I’m less than five minutes into Netflix’s #FindingHerEdge and like…if you can’t hire a double who can actually deliver Olympic-quality skating, you can’t claim your character is an inevitable Olympic champion.

When they held the 1992 Juno Awards, they knew one day they'd appear in a list after Lightning McQueen slash fic. They just KNEW.

I have been actively and consistent Team What Chaos, and this is very validating.

Gen Z discovering Veronica Mars on Netflix and all the TikTok comments pleading with them to ignore the Hulu season? Cinema.

The Oscar for Best Sound will NOT be going to whoever is mixing this nomination livestream because the crowd level is insane. #Oscars

The baseline of #WWEUnreal is pretty by-the-numbers, but let me tell you: the way it becomes INFINITELY more interesting as soon as it focuses on Chelsea Green.

Nothing transitions me into Old Man Yells At Cloud while teaching more than when students admit to watch movies or TV shows in segments on TikTok, so this capitulation made me sad.

come enjoy the essay someone in the comments describes as the most offensive thing they've ever read on our website

Because I take all of my critical cues from the upstanding denizens of the Golden Globes, it’s CLEARLY time to take celebrity podcasts more seriously, so We Need To Talk About the Temporal Chaos of The Opening Of Good Hang With Amy Poehler. youtu.be/AHNxcQo01Us?...

over on Crave, still 2nd. Last week moved back to first after a few days after The Pitt released and stayed until a new ep of The Pitt dropped.

Fifteen years ago this month, we got our first glimpse of #GameOfThrones on a special HBO behind-the-scenes featurette. Only fitting HBO debuts the latest effort to capitalize on the phenomenon it became tonight. My review of the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiere is up at Episodic Medium.

For the first time since the finale, #HeatedRivalry has fallen to third place on HBO Max’s Top 10 TV shows, although notably still outperforming HBO’s actual Sunday drama, Industry (which is up 20% on last season).

Fifteen years ago this month, we got our first glimpse of #GameOfThrones on a special HBO behind-the-scenes featurette. Only fitting HBO debuts the latest effort to capitalize on the phenomenon it became tonight. My review of the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiere is up at Episodic Medium.

After making the terrible (if somewhat self-care justified) decision to start #HadesII on the weekend before the semester starts, I have fortunately reached my self-determined stopping point so now my Game Industry class might actually have a syllabus.

Given that it has held firm as HBO Max’s first or second most popular show throughout this period, the asterisk here would seem to be Nielsen’s inability to track people watching on their phones. #HeatedRivalry

I like The Charm Offensive a lot, but using it for our first trade press “Heated Rivalry meets X” is wildly misleading as to the content of this story. (Also? I don’t care if it went off the rails, the X should obviously be UnREAL).

I knew there was a reason forces conspired to keep me from finishing writing the Galaxy’s Edge chapter of my book last semester!

Finally finished up #TheEndOfAnEra, which would have been much more interesting if it wasn’t at all about Taylor, and just told the stories about the tour? Those stories resonated most, and captured the way the tour became bigger than its star for fans.

Look, if you’re not watching #TheBoyfriend with the English dub, you’re missing out on the added layer of seeing the fascinating disagreements between the dub and the subtitles. e.g. the 40-year-old is “Big Brother” in the dub and “Older Guy” in the subtitles.

I agreed with the headline of this Slate piece and then I read it and realized that it was for the exact opposite reason, which is fun! (An award show has to play to the room, and the room isn't social media, and it showed in how this bit played.)

Look, we would be better off if the #GoldenGlobes had stayed dead, but the literal best argument against them is—*checks notes*—watching the #GoldenGlobes, so at least they're putting in the work, y'know? My newsletter on tonight's nadirtastic broadcast.

Look, we would be better off if the #GoldenGlobes had stayed dead, but the literal best argument against them is—*checks notes*—watching the #GoldenGlobes, so at least they're putting in the work, y'know? My newsletter on tonight's nadirtastic broadcast.

The negative space in this nominee shot is one of the wildest production choices I’ve seen at a major award show in a minute. #GoldenGlobes

"Gimme those hockey gays" - the director of this #GoldenGlobes production, probably. #HeatedRivalry

I've listened to a bunch of Emily Henry audiobooks, which I liked fine, and my immediate reaction to #PeopleWeMeetOnVacation is that I should have known adapting them to film was going to be a mistake.

