I’ve basically dropped the YouTube/Podcast section, because I wasn’t actively listening to, or watching as much YouTube. However, special mentions go to the trio doing For Your Consideration, and their Oscar video. I love Jeff Snyder. He seems like he’d be a fun hang. And, since the real life events that consumed yesterday happened, i also needed some kind of news/podcast to help me process what I was feeling, so I can always rely on Keith Olbermann to put my feelings into words. He just happened to be the first podcast I subscribe to that pushed out an episode on what just happened.
TV Shows Watched: Severance: S2E7 (Apple Plus) with audio description, The Book Of David: S1E1 (Amazon) with audio description, Will Trent: S3E7 (Hulu) with audio description, School Spirits: S2E? (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Shifting Gears: S1E7 (Hulu) audio description, celebrity Jeopardy: S3E? (Hulu) with audio description, Running Point: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description.
Best Episode: Severance- A whole different grouping of shows, and still I can’t find something that beats Severance, as this week we checked in on a character we had not seen in a while.
Runner Up: Running Point- i did really like the pilot for this though. Glad to have it joining in my gigantic ass list of rotation. for those not aware, Kate Hudson stars as the only daughter in a sports centric family, whose father used to own a basketball team, but he died and passed along various roles to his four kids. She was a huge fan of basketball, and he never listened to her, but she’s given the chance now to be the President for this non-existent pro-basketball team, and deal with players with attitudes, siblings who squabble, and a coach she clearly has the its for. Mindy Kaling is producing, which helps, but Kate makes it work.
Best Audio Description- The Book Of David and Shifting Gears- So, I’m doing something a little different, and today there were two shows that popped, not just because the description written for them was good, but because the narrators were. I’m a big fan of Dave Wallace and his performative audio description on Shifting Gears. The show just isn’t nearly as funny without him. I’ve tried. I’ve turned off audio description, and ran it, and the laugh track, and no Dave Wallace is less interesting than having him. he actually somehow makes an often unfunny show… funny?And, Amazon shoved me immediately into the second episode of The Book of David, so I didn’t get to hear the narrator. My guess would be Julian Smith, who is doing Wags to Riches, but this sounds even lower than that. i felt like Mufasa or Vader was narrating. This guy is the heir apparent to James Earl jones, and his deep bass made me jealous. he brings gravitas to literally anything. luckily, here, the biblical epic is appropriate for this tone. he’d be hilariously inappropriate on paw Patrol, and would probably make some kids cry. But, the moms (and some dads) would keep listening. If I could have him be my Siri voice, I would. The tambor in his voice is enviable. So, for one day, writers take a slight backseat because these two narrators are superb, and very well cast for their projects.
Runner Up: Severance- I mean, yes, it is still a well written track. But, it didn’t need to win this week.
Best Performance: Kate Hudson (Running Point)- Like I said, she makes the show. It makes you wonder why this isn’t her third or fourth sitcom. It makes you wonder where she’s been. It’ll make you want to rewatch Almost Famous or How To Lose A guy In 10 Days. She felt so refreshingly back, that I wondered why she hadn’t been in my face the whole time.
Runner Up: Peyton List (School Spirits)- No severance cast this week. List has essentially been playing two wildly different versions of herself ever since Janet inhabited her body, and now that Janet is starting to live her life, the dichotomy between the two is shifting. The opening scene with Peyton just trashing the cafeteria was a great opener. I wish it hadn’t revealed which version of her it was in the audio description, since it becomes clear that it was Maddie. Because, I thought what if this was Janet?
Best Moment Of Audio Description: the Handprint (The Book Of David)- One of the things the series lacked was a clear definition of the size of Goliath. Even when the kid points to the tower, we don’t know how tall the tower is. It really isn’t until the hand is placed inside of the bloody handprint, we finally get an acknowledgement of maybe just how truly big this Goliath is.
Runner Up: Giving Blood (Severance)- Something so simple, was described in solid detail. We see basically the moment Mark and Gemma meet, in a flashback, while giving blood. Of course, we’re also told which company has their name slapped on the equipment, and it is after this awesome description of the blood moving through the tube into the bag. lumen. They are everywhere.
Worst Of…- Ana Navarro (celebrity Jeopardy)- note to Ana. No caffeine before Jeopardy. I enjoy The View, I like Ana, but I don’t think a Jeopardy contestant has had this many outbursts before. I could be wrong, but a few times can be fun, if used in the right places, but she really did a lot for any Jeopardy contestant, celebrity or otherwise. Stand Up Comedians have done far less. Earlier this season, Cedric The Entertainer was really laid back. No caffeine for Ana.