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Showing posts with the label TV Show

The Great British Bake Off (Season 3)

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⭐7.5/10 We went back to the early days of this show, but not toooooo early because the first seasons are pretty odd. This season is mostly normal, and I won't bore with too many details, but it's interesting to see how far it's come in the last decade.  First off, this show's main character, Paul Hollywood, is pretty different. Outside of perfecting the Hollywood look, he's also meaner in this season, more serious, harsher when it comes to criticism. He's no Gordon Ramsey, but he gives only one Hollywood Handshake all season! I've seen him give 3 handshakes in just one challenge in recent seasons! Old Hollywood has gone soft!  It was also interesting seeing how flavours and trends have changed over the years. This is all chocolate and strawberry and lemon. Not one mention of cardamom or elderflower here! I really do think the contestants are more talented and creative in recent years.  So that's it. Always a fun, comforting watch, but the for...

English Teacher (Season 2)

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⭐ 9/10 The highly anticipated second season of a show my wife and I both loved! This was on par with season one, no real low spots, but it didn't take the leap the way I wanted it to. However, episode 3 was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time, me and Jess were crying with laughter. Lots in common with the dinner party episode of The Office, kind of the same setup actually, and they crushed it, each character going through some uncomfortable or awkward situation. It was written by Stephanie Koenig, who also stars in the show, and its really cool that she got the chance to own an episode and absolutely crushed it. My favourite thing about this show is its two-sided takes on modern issue. Evan is super liberal, but teaching at a school in Texas, and his ultra-annoying fixations and stances are played well against some more apathetic teachers, or even teachers with opposing views. Its refreshing to hear genuine pushback to hot button issues of the day, without it bei...

Abbott Elementary (Season 4)

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⭐ 7/10 This is the show we turn to when we have nothing else to watch, because its not good enough to want to watch otherwise. Its sweet and has a good heart, but the characters aren't changing enough for it to be compelling. We also love another teacher-based show, so this feels like a step down every time. I do love Greg, and his Jim-ness plus how particular he is is a good combo. I hate how they always make fun of Morton, kind of like how they treat Jerry in Parks and Rec, except the joke was always that Jerry is actually really nice, and Morton here is just a sad guy they pick on, really strange choice. Similarly, Mr. Johnson the janitor is never funny. Every episode something goes missing, and wouldn't you know it, it's Mr. Johnson! They kind of always give him the Creed Bratton lines, say something unhinged or unrelated, but also lots of hints at a dark past. It all feels so played out. I think Season 3 had the bonus of bringing together the main couple, and this sea...

Beef (Season 1)

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⭐9/10 This was the perfect show at the perfect time. It's hilarious, it's exciting, it's intense, it's smart. It really is the ultimate crowd pleaser, sure to engage pretty much anyone from the jump.  It's about Steven Yeung and Ali Wong getting into a road rage incident which sets off the craziest beef that completely spirals out of control. You become instantly invested in who gets the upper hand, and it's funny to watch because both of these characters have some admirable traits, yet they are so deeply flawed in more significant ways. Yeung is a hardworking handyman trying to support his family, but is also a completely insufferable narcacist. Wong is a successful businesswoman trying to keep it together so she can live a simple life caring for her daughter, and yet is a deranged sociopath with massive anger issues. The characters are incredibly written, so lifelike and well-realzied by their respective actors.  The plot is snappy and has a great ...

The Studio (Season 1)

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⭐ 8.5/10 This show is completely about how Hollywood romanticizes itself. Seth Rogan's character Matt becomes the head of a movie studio, a guy who loves "cinema" and wants to save it from all the slop, but ends up just being someone who fuels the slop machine. This push-pull of him trying to back projects that make money, but also please his superiors, is where a ton of the comedy comes from. In our age of streaming something that is kind of backwards looking like this is very timely. I shouldn't say backwards looking, its just interesting how people are dressed, what people drive, what the offices look like, clearly they are nostalgic for what Hollywood used to be. At the end of the day this show is funny, and that's what makes it worth watching. A couple of the episodes devolve into people losing their mind because of drugs or some other reason, and I don't find that funny at all. But a bunch of the other episodes remind me of the high-octane Bear episodes...

