Space Races, Tornadoes And Serving The C Word

I did one of these about two months ago and I might slip in another before the year ends. Anyways, a lot of other things I've been watching the last few weeks.

9-1-1: I can't believe we're on to a ninth season of this show but I can also believe that ABC will bleed this show dry. Anyways the first four episodes had Athena and Hen up in space because at this point, it's not even the most ridiculous thing the show can do these days. There was Eddie losing his grandmother, May and Harry becoming regulars, Buck dealing with Bobby's absence more than Athena and Howie officially becoming captain. It's a bit of a weak start for the show.

9-1-1: Nashville: As one spin off ended, another rose in its place but I can't tell if this show will be a success story like 9-1-1: Lone Star or crash and burn like Doctor Odyssey. It's a very haphazard show so far with the opening three parter tornado story doing little to properly establish the character dynamics. Right now, it feels like a spin off for the sake of having one rather than a show that genuinely justifies it's existence.

All's Fair: Ryan Murphy might be having one of his most challenging years in a long time because not only have some of his shows gotten cancelled, his new line of shows seem to be leaving audiences rather cold. I guarantee if this show had been released a decade ago, it would've been lapped up. It's got a strong cast with Sarah Paulson, Glenn Close, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor and Naomi Watts and then there's Kim Kardashian. The first five episodes threw in some big guests, moments of sheer opulence and savage one liners from Paulson's venomous Carrington Lane but it's also a case of Murphy reheating past triumphs in an underwhelming way.

Big Brother UK: It's been twenty five years since the most influential reality show hit UK screens and this series was a very mixed bag. Fortunately we got a likable winner with Richard but we also had to endure unbearable people like Caroline, Sam, Nancy and George and the inconsistencies with rule breaking and often disastrous late night spin off often tested my patience with the show. It'll be back for a 2026 series but ITV2 need to make some changes if they're going to continue with the show.

Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy: For those who find Netflix's Monster series on the exploitative side of things in it's depiction of real life serial killer, Peacock has an alternative. This first season might have been about John Wayne Gacy but the emphasis was more on the lives of his victims and the trauma their families had to endure more than Gacy himself. At eight episodes, it did lag a little but it's a good alternative to it's Netflix counterpart.

Marvel Zombies: I gotta admit, this really just came and went. Aside from Daredevil: Born Again, it feels like none of the MCU shows really made much impact this year. This didn't even need to be a four part series. It could've been a 70 minute animated movie and it would've worked better. If you're a fan of Ms Marvel, Kate Bishop and Ironheart, this one's for you.

Only Murders In The Building: Season 5 hasn't been the show at its strongest but it hasn't been horrible. I do feel there's a lot of life left with the show but the Lester mystery was by far the weakest in terms of execution and eventually resolution as well. I mean the killer was someone we barely knew and therefore it was harder to care about them being caught. Saying that, I am looking forward to seeing what things will be like next season when Charles, Oliver and Mabel head to London.

• The fourth season of Bridgerton will be released from January 29th and February 26th respectively on Netflix.
• Stranger Things Season 5 will be released on Netflix from November 26th, December 25th and December 31st.
• Peacock have cancelled Poker Face after two seasons but have renewed Twisted Metal for a third season.
• Fallout Season 2 will premiere on Amazon Prime from December 17th.
• The BBC have renewed both Line Of Duty and Doctor Foster for seventh and third seasons respectively.
• The Sophie Turner starring series, Steal will premiere on Amazon Prime from January 21st.
• FX have cancelled English Teacher after two seasons.
• Jason Momoa has signed on for another Apple TV series called Nomad.
• Grotesquerie has been rumoured to be cancelled after one season by FX.
• Season 2 of The Night Manager will be released on Amazon Prime from January 11th.
• The eighth and final season of Outlander will air on Starz from March 6th.
• Amazon Prime have ordered Escorted to series, which will be written, produced and star Brett Goldstein.
• FX have renewed Alien: Earth for a second season.

A Tale Of Two Psychopaths

As usual, it's been a while since I've done one of these but a look into some of the shows I've watched over the last few weeks.

