What I Watched on TV in May
This month has been a bit slower on the TV front for me. Life has been a lot lately, but this is what I've managed to watch on the small screen.
Pose - Aside from amazing performances by the cast, I have not been that invested in this final season of Pose. It doesn't feel like a natural conclusion to a story. Every episode is an actor showcase because the show is leaving, which is normally fine but obvious to the point where it's distracting. I can't get lost in the story, I'm just constantly reminded that this show is ending.
SNL - This season came to an end with the lovely Anya Taylor-Joy hosting. I'm afraid a lot of the veteran members are saying goodbye, the season finale really felt that way for Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson and Aidy Bryant. If they're truly leaving (along with Pete Davidson, who also felt like he was saying goodbye) that's a hell of a lot of talent to lose at once. There's a lot of people who still say SNL "hasn't been funny for years" but I've always vehemently disagreed with that sentiment. SNL has never been funny EVERY time. There's been good shows and bad shows with every single cast and to say actors like these aren't funny is just short sighted, in my opinion. McKinnon, Strong, and Bryant are some of the strongest female performers this show has ever seen, and Kenan has been there longer than any other member for good reason. They're still leaving good talent behind, but if this is their last show, they will be missed.
The Bad Batch - The newest addition to the animated Star Wars universe. While I don't love it, I didn't love Rebels or Clone Wars during their first seasons either. I'm giving it a chance. If you're still on the fence about Star Wars in cartoon form, take the leap! It's worth it.
That SNL finale with Anya Taylor-Joy was awesome as she was hilarious as I hope she and Timothee Chalamet seem totally natural in that environment as I hope they become future members of the 5-timers club.
ReplyDeleteShe was really great! So was Timmy, I'd like to see both of them host again.
DeleteI'm anxious to see Mare of Easttown but don't have HBO. Small confessions-I live in Delaware County, worked at Wawa years ago and though I try not to occasionally will say "wooder" for water. Now that it's done I'm going to figure out a way to see it from start to finish. I've tried strenuously to remain in the dark about the storyline though I've read about the filming locations, most of which are within 15-30 minutes of my house...some even closer.
ReplyDeleteGood Lord is Saturday Night Live still on?! In the back of my mind I guess I knew that, and now that I think about it they did that Mare of Easttown takeoff a few weeks ago, but I gave up on it years and years ago. I had to smile when you said veteran members are leaving, honey I watched it when it premiered with "The Not Ready for Prime Time" troupe of Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman and Dan Aykroyd! I think I stopped when Adam Sandler left.
LOL I started watching when Sandler, Farley, etc were cast members. I haven't always been the most consistent with it, but I have for the past 5 or so years. I really like the cast they have now.
DeleteI was just on the East coast recently visiting family and I saw a Wawa as I was driving by. Had to laugh, but I get what you mean about focusing on not saying words a certain way. I'm in the upper Midwest and I've tried very hard to kick a few pronunciations from up here. lol
You know how it is, you never think you have an accent until you go somewhere else and they point it out! My sister lived in Arizona years ago and had someone peg her as a Delco girl after only about a minute of conversation.
DeleteI'm not busting on Wawa, as convenience stores go it really is one of the best. Their standards are quite exacting, unlike say 7-11's which are usually pig stys. It's a whole culture and is very intrinsic to the area. About 5 minutes from my home is the town of Wawa where the dairy and production plant are located as well as Red Roof-the corporate center....and also Wawa University! That would be a training center for their managers.
I worked there when they were smaller (the very first one of the stores was built three blocks from my house in the 60's-though because of zoning issues the one in Folsom opened first) than the "Super" Wawas they are now with gas pumps and bigger stores. It was three aisles and some refrigerator units but still 24 hours (so the shifts could be brutal) and at times crazy busy. You see a lot of crazy aspects of life at 2:30am when the bars close! :-)
I didn't know there was a Wawa University. That's amazing lol. I get how shops/restaurants can mean a lot to specific areas. Taco Johns is a big place around here and I never realized it was a Midwestern thing until I started traveling and no one had ever heard of one. lol
DeleteHi again Brittani! I got the chance over the holiday week to finally catch up with all of Mare of Easttown and decided to drop back in with my thoughts on it.
DeleteMy sister and I spent a good deal of the show trying to spot the different filming locations, it was Delco but some of the places are MILES apart that they were jumping to in minutes!
The accents were for the most part very good but on occasion we would both imitate them when someone overenunciated (particularly when something ended in O). Seemingly like everyone else I could have done without Siobhan's backstory. It wasn't bad but led nowhere as far as the thrust of the story was concerned, and her hairdo was tragic.
Jean Smart was wonderful as Kate's mother, and the touches of humor she provided most welcome. But the entire show lived and breathed on Kate Winslet's shoulders and she more than delivered. You really felt for Mare even though she was often hard to sympathize with, the word prickly comes to mind when I think of her!
I did not see the twist coming, always a plus.
Thanks for coming back and sharing your thoughts with me! I got half of the twist right. I started suspecting the dad, but I didn't think the son was the one that actually did the shooting.
DeleteGreat mystery show. I'm so glad it did well.
Hey! First time I've had a chance to just read blogs in a while. Glad to see you're still doing great work.
ReplyDeleteI'm only an occasional viewer of Pose, but haven't seen any of this season yet. I usually watch whenever I happen upon my wife and/or daughters watching it. So I'm sure I'll get to it since they're all fans.
The finale of SNL was fun, but yeah it did sound like a whole lot of good-byes.
I've just started on The Bad Batch, and frankly, I'm disappointed. Unless I'm missing something, it feels like they just swapped out characters and replayed the plot of The Mandolorian.
Glad to see you back! Plot wise, it's very similar to Mando, I agree. It's not as gripping as Clone Wars or Rebels for me so far, but it's fine. It's better than that Resistance show they did.
DeleteMare of Easttown was pretty much the only TV I watched inbetween binging Friends all over again. Completely agree with you about Siobhan, I didn't like her character much as a whole to be honest. The rest of the show was superb though!
ReplyDeleteIt was great TV! I'm sad that it's over.
DeleteI really need to watch Mare of Easttown. Everyone speaks so highly of it.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't seen Season 3 of Pose (it should get a Netflix release this Autumn in Italy) and avoiding spoilers on Twitter was a real struggle. I'm sorry to hear you weren't invested in it. Hopefully it'll work better for me.
I hope so too. I'm a few episodes behind now because I've been really busy, so hopefully these newer ones are better.
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