Modern Family (Season 11)

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⭐6/10 Ah, a merciful end. I think the greatest strength of this show is that there are very few duds. This show rarely has you dying of laughter, but it also rarely swings and misses. But holy smokes, season 11 has a lot of misses. In previous seasons, you will laugh every minute or so. In this season, there will be intros that are painfully unfunny or moments that really make you cringe, and not in a good way. I'm sure there were changes with the writers or something because this is pretty clearly not the same show.  That doesn't mean this season can't still bring it! In fact, some of the bigger swings result in some classic Modern Family moments, like maybe the spa scene or the whole arc with Phil bonding with Clair's former lover in France. There are some gems, but they are fewer and further between for a show that has consistently been rock solid.  I'd say I'm sad to see this show go, but I have been in the process of letting go for honestly a ye...

Pop Culture Jeopardy

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⭐ 10/10 A godsend! Jess and I randomly stumbled into this one night and instantly fell in love. We both love trivia, and I used to watch tons of Jeopardy as a kid. This is basically easier Jeopardy with modern questions that we knew a ton of answers to! Hosted by Colin Jost, who is great, this is strangely 3 teams of three. Not sure why, maybe just a chance to get more people involved, but it also means tons of the questions are being answered, which makes it fun. Over the course of the tournament we both grew attached to certain teams, hated other teams, and when the playoffs began we were legit tense every Final Jeopardy! There were crazy comebacks, insane wagers, wild Daily Doubles that either propelled people to victory or completely sunk them. A very fun show, and we are sadder that it is over than I think I have ever been. Something I need answered is some of the wagering strategies. I get the general idea, but there were unexplainable bets that costed teams wins in several key ...

Beef (Season 1)

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⭐ 9/10 This show had been on the list for a long time, it just took Jess finally saying she didn't want to watch anymore for me to burn through it. This show is great - super easy premise that then boils over into a million different things. 2 people get in a road rage incident that quickly escalates from grudge to full on war. One thing I noticed halfway through is how much was happening, how much time was elapsing, how many things change episode to episode, and I love it. Each episode I could feel theories brewing up about where this would end up by the end of the season, but they would blow past my ideas in an episode or two and then tons of other unexpected things would happen. Feels like its counter to the reddit theory-crafting game Severance or Lost have drilled in to us, and also very modern in its pace. The performances here are great, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong are both incredible. Steven is this sad broke guy who just messes up everything, and Ali is a ball of fire who li...

100 Foot Wave (Season 3)

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⭐ 10/10 This has quickly become my favourite show on TV the past few years. Its a documentary on big wave surfers, and it is the most beautifully filmed thing you can watch. Season 1 follows Garrett McNamara as he establishes the big wave surfing scene in Nazare Portugal, and Season 2 follows the lives of many of the surfers that have come to Nazare to take part in what Garrett built. Season 3 is the same cast of characters, and seeing how their lives have changed is really fascinating. In 2 Garrett is getting older and fighting the desire to surf with his own mortality, suffering many injuries that should probably end his career and struggling to see other surfers overtake him. In 3 he is essentially retired, and he's like a caged beast. He still surfs, but he picks his spots, and when anything goes wrong his wife is furious. They have kids to think of! This is a 5 episode season and the final 3 were some of the best of the whole series. One of them is a trip a handful of them ta...

Bluey (Season 1)

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⭐ 8/10 Long before I had a kid I had heard this was one of the best modern show for young kids, and while I don't have a lot to compare it too I did really like it. Basically 50 8 minutes episodes, and I thought most of them were creative and simple and charming. There were a couple that made me emotional, especially being a fresh parent and seeing how excited my son was to watch. The dad in the show is goofy and playful in a way that is very endearing, and I think that's kind of the show's main idea. Family's playing and being silly together is what makes for a fun childhood and rewarding parenting, it doesn't have to be complicated. I will say that a bunch of the episodes are just the dad coming up with a silly game that they play, often resulting in some sort of unexpected emotions. It felt a bit repetitive, but each episode is pretty unique so I was impressed with the amount of variance. My favourite episodes were when the kids would play with other kids, and s...

