Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 7/13/25 — 7/19/25

Posted on July 19, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Amy Bradley Is Missing (Netflix)

I watched this on Netflix true crime docuseries on Tuesday. I was already familiar with the Amy Bradley case but it was still an interesting and heartbreaking story.. The sad truth of the matter is that with almost every case of a missing person, there are “sightings” that occur after the person has vanished. Often times, the sightings are obvious mistakes or even lies but I can’t blame Amy’s family for clinging on to whatever hope they can.

Big Brother 27 (24/7, CBS, Paramount+, Pluto TV)

I am continuing to watch and write about Big Brother for the Big Brother Blog. It’s an interesting group of houseguests. At first, I thought I was going to dislike Ava because she seemed like she was trying too hard to be quirky but she’s now become my favorite. With her ribald but sweet sense of humor and her quiet strength, she reminds me a lot of my sister, the Dazzling Erin. My least favorite houseguest, as of now, is Jimmy because he’s trying too hard to be iconic. As for Rachel the returning player, she makes for good television but I can already tell this season is going to be rigged to keep her around for as long as possible. Julie Chen Moonves’s habit of saying “Love one another,” continues to annoy me because it just feels so insincere.

Captain Planet and the Planeteers (Prime)

For some reason, a lot of people on X/Twitter were posting clips from this old environmentalist cartoon on Thursday. I watched two episodes on Prime, one where Captain Planet taught about drug abuse and another where Captain Planet taught about AIDS. Captain Planet had God-like powers but mostly he just flew around and lectured people.

T.J. Hooker (Tubi)

I was looking for a new show to review so I watched an episode of T.J. Hooker on Tubi. William Shatner is a hard-nosed cop and gives a very Shatnerish performance. Adrian Zmed is his frequently half-naked partner. I’m not ready to review T.J. Hooker yet but maybe soon. From what I saw, it looks like one of the most 80s shows ever made.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 7/6/25 — 7/12/25

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Back by popular demand, here’s a few thoughts on what I watched this week.

Big Brother (24/7. CBS, Paramount+, Pluto)

Yep, Big Brother is back. I skipped last season because my Dad was dying and I really wasn’t in the mood for reality television. I back this season though and I’m covering things over at the Big Brother Blog!

Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service (Hulu)

I binged the latest Gordon Ramsay series on Tuesday. I’m not really sure how Gordon Ramsay watching taped footage of a restaurant was all that different from what he usually does on Kitchen Nightmares but whatever. We live in a conspiracy-crazed age and I guess Ramsay taking advantage of that. This show killed my appetite. I don’t care if Gordon helped out the owners, every restaurant featured on this show should be closed down and burned to the ground.

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Wednesday Night, FX)

17 seasons! That’s how long It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has been on the air. It’s one of the most consistently funny shows on television and the cast is brilliant. It’s one of the few shows that has ever made me laugh so hard that I actually fell of the couch. (Actually, it managed to do twice but both times, it was because Frank injured himself.) That said, the first two episodes of the new season didn’t do much for me but the problem was more with me than with the show. The premiere, in which we saw the Gang’s side of their visit with Abbott Elementary, was a victim of my own sky high expectations. The second episode, in which Frank slipped into a coma and Dee had to watch over him, brought back a lot of painful memories of sitting at my Dad’s beside when he went into hospice care. Even when he slipped into his final coma, I still kept telling myself that he was going to wake up at any moment and just be fine. It’s not the show’s fault. These episodes just weren’t for me.

Planet Rock (Night Flight Plus)

This is an interview show that is now on Night Flight Plus. I watched on episode on Friday night and the raw, unfiltered interview …. eh. I have ADD, I can only listen to people talk for so long.

