Taskmaster

This past week I started watching Taskmaster, the British comedy/game show. It is available to stream full episodes on YouTube. The show immediately felt familiar to me, yet I am unable to pinpoint what else I’ve seen that makes me feel that way. It has a host (the Taskmaster) who asks a panel of five comedians/celebrities to complete tasks. The Taskmaster then awards points (1-5) for each round based on how those tasks were performed. The show is live with all of the comedians sitting together in the same room with the taskmaster, but the footage of the completion of the tasks was all recorded ahead of time. 

This is a funny show! I enjoyed it right from the start. I started with the most recent series; 16 I believe. I have watched the first couple of episodes then randomly jumped to another series from earlier on to see if it was different. It was the same. 

My favorite part about the show is how the panelists personalities come out as we see them complete the tasks. Most of the things are ridiculous. They are put into all sorts of bizarre situations that they have to figure out how to deal with. It is a unique premise that I find entertaining. 

I’d recommend checking it out. Everybody has access to YouTube. It is free to watch. You just have to put up with a ton of ads. 

David Spade - Almost Interesting

David Spade is one of those celebrities that everybody knows about, but hasn’t ever been huge. I clearly remember him from SNL, Tommy Boy, & Black Sheep[1]. My early perception of him was a grouchy sidekick to the uber-positive & extremely dopey Chris Farley. I had completely forgot that Spade was in the television series Just Shoot Me, but as soon as it was mentioned in the book I recalled the weird little slime-ball from that show. Then of course we have Joe Dirt. I definitely knew the star of that movie was the same guy, but for some reason I refused to associate him to the guy from Tommy Boy.

Anyway, Spade’s movies helped form the comedy sensibilities of my youth, yet I couldn’t tell you anything about him. I really enjoy reading memoirs and auto-biographies. I saw this book on the ebook deals list so I decided to buy Almost Interesting.

This book was an easy read. I enjoyed it. There wasn’t much to it. It was nice to hear about Chris Farley. It was interesting to understand more about the dynamics and expectations of being a write on SNL. Beyond that I didn’t take much away from the book. I think I bought it for $1.99. It was worth that. I think the book is accurately titled. 

1: As a middle-schooler I actually got tricked into going on my first date with a girl to see Black Sheep.

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1. As a middle-schooler I actually got tricked into going on my first date with a girl to see Black Sheep. ↩

Only Murders in the Building Season 3

I recently caught up and finished the 3rd season of *Only Murders in the Building* on Hulu. I think the first season was the strongest and it has degraded since. I think the show is fine. I enjoy watching. It is a joy watching Steve Martin & Martin Short act together in this series. I haven’t loved Selena Gomez’s acting efforts quite as much. 

There is a lot to like about the show. If they keep making them I will keep watching. It has settled in to this comfortable series with no real stakes. There has become a sub-genre of the murder mystery… it is the *cozy* murder mystery. There are books and movies that use the common mystery setup, but remove the tension and replace it with comfort. Only Murders fits squarely in this genre. It is a show that is easy and enjoyable to watch, but probably won’t have you begging for the next episode to find out what happens. 

I honestly don’t have a lot to say about this show. There isn’t anything deep or meaningful about it to me personally. It is a vehicle to bring stars together and deliver compelling scenes. It succeeds at what it sets out to be. Beyond that, I don’t know that it does anything extremely interesting. 

It has been confirmed that the show will get a forth season. I will be there to watch it. 

Welcome to Wrexham Season 2... So Far

The first season of Welcome to Wrexham was a big surprise for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of a documentary about movie stars buying a football team from Wales. I assumed the show was going to be mostly about Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. It wasn’t. It was about the people of Wrexham, and why the football club meant so much to them.

I think the show did an amazing job making the story of Wrexham into something extremely compelling. There were a couple episodes that didn’t land as well, but overall it was very strong. The second season has continued where the first season left off.

What is interesting now is that I already know what happens with the football team this season. It doesn’t factor into my enjoyment of the show at all.

So far the highlight of Season 2 is the episode about autism. It is short. It is hardly about the team at all. It didn’t matter. I loved it. Hearing the parents of autistic children talk about the guilt they feel totally broke me up inside. Parenting is difficult. It is typically a very humbling experience no matter what. I have felt plenty of guilt because I am not prepared, willing, or able to provide my child with what she needs at every moment. When extra challenges are added to that dynamic it creates an immense test of character & patience for parents.

I don’t know how long Welcome to Wrexham will go, but they definitely have something here. I continue to be impressed by the style of the show. They have done a great job telling personal stories that are easy to connect with despite the extraordinary nature of the situation.

Deadloch on Amazon Prime

Deadloch on Amazon Prime Streaming is one of those small-town murder mystery shows. It reminds me of Broadchurch and Top of the Lake in a lot of ways. But Deadloch is different. It isn’t satisfied with being an entry into this category of show, it also wants to satirize the genre. It wants to tell a compelling murder mystery and be funny at the same time. For the most part it succeeds.

