Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Sunday, August 17th, 2025:
WHY CONSERVATIVES REALLY WANTED TO FIGHT OVER SYDNEY SWEENEY
NPR critic Eric Deggans has a really thoughtful Substack called Switching Codes and the most recent edition puts the recent controversy over that Sydney Sweeney into a context that I think it both insightful and important to remember moving forward:
It’s particularly aimed at showing conservatives as defenders of fun and good times, while liberals are derided as party poopers and Debbie Downers. I always felt conservative firebrands like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck were most effective when they cast themselves as happy warriors – the guys having a good time with fat cigars and strong drinks, laughing at dour liberals too nitpicky to know a good time if it jumped them in a dark alley. When Limbaugh and Beck let their complaints turn toxic and bitter, it seemed a lot less fun to join their team.
Most perniciously, this argument over Sweeney is about advancing the idea that we all cannot negotiate these issues by talking to each other. The thinking goes: If liberals are so extreme that they think an irreverent ad for jeans is supporting Nazism, how can you talk to them about anything? (feels like a bit of projection from the crowd which thinks the Deep State is controlling so much in government, but okay.)
One of the things that has been driven home to me in 2025 has been that all art, all criticism has a political component. Deciding what difficult cultural questions to cover as a critic involves a series of political decisions. And by "political decisions," I don't necessarily mean Democratic or Republican. In a time when the politics of the country is so fragile, when it's so difficult to have a civil conversation with people who don't agree with you, a role of critics is to put difficult stories in a context that makes sense to everyone. And to hopefully make them think a bit about what other people might be seeing when they read the same story.
Deciding to write about difficult stories is a political decision. But so is the decision to only tackle safe stories that no one can find fault with or complain about. This is a conversation I have on a regular basis with readers who complain that the stories I am covering are "too political." In 2025, it's nearly impossible to accurately cover the entertainment industry without discussing the politics of the moment. It doesn't make me "anti-Trump" to mention the pressures that are being put on both the entertainment world's companies as well as the creatives that work in it. It isn't a political stance, it's just a reflection of the world we live in.
THE REALITY TV SHOW YOU SHOULD WATCH THIS WEEK
I'm weary of most of what passes for competitive reality shows recently. Endless trash talking, contestants drawn primarily from other shows or people who are hoping to use the series as a way to build a revenue stream. In its purest form, competitions bring out the best in its participants. pushing them physically and opening them up to new experiences. But it's been a long time since I've watch a competition show that felt like anything more than a mutual branding exercise.
The Japanese series Final Draft premiered last week on Netflix and as is often the case with that streamer's global productions, it dropped without much notice. So I began watching the series not knowing what to expect. And what I found was a show that perfectly balances incredibly physically challenging tasks with honest emotional moments and a camaraderie among the contestants that is rare in most American productions.
The premise sounds straight-forward enough: twenty-five athletes who ended their sports careers, either involuntarily or by choice, try to knock one another down and be the last one standing as they compete for a 30-million-yen grand prize.
The former athletes encompass a variety of sports from the well-known - football/baseball/rugby - to water polo and martial arts skills that aren't even in that known in Japan. But while the contestants are obviously there to win the money, they begin to realize that they're also there to experience that sense of working on teams focused on a common goal. They might now be a barber or teacher. But at their core, they also still have the soul of an athlete. And the show provides them that chance to channel that feeling one last time.
The early competitions are individual and physically brutal, including a miles-long run up a snowy mountain with a 30-40 degree incline and a challenge that puts them on a ramp facing backwards in which they have to do a sit-up every five seconds until they collapse. Later tasks are more team-oriented, although the teams are constantly remixed in ways that are surprising without ever feeling contrived.
But the parts of the show I enjoyed the most were the downtimes when the contestants did video call with their loved ones or sat around talking about their lives with their fellow contestants. Every one wants to win, but there's remarkably little puffing up of chests. Somehow Final Draft manages to embody the best of competitive sports while reminding viewers that the contestants are at their cores real humans with problems we've all likely dealt with at some point in their lives.
I absolutely loved this show and I hope they do other regionalized versions of the format. But not with well-known athletes or celebrities. Casting the show with athletes who likely consider their sports careers as a failure provides an innocence that I'll remember for a long time. After watching Final Draft, I want to know more about these contestants and their lives after the show ended. And that's the ultimate compliment for any unscripted series.
TWEET OF THE DAY
A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES OF 'LOVE ON THE SPECTRUM'
I absolutely love Love On The Spectrum. As a parent with a son on the spectrum, it’s impossible to watch the show and not see our experiences with him reflected in the relationships on the show. We want him to find someone, to be happy and build the life he deserves. But it's hard. And the show reflects the highs and lows in an authentic way that inspires me and gives me hope.
Deadline's Destiny Jackson has an interview with co-creator Cian O’Clery and it's a very enlightening read:
That makes us feel good about what’s being put out there, and we also try to cast a diverse range of people whenever possible. But having said that, we don’t say, “Hey, we’re making a new season. We need X, we need Y, and we need Z,” we just put the call out, and it’s the people who come into us that we work with. And from there, we make a short list of who we think is going to be right. Also, I am neurodiverse myself, and I have ADHD, which is in the family. So, I think I identify with many of the experiences people on the show have, particularly in terms of sensitivities. But I’m not saying that means I understand [everything]. The most important thing is to be questioning all the time and asking people what their experience is, because the autism spectrum is so diverse that you can’t make any assumptions about anybody. That’s what we’re hoping the biggest message is in the series. We’re hoping that people don’t make assumptions about someone based on their diagnosis because everyone is completely different.
ODDS AND SODS
* 60 Minutes Australia said YOLO and did a major investigation into Trump and Epstein entitled "Why Is Donald Trump Refusing To Release The Epstein Files?"
* Tax incentives lured studios to help build the ‘Hollywood of the South.’ Now they’re going overseas for cheaper labor costs.
* One of the best things about the Internet is when someone decides to tackle something just for the hell of it and in the process creates something you didn't realize you needed. Jon Nelson has edited segments from various fictional DJ's together with full length versions of the songs they announced, along with listener calls (when available) and posted them to the web site Radio Retrofit. So you can listen to multi-hour "shows" from WKRP In Cincinnati's Venus Flytrap and Johnny Fever, "Chris In The Morning" from Northern Exposure, "Hard Harry" from Pump Up The Volume and more. Just great stuff and it listening to the shows reminds me that I miss the days of personality-driven FM radio.
* In 1998, Fox Kids crossed over with King Of The Hill in one weird ass crossover. But why did it happen in the first place?
WHAT'S COMING TOMORROW
MONDAY, AUGUST 18TH:
* A Killer Among Friends Season One Finale (Investigation Discovery)
* Are You My First? Series Premiere (Hulu)
* CoComelon Lane Season Five Premiere (Netflix)
* History’s Greatest Mysteries Season Six Finale (History)
* Lego Masters Jr. Series Premiere (Fox)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 19TH:
* America’s Team: The Gambler And His Cowboys (Netflix)
* Breakdown Series Premiere (Hulu)
* Devo (Netflix)
* Sister Boniface Mysteries Season Premiere (Britbox)
* Songs & Stories With Kelly Clarkson (NBC)
* Stalking Samantha: 13 Years Of Terror (Hulu)
SEE YOU ON MONDAY NIGHT!