There’s been a lot of hubbub lately about the mass exodus of film and television production from Hollywood. For a town so identified with show business—Hollywood literally defines the term “industry town”—Los Angeles has found itself at quite a crossroads, watching the vast majority of its core jobs being shipped out of town, out of state and even out of country, where it’s cheaper to produce. In a recent viral conversation in a podcast that shed a very sad but true light on the state of the industry at the moment, Adam Scott and Rob Lowe, two former castmates in the television series Parks & Recreation, which shot entirely in Los Angeles back from 2009-2015, lamented the fact that shows don’t film in Hollywood anymore. Lowe, who hosts a game show called The Floor, noted that he films the show in Ireland because it is cheaper to fly 100 people over to Ireland than it is to film on the Fox lot just down the street from where they live in Southern California.
This current state of the business of show is one of the many underlying themes behind the newest Apple TV+ genius show The Studio. Creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg aren’t going to let Hollywood go down without a fight, as not only have they made a show that is clearly and very intentionally filmed entirely in Los Angeles, including on studio lots, but they have made a show that is a love letter to the industry, with all its flaws and foibles, egos and eccentricities, talents and tantrums, in a show electric with satire and yet purring with sentimentality. The Studio is one of the most rewarding experiences available on television and well worth that AppleTV+ subscription you’ve been putting off.
I’ve been needing to laugh much more than usual lately–probably because the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale is airing while we are living it—so I’ve been seeking out the funny in every possible format: sitcoms, talk shows, stand-up specials, whatever it takes. What I wasn’t expecting was belly laughs from a reality show. Now, normally, I despise reality shows (Survivor, Great British Baking Show and Amazing Race are, of course, forgiven because they are, well, forever in the pantheon) but sometimes you just have to go outside your comfort zone and test the waters to see if something off the radar just might be worthwhile. 
I had heard great things about a show called We Are Lady Parts back in 2021 but I never bothered to check it out, as it was a Peacock original, and, until Poker Face came along in 2023, I didn’t really take Peacock seriously as a purveyor of decent original content.
After a run of clever comedies and thoughtful dramas, I found myself craving a mindless action series, preferably one about spies rather than cops. My mind instantly went to two series, but I ruled them out right away: The Americans, because it’s not current and I want to save it for when I have literally run out of things to recommend, and Slow Horses, because everyone I know watches it already. So, I was left searching for a good current action series to recommend. Then I realized I was already in the middle of one. 
how on earth are you supposed to tell them apart? There’s Reacher, The Recruit, Patriot, Jack Ryan, The Terminal List, Citadel, I could go on and on. So which one is The Night Agent, you ask? No, this isn’t the show where Tom Hiddleston plays an ex-spy having to deal with Hugh Laurie playing an arms dealer…that’s The Night Manager (although that is also a good show, and it’s returning for a second season soon!). 
There is no shortage of new dramas this time of year, so it’s nice when new comedies pop up just when we need them the most. Hulu’s new series Deli Boys is a welcome respite from the seriousness of Emmy season, despite the fact that creator Abdullah Saeed’s show is set against the backdrop of the Philadelphia gangster underworld. Even with a setting as dark, foreboding and, yes, murder and crime-filled as this, Saeed’s fresh take on some familiar tropes makes for one fresh, funny, and thoroughly entertaining new show.
their father left behind, which includes rivals who want to take over their turf, family members who want to take over the family, with their own lack of experience and, frankly, incompetence, being their biggest obstacles to success. But they slowly figure it out, despite their worst intentions, eventually coming into their own. 
I’m the first to admit that I’m not a Shonda Rhimes person. That’s not to say I wouldn’t enjoy any of the shows that have come out in the past twenty years under the famous writer/producer/showrunner’s name, it’s just that I haven’t been necessarily drawn to any of them. But I’m clearly in the minority–at least for my gender. Among the shows Rhimes is credited with bringing to American audiences are Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder and Bridgerton, each one a huge hit, especially with women. Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Scandal were so big, in fact, that Rhimes became the first woman to produce three separate TV dramas to each reach the magic 100- episode milestone, a true achievement, for anyone, not just a woman. Netflix lured Rhimes away from ABC and inked an exclusive multi-year deal with her, and the first series she gave Netflix was none other than Bridgerton, which became
I’ve found that some of my most delightful discoveries have been the result of recommendations from friends. These are shows that I would never have given a second look to or even knew existed if it hadn’t been for the persistent—nay, annoying—nagging of friends and family members who would insist, “you HAVE to watch this show,” and wouldn’t give up until I did. And, most of the time, I am the one ending up offering up bountiful mea culpas to their wisdom.
A year ago, Netflix dropped the series 
Little known fact: spies don’t exist only in America and England. You wouldn’t really know that from watching English-language movies and TV for the past fifty years, but it’s true. The fantastic series The Americans (stay tuned for a future Binge Watch entry) was one show that reminded us of this fact, and I just stumbled across another: The Eastern Gate, a new series on MAX.
the Baltic states to the rest of NATO and the European Union. Don’t worry, you can dive as deeply into the eastern European politics of geography as you’d like, or you can just sit back and watch the action. Personally, I was fascinated by the fact that I was learning about this vital strategic region that I knew nothing about, but then even I got carried away by all the cool spy stuff.
For all of Steven Soderbergh’s status as an elite director in Hollywood, it’s interesting to look back at his filmography and note that, ever since he broke out with Sex, Lies and Videotape in 1989 and established himself as an A-lister in 2000 with Traffic and Erin Brockovich, the only Soderbergh films that people have talked about since have been the pair of Magic Mike films and the Ocean’s trilogy. 
his own creativity and not by commercial incentive. Soderbergh, for example, was the first elite director to shoot an entire film on an iPhone, which was the horror film Unsane in 2018. [Interesting note: the first major director to shoot a film on an iPhone was Sean Baker, who made the low-budget indie Tangerine in 2015. Yes, this is the same Sean Baker who just won four Oscars, including Best Picture, for Anora.]