I’ve been dealing with an unspecified stomach ailment this week, so today’s post will be unfortunately brief.
The Rehearsal finds an interesting way to steer back to the main thesis of the show, with Nathan’s practice runs at delivering his ideas to a congressional committee… and his realization that season 1 of The Rehearsal really connected to the autistic community, and the practicing situations and developing communication skills he’s been working on these two seasons could tie together the pilot/co-pilot communication issues and the autism skills practice. (It also involves a lot of, at least, the character “Nathan Fielder” trying to avoid facing the evidence that he is autistic.) Pretty good– Nathan’s practice joke for the congressional committee is very funny and also not anything he should ever say to a congressional committee.
Bob’s Burgers randomly came back with an episode Sunday, because Fox has decided to make their animation schedule completely unpredictable. It’s another “Bob gets shanghaied into catering an event for Mr. Fischoeder” episode, but it’s pretty fun.
Hacks proceeds with “A Slippery Slope,” a climactic episode for the season for our two main relationships– Deborah and Ava, Jimmy and Kayla– and a question of what we value and how we let the people important to us know we appreciate them. Among other things. And no matter what the stakes are. Tremendous episode for one of the best shows on TV.
Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney featured Sigourney Weaver, Natasha Lyonne, and Amy Sedaris to talk about “Is Uber Good?” Featuring so many New Yorkers, they’re pretty loyal to their cabs. Also, Renee Elise Goldsberry performs a song as “Mrs. T” and John practices for his upcoming fight against three 14-year-olds.
The Studio – Technically we’re a week late on one of these, but since this was really a two-parter, I’m gonna combine the last two episodes together here. “CinemaCon” and ‘The Presentation” focus on, well, CinemaCon in Las Vegas and Continental’s upfronts presentation for its upcoming slate of films. Matt, of course, has to wrangle everybody* and get them to get it together, caused in part by (once again) Matt’s desperation for creatives to like him and think he’s cool, which leads to a hotel party with an “old school Hollywood buffet” (a phrase Matt constantly uses to mean “drugs”) and a really, really stupid misunderstanding of mushroom doses. It all comes together in the end, though. And I didn’t know Zoë Kravitz could be this funny (I mean, it’s not like Fury Road gave her the opportunity to). Strong finish to a pretty solid season of TV, more of a farce than a strict satire of Hollywood, but it is at least quite funny, unlike, say, The Franchise, which tried to be more satire than farce and succeeded at neither. Movies! Movies! Movies!
(* – “everybody” including Bryan Cranston’s studio head, Griffin Mill, and I am quite confident that name is not a coincidence.)
Also, these last three shows, between their showbiz-insider qualities, and the L.A.-to-Vegas qualities of Hacks and The Studio, have had a surprising, or not, amount of casting overlap.
The Studio, “The Golden Globes” – The show apparently went to significant effort to recreate the actual Golden Globes ceremony for episode 8. Matt is obsessed with getting Zoë Kravitz to thank him in her acceptance speech. Adam Scott is there (presumably to win something for Severance), and he knows Sal from way back in the day, which leads to an incredibly funny (and perfect for the story) running joke. Jean Smart and the creators of Hacks also show up to win things, so I guess art really does imitate life. Very good episode all in all.
Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney – We finally caught the first episode and so we’re completely caught up. Mulaney had some very funny monologue jokes, particularly about what he’s been doing in between Everybody’s in LA and now, and what cancer treatment has done to his wife’s brain (not like that). This one is the apparently obligatory Fred Armisen episode, but even he didn’t kill the vibe. Having Michael Keaton and Joan Baez, as well as Cypress Hill (with an orchestra, of course) performing “Hits From the Bong,” helped a lot.
Common Side Effects – We’re finally back onto this one, and through episodes 7 and 8 now. The thrills have picked up a bit as Marshall’s brief stint in prison ends, Rick and Frances realize just what kind of company they’re really working for, and Amelia comes to save the day… and it turns out, Hildy has returned, too. None of this will probably make sense if you haven’t been watching the show.
I don’t think there’s anything that really fits here at the moment.
With a slow TV season, we decided one night to watch a few old episodes of American Dad!, in particular the two episodes centered around Jeff’s journey into space (thanks to Roger) and attempts to return home: “Naked, to the Limit, One More Time” and “Lost in Space.” Still good stuff, and “Lost in Space” in particular can actually be genuinely moving. Also good if you like the music of Wax Fang.
I’ve also already rewatched Andor season 1 episodes 8-12. Fuck, this was a really good show. The prison arc in particular was some of the best stuff on TV, and leaves me wondering where I would’ve ranked the show if I’d watched it at the time in 2022.
The Studio‘s season finale aired this week; it has already been renewed for season two. Tonight is the season finale of The Rehearsal. Wednesday is the season finale of Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney. Thursday is the season finale of Hacks. I am going to have a tough time choosing a header image next week.
Rick and Morty season 8 debuts tonight. 2013 is a long, long time in the past, but I did think season 7 was their best season probably since season 2, so if you checked out ages ago, that may be a good place to pick it back up.
Tell me about YOUR week in TV!
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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And I’m back in the country!