The attempts at humor cause the tone of Deadloch to be all over the place. There are characters that seem to be from completely different shows interacting. Initially I found it maddening. I wasn’t sure I would make it through the first couple episodes. Then it seemed to be self-aware enough to know how antagonistic it was being to the audience. The show got itself under control and started moving the plot forward. 

Deadloch is set in Australia and has tons of fun curses and insults. Mostly funny, sometimes stupid. Generally the dialog in the show is a mix between being sincere, awkward, and bizarre. Every characters seems to be an over-exaggerated version of whatever they are playing at. It was difficult to take anything seriously, but I’m really not sure we were supposed to. 

There is the character trope of a loose cannon cop from a larger city coming in to solve the small town murder. That character is always so brash, but deep down they have this pain they are trying to escape from. All that stuff exists in this show also. I got worried when everything started lining up. Thankfully they didn’t spend much time on it. It felt like there was an entirely separate subplot that was mostly cut out in the edit, and I am thankful for that. 

I think Deadloch is worth a watch, mainly because it is different. It makes an attempt at balancing the somber tone of a murder mystery with humor and absurdity. It doesn’t always work, but it created an interesting experience that I enjoyed. 

Silo on AppleTV+

This show started off with such promise. The first episode set up this big mystery that I wanted to learn more about. I was ready to invest in this story. After the strong start the story slowed way down to the point where I questioned why I was even watching anymore. If I hadn't been able to binge the last 5 episodes there was no way I would have been able to stick with it. The ending was sort of compelling, but it took way too long to get there.

I cannot recommend the series. I was hooked from the beginning and yet by the end I felt like I wasted a lot of time. It has a strong premiss but then totally fumbles the execution. 

Silo is a hard sci-fi about a future society that lives underground in a silo. There is a video feed of the outside that shows a desolate landscape. If you request, you are allowed to go outside and you are asked to clean off the camera sensor. You will never be given the opportunity to come back in. Everybody who goes out makes the choice to clean the sensor, then as they walk away they collapse and die. 

What?!? It is a pretty interesting mystery. Everything gets off to this fast start with lots of action and murder. Then the entire story comes to a grinding halt after Rebecca Ferguson becomes the sheriff of the silo and ignores her duties to try to figure out what happened to her boyfriend. 

I cared nothing about any of the characters in this show. I think they wanted us to care, but they just did such a bad job of making anybody likable that none of it worked. There was so much focus on the mythology of the relics from the before times. None of it was compelling. None of it seemed to amount to anything. 

When we are first introduced to Rebecca Ferguson she seems awesome and extremely competent. Then the rest of the show she sucks. I really wanted to like this show, but as I sit here reflecting on the season I just have bad feelings about it. 

It has been renewed for a second season. Weirdly, I am probably going to watch it to see what happens. I am actually interested in reading the book this show is based on. If I get through the series before the second season starts maybe I will not feel the need to watch anymore. 

Great premise. Strong start. Really disappointing execution over the second half of the season. Watch at your own risk. 

Barbie

I hadn’t been to the theater to see a movie in months… maybe even over a year. But nothing could keep me away from Barbie. Actually my wife and daughters decided a movie would be a good afternoon activity on a 97° summer day so I decided to tag along.

There is a lot of buzz about this movie. Generally the reviews have been positive. I thought it was great! I laughed more than I expected to. It was fun, but also interesting. It looked amazing, especially at the beginning in Barbieland. It referenced films from 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Matrix to Justice League.

Barbie had a strong start but faltered several times on the way to a lackluster ending. I definitely enjoyed the movie, but in the end it’s reach exceeded its grasp. I liked that it challenged the cultural legacy of Barbie, but just asking the questions was not enough for me. I didn’t get the ending. I also understand that I may not have the right perspective to appreciate what the ending was trying to say.

There are a lot of people that have written much more thoughtful reviews of the movie. Here are a couple…

➞ Barbie Is Very Pretty But Not Very Deep 

➞ Why Barbie Must Be Punished

Both of those reviews have plenty of criticisms of the plot and the ideas presented therein. I agree with a fair bit of those criticisms, but I think it is all about perspective. It is a really funny comedy that digs into the psychology of a mid-life crisis. It is a witty farce that explores the modern-day mother/daughter relationship. It is so successful in delivering an extremely entertaining story.

At the same time, the movie references a lot of stuff that it might not agree with in the world, but it doesn’t seem to want to make an actual statement about them. Maybe I missed them. Maybe another watch will clarify the social commentary.

A movie doesn’t have to make a strong political statement to be good. I don’t need a lot of meaning out of a comedy. But it feels like Barbie is getting some sort of weird credit for merely bringing up the fact that something exists in the world while cracking jokes in its general direction. I think I would like to listen to an interview or two with Greta Gerwig and then watch the movie again. Would it make more sense? Would it have more meaning? I don’t know. Either way, I would surely enjoy the experience of rewatching.

