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!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/26/23 — 3/4/23

Posted on March 4, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I was finally able to get caught up on some of my shows this week. Here some thoughts on what I watched.

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

I’m kind of worried. There’s so much about this show that works but I worry that it’s going to lose sight of all of those things by getting bogged down with this whole Charter school subplot. This week was great when Jacob was freaking out over the mural and when Janine and Gregory were trying to work up the courage to tell Maurice about what happened at the convention. (And I loved Maurice’s reaction to the news.) But the Charter school stuff is such a drag! It’s the same sort of thing that ultimately kept Parks and Rec from being as good as it could have been.

American Idol (Sunday Night, ABC)

I watched the two latest episodes of American Idol on Hulu on Monday. It’s always a bit weird to me when I see the newest episodes of the show and I see how positive and friendly the judges are. Obviously, times have changed and I guess you couldn’t really get away with Simon and Randy laughing at someone for having a bad voice nowadays. Today, old school American Idol would probably be seen as bullying. I’m not necessarily saying that the show should go back to its old style. To be honest, I always hated it whenever someone who was obviously developmentally challenged was brought in to audition just so the show could try to score a few mean-spirited laughs off of them. Still, the upbeat atmosphere of the current version of the show feels a bit forced at times.

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

I watched the last three or four episodes this week. They all kind of blended together but I’m all caught up now. Zach is not particularly interesting but I did enjoy seeing London. If I don’t seem like I’m really into this season …. well, I’m not. To be honest, I kind of feel like maybe this franchise needs to either take a longer break between seasons or change up the format a bit. When the show’s bachelor or bachelorette is interesting, it’s fine if the season itself is a bit predictable. But when you got someone like Zach, it becomes a lot harder to overlook just how artificial this entire show is.

The Brady Bunch Hour (YouTube)

I’m nearly done with The Brady Bunch Hour and, as much as I make fun of this show, I am going to miss it. You can read this week’s review here!

City Guys (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched and wrote up reviews for several hours worth of City Guys. As such, I won’t have to watch the show again until June. Yay! Read this week’s review by clicking here!

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

I got caught up on the last four episodes of Ghosts this morning and I have to say, it remains a surprisingly fun show. Depending on what happens with all that charter school nonsense, there’s a chance that Ghosts could replace Abbott Elementary as the best sitcom to currently air on network television.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

Love, exciting and new! You can read this week’s review here!

My Lover, My Killer (Netflix)

This is a British true crime series about women and men who were killed by their lovers. I watched two episodes on Wednesday morning. I fell asleep while watching the third episode, not because it was boring but just because it was three in the morning. I’m pretty sure I had a bad dream or two as a result of watching this before dozing off.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

This week, Abby’s mother dropped by the court and Abby, as usual, reacted in a totally unprofessional way. There is a part of me that really wants to this show to improve, just because I do like Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette can get laughs out of even the weakest of lines. But there’s just a blandness at the heart of Night Court. Even writing up these very brief reviews, I sometimes struggle to really come up with anything to say about the show. It’s neither great nor terrible. It’s just kind of there.

The SAG Awards (Sunday Night, YouTube)

This year, the SAG Awards were broadcast on YouTube, which I think is probably a sign of things to come. It might not happen for a few years but, eventually, the Oscars are going to be an exclusively streaming event as well. I’ve always assumed that the inevitable move to a streaming platform would improve the Oscars but, to be honest, the SAG Awards on YouTube were just as bland as the SAG Awards on television so who knows?

I was a little bit surprised at how completely Everything Everywhere All At Once swept the awards. I was expecting the film to win Best Ensemble but I was certainly not expecting Jamie Lee Curtis to beat Angela Bassett for the Supporting Actress award. Other than that, the SAG Awards were most memorable for Fran Drescher announcing that SAG is apparently going to save the world. Good for them!

(Actually, as I watched Fran Descher’s speech, I suddenly remembered that she lobbied to be appointed to the Senate after Hillary Clinton become Secretary of State. U.S. Sen. Drescher? Actually, that’s kind of a fun idea.)

South Park (Wednesday Night, Comedy Central)

I’m happy to say that I’m now caught up on the latest season of South Park. “We want our privacy!”

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Yay! Survivor’s back! I wrote about the premiere of the 44th season over at the Reality TV Chat Blog!

The Weather (Thursday Night, Every Channel in North Texas)

On Thursday, North Texas got hit by a huge thunderstorm and there were rumors of tornadoes in the area. The local weather people were overjoyed to have an excuse to interrupt regularly scheduled programming. For an hour or two, they went out of their way to try to terrify anyone watching. “We think we may have spotted some tornadic activity!” Fortunately, North Texas survived but you better believe these folks will be patting themselves on the back for at least the rest of the month.

2022 In Review: 10 Good Things That I Saw On Television

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing my long-delayed look back at 2022, here are ten good things that I saw on television during the previous year!

(Also be sure to check out my picks for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011!)

