I have no funny introduction this week, especially now that free speech is illegal in America.
I’m probably going to start using this section for shows that have been out a while and I’m just getting to, rather than for something I missed in the last 48 hours or whatever before this article goes live.
Returning this week, we have High Potential kicking off season two with “Pawns.” We pick up more or less right where we left off in season 1, with the killer from “Let’s Play” having contacted Morgan, and Morgan and the family holing up at home with police protection. A young woman who looks somewhat like Morgan is apparently abducted, and while all the evidence points to her boss, her ex-husband with drinking and anger issues is part of the investigation as well, and Morgan is convinced the Let’s Play killer is engineering the evidence to point this direction. And… that may be true, it’s not clear. Interestingly, we do not resolve the case at the end of this episode, suggesting we may continue to see more multi-episode arcs rather than straight procedural work.
We ended up finishing The Paper, and I feel comfortable saying it’s funnier than the trailers might lead you to believe. As I mentioned, Eric Rahill as Travis is probably the funniest part of the show, although Alex Edelman’s Adam is also funny as a different kind of idiot. The plots can range from very funny (the dating-app scam) to stale but still finding a fresh angle (another grown man with daddy issues is tired; the way they come out in the office is pretty funny). The character writing here is actually rather strong, I found, which gives me hope that if the show continues (and it will; it’s already received a season-2 renewal), it’ll dig deeper into some good character-based comedy. Tim Key (Sidekick Simon!) as corporate jellyfish Ken and Sabrina Impacciatore as Esmeralda might be the weakest characters… well, “weakest” might be the wrong word, so much as that they’re the most blatantly scheming for their own ends and it’s odd how some of these characters can’t see that. (Which does make it funny when Ramona gets one over on Ken; Esmeralda does get a good story when she and Ned trade places for a day, and he tries to do the advertorial articles she usually does, while she tracks down an actual story and proves pretty good at the legwork.) Of course there’s a will-they-won’t-they and even a B-couple, but the latter manages to go in interesting directions I hadn’t seen a TV show do before, and the former at least doesn’t drag things out too long trying to pretend these two don’t have an attraction to one another. (And Chelsea Frei is very charming as Mare, so I can get why Domhnall Gleeson’s Ned digs her, even if he screws things up more than once on the way to the destination.)
Anyway, fun show, would be happy to recommend, but it doesn’t rise to the level of “I demand you watch this” (which is a level some of you are familiar with).
Beavis and Butt-Head last Wednesday aired “Scent of a Dumbass” / “New Couch.” A cop comes to speak to Beavis and Butt-Head’s class about self-defense, and we only get that long enough to find out the two have stolen his can of mace. And mistake it for cologne. And are sure cologne is how you get laid. And decide to hit on chicks at the mall. You can probably see where this is going. In “New Couch,” the plot is simple: Beavis and Butt-Head find a couch and try to bring it up the stairs to their apartment. They cause much destruction in the process, including to themselves. Fun episode.
The Great North aired its final two episodes of season 5, and possibly of the entire series. “Into the Russell-verse” features a titular plot of Moon going to a sleepover at Russell’s house, only to discover Russell’s cousin Rustle (that’s right) is also there, and is a little whiny oversensitive wiener who doesn’t like anything Moon likes. Moon only likes going over there because Russell lets him do whatever he wants, and this is chafing him; Russell doesn’t understand the conflict, since they’re his best friends, so why wouldn’t they also be best friends? Meanwhile, Beef has “maritime flu” and the rest of the family catches it, and that leads to some fun delirious madness.
“It’s a Beef-derful Life” is a rough pun, but an accurate title for the episode. Due to reasons I don’t care to explain, Beef tasks himself with retrieving a dead moose for the town so they can all enjoy its meat, and he gets trapped under the moose. His guardian-angel-snowflake (it makes more sense in context) appears to him to show him important moments from his life… and Beef finds them very ordinary. Which is the lesson he needs to learn: He tries too hard to be a superman for the rest of the town, when they appreciate him just for being himself. And the ending is a lovely bit of musical business, as we finally break out some Alanis Morissette for real (as it’s all scored to “Thank U”). It definitely feels like this one was written to be intended as a series finale if that were to be the case, and it’s the only show in Fox’s animation lineup that didn’t get a renewal yet… if it is, this is a nice way to go out.
