Well, that’s not quite true. I watched an episode of Dark on Netflix with Case. It’s time travel with a macabre, very German twist. We’re on the third season now and the show’s mysteries are truly intriguing.
And then I watched the final episodes of Cobra Kai, also on Netflix. If we’re going to be honest, Cobra Kai probably went on a season or two longer than it should have. Towards the end, the show really was stuck in a repeating loop. That said, I still got a little teary-eyed while watching that final episode. I feel like I’ve really watched these characters grow up and that includes the ones who should have grown up decades earlier, like Johnny Lawrence. I hope William Zabka is cast in more movies and shows after this. If he’s not, at least Johnny got his chance at redemption.
Otherwise, I was sick this week and I watched nothing. But fear not, I’ll be watching the Oscars in about 19 more hours!
Yeah, I’m running late with this. That seems to be the theme of my life this weekend but no matter! Here it is, my week in television.
American Murder: Gabby Petito (Netflix)
Netflix’s Gabby Petito documentary didn’t necessarily tell me anything that I didn’t already know about that tragic and awful case. Indeed, I kind of found myself getting angry at the documentary as I watched the endless footage of Gabby because it reminded me that Gabby Petito — and every other crime victim — deserved more than to be the latest subject of America’s fascinating with the morbid and the sordid. (Of course, it’s hypocritical of me to judge as I was the one watching the documentary.) But, in the end, I did feel that the documentary made an important point. There were so many red flags about Brian Laundrie but no one wanted to admit it, not the cops and not Gabby’s friends. Gabby was failed by so many people.
Up until I saw this documentary, I was not convinced that Brian’s family really knew the full extent of his crimes. Now, I’m convinced that they not only knew but tried to help him cover them up. It’s infuriating.
Check it Out! (Tubi)
I reviewed Check It Out! here. I’ll soon be finished with this show and I have to admit that I’m kind of proud of being the only person to have actually sat down and reviewed every single episode.
Case and I have now started the third and final season of this creepy German show. It’s all about time travel, black holes, and people having nonstop sex without any emotional connection. The architecture is brutalist, the cinematography is dark, and everyone seems to be fairly depressed. It’s very German and very intriguing.
Chef Ramsay was back in New Orleans, helping out another surprisingly ugly restaurant. Seriously, how can a restaurant succeed when it looks like a trailer? Again, a former football player was brought in to provide emotional encouragement. I will undoubtedly find myself in New Orleans in the future but I’ll probably never eat there.
I finished up Scamanda this week, watching the final two episodes. For all the build-up, the finale was a bit disappointing. Amanda was arrested and convicted and then, for 30 minutes, we listened to a bunch of podcast hosts talk about how they came across the story and went viral with it. I love true crime documentaries but true crime podcast hosts are always so annoying and self-important.
I loved the science fair episode, which I watched on Hulu on Wednesday afternoon! Ava is my favorite character so I enjoy any episode that deals with her troubled past, her unique principal style, and the moments where she actually turns out to be good at her job.
I also enjoyed the latest episode of Abbott, with Ava helping out the other schools and Jacob giving an impassioned speech to the school board that will probably come back to haunt him at some point in the future. After the previous season’s somewhat uneven mix of episodes, it’s nice to see Abbott Elementary going strong again!
Case and I finished up season two this week. Onward to the season three next week!
Extracted (Monday Night, Fox)
In this new reality show, out-of-shape people go into the wilderness and try not to die. From a control room, their family members watch and debate whether or not to pull them out of the game. On Wednesday, I watched the first two episodes on Hulu. The show is ludicrous but it’s entertaining, as most good reality shows are. I would hope that my family would pull me out after the first ten minutes.
Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesday Night, Fox)
Finally leaving the ugly restaurants of New Orleans, Chef Ramsay helped out an ugly restaurant in Houston. Seriously, how does the show find these ugly places? This time, the restaurant owner got mad at Ramsay and even called him into the storeroom for a talk. Ramsay was still able to get through to her and save the restaurant. Yay!
Scamanda (Hulu)
On Tuesday, I watched the second episode of Scamanda, which revealed a bit about Amanda’s background and also her husband. The episode suggested that Amanda based her scam off of her husband’s stepdaughter from his first marriage and her very real battle with Leukemia. Not only does this show how twisted Amanda was but it also indicates that her husband was very much a part of her scheme. The second episode was marked improvement over the first. I’m looking forward to the third.
The Story Behind (Tubi)
I watched two episodes. One featured the story behind Beverly Hills 9o210. The other was the story behind Full House. Neither really told me anything that I didn’t already know.