The Prisoner (Night Flight Plus)

Jeff and I have been watching this classic and enigmatic show with our friend Pat. It stars Patrick McGoohan as a nameless man who might be a secret agent. After he has an argument with his boss, he finds himself trapped in a mysterious village. We watched the second episode on Saturday morning. Jeff and Pat have seen the whole show before but this is a first time viewing for me. I’m enjoying it so far. Rover, the big balloon security thingee, is cute! The second episode features Leo McKern chewing up the scenery. It was very entertainign.

Snub (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode on Friday night. This music show, from the 90s I believe, had a sort of underground feel to it that I appreciated.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/1/25 — 6/7/25

Posted on June 7, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, television. It’s been a while since I’ve really had time to watch you!

Here’s what I watched this week:

Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders (Netflix)

This is the latest in the true crime docuseries that Joe Berlinger has been doing for Netflix. Over three episodes, this series told the story of a series of Tylenol poisonings that occurred in the early 80s. The show featured the last record interview with James Lewis, the number one suspect. Personally, I thought Lewis came across like he was guilty as Hell. If you’re like me and you suffer from frequent headaches, exercise some caution before watching this one.

Good American Family (Hulu)

I finally watched this true crime miniseries this week. Good American Family centers around the story of Natalia Grace, a seven year-old with dwarfism who was abandoned by her adoptive parents. Her adoptive mother (played by Ellen Pompeo) claimed that Natalia (played by Imogen Faith Reid) was actually a 22 year-old con artist.

It’s an interesting story and the miniseries featured good performances from Pompeo and Mark Duplass, cast as her husband. But, at 8 episodes, the whole thing felt a bit overextended and the show itself was pretty inconsistent. As so often happens with these Hulu true crime docuseries, the attempts to use the story to critique and satirize middle America fell flat.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/6/25 — 4/12/25

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidinfluencing (Netflix)

The latest Netflix docuseries takes a look at kid influencers and the adults who get rich off of them. The first two episodes were a disturbing portrait of manipulation and exploitation. The third episode got bogged down with politics, with Taylor Lorenz demanding that the social media be regulated and various politicians making an unwelcome appearance. The problem with the third episode is that it often felt as staged as the youtube videos that dominated the first two episodes. That said, overall, this was a sobering call for parents to be a bit smarter about keeping track of what’s going on with their children, especially when it comes to their online lives.

Happy Hour (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this 90s, celebrity-driven game show on Friday night. Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa were the hosts. Dweezil was the epitome of cool while Ahmet kind of needed to calm down a little.

It’s The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)

Erin and I watched this holiday classic on Saturday afternoon. You can read her thoughts about it here.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/16/25 — 3/22/25

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, I was super-excited to discover the original Unsolved Mysteries on Tubi! I’ve been listening to Robert Stack as he talks about unsolved crimes and a paranormal mysteries and I have to say that Mr. Stack was truly an American treasure! I like that most of these episodes have updates and it looks like they’re still being updates. That said, I find the mysteries with no updates to be the most intriguing.

In other news, Case and I are nearly finished with Dark. We’ll be watching the final episode next Tuesday.

I am now caught up on Kitchen Nightmares. Chef Ramsay is saving restaurants that don’t really deserve to be saved. I don’t care if Gordon showed them their aware of their ways. There’s no way I’d eat in any of those places!

I watched a good deal of the news stations — BBC, FOX, C-SPAN, CNN, a little MSNBC, though that network is kind of annoying and whiny right now — this week. I won’t go into too much detail but I think I’m starting to become a news junkie.

I went over to Pluto TV this weekend and I turned on Dr. Phil for background noise. This poor woman was convinced that she was married to Tyler Perry.

King of the Hill on Hulu has definitely been my comfort show this week. It’s a Texas show and I’m a Texas girl.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/9/25 — 3/15/25

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This what yet another week where I didn’t really watch any television, beyond the shows that I review for this site and also the weekly episode of Dark that I watch with Case Writes. I’ve been busy getting ready for Monday, which is both St. Patrick’s Day and Kurt Russell’s birthday. But I have to admit that, even since my Dad passed away last year, watching silly reality shows hasn’t really appealed to me the way that it used to. I don’t how to explain it. I guess tastes change!