Futurama came out on Monday, and contrary to the previous information I’d received, the entire season was released at once. We haven’t gotten around to starting it yet.
I didn’t have time to watch this week’s Only Murders in the Building, either, although by the time you read this today I may have. I had a busy last couple of days.
While I’ve barely had time to watch all the new TV out, I decided to gear up for the impending release of How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) with a few episodes of Knowing Me, Knowing You. That’s fairly easy, since there are only six episodes. I watched three the other night, and while the France episode is my favorite, the other two I watched featured the rare (since the show mostly reuses the rotation of Patrick Marber, David Schneider, Rebecca Front, and Doon Mackichan to play the show’s guests) guest actors featuring as guests on Alan’s show– in this case, Minnie Driver and Alan Ford. We also watched the first episode last night, which is not strictly as funny as the best ones (4 and 6, in my opinion), but does a good job showcasing what starts out as a relatively normal talk show that collapses under the weight of Alan’s unprofessionalism.
The Great North aired its final season 5 episodes, possibly its final episodes.
Nothing this week, but we’ll have more in this space next week.
I think you all understand how the comments section works by now.
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.
It's a gaming ship.
Tags for this article
More articles by Captain Nath
As the network TV season comes to an end, we take a look back at some canceled shows that shouldn't have been
Captain's Log
I should've saved "season finale season" for the excerpt
Captain's Log
The image represents the spiritual imprisonment this column has me in. Either that or I have a thing for necks
Captain's Log
Hey, you try coming up with something to say besides "good episode" every week
Department of
Conversation
What did we watch?
M*A*S*H, Season Two, Episode Seventeen, “For Want Of A Boot”
This is a good riff on the “series of deals” sitcom cliche in that it all falls apart right at the end like a chain of dominos; it’s also interesting in how a traditionally tightly-structured plot has a lot of room for imaginative scenes that don’t advance it. We get a whole scene establishing Henry’s bad mood before Hawk and Trap get to him, for example. Of course, it also establishes the specific time and place of the M*A*S*H unit; Hawkeye’s problem in the first place is that his boot has a massive hole in it and supply is traditionally inefficient (our first meeting of Sgt Zale), and even more interesting, there’s a weaboo dentist long before weaboo was a thing. He even straight up says he feels as if he were born, spiritually, in Japan; particularly amusing because actor Michael Lerner is very American and very Jewish.
The X-Files (2016)
Jumping into the revival. It’s amazing how everyone slides right back into their classic energy; the only one who seems a bit tired is David Duchovny, and it’s hard to tell how much is him and how much is him playing Mulder as exhausted. But Gillian Anderson finds Scully immediately, and Chris Carter manages to deliver both his highs and lows; for the former, I was awed that he managed to summarise Mulder’s appeal more efficiently than I ever could with Mulder’s line that goes something like this:
“I want to believe. Sadly, the facts don’t seem to emerge.”
Mulder, when on his game, isn’t stupid – he uses his belief as a guide and has a pragmatic approach to discern truth from falsehood. Of course, he does go down rabbit holes; it takes Scully (and sometimes Skinner, who also shows up) to fully balance him out. On the other hand, this episode already has Carter’s tendencies towards sluices of absolute horseshit. It’s almost admirable, his sheer pigheaded dedication; I actually admire how fast he gets the actors to power through his latest infodump in which, once again, everything we knew was wrong. It’s a blatant slap in the face to the audience; the appearance of Smoking Man at the end is a particularly revolting insult, though I do love the touch of him smoking through a hole in his throat.
Also, Joel McHale shows up as a right-wing grifter, and he not only fits surprisingly well into this universe, he actually expands it a bit; his acting in this context comes off as relentless pursuit of a personal goal. Whereas Jeff Winger came off as shallow and impulsive, his character here comes off intensely focused on one goal at a time.
I’m going to see a random episode of the revival–“The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat”–at Serlingfest, where it’s part of the programming for reasons that escape me but may become apparent once I’ve actually seen it. It’ll be odd to leap so far ahead in the timeline.
