🤖 AI Summary
Overview
This episode dives into the standout TV shows of the past year, as Gilbert Cruz, Jason Zinoman, and Alexis Soloski discuss their favorites ahead of the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. From medical dramas to Hollywood satires, the conversation explores what makes these series resonate, their cultural impact, and the performances that define them.
Notable Quotes
- Watching them be good at what they do is my ASMR. It soothes me.
— Alexis Soloski, on the competence of characters in The Pit.
- I don't care how much they make us want to think that being insanely wealthy looks bad, it still looks pretty good.
— Jason Zinoman, on the allure of wealth in The White Lotus.
- No one as a child staring up at that big, beautiful screen thinks, ‘One day I will greenlight Kool-Aid.’
— Alexis Soloski, on the absurdity of Hollywood in The Studio.
🎭 The Emotional Pull of The Pit
- Alexis Soloski and Gilbert Cruz praise this HBO Max medical drama for its portrayal of competence in a chaotic emergency room.
- The show’s realism, from understaffed hospitals to administrative pressures, resonates with real-life ER professionals.
- Alexis highlights Noah Wyle’s matured performance as Dr. Robbie, calling his character “soothing” despite the show’s intense crises.
- The series balances old-school hospital procedural elements with modern, prestige-TV grit, including graphic realism and sharp dialogue.
🌀 The Mystery and Absurdity of Severance
- Jason Zinoman admires the show’s tonal ambition, blending paranoia, absurdity, and philosophical depth.
- Season 2 shifts focus to the innies
being controlled by their outies,
exploring themes of identity and autonomy.
- Alexis Soloski finds the mystery overstretched but loves the workplace absurdity, including perks like the melon bar.
- The production design, with its eerie mid-century modern aesthetic, adds to the show’s unique flavor.
🌴 Wealth, Schadenfreude, and The White Lotus
- Alexis Soloski calls the show a perfect mix of luxury, dysfunction, and human venality, delivering both entertainment and cringe-worthy moments.
- Season 3, set in Thailand, received mixed reviews for repeating themes, but Alexis likens its cyclical storytelling to the Buddhist concept of samsara.
- Jason Zinoman critiques the genre’s inability to fully condemn wealth, noting that opulence always retains its allure.
🎬 Hollywood Satire in The Studio
- Seth Rogen’s portrayal of a bumbling studio executive offers a fresh take on Hollywood moguls, blending humor with topical commentary.
- The show skewers the diminished power of traditional studios in the tech-driven entertainment landscape.
- Cameos from Martin Scorsese, Olivia Wilde, and Ron Howard add layers of self-parody and industry critique.
- Jason Zinoman praises the Golden Globes episode as a standout for its sharp humor and insight into Hollywood’s absurdities.
🌀 The Surreal Brilliance of Nathan Fielder
- Jason Zinoman hails Nathan Fielder’s work as a triumph of discomfort and obsession, blending reality and fiction in unsettling ways.
- Season 2 of The Rehearsal
explores themes of control and miscommunication, culminating in bizarre, unforgettable moments like Fielder’s reenactment of Sully’s life.
- Alexis Soloski admires Fielder’s commitment to elaborate, often disturbing bits, even as they leave her deeply uncomfortable.
- The show’s layered storytelling invites analysis while parodying the very act of over-analysis.
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📋 Episode Description
The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is tonight, honoring the best television shows released between June 2024 and May 2025. But before the festivities begin, Gilbert Cruz, the editor of The New York Times Book Review, would like to have a TV celebration of his own.
On today’s episode, he gathers Jason Zinoman, a critic at large for The Times, and Alexis Soloski, a culture reporter for The Times, to “channel surf” through some of their favorite shows of the past year.
On Today’s Episode:
Jason Zinoman, a critic at large for The New York Times who writes a column about comedy.
Alexis Soloski, a culture reporter for The New York Times.
Additional Reading:
The 9 People Who Check In to Every ‘White Lotus’
Sympathy for the Devil, er Boss: In ‘The Studio,’ the Powerful Are on Defense
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