And Just Like That: Talk about having cancellation creep up on you. It's pretty obvious that Michael Patrick King and his three leads thought they had more time but HBO thought otherwise. These last few episodes saw Carrie ditch Aidan and almost get with the English writer while coming out with an ending for her book. Miranda and Steve found out they were going to be grandparents and Charlotte and Harry started having sex again. If this show hasnt wasted most of its time giving audiences everything they didn't want from a sequel series, we'd probably be getting a fourth season. Live and learn.

Dexter: Resurrection: On to a sequel series that gave audiences exactly, how fucking good did this show turn out to be? It's like the writers managed to recapture the heights of the original show's first four seasons. There's so much to praise here, but the Dexter/Harrison dynamic was what it needed to be for both characters and Leon Prater turned out to be one of the best season Big Bads we've had on the show. Add Dexter bumping off fellow serial killers, an expected but affecting exit for Angel and this season just hit all the right spots. 

Only Murders In The Building: With previous seasons, I'd usually wait until the finale and binge watch the lot but I decided to go weekly this season instead. Four episodes in and you've got Charles, Oliver and Mabel trying to solve their former doorman's death, along with a mob hit and coming to the realisation that being mainstream podcasters can get you censored. Throw in Logan Lerman, Christopher Waltz and Renee Zellweger as a trio of scheming billionaires and it's a good start so far.

The Girlfriend: Ah, another glossy thriller with a female protagonist who's a psychopath. Actually this time, it's two of them with both Olivia Cooke and Robin Wright giving it their all. The former as unhinged estate agent, Cherry and the latter as the equally unbalanced Laura. The object of their psychopathy - the rather dull Daniel, played by Laurie Davidson. He's Cherry's new boyfriend and Laura's son with incest vibes between the two. Throughout the six episodes both Cherry and Laura up the ante in their crazy pursuit of Daniel but only one could come out on top. It does lag in the middle but it's enjoyable enough.

Wednesday: Season 2 of a show where the writing isn't that different to an episode of Riverdale. I snark but in fact, I do enjoy this show. This second season was neither better nor worse than the first season. Jenna Ortega still ruled the roost as Wednesday Addams but the season expanded her family, brought back other characters, wasted a plot on Enid that amounted to very little overall and was a bit hit and miss with new cast members like Steve Buscemi, Billie Piper and Joanna Lumley. The show might have overplayed it's use of Lady Gaga as well. With all that said, I'll still watch Season 3. 

- Kit Harrington will star in an upcoming adaptation of A Tale Of Two Cities for BBC/MGM+.

- HBO will air A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms from January 2026 with the third season of House Of The Dragon likely to air next summer.

- Wonder Man will be split into two parts when it's released on Disney+ in December. Marvel Zombies premieres from September 24th.

- Daredevil: Born Again has been renewed for a third season. It's second season will premiere on Disney+ early 2026.

- The upcoming fourth season of The White Lotus will be set in France. Will likely premiere in 2027 on HBO.

- There are plans for further seasons of House Of Guinness for Netflix. The first season premieres September 25th.

- Paramount+ have cancelled Dexter: Original Sin but it does seem that Dexter: Resurrection will get a second season.

- Despite wrapping up this week, Amazon announced that The Summer I Turned Pretty will get a wrap up movie.

- Jessica Chastain and Ben Stiller will star in upcoming Apple TV+ limited series, The Off Weeks.

- Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue will air on BBC1 from September 28th.

- Pamela Anderson will executive produce a TV adaptation of Barb Wire.

- Hacks will end with a fifth season for HBO Max.

- The fourth season of The Witcher will be released on Netflix from October 30th.

You're Getting The F Of A Lifetime

Yes, it's been several months since I've last done this and the next one likely won't be until January (excluding the 2024 In Review blog). Um, here goes.

