Cannot wait for the Sepinwall helmed 3rd season of Poker Face featuring an episode where Lyonne's character has to solve the murder of a podcast co-host who turns from a Cleveland fan to a Yankee fan and takes to wearing a Jeter jersey so exasperating his BoSox loving co-host that that co-host is driven to a murder that takes place during their traditional Holiday (including Groundhog Day, of course) show in front of guest stars including comedy writers, actors, cultural mavens, and sitcom all stars.
I know it's not to be for a lot of reasons, but I would definitely watch a show in which Helberg and Mulvaney are law enforcement officers who quote Sondheim lyrics all the time. Or maybe they should just give us a Merrily We Roll Along with Mulvaney as Frank and Helberg as Charlie.
It's weird that Peacock scheduled Poker Face (for a weekly show) so late before the May 31st Emmy deadline and will have only aired half its season by then. I'm guessing they don't think the 2nd half will be award-worthy for the major categories.
Or they just felt it won't be much of an Emmy player outside of Lyonne, and maybe a guest star or two. Though there are notable guests in the later episodes I've seen, so... no idea.
I absolutely love the dumb bullshit that is The Rehearsal. I heard a lot of people complain about the Sully stuff, but it's all just the right amount of stupid for me so far to really enjoy the show still.
If you can't laugh at a middle-aged man in a diaper drowning in milk delivered by a giant fake bosom, I sincerely wish you have other sources of joy in your life.
Many Saints of Newark should have at least spawned a limited series. The cast was fantastic and Michael Gandolfini would have aged up well to cover the 70s to early 80s.
Not trying to nitpick, but Esposito was the victim in The Residence. Would have been funny if Esposito was the victim of two "Whodunit" shows in such a short period of time.
This season on Hacks, Ava has come across super annoying. In past seasons, she was more endearing than annoying. I’m glad she had a meltdown during the most recent episode because she had to be real for a change instead of a know-it-all.
I couldn’t wait for season two of The Last of Us, but post Joel, I haven’t had the drive to watch like I did before his death. Considering the way Alan feels (written about the season), I don’t feel like I’m missing much by waiting to watch.
I just caught up on ep 4, 5, 6 of Hacks and the back and forth between them fighting and them being good again is tiring. That being said, the writing is so good and I keep laughing and getting emotional every episode that it makes up for it. I liked episode 6. It I loved episode 4 with the scene of them at the hospital.
I think “The Rehearsal” is the best show I’ve seen in a long time. The first episode this season was great, but the last two were on a different level of brilliance. I really have no idea what I’m watching but it’s completely engaging, hilarious and thought provoking.
So far I’ve only watched the first episode of “Poker Face”. It was a fine reintroduction to the show but I didn’t think it was one of their better overall efforts. I mostly enjoyed the first season and am really looking forward to this one.
Although I don't know where the final three eps of Andor go plot or character-wise, I think Gilroy made a mistake adhering to his 3 eps a year format. Ghorman is the location for most of the action in the first 9 eps, and a number of important story beats either land with less power than they should or barely land at all do to compressing so much and skipping over moments that would have developed the bigger arcs. Still good TV, still has some great eps, but ditch everything with the clueless rebels vs Cassian and the wheat planet, much of that is redundant anyway but it had no plot or character value. The experimental TIE fighter is essentially a Macguffin.
Kyle Soller is really great and deserving of an Emmy nom but Syril's arc in S2 is a bit of a mess, and I don't think Gilroy did a good job establishing either Dedra's manipulation or Syril's cluelessness. He's the guy who spent months of his own time tracking down "fraudsters," hard for me to believe he could be clueless about the true nature of the Empire or what was going on with Ghorman all that time. I also didn't find much of Bix's arc worked, she's been underdeveloped the entire series.
Still really enjoyed eps 4-9 but there were a lot of opportunity to hone and improve the narratives that should have been ironed out in a writers room (which Gilroy called an "alien" concept to his approach). Still a lot to admire and enjoy and I prefer Andor to everything else Star Wars (or Marvel) that Disney has been doing, but this season could have been much stronger.
Late on this because I was behind on Poker Face, but Alan's comment section has been an oasis for those who like Andor but do not think it is the greatest TV show in history.
I think Gilroy was more-or-less forced to condense the 5-season Andor plan in 2 seasons, but I have to agree that the story feels rushed and hasn't been given enough time to develop organically. It's unfortunate, because there were still powerful story and character beats most especially in eps. 8 and 9, but they would have hit even harder with more build-up to those moments. It's almost like the opposite of The X-Files problem: instead of having to stretch something out, he's been forced to shorten things so much that the story has suffered a bit. But still enjoyable TV and (sadly) still easily one of the best SW things since 1983.
He was definitely forced into condensing his original outlines for season 2-5 into one season. I'm just suggesting that I think this second (and final) season's arcs and characters would have better served if he didn't try to account for each season equally, instead used the episodes/resources alotted to focus on Ghor. I think even just cutting back the Yavin rebels stuff, giving the Ghor storylines the equivalent of one more episode would have been really beneficial.
