The wild Epstein hour of TV currently buried on David Ellison's Paramount+
With there being so much talk about Jeffrey Epstein in the last few months, I’m increasingly surprised that there has been practically no conversation (certainly nothing I’ve seen) about The Good Fight episode "The Gang Discovers Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein."
The episode debuted on Paramount+ on May 28, 2020, less than a year after Epstein “killed himself” in a prison cell. It follows the lawyers in the show as they are hired to see if they can determine what really happened.
One of the great things about TV as a medium is that the relatively quick turnaround of television means that TV writers can address topical stories relatively soon.
The episode does a great job of working as a procedural through a lot of the oddity surrounding the death and life of Epstein, providing insights and asides while trying to get to the truth.
Being that it was The Good Fight, the episode balanced the topical and interesting issue at the centre of the plot with a strong dose of humor and oddity. Here, the show reveals by the end that the structure of the episode has just been aping the film Citizen Kane (which explored the life of a wealthy media baron and the mystery final words he uttered).
The show ends on Epstein Island with the lawyers visiting a room that is a lot like Kane’s Xanadu where we discover what Epstein’s “Rosebud” was. It’s pretty wild.
I wrote a recap of the episode for SBS back when the episode aired locally in Australia. The episode is also notable for rushing its production to be ready to screen while the 2020 COVID shutdowns were coming into effect (it means some effects work wasn’t finished, which the show highlights during the opening titles). It also led to Alan Dershowitz threatening to sue the makers of the show.
But with no other TV show or even TV movie offering a fictionalised account of the wild Epstein story, it’s a damn shame that this episode is sitting in obscurity deep in the library of Paramount+. Maybe watch it before the Ellison family realise what is sitting on their service…
Speaking of Epstein… the Royal Family
Over the weekend I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of UK politics video podcasts. I’m now deeply fascinated with the question as to how the involvement of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (it’s what you now call a former prince when ‘Love Symbol’ simply isn’t appropriate) with Jeffrey Epstein is going to impact the UK Royal Family.
I discovered that the UK’s Channel 4 has a pretty good daily news podcast The Fourcast, focused around a daily panel conversation on a news topic. You could think of it as their version of the NYT’s The Daily, but I’d suggest it is an effort to take on independent news podcast The News Agents.
Today’s episode of The News Agents considers the question of what the media should be doing in relation to the Royal Family and the question of Epstein. It’s an interesting question to explore as usually the Royals should be above the day-to-day questioning politicians should rightfully receive, but the actions of Andrew need to be addressed and the family need to be held to account over any protections offered to the disgraced prince. The News Agents frame the conversation around an interview Prince William gave about mental health and how disingenuous that interview is when no questions about Andrew are asked.
Also, how should the BBC be covering the story, considering that they are a UK public broadcaster?
Very fascinating topic area and considering the public interest in this, it puts into question the very future of the Royal Family if it doesn’t handle this situation to the satisfaction of the British people.
Australia’s royal family should be on local cinema screens (…this is about Bluey)
If you have a young kid, you’re likely aware that cinemas on Sat and Sun mornings will often play compilation specials of TV cartoon shows. At Christmas I saw a new Paw Patrol Christmas special, followed by some prior Christmas episodes starring your favourite characters and mine: Chase, Skye, Marshall, Rubble, Rocky, Zuma, Everest, Liberty, and Ryder. I’ve also seen multiple Peppa Pig cinema shows at this point.
They’re usually timed at about an hour, which is almost always three minutes longer than the point that the future publisher of Always Be Watching (aged 4) decides that she’s had enough.
Sessions for these screenings are usually at around 9:30/10am and have a small number of families in attendance. They’re not huge audience drawcards, but are scheduled at quiet times at the cinema that can draw some decent candy bar takings and serve as a great way to introduce young kids to the cinema. There’s always a weird nervous energy in those sessions with the hyper enthusiastic kids… each a powder keg that could go off at any possible moment.
Just announced for cinemas in the UK and Ireland (debuting March 27) is Bluey at the Cinema: Playdates with Friends Collection. It’s not the first Bluey collection to play in cinemas internationally – it follows Bluey at the Cinema: Family Trip Collection (August 2024) and Bluey at the Cinema: Let’s Play Chef Collection (May 2025). Included in the new collection are the episodes Shadowlands, Octopus, Circus, and Slide.