The Dropout

Hulu’s miniseries about Theranos was a disturbing look at how Elizabeth Holmes managed to defraud her investors, provide false hope for the ill, and become a celebrity despite not actually knowing anything about which she was speaking. Amanda Seyfried’s performance as Holmes was brilliant and she was well-supported by an amazingly strong supporting cast. The Dropout pretty much is the last word that needs to be said about Theranos.

2. Barry

Whether it was the Kaboom app or that amazing motorcycle chase, the latest season of HBO’s Barry was full of amazing moments. The saga of the hitman-turned-actor-turned-hitman continues to fascinate. As likable as Bill Hader can be, he never lets us forget that Barry is, at heart, a bit of a monster.

3. The Better Call Saul Finale

Finales are a tricky business and a bad one can ruin a show’s legacy. Fortunately, the final season of Better Call Saul delivered everything that the audience could possibly hope for.

4. Pistol

Danny Boyle’s miniseries may have provided a romanticized history of 70s punk rock but it was compulsively watchable nonetheless. Sidney Chandler stole the entire series as Chrissy Hynde. Anson Boon brought some unexpected shadings to the role of Johnny Rotten. That the real-life Johnny didn’t care much for it is, at this point, to be expected,

5. The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race returned with two new seasons. The first season was one that was filmed during the COVID lockdowns and it suffered due to the fact that some of the strongest teams had to drop out of the race because of the long delay in shooting, Still, you had to respect the show for not giving up and just canceling the season altogether. The second season was a return to form for The Amazing Race, with Derek and Claire providing themselves to be two of the most likable winners that the show has had in a while. For those of us who feel that Derek and Claire got screwed over during their season of Big Brother, their Amazing Race victory was especially nice to see.

6. Abbott Elementary

One of the best sitcoms to come along in a while, Abbott Elementary is both poignant and hilarious as it details the day-to-day life of the teachers at Abbott Elementary. Though Sheryl Lee Ralph has deservedly won the majority of the awards, the entire cast is wonderful. Janelle James, as Principal Ava Coleman, will hopefully get some Emmy recognition later this year.

7. Ghosts

What a sweet show about dead people!

8. Yellowjackets

Not sine Lost have I been so intrigued by a drama. Succession is a show that thinks it’s clever. Yellowjackets actually is clever.

9. The Offer

It was a guilty pleasure but a pleasure nonetheless.

10. I Want You Back

The best made-for-TV movie of 2022. Jenny Slate singing Suddenly Seymour was a classic moment.

Lisa Marie’s 2022 In Review:

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 11/6/22 — 11/12/22

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s my birthday and I’m up at Lake Texoma so, needless to say, I haven’t been watching much television. That said, we just got hit by the first cold front of the season and both freezing temperatures and rain are on the way so, for the upcoming week, I may not be doing much other than staying inside and watching old TV shows.

Anyway, here’s a few thoughts on what I watched this week:

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

With Quinton and Mattie getting eliminated, we are now down to five teams! To be honest, I get the feeling that Aubrey and David are going to come out of nowhere and somehow manage to win the final leg. That said, as a Big Brother watcher, I am rooting for Claire and Derek and, as a dancer, I’m rooting for Luis and Michelle. I wrote about this week’s episode at the Reality TV Chat Blog!

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

Atlanta came to a conclusion this week with an episode that somehow managed to wrap up the show’s themes while also feeling just like another episode of Atlanta. The show ended with a celebration of the relationships between the main characters and a hint that we might all just be in a sensory deprivation tank. It was a great ending for a good show.

California Dreams (YouTube)

I wrote about California Dreams here!

City Guys (Tubi)

I wrote about City Guys here!

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

Poor Pete! A trashy reality show called “Dumb Deaths” wanted to shoot an episode about his dumb death. Fortunately, a series of weird events led to them actually doing a show about the hippie’s death. Compared to the first season, the second season has been a bit uneven but last night’s episode did make me laugh.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

It seems like Trenton should have known better than to have his wedding reception at Hell’s Kitchen. Needless to say, things did not go well. Chef Ramsey kicked both teams out of the kitchen and then sent home two chefs. And really, the two teams were so incompetent that night that they left Chef Ramsey with no other option. I will never eat another scallop.

Law & Order (Thursday, Night, NBC)

Price and Mouron humiliated a prominent activist attorney in order to get a murder conviction. We knew the attorney was powerful because, in her office, there was a really photoshop of her standing next to Nancy Pelosi. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I kind of like Detective Cosgrove and Jeffrey Donavon’s performance has definitely improved over last season’s one-note characterization. That said, there’s still a self-righteousness to Price that just makes me want to throw something at the screen whenever he launched into one of his sermons.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here.