911: I spent a few weeks properly catching up on the sixth and seventh seasons and while I missed the chance to talk about them as they were airing (minus that Buck story), I won't with this eighth season. The first five episodes had a shit tonne of bees, a plane that Athena had to stop from crashing, Bobby as a technical advisor on a show and the temporary tyranny of Captain Gerard. Then we had a totally batshit Halloween episode where Buck disturbed an old corpse and paid for it immensely throughout. This show does revel in it's absurdity. 

911: Lone Star: Again, I played a game of catch up with the third and fourth seasons of this show. However my focus will be on the first five episodes of this fifth and final season. So far, it's off to a good start. I mean there was a poison cloud, both Marjan and Paul competing for Captain, Judd returning as a probie, Tommy's relationship with the pastor ending and Owen getting a temperamental horse to boot. There was also TK and Carlos going through some marital strife as well but they seem to be on better terms during the last episode.

Agatha All Along: After the success of WandaVision, there was a part of me that wondered if Disney+ had left this show too long for audiences to care. I was wrong because audiences certainly cared as Agatha Harkness and Billy/William Maximoff/Kaplan made for quite a team with a great rapport between Kathryn Hahn and Joe Locke in this nine episode series. Plenty of magical hijinks, Easter Eggs, flashbacks and some strong supporting performances from Patti LuPone, Aubrey Plaza, Ali Ahn and Sasheer Zamata. Easily one of the best Disney+ shows the MCU has done.

Kaos: Falling victim to Netflix's increasingly cancel happy ways, I knew this show was doomed from the start with the lack of hype surrounding. By that way, that's a shame because it's a rather good take on Greek mythology in a current day setting. The stories range from Olympus, the real world and the underworld. There's great performances from several actors (including Jeff Goldblum being a man child like Zeus) and a few nicely done love stories and some great LGBT rep to boot. Yeah, it's worth watching but the cliffhanger will annoy you for the obvious reason.

Only Murders In The Building: Even though this show does weekly episodes, I always leave it until the season has wrapped up and binge watch it in a few days. That's exactly what I did with this fourth season, which focused on the death of Jane Lynch's stuntwoman Sazz. In this season we also had some Hollywood glamour with Eugene Levy, Zack Galifianakis and Eva Longoria playing the movie versions of Charles, Oliver and Mabel respectively and I liked that the show managed to split the time between New York and LA this season. Add in a subplot about another group of renters, Jan's return, Oliver and Loretta getting married, Donna's love for Zack, Paul Rudd as an Irish stuntman and this was another top notch season. Even the killer reveal was decent enough.

Rivals: Oh Disney+. It took them a while to realise that being a glorified babysitting app for kids wasn't going to be enough to sustain them. Going all in with Hulu/Star was necessary but also, so was making original adult content. This adaptation of Jilly Cooper's racy book of the same name certainly helps a bit. There's sublime performances from the likes of David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Alex Hassell, Nafessa Williams and Bella MacLean to name a few. There's plenty of shagging, back stabbing, one upmanship and general madness while set to a 1980s backdrop with the likes of Thatcher and the AIDS crisis playing their part in this delightful show. If Disney+ don't renew this for a second season, then they better adapt more from Jilly Cooper's books and soon.

• Yerin Ha has been cast as Sophie Baek, the love interest for Benedict Bridgerton as Season 4 of Bridgerton has now gone into production.
• The next 911 spin off may be set in Hawaii but that has yet to be confirmed. It's currently a rumour.
• Season 3 of Yellowjackets has wrapped production and will be released on Showtime/Paramount+ in early 2025.
• And Just Like That Season 3 has also wrapped production for a 2025 release on Max.
• Marvel fans will have six shows on Disney+ in 2025. Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man (January 29th), Daredevil: Born Again (March 4th), Eyes Of Wakanda (August 6th), Ironheart (September 3rd), Marvel Zombies (October) and Wonder Man (December)
• Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis will play sisters in upcoming Amazon series, Scarpetta. The show has been ordered for two seasons.
• HBO have renewed Industry for a fourth season.
• Netflix will be releasing second season of Squid Game on Christmas Day.
• UK audiences will have two Christmas specials of Call The Midwife to enjoy over the festive period on BBC1.
• Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny will be the main cast for the second season of Beef for Netflix.
• Kathy Bates version of Matlock has bagged an early second season renewal by CBS.
• Expect a crossover between Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
• Family Guy will release a Christmas special on Hulu from November 25th.

