Watched a lot of television around the end of the year. Probably because I was pretty burnt out and I didn’t want to think about it. Some of it was not great but some of it was pretttty darn goooooooddddd
Mad Men (2007-2015)
Pretty much just as good as I remember it, which is to say: very good. I think they ended it at a good time; I don’t know how much longer they could have strung along the petty dramas that powered the show. Peggy’s character arc is maybe the most satisfying, though Pete Campbell especially in the last two seasons gives her a run for her money. Don basically stays Don throughout, although I like that after he reconnects with Betty he stops being so profligate. There is a lot more humour in the show than I remember! Oh & the dialogue is immaculate.
R…
Watched a lot of television around the end of the year. Probably because I was pretty burnt out and I didn’t want to think about it. Some of it was not great but some of it was pretttty darn goooooooddddd
Mad Men (2007-2015)
Pretty much just as good as I remember it, which is to say: very good. I think they ended it at a good time; I don’t know how much longer they could have strung along the petty dramas that powered the show. Peggy’s character arc is maybe the most satisfying, though Pete Campbell especially in the last two seasons gives her a run for her money. Don basically stays Don throughout, although I like that after he reconnects with Betty he stops being so profligate. There is a lot more humour in the show than I remember! Oh & the dialogue is immaculate.
Rick and Morty s08 (2025)
I didn’t realise that this came out and then I watched it all at once when I was sick. It’s… more of the same. At some point it seems like a whole “adult cartoons” industry pulled itself together and they’re all doing Rick and Morty but with different agendas, and it all feels very slightly slop-adjacent.
Smiling Friends s03 (2025)
…Except for Smiling Friends, this one’s still a good “adult cartoon”. They do more fun stuff with animation, mixing live-action and digital and stop-motion. The humour is quick & clever and there’s a Chris-chan reference in there somewhere. I will never get tired of Michael Cusack’s accent.
The World at War (1973)
Was this Prestige Television 40 years before Prestige Television? The scope of this series is magnificent. The sound editing, Laurence Olivier’s voice, the extensive archival footage. The interviews with firsthand sources! It remains up-to-date, as well: what we’ve decided is important historical WWII context in the last 50 years hasn’t really changed, so The World at War hits pretty much all of the important story beats.
Nuremberg (2025)
A pretty dumb portrayal of — let’s be real — the least interesting part of World War II. Russell Crowe plays Herman Göring (um ok) but does a creditable job of being a weasel with a bad accent; Rami Malek plays an Army psychiatrist but can’t seem to decide how to play it; there are some other big names wandering around in the background. The script is pretty rough; every third line is one of those showstoppers where you expect the YEAHHH from “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” to play. Deeply unserious movie.