Mid-Term Coverage (All Week, All Over The Place)

Come on, Arizona …. HURRY UP! I swear, we knew who won in Texas on election night and this state is a hundred times bigger and more populated than Arizona and Nevada combined. If you really want to fight against the conspiracy theories, a good first step would be to not be totally incompetent at your job.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

This week, Jeanine become the first member of the jury. That was not a shock at all. I wrote about this week’s episode at the Reality TV Chat Blog!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/16/22 — 10/22/22

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I watched very little television this week because I’ve been preparing for Halloween! I’ll have to get caught up on what I’ve missed later. Or, I’ll just shrug off the previous two episodes of Bachelor in Paradise. These are the difficult life choices that we all face.

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Janine’s insistence that the kids drink more juice leads to a crisis at Abbott! Meanwhile, Ava continues to be the best character on the show. This was a funny episode, though Gregory is going to have to tell Janine how he feels at some point soon or I’m going to start to lose respect for him. Melissa and her teacher’s aide provided a lot of good laughs. I have a feeling I would be a pretty annoying teacher’s aide, as well.

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

The Amazing Race goes to Jordan! The scenery was lovely and, after struggling over the last two legs of the race, Claire and Derek finally had another good day. Yay! I wrote about the latest episode of The Amazing Race here!

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

Earn, Van, and Lottie go camping! After last week’s wild episode, this week was definitely a bit more low-key. This episode was a funny, well-acted, but somewhat melancholy exploration of Earn and Van’s relationship. Earn wants Van to go to Los Angeles with him. Van said that she loves Earn but the episode ended without a decision on moving to L.A.

Bubblegum Crisis (Nightflight Plus)

I watched the second episode of this anime on Saturday morning. There were robots and a lot of explosions and the bad guys were referred to as being “boomers,” which made me smile. I have no idea what’s going on but the visuals are impressive.

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

Check out this week’s review of Fantasy Island here!

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

The ghosts tried to save a tree and Thor became an environmentalist. It was funnier than it sounds.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

For the first time this season, it was men vs. women. And shockingly enough, the men pretty much destroyed the women during the service. Usually, it’s the opposite on Hell’s Kitchen. The women usually come together during their first dinner service while the men struggle. It usually takes a while for the women to start fighting with each other. Chef Ramsay was so angry that he demanded three nominees from the women. Ramsay sent home the chef who he felt had lost her passion to win. No, I cannot remember her name and yes, I’m too lazy to look it up.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

Check out this week’s review of The Love Boat here!

Night Flight (NightFlight Plus)

On Friday night, I watched an episode of this old show, one that featured interviews with music video directors. The video for Duran Duran’s A View To A Kill was discussed. That song, incidentally, is one of my favorite James Bond songs.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I reviewed this week’s episode here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/9/22 — 10/15/22

Posted on October 15, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent most of this week watching movies but I did catch a few shows. Here’s some thoughts on them:

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Ava is such a cool principal! This week’s episode wasn’t as strong as the previous three episodes but the scenes in which we saw how Ava dealt with disciplinary problems were entertaining. “I want to go to the principal’s office!”

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I reviewed the latest episode of The Amazing Race here!

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

Another crazy day at the mall. I’m glad Al survived. Earn and Darius got their shoes. The Crank Dat Killer was taken off the streets. Some Guy Named Doug finally got to collaborate with Al. Another day in Atlanta.

Bachelor in Paradise (Monday and Tuesday Night, ABC)

Eh. This season is too complicated for me. The scenery’s nice.

Baywatch (Weekday Morning, H&I)

I watched an episode of Baywatch on Wednesday morning. After an accident left him paralyzed, Manny had a crisis of confidence. Meanwhile, Neely and Mitch continued to argue on the beach. This was an episode from Baywatch’s final season. It was all a bit silly but the scenery was nice.

Fantasy Island (Tubi)

You can read my review of what I watched by clicking here!

Full House (Sunday Evening, MeTV)

In the first episode, Aunt Becky went back to work and Danny panicked because it meant his new girlfriend would be leaving Wake Up, San Francisco. Fortunately, she got hired to do weather so I guess that all worked out. Becky going back to work reminded me of how little Jesse actually does.

In the second episode, a singer was hired to perform at Stephanie’s birthday party. Stephanie had a crush on him but he had a crush on DJ. The singer was like 30 so he really shouldn’t have had a crush on either of them.

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

Poor Jay! He just wants some friends, like his wife has with the ghosts. Unfortunately, he always seems to end up finding the worst possible friends around. This week, he nearly got sucked into a cult. Perhaps Jay should follow the ghost’s advice and become a snake oil salesman.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

O’Shay being eliminated was not a huge surprise. It really should have happened last week, when he tried to send out raw chicken. The episode ended with Chef Ramsay announcing that the 20s vs. 40s competition was over and the show was reverting back to its usual women vs men format. Again, this wasn’t a huge surprise. Hell’s Kitchen, unlike several other reality shows, has pretty much stuck with its original format and I don’t see it changing any time soon.

Interview With A Vampire (Sunday Night, AMC)

I’m still struggling to get into this one, for whatever reason. I’ll give it another try next week and maybe rewatch the first two episodes as well.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

This week, the criminal was a serial killer who was also a famous actor. The episode wasn’t anything special but at least it wasn’t obnoxiously political.

