I love the final scene of the Newhart finale. It can only really be done once (I love that Breaking Bad & LOST parodied it in bonus features). It's an underrated comedy & a rare '80s sitcom that holds up well.
The only thing I'd add is that it's been disputed over the years whose suggestion it was originally. The show's writers have said the idea came from writer Dan O’Shannon.
I get giving up on the Acolyte for sure. I think it had a ton of interesting ideas in it but the execution failed in a lot of ways, from my perspective of Osha and Mae not being interesting characters, and devoting 2 whole episodes to flashbacks which could have been covered in ~10 mins of dialogue each.
However I think it probably had far and away the best lightsaber fights I've seen in any Star Wars film/series. That isn't enough for people give other issues, but I'm surprised to hear you quit the show after what I think was undoubtedly the best episode it had (assuming you meant episode 5, Night).
I agree that the action sequences were great. But I didn't care about a single person or conflict within it, and when the next week rolled around and I realized there was a new episode to watch, I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for it.
I felt like half of the episodes were hard to watch and the other half were really fun and exciting, probably due to the well executed light saber battles. They were better lightsaber battles than in any of the new trilogy for sure!
The Acolyte actually semi-redeemed itself with its finale episode (episode 8) in my opinion. I was watching it, though without any great enthusiasm, until the final episode was unexpectedly pretty good and finished some of the character arcs in a more coherent and satisfying way than I thought they were going to; as well as having a lot of great lightsaber fights and also non-lightsaber action sequences
For some reason I thought episode 5 was the finale. Probably because I just didn't really care about the two sisters as protagonists. Guess I'll watch the rest just to complete it.
I hate to be one of those guys, but it seems to me now that one of the main through lines of the Disney Star Wars era is the deconstruction of the Jedi. The Acolyte is pretty much the culmination of that process. All of the Jedi on this show are jerks, either feckless douche bags or cowardly assholes. The only heroic Jedi is Jecki and they made sure to kill her off mid-season.
Manny Jacinto's Qimir seems like a much more honest and forthright character than any of the Jedi. Are the Sith actually the good guys now? They seem to be, apart from all the murdering, obviously.
Having not watched the second half of the season, I'm curious how, or if, the show deals with why the Jedi are oblivious to the idea of the Sith returning in 100 years time when we get to the events of Phantom Menace.
As far as I can tell from how the story played out,. it seems like it's partially outright denial, as we saw in the prequel films, and partially an intentional coverup by some on the Council who are trying to preserve their power and keep the Senate from meddling in their affairs.
fwiw, I don't think Manny Jacinto *is* a Sith, though I'm not finished the season yet. I think he correctly notes that that is the closest word the Jedi have for him, though, as someone who wields the force outside the realm of the Jedi's teaching
I feel like the deconstruction of the Jedi is a continuation of what Lucas started with the prequels especially once you include the clones wars animated series.
I think that the prequel movies explored the idea that their were serious issues in the Jedi Council and perhaps even in some tenets of Jedi philosophy. But the individual Jedi were still heroes and did heroic and badass things.
Now it just seems like they're all jerks and losers.
I didn’t think that Jedi Carrie Ann Moss or Jedi Wookie were bad. Same with Daphne keen and kord. Sol and green Jedi were rough though
And at least with sol I think he was mostly well intentioned but most of his bad decisions flowed from trying to suppress emotions per the Jedi tenet
For the most part I think I view the Jedi as well meaning zealots whose dogma and lack of emotion gets in the way of decision making. I kind of want to see a non Jedi group of light side force users. It feels like we have multiple groups of dark side force users but outside of Ahsoka there’s only Jedi on the light
I went into The Acolyte with 0 expectations as I do not care for Jedi lore or any of the old republic stuff. Despite that I really enjoyed the series and thought Darth Bortles was really fun in the later episodes. It wasn't great but I give it extra credit for getting me to enjoy a premise I had no interest in.
1. Andor
(Sizeable gap)
2. Mando
(another gap)
3. The Acolyte
4. Boba, but only because of those first 2 episodes
Yes! That's exactly what I think of Acolyte! It's not nearly as good as actually good Star Wars like Andor or the first two seasons of the Mandalorian but it's much better than total crap like Ahsoka/Kenobi/Book of Boba Fett. It occupies this strange place but I felt like with the way they did the finale it was moving more towards the Star Wars for grownups space of Andor for a possible second season which could be interesting
The Acolyte is so strange among the Disney+ Star Wars shows in that the action is good, the visual language of the show is good, and my connection to everyone but Darkest Timeline Jason Mendoza is nil.
