Well, you actually wanted a dog, didn't you?

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2023 

#33 : Starstruck 

Rose Matafeo sealed the perfect modern romcom with a third and final series that continued to have a lot of fun with the “will they won’t they” trope. But there were also plenty of awkward, frustrating and tear-jerking moments, too – which, with the characters now in their mid-30s, felt like a more mature, nuanced examination of love. “Even though we love each other so much,” Jessie told Tom, as they discussed what’s next for them in the last scene, “I think we’d be pretty stupid to think it can’t happen with someone else.” The perfect new beginning to end with.

Like Only Murders In The Building, The Guardian introduced me to this 2021 in its first season and we're coming back to it this year in its third season.  And like OMITB, two of us watched this at the time, but this was with my wife rather than my eldest who's the OMITB fan.

...and like OMITB, I don't have a bad word to say about this.  But, whilst a big part of OMITB is the characters' obstinate refusal to grow, here it shows definite growth from its previous seasons - which was probably a very good idea because they may well have struggled to stretch the original concept to three seasons.  This season is very much "what happens next" which involves less interaction between Jessie (Rose Matafeo) and Tom (Nikesh Patel) but that doesn't mean it's any less charming or relatable.  I do think this season isn't as cute as previous seasons, but that's not such a bad thing in terms of longevity and it's still funny - if there's another season coming I'll definitely be checking it out to see where it goes next.

It's all very well acted, written and shot - so once again, I don't have anything particularly enlightening to say about this other than you should watch it if you want something that's somehow lightweight and serious.  You should definitely start with season 1 though - they're all on iPlayer for you so check them out.

#31 - Impressively star-studded

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