Television
The Simpsons (Disney +)
I have watched these opening credits enough times that I have favorite parts.
I will rank them for you.
5. The dot that appears by Bart’s head just before he sees Homer driving by.
If they ever remove this flaw from the opening credits, I might cry. I don’t point it out or anything, but I look for it every time I watch.
4. Maggie in the bag at the grocery store.
It’s not Maggie being put in the bag that I love, it’s the look of relief on Marge’s face when Maggie pops her head out of the bag.
3. The couch bit.
It repeats way more than I remember.
2. Bart’s chalkboard bit.
It’s fun to see the lil easter eggs they put in these. They are super into The Matrix right now.
1. Marge and Maggie honking the horns in the car.
It brings me massive amounts of joy.
Also, I feel very dumb, but I just realized that Maggie is most likely named after Marge. How precious.
Somebody Somewhere S3E4 – What if it Spreads? (MAX)
Every one of these episodes is about something, and I think this one is about getting out of your comfort zone.
Shrinking (AppleTV+)
You know who else is brilliant in this? Ted McGinley.
Oh, hey this week’s episode had me bawling. What a lovely work in forgiveness.
This show has a special kind of magic to it.
In case you didn’t know, it is by the same fella who created Ted Lasso and Scrubs. It has the same kind of heart.
High Potential (ABC or Hulu or Disney+ or Max, I think)
The “fall finale” was directed by James Roday Rodriguez, who played Shawn Spencer on Psych.
This show definitely has Psych vibes, so I think this is a perfect choice.
I hate the fall break TV cycle. It’s all herky jerky and dumb. And they are changing the time slot too. From Tuesdays at 10pm to Tuesdays at 9pm. To me, that means that the network believes in the show and want to use it as a lead-in to get a new mid-season replacement viewers.
Hmm, maybe not. It is season 7 of some show called The Rookie.
WAIT IT’S A NATHAN FILLION SHOW?
Well, this move might really work in your favor, ABC.
Have any of y’all watched it? Will I like it? Tell me about it!!!
Ugh oh wait it’s a cop show. I don’t know if I can watch police at this moment in our terrifying history.
Abbott Elementary (ABC / Hulu)
Did y’all do parachutes in elementary school? I loved that so much. I would do it todday, honestly. Oh, I guess we kind of did when we went to Architects of Air a few years back.
I love Manny, too! He’s a positive character and is great at lifting folks up!
Ok wait no. I am mad at him now. He’s not being nice to Ava. It turned around though.
I love Ava so much. Watching her grow in her career has helped me grow in mine.
I read that there are now Abbott Elementary Funko Pops. I don’t really collect them anymore, but you know if I did, I’d get an Ava.
SNL (Peacock)
Charli XCX
She was a great host. Kind of boring for a musical guest, but can see how her energy would be way high in a club setting.
I am bored at Trump and Joe Biden. Alec Baldwin, too. Why?
Also, his fly was wide open in the goodbyes.
George Carlin (S1E1)
We watched this immediately following (the movie) Saturday Night. It was an excellent choice.
One thing to note: These sketches were SUPER short. I think it is interesting that our attention spans have greatly shortened since the first season, but the sketches on SNL have increased in length.
Someone give me money to do a formal study. I bet the sketch lengths ebb and flow with the economy or some shit.
Dead Like Me
What makes this show truly exceptional is the way it effortlessly balances three strong stories at a time.
There’s the reaper storyline, with Rube and Daisy and Mason and Roxy. And Kiffany at Der Waffle Haus, of course.
Then there’s George’s (the main character) worklife at Happy Time, that features Delores, Murray the Cat, and the mysterious Crystal, who I wish had a spinoff of her own.
And finally, there’s George’s family’s life. This is mostly Reggie (George’s sister) and their mom, with some sprinklings of their adulterous father.
Each story needs the others to survive and they all weave together just gorgeously.
This show is a true masterpiece.
Succession: S2E8 – Dundee (MAX)
This show is a comfort show. I cannot explain it.
I was putting pressure senstive tape on the windows to see if it made a difference with drafts and wanted to watch something familiar. (I already watched Challengers the day before.)
The trainwreck of Kendall Roy rapping “L to the O-G” awakens my inner cringe monster.
Or maybe it’s just me rapping along.
The Other Two: S3E6 – “Brooke, and We Are Not Joking, Goes to Space” (Max)
I have been thinking about this particular episode a lot since the election.