Book of Boba Fett was a slog at times, and Obi-Wan was the entire time, but I finished those out because I wanted to know what happened (and because BoBF became a stealth half season of The Mandalorian)
Andor and The Mandalorian I didn't have any connection to, initially, but the first seasons of those shows were made so well that I bought in, and was generally rewarded for it.
Ahsoka is somewhere in the middle, where I have some familiarity with the characters and the show was fine (it was also short). Plus I read the Thrawn books as a kid.
The Acolyte - which I haven't finished yet, but will - is somehow none of those things. It's very weird.
I've posted this in a bunch of places but yes Acolyte has a very strange singular weird places in Disney Plus STar Wars. It's not as good as the actually good ones Andor and the first two seasons of the Mandalorian. But it's not an outright slog like Obi-Wan, Book of Boba Fett or Ahsoka (which I found to be a slog, maybe the worst of all the slogs). So it's not good exactly but not terrible.
I am SO frustrated that The Bear, a great DRAMA series, is constantly nominated as a comedy. First of all, it robs excellent comedic actors from well deserved awards. I feel like Hacks and its starts get sidelines because of The Bear when it comes to awards.
Then there's the fact that it makes the Drama category less competitive. Why? You want awards so you submit your show to the wrong category? It's likely they would've won less awards in the Drama categories, but would still win SOME. Especially with Succession no longer being a contender. I'm frankly surprised that the TV academy is letting this slide, and it's puzzling that voters want to give the show its due so much, that they vote for it even though they're essentially just giving 2 awards for best drama.
So to be fair, I love the morning show, obviously not like when it started, but still. With that said, I agree, too many nominates. I guess that's what happens when.... you need to fill spots in your drama category because you moved some people who are meant to be there to the comedy category.
I’ll concur with most of what I’ve been reading regarding the fight choreography in The Acolyte, pretty terrific fight scenes and the thought that went into how each Jedi would approach a fight in their own individual manner. However, as I progressed through the season, I found myself feeling a little “blah” about the series as a whole. It’s possible that this could be the “Cobra Kai” of the Star Wars universe, whereas you go in believing that you’ll be rooting for Daniel throughout the season, you surprisingly find yourself rooting for Johnny instead. Same here with the Jedi and Manny Jacinto. Never thought I’d have those thoughts about the Jedi but here we are.
The negatives to me were pacing (pretty atrocious) and character motivations were hard to parce at times/ seemed to flip on a dime
Positives - the fight choreography to me was some of the best in Star Wars. The story was mostly there though probably would have worked better as a movie. Manny Jacinto was fantastic and hot as hell. Felt like a companion piece to the last Jedi and I really do mean that as a compliment because that movie is my personal favorite piece of Star Wars
I’d be down for a second season even if this was a bit of a letdown if just based on my hopes of the creative team behind it and time period.
Annie Potts deserved a nomination and the excellent final session of "Young Sheldon" deserved a nomination, especially for the penultimate episode but it's a sitcom on CBS so of course not.
Yeah, but the most recent season of Abbott was also conspicuously not good. If not for the shortage of available comedies and the legacy of its first two seasons, it wouldn't have been nominated.
Although the character of Lt. Howard Hunter shouldn’t have fit in the gritty world of Hill Street Blues, James B. Sikking made it work somehow. His funniest moment on the show for me was in S6’s “Das Blues” when Howard bumps his head in the station’s basement and then thinks he’s stuck on a Soviet ship so he starts taking co-workers as hostages. (Also fun note that he reprised the role later on Cop Rock.)
I agree with your comments about Lady in the Lake. Natalie Portman is giving off strong Jackie O redux vibes with that highly mannered and accent-heavy “ACTING!” performance, especially when factoring in the pillbox hats. Still, I’ll likely hang with it for the other performances.
1. I’m not sure if you’ll be reviewing Batman: Caped Crusader (premiering Aug. 1), but I’d also recommend fellow DC show, My Adventures with Superman (Adult Swim/Max), which is wrapping its 2nd season on Sunday. The two 10-season episodes have been a joy and I’ve liked the different approaches they’ve taken to the Superman mythology.
