Metalcore Nerds: A Music Podcast About Pop Culture · Sean Mott

Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2026 w/ Good Sleepy

December 30, 2025·53 min

Rianne Sean Ma opens with a familiar Nerds setup. He welcomes Thomas Seth Engenski of Good Sleepy and frames the chat around the show’s end-of-year most anticipated TV and movie list, which gives everything an easy, fan-club rhythm from the start. It stays playful. The two trade recommendations and rankings with the kind of half-laughing confidence that comes from knowing they are mostly arguing taste, not facts, and that keeps the episode feeling like a real hang rather than a formal interview. Ted Lasso comes up fast. They treat it as a show that hit at the right time, still funny and emotionally sharp, but maybe not something that left as deep a mark as some other favorites. That distinction matters. The conversation keeps circling the line between a series you enjoy in the moment and one you keep thinking about after it ends, and that gives the list-making more shape than a simple countdown. Michael C. Hall gets a mention. Dexter Resurrection enters the mix with the practical caveat that its release timing is still uncertain, since filming starts in April and it might land by the end of the year or even early next year. That keeps it grounded. A nice thread of anticipation runs through the whole episode, because the picks are not just about hype but about the shows the hosts genuinely expect to make an impression once they land. The talk never gets stiff. It moves by association, bouncing from one reference to another in a way that feels true to the show’s loose, pop-culture-heavy style and true to the way friends actually sort through what they have watched. The warm-blanket phrase lands. That kind of language fits how the hosts think about certain comfort shows: easy to like, familiar, and emotionally useful, even when they are not necessarily the most enduring thing on the shelf. Good Sleepy fits the room. Thomas Seth Engenski holds his own in the back-and-forth, and the episode gets extra texture from the crossover between band-world chemistry and TV nerdery. The ending stays breezy. The show wraps with the usual friendly plugs and sign-off energy, which keeps the whole conversation feeling like an invite to keep following both the guest and the podcast after the list is over.

As heard by us

A relaxed year-end TV conversation grounded in genuine enthusiasm.

Rianne Sean Ma and Thomas Seth Engenski keep the year-end TV conversation easygoing and personal, with the podcast staying squarely in the pop-culture lane its band-member setup was built for.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a TV list that turns into actual fan debate.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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