Fleishman in in Trouble

I watched Fleishman in in Trouble on Hulu. Each episode is around an hour long. There are eight episodes in the first season. I would be surprised if this show came back for a 2nd season. Not saying it is bad. I think the story has been told and I don't see a need to continue it. 

This is a tough show. I can't say that it was an enjoyable experience, but I was enthralled by it. It was heartbreaking. Some parts hit really close to home. It is about a group of people the same age as me. It introduces this idea that even if everything has gone well in your life and you find yourself in a good spot, it doesn't change the fact that you chose a path and now your options are limited. You can't help but look back and think "what if". 

When things are going well in life it is easy to avoid thinking about the possibilities of all the other lives that you didn't pursue. But when things start to fall apart in life, it is hard not to question every decision you have ever made. Fleishman is in Trouble gives us a perspective into both scenarios. 

The other theme that really stuck out to me with Fleishman is in Trouble is how much power other people have to hurt us. As soon as we open up and get close to someone, we give them so much power. Even if they don't mean to, the little things they do can rip us apart. Relationships fall apart a little bit at a time... and then all at once.

I loved how the first 70% of this show focuses on Toby's story, but then completely turns everything on it's head by telling Rachel's story. Perspective is everything. It was heartbreaking when Toby was presented with the pain that Rachel was going through and he showed no compassion. I didn't know what to make of that. I don't know what will happen when they talk again. I am not giving either one of them enough credit to believe they are going to do the right thing. 

Overall Fleishman is in Trouble is well constructed and thought-provoking. It was never "fun" to watch. Most of the time I could only do one episode at a time and then needed to move onto something else to lighten things up a bit. 

As a 40 year-old married man I found it compelling. I probably identified most with our narrator, the Lizzy Caplan character. Her search for meaning in life was familiar. Her realization that she got what she wanted and she still wasn't satisfied was haunting. 

Shrinking Season 1

I think there is a real possibility that you haven’t ever heard of the show Shrinking on Apple TV+. It flew under my radar for a while. The gap between episodes in Ted Lasso Season 4 gave me the motivation to give this show a try.

In a lot of ways Shrinking works for the same reasons that Ted Lasso works. Lasso is better in nearly every way, but they have the same vibe. Shrinking is more of a drama than a comedy. It is actually pretty heavy material with quite a bit of levity thrown in. I don’t think I would ever laugh out loud during Shrinking, but that is fine with me.

We are given likable characters that are struggling with life and just wearing their problems on their sleeves. That is a fun place to spend time. Nothing needs to happen to transcend the tv drama/comedy genre. It was a good show that I enjoyed watching and blew through the first season in no time.

At first I didn’t know what to think about Harrison Ford. I liked his character and overall he played it well. There were some rough moments, especially at the beginning. Sometimes it didn’t feel like he fit. I think it got better, or more likely I just got used to it.

In general the show started out shaky for me. The tone right out of the gate felt a lot different than what the show eventually got to. At some point they just made up excuses for these people to be together all of the time for no good reason and it settled into a groove.

The overall situation of the show is incredibly sad, and seeing father and daughter navigate their relationship is heartbreaking. I don’t think the girl smiles at her dad until the final episode of the season. They threw us that little bone right at the end.

My favorite part might have been the neighbor, Derek. It was Jefferson Darcy playing the exact same character he did in Married With Children. That was an excellent touch.

BEEF on Netflix

BEEF is really good, but definitely not perfect. It fits into a genre of show/movie where something small happens and then continues to spin out of control until we reach ridiculous levels. It succeeds in spite of that escalation to absurdity. 

The plot is about two people who cross paths in a road rage incident. Both individuals are under stress anyway, and this event seems to be the breaking point in their lives. They decide they hate one another and dedicate a portion of their lives to making each other miserable. They don't realize how similar they really are. 

The show explores a lot of territory as we see more of these characters' lives. 

We have a hard-working wife who feels completely disconnected from her husband. Their family's financial security depends on her success, and she has put a ton of pressure on herself. There is interesting business, friendship, and mother-in-law dynamics she is dealing with also. 

We have a sibling relationship that is so interesting and heart-breaking. A character who is willing to work hard and earn everything he has, but who can't avoid the temptation to take shortcuts even though he knows they will be his undoing. 

Both of the main characters are extremely interesting. Their stories are cautionary tales and a reflection of how relationships can become defective over time. Things continually degrade and we are unable to identify or fix the root causes. 

At its best, BEEF is exploring those relationship dynamics. While I loved the cousin character, the chaos he brings to the plot did not work for me. I thought some of the spectacle that comes toward the end distracted from what the show was actually about. 

Overall I would highly recommend BEEF, but it won't be for everybody. The acting is phenomenal & the stories are for the most part interesting. The show manages to be funny and completely depressing most of the way through. I'd like to watch the series again at some point. The feelings it inspires and makes you sit in seem worth revisiting.