Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/23/23 — 4/29/23

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, I definitely watched more movies than television. Here’s a few thoughts on what I did watch!

Accused (Tuesday Night, Fox)

This week’s episode was pretty good. Adam Bakri, who played Samir, played obsessed well. Accused is a fairly uneven show, which is to be expected considering that every episode has a different director, writer, and cast. But this week’s episode did a good job of holding my interest for the entire running time.

Are You Being Served? (Sunday Night, PBS)

This extremely broad British sitcom pops up on PBS occasionally. I’ve never been that impressed with it, despite the fact that it was made by the same people who made Allo Allo. To be honest, I kind of resent that my PBS station has replaced Allo Allo with this. Anyway, this week’s episode featured the tacky employees of a tacky department store trying to stay warm despite the cold weather and the store’s lack of heat. No one died during the episode so I guess they succeeded. I honestly didn’t pay much attention.

Barry (Sunday Night, HBO)

Oh my God, it’s Guillermo del Toro! This was another great episode, though I did feel bad for everyone who got shot at the end of it. The assassins with the podcast were a good example of what this show does so well. I also loved the class’s reaction to Sally trying to use Gene’s methods to teach her class.

Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)

Okay, seriously, Old Beavis and Old Butt-Head freak me the fuq out! It’s always so jarring to see a story about them as adults paired up with a story about them as teenagers. To be honest, it’s kind of depressing. I mean, it’s not like it’s a shock that they’re going to grow up to be losers but still, Butt-Head is a heart attack waiting to happen and Beavis reminds me of this old guy who always tries to talk to me whenever I find myself near Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. Of course, the old guy only has one arm and even less teeth than Beavis but still, they have the same jawline.

Anyway, it was a funny episode this week. Teenage Beavis and Butt-Head’s utter stupidity and lack of physical ability while trying to egg the house made me laugh. It’s just sad to realize that they’re peaking in high school. Throwing an egg in a tree is as good as its ever going to get for the two of them.

Oh well. At least Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head are getting to enjoy the universe.

Beef (Netflix)

I finished watching Beef on Sunday. You can count me amongst those who suspect that the final episode was actually a dream. Anyway, it was an excellent show. I kind of hope that there aren’t any more seasons because I really can’t imagine anything topping what’s already been done.

Dirty Pair (YouTube)

Anime action! I watched another episode of Dirty Pair on Saturday morning. I had no idea what was going on but a lot of stuff blew up.

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday Night, Fox)

This show is definitely one of my favorite reality shows right now, even though that’s largely due to it providing an antidote for the ickiness of the previous season of The Bachelor. That said, I can’t help but notice that the show makes it look like farming is all rodeos and barn dances. I have farmers in my family and, believe it or not, they go to the movies, they liked to read, and sometimes they just like to stay at home and binge whatever’s on Netflix. Hopefully, the potential wives understand that not every night is going to involve a barn dance. Anyway, the farmers still do not have wives.

Half Nelson (YouTube)

You can check out my thoughts on this week’s episode by clicking here. Only one more episode to go and then I’ll be moving on to Freddy’s Nightmares.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

To be honest, I nearly turned off this week’s episode when it opened with a congresswoman talking about how she had to go to a “freedom caucus” meeting because the Law & Order reboot has always been at its worse whenever its tried to deal with politics. In general, anyone who is to the right of Bernie Sanders is usually portrayed as being pure evil on Law & Order and that was certainly what happened this week as the token Republican congresswoman repeatedly complained that her husband’s murder was bad for her career. That said, the case itself was actually an interesting one and, for once, the episode was willing to admit that people can genuinely disagree with each other without having nefarious motives for doing so. This week’s trial dilemma had no easy answers.

Price and Maroun continue to be two of the most inconsistently-written characters on television. When the reboot started, Maroun was unquestionably loyal to Price and her devotion actually came across as being a bit creepy. One got the feeling that she would murder someone if Price told her to. Over the last few episodes, though, Maroun has been disagreeing with Price on everything and essentially suggesting that he’s just not very good at his job. Personally, I prefer the perpetually annoyed Maroun to the meek Maroun of the past. Price, meanwhile, abruptly went from being a self-righteous liberal to being a self-righteous pragmatist.

