TV Roundup: May-June
I've been busy...not watching TV so much as movies (15, fifteen! in June; a movie every other day!), but that makes it a lot easier to talk about what I did watch.
[just the stats]May
Survivor: 42x10-12
Beyond The Edge: 1x08-10
*Revolution: 2x18-20
*The Office: 8x21-22
The Circle: season 1
Ghosts (CBS): 1x14-18
June
Survivor: S.42 finale
The Office: 8x23-24
Fuller House: 1x01-06
The Floor is Lava: 2x01-05
Severance: 1x01-07
United States of Al: 2x20-22
Ultimate Beastmaster: season 3
The Exes: 1x01-04
==============
MAY
Survivor 42x10-finale: Even though I didn't actually finish the 3-hour finale until a couple days into June, due to Crazy Overtime Mode at work, THIS SEASON'S WINNER WAS SO GREAT!! There was only one dicey Let's Talk About Racism tribal in the whole season, and the instigator was gone the next week. And even though I had to put with friggin' Ratmeo in the final 3, overall I was really happy with how the season played out and it remained quite possibly the most fun this show has been since the last time we had an awesome winner, David vs. Goliath in season 37.
Beyond the Edge (last 3 eps): a far less satisfying winner, but cool that it came down to such a photo finish. Not a disappointing watch at all. I would watch another season of it! Hopefully with a better host,because he did NOT improve. I think Jodie would be great at it, actually.
The Circle (season 1): Work was grueling, my brain was fried, I was too tired to computer anymore, and after seeing an article about the Spice Girls somehow being involved in season 4??, I remembered I had vaguely intended to watch this when it premiered in 2020, but got too distracted by all my shiny new other Netflix options, I decided this sounded perfect -- but I'd better figure out how the show worked by starting from the beginning, rather than S4.
I did not know ANYTHING about how this show worked other than that they were all sequestered in individual apartments and interacted solely through social media, a.k.a. "wow I guess it is possible to make a reality show about people who sit on the computer all day." I didn't know any of the contestants or the winner, which was awesome, because even though my first impression was that everyone was pretty dumb exept Awesome Seaburn and maybe Too Smart For This Shubam, somehow in the span of one episode I got totally addicted and interested in everyone's personality (except Chris. I cannot fathom how you sent away the pretty girl before him. even if her profile HAD been fake, at least you'd get to look at pretty pictures!! -- I eventually came around on him though). And I was really invested and intent to find out who would win in the end (and, indeed, even how you win), so I had a genuinely great time with this. I need a cooldown period before trying season 2.
Ghosts (1x14-18): And when I wasn't binge-watching The Circle, I was catching up on the kooky antics of the back half of this show, which I'd put aside during the nearly-month-long hiatus after episode 13 and finally had the brain space to appreciate again. I love everybody in this bar!!
Revolution rewatch: progress win -- we've watched three episodes in the last two months! Austin City Limits, @!$% Happens, and Tomorrowland. Chris was SO let down about the reveal of why Miles was staring at a burning shack, haha. He was like, "that's IT?? The friggin' nano/his own guilty conscience??" while I gasped in fake outrage and attempted to explain how poetic and meaningful it was and how it fits in with Miles' season-long emotional growth arc. He amended his opinion after seeing episode 20, pointing out that once you have Miles' explanation and other context it gets better, and I had the benefit of knowing that beforehand while he didn't. Anyway...these episodes are also delightfully low on the Aaron content, and even though he wasn't as thrilled by 19, he thought 18 and 20 were great. I don't know if the last two episodes can hold up to #20, honestly...but I think we're actually going to finish it now. Maybe even in July. (technically we didn't watch episode 20 until June, but I'm just going to put it here anyway)
Project Office rewatch: Our library disc was scratched to hell, so we couldn't watch Welcome Party, and we also missed out on the last 5-6 minutes of Angry Andy, which bums me out because I SO wanted Chris to see the glorious shot of Ryan dressed like an Indian prince on a(n uncooperative) white horse. On the bright side, Fundraiser was way better/funnier than I remembered, and Chris LOVED the closing tag reveal of Kevin's actually-alive old dog.
