I watched it on a screen: rolling TV and streaming media 2026

New year, new thread - mostly for TV but really anything you watched on a streamer/at home/etc is fair game.

January is chock full of new and returning shows. Some stuff I'm looking forward to:

The Pitt s2 (HBO) - Jan 8
The Traitors s4 (Peacock) - Jan 8
His & Hers (Netflix) - Jan 8 (new mystery show with Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson)
A Thousand Blows s2 (Hulu) - Jan 9
The Night Manager s2 (Prime) - Jan 11 (10-years-later followup to the John Le Carre adaptation w/ Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Coleman)
Industry s4 (HBO) - Jan 11
Hijack s2 (Apple)
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (Paramount) - Jan 15
Ponies (Peacock) - Jan 15 (new thriller with Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson)
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO) - Jan 15
Wonder Man (Disney+) - Jan 27
Shrinking s3 (Apple) - Jan 28
Bridgerton s5 (Netflix) - Jan 29

will def watch the pitt and traitors and knight of the seven kingdoms. been meaning to watch both industry and shrinking

The Pitt and Industry for sure. Maybe The Night Manager as well; I liked the first one and didn't realize it had been 10 years.

Just realized I've been conflating the Night Agent and the Night Manager (haven't seen either)

I really liked Night Manager when I watched it years ago. I’m a sucker for the Le Carre brand of espionage shows. Which is definitely NOT what Night Agent is.

Haha same - I was getting really confused by the excitement around the new season of the Night Agent

Haha same - I was getting really confused by the excitement around the new season of the Night Agent

Bad: We watched the first two episodes of Night Manager 2, and it is some pretty generic and implausible stuff. Might not bother with the rest.

Good: We're also three episodes into Néro on Netflix, a French drama set during the early 16th century, which has assassins and witches and people fighting their way across hostile countryside. It's pretty good.

Sad: I've had to give up on Culinary Class Wars. During episode 4, one of the chefs started grilling crabs over coals, and it was immediately apparent that one of the crabs was still alive while this was happening. And they didn't just show it once: a couple of times they cut back to the crab trying to climb off the grill and the chef hooshing it back on there. I'm aware that attitudes to marine animals differ across the world, and I know that it might make me a hypocrite or whatever, but if I'm watching something purely for entertainment purposes, I don't really want to see that, so I have parted ways with this otherwise excellent show.

yeah that was a bit grim.

Futher ahead, looking forward to the second season of Beef which is around April I think.

All new cast (and beef) this season

Looking forward to His and Hers, hope it's good, plan to start that as early as today. I just finished The Lowdown last night so I have a bit of a void (watching The Beast in Me and Death by Lightning with the wife so our schedules/appetites have to align before I move forward with those).

I liked season one of the Night Manager well enough but tbh the trailer for season two looked incredibly trashy and bad and was enough to put me off for now. Reading the comments above won't drive me on to watch it.

Task is decent but should have been a single half hour episode because that guy wouldn’t have survived robbing a single drug house.

This looks reeeeeally stupid. I'm in. On Amazon January 28.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8R0xDczERo

I watched one episode of His & Hers and don’t think I’ll continue. I hope Bernthal and Thompson got big paychecks.

Very late to the party, but finally gave the Lowdown a shot last night. The whole lovable screw-up who stumbles upon something bigger than himself, while trying to fix stuff at home, all felt bit played out. Still, the Tulsa backdrop is interesting/intriguing. Will try one or two more episodes before deciding whether to pass.

I watched the first episode of Lowdown and it felt a little forced and cutesy -- and yet another show/movie to trade in on Keith David's innate likeability without giving him anything interesting to do. But maybe it gets better?

agreed on His & Hers, I couldn't even make it all the way through one episode. very soapy, which isn't my speed. that makes two Tessa Thompson projects in a row (also Hedda) that I've quit after roughly a half-hour. I don't think the problem is her, but I'm a little wary.

also, Keith David has plenty to do in The Lowdown, I'd advise you stick with it. I know YMMW with Ethan Hawke and sometimes he does seem extremely try-hard, but ultimately he won me over, plus it's got lots of other great folks like Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kyle McLachlan, and especially Tim Black Nelson.

*Blake

Yeah, I will watch a few more.