This week’s episode deserves some credit for ending with Price having to cut a deal to get a conviction. Far too often, Law & Order has portrayed Price as being “Super Lawyer,” with his superpower being the ability to get a conviction despite having a ludicrous weak case. Infallible Price was almost as annoying as Meek Maroun. Talented but still flawed Price, on the other hand, has the potential to be a far more interesting character.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

*Yawn* From what I understand, this show is doing well in the ratings but I have to imagine that’s entirely due to Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette. Whenever an episode spends a good deal of time with any of the other characters, like this week’s did with Neil reuniting with his high school crush, it’s torturously dull. At this point, it’s pretty obvious that Abbi is going to break up with Rand at the end of the season and season 2 will find her newly single.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

The episode that I watched on Friday night was about African music of the 80s. It was an interesting history lesson.

The Old Guys (Sunday Night, PBS)

PBS is showing The Old Guys again. This week’s episode featured the old guys going out on what turned out to be a triple date. The jokes were obvious but the cast was likable.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I was sorry to see Kane voted out this week but I was even more sorry that apparently, not a single fake idol is going to be used this season! Seriously, this season had three fake immunity idols and now, they’re all out of the game without anyone trying to play even one of them! I know I seem to say this every week but I really miss old school Survivor, where Jeff Probst openly ridiculed the players and we didn’t learn anything about their lives back on the mainland. Now, everyone has a sob story and Probst is all “Up with people!” It just feels weird. You can read more of my thoughts on this week’s episode here!

Waco: The Aftermath (Sunday Night, Showtime)

This episode featured great work from Michael Shannon as the FBI agent who still feels guilty for his part in creating the monster that he’s now having to fight. Elohim City, by the way, is a real place and it still exists. This is an interesting series and one that deserves a bit more attention than it’s been getting.

Yellowjackets (Sunday Night, Showtime)

Last night, in the 90s, Misty killed the most annoying of the survivors. In the present, Taissa went to the home of the 2nd-most annoying of the survivors so, if nothing else, we know that Van’s going to be around for a while. Speaking of annoying, Callie finally figured out that her new boyfriend is cop so she lied and said that Shauna had been having an affair with Randy Walsh. You kind of have to wonder what Randy thinks about some of the things he’s been put through over the past few days.

Yes, Minister (Monday Morning, PBS)

Oh well! Even if PBS is no longer showing Allo Allo, at least they brought back Yes, Minster. This week’s episode was the one in which Hacker’s daughter planned a protest to save a colony of badgers and Sir Humphrey had to make plans to save Hacker from embarrassment. This was also the episode in which Hacker decided that he was tired of the civil servants keeping secrets and tasks from him, just to then discover how much pointless minutia truly goes into being a member of the government. It was very British and it was very funny.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/16/23 — 4/22/23

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Barry’s back!

Barry (Sunday Night, HBO)

Barry returned last Sunday with the first two episodes of season 4.

The first episode updated the viewers on what happened after Barry was arrested. Barry went to jail, where he was reunited with Fuches. Fuches briefly became an FBI informant until Barry told him that he loved him, which led to Fuches not only stepping away from the FBI but also declaring that he was going to start his own prison gang. Sally went back to Joplin and promptly got into a fight with her mother over the television show and its portrayal of Sally’s abusive ex. Gene plotted to control how the story of his relationship with Barry would appear in the media. Cristobal and NoHo Hank plotted to start a semi-legitimate business, selling sand to construction sites. Directed, as all of this season will be, by Bill Hader, the first episode was full of surreal touches and it left me feeling rather unsettled. Sitting in prison and only showing emotion when Sally briefly came by to visit and demand to know whether he had killed their dog, Barry appeared to have finally snapped. He went as far as to taunt a guard into nearly beating him to death. The show had its funny moments but, make no doubt, the first episode was all about tapping into Barry’s heart of darkness.