===================
JUNE
Fuller House (1x01-06): I did it! I broke the seal, thanks to Jodie's power presence on Beyond the Edge! It was an absolute joy. I watched six episodes in 2 days and then I had to take a break to digest all the joy and satisfaction, but other than moderate annoyance for Mini-Gibbler and my current inability to care about the boys (I dread them having actual storylines that aren't heavily carried by the adults...which I'm sure they will; I don't remember Full House THAT well but I'm also sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it if DJ & Stephanie hadn't had prominent focus), it's perfect. I am not even that sad about DJ being a widow the way I thought I would be. Second-chance romance isn't my bag, so I'm not that thrilled about Steve's inevitable return, but I'm fine with it. I'm way more excited to find out tha DJ's a veterinarian -- and they get a golden retriever puppy who's even a Comet descendant?? I DIDN'T DARE TO HOPE.
Also damn, it's not like I didn't know that John Stamos is still hot as hell and Lori Laughin is still gorgeous, but I underestimated how powerful their combined beauty would be in the context of Uncle Jesse & Aunt Becky still being in love, right there on my TV screen.
Also, Jodie Sweetin is a) way taller than I thought, and b) so incredibly pretty. I mean, I know she's pretty; even as a kid I wanted to look like her and I obviously still thought she looked awesome in the jungle, free of makeup and with circles under her eyes from poor sleep, but she really is stunning.
The Floor is Lava (2x01-05): GUESS WHAT'S BACK, BACK AGAIN! (I have waited an eternity.) Really annoyed they only released 5 episodes for now. I don't know if I love the advancing-to-the-volcano part they've added, which is the same for every episode and frankly kind of boring, but I do kind of like the introduction of "exit passes" so people have to use more of the room's obstacles.
Severance (1x01-07): So, after going into an utter spiral about Mark/Helly, which included looking for books to cast them in, spoiling myself on most of the season (the reveal of Mark's wife sounded boring on paper, and did nothing to me in context; maybe I shouldn't have spoiled that but also...Who Cares), reading fanfic, and taking a side detour to Parks & Recs clips so I could appreciate Adam Scott's face in an endless bounty of overt romance & smoochies I'd never seen, having continued with episodes 5 and 6 along the way, I figured I'd better take myself back to the start and watch this show properly from the beginning.
Turns out it's way more interesting than I expected! I got hooked well before the first episode was done, so yeah, I guess I get the acclaim now even though I still only care about 2 characters + am impressed by Patricia Arquette's acting and bizarre accent always. I am also thrilled to learn that the show is actively pushing Mark/Helly (at least for now), and not just me making up nonsense based on them being an attractive man and attractive woman in close proximity, because episodes 5-7 give me suuuuuch good stuff (sneaking off down hallways! unfortunatley not to make out) (yet) and the best is yet to come. I've become quite invested in both versions of Mark. Don't care about anyone else, except maybe his sister, but love him.
United States of Al (2x20-22): Figured I'd better close out the season before it disappears. I'm sad it was canceled, as I think it has a lot more in it, but I also think getting a full-length second season was already a miracle, so I'll live. I don't know how I feel about the cheating storyline, but also I hate Freddie and agree with Al that they were simply never divorced in their hearts, so IDK. Net neutrality. Mostly I'm going to miss Lizzie being awesome and casually/affectionately ragging on everybody and being Hazel's super-cool aunt.
Ultimate Beastmaster (season 3): What happens when you run out of TheFloor is Lava episodes and you browse around Netflix for something similar? You end up here, which blows TFIL so far out of the water that it is almost literally like comparing a Nickelodeon game show to the Olympics. I know American Ninja Warrior exists, but I've never had the schedules right to watch it. I had not heard of this, but oh my god, it's amazing. I'm even kind of bummed taht Netflix started auto-playing season 3, because I don't think the earlier seasons could possibly compare to the design, the hosts, or the triumphant arc of the ultimate winner. I loved absolutely every second of this show -- the different countries and their respective hosts (South Korea!! also the weirdly fetching bearded man from Brazil), and of course, the EPIC beast skeleton itself, and the challenges within. God, just so cool.