2. The Acolyte was a huge disappointment and frankly a drag. It has a couple cool cameos though in the finale (one is a deep-cut reference).
3. I know you stopped watching Cobra Kai a while back but it’d make a quick catch-up for your next treadmill watch, as the fight scenes provide the adrenaline needed. It’s completely nonsensical at this point and the only reason I keep watching is that the movie is coming out next year.
Like I predicted, Macchio kept both productions in the loop so the storylines wouldn't contradict/not make sense. They all take place in the same universe.
I imagine it’ll be acknowledged it in some way since Ralph Macchio is starring in it (who has had a more hands-on approach with the franchise as an adult) and also the release date was delayed so that it wouldn’t premiere before the series finale (with the final season being broken up into 3-parts).
Maybe? Honestly, I didn't care enough about the previous episodes to want to know how it ends. But I'm at least slightly curious to see if/how they changed the ending from the book and movie.
I'm enjoying it. But i hope the finale explain why they paid Renata Reinsve, Ruth Negga and Lily Rabe for this show, and why they accepted. There was very little for them in these first 7 episodes. Peter Sarsgaard is so good.
It's going to be a The Bear sweep, no doubt, but i think that on the big 5 (Best comedy, lead actors, supporting actors) it will be close with Hacks. Think Hacks win lead actress and supporting actress. Also, have to say that Jamie Lee winning a Emmy for a guest role in a comedy series it's unbelievable. Would be very deserved on a drama series. But comedy???
That Newhart final scene has to rank up there with The Sopranos and St. Elsewhere as the most memorable. Watching it when it aired was amazing.
I love the final scene of the Newhart finale. It can only really be done once (I love that Breaking Bad & LOST parodied it in bonus features). It's an underrated comedy & a rare '80s sitcom that holds up well.
The only thing I'd add is that it's been disputed over the years whose suggestion it was originally. The show's writers have said the idea came from writer Dan O’Shannon.
http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2010/06/who-reeally-came-up-with-newhart-finale.html
I get giving up on the Acolyte for sure. I think it had a ton of interesting ideas in it but the execution failed in a lot of ways, from my perspective of Osha and Mae not being interesting characters, and devoting 2 whole episodes to flashbacks which could have been covered in ~10 mins of dialogue each.
However I think it probably had far and away the best lightsaber fights I've seen in any Star Wars film/series. That isn't enough for people give other issues, but I'm surprised to hear you quit the show after what I think was undoubtedly the best episode it had (assuming you meant episode 5, Night).
I agree that the action sequences were great. But I didn't care about a single person or conflict within it, and when the next week rolled around and I realized there was a new episode to watch, I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for it.
I felt like half of the episodes were hard to watch and the other half were really fun and exciting, probably due to the well executed light saber battles. They were better lightsaber battles than in any of the new trilogy for sure!
The Acolyte actually semi-redeemed itself with its finale episode (episode 8) in my opinion. I was watching it, though without any great enthusiasm, until the final episode was unexpectedly pretty good and finished some of the character arcs in a more coherent and satisfying way than I thought they were going to; as well as having a lot of great lightsaber fights and also non-lightsaber action sequences
For some reason I thought episode 5 was the finale. Probably because I just didn't really care about the two sisters as protagonists. Guess I'll watch the rest just to complete it.
I hate to be one of those guys, but it seems to me now that one of the main through lines of the Disney Star Wars era is the deconstruction of the Jedi. The Acolyte is pretty much the culmination of that process. All of the Jedi on this show are jerks, either feckless douche bags or cowardly assholes. The only heroic Jedi is Jecki and they made sure to kill her off mid-season.
Manny Jacinto's Qimir seems like a much more honest and forthright character than any of the Jedi. Are the Sith actually the good guys now? They seem to be, apart from all the murdering, obviously.
Having not watched the second half of the season, I'm curious how, or if, the show deals with why the Jedi are oblivious to the idea of the Sith returning in 100 years time when we get to the events of Phantom Menace.
