Oct 2, 2026 · 1h 12m
TV’s overlooked greats challenge the canon
‘East of Eden’ Series Premiere, ‘Slow Horses’ S6E3, and Cindy Holland Leaves Paramount. Plus, Best TV of the Century Honorable Mentions.
The episode connects a major streaming-industry reshuffle with a sharp argument about how television history gets made and remembered.
- 1Cindy Holland’s departure raises questions about Paramount’s strategy as a potential Warner Bros. Discovery merger reshapes leadership.
- 2East of Eden shows how adaptation can honor a classic novel while making contemporary choices through performance and structure.
- 3The hosts argue that fixed best-of lists miss distinctive, influential series such as Mindhunter, The North Water, and Rectify.
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The hosts build an unusually broad honorable-mentions case, showing how a fixed top-100 ballot leaves out distinctive dramas, comedies, and reality programs.
The brief
Cindy Holland’s departure from Paramount prompts a broader question: can a reshaped entertainment company preserve the programming instincts and distinct brands that built its audience?
The reviews turn on adaptation and renewal: East of Eden makes modern choices around Steinbeck, while Slow Horses regains its spark through character-driven plotting and humor.
The hosts treat The New York Times’ top-100 list as a snapshot of taste shaped by ballots, generations, recency, and the limits of choosing only ten shows.
Their omissions make the case for a wider canon, from Mindhunter and The North Water to Fargo, Rectify, Top Chef, Motherland, and South Side.