Captain's Log
It's the week in TV, the week in TV, oh yes it's the week in TV
We got a couple of sitcoms wrapping up seasons and a couple more shows getting closer to their end…
The Righteous Gemstones, “On Your Belly You Shall Go” accelerates and wraps up some of the main stories of the season, in part with B.J. getting well enough that Judy finally demands he send Dr. Watson on his way, but most notably with the story with the Milsaps– or at least, with Cobb’s true nature revealing itself and, appropriately, being hoisted by his own petard in part by his own actions. Where Lori and Eli go from here– if they indeed go anywhere– remains to be seen, at least the danger is over. Michael Rooker did a fantastic job with Cobb, unsurprisingly– whereas for all their more faults, the Gemstones’ positive qualities shine through, Cobb provides a dark and stark contrast; here is a man who is all menace and violence, no deeper virtues buried underneath.
Baby Billy’s musical number for Teenjus is a hoot, but I worry about him. His desire to work enough to make sure Tiffany and Lionel have enough money to be taken care of– even though, as Sola says, what they really need is him around— and the amount of cocaine he does at his age seems like it’s foreshadowing him working himself to death. And with the series finale coming out tonight, it certainly is quite plausible that anyone could die… although perhaps most obviously would be one of the two septuagenarian men.
The Rehearsal, “Star Potential” – I will admit, with these two shows, the Sunday publishing time kinda hurts because it’s been nearly a full week since I’ve seen them and it’s hours until they air again. But “Star Potential” takes us somewhere else yet unexpected and that has little to do with air travel. With last week establishing communication as a major problem between pilot and co-pilot, Nathan wants to give his co-pilots practice breaking bad news. To that end, drawing on his brief experience as a writer on Canadian Idol, he sets up a singing competition… where, of course, nobody is going to advance; the point is to give the co-pilots a chance to practice giving bad news, and the singers rate their feelings on their judge afterward.
Nathan finds a particularly well-rated co-pilot and tries to understand what she does well… then pairs her with a pilot who has a bit less social grace, we’ll say. (I’ll leave the details for you to discover, but I almost felt bad for the guy– assuming he’s not hiding anything horrific. I do feel a little bad for people who are so self-unaware they don’t realize how they cause their own misery.) But the real highlight is Nathan putting Paramount+ on blast– both the why and the how, as well as how wildly unexpected it was. It’s hard to say, given that by this point in season 1 we’d met Robbin, but Fielder might be going even farther and to more unforeseeable places with this show than he even did in season 1. Nobody makes TV like he does, period.
Andor moves on to BBY3 with its latest trio of episodes. Most of the rebel plot revolves around Ghorman: The increased Imperial presence is clearly part of moving toward the project we saw in last week’s episodes; Syril seemingly has been shunted to a bureaucratic job here at a remote outpost, which of course, is just cover for his job to monitor and infiltrate any possible rebellions. (His cover is so deep that even if his mother thinks he’s broken up with Dedra, when of course she is running this operation.) Meanwhile, Luthen sends Cassian to the planet to scout the rebel movement there, where he determines they are overeager and underskilled for what they want to do. His prediction proves tragically correct at the end of these episodes.
Cassian, meanwhile, is worried about Bix; they’re hiding out safely on Coruscant, but Bix’s mental health is still a wreck, and she’s coping by turning to drugs and, even worse, daytime TV. But, with Cassian’s and possibly Luthien’s help, she may have managed to get some closure at the very end of these episodes.
And, of course, Luthien and Mon Mothma have to continue to keep up public appearances, although the latter’s time these episodes is more defined by her failed attempts to recruit votes against the renewal of the PORD (maybe that makes her Andor‘s Barbara Lee?). Also, Saw Gerrera apparently likes huffing fuel. That’s probably not good, although he’s still good at sniffing out a rat despite that.
Anyway, as someone who couldn’t ever possibly be mistaken for a Warsie, I really have been enjoying this show, and Tony Gilroy’s vision for “life under fascism and how revolutions begin, but it happens to be set in the Star Wars universe” continues to be very compelling.