Also, I can never watch the Olympics again. positively dull by comparison.
The Exes: Look who has a brand new favorite CBS-style sitcom!! Apparently it was on TVLand, which explains why I've never even heard of it, but come on -- 3 divorced guys (including Turk and Newman) sharing an apartment across the hall from the divorce attorney (who is Kristen Johnson)?? INSTANT SELL. This is my bread and butter simple, easy, shallow, amusing comfort food type of sitcom.
The Chase (3x01): Chris & I wanted to watch somethingtogether but not our usual stuff, so I suggested, "Game shows??" and then it turns out Hulu has TAKEN season 2 from me before I got a chance to finish it out, BOO-URNS! However, we are thrilled to learn that the fricking awful Beast is gone. I have wanted to throw ~Buzzy~ down a trash chute and into a trash compactor from the moment I first saw him play, so I'm hard pressed to say whether he's actually an improvement, but I am DELIGHTED by the addition of Victoria, whom I've never seen but who is clearly a real-life Penelope Garcia, and "The Bolt" (who was in this episode) is amaaaaa-ziiiiiing! I want him around all the time. Don't even miss Ken Jennings if we have this man around, tbh.
Project Office rewatch: We've officially closed out season 8! Good times, good times. Except that I still haven't gotten a different DVD set from the library (they're always checked out!), and I really want to finish that last 1.33 episodes before I move on to season 9. I'm really excited about it, Chris is worried because "I heard it wasn't that well liked," and I mean, yeah, technically my heart took such a beating over Jim/Pam that I had to bow out early for my mental health and safety, but I liked the majority of it WAY more than season 8, and in retrospect I loved everything they did there! So. I hope he does too. Sorry I didn't actually talk about season 8 in this blurb, suffice to say Chris enjoyed it and was HOWLING at Dwight's diaper-stealing antics and Angela's Hysterical Small Woman road rage. He also got a kick out of Jim's paranoia at the free family portrait studio, as we all should.
[just the stats]May
Survivor: 42x10-12
Beyond The Edge: 1x08-10
*Revolution: 2x18-20
*The Office: 8x21-22
The Circle: season 1
Ghosts (CBS): 1x14-18
June
Survivor: S.42 finale
The Office: 8x23-24
Fuller House: 1x01-06
The Floor is Lava: 2x01-05
Severance: 1x01-07
United States of Al: 2x20-22
Ultimate Beastmaster: season 3
The Exes: 1x01-04
==============
MAY
Survivor 42x10-finale: Even though I didn't actually finish the 3-hour finale until a couple days into June, due to Crazy Overtime Mode at work, THIS SEASON'S WINNER WAS SO GREAT!! There was only one dicey Let's Talk About Racism tribal in the whole season, and the instigator was gone the next week. And even though I had to put with friggin' Ratmeo in the final 3, overall I was really happy with how the season played out and it remained quite possibly the most fun this show has been since the last time we had an awesome winner, David vs. Goliath in season 37.
Beyond the Edge (last 3 eps): a far less satisfying winner, but cool that it came down to such a photo finish. Not a disappointing watch at all. I would watch another season of it! Hopefully with a better host,because he did NOT improve. I think Jodie would be great at it, actually.
The Circle (season 1): Work was grueling, my brain was fried, I was too tired to computer anymore, and after seeing an article about the Spice Girls somehow being involved in season 4??, I remembered I had vaguely intended to watch this when it premiered in 2020, but got too distracted by all my shiny new other Netflix options, I decided this sounded perfect -- but I'd better figure out how the show worked by starting from the beginning, rather than S4.