The second episode had a bit more of the show’s trademark bizarre humor. Cristobal and NoHo Hank attempted to convince two rival crime families to join them in their sand enterprise. In order to convince them, they arranged for a meeting at the happiest place on Earth …. Dave and Buster’s! The meeting went well, up until NoHo Hank announced that freeing Barry from prison would be a part of the plan. An upset Cristobal told NoHo Hank that his loyalty to Barry made him appear to be “soft.” However, Fuches then called NoHo Hank for prison and told him that Barry had decided to become an FBI informant. A stunned NoHo Hank announced that Barry would have to die.

While that was going on, Gene finally gave an interview about his experiences with Barry but, being Gene, he couldn’t just sit down and answer questions. Instead, he put together a one man show, one that actually turned out to be pretty good, even if Gene’s version of events was a bit self-serving. Meanwhile, Sally has returned to Los Angeles and is trying to put the pieces of her life and her career back together. Unfortunately, her career still hasn’t recovered from last season’s viral video scandal and, to top it all off, she is now known for being the girlfriend of a serial killer.

As for Barry …. well, Monroe wasn’t lying. At the end of the second episode, it appeared that Barry has decided to work with the FBI!

What a wonderful way to start the fourth season! This is the final season of Barry and I can’t wait to see how the story wraps up. I have a feeling that there won’t be many happy endings.

Beavis and Butthead (Paramount Plus)

Barry’s not the only one to have returned this week. These two morons, Beavis and Butthead, have returned as well. This week, Beavis and Butthead ruined meditation for everyone and then they went hunting with Mr. Anderson and nearly got killed. Of all the supporting characters on this show, Mr. Anderson is probably my favorite because he’s basically just a really old version of Hank Hill. His World War II flashback was wonderfully odd.

Beef (Netflix)

Unfortunately, it’s been a long week so I’ve only had time to watch the first four episodes of this miniseries. Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are both giving outstanding performances in this series about a road rage incident that spirals out of control. I’m looking forward to finishing it up during this upcoming week.

Dynaman (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode of this Japanese series on Saturday morning. A bunch of fish monsters were trying to take over the world. Dynaman stopped them. Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words so here’s a screenshot:

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday Night, Fox)

The farmers are still not married.

Half Nelson (YouTube)

I reviewed Half Nelson here!

Hang Time (YouTube)

I have watched and written up reviews for several hours of Hang Time this week. In fact, I’m nearly done with the show. (My reviews of the show will be running through September.) Read this week’s review here!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I recapped this week’s episode for the Reality TV Chat Blog!

Tulsa King (Paramount Plus)

I finally got around to watching the second episode of Tulsa King this week and I’m afraid the show still isn’t working for me. I think it’s because Stallone’s character is a bit too aggressive. Stallone is at his best when he’s playing either a dumb but likable mook (i.e., Rocky) or when he’s fighting for his survival, like in First Blood. But when he’s the one who is actually barking out orders and intimidating innocent people, it’s just not as much fun. Plus, there’s only so many times that any show can go to the “Old people sure are confused by technology” well before the joke starts to run dry. That said, I’ve been told the show get better so I’ll stick with it and see what I think of the third episode.

Waco: The Aftermath (Sunday Night, Showtime)

This miniseries picks up where Showtime’s last Waco miniseries left off. The Branch Davidian compound has been burned down. David Koresh is dead. The main FBI negotiator (Michael Shannon) feels guilty about what happened at the compound but he also fears that the stand-off is going to embolden the militia movement. (And he’s right!) Meanwhile, the surviving Davidians are being railroaded in court and treated as scapegoats for the failures of both Koresh and the government. Things got off to a strong start on Sunday. I look forward to seeing where this show ends up going.