I Think You Should Leave - Season 2

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⭐9/10 "Glass House. White Ferrari. Live for New Year's Eve. Sloppy steaks at Truffoni's. Big rare cut of meat with water dumped all over it, water splashing around the table, makes the night so much more fun. After the club go to Truffoni's for sloppy steaks. They'd say 'no sloppy steaks' but they can't stop you from ordering a steak and a glass of water, before you knew it we were dumping that water on those steaks, the waiters were coming to try and snatch em up, we had to eat as fast as we could. Oh I miss those nights - I was a peice of shit though."  Proooobably my favorite season, though again, hard to give a season a 10 when there are so many gags where I'm stonefaced. But man, I have completely fallen in love with this show. I quote it constantly, and everything reminds me of it. Talking about my triples of the Barracuda, Roadrunner and Nova. Saying "gimme dat" at the dinner table. Pulling hair up but not out. Also...

The Chosen (Season 3)

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⭐ 9/10 I'll start out by saying that this show is still excellent, but I would say a slight step down this season. Episode are getting too long, and in some cases there is good reason, but it feels a bit bloated at times with so many characters to keep up with. I've always thought this show is about the disciples and not Jesus, and that makes it exciting when Jesus shows up and is doing his thing. But we are getting far enough along that I want to see us move in the Jesus direction, and less in the made up stories of the disciples. That said I think they do a great job of giving these disciples back stories that make sense with what we know about them, and make them great examples of what following Jesus was and is like. I love how they say things we think as modern viewers and followers, and I feel like I have a better understanding of each of them as people because of this series. I just know Simon denying Jesus or Thomas doubting is going to be incredibly emotional because ...

The Bear (Season 4)

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⭐ 6.5/10 What is going on with this show? They took something that felt so tight and dynamic with lots of pace and the last 2 seasons have been a dull bore where there are 5 episode spans where it feels like nothing happens. How long does Carmy go not saying how he feels? How many times do we see Sydney see a docusign email and not sign it? It's actually insane. I've heard the creator said he had 3 seasons of story, which might be all you need to know, and now they are making a 5th season? Terrible. The first couple episodes in this season someone says "Every second counts" basically every scene and its the most ironic thing ever how the show is just wasting our time. No forward momentum at all. The show is completely in love with its characters and the vibe of the show and Chicago, there are so many random pairings of characters just chatting and they think we should eat it up because they swear a bunch and say goofy things and Chicago is a nice backdrop. Do these p...

Schitt's Creek (Seasons 5 & 6)

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⭐ 7/10 These last two seasons have been slow to get through because its just not that great anymore. Kudos for them to ending the show as it was hitting peak popularity, but it was clearly running out of gas. It became clear at some point that there needed to be a chance to get this family out of this town and then we could see how much they have all truly grown, but I think the rich people stuck in a small town gag was gettign tiresome. Definitely laughing less, and also getting frustrated at a lack of character growth. Moira and David especially. Can someone tell me why Patrick likes David at all? He's annoying and spoiled and ungrateful and while their dynamic isn't bad I just don't know why they are together. Patrick can do better. I've always loved John, and its nice to see him get a chance to be successful again. And in my mind the MVP of the show is clearly Alexis! She changes the most in all the best ways, and kind of has the arc I expected for the full family,...

I Think You Should Leave (Season 1)

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⭐8/10 Going back to start the show from the top. I mean, as always it's impossible to put a score on this show, but I do think this one didn't quite achieve the highs of the other season while still having plenty of eye-rollers. Still, some sketches absolutely killed me.  My favorite sketches: The crying airplane baby The babysitter was late The door opens both ways It's a chunky! Game Night was a great non-Tim Robinsons sketch. Nachos is an all-timer for me. I also loved the skeleton song which I've had in my head for days.  Anyways, that all probably means nothing to nobody, but yeah, this show good. Going back through these sketches makes me want to give a higher score. I've also found each sketch better upon rewatch. I'll watch these till the end of time. 