Anyway, maybe I’ll get caught up on Abbott Elementary, Survivor, and all the rest next week! I guess I’ll have to or else this weekly post is going to start to feel a bit superfluous!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/2/25 — 3/8/25

Posted on March 8, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I watched the Oscars on March 2nd. I originally intended to watch it on Hulu but Hulu struggled, just as Netflix did during its first time out, with streaming such a large event and I ended up just watching the ceremony on boring old ABC. I liked the Oscars this time around. Conan O’Brien was a good host. The politics were kept to a minimum. The ceremony moved along efficiently and it was hard not to get caught up in Sean Baker’s enthusiasm. I cheered when Flow won. I groaned when the Best Documentary winners started their long ramble. The ceremony felt like a throwback to the old Oscars. The ratings were not good, regardless of how they’ve been spun. Eventually, the Oscars will be something that will be exclusively streamed on Hulu and that’s it. Hopefully, Hulu will get the bugs out of the system before next year.

Before I watched the Oscars, I watched Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke, the latest creepy true crime docuseries on Hulu. I watched as Ruby went from a successful mommy vlogger to a convicted felon. Interestingly, most of the people hurt by Ruby went on to become influencers themselves. The docuseries was an intense look at just how crazy people can get in a world where everyone is famous.

Also on Sunday, I watched Gordon Ramsay rescue a gastropub on Kitchen Nightmares. Come Thursday, I watched another episode of Dark with Case.

Throughout the week, I watched my usual shows for my Retro Television Reviews. I didn’t watch a lot and I need to get caught up on Abbott Elementary, Survivor, and a few others. But this week was still an improvement over last week!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/23/25 — 3/1/25

Posted on March 1, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I watched nothing this week!

Well, that’s not quite true. I watched an episode of Dark on Netflix with Case. It’s time travel with a macabre, very German twist. We’re on the third season now and the show’s mysteries are truly intriguing.

And then I watched the final episodes of Cobra Kai, also on Netflix. If we’re going to be honest, Cobra Kai probably went on a season or two longer than it should have. Towards the end, the show really was stuck in a repeating loop. That said, I still got a little teary-eyed while watching that final episode. I feel like I’ve really watched these characters grow up and that includes the ones who should have grown up decades earlier, like Johnny Lawrence. I hope William Zabka is cast in more movies and shows after this. If he’s not, at least Johnny got his chance at redemption.

Otherwise, I was sick this week and I watched nothing. But fear not, I’ll be watching the Oscars in about 19 more hours!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/16/25 — 2/22/25

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yeah, I’m running late with this. That seems to be the theme of my life this weekend but no matter! Here it is, my week in television.

American Murder: Gabby Petito (Netflix)

Netflix’s Gabby Petito documentary didn’t necessarily tell me anything that I didn’t already know about that tragic and awful case. Indeed, I kind of found myself getting angry at the documentary as I watched the endless footage of Gabby because it reminded me that Gabby Petito — and every other crime victim — deserved more than to be the latest subject of America’s fascinating with the morbid and the sordid. (Of course, it’s hypocritical of me to judge as I was the one watching the documentary.) But, in the end, I did feel that the documentary made an important point. There were so many red flags about Brian Laundrie but no one wanted to admit it, not the cops and not Gabby’s friends. Gabby was failed by so many people.

Up until I saw this documentary, I was not convinced that Brian’s family really knew the full extent of his crimes. Now, I’m convinced that they not only knew but tried to help him cover them up. It’s infuriating.

Check it Out! (Tubi)

I reviewed Check It Out! here. I’ll soon be finished with this show and I have to admit that I’m kind of proud of being the only person to have actually sat down and reviewed every single episode.

CHiPs (Prime)

I reviewed CHiPs here!