TikTok, this is not helpful.

It began last year as an experiment in old-school storytelling on Max. It begins this year as an Emmy-winning juggernaut on HBO Max. @frazbelina.bsky.social covers the beginning of #ThePitt S2 for Episodic Medium.

I know the most faithful among #TheTraitorsUS viewers have already binged all three episodes, but I decided it made more sense for @brosenstock.bsky.social to stop after the first and reflect on the new twist and new cast before the murders and banishments began.

So the #Emmys changing "Outstanding TV Movie" to "Outstanding Movie" to "reflect the evolving landscape of cinematic content created for broadcast or streaming" is...not a solution to this category's wonkiness. ICYMI, I talked about it with @thereveal.bsky.social in the fall.

It's a new year at Episodic Medium, which means a new three-month schedule that is wildly subject to change because TV is just like that these days, y'know? Come see what our great contributors will offer to paid subscribers this winter as we approach our fourth anniversary.

It began last year as an experiment in old-school storytelling on Max. It begins this year as an Emmy-winning juggernaut on HBO Max. @frazbelina.bsky.social covers the beginning of #ThePitt S2 for Episodic Medium.

I saw this news earlier, but failed to grasp this COMPLETE COINCIDENCE. Amazing. www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/e...

Not shocked that the finale (and the ongoing restock of paperback copies) has led to The Long Game joining #HeatedRivalry as a NYT bestseller, but while this synopsis isn't WRONG it underlines why adapting this book in the wake of S1 is going to be...a process.

It's a new year at Episodic Medium, which means a new three-month schedule that is wildly subject to change because TV is just like that these days, y'know? Come see what our great contributors will offer to paid subscribers this winter as we approach our fourth anniversary.

if you still want to read me blathering about Star Trek, I'm currently reviewing the 5th season of The Lower Decks on my Patreon--which also has entire series reviews of Voyager and Enterprise:

So uh our newsletter relaunched yesterday. I did not highlight it very much for obvious reasons. But I am insanely proud of the work Emily and I have done to bring Episodes into a new era, and I'd really love if you could check it out and consider subscribing.

I mean, given they’re the network closest to giving up on developing new scripted television, what other choice did they have?

Phew.

I hate Anonymous Award Voters articles, but I DO want to know if literally a single Oscar voter has bought into the Critics Choice Awards’ attempt to glom onto the Golden Globes’ fake relevance to award season.

While I take this point (minus the effects, they have to paint in the crowd in every game shot!), it is important to note that Canada has NEVER been able to pump out 23 episodes a season.

Shoutout to @lilywrites.bsky.social who agreed to be onboarded to Episodic Medium giving up many of her holidays to cover #StrangerThings. Honor her sacrifice—including $40 of AMC snacks* consumed at an atrocious viewing angle—by subscribing to read her take on the finale.

My primary #StrangerThings take is that a show this committed to conspicuous music licensing cutting the hell out of the two biggest needle drops in its finale was A Choice.

TFW you’re constantly criticized for your protagonists being too old so you stick this dude in the crowd at graduation. #StrangerThings

As it seems Marty Supreme* is the latest film to reactivate the discourse about Box Office Reporting, I'm just going to link (not for the first time this month) to the conversation I had with @kristenwarner.bsky.social about Sinners vs. the Asterisk People. * Yes, there's an asterisk here too.

The AI Slop Jigsaw Puzzle situation is as bad as you’ve heard. Choose your fighter!

I've spent the last two weeks pouring cold water on people speculating about #HeatedRivalry's award hopes, so this holiday newsletter explores why people care, the technicalities that make it impossible, and the one U.S. award it's allowed to compete for.

This is actively false: the version of 60 Minutes that aired in primetime as a simulcast was the same as what CBS aired, but they had prescheduled the clipped version of the segment for their digital platform before it was pulled, and no one thought to remove it. There's no evidence of intent.

I've spent the last two weeks pouring cold water on people speculating about #HeatedRivalry's award hopes, so this holiday newsletter explores why people care, the technicalities that make it impossible, and the one U.S. award it's allowed to compete for.

I’ll bite: the Avatar films are as successful as they because they don’t come with the expectation they need to become a part of your personality to enjoy them, and don’t require homework to go to the movies at a time of year when people ritually go to the movies.