I did not know ANYTHING about how this show worked other than that they were all sequestered in individual apartments and interacted solely through social media, a.k.a. "wow I guess it is possible to make a reality show about people who sit on the computer all day." I didn't know any of the contestants or the winner, which was awesome, because even though my first impression was that everyone was pretty dumb exept Awesome Seaburn and maybe Too Smart For This Shubam, somehow in the span of one episode I got totally addicted and interested in everyone's personality (except Chris. I cannot fathom how you sent away the pretty girl before him. even if her profile HAD been fake, at least you'd get to look at pretty pictures!! -- I eventually came around on him though). And I was really invested and intent to find out who would win in the end (and, indeed, even how you win), so I had a genuinely great time with this. I need a cooldown period before trying season 2.
Ghosts (1x14-18): And when I wasn't binge-watching The Circle, I was catching up on the kooky antics of the back half of this show, which I'd put aside during the nearly-month-long hiatus after episode 13 and finally had the brain space to appreciate again. I love everybody in this bar!!
Revolution rewatch: progress win -- we've watched three episodes in the last two months! Austin City Limits, @!$% Happens, and Tomorrowland. Chris was SO let down about the reveal of why Miles was staring at a burning shack, haha. He was like, "that's IT?? The friggin' nano/his own guilty conscience??" while I gasped in fake outrage and attempted to explain how poetic and meaningful it was and how it fits in with Miles' season-long emotional growth arc. He amended his opinion after seeing episode 20, pointing out that once you have Miles' explanation and other context it gets better, and I had the benefit of knowing that beforehand while he didn't. Anyway...these episodes are also delightfully low on the Aaron content, and even though he wasn't as thrilled by 19, he thought 18 and 20 were great. I don't know if the last two episodes can hold up to #20, honestly...but I think we're actually going to finish it now. Maybe even in July. (technically we didn't watch episode 20 until June, but I'm just going to put it here anyway)
Project Office rewatch: Our library disc was scratched to hell, so we couldn't watch Welcome Party, and we also missed out on the last 5-6 minutes of Angry Andy, which bums me out because I SO wanted Chris to see the glorious shot of Ryan dressed like an Indian prince on a(n uncooperative) white horse. On the bright side, Fundraiser was way better/funnier than I remembered, and Chris LOVED the closing tag reveal of Kevin's actually-alive old dog.
===================
JUNE
Fuller House (1x01-06): I did it! I broke the seal, thanks to Jodie's power presence on Beyond the Edge! It was an absolute joy. I watched six episodes in 2 days and then I had to take a break to digest all the joy and satisfaction, but other than moderate annoyance for Mini-Gibbler and my current inability to care about the boys (I dread them having actual storylines that aren't heavily carried by the adults...which I'm sure they will; I don't remember Full House THAT well but I'm also sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it if DJ & Stephanie hadn't had prominent focus), it's perfect. I am not even that sad about DJ being a widow the way I thought I would be. Second-chance romance isn't my bag, so I'm not that thrilled about Steve's inevitable return, but I'm fine with it. I'm way more excited to find out tha DJ's a veterinarian -- and they get a golden retriever puppy who's even a Comet descendant?? I DIDN'T DARE TO HOPE.
Also damn, it's not like I didn't know that John Stamos is still hot as hell and Lori Laughin is still gorgeous, but I underestimated how powerful their combined beauty would be in the context of Uncle Jesse & Aunt Becky still being in love, right there on my TV screen.
Also, Jodie Sweetin is a) way taller than I thought, and b) so incredibly pretty. I mean, I know she's pretty; even as a kid I wanted to look like her and I obviously still thought she looked awesome in the jungle, free of makeup and with circles under her eyes from poor sleep, but she really is stunning.
The Floor is Lava (2x01-05): GUESS WHAT'S BACK, BACK AGAIN! (I have waited an eternity.) Really annoyed they only released 5 episodes for now. I don't know if I love the advancing-to-the-volcano part they've added, which is the same for every episode and frankly kind of boring, but I do kind of like the introduction of "exit passes" so people have to use more of the room's obstacles.
Severance (1x01-07): So, after going into an utter spiral about Mark/Helly, which included looking for books to cast them in, spoiling myself on most of the season (the reveal of Mark's wife sounded boring on paper, and did nothing to me in context; maybe I shouldn't have spoiled that but also...Who Cares), reading fanfic, and taking a side detour to Parks & Recs clips so I could appreciate Adam Scott's face in an endless bounty of overt romance & smoochies I'd never seen, having continued with episodes 5 and 6 along the way, I figured I'd better take myself back to the start and watch this show properly from the beginning.
