Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/23/24 — 6/29/24


This week, I discovered that the producers of the Dr. Phil show finally enforced their copyright and, as a result, all of the episodes on YouTube were taken down.  That’s a shame.  Regardless of what you may think of the man and his show (and my feelings on both are definitely mixed), old episodes of Dr. Phil made for good background noise.  Of course, I can still turn over to Pluto TV, where they have an entire station that just shows Dr. Phil for 24 hours a day.  But Pluto shows the episodes out of order so, it it’s a two-parter, you’re just out of luck.

In the absence of Dr. Phil, I’ve resorted to using episodes of The Trisha Goddard Show as my background noise.  Trisha’s show (of which there are many episodes on YouTube) was just as trashy as Maury and Jerry Springer but Trisha spoke with a posh British accent, which I’m going to assume classed the joint up for whoever it was who watched these shows when they originally aired.  As I said, I used the show strictly for background noise this week and, to be honest, I quickly got annoyed with Trisha and her holier-than-thou attitude.  So, I guess I’ll have to find something else.

As far as new shows are concerned, I am now caught up with both 60 Days In and Inmate to Roommate.  I’m enjoying the latest season of 60 Days In, largely because all of the participants appear to be losing whatever grip they have on their sanity.  Corey became the first of the participants to tap out, which is good because his growing paranoia wasn’t going to do anyone any good.  As for Inmate to Roommate, the main message here seems to be that, if you’re planning on helping an ex-prisoner adjust to life outside of prison, don’t do it.  What a frustrating show!  The inmates are almost all idiots and the roommates are almost all incredibly naive.  I was not surprised when Devon got arrested on his first day on probation.  Devon’s an idiot.

Finally, I swore I would not watch the Presidential Debate and I kept my word at first.  But, on Thursday night, I took one look at what was being said on twitter and I realized that I had to watch it.  Because I know we have readers of all political persuasions, I’m going to refrain from giving my own feelings about the two men who were on the debate stage.  I’m just going to say, “Yikes,” and assume that you know why.  I have no idea what’s going to happen but I do know that hopefully, in 2028, it’ll be time to finally start electing some younger candidates.  Seriously, there’s nothing wrong with bowing out of public life and enjoying retirement.

Apparently, Big Brother is starting in July.  I am not at all enthused.  After last season, I am pretty much exhausted with the show, the twists, and Julie Chen Moonves.  But I’ll watch anyways, because it’s tradition and the houseguest will hopefully make better background noise than Trisha Goddard.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/9/24 — 6/15/24


Dancing For The Devil (Netflix)

I watched this 3-part docuseries on Tuesday.  It was yet another show about a cult, in this case one that’s led by a pastor named Robert Shinn and which is known for promoting dancers on TikTok.  Much like HBO’s The Vow, it started strong but it ultimately felt a bit too padded for its own good.  Two episodes worth of material was stretched out to three.  As always, cult documentaries are odd to watch because they never quite get around to answering the question of how someone could be stupid enough to join a cult in the first place.  I guess that some things are unknowable.

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

I watched a few old episodes on Wednesday and Thursday.  Dysfunction was everywhere!

Inmate to Roommate (Thursday, A&E)

On Thursday’s episode, the inmates and the roommates continued to try to adjust to each other.  I don’t think any of this is going to turn out well for anyone.

Intervention (Monday Night, A&E)

I watched two episodes of Intervention on Monday night.  The first featured one of the most annoying addicts that I’ve ever seen, a sarcastic 19 year-old who spent the entire intervention making snarky remarks and then suddenly agreed to get help, showing that she didn’t even have the courage to stand by her snarkiness.  She did get sober, which is good.  She also apparently replaced drugs with food as she gained a ton of weight in rehab.

The second episode featured model Amber Rose searching Philadelphia for a childhood friend who had fallen into drug addiction.  It felt more like an extended commercial for Amber Rose than a serious look at drug addiction.

I’m kind of amazed that people apparently still fall for the “she thinks she’s appearing in a documentary about addiction.  Little does she know she’ll soon be facing an intervention” line.  It’s been like what?  20 years since this show started?

