Since I just published the first and only blog post of 2025 reviewing films of the year, there’s another subject on my mind: television.
I can barely go a week or two without someone recommending one show or another to me, here’s a brief list of the recommendations from just the last few months: Ozarks, Landman, Severence, The Eternaut, Silo… If I watched half of the shows I’m recommended I don’t think I’d have time to do much else. So this year, counting entire seasons I watched these shows:
- Tires, season 2
- Always Sunny in Philadelphia, seasons 6-8
- Ozark, entire 4 seasons
- Bad Thoughts, season 1
- Landman, season 1
- Squid Games, season 3
None of these stood out as exceptional, and almost all of them feel like a commitment which wasn’t worth the time. Here’s a quick overview of each of them:
Tires, season 2: A showcase of the fact that glong with Dave Chapelle, Shane Gillis is the funniest writer and performer in mainstream comedy today. Watching this feels like hanging out and not doing much of anything with a funny person who’s just passing the time.
Always Sunny in Philadelphia, seasons 6-8: I’m on year three of a project to watch this entire series. This appraisals of this show which count it as one of the greatest sitcom comedies of all time are true, but it seems to just go on forever so I feel like I will never complete it. Very funny every once and a while.
Ozark, seasons 1-4: I watched this entire series in the span of a few months after I returned from a motorcycle trip through the Ozarks. While it is well produced, the show is depressing and basically all of the characters are disgusting individuals. You feel dirty after watching this show. I think much more of the real Ozarks than I do this show’s depiction of it.
Bad Thoughts, season 1: Unbelievably bad sketch comedy written by and starring comedian Tom Segura. With the exception of a single skit, this is some of the worst comedy I’ve seen in a long time. Nearly the opposite of Tires; it feels forced, artificial, and unnatural.
Landman, season 1: Billy Bob Thornton plays an oil man in Midland, Texas who nonchalantly curses his way through daily cartel threats. Written by Taylor Sheridan, the cowboy auteur responsible for Sicario and Hell or High Water. Billy Bob Thornton is a tremendous actor but this show is nothing special in my opinion.
Squid Games, season 3: The weakest of the three seasons by far but at least this show has finally reached its conclusion. While the first season was a smash sensation, I thought the similar Japanese show Alice in Borderlands was superior. Regardless, the Battle Royale format gets stale when extended to this length. I’d rather watched Battle Royale again and save myself 10 hours.
The Disenchantment
It wasn’t that long ago that television was heralded as the premiere platform for modern Hollywood storytelling. Reviewing the limited quantity of shows I’ve watched over the COVID era and the last few years though, the storytelling heyday of Breaking Bad, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones feels like a distant memory.
To summarize, modern television increasingly feels like an engagement trap to keep the viewership around watching ads or paying the annual subscription to Paramount+, HBO Go, Netflix or any of the other constellation of streaming platforms. I can’t say that all movies are good or worth watching, but the chance of finding something exceptional is much higher, while the required time investment is lower. The odds are vastly superior that you’re going to come out with a good experience sticking to movies. Preferably older ones.
I’m sticking to movies, with the only exceptions probably being the shows which I know are good, like Tales from the Crypt. Happy new year.