TV Shows Watched: Dope Thief: S1E8 (Apple TV +) with audio description, Good American Family: S1E8 (Hulu) with audio description, Devil may Cry: S1E6 (Netflix) with audio description, Andor: S2E4 (Disney Plus) with audio description, The Walking dead: Dead City: S1E4 (Netflix) with audio description, The Wheel of Time: S3E6 (Amazon) with audio description, Elzabeth: S2E? (Paramount Plus) with audio description, your Friends And neighbors: S1E3 (Apple TV +) with audio description, The Daily Show: Tuesday (Paramount Plus) no audio description, and You: S4E2 (Netflix) with audio description.
Best Episode: Dope thief- All things considered, I thought this Brian Tyree Henry limited series ended on a high note. They wrapped up the story, and like so many limited shows I can see how they could make an unnecessary second season, but I just hope they leave it as a solid one season hit. Surface’s second season gives me a lot of clarity on whether or not a show needs a follow-up season.
Runner Up: Andor- Forest Whitaker! I’ve never been so pleased for a cameo from him ever, and he makes so much sense as we barrel toward the finale, and eventually rogue One.
Worth Mentioning: Good American Family, your Friends And Neighbors, Elzabeth- Since I watched at least 10 shows, I’ll round out a top 5. These three shows would be the next three I’d recommend. Good American Family closed strong for Natalia, your Friends And Neighbors continues to be excellent, and Elzabeth’s funeral home episode with David Alan Grier as a guest star was a lot of fun.
Best Audio Description: Andor- I love some of the choices. Like, there’s this specific salute they do, or the fact that they had to dub some of the alien languages so you can hear William Michael Redman doing some voice work. There was also the use of the word “duplicitous” that I liked a lot.
Runner Up: You- A show with pretty consistent audio description, that highlights all the creepy stuff Joe is always trying to pull off. In the second episode, joe is trying to sneak around and do a bad thing, and witnesses something else that was well described instead.
Worth Mentioning: The Wheel Of Time, your Friends And Neighbors, Devil May Cry- the next three shows all with very strong audio description.
Best Performance: Imogen Faith reed (good American Family)- So, i do want to point out that the girl playing Natalia can be a very good actress. Part of what has made good American family complicated, is her problematic casting. she turns 28 this month, but has ton play Natalia as young as 7 (if I remember correctly), which is really hard for a grown ass woman who could easily have her own 7 year old daughter to do. And in a show where the allegations are that she’s an adult pretending to be a kid, I’m surprised no one thought that casting might be weird. but, by the end, she’s not a kid, she’s an adult either way you look at it. She’s old enough that Imogene really gets to land the emotional weight Natalia deserves to have the show end on.
runner Up: Brian Tyree Henry (Dope thief)- it is also my last chance to recognize Henry for his exceptional work on Dope Thief. So, of course, I’m going to do it one more time.
Worth Mentioning: forest Whitaker (Andor), Jon Hamm (your Friends And Neighbors), Carrie Preston (Elzabeth)- A couple steady choices I make on a regular basis, plus Forest Whitaker.
Best Moment Of Audio Description: It’s Just A Thread, Right? (your Friends And Neighbors)- Everyone knows, if you have a loose thread on your clothes, you don’t pull at it, you should just cut it off. Come on now. Of course, what Mel does is the complete opposite, and not only does it predictably do what we think it will, she also then opens the door to her closet, and that’s why this scene wins the day.
Runner Up: The Salute (Andor)- i just liked the way they were describing this salute people kept doing out of respect, or to let people know they were part of the same brotherhood. it feels like the Star Wars equivalent to live Long and Prosper.
Worst of…- Only one show without audio description, so the worst of the day would be the continued choice to have the narrator in The Walking Dead: Dead City keep pronouncing the villain of the season as “The Croat” while every character who speaks keeps calling him “The Crow-Ad”. yeah, he’s probably picked up the nickname from being Croatian, but you kinda have to follow how the series seems to want you to pronounce the name. So the loser for the day is The Walking Dead: Dead City.
