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Reviews
The Doris Day Show (1968)
Parts of it date poorly, but it was a solid show that doesn't get enough credit.
If you ignore the first season, this show deserves a lot of credit. It clearly paved the way for MTM. Five years in, CBS still wanted the show, but Day quit when her deal had run its course. But Day is justifiably seen as a conservative figure (she was politically more or less a right winger, and her movie roles convey pretty old fashioned ideas about women), so we tend to ignore her influence in increasing the visibility and range of (white) female characters.
When this topic has come up, i've often pointed out how reactionary some counter culture figures actually were. The Beatles were quite misogynistic, as were most rockers, and the original lyrics of Get Back feature anti-Pakistani sentiments. Taxman is basically a libertarian anthem.
I'm not scoring points here... I happen to be on the left end of things myself. What I'm pointing to is that we retrofit people's later views or their public image onto their work and their significance. Whatever Day thought about feminism, she opened up a lot of space for women in Hollywood.
John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch (2019)
sweet and amusing
Essentially a contemporary version of those 70s Xmas variety specials headed by a singer or comic. I'm not really sure who this show is for, but it was pleasant and at times genuinely funny. David Byrne's duet with one of the kids was a highlight, and Andre De Shields' number was a treat as well, and hit the mark comedically. I watched it with my kids, 13 and 15, both fans of Mulaney. I'm a late Dad, so the style references were very much aimed at my age range... I remember the shows Mulaney is gently mocking quite well. My kids got the joke(s), but i think got a bit weary of it about half way through. My 13 year old said when it was over, "I think it would have been funnier if it was just John Mulaney." Well, yeah. I appreciated the gentle tone and the little surprises... your mileage may vary.
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: The North Pole (2019)
WTF
The show has exhibited signs of life recently after a long period of seemingly phoning it in. Obviously Ziva gives it a shot in the arm, as De Cote has such presence and we have a sense of history to draw on as viewers. But this episode is so callous and sloppy that it squanders all that. The twist is compelling... until the script just walks away from that little boy. I don't give a crap anymore about these people and their problems (even Ziva's struggle to get back to her family feels contrived and unconvincing, especially since we know the whole plot line around her little girl is a product of De Cote and Weatherly leaving the show, not an organic development), if they don't care about what just happened to another child, a child who we were led to care about over a number of episodes. Will they pick that thread back up? Maybe... but the way this ended left me irritated and ready to give up on NCIS after 17 years of watching it.
Poison Pen (2014)
Might have been amusing, but the camera work...
Decent little script, perfectly okay performances. The camera work... what on earth happened? There are scenes where it appears they couldn't decide whether to use a stationary camera or go handheld, so they decided to just shake the camera randomly. It's nausea inducing and has no artistic or symbolic purpose.
Almost Family (2019)
Trashy clone of a good aussie series.
Almost Family is a remake of a great quirky Aussie show called Sisters. Structurally it's a clone. In tone it's a travesty. The dialogue is absurd, totally unbelievable interactions. All the quirk, the sense of a small but interesting world, is sucked out and replaced with run of the mill nonsense. If you don't like the way a show works, why remake it? There are some good American shows happening, this one is a complete waste of your eyeballs.
God Friended Me (2018)
The comments are amazing
It's such an amazing window on American dysfunction to read the comments on this show. You can witness the way so many christians live in a local bubble, unaware of diversity of opinion within their own faith, unaware of how ridiculous they sound getting upset at the existence of lesbians.
In fairness, many of the atheist commenters are equally unaware of diversity among christians. The atheists are saying little except "sky daddy" etc, showing zero perspective or insight, and the christians are just revealing their blinkered hatefulness.
But let's forget all that and ask the really important question: who at CBS thought it made sense to base a show around FACEBOOK in 2019? Sweet baby jesus, there are some dumb people in Hollywood.