I finished some shows today. First up, bridgerton (Netflix), which is going to be impossible to not recommend as the best audio description for a TV show next time around. I loved the season. There was one moment when they were mentioning all the Bridgerton’s, and I feel like we’re at that point where we are just pretending like Season 1 never happened. Violet is sad to see Francheska move so far away, and this would have been the best time to point out that her eldest daughter didn’t appear at all, but instead we just decide to never mention her again. I guess she died. But, this audio description is ALIVE! Liz Gutman deserves to have lunch with Shonda Rhimes so Shonda can thank her personally for writing audio description that has literally become a social media trend. I love that our accessibility has turned into a thing that influencers are telling their fans to turn on to make the show spicier because Liz writes the best narration. I feel like I should be giving Stuart some props as the narrator as well, but honestly, a great narrator can’t do much with a bad script. He works nicely as a vessel for her description, but I think she’s outdone herself, and she should be very proud.
I also finally finished Hacks (MAX), and learned all that information as well. Wes, my dude, you have a solid voice for comedic work. I think you would be great doing kids stuff. When I hear you on other things, now I’m like “It’s the guy from Hacks”. But, you had no business doing the audio description for Immaculate. I know paychecks are fun, but that company should have asked someone whose voice made sense for a horror title, and you should know your wheelhouse. Hacks is a bitch of a show to get audio description in, because it is so heavily dependent on dialogue, since the show centers around a stand up comedian. The fact that you’ve made any impact at all for me to associate you with the show, means you have a recognizable voice. that can work in your favor, but just strive to do projects that show off your assets, and not projects that don’t. That final episode though… good for her. Good for Ava. She earned that, and I’m proud of her for standing her ground and not getting screwed a second time around.
And, I finished Season 3 of The Bear (Hulu), with actually the last three episodes. Episode 8 was great, and Episode 10 probably was lacking the most in audio description. This show is written by Court Soto, who is stuck in a position like Hacks. Neither of these shows really have long stretches to allow narration to flow like bridgerton does. But, Court works in what is important audio description when he can, and Roy Samuelson as the narrator actually manages to understand the mood of what each scene is, and match that level. He genuinely sounds excited and elated in the celebratory moments, but reins it in in the more serious moments. Season 3 fell a little short of 2 for me, whereas I think both bridgerton and Hacks had their best seasons. The Bear opened with an episode I didn’t care for, and made me wonder why we consider this a comedy, and ends in almost the exact same way as season 2, which I’m positive was intentional. However, I’m not sure that the front runner for Best comedy Series needs to set a trend of having a character in a panic attack at the end of every season. Food for thought. Yes, Chef?
I am also closer to finishing Wandla (Apple Plus), which I hope to knock out today. I think I’ve said all my thoughts, including how aliens mimicking human life is lazy even beyond this show. However, I think older kids will love this. It’s not for little ones. I wouldn’t make it this far in a show aimed at pre-schoolers. Think your 6-12 crowd.
And, I got through the double elimination episode of The Goat (Amazon), which wasn’t terribly surprising in who they chose. Paola is obviously well liked enough, as Reza was the only person to vote for her, and Joe was the only person who scored points. That writing was on the wall. I love that we’ve been at this point for a while now, where we’ve had so much reality TV, that we now have reality shows built just for reality show contestants to compete on. So if you wanted to do The GOAT, you have to somehow get on ANOTHER reality show first, and then you can get on something like this, or The Traitors. There are reality junkies who are just collecting reality shows at this point.