One of the first things I did was watch the new Hacks, “A Slippery Slope.” Love how you phrased the focus of this episode. This was an incredible swerve after the cackling, ominous end of “Witch of the Week,” setting us up for an unholy Bob-Deborah alliance and Deb’s pride at being on top getting the best of her only to reveal that she genuinely has learned from her experiences and is now capable of throwing her old dream away for her new self and new relationships. (It’s last season’s “I would. Wouldn’t you?” turned inside-out, in a way: she would have once, and still could have, but this time she chooses not to, and we’ve followed every step it took to get her there.) The “oh shit” mention of the non-compete clause at the end is the perfect set-up for more drama, too.
All the Jimmy and Kayla material was fantastic as well. Is there anything more Jimmy than swerving around the parking lot barrier, even in the middle of a nervous breakdown? Paul W. Downs killed it all episode–his reaction to the Method Norman Bates actor on the studio lot tour, him trying to parse whether he and Kayla were a couple despite themselves, him going “gorilla mode” with Bob Lipka (I adore him ordering the production assistant not to cut the feed, and the guy listening to him: I don’t even think we’ve specifically seen Jimmy interact with that guy in particular before, but we’ve seen him with other low-level set people, and the guy instantly choosing to listen to him over Bob feels like confirmation that Jimmy’s been nice to him before, and “leading with love” is paying off in a key moment).
Didn’t get a chance to comment on “D’Christening” or “Witch of the Week” before I left for vacation, but I loved both, especially DJ explaining why she chose Ava as her daughter’s godmother. Another holdover from last week’s TV viewing was Poker Face, “The Taste of Human Blood.” Pretty strong episode–weaker mystery plot (Charlie solves it all fairly quickly), but entertaining comedy. Kumail Nanjiani looked like he was having a blast playing a dumb, catchphrase-slinging Florida Man cop, and I was basically grinning every time he was on screen.
Thank you! That ended up being a fortunate description borne of the necessary constraints (not wanting to spoil the actual events of the episode; wanting to write the minimum necessary to get this published because I’ve been sick). Your analysis is as terrific and appreciated as ever.
I’m not watching Poker Face, but Kumail can generally be pretty fun when he has a good comic character and reason to act goofy. He did a pretty solid turn in this regard on Only Murders in the Building last season, although my favorite work is his earlier pre-jacked superhero comedy stuff (like his appearances on The Jeselnik Offensive or his special Beta Male).
I really hope you feel better soon! And thank you!
I’ll have to check out some of his earlier work. I’m mostly familiar with him from The Big Sick, but his performance–a lot more dramatic than you’d expect, and with a final commitment to tragedy that really worked for me–was probably my favorite part of the very hit-or-miss 2019 Twilight Zone revival. It’s an episode that doesn’t entirely come together, but he’s fantastic.
Welcome back!
Jimmy really was the MVP here – I was tossing up whether to write an essay on him last week because his complete loyalty and decency as been on my mind, but this episode basically made that moot. It’s great how he often does things that would look weak, but Downs’s performance manages to sell his compromising and refusal to lose his temper as an act of strength. The thing about being a guy like Jimmy is that you only see results in a clutch like this.
Thank you! And yeah, Downs makes you see how much strength and character it takes to hold it together in the kinds of trying circumstances poor Jimmy is often forced into: compare him to everyone else constantly losing it, and their eruptions feel like tantrums and he feels like, as you’ve said, the only real adult in the room.
Hacks
It’s obviously way too early to call this the “Of Mice And Lem” of Hacks, but I’m calling this the etc. Everything here worked, from the main story to the comic subplot the casual humour of walk-on characters this show does so well – this whole thing felt effortlessly good. Above all else, this is where Jimmy’s basic decency and loyalty has paid off – everyone is immediately loyal to him as soon as it all goes to shit for him (great, great beat where he drives around the barrier, because even in the middle of a breakdown he can’t help but think of other people just doing their jobs).
And this is a subplot! Still keeping with Jimmy, I saw Deb’s climactic action coming a mile away because there’s simply no way Jimmy would have stood by and let her burn Ava for her career. Ava’s work at trying to bring morality out of Deb has finally paid off as well, as she puts the right thing ahead of her career in the most violent way possible. Ethan Summers is such a great plot problem to set all this off, because it taps into the entire career of comedy in so many ways; Hacks manages to tap into current concerns so perfectly in how it nails this and the thorny problem where the morally right thing to do is not at all the practical thing, and I’m desperate to find out what happens next here.
Extremely funny variants on Oddly Simpatico: everyone knowing where to first look for Dance Mom when she’s missing, and everybody loves Randy.
Kayla is bad at being sincere, which is so funny. The fact that “Feminism has gone too far!” got a reaction out of Ava killed me.
Hacks really is great at running with the naturally occurring potential for drama you get from that kind of right vs. practical split, and–to carry on with your Shield comparisons–it even does one of my favorite Shield setups here, where all the fucked-up shit happening lets the show pinpoint exactly where different characters would draw their lines in the sand: Ava would go to the mat for the joke, but she doesn’t want to lose her job defending it (loved her argument with the On the Contrary guy that right, sure, but now the moral stance personally affects her); Deb could shrug off losing the joke but won’t lose Ava.
The two characters, united by the fact that they – somewhat unexpectedly, even to themselves – want to protect Ava’s career.