Since the diaries are always about audio described television I watched the day before, The Oscars (ABC) are eligible, as I did actually watch the thing all the way through, live, with audio description. Even the red carpet had it. Shoutout to my friend Nefertiti for being half of the AD team on this. It is so hard to describe some of the garish fashion choices, but they did a great job this year. As far as the ceremony goes, I loved it. I didn’t get them all right, but every category I lost, the one I thought might win ended up doing so. The best wins of the night were all of them, except titles that don’t have audio description. I’m looking at you The boy and the Heron and Godzilla Minus One. Get some damn audio description, and make yourself accessible.
Beyond that, I started The Regime (MAX), which has an audio description track that certainly feels like it is made for a comedy. It feels like subtle satire, and reminded me of Death of Stalin. It’s not quite on the level of The Great, though this show does make me question why MAX didn’t just rescue The Great. It isn’t a pilot that just pops, but I will say it has Kate Winslet, which will earn it 4 episodes before I would give up. So, I can grow into it.
Also, The Gentleman (Netflix) was a pretty big streaming drop. the show has audio description that is challenged by Guy Ritchie’s fast paced rapid fire dialog. I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know how close this is, but Theo James has come a long way as an actor, and he’s a solid lead for this. Other really strong actors pop up in the pilot, and some are listed to pop up later. I’ll keep this one around for sure, especially if Ritchie is directing beyond the pilot episode.
megamind Rules (Peacock) is for kids. I tried to get into it, but it has no returning voice cast, and really is just the remnants of the new Megamind sequel on the service. The audio description was fine though. Laura Post doesn’t narrate, but she actually stars, replacing Tina Fey. What a fun full circle moment.
Extraordinary (Hulu) launched its second season without audio description. Not only will you not hear me mention this again because of it, but since I like the show, it’s a Hulu Original so it needs to have audio description, I’m going to not advance any further in the second season until they add audio description. So if you don’t hear me mention this again until July or whatever, that’s why.
The Dynasty (Apple Plus) has audio description by PixelLogic, narrated by Tanzi Alexander. It is well described, especially for a docuseries. This is about the New England Patriots, starting with the legacy left behind by Drew Bledsoe, and moving into Tom Brady.So, get ready for an episode on DeflateGate.
And while I typically do not nod to non-audio described content, Scarlett Johansson on SNL was one of the funniest things I’ve seen on that show in years.