Tessa Thompson is a terrible actor imo. I mean, she's okay in Thor, where she's supposed to be a little blank and aloof. But she's always somewhat wooden, like she's rehearsing for a Hal Hartley movie.

Lowdown is loosely based on a real person and story, which adds some perspective.

https://slate.com/culture/2025/11/the-lowdown-show-fx-ethan-hawke-sterlin-harjo-lee-roy-chapman.html

I'm really enjoying The Lowdown but would be sticking with it anyway just for all the JJ Cale on the soundtrack

The Lowdown is a great hang! to me it’s like a cross between Inherent Vice & Long Goodbye where it’s more journey than destination, but even more shambolic & lazy-river. The vibes are SO good though.

lowdown was my favorite show of last year. perfect vibes. incredible cast too, just a murderer's row of character actors. like i tell my friends that the ethan hawke show also has kyle mclachlan and keith david and tracy letts and tim blake nelson and they are like "why have i not heard of this show before now"

About halfway through Lowdown and loving it

You know what's pretty good? The Joel Coen version of MACBETH on Apple TV! (Particularly recommended to ANDOR fans. You'll be shocked why.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptqe7s6pO7g

I watch that every year with my students when we do our Macbeth unit. It generally goes over pretty well, though I do end up having to explain what film noir is because they've never seen any.

yeah i kinda liked that one too! odd that they made Mac & Lady no longer able to have children, kinda removes the point of the whole thing i thought

I didn't realise there was a wait for the culinary class wars final! I feel like there was a slight slump in the middle and 70 min episodes are a lot, but endless cooking paradise (surely "heaven") and hell were great. Loved the guy rushing out multiple dishes like they were being scored on quantity not quality, felt like he didn't give a shit about getting to the final; and the calm but not arrogant confidence of Culinary Monster. Sad but not too surprised to see Brewmaster Yun go.

I do like the show but here's my impersonation of Culinary Class Wars

Shot of dude making bibimbap

Black Spoons chatting amongst thrmselves: What is he making? Bibimbap?

White Spoons doing same: he is very fanmous for his bibimbap!

Cut to interview with guy: I will be making bibimbap.

Caption: THIS GUY - BIBIMBAP EXPERT

also:

The mystery ingredient is... KIMCHI!

Shot of assembled chefs gasping

KIMCHI!

Different shot of gasping chefs

KIMCHI!

Different shot of gasping chefs

I watched Heated Rivalry and found it very addictive and compelling TV. Went back and forth on whether it's actually good, whether something that's by definition a romance novel can *be* good, etc. Concluded that it's really well-made in all the details; acting, cinematography, lighting, music, etc. are all very high quality and the guy who plays the Russian is star material. Still can't quite tell whether that adds up to Good, Good Bad, Bad Good, or what.

It doesn't strike me as fetishizing in the way that Red, White and Royal Blue did; the characters are much more realistic, and it's the kind of difficult relationship situation (two people who get stuck in a situationship for almost a decade because the homophobia of their environment doesn't let them conceive of having an actual relationship) that seems worth spending a season on. Definitely seems to be made for a variety of audiences, not just women (though as a woman it's hard for me to say for sure.)

I’m guessing the source novels are fluff, but the filmmakers have clearly approached the material with the intention of making a quality production, which separates it from the pathetic Red, White and Royal Blue. I love the (Van Sant-inspired?) closing-credit sequence of the finale. And yeah, Conner Storrie is a star.

To me, the really big issue with Red, White, and Royal Blue wasn't even the quality, abysmal though that was; it was the way these two characters interacted in ways that seemed designed to make them as cute and unthreatening as possible to a straight audience. Their emails get leaked and what's in them? No sex videos, nothing embarrassingly dirty, just poetic long-form love letters full of literary quotations. That's not character; that's someone mashing two Ken dolls together.

With Heated Rivalry, the characters seem like actual twentysomething guys who have known each other for years but have never had a real conversation and don't know how, and it's genuinely interesting to watch them figure it out.

xposts i've only watched a couple of episodes but those descriptions of culinary class wars basically describes what happens on 99% of all SKorean reality shows

it's just their standard filming trope/style... like americans on a TV competition show and going "i'm not here to make friends, i'm here to win"

anyway, i'm here to echo others upthread - do not watch His&Hers. I watched it to the end against my better judgement, but it was very bad throughout and the final twist is incredibly stupid

All Her Fault was enjoyable though! Also a cheesy soapy thriller but it helped that the characters were various levels of sympathetic, even when they were being dumb.