Turns out it's way more interesting than I expected! I got hooked well before the first episode was done, so yeah, I guess I get the acclaim now even though I still only care about 2 characters + am impressed by Patricia Arquette's acting and bizarre accent always. I am also thrilled to learn that the show is actively pushing Mark/Helly (at least for now), and not just me making up nonsense based on them being an attractive man and attractive woman in close proximity, because episodes 5-7 give me suuuuuch good stuff (sneaking off down hallways! unfortunatley not to make out) (yet) and the best is yet to come. I've become quite invested in both versions of Mark. Don't care about anyone else, except maybe his sister, but love him.
United States of Al (2x20-22): Figured I'd better close out the season before it disappears. I'm sad it was canceled, as I think it has a lot more in it, but I also think getting a full-length second season was already a miracle, so I'll live. I don't know how I feel about the cheating storyline, but also I hate Freddie and agree with Al that they were simply never divorced in their hearts, so IDK. Net neutrality. Mostly I'm going to miss Lizzie being awesome and casually/affectionately ragging on everybody and being Hazel's super-cool aunt.
Ultimate Beastmaster (season 3): What happens when you run out of TheFloor is Lava episodes and you browse around Netflix for something similar? You end up here, which blows TFIL so far out of the water that it is almost literally like comparing a Nickelodeon game show to the Olympics. I know American Ninja Warrior exists, but I've never had the schedules right to watch it. I had not heard of this, but oh my god, it's amazing. I'm even kind of bummed taht Netflix started auto-playing season 3, because I don't think the earlier seasons could possibly compare to the design, the hosts, or the triumphant arc of the ultimate winner. I loved absolutely every second of this show -- the different countries and their respective hosts (South Korea!! also the weirdly fetching bearded man from Brazil), and of course, the EPIC beast skeleton itself, and the challenges within. God, just so cool.
Also, I can never watch the Olympics again. positively dull by comparison.
The Exes: Look who has a brand new favorite CBS-style sitcom!! Apparently it was on TVLand, which explains why I've never even heard of it, but come on -- 3 divorced guys (including Turk and Newman) sharing an apartment across the hall from the divorce attorney (who is Kristen Johnson)?? INSTANT SELL. This is my bread and butter simple, easy, shallow, amusing comfort food type of sitcom.
The Chase (3x01): Chris & I wanted to watch somethingtogether but not our usual stuff, so I suggested, "Game shows??" and then it turns out Hulu has TAKEN season 2 from me before I got a chance to finish it out, BOO-URNS! However, we are thrilled to learn that the fricking awful Beast is gone. I have wanted to throw ~Buzzy~ down a trash chute and into a trash compactor from the moment I first saw him play, so I'm hard pressed to say whether he's actually an improvement, but I am DELIGHTED by the addition of Victoria, whom I've never seen but who is clearly a real-life Penelope Garcia, and "The Bolt" (who was in this episode) is amaaaaa-ziiiiiing! I want him around all the time. Don't even miss Ken Jennings if we have this man around, tbh.
Project Office rewatch: We've officially closed out season 8! Good times, good times. Except that I still haven't gotten a different DVD set from the library (they're always checked out!), and I really want to finish that last 1.33 episodes before I move on to season 9. I'm really excited about it, Chris is worried because "I heard it wasn't that well liked," and I mean, yeah, technically my heart took such a beating over Jim/Pam that I had to bow out early for my mental health and safety, but I liked the majority of it WAY more than season 8, and in retrospect I loved everything they did there! So. I hope he does too. Sorry I didn't actually talk about season 8 in this blurb, suffice to say Chris enjoyed it and was HOWLING at Dwight's diaper-stealing antics and Angela's Hysterical Small Woman road rage. He also got a kick out of Jim's paranoia at the free family portrait studio, as we all should.