Law & Order: Organized Crime (Thursday Night, NBC)

I watched it but I’d be lying if I said I remembered a thing about it, beyond Stabler looking like he was about to give himself a heart attack with all of his pent-up rage.

Law & Order: SVU (Thursday Night, NBC)

Again, I watched it but I don’t remember much about it. By broadcasting all of these Law & Order shows on the same night, NBC is causing them to blend together in my mind.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I reviewed what I watched here!

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)

I honestly thought last week’s episode was the season finale but it turns out I was wrong! A new episode dropped on Thursday. Beavis and Butt-Head building their own dinosaur was hilarious and also sad. “Why did we do this?”

The Real Love Boat (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Who cares? The old Love Boat is more fun.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I reviewed the latest episode of Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I didn’t pay much attention. Chris Hardwicke seemed kind of bored with it all.

The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I hate to admit it but I have yet to find the time to write out full length reviews of the past two episodes of The Walking Dead. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to do it next week. As for last week’s episode, it was an improvement on the episode that came before it. I’m kind of bored with the downfall of the Commonwealth, though. I think the show made an excuse taking that long break before starting the final half of season 11. I was really into the show before that break but now I’m struggling to get reinvested.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 10/2/22 — 10/8/22

Posted on October 8, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s some thoughts on what I watched this week!

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Oh Lord, the Story Samurais. Seriously, I’ve known people just like that. I was cringing for them through the entire episode. Ava continues to be the best character on the show.

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of The Amazing Race here.

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

This week’s episode dealt with an enigmatic entertainment mogul known as Kirkwood Chocolate, who was a prolific and popular creator of melodramatic dramas and broad comedies. Everyone on the show acknowledged that Mr. Chocolate’s shows were not necessarily good but they also wanted to support black art. Mr. Chocolate, himself, turned out to be a somewhat crazed megalomaniac who also claimed to have no control over his shows. Lottie briefly became Mr. Chocolate’s biggest star. It was a funny and thought-provoking episode and it made no attempt to hide that Kirkwood Chocolate was basically Tyler Perry.

Bachelor In Paradise (Monday and Tuesday Nights, ABC)

I just watched it for the scenery. It is kind of interesting that everyone who has been eliminated so far came from Clayton’s season. It’s like someone put a curse on that season and the people involved will never find peace.

Beyond The Headlines (Sunday Morning, Lifetime)

This was a one-hour discussion of the Gabby Petito case, which Lifetime aired as a companion to The Gabby Petito Story.

East New York (Sunday Night, CBS)

On Sunday, I watched the first episode of CBS’s newest cop show, East New York. The main reason that I watched it was because I had been inundated for commercials for the show while I was watching Big Brother last month. Much as I was expecting, East New York turned out to be a middling cop show, one that tried to walk the fine line between back the blue and defund the police. It didn’t really work but it was nice to see that the show had good roles for Richard Kind and Jimmy Smits.

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

Sam started a podcast about Hetty’s murder but, in order to get funding, she had to accept the eccentric and creepy Todd Pearlman as a co-host. This episode wasn’t quite as funny as the season premiere but it did set up what I assume will be this season’s major storyline.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

Someone finally tried to serve raw chicken. It’s not really Hell’s Kitchen until that happens.

Inspector Lewis (YouTube)

I watched the end of the 8th series on Tuesday. Robbie was upset because one of his old cases was being reopened. I was upset because Hathaway had a truly terrible haircut. Hopefully, that’ll be corrected next week.

Interview With A Vampire (Sunday, AMC)

I watched the premiere on Monday and I was bored out of my mind.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on the rise in New York City so, of course, Law & Order decided to do an episode about it in which they blamed it all on a generic right-wing gun nut who was upset over COVID. The U.S. government wanted to prosecute the criminal but they also wanted to see the death penalty. “I don’t know if I can set my personal beliefs aside,” Price said. When has Price ever been able to set aside his personal beliefs? Seriously, we’re only to seasons into this season and I’m already sick of Price talking about his personal beliefs.

Law & Order: Organized Crime (Thursday Night, NBC)

I did watch Organized Crime but seriously, don’t even ask me what happened on this week’s episode. I got bored and kind of zoned out. All I know is that Stabler needs to relax. Maybe try yoga or something.

Law & Order: SVU (Thursday Night, NBC)

SVU took a heavy-handed swipe at influencer culture this week. It was a bit of a generic story but the episode was somewhat redeemed by Killi Giddish’s performance as Amanda Rollins, who is still struggling to put being shot behind her.

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)

Never will I forget the horror of Beavis putting on Yoga pants. The season came to an end this week with an appropriately hilarious episode. First, Beavis and Butt-Head were thrilled to discover their employer reserved the right to refuse service to customers who created an unsafe work environment. And then Beavis decided that he would “look really sexy” in yoga pants. Needless to say it didn’t go well. As for the overall season, I liked it. I perhaps would have done a bit less with Old Beavis and Old Butt-Head but otherwise, this was a really funny and sharply satiric show.