Yellowjackets (Sunday Night, Showtime)

This week’s episode was intriguing. I loved the scene where Shauna confessed to Callie. I’m still worried about Walter and Misty though. I can just see Walter getting on Misty’s nerves and getting poisoned as a result. I’ll also say that, as much as I enjoy this show, I’m starting to get a bit tired of the whole Taissa thing. The show need to either explain what’s going on with all that or just move on.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/2/23 — 4/8/23

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Gregory is teacher of the year, even though he himself doesn’t understand why. This was an enjoyable episode and a nice relief from all of that heavy-handed charter school nonsense. (Just from the lack of in-depth interaction between Gregory and Janine, I got the feeling that this episode may have originally been meant to air earlier in the season.) The parent/teacher conference storyline was surprisingly poignant and Janine’s response to being called a bad teacher was perfectly handled.

Accused (Tuesday Night, Fox)

This week’s episode was actually pretty well-done and a definite improvement over the last few episodes. That said, I didn’t buy the ending. The jury may have sympathized with Jiro but he still basically admitted to committing the crime. Juries usually aren’t that compassionate. That said, we didn’t actually see the verdict being read so maybe Jiro got a hung jury as opposed to an actual acquittal. I could buy the idea of one or two members of the jury refusing to convict far more easily than the idea that the entire jury was like, “Let’s just do it and be legends!”

American Idol (Sunday and Monday Night, ABC)

It’s Hollywood week! At one point, Katy Perry announced that three people were going through, despite giving a subpar performance, because of their compassionate nature and their good attitudes. Like what does that have to do with singing? Where’s Simon Cowell when you need him?

I hope Nutsa wins it all.

The English (Prime)

This was an excellent western miniseries, starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. The story was intriguing, the performances were captivating, and the visuals had a wonderfully surreal grandeur to them. Watch this one if you haven’t already. (I will probably be writing and posting a longer review later this month.)

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday Night, Fox)

Woo hoo! Demolition derby! “You’re actually watching this?” my sister Melissa asked me this week. Of course, I am! It’s an adorable show, even if it does tend to go a little heavy on the rural stereotypes. Still, Farmer Wants A Wife feels more much sincere and heartfelt than the just-completed season of The Bachelor.

5 Days At Memorial (Apple TV+)

What a devastating miniseries! I was left emotionally drained by the end of it. As good as Vera Farmiga was in the lead role, Andrew Pine was just as strong as one of the few doctors willing to criticize her actions.

Half Nelson (YouTube)

I reviewed this week’s episode of Half Nelson here!

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

Erin and I watched this on Wednesday. Read her thoughts on it!

Jail (Tuesday Evening, Reelz)

A sex worker was arrested for public intoxication and refused to give her name to the arresting officer. She was tossed in a holding cell. Another prisoner threatened to kill himself so he was tossed in a padded cell. Personally, I would have just let them all go. The people who worked at the jail were all stocky and bald and tended to speak extremely slowly. The existence of this show is probably something that will be used against humanity in the future.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

On this week’s episode, a young woman died of an untreated infection which was the result of being branded. The branding was a requirement for being a member of the Lodestar Cult. (“Lone Star?” dumb ol’ Cosgrove said, as he misread the brand, “You mean Texas?” Get over it, New York.) Lodestar was obviously based on NXIVM. When the leader of the cult was killed in prison, Price initially wanted to go after his second-in-command, despite having offered her a deal earlier in return for her testimony. In the end, he honored the plea agreement.

The best thing about this episode is that Maroun spent the entire Order half of the show rolling her eyes at Price and basically telling him that he was screwing up the case. This is quite a chance from the way that Maroun was portrayed last season and for most of this season. I prefer the free-thinking Maroun to the one who just blindly went along with whatever Price wanted. I also prefer the vengeful, eye-for-an-eye Maroun to the mousy bleeding heart that she used to be.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

The New Wave Theatre (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this public access music show on Saturday morning. It was from the very early 80s and it featured four punk bands that I had previously never heard of. The music wasn’t really my taste but I did enjoy the episode as a time capsule.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

Abbi went to a snobby club to try to convince the District Attorney to pursue judicial reform. It turns out that the D.A. was just trying to get Abbi to say something stupid so that he could use it against her. This episode would have been better if Abbi’s ideas for judicial reform had been something more than just shallow platitudes. As it is, Abbi is still way too naïve to be a believable judge (especially a New York City judge) and John Larroquette is practically the only member of the supporting cast who is the least bit interesting.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

I watched two episodes on Friday night. The first was about 80s dance music. The second was about Talking Heads. The music was great!