Timed Pot Shots, Killer Plays And More

Yes, it's been way too long since I've done one of these but here it is, my final TV Jumble Blog for 2023.

Big Brother (UK): After it's axing from Channel 5 back in 2018, five years was enough time for this show to be missed and for ITV2 to swoop in and bring it back. Their first series was nothing short of a triumph, running for six weeks before eventually Jordan Sangha ended up winning. Having a diverse cast, shorter runtime, decent tasks and twists, it was great to see the show recapture the appeal of its earlier years on Channel 4. I really hope ITV2 can maintain that quality going into the next few years.

Chucky: Falling victim to the split season format, due to the actor and writers strike at the time, you can't begrudge the show for giving half a story, can you? Fortunately the first four episodes are actually pretty strong with a multitude of plotlines meshing into another fairly well. You got the title baddie himself at the White House desperate to perform a ritual to save his life while Jake, Devon and Lexy come for him. Then there was the campiness of Tiffany's trial and prison stint while the Collins family are decent new protagonists. You even get some brief updates for Nica, Andy and Caroline, so overall, it's a good first half.

Loki: 2023 has seen MCU fans getting a taster of what DC (specifically DCEU fans) have had to deal with. However along with the final segment of the Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy, they got a brief reprieve with the secomd season of this show. Now it's not as good as the first season but it was definitely miles ahead of recent MCU Disney+ shows with a rather befitting ending for Loki overall as a character. Not even the controversy surrounding Jonathan Majors as Kang could deter from that.

Only Murders In The Building: Every time this show returns, I wait for the season to end and then binge watch it. I know no other way with this one. Anyways Season 3 gave us the mystery of who killed actor Ben Gilroy (Paul Rudd) and it wasn't his co-star Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), though the show enjoyed teasing the idea. Season 3 gave Charles, Oliver and Mabel their own new love interests with mixed results, nearly broke up the podcasting trio, had a mother and son who were way too close for comfort and even gave Howard and his boyfriend more screen time. Will I be back for Season 4? You bet I will.

South Park: It's been a long time since I've really watched this particular show that I'm amazed it's still on the air. Like a lot of long running shows, it's sort of become background television. Anyways, if there was an award for a piece of media where certain groups on the internet spectacularly missed the point, it would be. Yes, Joining The Panderverse had a lot to say (and not very originally) about the overuse of diversity with some too easy jabs at Disney but it was ripping on people who complain about diversity. Even Cartman - the actual embodiment of entitled man babies managed to get that glaringly obvious message in this decent enough special.

Wilderness: I'm a fan of Jenna Coleman and quite like Oliver Jackson-Cohen and this six part limited series had the pair as a Welsh/English couple named Liv and Will living in New York. Their relationship appears idyllic until Liv found out that Will was cheating on her with a co-worker and from there onwards, she spiralled into madness, which included the accidental death of the other woman, Cara. It's a decent enough series, though Jenna Coleman struggled a bit with the Welsh accent. The ending doesn't exactly portray Liv in a positive and feels like a misguided attempt to legitimise her actions throughout the series. Your mileage may vary with this one.