Onto network…
Elsbeth‘s penultimate episode, “I Have a Little List,” features Billy Magnussen’s wealthy heir of a gun manufacturer feeling the ennui one does when you can have everything you want and nothing excites you anymore… and then he accidentally shoots someone and that seems to bring him back to life. And then he decides to deliberately kill someone and get away with it. So close. Although Elsbeth herself, still dealing with the aftereffects of being on the courthouse steps when Judge Crawford was killed, is struggling, and her aggressiveness with pursuing this case gets her arrested for witness harassment and placed in front of a very unsympathetic judge. We’ll see what happens with all of that in the finale.
St. Denis Medical wraps up its first season with “This Place Is Our Everything.” Joyce is trying to decide what to do with the money from the fundraiser, and her first instinct is to give all the staff and doctors what they want because she wants them to like her (in a flip of the season opener, where she wanted to spend a lot of money on a mammogram machine that was way more than the hospital needed but would afford it a certain level of prestige). After discussing her vision for the hospital and what she really wanted to do with the money to Ron, Ron– in another inversion of the season opener– encourages her to follow it instead of giving in to everybody else’s wishes.
Really, a lot comes full circle here: Alex is at the hospital on her day off because Tim is getting a vasectomy and then the hospital is short-staffed and she lets herself get talked into helping out… but ultimately realizes that, yes, you do have to put work aside for family sometimes. And Matt gets a nice moment when he has to administer an EpiPen to a bachelorette party member with a nut allergy, and this time, does it correctly instead of stabbing himself. And speaking of Matt, Serena spends a lot of time talking up people at work he could possibly date, before Val smacks her in the face (not literally) with what’s been obvious to everyone except her– that Matt is head over heels for her. Will that go somewhere? Who knows. We’ll find out in the fall, I suppose.
Poppa’s House aired its season and series finale with “Magic Shine Again,” which has a little B-story runner for Junior and Nina pitching a commercial, but is largely focused on Poppa and Ivy. Poppa is finally realizing, or at least has gotten over his initial distaste to develop, his feelings for Ivy… and then Ivy reveals that her ex-husband David is getting sober and she’s trying to be there for him and who knows where that’s going to lead. And when Ivy realizes that the gestures seemingly by David are actually by Poppa, she’s ready to discuss her feelings with him… and then Poppa’s ex shows back up to try to win him back. Where is all this going? We’ll never know, as the show was cancelled. Maybe they talk about it interviews or something. Obviously this was disappointing news, as while I never felt the show really broke any ground, I quite enjoyed the cast, and I hope Wayans Sr. and Jr. get another project together soon.
Grimsburg – I am fully at a loss as to how Fox’s animation scheduling works, but apparently after five weeks or so with no new Grimsburg on Sundays, Fox dropped a new episode on… Wednesday. Grimsburg was listed among the Fox animated shows that would be coming back to the air as part of their new Thursday night block May 29, so this confuses me even further.
Anyway, in “Crystal Ball,” Marvin is chasing a criminal and tries to scale a chain-link fence, but at the top he panics… because he only has one testicle and fears getting the other snagged and losing it. So he decides to get another one added, leading to lines like Kang calling him “testiclops” or the banner for the “Policemeans Ball Charity Fundraiser.” It turns out, Marvin’s new testicle gives him powers of foresight when he’s kicked or otherwise hit in it. Now how can he used those powers for good while trying to catch the Bingo Bandit… and can he deal with what apparently is a vision of him married to Martinez far into the future? We’ll see!
Also, Summers and Pentos try to get in to see him after his operation, but Marvin’s orders on who can be admitted to his room are strict. (“Sorry, but the patient has banned non-family members and someone named Stan.”) They disguise themselves as doctors to get in, whereupon, of course, they’re pressed into emergency duty, and after that, of course, become the premiere penile-enlargement surgeons on the west coast.
