NBC has been better with that recently than you’d think. They let Timeless come back for a two-part special that allowed the writers to close the storyline out on their terms.

It’s really a shame because I think it ended up being the superior show, too. Superstore does a better job of fleshing out its supporting cast, it more cleverly plays with real-world issues, and it less frequently teeters into cringe comedy.

Fun episode, although I’d probably grade it more like a B/B+. The Bex/Jason storyline was SO funny (with a hefty dose of cringe comedy mixed in there), and the Cats parody and Maya’s crush on Father Brah were priceless.

Funnily enough, my favourite arc on Buffy/Angel was actually Cordelia’s, but Wesley (and Alexis) are great, too.

There have been one or two other shows that have had this critique lobbed at them, too, and it made me roll my eyes a little bit then as well. The people who covered UnREAL were keen to dock points from episodes’ grades if they didn’t do a good job of giving their black characters agency or adequate character…

The stars are showing up for me (I’m assuming they’re yours, since I doubt anyone else would be reading this page now).

Actually agree with your preempted comments. If there’s a sort-of comedy series from HBO this past decade that really stuck with me, it’s Divorce, but that was only very loosely a comedy (and it ran for a paltry 24 episodes). Likewise, Enlightened was a gem but got cut horribly short. I don’t think Veep fell apart…

Oh, do! If you loved the other two then I’d say it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll get a lot out of SFU as well. It’s aged remarkably well for an early 2000s series, too.

Hahahaha, I dislike Friends as well. In fact, I’d say ‘dislike’ is not a strong enough word for my feelings. I had the same reaction to you, I think - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Schwimmer in this series, and I was really sad when he was written out (to make room for another potential love interest played by…

Struggling with some of these upper ranks (I know, it’s a bit of a cliché to hop on a forum and complain about a ranked list, but that’s the carnival ride we’ve all hitched a seat on).

Funnily enough, I remember agreeing with you on how great Messing is on one of the past reviews of a W&G episode!

I think they actually referenced “START” two episodes prior, in passing.

I agree with everything you just wrote, and if you want to watch another show that has a very human feel to its finale (especially if you like shows that explore mortality or family dynamics, as The Americans did), then I wholeheartedly recommend you look into Rectify or Six Feet Under. I love all three shows so much…

Rest of the season notwithstanding, I agree that it was an excellent finale and one of my favourite hours of television (up there with the Six Feet Under finale, you might be a bit young to have seen that). Interesting that it was so antithetical to the way finales usually go for any kind of crime-related show (“Which…

Kind of funny because it also relates a little to Russia; when Joanna Lumley did a travel documentary as she went along the Trans-Siberian Railway, she commented that she often goes to sleep with a full face of make-up on because it’s easier than redoing her whole face the next day.

I mean, that’s arguably a very American mentality, where the pro-gun lobby is strong and violence in fiction and non-fiction is often trivialised, but where reproductive rights are still hard-fought and there’s an oft-puritanical attitude towards sex.

I watched Special, and no, it’s not good. I reeeeeealllly wanted to like it because of its very noble intentions, but it all felt very underdeveloped.

Finally got around to watching this - despite the episodes only being about 13 minutes long, it was a bit of a chore to watch and I don’t think I’ll be back for season two.

Few shows tackle that kind of internalised homophobia well. Weirdly, though, the other one I can think of is Six Feet Under, which pulled it off around 15 years ago. You’d think writers would have gotten better at it by now, but not really. Not a whole lot.

Seconded. Superstore might actually be my favourite comedy on TV right now (which is saying something, I watch a loooooot of comedies). It’s like The Office, but a little less inclined to lean into awkward/cringe humour. Parks and Rec, but less relentlessly sunny. The Good Place, but less preachy, and permanently set…