Television as a Balm for a Troubled Year
As 2025 draws to a close, marked by an increasingly sombre atmosphere and an almost ritualistic succession of grim headlines, television has established itself not merely as distraction, but as a form of resistance. Unless you happen to be a titan of show business yourself, it is likely that a shared laugh—that communal, almost intoxicating release—provided the soundtrack to the few moments this year when you felt truly at ease. Forget the stiff upper lip; facing difficult times requires a belly laugh, the coarser and more indomitable the better. Against the backdrop of a world seemingly addicted to barbarism and stupidity, a debt of gratitude is owed to the creators who have saved us by invoking healing absurdity.
Surrealism and Hollywood Satire
Among the standout offerings, The Chair Company on HBO Max has emerged as a genuine oddity, defying the standard playbook. It presents a protagonist played by Tim Robinson—possessing a face one might tirelessly wish to slap—who suffers a fall from a chair during a real estate presentation. This minor stumble fuels a paranoia that spirals into an obsession with a conspiracy involving the chair manufacturer. It is a delicious degeneration, boasting a script precise enough to navigate surrealism without becoming unwatchable, even as it introduces unhinged characters that leave viewers questioning reality.
Meanwhile, The Studio on Apple TV+ has stormed the awards circuit. Created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, it succeeds by stripping away the glamour of celebrity. Film stars, from Martin Scorsese to Charlize Theron, appear without reservation, playing deranged or pathetic versions of themselves. It dives into the entrails of Hollywood with irony, humanising those who usually appear as semi-gods with perfect cheekbones, exposing their fears and inevitable blunders.
The Mundane and the Hive Mind
On the domestic front, the second season of Poquita fe (Movistar Plus+) continues to resonate by holding a mirror to the everyday Spaniard. Creators Pepón Montero and Juan Maidagán have struck a chord by extracting the fantastic from the mundane, creating a Chestersonsian surrealism that feels ironically plausible. It is widely regarded as the finest comedy in the history of Spanish television. Simultaneously, Vince Gilligan has returned with Pluribus (Apple TV+). Having previously captured the zeitgeist with Breaking Bad, Gilligan now presents a world where a virus connects 99 per cent of the population into a compliant hive mind. Surprisingly, audiences accustomed to apocalyptic narratives have embraced this new order, perhaps seduced by the efficiency of total human potential.
Rigour Behind the Quiz Show Curtain
While scripted drama has explored the chaotic and the surreal, the world of unscripted television has had to double down on rigour and fairness, as revealed by Darragh Ennis of ITV’s The Chase. The Chaser, known as ‘The Menace’, recently lifted the lid on the meticulous processes that ensure the integrity of the popular quiz show. Speaking on the JaackMaate’s Happy Hour podcast, Ennis addressed a question that has long fascinated fans: what happens when a contestant or a Chaser adamantly disputes an answer?
According to the 43-year-old Irishman, who joined the show in 2020 after first appearing as a contestant in 2017, the game is frequently halted to consult independent adjudicators. “We have independent adjudicators on set all the time,” Ennis explained. He detailed the role of a company called Beyond Dispute, specifically an overseer named Olivia. “She acts independent from the producers and the question setters to verify whether the answer is correct or not.”
The Pursuit of Fairness
This revelation that recording can be stopped mid-flow to check facts left the podcast hosts stunned. Ennis emphasised that “everything has to be fair,” regardless of how long the delay takes. “We tell everybody as a contestant: if you think your answer is right and you’re told it’s wrong, say it straight away,” he said, noting that it is far easier to cut the recording and check immediately than to edit around a dispute later.
The process highlights the difficulty faced by the question-setting team, whom Ennis jokingly described as having a “horrible job” due to the constant complaints from the Chasers. Host Bradley Walsh is even provided with lists of acceptable alternative answers for questions where multiple names or terms might apply. This commitment to accuracy has garnered praise from viewers, with one former contestant commenting online, “I faced Darragh on The Chase, lovely bloke. He’s right – the show gets stopped all the time to double-check answers.” In a year where fiction has embraced madness, it seems reality television is working harder than ever to keep the facts straight.