My only problem with Heated Rivalry was that the actual heated rivalry part of it wasn't shown all that well. Like, every so often someone would go "don't you hate him?" but there was never any real footage of them hating each other on the ice (because the show couldn't afford to spend very much time on the ice, I guess), or any real feeling that they interacted at all beyond a lot of round-bum shagging in private. But otherwise, knowing some sporty guys, I found their relationship sort of realistic. In that one says "you're so boring" and the other says "you're an asshole" and they play video games and they watch a lot of hockey, and they basically do this for years, because that's what they do. They don't suddenly become incredibly articulate just because they're together.

Is anyone watching new season of Fallout? We enjoyed season 1. Two episodes into season 2 - not quite feeling it, too many plot lines.

yeah i like it okay but it is a lot to keep track of, i think mr veg enjoys it more than i do perhaps bc he played the games

I find myself increasingly getting annoyed by so many shows so I wind up just watching Fisk, I hope there's another season coming considering the success it seems to have had with stateside audiences via Netflix.

I’m 4 episodes into His & Hers … the Sobotkas + Bernthal … apart from them, the best characters are the kid and Alzheimers mom

I gave up on season two of Fallout after two episodes. It seemed to be going for maximum grossness over minimal entertainment and I just couldn't be bothered. Similarly, husband is still watching it because he played the games.

Last week's episode of Fallout was pretty good where they finally introduced deathclaws

Okay I finished His&Hers … it wasn’t horrible… but I had low expectations going in based on the “dead baby trauma” in episode 1.

Also, I swear that there is a scene in Walking Dead where Bernthal has the exact same lines & delivery as in one of the last two episodes.

I am watching The Traitors US season 4 but not opening the Traitors thread and posting about it because the UK version is also airing right now and Peacock won't show that until sometime later this year. Am I missing out on any discussion of the US version, or is it all just about the UK version?

(I get the impression that The Traitors, while certainly a successful show in the US, is a bigger deal in the UK. Or at least watched not just by gay men.)

Fallout S1 was overstuffed on plotlines too, I didn’t remember a third of the recap.

My mom is a big U.K. Traitors fan but hates that the US version is all reality TV losers.

I may be conflating him with Adrian Edmondson in that regard

no he just looks really old (which is a plot point).

I watched Breakdown: 1975, a documentary on Netflix. It has some similarities in style to the 1971 documentary on Apple that came out a few years ago. The '75 doc focuses on movies & TV as a mirror to the culture/politics/lifestyle of the US in '75. I lived through it though I was only 10 at the time. Some wild stuff about Betty Ford, EST, ERA, etc. They had some good commentators. Music pulled in a few tracks from the later 70s - seemed unnecessary since there was so much to choose from in '75 itself.

Really enjoyed Youth, it's basically Catastrophe minus Rob Delaney. After the first ten minutes I thought it was just going to be a season of mean people being wankers to one another, but it warmed up a bit, without losing the rough edges. Harriet Walter is so incredible at these withering cameos.

Loved, loved, loved the finale of Colin FA, though part of me wishes they had stuck with Slice of Heaven as the closing song rather than boring old Nick Cave.

Colin From Accounts was decent. Not sure why they had to have the druggy druggy party episode - and I feel like they toned Rumi down! She was the reasonable one in some of the circumstances! I still go back and watch the clip where they meet her at the restaurant because it's so great.
Anyway now I'm watching 'Last Seen' on Apple and Gordon Crapp is the lead, he's fine in a serious role but I still expect him to be the same character.

I watched the first three and a half episodes of the Lizzie Borden Monster series on Netflix and find it entirely entertaining. I realize people are mad as usual that this it's filled with fiction; I'm not.

I enjoyed the druggy episode. They effectively quarantined most of the cringe material to one episode this season, which I appreciated. The Rumi thing was an interesting choice - very "The Worst Person You Know Just Made..." etc.