Poker Face (Peacock)

I finished up the first season of Poker Face this week and seriously, I can’t believe that I was ever hesitant to watch this show. The guest stars are great, the plots are both amusing and poingant, and Natasha Lyonne is wonderful in the lead role. (I love that Charlie changes jobs from episode to episode but she always manages to be a consistently terrible employee.) I can’t wait for the second season!

Saved By The Bell: The New Class (YouTube)

It’s amazing to me that the original Saved By The Bell can be found basically everywhere but, unless you want to spend a lot of money on the DVD boxsets, it’s next to impossible to see an episode of Saved By The Bell: The New Class! I grew up with The New Class! I mean sure, it’s awful but still….

On Thursday afternoon, my sister Megan and I did find an episode on YouTube. Ryan Parker (Richard Lee Jackson), the Zack Morris-substitute, wanted to make the wrestling team so that he could get a letter jacket for his girlfriend (Sarah Lancaster). Unfortunately, Ryan wasn’t a very good wrestler and his training methods proved to be dangerous to his health. He learned an important lesson about being happy with being who he was. In our discussion following the episode, Megan pointed out that Ryan never even bothered to ask his girlfriend whether she even wanted the jacket. I replied that it was probably just assumed that she wanted Ryan to make the team because, seriously, why would anyone want to date a loser?

This episode also featured Dustin Diamond, destroying his career by playing Screech Powers long beyond the character’s expiration date. Screech returned to Bayside to act as Mr. Belding’s assistant. Poor Mr. Belding!

Seinfeld (Monday Afternoon, TV Land)

Because his girlfriend had mono, George gave up having sex and suddenly became super intelligent. Elaine stopped having sex with her boyfriend (played by Bob Odenkirk) so that he would be able to concentrate on passing his medical exams. Unfortunately, this led to Elaine becoming dumb. Meanwhile, Jerry kept getting bumped from career day and eventually, David Letterman refused to take his calls. Jerry’s agent was the mother from That 70s Show. It made me laugh!

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about this week’s episode of Survivor here!

Tiny Beautiful Things (Hulu)

I watched the first two episodes on Friday but I really couldn’t get into Hulu’s latest limited series. At this point, I’m kind of bored with shows about dysfunctional people who have addiction issues. The first two episodes of Tiny Beautiful Things just tried too hard and felt a bit too calculated to shock. Even the constant cursing felt like something that would have been daring in 2003 but, in 2023, it just seemed kind of lazy and repetitive. I’ll give it another shot during this upcoming week.

Unsolved Mysteries (Pluto TV)

I watched two episodes on Wednesday. Both of the episodes aired in the 80s so I assume the mysteries have been solved by now. And if they aren’t, they probably never will be.

Yellowjackets (Sunday Night, Showtime)

Oh my God, they ate Jackie! I’m not sure why that surprised me, as I knew the cannibalism was going to start up at some point and, being dead and frozen, Jackie did seem like the most likely meal. Meanwhile, in the present, Callie is going to end up getting her mother thrown in jail if she doesn’t watch the attitude. And I’m still worried about the safety of the new dog. Run, puppy, run!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/19/23 — 3/25/23

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

To be honest, I feel as if I’ve already reviewed just about everything that I watched this week. For instance, I spent ten hours watching Dahmer on Netflix and then I posted a review here on the site. So, this week in television is going to pretty much be full of links. For that reason, I considered not doing a post for this week but what can I say? I’m a completist. I haven’t missed a week yet and I don’t want to start.

Anyway, here’s what I watched this week!

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

I started to watch Accused this week but as soon as I saw that dusty courtroom with the big Texas flag hanging over the door and the title cared announced that this was “Lubbock, Texas,” I realized that I probably wasn’t going to make it through the entire episode. Then, the accused was escorted into the courtroom by some old guy wearing a string tie and I said, “Nope,” and stopped watching. I’ve been told by some folks on Twitter that this week was actually a good episode but I don’t care. There were too many dumb clichés in the first three minutes for me to devote another 44 minutes of my life to the episode.