• The second series of The Tourist will air on BBC1 from New Year's Day with Jamie Dornan returning to the show, which will be set in Ireland this time.
• Jenna Coleman will play Detective Ember Manning for upcoming BBC series The Jetty.
• House Of The Dragon's second season will air on HBO from summer 2024.
• HBO/Max have confirmed the next seasons of Euphoria, The White Lotus, The Last Of Us, And Just Like That and Welcome To Derry will premiere in 2025.
• Filming for the final season of Stranger Things will commence in January. 
• Karen Gillan, Hugh Bonneville and Alex Kingston are the main cast for Steven Moffat's Douglas Is Cancelled in ITVX.
• The second series of Big Boys will air on Channel 4 in January.
• CBS have confirmed the seventh and fourteenth seasons of Young Sheldon and Blue Bloods will be their last.
• Station 19 will end after seven seasons on ABC in 2024.
• Matt Smith will play the title character in the upcoming series adaptation of The Death Of Bunny Munro for SkyTV.
• Bob Odenkirk's Lucky Hank has been cancelled by AMC after one season.
• Filming has resumed for American Horror Story: Delicate and American Horror Stories Season 3. Tommy Dorfman and Henry Winkler will appear in the former and latter, respectively.
• Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans will premiere on FX/Hulu from January 31st. Jessica Lange will also appear in the series.

Murders By Land Or At Sea

Okay, it's really been a long time since I've done this and some shows I'm holding back for next month and others I've already reviewed but here's a look at some I've recently completed.

Only Murders In The Building: I absolutely adored the first season of this show and I did have a minor concern that Season 2 might have suffered from difficult second album syndrome. Fortunately that wasn't the case at all. Not only were Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez on absolutely top form as Charles, Oliver and Mabel respectively but the mystery surrounding Bunny's death managed to take some very interesting twists and turns before the big finale reveal. Add in a slew of interesting new characters like Alice and a cliff hanger ending on the death of Paul Rudd's actor character and the stage for next season was set perfectly. 

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law: If you ever thought that the MCU needed it's own take on Ally McBeal with a lot of fourth wall breaking, then this show must have been a godsend for you. For me, it was partial'y a mixed bag that took too long to get the main plot moving along and when the main plot did move along, it was somewhat resolved in an odd way. There were plus sided to the series as Tatiana Maslany's performance as Jen Walters, an amusing side threat with Titania (Jameela Jamil) not to mention appearances from Hulk, Abomination, Wong and Daredevil to name a few. While it was one of the weaker MCU shows, it wasn't entirely without it's merits either.

The Watcher: After some of his previous efforts on Netflix being something of a mixed bag, Ryan Murphy seems to be the cat who got the cream. Dahmer alone has smashed records for the streamer and this seven part series also managed to pull in some big numbers. Based on an unsolved case, this show felt like a revisit of the first season of American Horror Story with Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts leading as average couple Dean and Nora who find that purchasing a nice house came with some hostile neighbours, an inept detective, an overzealous realtor played by Jennifer Coolidge trying to flip their place and a creepy 'watcher' who keeps sending them disturbing letters. Want to know who the 'Watcher' actually is? Well, you're not going to find out because it's an unsolved case after all. Other than that, it's a pretty decent miniseries.

Wreck: BBC3 has only been back for about nine months and for those hoping for shows that would be the next generation of Being Human/The Fades/In The Flesh, this very LGBT themed nautical horror series definitely could fill that void. With likable leads such as Jamie and Vivian, a nice romance story between Jamie and Olly, a murder mystery complete with a killer duck, some genuinely good twists and Ireland's own Panti Bliss popping up every so often, this show was a surprising delight. Such a delight that BBC3 only went and renewed it for a second series and given the way the first one ended, it's a good thing too. 

• Yahya Abdul Mateen II has been cast as Wonder Man for the upcoming Disney+ series with Bob Odenkirk in talks to play the character's manager.
• Joe Locke and Aubrey Plaza have been cast in undisclosed roles for Agatha: Coven Of Chaos. 
• Westworld has been cancelled after four seasons on HBO.
• Indira Varma and Shirley Henderson have been cast in leading roles for Dune: The Sisterhood series for HBO Max.
• Both Teen Wolf movie and the Wolf Pack series will premiere on Paramount+ from January 2023.
• Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Ghosts US will air on BBC3 this month.
• UK viewers can also see the second season of Chucky from November 28th on Sky TV.
• The Last Of Us will premiere on HBO from January 15th and the next day for UK viewers on SkyAtlantic.
• The first episode of the fifth season of Stranger Things will be titled The Crawl.
• Interview With A Vampire was renewed for a second season ahead of its series premiere.