Poker Face Season 1 was uneven but had moments of brilliance shine through. Two episodes into this season have fallen pretty flat so far. I get that the season premiere was supposed to be parodying 90s sitcom tropes but that did not make it any less grating to watch the creative team behind Poker Face attempt the same silly plot. I am hoping for better as the season unspools.
Because this is how they're being released. And in the past when I've tried to cover streaming shows in a weekly fashion even when they don't come out that way, everyone loses interest because I quickly fall behind what they've seen.
Honestly, The Last of Us without Joel just doesn't seem to be worth watching. The narrative seems unfocused and disjoint. The relationship between Joel and Ellie is really what kept me interested in S1 and without that it just seems like generic, post-apocalyptic faffing about, which I've seen more than enough of in recent years.
Moreover, I really don't believe Bella/Ellie as a hardened killer bent on revenge. Dina and Ellie's trip to and through Seattle seems more like two young girls on a fun, if dangerous, romantic voyage of discovery.
The scene in the music store, for example, is obviously supposed to be a break in the mood, something to provide a little lightness in the dark story. But since I don't feel the darkness, it mostly came off as silly.
A lot of this falls on Bella, who frankly just doesn't have the acting chops to pull this off. This always the gamble with young actors who are fine playing the younger, simpler role but may fall off when it transitions into a more complex, adult. part.
For reference, I never played the game and I've made an attempt to remain as unspoiled as possible.
Bella Ramsey's performance in S2 is more divisive than I expected, I've seen frustration with her elsewhere. Personally I think she's been great up until Seattle. The writing is the problem for me, you actually touched on it in your comments. The glib, at times seemingly clueless way that both Ellie and Dina are navigating Seattle thus far is really hard to fathom, they both seem oblivious to the danger they're in and the weight of the choices they're making. That's on the showrunners.
I love Bella Ramsey but I'm having a hard time with them as part 2 Ellie so far. Ellie just feels too carefree considering the heaviness of this season it just feels strange. I don't know if it's Bella's acting or the writing but it's not fully clicking for me either.
This episode of The Rehearsal had me doing the Vince McMahon reaction meme. Incredible television.
Cannot wait for the Sepinwall helmed 3rd season of Poker Face featuring an episode where Lyonne's character has to solve the murder of a podcast co-host who turns from a Cleveland fan to a Yankee fan and takes to wearing a Jeter jersey so exasperating his BoSox loving co-host that that co-host is driven to a murder that takes place during their traditional Holiday (including Groundhog Day, of course) show in front of guest stars including comedy writers, actors, cultural mavens, and sitcom all stars.
I know it's not to be for a lot of reasons, but I would definitely watch a show in which Helberg and Mulvaney are law enforcement officers who quote Sondheim lyrics all the time. Or maybe they should just give us a Merrily We Roll Along with Mulvaney as Frank and Helberg as Charlie.
It's weird that Peacock scheduled Poker Face (for a weekly show) so late before the May 31st Emmy deadline and will have only aired half its season by then. I'm guessing they don't think the 2nd half will be award-worthy for the major categories.
Or they just felt it won't be much of an Emmy player outside of Lyonne, and maybe a guest star or two. Though there are notable guests in the later episodes I've seen, so... no idea.
I absolutely love the dumb bullshit that is The Rehearsal. I heard a lot of people complain about the Sully stuff, but it's all just the right amount of stupid for me so far to really enjoy the show still.
If you can't laugh at a middle-aged man in a diaper drowning in milk delivered by a giant fake bosom, I sincerely wish you have other sources of joy in your life.
I screamed so loud in shock and terror at that giant marionette that my husband had to come downstairs and check on me.
Many Saints of Newark should have at least spawned a limited series. The cast was fantastic and Michael Gandolfini would have aged up well to cover the 70s to early 80s.
Not trying to nitpick, but Esposito was the victim in The Residence. Would have been funny if Esposito was the victim of two "Whodunit" shows in such a short period of time.
This season on Hacks, Ava has come across super annoying. In past seasons, she was more endearing than annoying. I’m glad she had a meltdown during the most recent episode because she had to be real for a change instead of a know-it-all.
I couldn’t wait for season two of The Last of Us, but post Joel, I haven’t had the drive to watch like I did before his death. Considering the way Alan feels (written about the season), I don’t feel like I’m missing much by waiting to watch.
I just caught up on ep 4, 5, 6 of Hacks and the back and forth between them fighting and them being good again is tiring. That being said, the writing is so good and I keep laughing and getting emotional every episode that it makes up for it. I liked episode 6. It I loved episode 4 with the scene of them at the hospital.
I think “The Rehearsal” is the best show I’ve seen in a long time. The first episode this season was great, but the last two were on a different level of brilliance. I really have no idea what I’m watching but it’s completely engaging, hilarious and thought provoking.
So far I’ve only watched the first episode of “Poker Face”. It was a fine reintroduction to the show but I didn’t think it was one of their better overall efforts. I mostly enjoyed the first season and am really looking forward to this one.