We’ve gotten through a few more episodes of Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney, and it continues to be delightful. I still haven’t watched one live, and I’m quite curious to try that, mostly to see if they have a topic I can try to call in about. Our most recently watched episodes include “Dinosaurs,” with a one-off reunion performance from Metz, who broke up earlier this year— “Superior Mirage” made my 2024 honorable-mentions list— and call-ins from Jack Horner (the paleontologist who consulted on the Jurassic Park films) and Chuck Tingle (the… author), although Mulaney didn’t seem to recognize either; “Cruises,” which had performances from The Kims Of Rock, Kim Gordon and Kim Deal, both separately and together; and “Heights,” which involves Mulaney’s season-long project to get a man of every height from 5’0″ to 7’0″ and line them up in a row, as well as great work from David Letterman, a performance from Randy Newman, and a guest spot from Charlie Wilson.
Two weeks behind on The Studio now. We enjoy it enough that we will finish the season, but I feel like I have to be in a particular mood for its brand of comedy.
And with what the last few days have had going on for me, I have not had a chance to watch this week’s Hacks. I’m terribly sorry to the crew here, as Hacks seems to be one of the most consistently watched and discussed by our entire (small) commentariat. Feel free to go ahead and discuss it anyway. I’ll catch up soon enough.
I got some difficult personal news this week, so I ended up turning back to some old favorites to cheer me up rather than press on with everything new on my slate. That mostly meant some season 3/4 Simpsons episodes and I’m Alan Partridge. The latter I hadn’t seen in long enough that it seems like a good time for a revisit, though I don’t have anything terribly new to say about it. The former is never far from my mind, and my good buddy mentioned he was finally getting his kids into the show and was watching season 3 with them. Next up for them was “Bart the Murderer,” which I supported because it’s important for kids to learn about the Mafia as soon as possible. Then was “Saturdays of Thunder,” one I was always fond of as a kid, less for any nostalgia for soapbox derby racing and more for Homer’s half-assed under-parenting. (“I’m a bad father!” “You’re also fat.” “I’m also fat!”) Then I moved on to season 4 with “Whacking Day”– a favorite example of mine of the first act being nearly disconnected from the main plot, and also just stuffed with great jokes, whether that’s homeschooled Bart (“Johnny Deformed”) or Homer’s “maybe if I’m part of that mob, I can help steer it in wise directions” or his Evil Homer imagine spot. The weekend rounded out with “Lisa the Beauty Queen,” which works great in both its sincerity in Homer’s attempt to cheer up Lisa and the sheer level and density of comedy on display. One detail I loved this time around is that Krusty’s bow tie is untied for the entire time he’s emceeing the pageant; he looks like he’s already at the afterparty and more than a few drinks in.
Poppa’s House got canceled after one season, so this episode was the series finale. St. Denis Medical aired its season finale, but it will return for season two, presumably in the fall. The Righteous Gemstones concludes its run tonight.
Haven’t started The Four Seasons yet, but I never feel much of a rush with streaming shows. We’ll get there. No other premieres I’m looking at until late in the month, when Rick and Morty returns and some of Fox’s animated shows return to a Thursday night block.
Sound off in the comments with your own recent viewing.
About the writer
Captain Nath
Born on the bayou, thriving in the mountains. Writer, gambler, comedian, singer-songwriter, bon vivant, globetrotter, and all-around Renaissance Man with perfect opinions about TV and music. Pronounced with a long A and with the H.
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Department of
Conversation
Hacks
“Understood, but it’s best not to encourage her.”
This show has a lot of interpersonal conflict and embarrassment, but this was the first where I genuinely had to keep pausing it out of cringe. Deb is one step short of being desperate all through this; this raises the very fascinating question of how you balance chasing numbers and using art to find and express fundamental truths of the universe. Deb is obsessing over that whilst Ava is chasing the latter; though, as the HR lady points out, in her own way Ava is also chasing clout. It’s an interesting to me, because even her at the absolute bottom of the creative expression totem pole, I can relate to both of them.
