Issue 12 — Aubrey Plaza Pitched a Cat Show With Her Ex and Amazon Bought It

So Aubrey Plaza went on the record this week and admitted that Kevin — the new Amazon animated series about a talking cat in Queens — was pitched to a studio by her and her ex-boyfriend. About their actual cat. She called the experience "like an acid trip." I believe her. Somewhere in a glass conference room in Culver City, a 34-year-old executive with a Goyard tote and a Peloton addiction heard two exes describe their pet and said "greenlight it, get John Waters on the phone, get Whoopi, this is the one." This is how content gets made now. A woman and the guy she stopped returning texts to describe their cat, and three years later Jason Schwartzman is in a booth voicing him. The Hollywood Reporter review called it "unevenly funny, ultimately sweet." That's reviewer for "I watched it."

Anyway. A lot dropped this week. Let's go.

The Boys, final season (Prime Video)

This is it. Season 5. Homelander finally does whatever Homelander is going to do, Butcher coughs up a lung, and Eric Kripke gets to go buy a second house. The episode that dropped is called Every One of You Sons of Bitches, which is the kind of title you write when you know the show is ending and nobody can fire you. The Boys has been, for the last two seasons, a show that is mostly about the fact that the writers watch cable news. But the first two seasons were genuinely great television, and when this one lands the plane — if it lands the plane — it'll be the most-watched thing Amazon has aired all year, narrowly edging out Mark Wahlberg selling condoms at the World Cup, which we'll get to. Watch it. Prime Video.

Euphoria Season 3 (HBO Max)

It's back. Four years later. Zendaya has won two Emmys, an Oscar nomination, become the face of three luxury brands, and gotten engaged in the time it took Sam Levinson to write these episodes. The new one is called Andale. I have no idea what that means in the context of this show and I don't think Sam Levinson does either. The whole cast is now 32 years old playing high schoolers, which, fine, that's a TV tradition. If you loved it before, you'll love it again. If you thought it was an extremely well-lit music video about the trauma of being hot, that hasn't changed. Sydney Sweeney is in it. She's in everything. She might be in your house right now.

Invincible Season 5 (Prime Video)

The best superhero show on television continues to be the one where a man's skull gets turned into paste every nine minutes. J.K. Simmons is still voicing Omni-Man, Steven Yeun still sounds like he's apologizing for punching through a building, and the new episode is titled DON'T DO ANYTHING RASH in all caps, which means someone is about to do something extremely rash. If you missed last season — and Prime Video was not super helpful about reminding you it existed — just get back in. It's great.

The Pitt Season 3 (HBO Max)

Noah Wyle is running an emergency room in Pittsburgh in real time, and I have to say — this show is quietly one of the best things on television and nobody outside of people who read TV trades is talking about it. It's ER for people who think America is collapsing, which, yes, we are. 8.7 on TMDb, 644 votes, which tells you exactly how over-served and under-watched this show is. Turn it on.

Margo's Got Money Troubles (Apple TV+)

David E. Kelley, the man who will be writing limited series from beyond the grave, returns with a show about a college dropout whose dad is an ex-pro wrestler (Nick Offerman) and whose mom is a former Hooters waitress (Michelle Pfeiffer). Elle Fanning is the daughter, she has a baby, she can't pay her bills. It's the kind of show where a cast this stacked should be a felony. Apple is paying for all of it with money they printed by charging you $1,299 for a phone that does the same thing as the last one. It's gonna be good. Apple shows are almost always at least good. That's the deal with Apple — nobody watches them, but they're fine.

Ronaldinho: The One and Only (Netflix)

Netflix has now made documentaries about every athlete who has ever existed. Beckham, Federer, Messi, the entire NFL, Formula 1 drivers you wouldn't recognize in a police lineup. Now Ronaldinho. The first episode is titled Who Said I Was Finished? which is a question I ask myself every morning in the mirror. Ronaldinho was a genuinely magical player. The doc will probably be fine. It'll have that Netflix sports-doc thing where the music swells over a slow-mo kick and somebody says "he was different, man, he was just… different."

FROM Season 4 (Prime Video)

The show where people can't leave the town and monsters come out at night. Four seasons in. Harold Perrineau is still there, still yelling. Nobody has figured out what's going on, and I suspect the writers haven't either, but if you're deep in this you're deep in it and nothing I say is going to pull you out. Good for you. I hope the town eventually reveals itself to be a tax haven.

Quick hits

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S2 — Godzilla nostalgia content for Apple TV+ subscribers who already have it and didn't ask. Fine. The Rookie S8 — Nathan Fillion is still a 47-year-old rookie cop, which would, in real life, make him a 55-year-old rookie. Hulu. NCIS S23 — twenty-three. Seasons. This show has outlived civilizations. On Netflix now if you want comfort food with a Navy cap on.

The movies

Balls Up on Prime Video is a Peter Farrelly comedy where Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser pitch a "full-coverage condom sponsorship" for the World Cup, go to Brazil, get drunk, and cause an international incident. Sacha Baron Cohen is in it. It's the kind of movie that gets greenlit because everyone in the room is three drinks in. 5.6 on TMDb. Your dad will watch it on a plane and text you "pretty funny."

Roommates on Netflix — Sadie Sandler (yes, that Sandler) and Chloe East in a college-roommate comedy. What's On Netflix called it "a mixed bag." That's critic for "my editor said I need to be nicer." Nick Kroll and Natasha Lyonne are in supporting roles, which is the only reason I'd have it on in the background.

Pick of the Week

The Pitt, Season 3. I know, I know, the internet wants you to watch The Boys finale. And you should, eventually. But The Pitt is the best-acted, best-written, least-hyped thing on HBO Max, and unlike every other prestige show it doesn't require you to have taken notes on three previous seasons. Noah Wyle is doing career work. Real-time medical drama. No capes. No multiverses. No talking cats.

Speaking of — Kanye got his concert canceled by a Swiss soccer club this week for not being "in accordance with our values." A Swiss soccer club. The country that laundered Nazi gold has values now. That's where we are. See you next week.