This has been a transitional year for the Television Critics Associiation. It was finally acknowledged that the semi-annual press tour, or “the Bataan death march with cocktails” as veteran scribes called it, was, like late night television, viewed by the networks as no longer financially supportable. To paraphrase Tina Fey at one of our award
It seems as if I’ve been waiting years for two streaming favourites to return: The Diplomat (Netflix) and Somebody Somewhere (HBO/Crave). It has actually only been a year and a half. Those actors and writers strikes from 2023 contributed to the delays. Both shows feature intriguing leads at their best, surrounded by other interesting characters.