American Idol (Sunday Night, ABC)

Is it Hollywood week, yet!? I know it’s not any different from any other season but the auditions just seem to be going on forever!

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

Sex week turned out to be a disaster, as I think we all knew it would. After announcing that he would not be having sex with the three remaining bachelorettes, Zach went on to have sex with Gabi and then decided it would be a good idea to tell Kaity all about it …. DURING THIER DATE! Meanwhile, Ariel — who was the most accepting of Zach’s decision not have sex with any of three finalists — was sent home. The Fantasy Suite pretty much exists to create drama and that’s what it did this week. That said, Zach’s really not interesting enough for this season to be the emotional rollercoaster that it’s supposed to be. Boring Guy Turns Out To Be A Jerk …. wow, that’s a shock.

Dahmer (Netflix)

As a part of my preparation for covering the Emmys in another few months, I watched all ten episodes of Dahmer this week. I reviewed the miniseries here.

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday, FOX)

Hey, it’s the State Fair of Texas! And a rodeo! Look at everyone having fun! Take that, Bachelor!

Half Nelson (YouTube)

I reviewed the pilot for this Joe Pesci detective show on Friday.

King of the Hill (FX)

On Wednesday, I watched two episodes of King of the Hill. The first was one of my favorites, featuring Minh, Peggy, and Nancy all running for a seat on the school board. The second one featured Bobby going to military school and discovering that it wasn’t quite as strict as his grandfather claimed it would be. King of the Hill always makes me smile.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

Law & Order returned with a new episode, in which the murder of a journalist was investigated. The story was obviously based on a recent murder that happened out in Las Vegas. The real-life story is pretty interesting but the Law & Order version wasn’t. The scenes with Cosgrove and Shaw interrogating suspects and investigating the crime often felt like self-parody. Sam Waterston still has his natural gravitas but it’s hard not to feel that both he and McCoy have earned the right to retire.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I reviewed The Love Boat here.

Survivor (Wednesday, CBS)

I reviewed Survivor here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/12/23 — 3/18/23

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Eh. This has been a strong season, with the exception of all the nonsense about the charter schools. Unfortunately, this week’s episode was all about trying to keep Abbott from turning into a charter school and it was a rare heavy-handed misfire for what it is usually one of the smartest shows on television. Ava still made me laugh, though.

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

This week’s episode of Accused was a misfire. It tried to deal with both gun control and misinformation and, in both cases, it just came across as being histrionic. It was like the Reefer Madness of 21st Century anthology shows.

The Bachelor (Monday and Tuesday, ABC)

The thing with this season is that it’s impossible to get excited about Zach and it’s difficult to take anyone seriously when they say that they were falling in love with Zach. Monday featured the hometown visits and a “shocking” departure. (Don’t worry, Charity avoided marrying Zach and she gets to be the new bachelorette). Tuesday featured the Women Tell All, which started out as interesting with lots of petty drama but then all the action stopped so Greer could go through a televised struggle session about her old social media posts. Jesse Palmer announced that the Bachelor franchise will no longer shy away from addressing the actions of its contestants and I rolled my eyes so dramatically that I’m surprised I’m still able to see straight. It’s one thing to address actions. It’s another thing to spend half an hour patting yourself on the back for doing it, especially when it was obvious that both Jesse and Greer were just reciting what they had been told to say.

The Brady Bunch Hour (YouTube)

I finished the series this week. Yay! Seriously, it was kind of fun to experience something as strange as The Brady Bunch Hour but I think if it had lasted longer than nine episodes, I wouldn’t have made it. That final hour nearly broke me.

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday Night, FOX)

After suffering through The Bachelor, this show provided a nice and simple relief. Life on the farm isn’t easy but at least all the farmers are interesting and everyone gets to wear cute country outfits!

