It’s kind of amazing how sloe the TV news is during the strike. It’s almost like all of the various streamers are angry at their shows, and can’t pick any of them up for another season. of course, they also can’t negotiate contracts with the actors, so there’s that too.
11) Skull Island (Netflix)
English Audio Description?: Yes
Status: Unknown
I think I keep hoping for that perfect magic that Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous gave me, but Skull Island is struggling to give me that balance. Some of the characters feel aimed at an older audience, while there’s still one goofball type. The monsters keep popping up, so maybe? I’m on the fence about a third episode.
Episode Grade: C+
10) Based On A True Story (Peacock)
English Audio Description?: Yes
Status: Limited
So, this was one of the better episodes, but it’s still not a super fantastic show. I liked the whole podcast convention, and the idea that there was a survivor. but, was there? Was she faking it? This episode plays with that idea, and it’s the most interesting thing it’s really done with this premise to date.
Episode Grade: B-
9) The Golden Girls (Hulu)
English Audio Description?: Yes
Status: Ended
I have to say, that having older shows audio described acknowledges that there are people from other generations who would still like to see these shows. Even though going back and adding these tracks may seem like a chore, it’s nice to see more and more shows pre-2000 getting the treatment. I’d love to see this continue to expand even further back, possibly granting classics like All In The Family, The Jefferson’s, The Brady Bunch, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Happy Days, Gilligans Island, I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave it To Beaver, and others the chance to give more flavor across the years. not to mention more on the TV drama side, with shows like Gunsmoke, Dallas, Dynasty, The Love Boat, Magnum PI, The Dukes Of Hazzard, Knight Rider, Quantum Leap, NYPD Blue, and ER all the chance for their fans to revisit.
Episode Grade: B+
8) Boy Meets World (Disney plus)
English Audio Description?: No
Status: Ended
As I hit the Season 1 finale, which finds Mr Feeney in the hospital, i think about how we live in this nostalgic world, and there’s a very specific grouping of 90’s shows that could all be having a moment as well, including Boy Meets World, but also home improvement, Frasier, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Saved by The Bell, Buffy The vampire Slayer, as well as Disney cartoons like Ducktales and Rescue Rangers, and Nickelodeon fare like Doug, Rugrats, and Are you Afraid of The Dark? Just to name a few.
Episode Grade: B+
7) Cheers (Paramount Plus)
English Audio Description?: No
Status: Ended
Cliff’s mom comes to visit, and has a fiancée. Cliff isn’t too happy. But you know what? Continuing with my theme from earlier, where are the 80’s sitcoms at? mASH? Cheers? Family Ties? Who’s The Boss? Different Strokes? There certainly is an untapped market in this era as well, not to mention lots of classic childrens programming came out of the 80’s, like the original Transformers and GI Joe shows, but also programs like The Smurfs and certainly some Tom and jerry. Let’s get cracking!
6) Outlander (Starz)
English Audio Description?: no
Status: Ended
Dear Starz (and Lionsgate), what’s up with your aversion to audio description? This was a decent episode of Outlander, but I missed so much in the sequences that mattered. When the boys try to see if the dwarf child can float, and when Fergus tries to kill himself, both would have been good times. But the worst parts are the quiet moments, when I don’t know what I’m missing to even know if something pivotal is happening. Come on Starz, for 10 bucks a month, you can crank some audio description.
Episode Grade: B+
5) Better Call Saul (Netflix)
English Audio Description?: Yes
Status: Final Season
These last couple episodes have not done much for me. I was happy to touch base with Kim, but the show is so concerned with making a full circle to Breaking Bad, and i came into Saul not as a Breaking bad fan, but Saul won me over more than Breaking Bad. Saul has made me want to try Breaking Bad again. But right now, instead of ending Better Call Saul, it’s trying to become Breaking Bad, and that does nothing for me.
Episode Grade: B+
4) Weakest Link (Peacock)
English Audio Description?: Yes
Status: probably Renewed
This episode featured Pro-Wrestlers, and while I was surprised they got some questions right, they were all pretty easy, and New Day kept using Delaware every time they didn’t know the answer. I knew The Miz would be voted off first, and he wasn’t even statistically the Weakest Link.
Episode Grade: B+
3) Smash (Roku)
English Audio Description?: no
Status: Ended
The Let’s Be bad episode, which has a lot happening in it, but really the tension between Derek and ivy is what fuels the number. I’ve mentioned this before, but as i was watching this, even as a fan of Kat’s from American Idol, there was never a question to me as to who should play Marilyn. I actually really hope that the musical they are still working on to put on Broadway stars hilty, even though she’s now older than Marilyn was.
Episode Grade: A-
2) Secret Invasion (Disney Plus)
English Audio Description?: Yes
Status: Limited
Bob Iger has it all wrong. If anything, the MCU shows have the ability to enrich the movies by taking smaller concepts and connecting the dots so the films can benefit from not having to find a way to tell this whole story about the Skrulls in cinematic form, or leave us with a President who has declared war on all non-humans. I feel like that last part is really important considering how many extraterrestrial marvel heroes we have. It was a nice spy thriller, and Olivia Coleman stole the damn thing. Loved her character so much.
Episode Grade: A
1) I am A Virgo (Amazon)
English Audio Description?: yes
Status: Not Yet renewed
Boots Riley is proving to be someone who needs a deal for multiple shows. The vision here is just remarkable. Learning more about Flora, and that she does actually have an ability, and that it wasn’t a stylistic choice to have her moving fast in other episodes was sort of game changing. That means, there could be even more like them out there. But the real reason this is on top was Riley’s commentary on healthcare and poverty, as well as treating the black population with abject disregard. By willing to sacrifice a peripheral character in such a meaningful way, Riley proves this show isn’t just your run of the mill superhero story at a time when we have a hundred of those. It’s something more.
Episode Grade: A
