Change Your Image
bobcobb301
Reviews
Law & Order: Organized Crime: Semper Fi (2024)
Semper Fi
This storyline feels like the writers were watching Fargo this past season and are trying their best to recreate it. We have seen that a bit with some of the gangs and other multi episode arcs we have had on Organized Crime that seem to mirror other shows.
It is entertaining enough, but not the most engaging storyline at all. I will give it time to see if it develops into something, but I kind of wish this was a one-off as I do not know if there is much potential here.
Organized Crime needs to get back on track or it will run the risk of getting canceled amidst all the rumors of its statud right now.
Law & Order: Organized Crime: Crossroads (2024)
Crossroads
They really couldn't show us what happened to Sam? It just seemed weird and I have to wonder if there was some kind of fallout behind the scenes because why build this person up and then not show the actual death?
It was an okay episode, but the show is just missing something with this current arc. I am not excited at all by Angus Boone and it feels like they are just throwing in gunfire and gun violence and intrigue and hostage crises to try and entertain us, but it is not doing so.
I don't know if this storyline is enough to save the show from being cancelled either, but I hope NBC does renew it.
Spinal Destination: Episode #1.4 (2024)
Episode 4
The Jerry character feels like there is a lot more potential there and a lot to unravel, but we're just not seeing enough. I would love to see her come into play more and mix it up with the patients, but maybe they are saving that for the finale where she will tell Tess the good or bad news about her fate.
Having one patient actually leave the center added stakes to the issue and made for laugh out loud television when they were mocking him being lifted up to the bus for his departure. I wonder if he will return or if we will end up with him truly gone and Tessa's world getting a little bit smaller.
Family Guy: Faith No More (2024)
Faith No More
I won't praise much about the show tonight and not because it was political or because it tackled religion: it just wasn't particularly funny
You had Stewie and Brian, you had time travel and everything seemed to be set up for a good episode, but it just was not. There were a few good gags here and there but for the most part it was just underwhelming and kind of felt like that modern Family Guy where they make a quality pop culture relevant nugget, but not much else.
The season is almost over and while some episodes have been okay you kind of wonder how much longer a show like this will go on for.
Spinal Destination: Episode #1.3 (2024)
Episode 3
I did not really know where they were going with the 80's party flashbacks in the beginning, or even the annoying friend here, but this episode really got over that this is a fun little show. Nothing about it was laugh out loud funny, not even the two handicapped men fighting really got to me, but it is accomplishing a lot of things by having people learn about themselves, even amidst this huge physical journey they are undertaking.
We're halfway through and I am sold and I can only hope now that they find a way to wrap this up in a satisfying way, but I have my worries about that for sure right now.
Manhunt: Useless (2024)
Useless
I feel like the title of this episode is applicable for much more than what Booth's father referred to him as. Having another episode after this one is useless because this should have been the series finale. The show has been about the hunt for Booth and with him dead we do not need to see the trials of anyone else involved.
A good episode and a powerful one and it did not have the full poetic justice they were looking for. Yes, Booth got shot in the back of the head so is there that, but we would have liked to see him get hauled in and that we did not get, because history got in the way. Still, a good show.
The Voice: The Knockouts Part 2 (2024)
Knockouts 2
Good to see Maddi Jane advance as I have enjoyed her work since the auditions here. I was surprised they booked the contestants in the order they did as the final two performers were arguably the worst of the night, when that slot is usually reserved for the elite of the bunch and an act that gets a steal with people fighting over them.
This show does not have a lot of buzz around it right now, and American Idol may actually have the better talent and the better program this year, but so far so good and I am enjoying what we are getting right now. Let's keep up the good momentum next week, I can hope.
The Voice: The Knockouts Premiere (2024)
Knockouts Premiere
This is always a fun round for the show and we got some solid performances here. It felt fast-moving but this coaching panel still is not really giving elite feedback or any meaningful points. Some of the comments from Reba feel borderline weird.
But the talent is okay this season and the show still feels fresh, even 25 seasons in. I am not sure who is going to prevail and win the title at the end, which also makes for a better viewing experience.
Good round, I appreciate the one week break between episodes, and let's hope they can continue this positive momentum with Tuesday's episode of the show.
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Strange Invaders (2024)
Strange Invaders
I feel like every procedural does this kind of episode where they tease aliens and tease a supernatural element. That is the impact and legacy of the long-running series The X Files I suppose.