Jail (Tuesday Afternoon, Reelz)

This was a Cops-style show that aired in early 2010s. As the title suggests, a camera crew filmed the events in a county jail. Sometimes, they were in Fort Worth. Sometimes, they were in Las Vegas. Whenever they went to Las Vegas, there was one annoying intake officer who always ended up getting attacked by an inmate. Were the inmates attacking because they were violent criminals or because they were on camera? My personal theory is that the intake officer, with his sandy hair and his glasses and his air of unearned authority, was kind of a jerk who just brought out the worst in people.

Anyway, I watched two episodes on Tuesday. A lot of drunks were brought in for the night. Most of the guards were not particularly bright, which made it a bit awkward whenever they tried to get philosophical about why people commit crimes. “I guess until they get tired of us arresting them, we’re going to keep getting called out there.” Okay, whatever you say, dude.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

You know, I still like Melissa Rauch but I have to say that, as of this latest episode, I think Abbi is now officially the most annoying character on television. Her fiancé, Rand, came to New York to help her train for a marathon. Rand himself was a pretty annoying character but Abi was a hundred times worse for putting up with him and forcing him on her co-workers.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday, I watched an episode about the 1984 Oscars. A lot of good songs were nominated that year.

The Oscars (Sunday Night, ABC)

I wrote about the 2022 Oscars here!

The Scott & Gary Show (Night Flight Plus)

This was a public access show from the 80s. Night Flight Plus has episodes of it and several other old public access shows. I watched one episode on Saturday morning. Gibby Haynes stopped by the set and talked about how he used to be an accountant.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about Survivor at the Reality TV Chat Blog.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/5/23 — 3/11/23

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s just a few thoughts on what I watched this week:

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Now, I want to play Drought.

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

After missing the previous two episodes, I caught the latest episode of Accused on Tuesday night. Whitney Cummings played a comedian who was a raped by another comedian. Mary Lynn Rajskub played the clingy fan who offered support but who later turned out to be dangerous in her own way. This episode was a bit overwritten, which tends to be a problem with many anthology shows. But it was saved by the excellent performances of Rajskub and Cummings.

American Idol (Sunday Night, ABC)

The auditions moved to Nashville! A lot of talented singers made it through to Hollywood but …. eh, I don’t know. The best singers are usually the ones who may not be technically perfect but who bring their own individual personality to their performances. So far, there hasn’t been much personality this season. Everyone’s a bit too polished and the judges already seem to know who is going through before they ever hear one note. I guess I’m old-fashioned as far as my reality show preferences go. I don’t care how tragic your life has been or what your family is like. I just care about whether or not you’re an interesting and entertaining performer.

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

Eh. Who cares?

Bar Rescue (Weekday Mornings, Paramount)

I watched two episodes on Wednesday morning. Both featured bars that were so disgusting and filthy that it made me happy to be a non-drinker. The second episode that I watched actually featured the bar’s cook taking a bath in the dishwashing area. BLEH! That was not exactly something I needed to see.

Bubblegum Crisis (Night Flight Plus)

I have no idea what was actually happening in this animated series from Japan but the imagery was nice and a lot of things blew up.

Court Cam (Weekday Mornings, A&E)

I watched two episodes on Wednesday. Angry defendants were making trouble. Dan Abrams breathlessly narrated every single event. One defendant attacked his own lawyer. I’m going to assume that someone else probably handled his appeal after he was convicted for that.

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday Night, FOX)

Apparently, this show is 1) based on a British program and 2) also a reboot of a show that aired on the CW way back in 2008. Basically, a bunch of city girls compete for the chance to marry four farmers. The dramatic high point of the first episode came when the farmers had to ask each girl, “Do you want to come back to my farm?” and the women were then given the choice to say yes or to walk out. Only one girl walked out. Everyone else was like, “I’d love to go back to the farm with you!” This show felt a lot like Burning Love, the brilliant and much-missed parody of The Bachelor franchise.

