Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 11, 2025
I was very wrong when I suggested that Peacock was binge-dropping The Paper instead of releasing it weekly—as had been the original plan—as a way to bury it and move on. It turned out to be the right move because, like Greg Daniels’ earlier shows, The Office and Parks and Recreation, it had a slow start but eventually found its footing. Kaleena will have a full review up soon, but I’d fallen in love with it by the final two episodes. Peacock has renewed it for a second season. I’m glad. And now that it’s established, I hope they do give the second season a weekly release (I’d also expand the order from 10 to 15-18 episodes). Also, I think that Chelsea Frei’s exhausted, cynical, and kind-of-over-it-but-still-has-vague-romantic-notions-about-journalism-and-dresses-like-a-librarian is the new manic pixie dream girl. That’s not a complaint.
Acorn TV, meanwhile, gave a second-season order to Alicia Silverstone’s Irish Blood on the day its finale aired. Notwithstanding Alicia Silverstone’s performance, the writing was … messy. But it was also one of the biggest series in Acorn TV history, so the renewal isn’t surprising. (I see that Acorn TV has also just launched a new Eve Myles mystery I’ll have to sample.)
Elsewhere, Netflix picked up Leanne for a second season. I didn’t watch Leanne. I have no interest in Leanne, but Chuck Lorre notwithstanding, I’m glad it got a second season. The more comedies that succeed, the more comedies we’ll get, and we could use a lot more comedies in our lives right now.
Speaking of which, one of my favorites over the summer was Benito Skinner’s Overcompensating, which does what my favorite comedies do: make you laugh and occasionally punch you in the emotional gut. It was hysterical and actually a great companion to FX’s Adults, which was likewise funny but hasn’t yet been renewed. Get on that, FX.
Because of our collective love of The Pitt, I was excited when Apple TV+ launched Berlin ER, but then I never watched it because I thought, “Well, there’s no way they can top The Pitt.” The show has nevertheless been renewed for a second season. I should give it a shot. If I rejected every show that wasn’t as good as The Pitt, I wouldn’t have much television to watch.
Finally, Prime Video axed its YA teen romance Motorheads despite good reviews and a positive reception from those who watched it. I think it may have been a victim of a poor title. I had no idea Motorheads was a YA teen romance. I probably still would have skipped it, but my daughters might have watched if they hadn’t assumed it was about car enthusiasts or something. People gotta get better with titles.
