Bruce Springsteen once complained there are “57 channels and nothing on.” Oh to be back in 1992 and have those problems.
How about 2,000+ shows, dozens of streaming services, and still no idea what to watch.
I had Liam Mathews on Small Talk Live this week to help sort out this mess.
Liam writes a Substack called Dad Shows, he's covered TV for outlets like TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, and The Wrap, and he's one of those people who actually watches almost everything so the rest of us don't have to.
We spent an hour picking and panning the streaming landscape. Here’s 5 things I look away from our conversation.
1. “Dad shows” are a real genre
Liam is a new dad and he has favorite shows, but his Substack Dad Shows isn’t just a clever title. It’s a legitimate category of television: action thrillers about men who are really good at their jobs, fiercely protective of their families, and often operating in morally gray territory.
Think Reacher, Breaking Bad, Ray Donovan. Even Tony Soprano qualifies.
Like them or not, the boom in dad shows can’t be ignored. It’s Yellowstone. It’s Jack Ryan. It’s every Taylor Sheridan show on Paramount+.
2. Streaming services have distinct personalities
The streaming services may seem indistinguishable from eachother. But each platform has accidentally developed its own personality.
Apple TV+ Expensive often sci fi stuff that feels like “stuff HBO passed on”
Prime Video is the adaptation factory, which makes sense given Amazon started as an online bookstore.
Netflix is still trying to be everything to everyone
Hulu has become the CW of streaming — younger, millennial and Gen Z-focused.
HBO Max is still the only one that consistently delivers prestige television.
3. Industry is the show we should all be watching
I asked Liam about his current favorite show, and he didn’t hesitate: Industry.
I’d just finished binging all four seasons and still can’t stop thinking about it.
4. Sometimes you have to stick with a show before it clicks
Some TV shows are a slow burn. The one I always mention is The Wire. It can take a few episodes before you get hooked, and then look out. Best show of all time.
Liam says this may be true for The Pitt, which I just don’t get. So I might give it a few more episodes.
5. Love on the Spectrum is the purest, most beautiful show on TV
This was the moment in the conversation where we both lit up.
Love on the Spectrum, a reality show about people on the autism spectrum navigating dating, is the feel-good show of the century. “It helps you understand people who are different,” Liam said, “and see them as full, complete people with beautiful souls.”
My daughter once ran into Abbey at the mall in LA and spent 15 minutes talking with her. She was so sweet, so excited that people knew the show. That’s the kind of show it is. Pure. Joyful. Human.
This season made me cry, damn it.
