24
Oct

What I Watched This Week: 18 Oct 2020

NEW SHOWS
Saturday Night Live – “Issa Rae/Justin Bieber” (B-)
A bit of a mixed bag. Nothing was outright terrible, and it did feature the best cold open of the season so far. Weekend Update has been on fire, too. Kyle Mooney’s digital short was a shrug of a piece of filler, but I will always appreciate someone who apparently has deep affection for Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream” video.

REWATCH
The Good Place – Season 4 (A- average)
Taken all together, it doesn’t seem nearly as “just OK” as it did when it aired last fall (and part of January), but it’s still not as magical as the first three seasons, at least until the back half of the season, when it’s absolutely transcendent, with a finale that moved me to tears once again.

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19
Oct

What I Watched This Week: 11 Oct 2020

NEW SHOWS & SPECIALS
Saturday Night Live – “Bill Burr/Jack White” (B+)
The best episode the show’s had in 2020, if not a little before. Its cold open went on far too long with a parody of The Fly that doesn’t work. But Burr being antagonistic in his monologue and some truly dark jokes during Weekend Update made this show feel bold in a way it hasn’t in a very long time.

A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (B+)
A charming reunion and a strong reminder that if your vote wasn’t worth anything, people wouldn’t be trying so hard to take it away from you.

CURRENT SHOWS & SPECIALS
Beth Stelling: Girl Daddy (B+)
A funny, freewheeling hour that interweaves vital #MeToo points and a surprising number of bestiality jokes.

BINGEING
Ted Lasso – Season 1 (A- average)
Everything you heard about this show is true. It’s a warm and worthy successor to Schitt’s Creek, with an added underdog sports plot. Jason Sudeikis is stupendous, as is the ensemble cast.

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10
Oct

What I Watched This Week: 4 Oct 2020

NEW SHOWS
The Boys – “What I Know” (A) / season finale
A jam-packed finale that could serve as a fitting series closer. Its emotional beats are earned and its “girl power” moment is a million times more effective (and violent) than the one in Avengers: Endgame. Thankfully, there will be more pitch-black satire to come, just as soon as this pandemic calms down.

CURRENT SHOWS
South Park – “Pandemic Special” (A-)
I shouldn’t have been surprised that the only scripted show on TV with this quick a turnaround would have been able to come up with something this savvy – hitting everything from economic downturn to Trump’s inaction to police shootings – but I wasn’t expecting it to be moving. But Stan’s storyline about being extremely anxious that we’ll never know when and if we’ll go back to normal hit very close to home.

BINGEING
Luther – Season 2 (B+ average)
Realism goes far out the window, but Elba helps keep it grounded. It’s captivating, but nowhere near as resonant as the first season.

Defending Jacob – Season 1 (B average)
By turns predictable and preposterous, the acting is consistently good but the writing is often weak, relying on twists instead of true character development. But its finale still packs a wallop.

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5
Oct

What I Watched This Week: 27 Sep 2020

NEW SHOWS
The Boys – “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker” (B+)
Felt a bit too on-the-nose, but it’s not the show’s fault the real world is run by white supremacists trying to start a race war.

CURRENT SHOWS
The Boys – “The Bloody Doors Off” (A-)
One of the show’s darkest and most violent hours yet, with half of the Boys trapped in a hospital for mentally ill patients injected with Compound V. The casting of Shawn Ashmore as an ex-Supe who kills the patients whose bodies reject the superpowers is inspired.

REWATCH
The Simpsons – Season 6 (A average)
Perhaps the show’s second-best season (after Season 4), with a particularly inspired stretch in the back half. And that finale, in which Mr. Burns’ behavior “crossed the line between everyday villainy and cartoonish supervillainy” doesn’t feel so cartoonish anymore.

