Here’s just a few thoughts on what I watched this week.
Abbott Elementary (ABC, Wednesday Night)
I got caught up with Abbott Elementary this week. The first episode that I watched was the Ringworm episode and I have to say that I’m on Gregory’s side when it comes to the proper way to react to fungi. I’m sure it was probably not the show’s intention but the episode felt almost like a commentary on the madness that gripped the nation during the COVID pandemic.
Ringworm was followed by the “Class Pet” episode, which I really enjoyed. The Guinea Pig was unbelievable cute and I like any episode in which Ava is given a chance to show that she’s actually not that bad of a principal.
The Halloween episode was amusing, though the most interesting thing about it was people giving Jacob a hard time for dressing up as Pat Sajak despite Sajak’s politics. The episode, of course, was filmed and aired before the presidential election, which was won by Sajak’s candidate. As such, the episode felt almost like an artifact from the distant past.
The Dad Fight episode actually made me cry, both with laughter and genuine emotion. I’m a lot like Melissa when it comes to spraining my ankle. Gregory’s refusal to fight showed that this is a show that definitely has its heart in the right place.
This was followed by an episode about Jacob trying to lead a protest against gentrification that felt like an apology for those terrible anti-private school episodes from the second season. This episode also featured a great Ava subplot, in which she gave a TED talk about how be a successful principal.
The final two episodes that I watched were both Christmas episodes. Barbara put together the “Winter Show,” and then Melissa hosted “Winter Dinner.” Both episodes were okay without being as memorable as they could have been. One gets the feeling that the show’s writer couldn’t decide between being earnest and being snarky about the holidays and they instead went for a wishy-washy middleground. That said, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen of season 4. It’s definitely been an improvement over the third season and I look forward to seeing how things develop.
Accused (Fox, Tuesday Night)
This week, I got caught up with the second season of this anthology show. As always, Accused was frustratingly uneven. Occasionally, the stories are interesting. More often than not, though, this show often feels like it’s just trying too hard. To be honest, I think the show needs to liven things up with maybe a comedic episode or how about an episode that takes place on a different planet? If you’re going to go the anthology route, you really should be willing to experiment a bit.
Amerika (YouTube)
I finally finished up this very long miniseries from the 80s about what life would be like if America was taken over by communists. Life would not be good.
Dragnet (YouTube)
I watched my two favorite episodes of Dragnet this week, the Talk Show episode and the Night School episode. Jack Webb and Harry Morgan were a good team. Friday and Gannon would have agreed with me about Accused.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (YouTube)
Mary had to work on Christmas Eve! Boo! Poor Mary!
That Girl (YouTube)
Marlo Thomas has to work on Christmas Eve! Boo! Poor Marlo!
Through the Shattered Lens