Dark (Netflix)

Case and I have now started the third and final season of this creepy German show. It’s all about time travel, black holes, and people having nonstop sex without any emotional connection. The architecture is brutalist, the cinematography is dark, and everyone seems to be fairly depressed. It’s very German and very intriguing.

Fantasy Island (DVR)

I reviewed Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I reviewed Highway to Heaven here!

Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesday Evening, Fox)

Chef Ramsay was back in New Orleans, helping out another surprisingly ugly restaurant. Seriously, how can a restaurant succeed when it looks like a trailer? Again, a former football player was brought in to provide emotional encouragement. I will undoubtedly find myself in New Orleans in the future but I’ll probably never eat there.

The Love Boat (Paramount+)

I reviewed The Love Boat here!

Malibu CA (YouTube)

I reviewed Malibu CA here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I reviewed Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I reviewed Monsters here!

Pacific Blue (Tubi)

I reviewed this stupid, stupid show here!

Scamanada (Hulu)

I finished up Scamanda this week, watching the final two episodes. For all the build-up, the finale was a bit disappointing. Amanda was arrested and convicted and then, for 30 minutes, we listened to a bunch of podcast hosts talk about how they came across the story and went viral with it. I love true crime documentaries but true crime podcast hosts are always so annoying and self-important.

St. Elsewhere (Hulu)

I wrote about St. Elsewhere here!

Welcome Back, Kotter (Prime)

I’m nearly done with this show, thank God. I reviewed the latest episode here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/9/25 — 2/15/25

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednsesday Night, ABC)

I loved the science fair episode, which I watched on Hulu on Wednesday afternoon! Ava is my favorite character so I enjoy any episode that deals with her troubled past, her unique principal style, and the moments where she actually turns out to be good at her job.

I also enjoyed the latest episode of Abbott, with Ava helping out the other schools and Jacob giving an impassioned speech to the school board that will probably come back to haunt him at some point in the future. After the previous season’s somewhat uneven mix of episodes, it’s nice to see Abbott Elementary going strong again!

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)

Erin and I watched this on Thursday. It’s a holiday tradition! You can read Erin’s review here!

Dark (Netflix)

Case and I finished up season two this week. Onward to the season three next week!

Extracted (Monday Night, Fox)

In this new reality show, out-of-shape people go into the wilderness and try not to die. From a control room, their family members watch and debate whether or not to pull them out of the game. On Wednesday, I watched the first two episodes on Hulu. The show is ludicrous but it’s entertaining, as most good reality shows are. I would hope that my family would pull me out after the first ten minutes.

Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesday Night, Fox)

Finally leaving the ugly restaurants of New Orleans, Chef Ramsay helped out an ugly restaurant in Houston. Seriously, how does the show find these ugly places? This time, the restaurant owner got mad at Ramsay and even called him into the storeroom for a talk. Ramsay was still able to get through to her and save the restaurant. Yay!

Scamanda (Hulu)

On Tuesday, I watched the second episode of Scamanda, which revealed a bit about Amanda’s background and also her husband. The episode suggested that Amanda based her scam off of her husband’s stepdaughter from his first marriage and her very real battle with Leukemia. Not only does this show how twisted Amanda was but it also indicates that her husband was very much a part of her scheme. The second episode was marked improvement over the first. I’m looking forward to the third.

The Story Behind (Tubi)

I watched two episodes. One featured the story behind Beverly Hills 9o210. The other was the story behind Full House. Neither really told me anything that I didn’t already know.

Super Bowl LXI (Sunday Night, Fox)

The only thing more boring than the game were the commercials. A lot of people are making a big deal about Taylor Swift getting booed at the game. The Swifties are in an uproar but, honestly, it’s an American tradition to boo celebs at sporting events, especially ones who are only there because they’re dating a player. Taylor’s apparent shock at being booed has become a meme but it was actually a very relatable and human moment. I prefer Taylor’s “What’s going on?” to the celebs who either pretend to not to care or the ones who go into a rage mode the minute they have to deal with public opinion.

Watched and Reviewed Elsewhere: