For any Always Be Watching readers who are looking for love in all the wrong places, this will possibly come as little surprise, but apparently Friends was the most frequently mentioned TV show in Tinder users bios through 2018.

What I don’t get is some of the choices in this list. Who is attracted to someone in 2018 who is still actively wanting to be associated with How I Met Your Mother - that feels like the equivalent of quoting Austin Powers “Yeah, baby!”

Also, The Bachelor? Come on.

Netflix shows all seem to be designed to provoke and intensely engage its viewership. Which makes sense. The problem with so much TV designed to keep one constantly engaged is that these shows aren’t comforting in the way that traditional TV often is. Where are the lazy sitcoms and blatant relationship shows? The closest Netflix ever got to a hang-out comedy was the terrible Friends From College.

TVREV (not to be confused with my old site Televised Revolution, which also used to go by the name tvrev) have an interesting article about Netflix relying on third party content providers like Warners for comfort food television. The problem is that these shows are also the most popular on Netflix, so as soon as these sorts of shows move to exclusivity on other platforms, Netflix may have a serious problem on its hands.

Warner should be in a good position. Warner owns a lot of popular TV series and having Comfort Food TV shows like Friends, ER, Gilmore Girls and Pretty Little Liars should give them a leg up, despite the confusing three-tiered system they seem intent on rolling out. And of course “WarnerFlix” is just a polite way of saying “HBO-On-Steroids” and it would take a lot to tarnish HBO’s sterling reputation, not to mention the fact that they have their own library of hits. (The Sopranos is not exactly comfort food, but it’s compelling enough, and old enough, to draw in a new generation of viewers.)

Richard Gere is attached to star in a new TV show that may be heading to Apple’s TV platform. It is based on an Israeli format.

On December 16, Fox will be airing the very first episode of The Simpsons. Why? Well, it debuted on that network 30 years ago - December 16, 1989.

The Golden Globes nominations were announced.

Things to expect:

  • Marvelous Mrs Maisel will continue to perform well in the comedy categories. It’s a big, bold crowd-pleaser and will take Best Comedy.
  • The star power of Julia Roberts almost certainly ensures a win for Homecoming over other strong contenders like Bodyguard and Killing Eve. Also, Homecoming was fantastic.
  • Sharp Objects for best mini.
  • Can the Golden Globes resist Michael Douglas for Best actor in a comedy? I wouldn’t bet against him.
  • I’m genuinely surprised Succession didn’t make it into the Best Drama category.

The awards air January 6, 2019.

Alan Sepinwall is down on Counterpart season 2, saying the third season was too focused on plot and not on its characters - particularly Howard (JK Simmons). But, doesn’t that make sense for the first three episodes of a spy drama? It sets up the world for the new season, then fills in the shade throughout the season once the ball gets rolling.

Inside the Disney-Fox deal. How it all went down.

Das Boot has been commissioned for a second season following its successful debut on Sky last month in the UK.

And finally…

Dick Wolf is heading back to New York with a possible remake of New York Undercover. Remember what I was saying about Netflix needing comfort food TV - something like this would be perfect. Instead, this will land at US network ABC.