry and The Bear essentially made up the entirety of the Comedy categories.

Some takeaways…

Snubs

Obviously the biggest, and most inexplicable, snub of the day was leaving out Harrison Ford’s excellent performance in (the otherwise heavily nominated) “Shrinking.”

“Harrison Ford” was immediately trending on Twitter as fans of the series rushed to express their discontent.

If you told me that the Apple TV series was going to get only get one nomination, I would’ve guessed it would be Ford without any hesitation. Regardless, it scored a handful of nominations including one for Outstanding Comedy Series and stars Jason Segel and Jessica Williams, but Ford was left out.

The other inexplicable disaster came in the nominations for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. Entirely missing were critic favorites like NatGeo’s A Small Light, Amazon’s Swarm and BBC’s “This is Going to Hurt”…but what was nominated? Disney +’s utterly unmemorable Obi-Wan Kenobi. Terrific.

I commented in my own blog that the Limited / Anthology Series were absolutely experiencing a reverse renaissance this year, but completely missing the boat on decent series to nominate one that is entirely unworthy was just silly.

Speaking of silly nonsense…

The nominees for Outstanding Comedy Series make sense only to the point where the obvious choices were awarded…after that it’s nonsense.

Picking Wednesday and Jury Duty (a series I also rightly suggested could potentially be low hanging fruit for the Emmys) over much more deserving series like Reservation Dogs (a series I and a lot of other critics thought had a decent shot) is pathetic.

Almost entirely absent from the nominations this year is perennial nominee “What We Do in the Shadows.” A far better series than Wednesday or Jury Duty, which showcased an absolute breakout year for Harvey Guillen fell out of favor when, in retrospect and compared to what was nominated instead of it, it probably shouldn’t have.

Wednesday was the clear head scratcher amongst critics. Although there was plenty of buzz around it being nominated, it never really got away from a modern upgrade of Tim Burton 80’s and 90’s lore. What it did do, much like Stranger Things and Cobra Kai (another entirely absent series despite dropping two seasons during the eligibility period) is attract young adult viewers by the dozens. But was it even the right “young adult” series to reward…especially with Reservation Dogs, RIGHT THERE.

One Twitter user even commented that if The Emmys were going to look to include Young Adult series, they clearly picked the wrong one…with Reservation Dogs or even the critically revered Netflix series Never Have I Ever being the better choice.

Snubs aside, what did the Emmys do right?

Well, first of all, I absolutely loved the nomination of
Keivonn Montreal Woodard for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He’s the youngest nominee ever and was an absolute shining light in a sea of brightness on an incredible season of television.

The love for The Bear wasn’t surprising…especially given its popularity currently, but I’ve repeatedly said that I’m rooting the most for its star Ayo Edebiri to win an Emmy as her dad is a friend of mine.

The Bear fared well overall, and I actually think Jeremey Allen White has leapfrogged Jason Sudiekis to be the favorite to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

I’ll also, strongly, be rooting for Better Call Saul to win its first Emmy ever in its last year of eligibility…but if I could pick only one…

Disney + heavily lobbied for its Rouge One spinoff “Andor,” and it was rewarded heavily with multiple acting awards and a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. In doing so it ousted two-time nominee The Mandalorian…which didn’t entirely help itself by shelling out a mostly terrible third season in 2023

One weird takeaway (that I somehow missed earlier) was that the million-time consecutive winner Last Week Tonight was somehow shoved in the Variety Sketch category to compete against SNL (an also million-time straight winner). In what should be a non-contest, the John Oliver series should win easily

Missing from the sketch/variety series race, but smashed into the Outstanding Short Form Comedy Series is my favorite Netflix Series, ever, “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.”

That’s it for my immediate reactions. I think Succession and Ted Lasso will win the big awards of the night. Until this morning I thought the latter would be won by Abbott Elementary. I now actually would drop that to third behind The Bear.

The only series I can feasibly see contending for Outstanding Drama Series with Succession is The White Lotus. Very clearly voters worshipped both series…way more so than Better Call Saul, The Crown, or The Last of Us (which I was pleased to see so represented).

I’ll, obviously, be breaking down who will win and who should win over the next two months. Please smash the Subscribe button, follow along and tell your friends.