TV Shows Watched: Andor: S2E3 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Survival Of The Thickest: S2E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Number One happy Family USA: S1E2 (Amazon) with audio description, Midcentury Modern: S1E4 (Hulu) with audio description, Deli Boys: S1E7 (Hulu) with audio description, Battle camp: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description, Survivor: S48E9 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Krapapolis: S2E14 (Hulu) no audio description, ransom Canyon: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Abbott Elementary: S4E22 (Hulu) with audio description, Hacks: S4E2 (MAX) with audio description.
best Episode: Hacks- Still operating at peak television, the second episode was fantastic as Deborah and Ava both explored new ways to hate each other, but also being delivered some extremely sobering news about the reality of the task at hand, eventually forcing them to come to an understanding moving forward.
Runner Up: Midcentury Modern- I just love these guys. this episode had them all sick from a strain of Covid, and letting out some secrets. Man, was it crazy to find out that two of the three guys have eaten dessert before dinner? What a revelation. It’s just a cute show, and the episode was funny.
Worth Mentioning: Abbott Elementary, Andor, and Deli Boys- These three would round out the Top 5. I typically only do this when I’m at 10 shows or more from a single day. Abbott had their season finale, which after a tumultuous season really went out on a nice note, Andor brought the gravitas of intended sexual assault to Star Wars, and Deli Boys exposed a lot, including a rat.
Best Audio Description: Andor- Jedidiah Barton is narrating, I believe, and we know that Lucasfilm is very specific about what gets into the track and what doesn’t. I was a little surprised, but pleasantly so, to hear someone be “brained’. It felt especially harsh.
Runner Up: Deli Boys- There’s a bit of a fight sequence at the end of episode 7, but mostly I just love how Dave Wallace compliments the humor of the show. Part of me realizes that this cast is ethnically specific, and we should be using responsible casting, but also no one really narrates like Dave. if he’s what you want, or need, until more people explore performative (truly performative) audio description in ways that marry themselves to the product, he feels like the lone choice to highlight the comedy.
runner Up: Number One Happy Family USA, Survivor, Bttle Camp- Number One Happy Family USA relies a lot on visual gags that are well described, like the glitching in the 2nd episode. Both survivor and Battle Camp had challenges that were well described, and Battle camp also introduced cast and reminded us of where we saw them (which the Traitors did for one person last season).
Best Performance: Jean Smart (Hacks)- I’ll give her the edge this week, as Deborah faced the reality of what she should do, including things that need to happen in order for her to not lose this one big opportunity she needs the most. My favorite scathing remark from her was when she called Ava “niche”, explaining to her that the reason she isn’t right for the job is because her program needs to appeal to housewives and mechanics.
Runner Up: Adriana Arajona (Andor)- Bixie had a scene this week where she truly had to take care of business and fight for herself. In a series with a clear male lead on a quest to rescue, Bixie proved she absolutely can save herself.
Worth Mentioning: Nathan Lane (Midcentury Modern), Hannah Einbinder (Hacks), and Matt Bomer (Midcentury Modern)- man, this was hard, and it all came down to little beats. Lane has this fantastic over the top reaction to being called dramatic, which was excessively dramatic in and of itself, but also was just pitch perfect the whole episode. Einbinder is excellent on Hacks, and there are these little moments when she reacts wounded that reminds us that even while Ava has grown a lot of backbone, Deborah is still far more experienced at emotionally damaging comments. And, lastly, I went with Matt Bomer, whose delightfully idiotic take on Betty White is just making this gay Golden Girls work. Each character had to bring their own thing to Golden Girls, and Betty white obviously did that iconically with Rose. Bomer is exceeding expectations as the dumbest person you might ever meet. his reaction to the scandal of eating dessert before a meal is everything.
Best moment Of Audio Description- Brained (Andor)- i gotta go with the attempted sexual assault in Andor. I feel like it was a big moment for Star Wars, and the scene was just really well described, using different words every time Bixie landed another hit.
Runner Up: Saving the Day (Deli Boys)- i loved watching a character we would have assumed had no combat skills whatsoever kicking ass at the end.
Worst Of….- Krapapolis has no audio description on Hulu, and I liked everything else I watched. Even battle camp is a solid entry into the reality competition genre. I will say it was lame to hold the elimination until the second episode, but the loser of the day is actually Abbott Elementary, because that audio description track is just so inadequate. Please, ABC, hire someone else. the problem is ViTac as a company, as I continue to be disappointed with their body of work in this field. but, more than any of the shows they work on, Abbot Elementary seems to be especially inept (at least, of the ABC programs). Somehow, shows like Will Trent get a level of barely functional audio description, but Abbott Elementary actually begs the question of “do I even need to turn it on?” Like, does the existence of the nominal description really even suffice as accessibility? or, does it just point out things I might have been able to draw logical conclusions to anyway? I’d like to think ViTac would be inspired to inject quality into their description, but something tells me they are a cost cutting measure, and by hiring them, ABC is saving money, which is of more importance to them than actual equity for audiences that rely on accessibility.