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

I watched two episodes of this old 80s show on Friday night. One dealt with songs about drugs. The other was a profile of Depeche Mode.

The Real Love Boat (Wednesday Night, CBS)

Basically, this is just Paradise Hotel on a boat. Who knows? Maybe everyone will find love before the season ends.

So Help Me Todd (Wednesday Night, CBS)

This is a new show about a lawyer and her son, the private investigator. Guess what the son’s name is! CBS advertised the Hell out of this during Big Brother, so I watched the first episode when it was re-aired on Sunday. It was not quite as bad as I was expecting but it’s still very much a middle-of-the-road, safe to watch with your middle-aged relatives sort of show. Marcia Gay Harden plays the lawyer and it’s nice to see her playing someone who isn’t a half-crazed victim for once.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here.

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I still like Talking Dead but it’s hard not to feel that everything that can be said about The Walking Dead already has been said. Even Chris Hardwicke seemed to be kind of bored with it all.

The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

The Walking Dead returned with a boring episode. Let’s hope things pick up next week.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 9/25/22 — 10/1/22

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Not only did I spend this week preparing for Horrorthon, I also ended up watching quite a bit of television. Here’s some thoughts on what I watched.

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

This week, Janine tried to get Abbott a computer and Ava got to host a Shark Tank-style competition. Ava is such a great character. This episode may not have matched the premiere but it was still pretty funny and a good example of how Abbott Elementary is able to deal with the realities of public education without losing sight of the comedy.

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of The Amazing Race here!

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

This week’s episode of Atlanta took a break from the surreal with a straight-forward but very funny episode about Earn and Al’s family. Earn’s mother “kidnapped” Grandpa while Earn’s father made the mistake of buying a hat and allowing himself to get delayed in the mall. While Aunt Jeanine called the police and demanded that her sister by criminally charged, Earn and Al looked for a way to escape the studio. It was funny and enjoyably cringey. Give Isiah Whitlock, Jr. an Emmy.

Bachelor in Paradise (Monday Night, ABC)

It’s a new season of Bachelor in Paradise! All of the people who couldn’t find love on the main show get to hang out on the beach. Bachelor in Paradise is actually more fun than The Bachelor because it’s honest about being a totally and completely shallow production. Nobody is there for the right reasons and it’s great.

Apparently, Jesse Palmer is going to be the host for the entire season so I guess last season’s rotating host gimmick has been retired. That’s probably for the best. I actually like Jesse as the overall franchise host. He doesn’t bring a lot of extra drama with him like Tayshia and Kaitlyn did and he seems to understand that his job isn’t exactly the same as being a brain surgeon.

That said …. where’s Meatball!?

Big Brother (Sunday Night, CBS)

Big Brother 24 finally came to a close on Sunday night. Taylor Hale not only won the game but she also won America’s Favorite Player. Considering the way that Taylor was bullied by the other houseguests at the start of the season, her victory was popular with the show’s fans. Personally, I think both Monte and Turner played a better game but knowing that Taylor’s victory upset some of the worst people to ever appear on the show was still a satisfying feeling. Knowing that Ameerah, Nicole, and Daniel were probably upset made the past few months worth it.

I wrote about this season over at the Big Brother Blog.

Bubblegum Crisis (NightFlight+)

80s cyberpunk! Man vs machine! The Sabre Knights vs a pack of robots known as the Boomers! The main character, Priss, is also a rock star! I had no idea what was going on when I watched this show early on Saturday morning but the animation was interesting to look at and Priss was undeniably cool.

CHiPs (Weekday Afternoons, Get TV)

I watched one episode of this old motorcycle cop show on Tuesday. The cops kept the peace at an anti-nuke rally and Erik Estrada provided counseling to a child who was being abused by his parents. I can’t say that I really paid that much attention. I did like the bass-heavy theme song however.

Concentration (Weekday Afternoons, BUZZR)

This was an old gameshow from the 70s and the 80s. I watched an episode on Friday while I was doing some work around the office. The most interesting thing about it was that it was hosted by Alex Trebyk, who came across as being far more relaxed and casual about things than when he hosted Jeopardy.

Full House (Sunday Evening, MeTV)

Uncle Joey (you know, the one with the mullet) tried to teach Michelle how to ride a bike but he wasn’t very good at it and Michelle was humiliated when she fell off her bike at the park. At first, Michelle blamed Joey but eventually she got over it. What a brat.

This was followed by an episode in which poor DJ (who, really, deserves to nominated for sainthood for putting up with her family) has to take her two obnoxious sisters with her on a date. Everyone learned an important lesson about sneaking into the movie and lying. Don’t do either of them but, if you do sneak into the movie, don’t get caught.

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

The second season premiere of Ghosts was as charming as ever, with the ghosts spying on the B&B’s first guests and Jay discovering that, despite his near death experience, he still cannot see the ghosts. I felt bad for Sam, as most of the stuff that the guests complained about when it came to her was the same stuff that people tend to complain about when it comes to me. I cheered a little when she stood up to them. The whole “Our yelp account was hacked!” ending was perfect.

Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, FOX)

Hell’s Kitchen is back! This season is going to be 40-something chefs vs 20-something chef. To be honest, the gimmick doesn’t matter. I’m just looking forward to Chef Ramsay yelling at people and losing his temper at the potentially lethal incompetence around him. Who will be the first to try to send out raw chicken? Sadly, the premiere episode did not feature a dinner service but, according to the previews, it’s coming up next week!

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

Last week’s Law & Order was pretty good. This week, sadly, was one of those middling, lefty political episodes that the franchise often does in an attempt to remain in the good graces of those who would otherwise dismiss the whole thing as being copaganda. It’s always funny to me how the Law & Order franchise is full of blue collar, Catholic cops who sound like they spend all of their time watching Joy Reid and Chris Hayes as soon as their shift is over.

On last night’s Law & Order, the victim was the daughter of the governor of Texas so, of course, we got this whole big thing about how the governor is always criticizing New York City as being crime-ridden. “Why does the governor of Texas care about New York?” one of the detectives demanded and that’s when I started to tune this episode out. One could just as legitimately ask why people in California and New York always feel the need to comment on what’s happening in Texas. Law & Order always errs on the side of going overboard when it attempts to deal with politics. This was especially true this week, as Law & Order waded into the abortion debate and came up with an ending that was both so heavy-handed and so predictable that I felt embarrassed for the show’s writers.

Law & Order: Organized Crime (Thursday Night, NBC)

With the start of a new season, Stabler got a new partner and a new crooked family to investigate. From what I’ve seen, Organized Crime is the least interesting of the Law & Order shows and often feels more like it should be a part of NCIS franchise than Law & Order. It was difficult for me to watch because Stabler really does seem like he’s going to give himself a heart attack if he doesn’t figure out a way to relax.

Law & Order: SVU (Thursday Night, NBC)

This week’s episode of SVU opened with an extremely disturbing scene in which a teenage girl was gang-raped on a subway while, just a few feet away, the rest of her family was hacked to death with machetes. This scene reminded me of why I don’t regularly watch this show. It’s undeniably well-acted and usually well-written, except for when it tries to be overly political. But Good Lord, are the cases ever disturbing!

Mike (Hulu)

I wrote about Hulu’s disappointing Mike Tyson miniseries here.

Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)

Inspired by a holy nacho chip, Beavis went on a spiritual journey and learned nothing. This was a unique episode in that it told one story instead of the usual two. It’s become obvious that Beavis, with his odd moments of clarity and his desire to actually be something more than just a sidekick, is a far more compelling character than Butt-Head.

Monarch (Tuesday Night, FOX)

This show gets sillier and sillier with each episode but it’s kind of worth it for the scenes of Trace Adkins glowering in the shadows while holding a gun. I don’t really care much about which Roman daughter is crowned the next queen of country music but I definitely do what to know who Trace has been burying for the past three episodes.

Night Flight (NightFlight+)

From the 80s, it was a look at women in rock, from Janis Joplin and Grace Slick to Stevie Nicks. I watched on Friday night. The music was good.

Password (Weekday Afternoons, BUZZR)

I watched two episodes of this old game show on Tuesday. Apparently, the aim was to try to guess a word and win money. The episodes I saw were from the mid-70s and the most interesting thing about them was how cheap and run-down the show’s set looked. One got the feeling that the whole studio probably reeked of cigarettes and spilled beer.

Saving Grace (Weekday Nights, Start TV)

On this show, which apparently ran for three seasons, Holly Hunter played an Oklahoma detective who, after she accidentally ran over a pedestrian after a night of drinking, was told by a fallen angel named Earl that she was going to go to Hell unless she changed her ways. So, apparently, the rest of the show was about Grace solving crimes and talking to Earl. How have I never heard of this show before? It aired from 2007 to 2010 and Hunter was even nominated for two Emmy awards for playing Grace.

Anyway, the episode that I watched on Wednesday night featured Grace trying to solve a murder while another angel (F. Murray Abraham) tried to convince her to abandon Earl and work with him. It was odd but Holly Hunter is always good and the show took place in Oklahoma so, as someone who spent some time in Oklahoma while she was growing up, I felt like I could relate to most of the characters.

Super Password (Weekday Afternoons, BUZZR)

I watched two episodes of this show on Tuesday. It was just like Password, except the set looked cleaner.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television — 5/8/22 — 5/14/22

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Let’s get to it.

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

Atlanta has been pretty evenly split, this season, between “anthology” episodes and the episodes that follow Earn and Al in Europe. It’s an interesting format but, as I watched this week’s anthology episode, I really found myself thinking about much more interested I am in what’s going on in Europe. This week’s episode was filmed in gorgeous black-and-white but the story of a biracial teen passing as white was nowhere near as interesting as what happened to Al in Amsterdam last week.

