Here are some thoughts on what I watched this week!

(I’ve got a headache coming on so excuse the bland intro.)

Accused (Tuesday Night, FOX)

The latest new legal show is Accused.  Based on a BBC series, Accused is an anthology series in which, each week, a different person is accused of a crime and, through the use of flashbacks, we see how they came to be accused.  Anthology series tend to be rather uneven and I have a feeling that’s going to be the case with Accused.

The first episode featured Michael Chiklis as a wimpy Dad who went from plotting to kill his son to giving his son a lot of money so his son could go on a trip to Iceland.  Of course, it turned out that his son was lying and he instead used that money to buy a bunch of guns and shoot up his school.  Chiklis was found to be irresponsible but not legally liable.  It was a bit of a bland episode but, reportedly, it set a record for the number of people who watched.  (Of course, it also aired right after the Cowboys/49ers game.)  Michael Chiklis was miscast as a father who was too meek to stand up to his obviously unstable son.  And even if the role had been perfectly cast, the father was still too much of wimp to generate much sympathy.

The second episode was directed by actress Marlee Matlin and it was a little bit on improvement over the first episode.  It dealt with a couple who discovered that their newborn was deaf and their surrogate, who was also deaf and felt that she had to intervene to keep the parents from subjecting the child to a surgical procedure.  Matlin’s direction elevated the episode, especially the opening scene in which Matlin showed the viewer what it was like to live in a world without sound.  That said, the anthology format still left me feeling as if the episode was a bit inconsistent.  Basically, an entire season’s worth of information was crammed into 45 minutes.  I didn’t quite buy the episode’s ending, either.

As far as the show as a whole is concerned, we’ll see.  I’ll probably watch the next few episodes, just to see if I’m correct in my assumptions.  Hopefully, the season will shape up to be better than I’m currently expecting.

American Auto (Tuesday Night, NBC)

I think that Tuesday night was the first time that I’ve ever watched American Auto and I hate to say it but I was so busy cleaning the house that I mostly just used it for background noise.  So, I really don’t have any thoughts on this show beyond the fact that Ana Gasteyer is funny.

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

Zach is the new bachelor and oh my God is he bland.  Zach met the women vying to become his wife and he also got some advice from former bachelor Sean Lowe.  The show is always happy to bring back Sean because, after 26 seasons, he is the sole Bachelor success story.  Anyway, Zach assured us that he is on the show for the right reasons and hopefully, he will find his future wife amongst the bachelorettes.

The Brady Bunch Hour (YouTube)

I wrote about the 2nd episode of the Brady Bunch Hour here!

Customer Wars (Wednesday Morning, A&E)

This show features footage of customers getting into fights with other customers and yelling at the employees of the stores where they shop.  Ugh.  A&E did a mini-marathon on Wednesday morning and I watched a few episodes because I was waiting for the new episode of Accused to drop on Hulu.  It was hella depressing.  There’s a lot of trashy people out there.

Personally, I’d rather see a show called Costumer Wars.

Football Game: Cowboys vs 49ers (Sunday Night, FOX)

I watched this game with Erin.  The Cowboys lost so I guess winter is going to last for another six months or something.  In the past, whenever the Cowboys lost, everyone in Dallas would be depressed for weeks afterwards but this year, no one seems to really care.  I guess everyone’s used to it.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

The first Black Jacket dinner service turned out to be an utter disaster as the Fab Five totally fell apart in the kitchen.  When Chef Ramsay kicks everyone out of the kitchen, does that mean all of the diners just have to go home without getting any food?  I’ve always wondered this.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, FOX)

I didn’t pay much attention to Law & Order this week.  I mostly just had it in for background noise while I was doing some stuff around the house.  I noticed that it was a murder trial and the accused was a teenager so I’m guessing the internet was to blame.  I also noticed that the judge really got into banging down that gavel.  Seriously, I jumped every time that I heard it.

The Most Comfortable Bra You Will Ever Own (Monday Night, Infomercial)

I’m pretty sure that I already have the most comfortable bra that I will ever own.

Neighborhood Wars (Tuesday Night, A&E)

This is a show about feuding neighbors.  Like most of A&E’s other true crime shows, it makes heavy use of footage taken from drones, cell phones, and home security cameras.  The episode that I saw was a look at the “ten most memorable moments of Neighborhood Wars.”  To be honest, it was kind of a depressing show to watch.  All of the people featured were trashy, stupid, ugly, and inarticulate.  “Get your fucking bitch ass out here!” one pregnant woman yelled at her neighbor.  Ugh.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

Eh.  Is it really necessary for Abbi to be a recovering alcoholic?  Do people watch sitcoms to be depressed?

Parking Wars (Weekday Morning, A&E)

I watched two episodes on Tuesday morning while I was waiting for the Oscar nominations to be announced and, not surprisingly, Parking Wars was just as obnoxious as I remembered.  I know the show is over ten years old now and I hope that means that the Philadelphia Parking Authority finally did something about the ugly décor of the majority of their buildings.  If you don’t want people to think they’re living in an authoritarian nightmare, try not to work out of offices decorated in the mid-50s communist style.

Survivor: Redemption Island (Hulu)

This old season of Survivor, featuring Boston Rob and Russell Hantz and introducing the concept of Redemption Island, is now on Hulu.  I watched the first episode and it was kind of nice to be reminded of how much fun Survivor was before its post-COVID facelift.