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1
Oct

Streaming Picks: October 2020

FILMS
Top Picks
A Knight’s Tale – Prime 10/1
The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Netflix 10/16
Bad Hair – Hulu 10/23
First up is one of the most rewatchable movies of the 21st Century, a rousing period comedy about jousting. Sure, Heath Ledger gave heartbreaking and masterful performances, but he was also an extremely charming romantic lead, at least for a brief moment in time.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 gives Aaron Sorkin a chance to indulge in his best and worst impulses in his dramatization of the legal case against protestors at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. There will surely be some grandstanding and speechifying, but my god, that cast!

Finally, Bad Hair will provide some scares for this Halloween, but with a healthy side of laughs. Hailing from Justin Simien (Dear White People), it got mixed reviews out of Sundance but looks far too wild to ignore.

Recent Selections
A.M.I. – Netflix 10/1
Black ’47 – Netflix 10/1
I’m Leaving Now – Netflix 10/1
Judy & Punch – Hulu 10/1
Kindred Spirits – Prime 10/1
La Sucursal – Prime 10/1
Next Level – Prime 10/1
The Outpost – Netflix 10/1
The Sandman – Hulu 10/1
Sk8 Dawg – Hulu 10/1
We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Netflix 10/1
Archive – Prime 10/8
Terminator: Dark Fate – Hulu and Prime 10/9
Infamous – Hulu 10/11
Savage Youth – Hulu 10/11
Scotch: A Golden Dream – Hulu 10/11
The Swing of Things – Hulu 10/12
Alice Junior – Netflix 10/14
A Most Beautiful Thing – Prime 10/14
Halal Love Story – Prime 10/15
Life After Basketball – Hulu 10/15
Playing with Fire – Hulu and Prime 10/15
The Painted Bird – Hulu 10/16
Cyrano, My Love – Prime 10/21
The Hummingbird Project – Netflix 10/22
Yes, God, Yes – Netflix 10/22
Bad Therapy – Hulu 10/29
Soorarai Pottru – Prime 10/29

Originals
All Because of You – Netflix 10/1
The Binding – Netflix 10/2
Dick Johnson Is Dead – Netflix 10/2
Oloture – Netflix 10/2
Serious Men – Netflix 10/2
Vampires vs. the Bronx – Netflix 10/2
You’ve Got This – Netflix 10/2
Black Box – Prime 10/6
The Lie – Prime 10/6
Books of Blood – Hulu 10/7
Hubie Halloween – Netflix 10/7
Ginny Weds Sunny – Netflix 10/9
The Forty-Year-Old Version – Netflix 10/9
Evil Eye – Prime 10/13
Nocturne – Prime 10/13
BLACKPINK: Light up the Sky – Netflix 10/14
A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting – Netflix 10/15
Love Like the Falling Rain – Netflix 10/15
Time – Prime 10/16
Rebecca – Netflix 10/21
Cadaver – Netflix 10/22
Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score – Netflix 10/27
Holidate – Netflix 10/28
Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight – Netflix 10/28
Bronx – Netflix 10/30
His House – Netflix 10/30
The Day of the Lord – Netflix 10/30

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21
Sep

What I Watched This Week: 13 Sep 2020

NEW SHOWS
The Boys – “We Gotta Go Now” (A)
Homelander was terrifying on his own. But now that he’s teamed up with Stormfront, that’s white supremacist terrorism with superpowers. Yikes.

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21
Sep

Emmy Guide 2020: Limited Series and TV Movies

LIMITED SERIES
Little Fires Everywhere (Hulu)
Mrs. America (Hulu)
Unbelievable (Netflix)
Unorthodox (Netflix)
Watchmen (HBO)

Should and will win: Watchmen
Could win: Mrs. America
Should have been nominated: Briarpatch (USA)

The skinny: It’s not quite Watchmen all the way down. (We’ll get to that in a moment.) But 2019’s best show is going to have awards rain down like baby squid.

It’s too bad that even though these categories have fewer nominees than the comedy or drama fields that Briarpatch couldn’t pick up a single nomination.

ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

Should and will win: Hugh Jackman
Could win: Mark Ruffalo
Should have been nominated: Nick Offerman, Devs

The skinny: While I had long that Ruffalo would walk away with this for his dual role, it now seems like Jackman is going to win, and deservedly so. It’s his best on-screen performance.

ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere

Should and will win: Regina King
Could win: Cate Blanchett
Should have been nominated: Rosario Dawson, Briarpatch

The skinny: It wouldn’t be the most shocking thing if Blanchett won for her humanizing portrayal of Phyllis Schlafly, but if anyone other than King wins, there will be gasps across America. She’s the best part of the best show.

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18
Sep

Emmy Guide 2020: Comedy and Variety

COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Dead to Me (Netflix)
The Good Place (NBC)
Insecure (HBO)
The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime)
Schitt’s Creek (Pop)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)

Should and will win: Schitt’s Creek
Could win: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Should have been nominated: The Great (Hulu)

The skinny: It’s been a long time coming. While it’s sad The Good Place never got its due, Schitt’s Creek was the warmest, most open show on TV for six seasons. It will be a night of worthy sweeps.

While I was glad to see What We Do in the Shadows get some love, it’s sad The Great didn’t get the same attention.

COMEDY ACTOR
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

Should win: Ted Danson
Could win: Ramy Youssef
Will win: Eugene Levy
Should have been nominated: Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm

The skinny: While I still think Danson should have won for giving the evil Michael a soul (metaphorically and literally), Levy is almost certain to win. As the straight man in the ensemble, he doesn’t have as many chances for memorable catchphrases and moments, but he’s been one of the funniest people on earth for decades. It’s time.

COMEDY ACTRESS
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

Should and will win: Catherine O’Hara
Could win: Rachel Brosnahan
Should have been nominated: Elle Fanning, The Great

The skinny: It seemed like she was close last year. This year, nothing is standing in the way of the great Moira Rose.

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17
Sep

Emmy Guide 2020: Drama

DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul (AMC)
The Crown (Netflix)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Killing Eve (BBC America)
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
Ozark (Netflix)
Stranger Things (Netflix)
Succession (HBO)

Should win: Better Call Saul
Could win: Ozark
Will win: Succession
Should have been nominated: Mindhunter (Netflix)

The skinny: Even though it’s been nearly a year since Succession has last aired a new episode, it feels like it has all the momentum. Chalk that up to a lackluster season from The Handmaid’s Tale and Game of Thrones ending, but it’s clearly the frontrunner. Ozark has also been steadily building its case over the past two ceremonies, and its eligible season will be fresher in voters’ minds.

But for all their strengths, they pale in comparison to Better Call Saul, which just wrapped its best season to date. A thrilling, daring expansion of its themes of interior rot.

DRAMA ACTOR
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession

Should win: Brian Cox
Could win: Billy Porter
Will win: Jeremy Strong
Should have been nominated: Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

The skinny: While Porter could no doubt win again (and use his acceptance speech to call out the Academy for ignoring his trans co-stars), it seems it’s down to the father-son duo of Succession. Cox is a long-respected actor of stage and screen, but he hasn’t won a major award since an Emmy 20 years ago. I’m giving the slight edge to Strong, who’s been an exceptional That Guy until this show came along.

But I’m still not sure how they could forget Bob Odenkirk, who somehow got even better in his 10th year playing this part.

DRAMA ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria

Should win: Sandra Oh
Could win: Jennifer Aniston
Will win: Laura Linney
Should have been nominated: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale

The skinny: This one’s gonna be a nail-biter. With Moss shockingly snubbed (whatever you think about this season of Handmaid’s Tale, Moss is still acting her ass off), it’s down to Linney and Aniston. The former, who already has four Emmys, is now clearly the lead of the show, getting even more deeply involved with the family’s illegal dealings. But the latter is still beloved, at least judging by her SAG win for a show that’s otherwise received mixed reviews. She won what seems like a lifetime ago for Friends, but seeing as that show’s remained in the public consciousness all this time, that can only help her. Still, I’m sticking to my guns, but I may regret that come Monday.

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