TV Diary
a) "Moonbase 8"
Between "Avenue 6," "Space Force," and now "Moonbase 8," there's really been a lot of comedy about buffoons in space or trying to go into space this year. On paper "Moonbase 8" looks really promising because Fred Armisen, John C. Reilly, and Tim Heidecker are three reliably funny guys who aren't really big stars per se, having them co-headline a show is kind of like a supergroup comprised of three famous bassists. And sometimes this show does feel like a bunch of bass solos, weird tangents about unlikable characters and no real protagonist -- the first episode is pretty funny and deploys two big, hilarious twists, but it's by far the best episode. Reilly is just a brilliant performer who I always enjoy watching, though, even when he's just reacting the other guys who are more focused on some broad conceptual bit.
b) "A Teacher"
I never saw the 2013 film A Teacher that this Hulu miniseries is based on, so I don't know if I would have the same issues with it. But I kind of feel like it's a well made, engrossing show that takes a problematic approach to exploring sensitive subject matter -- it's about a high school teacher becoming sexually involved with a student, but the 18-year-old is played by a 25-year-old actor (who, in a surreal moment, tells the 27-year-old actor playing another teenager "you look like you're 30"). So having 2 attractive actors who are much closer in age than their characters are supposed to be really distorts how this story feels in an irresponsible way, it's downright romantic at times and that's not cool at all, even if they're making an earnest attempt to tell a complex story with nuance and gray areas.
c) "Industry"
"Industry" is HBO's latest show about young people trying to make it in the big scary world, and I suppose it's a credit to Lena Dunham that I wouldn't have guessed she directed the first episode and it didn't really remind me of "Girls" at all. It kind of feels like a glimpse at the lives of the extras in "Billions," all the young professionals trying to get by in the high stakes high finance world while their bosses are making power moves. And it feels realistic in a depressing way, and then kind of piles it on with the most sympathetic character dying in the first episode. Not sure if this will become gripping or just kind of a bummer, hard to say this early. But it has my least favorite TV score in recent memory, just these dreary contemplative synth pop riffs pinging around loudly over scenes that would work better with less intrusive music or no music at all.
d) "B Positive"
I have a higher Chuck Lorre tolerance than most people I know, but I still find myself pretty resentful when actors I like get stuck in a CBS laugh track sitcom for a year or eight. And Thomas Middleditch coming off "Silicon Valley," Annaleigh Ashford coming off "Masters Of Sex," and Kether Donohue coming off "You're The Worst" all could and should be doing something better than "B Positive" right now -- especially Donohue, who seems to be in the show for maybe 90 seconds per episode. It's not terrible, and the opening credits are kind of nuts, but I find it frustrating to watch.
I finally gave in to my son's requests that I sign up for Disney Plus so that we can watch 'Baby Yoda' so I've been checking out some of the very very few other original shows they have rolled out over the past year. I never read Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff or saw the movie adaptation to know how to compare the series version, but it's interesting to the look at the competitive moments and in-fighting behind the history of the U.S. space program. Jake McDorman, who's kicked around countless shows as a generic handsome TV actor of no particular distinction, gives a really memorable, charismatic performance portraying Alan Shepard as kind of a dick.
This British dark comedy reminds me a lot of "The End Of The F***ing World," but its sense of humor is a little broader, I find myself rolling my eyes at a lot of the droll dialogue and kind of satirical moments of action movie violence. Maisie Williams from "Game of Thrones" is the star and it only took them two episodes to have a callback to Arya Stark's battle with the Night King in one of the fight scenes. Still, it's kind of a charming show with an unusual premise.
g) "Roadkill"
A miniseries where Hugh Laurie plays a British politician negotiating multiple scandals and potential scandals. Well made but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be rooting for this jerk as an antihero or just watch him make a wreck of his life and/or find his way out of this jam, like what is the appeal to this story supposed to be?
h) "Des"
I suppose I actually haven't seen David Tennant play characters that are Scottish like him that often -- my main previous frame of reference for what he actually talks like is his Scrooge McDuck in the "DuckTales" reboot, which I awkwardly can't stop thinking of when watching him play Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen in this miniseries. It's interesting much in the same way as "Mindhunter," just the bizarre phenomenon of killers being caught and kind of genially conversing about their victims and the bodies in their house.
i) "Grand Army"
This Netflix show kind of reminds me of "Euphoria" in how it feels like it's just stuffed full of every possible gritty boundary-pushing storyline you could have in a show about high schoolers, even in just the first episode. A little less stylized, though, in a good way, more relatable and more reliant on realistic performances from the cast. But I'm amused that Pamela Adlon's daughter, who was credited as Odessa Adlon in a CBS sitcom last year, is credited as Odessa A'zion in this show -- I don't know if her stage name is just pretentious or if she's trying to seem more ethnically ambiguous or what.