Super Bowl LXI (Sunday Night, Fox)
The only thing more boring than the game were the commercials. A lot of people are making a big deal about Taylor Swift getting booed at the game. The Swifties are in an uproar but, honestly, it’s an American tradition to boo celebs at sporting events, especially ones who are only there because they’re dating a player. Taylor’s apparent shock at being booed has become a meme but it was actually a very relatable and human moment. I prefer Taylor’s “What’s going on?” to the celebs who either pretend to not to care or the ones who go into a rage mode the minute they have to deal with public opinion.
My sinuses were really bothering me this week so I didn’t watch much, other than the shows that I review for this site. I mean, it was literally a struggle for me to look at a screen, whether it my phone, a laptop, or a television for more than a few minutes without getting a headache.
I did watch two more episodes of Dark with Case. This intriguing German show gets more and more creepy with each episode.
On Sunday, Jeff and I watched a football game. It was Taylor Swift’s team vs someone else. Taylor Swift won.
I watched Kitchen Nightmares. This week’s restaurant was boring. I’m hoping for another Amy’s Baking Company style fiasco.
And I watched Hell’s Kitchen. Really? They eliminated Egypt? First Brandon and then Egypt? Weakest final two ever!
Here are just a few (admittedly, very few) thoughts on what I watched this week!
Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)
Unlike the characters in Abbott Elementary, I’m not a fan of the American Labor Movement but I still enjoyed this week’s episode about a bus strike. The remote learning stuff was definitely the highlight of the episodes.
Dark (Netflix)
Case and I are continuing to watch this German show on Netflix. It’s a very intriguing saga of time travel and murder.
Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox)
Without Brandon in the competition, who cares? It seems kind of obvious that Egypt’s going to win.
Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesday Night, Fox)
Chef Ramsay saved another restaurant in New Orleans. That’s good and all but I still wouldn’t want to eat anywhere that’s been featured on Kitchen Nightmares. Once a mess, always a mess. At least, that’s the way that I view things as far as food preparation is concerned.
The Oscar Nominations (Thursday Morning, Hulu)
The nominations didn’t do much for me this year. Honestly, I have to wonder how long it’s going to be until ABC dumps the Oscars and the ceremony is reduced to just streaming on Hulu. It’s going to happen sooner or later.
The Presidential Inauguration (Monday, C-Span)
I’m thankful for C-Span. I was able to watch the whole thing without any commentary for either side.
Oh my God, did Chef Ramsay really just say that!? I’ve watched a lot of episodes of Hell’s Kitchen but I don’t think any elimination has taken me as much by surprise as the elimination of Brandon this week. Brandon is who I expected to win this season and I know that I’m not alone in that. That said, Brandon did struggle at service. Of all the chefs to receive black jackets, Brandon struggled the most and, even more importantly, Brandon was really the only one to struggle. Ramsay didn’t have much of a choice but I have a feeling Brandon will return in a future season.
Speaking of Chef Ramsay, I also caught the second part of the Kitchen Nightmares premiere. I’m glad that Ramsay apparently thinks that he’s fixed that restaurant but I can promise that there is no way I would ever voluntarily eat at any establishment featured on this show. I don’t care if it’s clean now. Once a rat trap, always a rat trap.
This week’s episode of Abbott Elementary surfaced in comparison to last week’s but that’s to be expected considering the brilliance of last week’s show. I still laughed at Ava trying to figure out what it’s like to “date the poors.”
On Peacock, I watched the three episode documentary Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story and yes, that was certainly disgusting and disturbing, It was even worse than Hulu’s Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action, which I also watched. I guess I felt like catching up on some sordid history this week!
Speaking of sordid, Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire is on YouTube. I watched it and I have to admit that I laughed when the “millionaire” came lurching out and started speaking in a voice that sounded exactly like Bill Hader’s. Who Wants To Marry A Multi-Millionaire was a one-time, two-hour special that aired in 2000. The man behind this fiasco (the marriage was annulled, the millionaire was not a millionaire but just a guy who was the subject of multiple restraining orders) went on to create The Bachelor.
Also on YouTube, I found all six episodes of The Starlet, a reality competition show where aspiring actresses competed for a walk-on role on One Tree Hill. Stop laughing, it was a real show. I vaguely remember watching it when it first aired. I watched it a second time on Monday because I was bored. One of the judges was Faye Dunaway. Faye was surprisingly nice. The mean judge was Vivica A. Fox.
Case and I are continuing to watch Dark, on Netflix. What a fascinating and macabre show! I recommend it to anyone reading.
I watched the latest episodes of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test but I don’t remember a damn thing about them, other than it amused me how everyone pretended to be taking everything so seriously.
And, as always, I watched the shows that I review on a weekly basis. I’m not going to sit here and list them all because I’m tired. But you can find all my reviews on this site. Yay!
