So, who won the Puppy Bowl? I know that is the thing on all of our minds this morning. One year, I hope they get Bow Wow to do the halftime show at the Puppy Bowl, or Snoop Dogg.
Aside from what everyone else watched, I started Season 2 of Halo (Paramount Plus), which still suffers from its biggest Season 1 problem, which was not having enough distinguishable Spartans other than Master Chief. The Season 2 premiere does work on the development of Bokeem Woodbine’s rogue Spartan, and introduce a new antagonist, but it still needs more than just Master Chief. The audio description is great, and worked best in the fight sequence against the horde and their Energy Swords. Though, if you do not know what one looks like, you may have to rewatch Season 1, or ask some kid who plays Halo, because they just refer to them as what they are. Like a lightsaber.
Mr and Mrs Smith (Amazon) has some audio description from the Media Access Group, with no names given. I’m not a massive Maya Erskine fan, but she slides in nicely here. I think this was originally intended for Phoebe Waller Bridge at some point, but her energy wouldn’t have matched Donald Glover’s. Glover offers a more subdued and grown up performance. I’m a little surprised this is gaining traction in the Emmy Comedy Series category. Does it get funnier? I didn’t find the pilot funny at all. It has some lighter moments, but it was pretty straightforward. The pilot is a bit long, and there’s a point I could have seen a solid end, but they kept going because we just HAD to know whose cat that was.
Not Dead yet (Hulu) has a new narrator. Gone is the girl who sounded like she was in high school, and in her place is a voice I’ve heard quite a bit. They brought in the big guns for the Season Premiere, having Brad Garrett show up as the guest, and letting the series have a bright start to the new season. If for no other reason, just watch this for Lauren Ash, who feels like she’s one SNL cast member that got away. I’ve seen a lot of her work, and even though she’s not a household name, she’d be a killer guest to have on SNL someday.
And we get to sad news. I’ve basically stopped mentioning programs that do not have audio description beyond my first acknowledgement of the show. I know it’s Black history Month, and we should all be watching Genius: MLK/X (Disney Plus), but this doesn’t have audio description. It’s a little hard to follow, since it is battling two different people and their life trajectories. It’s not that the series is bad, it just desperately needs audio description. I did have a moment between me and my television where a song was playing out of the show, and it was blasting. I told Jennifer Hudson to calm down, because i was pretty sure it was her, and Shazam verified it. I had never heard that song before, but i know J-HUD when I hear her. Perhaps this Black history Month, Disney can think about making its hot new Martin Luther King jr/Malcolm X accessible for all viewers, not just sighted ones. So unless this show gains audio description, you won’t hear me mention it again.
