Thoughts on 5 New TV Shows

1. Nobody Wants This - This is SUPER cute!! I heard good things and I adore Adam Brody, but I instantly had my doubts when I realized the other main character (played by Kristen Bell - who I don't always love) is a podcast host, and her podcast is about her relationships and dating. I'm sorry, but I hate the whole idea of this - nobody fucking cares about your dating life. It's so narcissistic and annoying. But apparently people do care because this is what people do with their lives now - they listen to strangers on podcasts talk about their lives (like, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. Even some of my co-workers - instead of putting music on in the stockroom, they now put podcasts on and I want to kill myself). Anyway, fortunately - this show is still good even though I hate this whole concept. The show is more about falling in love with the unexpected and life not going as planned. The biggest success is, in fact, Adam Brody because he's one of the most loveable men on the planet. I know a lot of The O.C. girls loved Seth Cohen - he made nerdy guys COOL. Every girl wanted their very own Seth Cohen (I didn't - I was always a Ryan Atwood girl. Reformed bad boy. Broods a lot. He's perfect). Brody takes that same Cohen charm, but as an adult - he's mature but still fun and silly, he's a rabbi (!!), and he's still just as awkward and self-deprecating. And very, very funny. I will concede that he is absolutely swoon worthy in this. And I love the relationship that forms between him and Bell. They definitely have chemistry - and they match each others wit. I think Bell is the weak link, but I expected that. I also just don't think her character is written very well - and she is very much a stereotype of a needy girl (she gets upset that he doesn't text her back because it's been 3 hours?? I would not survive that kind of relationship. Thank God my husband does not need constant communication. I always think it's really weird when my co-workers spend their break talking to their husbands/partners. Aren't you going to see each other when you get home?? I get when it's a new relationship, even though it's not my style. But my husband and I can go weeks without texting each other. I see him every day!). The supporting cast really, really shines - I think Jackie Tohn, as the bitchy sister-in-law, is the sneaky highlight of the whole thing. But, Timothy Simons is HILARIOUS. It's great casting to begin with (they definitely could be brothers in real life), and he's kind of the same character as Jonah from Veep, but it's in a completely different circumstances so it works really well. Plus, I love the friendship that is forming between his character and the sister (played by Succession's Justine Lupe). They are really funny together. And, of course, Tovah Feldshuh is a legend. I love that it's about a mixed faith relationship (well, he's Jewish, and she's not religious at all) - the problems they face due to their own customs, traditions, and expectations is explored in really thoughtful ways. Plus, it's laugh out loud funny - some of my favorite moments: 1. When the sister first meets the brothers ("what does Jewish look like to you?" LOL). 2. The line "I'm independently wealthy because my family is rich". 3. When Sasha is watching the movie and he says "you're a problematic weirdo, but goddamn it, you're a movie star!" about Tom Cruise (the love for Tom Cruise is at an all-time high right now and it is soul-crushing to me. It really shows that people do not care if movie stars are good or bad people AT ALL). There's so many more really funny moments, but you get the point. I think my only criticism is that Sherry Cola is underused. She is FUNNY. Please LET HER BE FUNNY! 

2. Agatha All Along - I didn't really like this show and I don't really have any solid reason why. It just didn't hook me and I felt like I had no idea what was going on at any given moment. They were going down the witches road for...something. I guess? And they had challenges along the way? BUT, I LOVE (most of) this cast! I was really interested in seeing Joe Locke in something outside of Heartstopper because I love him so much on that show - he's just the sweetest teenager ever and I want to give him a big hug and tell him everything's going to be okay. He's good in this too! A different role, and he does a decent job with it. But also - Patti LuPone!!! What a legend! And I'm a big fan of Kathryn Hahn (and have been for a while) - I'm glad she had so much success with this character that they gave her a spinoff, but I also find the whole exercise unnecessary. And love it or hate it, Aubrey Plaza continues to be Aubrey Plaza. I think the weakest link is Ali Ahn - I've liked her in past projects, but in this I think she was miscast (or they just wrote the character wrong) because she's, like, my age and she's working at Hot Topic and acts like she's a teenager? It's really confusing. And I usually love Evan Peters - although I'm so lost on his whole Marvel connection because he's Quicksilver in the X-Men movies but then he shows up in WandaVision as someone else (I think?) - and then he reappears in this and for some reason is doing a Sam Rockwell impersonation? I don't get it. And speaking of WandaVision, I really liked it, for the most part, but I don't remember much about it - and it seems essential to understand what's going on here. It was like 4 years ago - how do people remember things from 4 years ago? I have such a bad memory, it stinks. I try to do puzzles and things to help, but it doesn't. I think it's a coping mechanism (to forget things so easily), but it gets so annoying. Anyway, so *spoiler* Locke's character is Wanda and Vision's son and his whole goal is to find his twin brother (by following the witches road? I guess?). I like the reveal, but I also don't know why I'm supposed to care about any of these characters. The best part of the show is the end credits - I like the songs, and I like the nods to all the previous witch characters in the media. Also, "The Ballad of the Witches' Road" is a really catchy song. Annoyingly catchy. 