This is a Netflix sketch comedy show starring three Australians that is at times entertaining but also just kind of exhaustingly wacky, and I'm not sure if it has the capacity to grow on me or to completely turn me off.
k) "Paranormal"
This Egyptian series on Netflix is interesting, because it's like an anthology about supernatural stories but it revolves around this one gloomy professor character who I find entertainingly cantankerous.
This Amazon series created by one of the screenwriters of Birdman makes the very simple and very effective decision to basically tell the story of the FIFA scandals and corruption in South American soccer leagues in the style of Goodfellas or Casino. Generally being derivative of Scorsese is not something I'd necessarily praise, but it kinda surprised me here and they really nailed the tone and injected the right amount of humor into the story.
m) "Trial 4"
A Netflix true crime miniseries about a guy who was wrongfully convicted for killing a cop in Boston, really gets into just how insane an entire city can get about making sure to arrest and convict someone when a cop is killed even if there's not enough evidence. It's a weird choice for them to depict the murder in question with a little anime segment, though.
"Nathan For You" is one of those shows that people are absolutely crazy about that I'm just kind of indifferent to, occasionally they pull off something hilarious but the super dry tone just bores me after a while. "How To With John Wilson," exec produced by Nathan Fielder, is a very similar show with an even nerdier and more shy, monotone host, narrating the entire show in this grating voice while having interviews with real people who aren't always 'in on the joke' carry the show. I kind of hate it.
Maya Rudolph narrates this show, and she kind of cuts loose and unleashes the full force of her personality in the voiceovers just as much as if she was actually an on-camera host, which is kind of an odd unique choice, but it works.
This World War II miniseries was originally announced 7 years ago as a live action project to air on the History Channel, before the project's budget just became too expensive to make. So the version that finally arrived on Netflix recently is their cost-saving compromise, an animated miniseries done with rotocope-style animation with animation drawn over live action performances. It's got an interesting look and WWII is kind of novel subject matter for this style of animation, but I don't know, I don't find it very compelling, it feels like an experiment that doesn't quite gel.
A Netflix show where aspiring drag queens get mentors and guidance, it's really very sweet and emotional at times watching these folks realize their dreams and become what they wanna be.
r) "Love Life"
Now that I've got HBO Max I've been going through some of their shows that came out earlier in the year, and I really like this one. It's an anthology series where each season follows a character through every major relationship in their life, with Anna Kendrick as the first protagonist. And even though it hits a lot of familiar rom com beats and isn't doing anything really groundbreaking, there's something about the format and the way you follow this person through years and multiple cycles of infatuation and disappointment, with well observed and relatable details, it's really affecting.
Also now getting into the second season of "Harley Quinn" now that I have HBO Max, and man, this show is just a gem, really treating the whole Batman universe as a playground for ridiculous jokes. My favorite bit in the 2nd season was having Jim Rash voice The Riddler and doing a little "Community" gag where he becomes the dean of 'Riddler University.'
t) "Superstore"
I get anxious about shows coming back with new episodes made after the pandemic began, I feel like a lot of people in the entertainment industry have just taken unnecessary risks in going back to work so soon. But "Superstore" has always been kind of a perceptive and realistic look at a huge piece of American life, retail work, that doesn't really get portrayed well on TV that often, so I'm kind of glad "Superstore" is back with some episodes that get into what it's like to work in a big box store during the pandemic. America Ferrera was in the first two episodes of the season as they kind of wrap up her storyline and send her off to California, so it doesn't feel like she's gone yet, but I feel more confident that the ensemble will carry the show just fine without her than I did when they first announced she'd be leaving the show.
I tried watching this when it came back but I was never a huge fan and it just feels like they've painted themselves in a corner, trying to do the most outrageous and strange thing and then top it, and now I just barely crack a smile watching the repetitive schtick.
The Trump years were bad for everybody, but the entire saga has been especially unflattering for "SNL," so maybe they can kind of move on and not have Alec Baldwin on for a few years. That 'Trump addicts of America' sketch was really dumb, though, felt like they were accusing other people of what is clearly their problem. Most of the recent episodes have been pretty good, though, Adele was a fun host. I guess their COVID protocols to let them do a live show with an audience have actually worked, that's impressive.
Netflix's new show about a talking truck who's friends with a little boy and a bear and a raccoon. It's really whimsical and sweet, with a neat-looking animation style, and the kid reminds me of my 5-year-old who watches it.
Netflix's new talking train "Thomas The Tank Engine" knockoff from Canada, it's really annoying.
Netflix has this cartoon produced in France that's kind of a "Tom and Jerry" throwback where the animal characters don't talk and I like that, it's really an underrated style of cartoon now.
This show aired for 2 seasons and got cancelled a few years ago, but it has a cult following that my 11-year-old is now part of, he's spent the last few months watching and rewatching every episode, looking on YouTube for explanations of all the show's mythology and inside jokes, using his Nintendo 3DS to record the scenes with backwards dialogue and reverse them. It's a really cute, funny show, but I just love seeing him nerd out on something like that for the first time, I already got him the follow-up graphic novel that was published after the show ended.
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