TV Shows Watched: Andor:S2E12 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Duster: S1E1 (MAX) with audio description, the Secrets We Keep: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description, Survivor: S48E12 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Battle Camp: S1E6 (Netflix) with audio description, Etoile: S1E5 (Amazon) with audio description, Lazarus: S1E6 (MAX) with audio description, Bad Thoughts: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Krapapolis: S2E17 (Hulu) no audio description, Ransom Canyon: S1E7 (Netflix) with audio description, Pop culture Jeopardy: S1E17 (Amazon) with audio description, Elzabeth: S2E18 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, and No Man’s Land: S1E1 (Hulu) with audio description
NOTE: yesterday, as I mentioned, The Handmaids Tale did not have audio description for S6E8 the last time I checked. As of this post, it does, and I will be watching and tackling in tomorrow’s post.
Best episode: Andor- I threw a lot at it. 13 shows in one day. but, the series finale of Andor is truly exceptional, and doesn’t need to go out on a huge battle sequence, because it is all a teaser for Rogue One, which has plenty of action. I think the master craft shown in the back six episodes of the season was truly impressive, and I actually like Episodes 7-12 more than rogue One. it is smarter, it is thoughtful, and it shapes characters in interesting ways leaving you invested in their future or lack thereof. Overall, I enjoy The Mandalorian on a more consistent basis, but the best episodes of a Star Wars show lie in Andor.
Runner Up: Etoile- I’m loving this show, and I hope Amazon is too. the budding friends with benefits relationship, nd the crawl to an impending Nutcracker ballet were interesting. My favorite scene was the line where one of their characters, for no apparent reason, asked what time it was, and after learning the time responded with “Good. They’re dead.” It reminds us that dark money can fund ballet as well.
Worth Mentioning: Elzabeth, Survivor, No Man’s Land- these three round out the top 5. No surprise that Elzabeth made it here with a bang, Survivor sent home who i didn’t want to win (my top 3 are still in play), and I saw Dave Wallace talk about working on some Hulu show I never heard of, didn’t know it had audio description, and just dropped a second season. So, I’m starting to rewatch a show about a man in Paris who finds out that his sister, he long ago thought was dead, might not be, and the journey he takes to bring her back.
best Audio description: Andor- One last time. Basically, an easy victory as wel rolled out the last episode. There was some combat, a lot of support of acting choices, and a lovely ending to a prequel that personifies “a new hope”.
runner Up: Etoile- the description tht supports the dancers is nice and strong, and I really did like it. I’ve remarked on that a few times. this show has good audio description.
Worth Mentioning: Survivor, Bad thoughts, Ransom Canyon- OK, those three are fine. Let’s talk about a few things as to why a few other shows didn’t make it. duster truly sounds like the audio quality isn’t where it needs to be. if I was a sound engineer, I would have more thoughts on that, I’m sure, but it just doesn’t match the same clarity and level that other MAX programming does. the Secrets We keep is really well written, and that might be the best AI voice I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Like, can that voice be my Siri or Alexa? but it is still TTS, and with any TTS we still get this audio ducking which is almost always a sign that TTS is being used. And, No Man’s Land is fine, and no knock against Dave, but fundamentally this is a show that needed more than one person doing the voices. Dave is trying his best to find the right pitch for each character, and I can’t even begin to imagine the monotony behind having to remember the exact pitch you used for every character and trying to keep that consistent, but I never heard characters, I heard Dave changing pitch. A lot. I hear in season 2 they spring for having a female doing female voices. so maybe when we get to season 2, I can talk about it more as excellence, but it is a lot, even if I do love Dave’s work.
Best Performance: Diego Luna (Andor)- Man, his whole speech, “I knew Luthian” was terrific, and all of his smaller beats and rumination just perfectly helped sell Cassian. it also made me realize it is beyond time to get this man an Oscar nomination.
Runner Up: Michael Emerson (Elzabeth)- Always perfect when playing a bad guy, he really did do a nice job being menacing. As his time on Elzabeth comes to a close, I’d also like to recognize his work. He’s typecast, but it must suck on a mental health level for everyone to think you inherently make a great bad guy.
worth Mentioning: Josh Holloway (duster), Simon Callow ( (Etoile), Carrie Preston (Elzabeth)- Rounding out the top 5. Holloway is back in Sawyer mode for Duster, Simon’s evil guy funding ballet has been consistently amusing, and Carrie deserves love all the time, but definitely for standing up to her big bad for the season.
Best moment Of audio description: The Rescue (Andor) Basically, where we pick up. it looks like our heroes are in a bind, but someone saves the day, and in grand fashion.
runner Up: Deidra’s Life Sucks now (Andor)- i just loved seeing her at her lowest at the end. After participating in genocide, it feels good to know she’s where she is.
Runner Up 2: The Challenge (Survivor)- One of the reasons I like this so much, is that the complicated challenges they have to do, in these courses, to compete for an Idol, is really pretty well done.
runner Up 3: the Chase (Duster)- at the top of the series, Jim is followed by some unsavory individuals and evades them in his car, with his “niece” in the passengers seat. works out for him. Can’t say it does for the other car.
Runner Up 4: Is this A poop Joke Show? (Bad Thoughts)- There are a lot of sight gags in this, and I’m not really here for all of them, but this show would be lost without its fairly solid audio description. this is also amazing, because Vito is rarely ever given a decent script, and is almost always narrating things he shouldn’t be, and need better writers.
Worst of…- Only one show without audio description. I should say the use of TTS in The Secrets We Keep, but Netflix barely describes their international content as it is right now. I need them to make the level of commitment that Apple has made, and then point out that Apple does it with humans. Not with cost cutting AI.