The Rehearsal (Season 2)

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⭐ 8.5/10 Nathan Fielder remains my favourite comedian, and I will watch everything he makes. The first season of this show hit highs I don't think will ever be repeated, a perfect distillation of all his comedy up until that point, but with moments that made me emotional. The final episode of Nathan Fielder is still his magnum opus, but the Rehearsal is an evolution on what is happening in that episode, which itself was an evolution on the rest of the themes in Nathan For You. This season didn't quite hit the same highs, but it is bolder and in some ways even crazier. Nathan tackles a single issue throughout this season, which is aviation safety, and getting pilots and co-pilots to have better relationships, since his theory is that is what causes all these disasters. It took some funny twists and turns, like the pilot-judged singing competition, the awkward pilots he manages to pull in to this, and the miracle over the Mojave. That last episode didn't really move me or fe...

The Great British Bake Off (Series 15)

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⭐8/10 Not a ton of notes on this season, the latest one. I really do love how this reality show has become both a wonderful comfort watch and also a binge watch for us. So many nights where we are negotiating, you know, let's just watch up to the technical on the next episode, even though we should be in bed... Anyways, a bit of a spoiler warning, but this one didn't have much for standouts both in terms of personality or star power. There was one wunderkind who looked like he was about to have an MJ run, but he waffled in the end which made the season a bit less satisfying. But again, unlike fricken Survivor, it was justified in this season. He didn't come through when it mattered, and so he lost! But his storyline was the most compelling to me. There were a few other fun personalities but they didn't make it super far, and that's okay.  So kinda just an average season. It sounds like there will be some changes next season which is a little sad, mostly ...

Andor (Season 2)

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⭐ 10/10 This show is easily the best Star Wars of my lifetime. Episode 3 is peak movies for me, and honestly the Mandalorian season 1 re-ignited a love for the world, but this series is for grown up Star Wars fans. I do think season 1 was slightly better, but there are absolutely no complaints here about this season. The set design, the music, the writing and how its delivered, all top notch. Seeing what someone can do with the most wrung-out IP is honestly inspiring, and gives me hope that we aren't just living in a corporate hell-scape where everything we once loved is repackaged and regurgitated back at us for the rest of our lives. I remember in season 1 being in awe as a TIE fighter screeched above a group of rebels in hiding, and how terrifying this staple of Star Wars objects was when viewed from that perspective. In a nutshell that's what this show does so well, re-contextualizing everything you know about Star Wars with the trappings of actual people caught in an actu...

The Last of Us (Season 2)

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⭐ 7/10 This pairs well with my Lonesome Dove review, since its an adaptation of something I loved. However, I don't think this did as good of a job. The game has a unique structure, and the show kind of tries to match it, but I don't think it works at all, especially since there will probably be 2 years until the next season. Ellie's half of the game was less interesting than the second half in my opinion, and this season didn't improve on that. I don't want to hate on the actress, since I think Bella Ramsey actually does a great job, she does doesn't have the stature or frankly the age to match the character from the game. Everything seems less heightened and serious because she looks so young. There were great moments, and I thought the flashback episodes were better than expected. The big moment early in the season was solid, and I actually really like who they have playing Abby. Dever also doesn't match the stature, but I thought she brought the same en...

Lonesome Dove (TV Miniseries)

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⭐ 8/10 An adaptation of a great book, I thought this show was surprisingly faithful, and this 4 mega-episode structure served it really well. Acting was great, I don't have any real complaints other than that its hard to compare it to the book since I didn't have the same connection. You spend so long with the characters in the book, and I think these actors will always be those characters in my head, but its just not the same. The final episode is fantastic, and there is this montage after a major death where the road ends and they start setting up the ranch that I found very moving, felt it captured the spirit of the show so well. That's probably mostly because of the fantastic score, the main theme here is perfect. I thought they nailed a bunch of the big moments. My favourite moment from the book is a hanging, and they used a ton of the same lines here and I thought it was great. Otherwise I think it was a lot of the in-between moments where I would lose steam. It'...