NCIS tackled it a little bit differently, and this was actually quite fun at times, but it just never really got off the ground the way it could have been. Way too much McGee in this episode for my liking too.
Enjoyable enough, and oddly enough probably one of the standout episodes of the season thus far for NCIS, but this could have been so much better had they gone to the drawing board and fixed a few things, mainly the whole AI bits.
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: A Thousand Yards (2024)
Episode 7 This Season
NCIS reaching 1,000 episodes across all versions is an accomplishment, no matter how you spin it.
This show did a special episode in honor of Ducky, and that was well done, but this kind of missed the marks. Having some crossover agents from NCIS: LA and Hawaii was smart, but they only made a small cameo. No real twist with the case of who shot Vance, and no real drama period.
I guess the goal was to create just another NCIS episode and not go over board, but it just felt like a letdown. Decent enough and entertaining to watch, but we were hoping for something a bit more special than this for sure.
Family Guy: Fat Actor (2024)
Fat Actor
I expected a lot of low brow jokes in this episode, and we got more than our share of them, but it was not all bad. There were some moments that were genuinely funny, and this show still does have some effective commentary on pop culture, something it has done so well for almost 25 years now.
I just wish they would not always take such a woke position on politics. When they talked about the right actors getting the job, that is something that rings true and is surprisingly profound to say in 2024. They argued that point sarcastically though, instead of emphatically like it should have been argued.
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar: 711 (Top 14 Reveal) (2024)
Episode 711
For the most part a lot of the right talent went through and the right talent went home. There were probably a few changes I would have made, but there was nothing that major here.
I like the show being aggressive and slicing a lot of acts at this point in the run. Give them a chance to get through, but then make sure the fans have the say.
And we got some theatrical performances tonight here. There were some vocals issues with "Its a Man's Man's Man's World" at the end, but anyone who can put on a show like that and entertain the audience in studio and at home deserves to go through on this show.
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar: 710 (Top 20) (2024)
Episode 710
Three hours is obviously way too long for a singing competition or any kind of program on a Sunday night, but this was a pretty good episode. We got a lot of performances in and we had some interesting song choices, which is usually one of the main issues I have with American Idol.
There are a lot of singers that do not deserve to be on the stage at this point, but all these episodes in I expect that to be the case for American Idol and The Voice.
But it is a fun show and much like last year Idol is having a good run and is something I look forward to every single week. Been a while since that was the case.
Not Dead Yet: Not in the Game Yet (2024)
Not in the Game
This was actually a really solid episode of the show. Not Dead Yet feels like it gets going and makes you laugh and then they have an episode the next week where you barely laugh. It is hard to judge.
But this episode was extremely similar to Just Shoot Me's episode that featured softball, and considering that is one of my favorite 90's sitcoms that is quite the compliment. This is Nell in her environment and this works.
But the rest of the cast and the lack of actual softball and baseball dynamic was underwhelming.
Better than most weeks, but definitely not a classic by any stretch of the imagination.
Manhunt: A Man of Destiny (2024)
Episode 5
We're winding down and that is kind of disappointing as this show has been quite entertaining. I still think they made a bit of a giant leap with how quickly they were able to track down Booth though. Yes, they made a huge mistake with their navigation and circling back into Maryland while in the water, but they still had a huge head start on these people. How quickly were they able to get across all of this land while traveling on horseback?
I do like how the show is focusing on Stanton though as he was an integral character at the time who does not get much attention when this is covered in history class.
ESPN College Basketball: 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament: Regional Final: UConn vs. Iowa (2024)
UConn vs. Iowa
I thought that UConn might be able to pull this off, but the legend of Caitlin Clark continues to grow as she leads Iowa to another huge win. UConn had this game, but just collapsed and was unable to get points or stops when they needed to. They rallied late, but a questionable illegal screen called proved to be the thing that was the final nail in the coffin for them.
This is exactly the kind of thing college basketball and women's college basketball needed. It is usually not possible to get me to tune into a late night game on a Friday, but this had me on the edge of my seat for the final hour or so.
The Conners: Smash and Grab and Happy Death Day (2024)
Episode 607
The Conners is attempting to go a little bit deeper in this season which makes me think the end is near, but a little bit of felt forced. I think there were better ways to have Becky deal with Roseanne and Mark than talking to her daughter about death.
And they had the chance to do some commentary on the rise of crime around the country, but for some reason diverted into a weird dynamic between Dan and Jackie.