I've definitely been that "I've only got one child but they're quite a handful" person to other, much more overloaded parents...

My kids are very into the Lizzie Borden one. I watched an episode. It's beyond lurid, beyond pulpy but/and my god, the art direction. Good lord!

Second season of Black Doves, which I liked, coming to Netflix in November.

watched the hilarious Finnish noir rip off of The Bridge, the appealingly named Deadwind. you have to accept a lot - that the finnish police are institutionally crap and go haring off independently without their partners at the slightest whim, and that even when they have been told they are explicitly *not on* the investigation any more, they continue to do so, without any apparent consequence, that freewheeling, almost random investigations based on the most unsubstantiated of guesswork will get you to the truth. and the fact that over something like a million episodes in the first series, it becomes more like a 'Karppi and Nuurmi visit this week'.

However, the dedication to portraying all varieties of poor finnish weather is wonderful - just some really desolate, non-picturesque snow. the acting - i don't know whether it's bad acting or prolonged pauses apparently while the cogs turn and parallel lack of any apparent emotional valence is just how finns communicate, but whatever, i love it. and ofc the finnish language is marvellous and strange and somewhat unique in its small family of languages.

and it all fell into place when i read the recent article on fairies in the LRB, about how they have a shadow economy that matches that of the human realm, and that one writer on fairies "believed fairies were a relic population of diminutive ‘Lappish, Lettish and Finnish’ people who had been driven into hiding by waves of successive migration". so basically yes, this is actually a fairy police force, which also explains how they can get to crime scenes at the speed of light so that the report of a crime, is immediately followed by them appearing at the scene, with the perp visibly fleeing or still present etc.

the sheer number of coincidences is surely explainable by the fact only 20 people live in Finland, hence the rather underpopulated feeling, especially in the third season. Basically all crimes are one connected crime and that's it.

anyway, <3 Karppi and Nuurmi 4evah, sad to have raced through all 3 seasons in about a week.

go haring off independently without their partners at the slightest whim

That stuff is rife in all these kinds of shows and it always puts me off. Yeah sure go to the abandoned farmhouse in the dead of night all by yourself without any backup or even telling anyone, that's standard practice. See also never even mentioning "obstructing justice" to the dozens of witnesses who refuse to answer questions.

I mean I get it. For rapid plot advancement and creation of dramatic situations. But it’s prevalent to the point of being comical in this.

There is no governance whatsoever. Just an evidence board. One thing the Line of Duty did incredibly well was make governance one of the central dynamics in its storyline, sometimes the main driver itself.

Also Deadwind, or Karppi to give it its proper name (why on earth did they make Deadwind the English language name of it!) is clearly YLE doing its best with a shoestring budget. I love that the establishing shots are exactly the same throughout all three seasons. So I sort of forgive it its insane shortcuts.

i think Deadwind is a cut above a lot of the Scandonoir, not as ridiculously bleak and dark or as fun and OTT as Detective Hole (which features a particularly egregious and costly "Yeah sure go to the abandoned farmhouse in the dead of night all by yourself without any backup or even telling anyone, that's standard practice"-type situation in the first episode.) mostly i enjoy the lead performance and the mysteries are decent enough, and sure enough at least the first season involves a major subplot of ZONING ISSUES iirc.

came here to post about this new Netflix limited series adaptation of EAST OF EDEN, it's apparently really good and Florence Pugh is apparently not really good, but incredible. going to start in on it soon.

Watched the first episode of East of Eden and I’m sold.

Me, too! Off to a great start, I think.

I also watched the first episode and while I didn’t love it, I’m gonna keep going to see where it’s headed. (I’ve never read the book or seen the movie.)

I’m reading the book for the first time currently!

My wife read the book in high school and has seen the 1950s movie, but has not told me anything about it.

East of Eden was one of my favorite books I read in HS, so I'll definitely check this out.

Started Lanterns today, now that it's all out and I can go fast if I feel like it. (I'll look at the dedicated show thread after I'm finished.)

i def saw the original film but it was so long ago I don't remember a single thing about it. watched episode one last night and thought it was great.

Watched the pilot episode of MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN on Netflix and was reminded that Jeremy Renner has the most horrifying mutant fingernails I've ever seen on a human being. Go GIS that shit; you'll see his hands in your nightmares forever after.