3. Doctor Odyssey - Oh my God, this is the stupidest show I've watched in a while - and guess what? I'm going to keep watching it. When the commercials for it first started to air, my husband had commented on how dumb it looks - he was like "there's a show that's like that 911 show you watch mixed with The Love Boat" and I laughed because that sounded pretty fucking stupid. I didn't really pay attention to the commercial during the multiple times he commented on how dumb it looks, until one day, I noticed PACEY on my television and was like "OH What's this?!!" only to realize it's the show that my husband had been ragging on for weeks. He came home and I said "I regret to inform you that I will be watching that 911 Love Boat show". His response: "of course you are". I will never not watch a show with Joshua Jackson, though. I've watched all of them - from Dawson, to Fringe (which is an excellent sci-fi show), to The Affair (which had an amazing first season and a decent finish), to Dr. Death, to the Fatal Attraction remake. He's so good in all of them, but ALWAYS STILL PACEY! But, I admit, this is, by far, the worst show he's ever done. It's actually TERRIBLE for so many reasons. For one, it is exactly like 911 in that it takes all these crazy scenarios (that may have happened on a cruise ship at some point in time), but they all happen to this cruise and these doctors - every week! There are like 4 or 5 extremely unlikely emergencies every episode! It's so stupid. I also think the whole love triangle (now turned into a threesome with the last episode I watched), is written like they are in high school and these are fully grown adults. It doesn't help that I hate the other two co-stars (she's from Hamilton, right? She's a horrible actress. And she's not hot, but I think she's supposed to be??). I will give them credit for somehow getting wild guest stars (Gina Gershon!! Margot Martindale?? Chord Overstreet?!). But the absolute most ridiculous thing about this show is that Pacey is supposed to be patient zero for the Covid epidemic and they keep referencing it and doing flashbacks and it's the fucking funniest thing I've ever seen. It's so trashy and dumb - maybe even too trashy and dumb for me? If it didn't have Pacey, I definitely would not keep watching it. 

4. Grotesquerie - I'm not loving this show and I kind of hesitated watching it because I think I'm finally over Ryan Murphy shows. He's going too far, I think. He needs to take a break and reassess - come back when he's ready to reinvent shit again instead of turning out the same stuff with different titles. This is basically an American Horror Story, just not as weird. It's like his version of Se7en - and I hate to make that comparison because it's not nearly as good, but it's basically the same story. So far, at least. I did decide to give it a go because I really love Niecy Nash-Betts - and she was so good in Dahmer. I'm interested to see what else she can do, and I appreciate that Murphy cast her to headline a series. I love that Murphy stays loyal to certain actors & actresses (although his love for Emma Roberts and Lea Michele needs to die - it's clear they are both very self-centered narcissists. And so many co-stars have come forward with their own horror stories about them. It can't be ignored anymore. Stop hiring them). But Murphy also has a tendency to stunt cast - like Kim Kardashian, and with this, Travis Kelce. Kardashian was not the worst, but Kelce is remarkably bad. I don't really understand the need to hire people who aren't actors for ACTING roles. Just for ratings? I don't think Kelce drove any hard ratings for this, did he? Football fans are not watching this. And Swifties are already using up their precious free-time watching football for Kelce, they're not going to also watch a bad horror series. Anyway, nothing about this show has gripped me - the whole nun part is somewhat intriguing because the actress is very charismatic and interesting (and she has a STUNNING voice - the scene with her singing in the car gave me literal goosebumps). But I also don't understand why they are suddenly in a shootout in the middle of the desert? I keep zoning in and out, though, so it's not surprising that I can't follow the plot. And I don't care about the main character, at all. She's a drunk, but she also insists on driving everywhere??? AS A COP? FUCK HER, I hope she kills herself before she kills someone else. UGH. Anyway, I'm 5 episodes in, and I'm hoping that it gets better (and I have a better understanding of what the Hell is going on), but I'm not counting on it.

5. La Maquina - So far, I like this show. I'm 4 episodes in - and I like the turn that it has taken. I thought it was going to be this underdog boxing story, which we've seen a million times. But the stakes have turned much higher with it being about this underground ring of people "fixing" matches and then making demands. I watched this for the Gael Garcia Bernal & Diego Luna reunion - I love them so much, and I hope they continue to act together until they retire from acting. Bernal is very much in his element with this role - he's charming and loveable even when he's being an asshole. He oozes chemistry on screen (that smile!) and he should be a much bigger star. Luna has become more of a household name with the whole Star Wars Andor character (good for him!), but I prefer him in quieter, independent projects. But in this he is practically unrecognizable - he plays someone who has had major plastic surgery and fillers injected into every crease of his face. It's so hard to look at! It's based on a true story (and a real person). I tried to look up some pictures of him to see why they had to make Diego look like that, but I couldn't find any (I didn't try that hard though! I'm too lazy for real research right now). But I'll never understand how people think they look better when they look all plastic and swollen like that. But to each their own! Not my business. This also has Eiza Gonzalez in this, but so far, she is underutilized. The story is interesting, but it's also very well made - the pace and editing is great. Like the cut from him being all hyped and arrogant going into the fight to him in the ambulance. We don't need to see the actual fight to completely understand what happened. And there is a really cool tracking shot in the beginning of the second episode (wait, maybe it's the 3rd episode, I forgot already), but it's extremely smooth and moves in and out between all the characters in the gym. I love when shots are so smooth like that that you almost don't even notice the technicality of it (I don't think most audiences notices stuff like that anyway, unless it's pointed out to them). I'm excited to watch the rest of it (I think it's only 6 episodes, which is perfect!).