"Joey Potter the killer" made me laugh.
Although I don't know where the final three eps of Andor go plot or character-wise, I think Gilroy made a mistake adhering to his 3 eps a year format. Ghorman is the location for most of the action in the first 9 eps, and a number of important story beats either land with less power than they should or barely land at all do to compressing so much and skipping over moments that would have developed the bigger arcs. Still good TV, still has some great eps, but ditch everything with the clueless rebels vs Cassian and the wheat planet, much of that is redundant anyway but it had no plot or character value. The experimental TIE fighter is essentially a Macguffin.
Kyle Soller is really great and deserving of an Emmy nom but Syril's arc in S2 is a bit of a mess, and I don't think Gilroy did a good job establishing either Dedra's manipulation or Syril's cluelessness. He's the guy who spent months of his own time tracking down "fraudsters," hard for me to believe he could be clueless about the true nature of the Empire or what was going on with Ghorman all that time. I also didn't find much of Bix's arc worked, she's been underdeveloped the entire series.
Still really enjoyed eps 4-9 but there were a lot of opportunity to hone and improve the narratives that should have been ironed out in a writers room (which Gilroy called an "alien" concept to his approach). Still a lot to admire and enjoy and I prefer Andor to everything else Star Wars (or Marvel) that Disney has been doing, but this season could have been much stronger.
Omg. Thank you for saying that about Bix. I’ve seen so much praise for the way her arc ended when I found it super cheap and unearned.
edit - finally read Alan’s article oops. He says it too lol. Everything on my social media has said the opposite.
Late on this because I was behind on Poker Face, but Alan's comment section has been an oasis for those who like Andor but do not think it is the greatest TV show in history.
I think Gilroy was more-or-less forced to condense the 5-season Andor plan in 2 seasons, but I have to agree that the story feels rushed and hasn't been given enough time to develop organically. It's unfortunate, because there were still powerful story and character beats most especially in eps. 8 and 9, but they would have hit even harder with more build-up to those moments. It's almost like the opposite of The X-Files problem: instead of having to stretch something out, he's been forced to shorten things so much that the story has suffered a bit. But still enjoyable TV and (sadly) still easily one of the best SW things since 1983.
He was definitely forced into condensing his original outlines for season 2-5 into one season. I'm just suggesting that I think this second (and final) season's arcs and characters would have better served if he didn't try to account for each season equally, instead used the episodes/resources alotted to focus on Ghor. I think even just cutting back the Yavin rebels stuff, giving the Ghor storylines the equivalent of one more episode would have been really beneficial.
Still a good to great season overall so far!
Poker Face Season 1 was uneven but had moments of brilliance shine through. Two episodes into this season have fallen pretty flat so far. I get that the season premiere was supposed to be parodying 90s sitcom tropes but that did not make it any less grating to watch the creative team behind Poker Face attempt the same silly plot. I am hoping for better as the season unspools.
I agree. I loved the first season, but the first two episodes have been meh for me. I’m going to keep watching, but kind of disappointed so far.
For Poker Face, why not just watch each ep on a weekly basis and review them that way?
Because this is how they're being released. And in the past when I've tried to cover streaming shows in a weekly fashion even when they don't come out that way, everyone loses interest because I quickly fall behind what they've seen.
Honestly, The Last of Us without Joel just doesn't seem to be worth watching. The narrative seems unfocused and disjoint. The relationship between Joel and Ellie is really what kept me interested in S1 and without that it just seems like generic, post-apocalyptic faffing about, which I've seen more than enough of in recent years.
Moreover, I really don't believe Bella/Ellie as a hardened killer bent on revenge. Dina and Ellie's trip to and through Seattle seems more like two young girls on a fun, if dangerous, romantic voyage of discovery.
The scene in the music store, for example, is obviously supposed to be a break in the mood, something to provide a little lightness in the dark story. But since I don't feel the darkness, it mostly came off as silly.
A lot of this falls on Bella, who frankly just doesn't have the acting chops to pull this off. This always the gamble with young actors who are fine playing the younger, simpler role but may fall off when it transitions into a more complex, adult. part.
For reference, I never played the game and I've made an attempt to remain as unspoiled as possible.
Bella Ramsey's performance in S2 is more divisive than I expected, I've seen frustration with her elsewhere. Personally I think she's been great up until Seattle. The writing is the problem for me, you actually touched on it in your comments. The glib, at times seemingly clueless way that both Ellie and Dina are navigating Seattle thus far is really hard to fathom, they both seem oblivious to the danger they're in and the weight of the choices they're making. That's on the showrunners.
I love Bella Ramsey but I'm having a hard time with them as part 2 Ellie so far. Ellie just feels too carefree considering the heaviness of this season it just feels strange. I don't know if it's Bella's acting or the writing but it's not fully clicking for me either.
I've played the game - Ellie is written pretty differently on the show. Not as big a delta as Lyra on the HDM show, but noticeable. It's not Bella.
Plenty of reasons to be lukewarm about this season of The Last of Us. But Bella Ramsey’s lack of “acting chops”? Ooo-kay.