This show has been slightly better in Season 6 than Season 5, but it is clearly time to move on and say goodbye to this universe. I just hope ABC realizes that sooner rather than later.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: No Lessons Learned (2024)
Episode 1210
Curb Your Enthusiasm will go down as the second best comedy of all-time, trailing only Seinfeld.
Seinfeld had a polarizing series finale and this one has one too. They nearly mirrored the courtroom scene and concept, but had a big switcharoo at the end.
It was way too long and not overly funny, but there were some moments that made me laugh.
Auntie Rae struggling to say Jeff's fake name multiple times was a good gag, Leon in the courtroom was funny and they got some guest stars to come back and even show us how much the camera quality has improved since 2000.
This is an iconic show, but this final season was just poor. Not a horrible finale though.
Allegiance: Episode #1.10 (2024)
Episode 110
Allegiance has been a good show, but some weeks a little disappointing.
A strong finale here though and thankfully they wrapped up the gang element. I am surprised we did not see a lot of the actual shooting and murder though as that was a missed opportunity to give the fans some good action.
They teased some more political issues in a potential second season with the Assistant Commissioner being involved in the framing. I think that is a smart move, they need stakes and a reason to separate this show from its competition, but I still hope we get some good cases of the week. That's the bread and butter of this genre.
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar: 708 (Top 24 at Disney's Aulani Resort in Hawaii Part #1) (2024)
Episode 708
American Idol is having a pretty strong season here and this epsisode absolutely seemed to fly by tonight.
I am not a massive fan of the in-between rounds usually from auditions to lives on American Idol, I think The Voice does it much better than this show does, but this is a step in the right direction this year and last year.
Tori Kelly is an example of someone who had success getting her start on the show, but we need a lot more people to take that quantum leap too. It is a shame as we have had some good vocalists but the music industry just won't get behind them for whatever reason it is.
Allegiance: Episode #1.9 (2024)
Episode 9
I am glad I tuned into Allegiance the first time and stuck with it as this has been a pretty good show thus afar and a bit of a refreshing take on the cop drama, but the gang bits felt so played out. It felt like an afterschool special when they brought out the woman who tried to put the kids on the right track at the local rec center.
I don't know how prevalent these local gangs are in small towns, but there was not a huge amount of death or risk put forward here by the characters.
It was not a bad episode, but it was just a bit all over the place with the execution and I hope the finale fixes things a bit.
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar: 709 (Top 24 at Disney's Aulani Resort in Hawaii Part #2) (2024)
Episode 709
This is a fun round for the show. I don't like the delayed gratification as I wish we had results this show or even immediately after the performances, but what can you do.
There were some interesting performances here, but the song choices felt very tired and played out here.
I also am not a fan at all of Jelly Roll and him getting this kind of prime gig is insulting to the music industry. Like Tori Kelly he seemed to embrace doing his role as the guest mentor though, so at least he was excited or feined excitement, but there was not that much love to about his involvement in the round at all.
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin: Turpin Time (2024)
Episode 6
"Turpin Time" was a perfect end to a solid first season of this show. Noel Fielding is not your typical lead on any kind of show, but that is part of what makes this thing work.
Having it all come down to a duel is poetic justice, after he had preached pacifism for so long, but Tommy getting exposed for his bald head and being a fraud was too predictable and I kind of wish they had pursued a better ending.
Tamsin Greig was great as the villain here too and I hope she would be part of a potential second season.
This is not one of Apple's biggest hits, but so far it has easily been one of their best comedies.
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin: Tommy Silversides (2024)
Episode 5
This episode introduced a highly entertaining new rival for Dick Turpin and also created some drama to wrap up the season with the titular hero possibly getting trapped and murdered (I would wager that this would be incredibly unlikely.)
This has been a good comedy and this episode really made me laugh but had me invested in the story as well. So far so good for The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin and I hope we get another season of it.
A good cast all around and a well-written episode like this gives me hope that maybe comedy is not dead in the year 2024 after all like I had thought.
Star Trek: Discovery: Red Directive (2024)
Red Directive
Visually this looks very similar to Paramount+ and their other big series Halo, but the lack of substance and story is another big comparison point.
This is just not compelling TV. The new villainess introduced was kind of engaging and entertaining, but it just feels like so much of the same thing over and over again.
Present us with some moral dilemmas or a big sci-fi twist. Anything. But it just seems like a lesson in diversity with the cast and no genuine intrigue.
Easy enough to get through, some episodes the last few seasons really dragged and dragged, but there was not that much excitement about the premiere.