It’s a new year but there’s still much to watch. Here’s some thoughts on what I viewed during the first week of 2025!
CHiPs (Prime)
Freevee may be dead but CHiPs continues on Prime. My reviews of the show will return on Monday.
Cobra Kai (Netflix)
I watched the 2nd part of the final season of Cobra Kai on Friday. I know the regular complaint about Cobra Kai is that every season is pretty much the same and there’s actually some validity to that comment. But I don’t care. It’s a fun show and William Zabka is a joy to watch. From the start, I know this latest set of episodes would end with yet another huge brawl but, at this point, I’d be disappointed if they didn’t. The showrunners know exactly why people watch this show.
Dark (Netflix)
Case and I have been watching this atmospheric German show on Netflix. This week, we finished up the first three episodes. Case has watched the show before. He said it would appeal to my “analytical mind” and so far, he’s very much correct about that! I’m enjoying uncovering the mysteries of this macabre mystery.
Days of Our Lives (Peacock)
On Saturday, I got caught up with Days of Our Lives on Peacock. One thing that I like about this show is that you can go for six months without watching and still feel like you can jump right back into the storylines when you come back! I enjoyed watching all of the citizens of Salem celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. And I’m glad to see that Patch is still with us.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest (Tuesday Night/Wednesday Morning, ABC)
Jeff and I spent New Year’s Eve at my BFF Evelyn’s annual “Screw The Year That Was” party. The big annual countdown was playing on the television in one of the rooms at Evelyn’s place and I glanced in on the show occasionally. I’ve never really gotten into any of the televised New Year’s Eve celebrations. I don’t really have the attention span for them. I just find it interesting that it’s still Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, even though Mr. Clark passed away quite some time ago. It’s like Ryan Seacrest is a medium or something, letting us hear from Dick Clark from beyond the grave.
Going Dutch (Thursday Night, Fox)
After getting barraged by commercials for this show on an almost nonstop basis, I felt as if I had to watch the premiere. Denis Leary plays an army officer sent to enforce discipline on a base in the Netherlands. The base’s former commander? His daughter! I was glad that this show didn’t use the tired mockumentary format that is so popular nowadays but, overall, it still didn’t do too much for me. The mix of family drama and goofy humor just didn’t work,
Hell’s Kitchen (Thursday Night, Fox)
Hell’s Kitchen returned this week, with both Joe and Anne-Marie being eliminated from the competition. Like Chef Ramsay, I was surprised that Joe didn’t last long enough to receive a black jacket. As for Anne-Marie, she probably should have been eliminated weeks ago. She’s just too scatterbrained to be the head chef. (For the record, she would still do a better job in the position than I ever would!)
King of the Hill (Hulu)
On Sunday, after the news broke about the death of Jimmy Carter, my sister Megan and I watched the episode of King of the Hill in which Carter attempted to broker peace between Hank and his father. It turned out to be too big a job for even Jimmy. This was a classic episode and it featured one of my favorite King of the Hill lines. Upon meeting Carter, Hank says, “You ran our country …. (voice filled with reverence) America.”
Miami Vice (Prime)
I got back to watching Miami Vice this week. Watch for my review on Monday!
Saved By The Bell (Prime)
I wasn’t feeling well on Sunday night so Megan and I watched a few episodes from the Ms. Bliss era. We both agreed that Ms. Bliss was kind of a bitch.
The Twilight Zone (SyFy, Tuesday and Wednesday)
I caught a few episodes of the annual New Year’s marathon. This is a classic show and I always try to find times to catch my favorites, like The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, Eye Of The Beholder, Shadowplay, and that one with the nurse saying, “Room for one more, honey!”
Here are a few thoughts about what I watched during the final week of 2024.
Check It Out (Tubi)
Look for my review of this show next Saturday.
Degrassi High and Degrassi: The Next Generation (Tubi)
I’ve had a cold since the day after Christmas so I’ve been spending a lot of time in bed and rewatching the Degrassi franchise.
Dragnet (YouTube)
Joe Friday and Bill Gannon kept the streets safe in the episodes that I watched on Friday as I tried to get over my cold. Good for them!
Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)
In order to get a head start on 2o25, I watched an episode of Friday the 13th this week. Look for my review next Friday!
Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)
I watched this classic special with Erin on Thursday. Someone needs to check on Charlie Brown. He’s sleeping in the snow! He’ll never finish War and Peace if he gets pneuomonia!
Highway to Heaven (Tubi)
I returned to Highway to Heaven this week. Look for my review next week!
Homicide: Life On The Street (Peacock)
Look for my review next week!
King of the Hill (Hulu)
Hank rented a truck for the holidays! “You mean …. a convoy!?” Absolutely one of my favorite episodes of this classic show and I was happy to watch it on Monday.