As far as I can tell from how the story played out,. it seems like it's partially outright denial, as we saw in the prequel films, and partially an intentional coverup by some on the Council who are trying to preserve their power and keep the Senate from meddling in their affairs.
fwiw, I don't think Manny Jacinto *is* a Sith, though I'm not finished the season yet. I think he correctly notes that that is the closest word the Jedi have for him, though, as someone who wields the force outside the realm of the Jedi's teaching
For the most part yeah I think so. I think they need to flesh it out a bit more though since it seems like there’s more story to tell in that area
I feel like the deconstruction of the Jedi is a continuation of what Lucas started with the prequels especially once you include the clones wars animated series.
I think that the prequel movies explored the idea that their were serious issues in the Jedi Council and perhaps even in some tenets of Jedi philosophy. But the individual Jedi were still heroes and did heroic and badass things.
Now it just seems like they're all jerks and losers.
I didn’t think that Jedi Carrie Ann Moss or Jedi Wookie were bad. Same with Daphne keen and kord. Sol and green Jedi were rough though
And at least with sol I think he was mostly well intentioned but most of his bad decisions flowed from trying to suppress emotions per the Jedi tenet
For the most part I think I view the Jedi as well meaning zealots whose dogma and lack of emotion gets in the way of decision making. I kind of want to see a non Jedi group of light side force users. It feels like we have multiple groups of dark side force users but outside of Ahsoka there’s only Jedi on the light
I went into The Acolyte with 0 expectations as I do not care for Jedi lore or any of the old republic stuff. Despite that I really enjoyed the series and thought Darth Bortles was really fun in the later episodes. It wasn't great but I give it extra credit for getting me to enjoy a premise I had no interest in.
1. Andor
(Sizeable gap)
2. Mando
(another gap)
3. The Acolyte
4. Boba, but only because of those first 2 episodes
5. Ahsoka
6. Kenobi
Yes! That's exactly what I think of Acolyte! It's not nearly as good as actually good Star Wars like Andor or the first two seasons of the Mandalorian but it's much better than total crap like Ahsoka/Kenobi/Book of Boba Fett. It occupies this strange place but I felt like with the way they did the finale it was moving more towards the Star Wars for grownups space of Andor for a possible second season which could be interesting
The Acolyte is so strange among the Disney+ Star Wars shows in that the action is good, the visual language of the show is good, and my connection to everyone but Darkest Timeline Jason Mendoza is nil.
Book of Boba Fett was a slog at times, and Obi-Wan was the entire time, but I finished those out because I wanted to know what happened (and because BoBF became a stealth half season of The Mandalorian)
Andor and The Mandalorian I didn't have any connection to, initially, but the first seasons of those shows were made so well that I bought in, and was generally rewarded for it.
Ahsoka is somewhere in the middle, where I have some familiarity with the characters and the show was fine (it was also short). Plus I read the Thrawn books as a kid.
The Acolyte - which I haven't finished yet, but will - is somehow none of those things. It's very weird.
I've posted this in a bunch of places but yes Acolyte has a very strange singular weird places in Disney Plus STar Wars. It's not as good as the actually good ones Andor and the first two seasons of the Mandalorian. But it's not an outright slog like Obi-Wan, Book of Boba Fett or Ahsoka (which I found to be a slog, maybe the worst of all the slogs). So it's not good exactly but not terrible.
I am SO frustrated that The Bear, a great DRAMA series, is constantly nominated as a comedy. First of all, it robs excellent comedic actors from well deserved awards. I feel like Hacks and its starts get sidelines because of The Bear when it comes to awards.
Then there's the fact that it makes the Drama category less competitive. Why? You want awards so you submit your show to the wrong category? It's likely they would've won less awards in the Drama categories, but would still win SOME. Especially with Succession no longer being a contender. I'm frankly surprised that the TV academy is letting this slide, and it's puzzling that voters want to give the show its due so much, that they vote for it even though they're essentially just giving 2 awards for best drama.
Can you imagine what the drama category would have looked like without shogun? Ooof just a whole lot of nothing
What a mess.
The most annoying part was The Morning Show receiving so many undeserved nominations. It’s a truly awful show.
So to be fair, I love the morning show, obviously not like when it started, but still. With that said, I agree, too many nominates. I guess that's what happens when.... you need to fill spots in your drama category because you moved some people who are meant to be there to the comedy category.