Barry (Sunday Night, HBO)

This week, Barry attempted to make things up to Gene by getting him a role on a plausibly terrible television show. Unfortunately, for Barry, it turned out that Gene isn’t just going to forget about Barry murdering his girlfriend in return for a role. Meanwhile, Sally was forced to take part in a series of vacuous interviews in order to promote her new television series. Everyone wants to know: “Who should be the next Spider-Man?”

Better Call Saul (Monday Night, AMC)

This week, we got to see what Saul’s office was like before he redecorated it. It was kind of a slow episode. Better Call Saul is always watchable because of the performers but its status as a prequel also means that there’s a certain lack of suspense as to what’s going to happen to everyone. Still, this week’s episode was worth it for the boxing scene.

Beyond the Edge (Wednesday Night, CBS)

The remaining celebrities continued to try to survive living in the jungle. Jodie Sweetin finally ran the bell and removed herself from the show, just leaving a bunch of former pro athletes to continue the competition. I don’t blame her. Jodie lasted longer than I would have.

The Brady Bunch (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

I don’t remember anything that happened during last Sunday’s Brady Bunch episodes so I guess I should count myself lucky.

Candy (Hulu)

I reviewed Hulu’s latest true crime miniseries here!

Dynasty (Friday Night, The CW)

Having missed most of the latest season, I finally got caught up on Dynasty this week and I was reminded of why I enjoy this wonderfully over-the-top and self-aware show. Unfortunately, no sooner was I caught up than the CW announced that they were canceling the show. Booooo!

Fantasy Island (Hulu)

Several months after watching the pilot, I finally watched the rest of Fantasy Island’s 1st season this week. It’s an extremely silly but fun show. Roselyn Sanchez plays her role with just the right mix of gravitas and mockery. The show’s a bit heavy-handed at times but I think that’s to be expected. The island looks lovely and the fantasies themselves are ultimately harmless and good-natured and that’s all the really matters.

Full House (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

If I remember correctly, Jesse was worried that he was losing his cool and Joey said, “Cut it out.”

Ghosts (Paramount Plus)

I finished binging the first season of Ghosts on Monday and Tuesday. What a sweet show! I’m kind of amazed that it took me so long to give this show a chance. I’ll be curious to see what happens with the second season. Hopefully, the show can keep up its momentum.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

“This story is fictional….”

Yeah, whatever. This week’s episode started out as an homage to Inventing Anna and then it ended as an homage to Dopesick. Price decided to make a deal with a murderer so that he could then prosecute the owner of a pharmaceutical company. It was all because Price’s brother died of a drug overdose. To be honest, Price didn’t really make his case and he should have been fired for wasting tax payer money on a personal crusade. But the jury disagreed. It may sound like I’m trashing this episode but it was actually pretty well-acted and I actually appreciated that it totally turned into a different story during the second half. That said, I don’t think the Law & Order revival will ever be known for having a particularly nuanced political outlook.

The Love Boat (Sunday Evening, MeTV)

Vicki discovered that one of the passengers was hooked on speed. Luckily, everything worked out in the end.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I reviewed the latest twist-filled episode of Survivor here!

We Own This City (Monday Night, HBO)

It was a pretty boring episode this week. The cast is convincing and Baltimore continues to be a fascinating portrait of the American Dream gone bad but David Simon doesn’t really seem to have much to say, beyond pointing out that cops are bad and federal investigators are underfunded.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/1/22 — 5/7/22

Posted on May 7, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Why didn’t anyone tell me that Ghosts was so good!? Over the past few days, I’ve been watching it and loving it.

Anyway, here’s some more thoughts on my week in television!

Atlanta (Thursday Night, FX)

During this week’s funny but unsettling episode, Al got stoned in Amsterdam. It’s possible that he met a mysterious women named Lorraine who warned him about the people around him and who took him to a club where he met Liam Neeson. It’s also possible that Al hallucinated the whole thing while passed out in a doorway.

Barry (Sunday Night, HBO)

The latest episode of Barry really, really freaked me out. Basically, Barry found himself with two options. He could either get Gene a role on a TV show in order to make up for killing Gene’s girlfriend or he could just kill Gene. Barry was determined to give Gene a second chance and, by extension, himself a second chance. Barry was trying to do the right thing. The problem is that Barry is a sociopath who is trying to be the good person that he is incapable of being.

This episode was all about abusive relationships. Sally is trying to produce her dramedy about her own abusive relationship but she doesn’t seem to understand that her current relationship with Barry is just as abusive as the one she escaped. (The scene where Barry yelled at her for not casting Gene was legitimately scary.) Barry is trying to recover from his abusive relationship with Fuches, little realizing that he’s repeating Fuches’s behavior with the way that he’s manipulating Gene. Is Gene going to end up becoming a hit man by the end of this season? It could happen. Meanwhile, the only vaguely healthy relationship on the show, between Noho Hank and Cristobal, came to an end due to them being members of rival criminal gangs.