An observation both shallow and, likely, redundant to you: both actors age like fine wine.
Reasons will definitely become apparent! Maybe my favourite episode of the revival, too.
Live D and D. Thus no time to watch much besides YouTube vids.
The Sleeping City – like the similarly named The Naked City, this is a noir with the major selling point of being shot on location. Unlike the similarly named The Naked City, this is a bit dull. An intern doctor gets killed at Bellevue Hospital (which plays itself here) and Richard Conte is the cop tasked with going undercover as a new intern (which seems wildly irresponsible, even if he does have some medical training) and finding out what’s going on. The cinematography is really nice, especially some cool rooftop stuff towards the end where NYC sprawls out in the background, and the cast is solid – especially Richard Taber as the eccentric elevator operator who has been at the hospital forever. But it feels like there’s about half an hour of plot here and they dragged it out to 85 minutes by having scenes last forever.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid” – cute Christmas episode, not much more to say about it than that.
Imagine having to write an essay about it!
10,000 words about Barry Fitzgerald and Irish archetypes and stereotypes.
Pig
A strange film that gets lovelier as it goes on. Obviously this brushes up against some John Wick territory–not just because of “guy with a past goes on a quest set off by the loss of his pet,” but also because of the grandiose and off-kilter worldbuilding that has chef fight clubs, restaurant suppliers who act like gangsters, and the awed hush that descends when the right name is said–and it has fun with that, as it should: every professional sphere should get this treatment at least once. But Cage’s Robin only really doles out suffering in the form of self-knowledge people would rather be without, and he’s not looking for revenge, just a return of the pig he loves.
It’s beautiful to see that lead to a new bond with Alex Wolff’s Amir: the film gets so much out of the little gestures they eventually make towards each other, especially Robin to Amir, where I can feel that it’s the first time Robin has engaged this much with someone–has opened himself up to caring about another human–in years. I got a little misty about him bringing him something from the bakery.
Anyway, one of my favorite unnamed subgenres is “people rebuilding after tragedy,” and this fits comfortably into that. And I love the uncanniness of it all, from the worldbuilding to Robin’s photographic memory of anything related to food and service.
One of the rare stories built entirely around subversion that I really like – like you said, it’s not really a revenge film, it’s not even close to a Wick-style thriller, and it ends with grace and forgiveness rather than a dust-up. Also Cage’s favourite of his own films.
I only have Raising Arizona above it in my Cage rankings, and Pig might yet dethrone that one when I get around to rewatching it. Definitely agreed on the subversion stuff – it does such a great job delivering a satisfying experience while cheekily dodging most of the action / revenge movie tropes. Seems like a bit of a shame that the director has immediately been tapped up for franchise / “dark reimagining” type fare, although his take on A Quiet Place was “what if this was a cat movie?” so I’m definitely willing to follow his career down any path.
I love that they took the elevator pitch — John Wick with Nicolas Cage and a pig — and did the exact opposite of what that sounds like at every turn. Even the fight club scene ends with Cage getting the shit kicked out of him. One of the great pacifist films of our generation?
Love this movie and the fancy restaurant scene is riveting. Thinking of the sincerity and simplicity of Cage’s “Because I love her.”
That’s the exact scene I wanted to bring up! So brilliant, and the waitress and owner may be bit parts, but they couldn’t be better played or cast.
Andor S2E3 & S2E4: Largely great episodes, it feels like the filmmaking has kicked up a notch and now I wanna listen to the disco bot beat at the end of the former (though one moment near the end of 4 feels like sub-Michael Mann). (Patrick Star voice) I think I’ll play it now!
Ownage: “Must be nice for you.” “I wish you were drunk.” Imperial asshole getting a fatal head blow. Deedra owning Cyril’s mother verbally is the highlight and showcases how bullying and lack of compromise is sometimes necessary when you are dealing with toxic people.
Grace (2024): Lauren’s Streaming Shuffle continues to pay off. Really good, lush coming of age short film that plays the reluctance and tenderness of the characters just right. Beautiful photography reminiscent of Barry Jenkins.