I went on to binge a few more episodes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I’ve had a cold and this show has definitely kept me entertained as I’ve tried to will myself into good health.
The Love Boat (Paramount+)
I watched an episode of The Love Boat this week. Look for my review next week!
Malibu, CA (YouTube)
I forced myself to watch two episodes of this show on Sunday. Look for my reviews in 2025!
Monsters (YouTube)
I returned to Monsters this week. Look for my review next week!
Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (Sunday Night, ABC)
I watched this holiday classic with my sisters on Sunday night. It made me smile, as it always does. I love the holidays!
Seinfeld (Netflix)
I watched the Festivus episode on Monday (which, appropriately enough, was Festivus!). I always enjoy it when Bryan Cranston shows up as the decadent dentist.
St. Elsewhere (Hulu)
Look for my reviews to return next week!
TV 2000 (Night Flight+)
I watched an episode of this 80s music video program on Friday night. They were really wild about Bruce Springsteen. I’ve never really gotten his appeal but then again, I’m not from New Jersey.
Welcome Back, Kotter (Prime)
I’m continuing my way through the fourth and final season. My reviews will return in 2025.
Here’s just a few thoughts on what I watched this week.
Abbott Elementary (ABC, Wednesday Night)
I got caught up with Abbott Elementary this week. The first episode that I watched was the Ringworm episode and I have to say that I’m on Gregory’s side when it comes to the proper way to react to fungi. I’m sure it was probably not the show’s intention but the episode felt almost like a commentary on the madness that gripped the nation during the COVID pandemic.
Ringworm was followed by the “Class Pet” episode, which I really enjoyed. The Guinea Pig was unbelievable cute and I like any episode in which Ava is given a chance to show that she’s actually not that bad of a principal.
The Halloween episode was amusing, though the most interesting thing about it was people giving Jacob a hard time for dressing up as Pat Sajak despite Sajak’s politics. The episode, of course, was filmed and aired before the presidential election, which was won by Sajak’s candidate. As such, the episode felt almost like an artifact from the distant past.
The Dad Fight episode actually made me cry, both with laughter and genuine emotion. I’m a lot like Melissa when it comes to spraining my ankle. Gregory’s refusal to fight showed that this is a show that definitely has its heart in the right place.
This was followed by an episode about Jacob trying to lead a protest against gentrification that felt like an apology for those terrible anti-private school episodes from the second season. This episode also featured a great Ava subplot, in which she gave a TED talk about how be a successful principal.
The final two episodes that I watched were both Christmas episodes. Barbara put together the “Winter Show,” and then Melissa hosted “Winter Dinner.” Both episodes were okay without being as memorable as they could have been. One gets the feeling that the show’s writer couldn’t decide between being earnest and being snarky about the holidays and they instead went for a wishy-washy middleground. That said, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen of season 4. It’s definitely been an improvement over the third season and I look forward to seeing how things develop.
Accused (Fox, Tuesday Night)
This week, I got caught up with the second season of this anthology show. As always, Accused was frustratingly uneven. Occasionally, the stories are interesting. More often than not, though, this show often feels like it’s just trying too hard. To be honest, I think the show needs to liven things up with maybe a comedic episode or how about an episode that takes place on a different planet? If you’re going to go the anthology route, you really should be willing to experiment a bit.
Amerika (YouTube)
I finally finished up this very long miniseries from the 80s about what life would be like if America was taken over by communists. Life would not be good.
Dragnet (YouTube)
I watched my two favorite episodes of Dragnet this week, the Talk Show episode and the Night School episode. Jack Webb and Harry Morgan were a good team. Friday and Gannon would have agreed with me about Accused.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (YouTube)
Mary had to work on Christmas Eve! Boo! Poor Mary!
That Girl (YouTube)
Marlo Thomas has to work on Christmas Eve! Boo! Poor Marlo!
This week, other than the shows that I watch for my Retro Television Reviews, the only other thing that I watched was Hell’s Kitchen. Brittany was eliminated. Who was Brittany? Was she on the show earlier? Sometimes, with these reality shows, it feels like contestants just pop up out of nowhere so that they can be eliminated at the end of the episode. That said, I did feel bad for Brittany when she was eliminated. No one on the Red Team could really explain why they nominated her. It certainly was not Brittany’s fault that the Red Team lost that night’s dinner service.
I did smile when I saw that Penn and Teller were guests at the dinner service. I kept waiting for Teller to complain about the food but he kept quiet.
Well, it’s the holidays and earlier today, I filed and scheduled my final Retro Television Reviews for 2024. Those reviews will return on January 1st, 2025! I’ve got a lot of films and other things to catch up on before the New Year. Wish me luck!
Through the Shattered Lens 