Bill Hader continues to astound as Barry. He’s both sincere and terrifying. Barry truly believes that he’s capable of doing the right thing even though we know he isn’t. This week’s episode reminded us that Barry can be a scary guy. When he indicated that he would kill Gene’s grandson if Gene didn’t accept the role that Barry had gotten for him, it was a chilling moment. I’ll never look at Barry the same way again.

Better Call Saul (Monday Night, AMC)

Rhea Seehorn directed this week’s episode of Better Call Saul, which featured both Jimmy’s continuing efforts to destroy Howard’s career and also his move into his new office. Meanwhile, Gus and Mike continued to search for evidence of Lalo still being alive. This was a well-done episode, one that did a good job of showing how Jimmy McGill transformed into the Saul Goodman who would later be hired by Walter White.

The Brady Bunch (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

Oh no! Marcia lost her diary! However, this somehow led to her meeting Davy Jones so I guess everything worked out. This was followed by an episode in which the kids were worried that Mike and Carol were going to sell the house so they pretended to be ghosts. Then, Carol and Mike had tickets to a show and Alice had a date so Greg and Marcia were left in charge of the house. Disaster followed. Then, during Sunday’s fourth episode, Marcia was accused of pulling a prank by her school’s principal. The principal was played by the distinguished character actor, E.G. Marshall. One can only guess how Marshall felt about going from Broadway and Oscar-nominated films like 12 Angry Men to appearing on The Brady Bunch. Actually, he was probably happy for the money. I hope Marshall was paid well because he definitely classed up the joint.

Full House (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

MeTV aired 4 episodes of Full House on Sunday and I’m struggling to remember much about any of them. In the first episode, Jesse was worried that he wasn’t smart enough for Rebecca and he proved that he wasn’t by acting stupid. Rebecca, however, forgave him. Then, Michelle and Kimmy ended up babysitting some bratty kid who got his head stuck in a bannister. This was followed by an episode in which Danny started dating again and managed to forgive his date for having a messy apartment. And then, in our final episode, Michelle started preschool and accidentally set the class’s pet bird free. So, Danny bought a new bird and demanded that everyone be nice to his daughter, despite the fact that she was kind of a self-centered brat.

Ghosts (Thursday Night, CBS)

What a charming show! For some reason, I was under the impression that Ghosts was just another gimmicky show but I finally sat down and binged the first eleven episodes on Paramount Plus and I discovered that I was totally wrong. This is really a sweet, witty, intelligent, and well-acted show and one of my favorites of the season. I loved the episode where Sam went to see her mom. That made me tear up. As for my favorite ghost …. Trevor. Yep, it has to be Trevor.

The Girl From Plainville (Hulu)

This frustratingly uneven miniseries came to a close this week. The final episode dealt with the day that Conrad committed suicide and also Michelle’s final days before heading to prison. Considering just how inconsistent this show has been, the finale was actually pretty effective. The lengthy fantasy sequence, in which Michelle imagined running into Conrad at a bar while home from the college that, in reality, she’ll never get to attend, worked far better than it had any right to. In the end, this miniseries didn’t have much to tell us about the suicide of Conrad Roy that we didn’t already know but it did work as a showcase for the talents of Elle Fanning and Colton Ryan.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

I have to admit that, when this week’s episode of Law & Order started, I rolled my eyes when it appeared that the main villain was going to be a barely disguised version of Elon Musk. But then it turned out that guy was just a red herring and the accused instead turned out to be a former State Department employee who claimed that he couldn’t control his actions because of Havana Syndrome. To my great surprise, this turned out to be the the best episode of the season so far, largely because the prosecution finally lost a case and Price was left to wonder if it was largely due to his own self-righteous approach to the law. Sam Waterston finally got a few good scenes too. The Law & Order revival has, for the most part, been uneven but I do think that it’s been getting better.

The Love Boat (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

A famous actress took a cruise and fell for Captain Stubing. Unfortunately, not even the promise of being wealthy and secure could convince the captain to give up the sea.

M*A*S*H* (Weekday Evenings, MeTV)

On Sunday, I watched two episodes of this old sitcom. The first one featured an obnoxious surgeon from Arkansas, who got in trouble for trying to steal Col. Potter’s horse. The second was a bit more dramatic, as a friend of Hawkeye’s died on the operating table and a teenage Ron Howard appeared as a soldier who lied about his age in order to enlist. In the past, I’ve found M*A*S*H to be a bit too preachy for my tastes but this was actually a pretty effective and well-acted episode.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

We Own The City (Monday Night, HBO)

The second episode of David Simon’s latest miniseries about Baltimore was as compelling and as packed with detail as the first. While setting in his jail cell, Jon Bernthal’s Wayne Jenkins remembered the process by which he went from being a relatively honest cop to being the poster child for police corruption. Nicole Steele continued her investigation of Daniel Hersl. In the role of Hersl, Josh Charles only appeared during the final few minutes of the episode but he still made a huge impression as the epitome of everything that people tend to dislike about the cops. I look forward to seeing where this series is heading.