Also, I love it when a show stunt-casts a seemingly major role in its pilot episode so you go, "Oh, wow! [FAMOUS ACTOR] is in this?" and then that character gets popped 2/3 of the way through so the real protagonist can take over. It's genuinely one of my favorite tropes.

xp is it anything to do with Mare of Easttown or are we running out of titles for TV shows?

It's about an alternate reality where Mare's son kicks his drug habit and grows up to be Hawkeye.

I'm very Flanagan pilled but loved the first episode of Carrie. The kids are fantastic and the usual Flanagan suspects (plus Delainey Hayles & Amber Midthunder!) make up a large proportion of the adult cast.

Stoked for the madness

Had to check whether this was maybe Kitty Flanagan's Carrie.

Excited for Carrie !

Watched the first episode of East of Eden and I’m sold.

this was quite beautiful and devastating

i dunno about Carrie, end of first episode it introduced a whole direction that I have very very mixed feelings about.

xpost Agree.

getting back to Eden tonight, got through episode 3 (or maybe 4). I'm kind of surprised Netflix produced something good again.

I’m waiting to be done w the novel before the series

In other news, I watched the first ep of Carrie & I have a small bone to pick re so far ZERO mention that half of the Battlestar Galactica is in this show! Helo & Anders in ep 1, plus Starbuck, Chief & Boomer all to appear in upcoming eps in varying minor roles. I’m so in!

It is pointing in a rather weird direction but I like Flanagan & I know he knows the source material inside out so I’ll go for the ride.

Carrie actress is good - I was on fence at first but her sweet awkwardness at school was v good.

(And I say all of this while doing my utmost best not to compare to the movie which is truly god-tier for me. )

Started Carrie last night, it's great. I haven't seen the film in over 30 years and it's been even longer since I read the book so difficult for me to compare.

Reflecting on East of Eden some more, I'm kind of floored by Pugh in this. I think this is the best performance by anyone, man or woman, film or tv, I've seen all year.

It’s kind of insane just how great she is. And really not just in this, but I mean generally.

I saw an interview with her where they asked about her favorite scene and she talked about the one with Mr. Edwards where he makes Cathy drink and you can see her whole personality shift, it's a brilliant piece of acting.

Lowdown s2 is back :D
Already off to a great start w Betty Gilpin, Tommy Lee Jones and two Waylon needledrops <3

great interview with Betty Gilpin here, seems relevant for this thread

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/betty-gilpin-is-having-a-moment

Watched the first episode of the new season of The Lowdown last night - definitely has not lost any of its charm! Betty Gilpin is indeed fantastic in this ep.

I’m now three episodes into East of Eden and finding it more tedious than I’d expected. Pugh is good but the overall tone is so weighty. It’s very aware of how prestigious it is.

almost done with Carrie, highly enjoyable but I can guess how some people are going to react to Flanagan clearly setting this up as a meta-context for his Dark Tower series which he's still writing and trying to move ahead.

Two episodes into East of Eden, and I actually really enjoy it when I'm watching it but the prospect of putting on another episode feels a bit like homework

We finished East of Eden last night. It is weighty and pretty devastating at times but we came away very happy to have watched it.

Two episodes into East of Eden, and I actually really enjoy it when I'm watching it but the prospect of putting on another episode feels a bit like homework

Yes exactly

The Lowdown — Just through the first episode of s2 and it’s great how they just pack this show with interesting characters to play off of Ethan Hawke’s barely-out-of-control hijinks

Dark Matter - how do you tie together a show that ran out of source material after the first season? You glue it together with Margo Martindale, of course

Anyone watching Camp Crystal Lake, the Friday 13th Linda Cardellini joint? I watched ep 1 & it’s decent

Now watched both episodes of The Lowdown and this is the best thing on TV right now. Betty Gilpin Emmy campaign begins now

any discussion on Tip Toe? British show not sure where it played there but now on Starz in the US, very intense and pretty compelling thanks to Alan Cumming & others, only posting this to convince myself that i didn't imagine it https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/russell-t-davies-on-tip-toe-tvs-most-prophetic-creator-sounds-the-alarm