A couple of hours after I posted this I realized I had forgotten a show. And not just like, a show, but probably a real contender for the best show of last year.
That led to a lot of soul searching:
“Why am I like this?”
“Does it matter, why do you think it matters?”
And other such questions.
“Why must you always suck so bad at so many things dude?”
Ultimately, I decided that I would just write another post on TV and talk about Succession and why it was one of the best shows of last year and why Succession sort of proves that any list where they pick a best show or movie is ridiculous.
As to why I forgot about it the short answer is that I don’t have a Letterboxd for television where I keep a list of my favorite things throughout the year and just add as the year goes on. Also, Dory and I are the same person. If you tell me about a thing and it happens at any time other than right now I will forget it.
I am not organized. I have no calendar. I just live my life with the wife and kids and the job and in order to get through my day my brain just deletes everything else.
“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming swimming swimming.”
Ok, Succession was so good and the folks in my office liked it so much that I started taking notes of my favorite lines while watching it. I took notes so I wouldn’t forget the best bits and could bring them up in conversation later.
Very few shows are so well written, and so dense, that I need notes on the episode just cause the payoff the next day with my pals will be worth it.
If you haven’t seen it, Succession is a show built on making fun of the richest and worst people in the world. It’s an hour long and technically a drama but it’s a drama in the sense that The Bear is a comedy.
Technically, I suspect we would call Succession a tragedy in the sense of Shakespearan tragedy but it’s also Veep, a show where people you would think were smart and important turn out to be horrible, cringey and funny. Both shows are built on insult comedy.
I’m not sure there is a stronger moment or better explanation of the show than Logan Roy, self-made billionaire turning to his failure children (who he is at war with) and saying, “I love you … but you are not serious people.”
Outside of its context that’s not necessarily a great line but in context it’s an amazing bit of business that had all of us quoting it the next day.
This is a show with a discussion about a woman’s decision to bring a large handbag to an event that made me laugh for days.
“Because she’s brought a ludicrously capacious bag. What’s even in there, huh? Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail?”
I pulled that from this just to give the listicle writer some credit.
Anyway, how do you compare what Succession does (a not very serious look at the lives of wealthy idiots) with say Reservation Dogs (a serious and funny look at Native Americans in Oklahoma) or Beef (a black comedy about two haters who blow up their lives because they can’t let themselves lose a meaningless, revenge-fueled, tug-of-war)?
I mean, give them all Emmys.
Succession was the best show on television that cared about the things Succession cared about. Ditto Beef and Reservation Dogs and Poker Face and a host of others previously mentioned.
And finally, as I was writing today’s missive I realized I forgot Barry too. Barry is an all timer black comedy. People might tell you that Season 4 didn’t match the quality of seasons 1 or 2. Those people are wrong. You should watch all of that show too.
You know, if you want to.
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.
Dark Highways 
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