Miami Vice (Amazon Prime)

On Saturday, I finally got back to watching Miami Vice!  Look for my review on Monday.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

I watched two episodes on Friday.  The first one was about Australian bands.  The second featured the best music of 1987.

60 Days In (Thursday Night, A&E)

Everyone’s favorite true crime jail docudrama is back.  This time, the jail is in Utah and, for all the talk about how the Utah jail is as dangerous as any jail, it was hard not to notice that both the guards and the prisoners seemed to be far more polite than usual 60 Days In crowd.  I watched the first two episodes on Tuesday.  The sheriff said that he didn’t want anyone tapping out but I don’t know  …. I get the feeling that Corey is about to say, “Get me out of here!”

I watched the latest episode on Thursday and my suspicions about Corey turned out to be totally justified as he revealed that spending less-than-a-week in jail had apparently driven him to the verge of a paranoia-fueled mental breakdown.  Corey hasn’t tapped out yet but it feels like it’s only a matter of time.  I also have to say that I totally related Nina and her decision to get dressed up for jail.  I mean, why not?

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 6/2/24 — 6/8/24


Ugh.  We got our power back on Sunday but this week still kind of sucked for me.  I’ve just been in a funk, as you can probably tell by how little I’ve posted over the past few days.  Going a week without power really threw me off of my rhythm.  Even with the return of the lights, there’s been a lot of cleaning up to do, around both the house and the neighborhood.  For that reason, I’ve put a lot of my regular posts on a temporary hiatus.  My regular Retro Television Reviews, for instance, will return on June 17th.

So, I guess my point is — don’t give up on me!  I’m in a funk right now but it happens and I’ll snap out of it, definitely sooner than later.

As far what I watched on television this week:

Degrassi: The Next Generation (Pluto TV)

I’ve watched only one show this week but I also watched 14 seasons of it.  It takes a total of 7 and a half days to binge the entirety of Degrassi: The Next Generation.  When the lights came on, Pluto was showing the very first episode, in which Emma ran afoul an online stalker and, as I write this, Pluto is approaching the final episodes, in which Tristan and Miles took the title of the worst Degrassi couple ever.

For the last seven days, I have been binging Degrassi.  I haven’t rewatched every episode, of course.  I’ve had to sleep.  I’ve had to take care of my day-to-day responsibilities.  But, when I needed to relax, I sat down on the living room couch and watched Degrassi.  I reexperienced everything from Manny’s pregnancy to Craig’s breakdown to Ellie’s cutting to Jimmy’s shooting to Spinner …. well, acting like Spinner.  Unfortunately, the show itself became a bit less interesting as the old cast left and the new students enrolled.  (I’ve never been able to bring myself to care about Connor.)  Later seasons of the show got a bit preachy and it was hard not to get annoyed by the fact that everyone was apparently in a band.  (House arrest …. house arrest…. really gets stuck in your head.)

Still, revisiting this show helped to call my nerves during an otherwise stressful week.  Thank you, Degrassi and Pluto!

From Inmate to Roommate (A&E)

I watched two episodes of this new reality show on Saturday.  The show follows ex-cons as they leave prison and move in with people who have never been to prison.  The two episodes were actually interesting, just because of the contrast between the former prisoners and their new roommates.  None of the convicts really seem like they benefitted from being in prison.  My personal favorite moment was when the leftist, justice reform activist discovered that his new former inmate roommate had no interest spending his first day of freedom at a political protest.

Happy Hour (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this silly 90s game show on Saturday.  Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa hosted.  Among the celebrities in the competition: Adam West, Vivica A. Fox, Kathy Griffin, Diedrich Bader, and Taylor Dane.  The show provided several excuses for Dweezil and Ahmet to perform.  Dweezil was (and is) obviously a great guitarist, even when performing on a show as silly as this one.  As a vocalist, Ahmet …. well, Ahmet tried really hard.

Midnight Special (YouTube)

I watched an episode of this old variety show on Friday night.  The episode was from 1973 and featured some mellow music and the comedy stylings of Fred Willard (amongst others).  In fact, the whole thing was almost too mellow for me.  I like loud music to which you can dance.  Paul Williams showed up and talked about his role in the upcoming film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes.  He really didn’t do a very good job selling the movie.