A TV columnist is often asked by family
members, friends, acquaintances and doormen to recommend TV shows to watch.
Unlike “What is your favorite show?” -- which is the other question a TV
critic gets asked just as often -- the “What do you recommend?” question has to do with shows currently on the air or recently premiered that the people in my life assume I have watched
and possibly even reviewed.
And just like the “favorite show” question to which I never have a ready answer, the titles of current shows to recommend almost never occur to
me quickly enough to give an intelligent answer to that question either.
Moreover, when I inform people that I only watched one episode -- generally the first one -- of a specific show they
might ask me about, or worse, tell them I did not watch the show at all, they tend to stare at me in disbelief.
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As I have learned over the years, people have this unrealistic expectation that
a TV critic somehow gets around to watching “everything” -- not only every show, but every episode of every show too.
News flash: This is not humanly possible and probably not even
mathematically possible either. This is especially true today in a TV universe in which new content comes and goes quickly in numbers that are increasing every day.
Lately, in an attempt to
make light of the situation, I have adopted a self-deprecating strategy in which I position myself as the Champion of First Episodes -- that the majority of shows that come up for review here are
judged on the basis of a single episode, the premiere.
I will be the first to admit that this is not necessarily the fairest way to judge a TV series. Certainly, the first episodes of many
series represent a work in progress that is still working out some of the kinks, you might say. And in many cases, such shows might get better with age and experience, if given the chance.
On
the other hand, as I have often also said, TV shows today should be ready to go and at their best (if possible) on opening night. Just like on Broadway, most TV shows are judged based on their debuts.
It is the nature of the beast.
When people ask me the recommendation question, they usually ask it after a show is well underway, perhaps five or six episodes into its inaugural season.
They will ask: How am I enjoying [fill in blank with name of show]? Or, have I been watching [show X]? This is when I play the “Champion of First Episodes” card.
And it's true:
Rare is the TV series today that I manage to watch all the way through for an entire season, or even just partially, or for more episodes than just the first one.
Recent examples include
HBO’s “Watchmen,” whose first episode I liked a lot. The same went for USA Network’s “Treadstone” earlier this fall, the first episode of the new season of
“Ray Donovan” on Showtime, and “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ (Baby Yoda, pictured above).
I like them all, and wish I had time to watch more of them. But I do not. I
reviewed them all based on one episode for one simple reason: There is not time to watch more than one and still produce a TV Blog five days a week.
Oftentimes, shows will premiere in
bunches too, which prevents some shows from even being reviewed. For the most part, the TV Blog reviews TV shows one at a time. And if more than one show is scheduled to premiere on the same
day, then some won’t get reviewed.
Recent titles that did not come up for review here that other critics seemed to rate rather highly included “His Dark Materials” on HBO,
“Back to Life” on Showtime and “Why Women Kill” on CBS All Access.
True confession: I still haven't seen them, and I doubt that I will. I guess it’s like I have
long said -- and even written here from time to time: For me, TV shows are like subway trains. Miss one, and another one will be right behind it. Who has time to watch it all?