It opens with “Hellllllp, my nachooooos” and takes us on adventure where Brookie goes to space… twice.
The person that takes her to space (both times) are Musk-type billionaires (one very newly minted) and the vibes of both of those characters is distressing.
But, like, darkly funny like this show always is. It deals with heavy topics in all the seasons, but the third season goes particularly hard on our characters. Cary goes through the wringer, his ego in particular.
I’m so sad this show didn’t get any more seasons. It’s brilliant on many levels.
Oh, and if you just want to dabble, I think this episode works on its own.
Notable quotes:
- ”Look how high I am”
- ”Do you want to be the face of Disney’s first unapologetically gay character?”
- ”Aren’t I so, so high?”
- ”I’m on a private plane with Simu Liu.”
- ”Who was that? Did you tell them how high I am?!”
- ”Globby has weirdly become this queer icon… or whatever?”
- ”I bet I can get down it faster than that stupid fucking baby”
- ”Oh my god, we’re in space”
- ”I’m the highest man alive!”
- ”Marvel fans are not well, Brookie”
- ”Yes, I’m *just* a millionaire”
- ”We’re here. We’re queer. We’re Globbyyyyyyyy!”
- ”I really love how both your lips touch when you chew”
- ”Look how high I am!”
- ”We missed the scene? We all wanted to throw eggs at it!”
- ”Me am the most mannnn”
- ”I cannot believe I have been to full space twice in one week”
- ”You’re not gonna believe this but a straight man just taught me something.”
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – E1
This was also part of the night we watched Saturday Night. We probably would have watched a couple episodes of 30 Rock, too, but I was sleepy.
Studio 60 deserved way more than one season. It’s an excellent show.
Australian TV (Or Dropout TV)
Australian Survivor Heroes vs. Villains
Still on a break – Aubz is on that tour life.
Dirty Laundry (Dropout TV)
I want to do this show with my friends. Can we make this happen?
Movies
Thelma (Hulu)
This was fucking fantastic.
I have been DYING for this movie to come to streaming because I love June Squibb. If you put that woman in anything, I will watch it.
I fell in love with her in Nebraska and have stayed there ever since.
She is a STAR. At 93, this is her very first leading role. It’s a great one. It’s one that I think should get attention during the awards season. June Squibb should get a Best Actress nomination, 100%.
And the writer (and director and editor), Josh Margolin, wrote this based on his own (still-living) 103-year-old grandma. I love a fresh story with excellent writing and this script has that in spades, y’all.
Oh, here is the description from the pros:
Thelma Post is a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 to a con artist on the phone. With help from a friend and his motorized scooter, she soon embarks on a treacherous journey across Los Angeles to reclaim what was taken from her.
Like, I thought this was gonna be a light bop, that I would think back on fondly. But, nah, y’all. This is a GREAT movie.
Also, I love see older actors get meaty roles. I saw a thread on reddit or a think piece or a tik tok that said something about that’s the reason why the Real Housewives franchises were so important — beucase they show women of that age thriving… and they show women of that age at all. It is an interesting viewpoint that I’ll sit with for a bit.
Oh, one more thing — Fred Hechinger plays the grandson. I got a warm feeling from him troughout the movie, however I couldn’t place him from anything in recent memory that would make me feel that way. I chalked it up to just being an excellently written character.
Nope! He played Steve Zahn’s son in the first season of Mike White’s The White Lotus. The one who fell in love with paddling. His story was my favorite that season and I’m so happy to see him in a role this warm and lovely.
Deadpool Vs. Wolverine (Disney+)
This was fun. Meta as hell with lots of stuff that made Mickey (a comic book fellow) gasp and get excited about it.
Any movie that can do that is A+ in my book.
Saturday Night
The cast in this was so amazing that I wish it were a series.
I grew up on SNL and loved this.
It was frantic and passionate and dramatic and funny and had heart and coolness and everything it needed.
Janet Planet (Max)
This was fine. It was a good first showing, and I’ll keep an eye on the director, but I ain’t raving about it.
Also, I watched a LOT of good movies this weekend, so it had stiff competition.
I’m trying to be better about making things compete with each other, but my neurodivergent brain thinks otherwise.
Challengers (Amazon Prime)
Don’t judge me. D finally watched this and reaffirmed my belief that this is one of the best movies of the year and so I had to watch it again, because I got all hype about it again.
It somehow gets better every time.