I’m genuinely baffled at why these collections aren’t screening in cinemas in Australia or the US. Surely a distributor in each territory would be keen to jump on board with this and make a few million dollars. Despite having seen every episode too many times at this point, Bluey on the big screen is enough of a drawcard to do some pretty decent business.
News Desk
A must-read article today is Lacey Rose’s feature on the multiple career reinventions of Jason Bateman. Read: THR
The Colbert YouTube interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico has now been viewed over 6.4 million times with Talarico’s campaign raising $2.5 million in the 24 hours since the clip was posted online. #StreisandEffect Read: Variety
Australia’s ABC has greenlit a third season of comedy Austin. Read: C21
Predator: Badlands is a hit on Hulu where it had 9 million views since making its streaming debut over the weekend. That makes it Hulu’s best performing film premiere since the straight-to-streaming Predator film Prey in 2022. Read: The Wrap
George RR Martin’s play Game of Thrones: The Mad King will debut at London’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Tickets go on sale April 14. Read: THR
RIP actor Tom Noonan who has passed away at age 74. Read: Deadline
Dawn French’s new comedy Can You Keep a Secret has been picked up for a second season. Read: Radio Times
Ampere Analysis report that non-English shows now make up over half of Netflix’s original series. Movies remain more English-focused, accounting for 44% of releases. Read: TVTechnology
John Malkovich will play Joel Kinnaman’s dad in new Prime series Bishop. Read: THR
Scrubs 2026 reviews are in
With Scrubs returning next week (Feb 25), early reviews are now starting to be published. And they’re a mixed bag.
Alison Herman at Variety has dubbed the show as millennial cringe with the criticism that the show has failed to evolve with the times.
In the series’ 15-year absence, the medical show has progressed where “Scrubs” has not. Plot points like Sam’s popular social media account, which earns her the derisive nickname “Dr. Selfie,” echo those on reigning standard-bearer “The Pitt”; over on former “Scrubs” network NBC, “St. Denis Medical” adds social consciousness and a world-weary edge to the hospital sitcom. Against this dynamic backdrop, the revived “Scrubs” offers stasis: the same sentimentality, scored to the plaintive tones of Lazlo Bane’s “Superman”; the same adorkable platonic chemistry, like J.D. and Turk planning a poker night at J.D.’s “bro-jo.” That might be good enough for longtime fans, apart from the existence of an extensive back catalog just a few clicks away on Hulu. Why watch a season that tries to stick as closely to the original as possible, apart from the inescapable effects of time, when you can just watch the original itself?
Josh Spiegel at The AV Club was more forgiving of the “reliable” comedy.
Scrubs was never a sacred comic institution, so its return doesn’t feel like it can tarnish what made the show special when it initially aired. If anything, this new season only proves that the series has a formula that can keep chugging along as long as the network wants. That, for ABC, is about as good as it gets for a revival. For the rest of us, the end result is mercifully enjoyable even if it’s not breaking the mold.
Trailer Park
Imperfect Women debuts on Apple TV March 18. It stars Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington, Kate Mara, Joel Kinnaman, Corey Stoll, Leslie Odom Jr, and more familiar faces.
Based on Araminta Hall’s novel of the same name, “Imperfect Women” examines a crime that shatters the lives of three women in a decades-long friendship. The unconventional thriller explores guilt and retribution, love and betrayal, and the compromises we make that irrevocably alter our lives. As the investigation unravels, so does the truth about how even the closest friendships may not be what they seem.
Documentary Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare debuts on HBO March 10.
The film reconstructs the nine harrowing days following the disaster in forensic, real-time detail, from the control-room engineers fighting to prevent a total meltdown, to the political leaders confronting the unthinkable, to ordinary citizens caught in the fallout.
Unicorn Academy: Secrets Revealed (I bet they are SCANDALOUS!!!!) debuts on Netflix March 19.
Follow Sophia and her friends as they embark on a glimmering quest to unlock Unicorn Island's mysteries and banish Grimoria - and Ravenzella - for good!
Amor Animal debuts on Prime Video March 20.
Destiny doesn't follow the rules, and neither does the official trailer for Animal Love.
Spoiler: The trailer follows all of the rules.
Eva Lasting returns for season 4 on Netflix.
A mysterious teen girl arrives at an all-boys school in 1970s Colombia, breaking stereotypes, rules... and a few hearts.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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