My numbers are mostly comments and likes rather than dollars and ratings, but the principle is the same. What’s funny is that I’m basically on Ava’s side, but Deb does raise some good points; you can totally try to appeal to people who spend money and still retain creative integrity, and it’s not good to get overly theoretical with making comedy (criticising it, absolutely, editing it, sure, but not generating it in the first place). My perspective: it’s best to know exactly the main reason you’re here, and to chase those other goals when you’ve got the foundation of what you want. Like, if you’ve got three or four equally funny ideas, you could then use the most politically potent one.
And the way I see it, chasing numbers is a good secondary goal to keep in mind. The basic way to be charismatic is to have a personal goal you’re chasing and allowing people to accrue around you as they pursue the same goal (or at least, work with you to achieve theirs). You then use the numbers to edit yourself a little bit; not blatantly bending with the wind, but adding a varnish onto what you do. I do believe Deb was right to bring in Dance Mom; I notice the show plays her performance as triumphant, no matter how pissy Ava looks, and Deb looks genuinely charming dancing with her. Ava doesn’t see it yet, but she can use this stuff.
Every single thing Deb said in response to criticism made me laugh. Jimmy Kimmel’s cameo was incredible. Right down to roasting Corden. This show has awesome sex scenes.
Hacks, “Clickable Face”
After some tentative reconciliation in the last episode, we get a couple brutal emotional moments here between Deb and Ava, including the knockout blow of “I told them to wait until it gets good.” (Great frozen-in-hurt expression from Jean Smart on that one.) But while that’s the unkindest cut, the part that left me feeling the most uneasy was Ava not being willing or able to feel anything beyond irritation and fury at how the Dance Mom bit works out. As Tristan says, the rest of it feels triumphant and charming, and then there’s an emotional disconnect every time we cut to Ava; it’s a bad sign for their collaboration that Deborah gets swept up in the moment here and Ava is still stewing.
Sawing away part of the desk to show more of Deb’s legs, per the focus group, really made me laugh.
The Righteous Gemstones, “Wicked Lips”
Audible gasp at the van going into the roll, which feels like it goes on forever. I technically knew they weren’t going to kill Gideon, but it sure didn’t feel like I knew it in the moment. Great episode for Amber, Kelvin, and Keefe, in particular–Amber’s machinations (aiming for personal and communal stability at all costs, knowing what she’s willing to overlook and why, and trying to hint that she wouldn’t mind more openness from her husband–and that he should appreciate that) are both engaging and sympathetic, even as they could lead to disaster; Kelvin and Keefe’s quest to vindicate Kelvin’s youth ministry by reaching one particular girl (with rich parents) is great, especially with Keefe’s awkwardness around his old Satanist friends and Kelvin’s golden retriever attempt to win the girl over through trampoline gymnastics. Which were genuinely impressive!
heh, those “rich parents,” Dale and Gay Nancy, are specifically a (loose) parody of Chik-Fil-A chairman (and son of the founder) Dan Cathy (and, I guess, his wife). Did you catch that was Marla Maples as Gay Nancy?
I did not! Apparently I was too busy coveting a soda fountain machine shaped like a giant piece of chicken.
Just finished the final Comedy Central season on our Futurama rewatch with the kids. And as it turns out, the CC years weren’t nearly as bad as a I remembered (not counting the “movie” season, which we mostly skipped because I’m pretty sure it is as bad as I remember). The show’s lowest points (to date) are probably all in there. We also skipped the execrable “eyePhone” episode, even if it did give us the endlessly useful “shut up and take my money” and I wish we’d have skipped the “E.T.” parody. But it has several episodes that would probably be numbered among the classics had they been produced in time to get played ad nauseam on Adult Swim. And the third crack at a finale is arguably the best (“Want to go around again?” is the perfect final line for a show resurrected by endless rerun watches) Now onto the new Hulu seasons, of which I’ve only seen a couple episodes. Not holding my breath, but then again I was expecting a lot less from the last few seasons.