#themoodys

Sunday, June 6th:

(original made-for-TV movies): "The Wedding Ring" (UPtv, ~2hrs), "Soccer Mom Madam" (Lifetime, 2hrs++)

(specials): Kennedy Center Honors (CBS, 2hrs), "Alicia Keys: Live in L.A." (TVOne, 90mins)

(earlier - hour 0): AXIOS (HBO), 60 Minutes (CBS),   / Bless the Harts (FOX)

(hour 1): Celebrity Family Feud (ABC, season 7 opener, new night), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (theCW), The Girlfriend Experience (Starz),   / Run the World (Starz), "The Kings" (SHO, sports docu-series premiere)

(hour 2): The Chase (ABC, season 2 opener, new night), Batwoman (theCW), The Moodys (FOX, season 2 resumes, new night),   / The Moodys (FOX), Good Witch (HALL), Fear the Walking Dead (AMC, penultimate), Gordon Ramsay Uncharted (NatGeo, timeslot opener), The Food That Built America (HIST, season 2B resumes), The Great Food Truck Race (FOOD, season 14 "All-Stars" opener), Little Birds (Starz, anthology stateside premiere), The Chi (SHO), War of the Worlds (EPIX, season 2 opener), In Treatment (HBO, 60mins), "The Story of Late Night" (CNN, part 6/6 finale, 75mins)

(hour 3): To Tell The Truth (ABC, season 6B resumes, new timeslot), Pose (FX, 2hrs++), Black Monday (SHO) /   / Flatbush Misdemeanors (SHO), Domina (EPIX, historical drama series stateside premiere), United Shades of America (CNN, later)

Merry Happy Whatever (Netflix) – Skip it.  Sorry, Dennis Quaid.

The Moodys (Fox) –  You could do a lot worse for a Christmas show (see above.)  The suspension of disbelief that Jay Baruchel is somehow Denis Leary’s son is funny enough... and then Denis Leary trying to pronounce “Ecclesiastes” is hilarious.  If you’re from Chicago you’ll love the uncle who always has the best directions.  The rest of this south side family is all adopted, apparently, as none of them look like each other or their parents... which is also funny.  It’s network, but thumbs up from me.  

Holiday Secrets (Netflix) – Germany. Sort of like a female driven This Is Us – three timelines of family drama and love.  More of a movie than a series (totally running time of under two hours)  and I enjoyed every emotional revealing second of it.

The Morning Show (AppleTv+) – Talk about a hot button issue.  Well played, Apple.  Steve Carell’s performance as the ousted offender is so good it almost makes you wonder if he really did anything wrong.  But this is not just a show about “times up,” this is a show about “the news,” and how ridiculous that idea has become and how ratings are always the bottom line.  Great writing and great performances. (Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup, Tom Irwin,  Mark Dulpass, Karen Pittman, etc etc etc.)   Makes my must see list.

Dark Crystal (Netflix) – The visuals are stunning, and the pupperteering is amazing...  but only you can decide if you can really take Muppets seriously.  I mean... they’re Muppets.  If you loved the movie as a kid this is a prequel to that story and there’s a few characters you’ll recognise.   The Gelflings have a sort of magical wonder about them that may be better suited for kids than old people like me.  

Modern Love (Amazon) – John Carney et al take on the articles / podcasts from the NY Times column of stories submitted by real folks about their romantic hits and misses.  Probably only for rom lovers,   although the on location shots of NY are always appreciated.  

Home for Christmas (Net) – Norway. Leading lady Ida Elise Brock is ADORABLE and this very short series has all the Christmas cliches you want including Love Actually references.  Fun to laugh and cringe along with this story of a smart, funny, loving woman just trying to find a decent date.  Must see for rom-com lovers.

Mr. Mom (Vudu) – Not as dumb / bad as plenty of other sitcoms you’ve seen, and only 11 minutes an episode. If you’ve never heard of Vudu, take a few minutes to check it out.  They say that ad-based streaming is the future of television.  But isn’t that just... television?  SMH.  

High School Musical: the Musical: the Series (Disney +) – For teenagers (or anyone really) that loves musical theatre and has a hearty sense of humour.  So sweet it gave me a tummy ache, BUT there is real humour here, and if you take away the musical theatre its still a  really fun show for YA viewers.  

Watchmen (HBO) – AWESOME.  Watch It.

Three Days of Christmas (Net) – Spain.  Another emotional heavy hitter that kept my eyeballs glued to the screen.   Definitely the most morbid of the bunch, this set of three timelines sticks to one day per episode (hence the title.)  The main characters again are all women, so to tally from above – that’s three home runs from Netflix on foreign Christmas shows.  

The Mandalorian (Disney +) – At best this is a super expensively made kids show... at worst its outright goofy.   Sure, Baby Yoda is REALLY cute cute cute, but why does the lead actor sound like he can’t act?  Am I supposed to know already who the Mandalorians are?  Who am I supposed to care about?   Why don’t they ever take their helmets off?  Felt more like I was watching a video game than a show.  (But still it’s Star Wars so you know yer gonna watch it all.)

NOT REVIEWED:

Mad About You (Spectrum) – Not a new show.  Somehow now more sad than funny.

His Dark Materials (HBO) – please read the books; I LOVED them.  (His Dark Materials trilogy Philip Pullman circa 1995-2000)

Toast of London (IFC) – not new, aired in 2012

Wu-Tang American Saga (Hulu) – based on the true story of the formation of the Wu Tang Clan.

The Promised Life (Acorn)

Mrs. Fletcher (HBO)

In the Long Run (Starz)

Back To Life (Showtime)