I enjoyed the first episode, though. With The Bachelor a bit of a bore this season, Farmer Wants A Wife might temporarily replace it as my new guilty pleasure show. I’m always torn between my love of the city and my nostalgia for the country so this is a show to which I can relate. Plus, the farmers are all handsome and strong and they don’t look like the types to spend a lot of time crying about the state of the world. This show brings out my country girl side. I think my accent got a hundred times more Southern while I was watchin’ it.

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

This week’s episode was great. I hope Matt Walsh makes a guest appearance every season.

Jared From Subway (Monday Night, ID)

This three-hour documentary detailed, in repulsive detail, the crimes of Jared Fogle and his associate, Russell Taylor. On the one hand, it did a good job of showing how America’s cult of celebrity allowed Jared to flourish. On the other hand, Rochelle Herman, the journalist who first recorded Jared talking about his desires, often came across as being more concerned with promoting herself than anything else. Between the use of blurry reenactments and the people who were interviewed solely so they could talk about how “beautiful” Rochelle was, the documentary was occasionally its own worst enemy.

The New Wave Theatre (Night Flight Plus)

I watched an episode of this 80s cable access show on Saturday morning. The music was good and loud.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

Abby is all excited because her favorite podcast host is in the court to serve as a witness. Abby thinks that the going-ons at the court would make a great podcast! The host, however, only wants to interview Dan. Dan talks about running for the city council in the 80s and bribing people to vote. “It was hard to get people to vote in the 80s,” Dan says, “there were other things to do …. like cocaine! Plus, Pac-Man had just come out and that was the perfect surface on which to do cocaine.” Okay, that made me laugh. The rest of the episode was fairly forgettable. The problem is that Dan is the only consistently well-written character and John Larroquette so completely dominates the show that it’s hard not to kind of resent having to spend time with any of the other characters.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday, I watched an episode from the early 80s. It was about erotic imagery in music videos. Prince and Madonna were heavily featured.

Poker Face (Thursday Night, Peacock)

Though it took me a month and a half to get around to it, I finally watched the first episode of Poker Face on Tuesday night. I resisted because the commercials (“Meet Charlie Cale, you’re going to like her.”) annoyed me and the show’s creator Rian Johnson is undeniably talented but also makes films that occasionally seem to be a bit too impressed with their own cleverness. However, Poker Face has been critically acclaimed since it premiered and I do like Natasha Lyonne and Benjamin Bratt so I decided to finally give the show a chance.

The first episode was set in Nevada and set up the premise of the series. Lyonne stars as Charlie, who has the ability to tell whenever anyone is lying. Over the course of the episode she discovered that her boss (played by Adrian Brody) was a liar and, after his suicide, she had to go on the run. The episode looked great. I loved the sight of Charlie’s little trailer sitting in the desert and I also liked the contrast between the opulent casino and the messy house where the episode’s murder actually took place. Plotwise, it suffered from a problem that is typical of pilots in that it tried to cram too much information into a limited amount of time. That said, it held my interest and Natasha Lyonne was sympathetic and likable as Charlie. I did find myself wishing that Charlie would cut down on the alcohol but I guess that’s what people do when they’re stuck in a go-nowhere situation. They drink to dull the pain.

The second episode was set in New Mexico and featured Charlie not only solving the murder of a Subway employee who had just won the lottery but also proving that a trucker was not a murderer. The mystery itself wasn’t that interesting (and really, since both episodes opened with showing us the murder being committed, it technically really wasn’t a mystery) but, again, the episode was entertaining due to Lyonne’s performance. Since this show is apparently going to reveal the identity of the murderer at the start of each murderer and then show how Charlie eventually learns the truth, it’s important that the lead character be likable and interesting. As much as I hate to admit it, the commercials were right. I like Charlie Cale.

South Park (Wednesday Night, Comedy Central)

“Written by Trey Parker and ChatGPT.”

I loved this week’s episode, mostly because it confirmed that ChatGPT is going to eventually transform the world into a cold, barren place where people have no appreciation for art or literature. It’s not a happy vision of the future but at least we’ve been warned so it won’t be too much of a shock.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor at the Reality TV Chat Blog!