August 2020 – TV Quick Hits & Misses

High Score (NETFLIX) – A fair-to-midland six-episode documentary series that explores the home video game explosion. Including episodes and segments detailing arcades, consoles, RPG’s, Sports and Fighting Games, as well as the congressional video game violence hearings, video game tournaments, and the E-sports Phenomenon. Not nearly as fun as “The Toys That Made Us” but if the journey from Pong to Beyond is your thing, then this is a deep dive for you.

Note: The series is narrated by Donald Ian Black, the same guy who narrates “The Toys (and Films) That Made Us”, but he sounds significantly less excited.

Muppets Now (Disney+) – Semi-entertainingly transplanting the Muppets into the modern era, this half-hour sketch comedy works well enough under the premise that the Muppets are uploading their short-form skits to the internet. Skits involving a collection of modern ideas like cooking shows, influencers, hastags, celebrity interviews, and Zoom meetings on the Rainbow Connector app.

The positives see many of the Muppet favorites worked into the series, but the downsides see a discomforting repetition of skits over the short six-episode series. The original series tried a lot of ideas and returned to many of them, the difference for this series feels like a lack of ideas rather than a sub-quality of work. Here’s to hoping they branch out a bit more in the future.

Guest stars include, Linda Cardellini, Taye Diggs, RuPaul, Carolina Will, Seth Rogen, and a slew of celebrity chefs; but sadly, no musical acts.

Note: There are some truly educational moments in the show but I’m not so sure they’re suitable for children of all ages; i.e. Bunsen Honeydew and Beakers “Field Test”. These sketches come with a “Warning from Legal” to not try these tests at home, or wherever you might happen to be; Zoinks, Yo!

Space Force (NETFLIX) – This comedy series sees a recently appointed 4-star general, played by Steve Carrell, charged with heading the newest branch of government military, the United States Space Force.

Created and written, in part, by Steve Carell, the series is smarter and less ridiculous than you might expect; at least over the first five-episodes. And while it gets significantly more ridiculous over the final five, the series never really falls flat on its face. Ultimately, the series isn’t great, but it’s certainly good.

Helping to keep the series afloat is a score that is dramatically militaristic (think 1980’s NBC hit,  “The A-Team”), a few visual homages (see “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”), and one heck of a supporting cast. These supporting troopers include: John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, Ben Schwartz, Diana Silvers, Jimmy O. Yang, Don Lake, Dan Bakkedahl, Noah Emmerich, Diedrich Bader, Jane Lynch, Patrick Warburton, and the final onscreen performance of Fred Willard.

Quotes of Note:

1. “Acknowledge my gender again and I will fuck you in the ass.”
2. “It’s a Daisy. We used to use those to hunt poor kids back home.”

The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (TNT) – Dark Dark Dark, Yo! Like uncomfortably dark. While the first season dealt with underage prostitution, this season’s story steps back a bit further to tackle a tale of infanticide. This is not a ‘good time/feel good’ type of show, and although it never was, the main characters are less rigid and more at ease with each other this time around, making the whole sordid affair easier to watch, and dare I say, to enjoy, than its predecessor.

Yellowstone: Season 3 (Paramount Network) – With its season-to-season repeat of ‘a capitalist evildoer trying to usurp the Dutton Ranch’ I was wonderfully surprised to find that this was the most enjoyable of the series’ three seasons. Thankfully, spending more time on character relationships than on pride and prejudice-related pissing contests really paid off for me as a viewer. Don’t get me wrong, the pissing contests and capitalist evildoers are still there, but the whole thing feels more unified and therefore more satisfying than the previous seasons have.

Note: The addition of characters Teeter (Jen Landon) and Mia (Eden Brolin) were welcome surprises.

-m-