Woo, “Grace”! You’re so right on the Barry Jenkins comparison: this feels like it could be the condensed first act of Moonlight, just with girls.
If you haven’t seen Eve’s Bayou, also about young Black girls in the South with less queer and more gothic themes, it’s fantastic.
That’s been on my list for forever! Need to finally get around to it.
Wattstax
The greatest concert movie of all time? But then, part of the reason it’s so great is it’s not really a concert movie so much as a time capsule of Watts (and Black America as a whole) during the festival, and somehow they managed to find the most charismatic people on the West Coast just hanging out on the street. The concert footage itself is sick as hell, though. The rhythmic editing, especially when it’s gliding between live music and talking heads, seems like it must have been an inspiration for ?uestlove’s Summer of Soul (and not just because of the Boss Baby vibes of both movies covering an all-Black music festival around the same time). Isaac Hayes and the Staple Singers re the only real A-list stars here, but the soundtrack’s still wall-to-wall bangers. And the highlight doesn’t come from either of the big names, but from Rufus Thomas inviting the crowd onto the field for “The Funky Chicken” and then heckling — in rhyme! — the people who refused to go back to the stands. Possibly the most sample-dense movie not called Scarface in history. It’s all over Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet, and Jesse Jackson’s opening speech (speaking of charisma) shows up on the new Clipse album.
Back to Altman
IMAGES is generally overlooked in the director’s catalogue, but it’s a very entertaining exercise in the ’60s gothic freak-out aesthetic. Susanna York plays a schizophrenic children’s book author undergoing a mental health crisis in which her lovers (and apparitions of herself) appear in both flashbacks and in the day-to-day course of the narrative, even if they are dead. She attempts to cure her delusions by violently conf them on when she convinces herself that she is in an hallucinogenic state (part of the fun lies in the viewer determining when said state is occurring), but I’m sure we all know where that leads. Altman’s own stylistic proclivities (roving anamorphic camera work, mirror shots and doorway framing, all used several years previously to the same type of material a few years earlier in THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK) work more smoothly here, but they work in the service of enhancing the genre, as opposed to offering a revision take to it. The style compliments the weirdness of the material, which, from an auteurist perspective with Altman, feels a bit wan, even if it makes a solidly crafted gothic horror outing.
THE LONG GOODBYE– In Raymond Chandler, and the iconic hard boiled detective, Altman finds the subject the most powerfully energizes his aesthetic and world view. I feel tempted to cover this in more detail next month , but by de-centering the detective-protagonist as the arbiter of meaning in the film, Altman expresses a cultural disenchantment with the mythology masking the L.A. literary Brahmin’s sense of self satisfied wit and decadent sophistication. There is a sustained feeling of stoner ambiguation in which the center of the story is grounded away by a growing fog of moral entropy. I think this is where Altman finally makes a coherent link between the idiosyncratic condition that he sees and the style by which he says it. It would make a great double feature with PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID as movies that use film genres to project despairing visions of American myths.
The French episode is an all-timer, but the first episode I think comes pretty close. The running bit about Roger Moore not showing up, the noisy fountain, Alan snapping at his guest that “that’s not an anecdote”, and the excruciating bit where he surprises Patrick Marber’s obnoxious guest with his son and it keeps getting worse…
Still watching Peacemaker, with the most recent episode being “Need I Say Door.” I’m enjoying it, but I feel like the story beats are being spaced out too much. I don’t mind that when the filler is also part of the show’s appeal–if you tune into a “ragtag bunch of misfits” ensemble show, you do it partly because you want hangout scenes–but that’s not always the case. That is not to imply that nothing is happening, though, because we do get a particularly major Harcourt development in this episode.
Year of the Month update!
Here’s a primer on some of the movies, albums, books and TVwe’ll be covering for 1973 in October!
Oct. 7th: Lauren James: Working
Oct. 22nd: Lauren James: The Wicker Man
Oct. 2oth: Sam Scott: F for Fake
Oct. 29th: Lauren James: Don’t Look Now
And there’s still time to sugn up for any of these movies, albums, books, from 1938!
Sept. 24th: Bridgett Taylor: Rebecca
Sept. 25th: Cori Domschot: Bringing Up Baby