I’ll concur with most of what I’ve been reading regarding the fight choreography in The Acolyte, pretty terrific fight scenes and the thought that went into how each Jedi would approach a fight in their own individual manner. However, as I progressed through the season, I found myself feeling a little “blah” about the series as a whole. It’s possible that this could be the “Cobra Kai” of the Star Wars universe, whereas you go in believing that you’ll be rooting for Daniel throughout the season, you surprisingly find yourself rooting for Johnny instead. Same here with the Jedi and Manny Jacinto. Never thought I’d have those thoughts about the Jedi but here we are.
I think I mainly liked the acolyte.
The negatives to me were pacing (pretty atrocious) and character motivations were hard to parce at times/ seemed to flip on a dime
Positives - the fight choreography to me was some of the best in Star Wars. The story was mostly there though probably would have worked better as a movie. Manny Jacinto was fantastic and hot as hell. Felt like a companion piece to the last Jedi and I really do mean that as a compliment because that movie is my personal favorite piece of Star Wars
I’d be down for a second season even if this was a bit of a letdown if just based on my hopes of the creative team behind it and time period.
Omg, your "Bye Bob" subhead hit me in a way that none of the obituaries so far have T_T
Thanks for sharing Linda's Shannen piece; I hadn't seen that one yet. Will include it my next update in my "continuing coverage" post.
Annie Potts deserved a nomination and the excellent final session of "Young Sheldon" deserved a nomination, especially for the penultimate episode but it's a sitcom on CBS so of course not.
Well, Abbott Elementary got tons of nominations so while it’s harder for a broadcast show to get prestige recognition, it’s not impossible.
Yeah, but the most recent season of Abbott was also conspicuously not good. If not for the shortage of available comedies and the legacy of its first two seasons, it wouldn't have been nominated.
Although the character of Lt. Howard Hunter shouldn’t have fit in the gritty world of Hill Street Blues, James B. Sikking made it work somehow. His funniest moment on the show for me was in S6’s “Das Blues” when Howard bumps his head in the station’s basement and then thinks he’s stuck on a Soviet ship so he starts taking co-workers as hostages. (Also fun note that he reprised the role later on Cop Rock.)
I agree with your comments about Lady in the Lake. Natalie Portman is giving off strong Jackie O redux vibes with that highly mannered and accent-heavy “ACTING!” performance, especially when factoring in the pillbox hats. Still, I’ll likely hang with it for the other performances.
1. I’m not sure if you’ll be reviewing Batman: Caped Crusader (premiering Aug. 1), but I’d also recommend fellow DC show, My Adventures with Superman (Adult Swim/Max), which is wrapping its 2nd season on Sunday. The two 10-season episodes have been a joy and I’ve liked the different approaches they’ve taken to the Superman mythology.
2. The Acolyte was a huge disappointment and frankly a drag. It has a couple cool cameos though in the finale (one is a deep-cut reference).
3. I know you stopped watching Cobra Kai a while back but it’d make a quick catch-up for your next treadmill watch, as the fight scenes provide the adrenaline needed. It’s completely nonsensical at this point and the only reason I keep watching is that the movie is coming out next year.
Have they ever clarified whether the movie will share continuity with Cobra Kai, though?
The showrunners said it doesn't.
Like I predicted, Macchio kept both productions in the loop so the storylines wouldn't contradict/not make sense. They all take place in the same universe.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/ralph-macchio-ending-cobra-kai-jackie-chan-new-karate-kid-movie-1235952128/
I imagine it’ll be acknowledged it in some way since Ralph Macchio is starring in it (who has had a more hands-on approach with the franchise as an adult) and also the release date was delayed so that it wouldn’t premiere before the series finale (with the final season being broken up into 3-parts).
...are we really counting the biggest prequel meme as a deep cut?
Alan, are you going to write about the Presumed Innocent finale next week?
Maybe? Honestly, I didn't care enough about the previous episodes to want to know how it ends. But I'm at least slightly curious to see if/how they changed the ending from the book and movie.
I'm enjoying it. But i hope the finale explain why they paid Renata Reinsve, Ruth Negga and Lily Rabe for this show, and why they accepted. There was very little for them in these first 7 episodes. Peter Sarsgaard is so good.
It's going to be a The Bear sweep, no doubt, but i think that on the big 5 (Best comedy, lead actors, supporting actors) it will be close with Hacks. Think Hacks win lead actress and supporting actress. Also, have to say that Jamie Lee winning a Emmy for a guest role in a comedy series it's unbelievable. Would be very deserved on a drama series. But comedy???