Topic: Alright! Let's Get Serious With TV Talk! Your Top Shows of the 21st Century!

[Khushrenada]

Alrighty. So, I've been spending some time on Wikipedia going over Network Broadcast television for the past 23 years to look over their schedules as well as programming on other cable channels. I created a list of about 200 shows for which I felt I could comment on from having seen a few episodes to the whole series.

Before I create my list, I'm going to create a few posts going over what my TV knowledge and background is. So, if you don't see something like The Wire on my final list, you'll notice it's because it won't be listed among the shows my judging pool will contain since I've yet to see any episode of it. I'm just going based on what I feel confident enough to judge.

When creating my list, I threw in everything I could recall watching over the past 23 years. This included things like NHL games or other sports like Baseball and Poker. Ultimately, I decided to leave off sports for the list because it's a weird sort of entertainment not really judged for any specific artistry when one thinks of a scripted TV Program or the catch-all "Reality" TV. This also made me question if I should include Game Shows which are almost closer to sports than actual TV programs and could almost be considered more disposable programming. When you know the outcome or can remember the answers to a show, does one really want to rewatch a game show like they may want to rewatch an episode of the Simpsons? And yet might that then further apply to reality shows like Survivor or The Amazing Race which I've always felt fall more on the Game Show side of things compared to stuff like Below Deck or The Real Housewives of whatever which are more built around personalities or "slices of life"? In the end, I decided that Game Shows or Cooking Shows or other less scripted programming should count because they are ultimately more of an actual TV production than sports. Sports can happen without TV and weren't built for the medium. The medium just helps broadcast the event. Whereas something like The Price is Right probably isn't going to exist if it was done without TV.

Enough preamble, let's start going through what TV of the 21st Century I've consumed.

[Khushrenada]

Shows That I've Watched Completely (The First 10)

30 Rock

I'll be listing these shows in alphabetical order. My final actual list will be after I've listed everything for my judging pool. That makes 30 Rock the first and it's the only way this show would ever end up first in a list that I can think of. There was a brief time when NBC had a Thursday night comedy block with 30 Rock, Community, The Office and Parks and Recreation. All these comedies developed big fan followings and are still talked about even though at the time, some struggled with ratings as the TV landscape began fragmenting under more cable channels and Netflix streaming. I watched an episode or two of 30 Rock at the time but just didn't find it that great compared to the other shows. To me, it is the weakest of those 4 comedies listed yet it is the one that dominated the Emmys during that run of shows.

It was around 2018 - 2019 that I finally decided to watch the show from the beginning since a lot of comedy shows can build off past jokes so I knew watching an episode here and there isn't the best way to judge a show. Yet, ultimately, I still don't get the popularity of the show. After a couple months of going through the first four seasons, I stopped at a point with season 5 as I was then in a move. It was almost one year after that I finally decided to get back to finishing the series. It was sort of a case of I'd gone this far and might as well see where it all ends up. But I could have just as easily not bothered. It just never hooked me like those other shows. It's also a weird show in that it seemed built more around bringing in all sorts of big name guest stars to do jokes about or with them while some of the regulars were sort of underutilized (or just not that funny to spend time with in my opinion). In that regard, it was almost like SNL: The Sitcom which, in a way, is sort of what the setting of the show was. Ultimately, I see it as an uneven show that felt quite dated by the time I watched it.

Seeing it at number 4 on THR's list is just something that doesn't compute to me. I seriously forget I ever watched this show most of the time. Nothing about it has ever really stuck with me. THR said "And its cynicism — about Hollywood, the Bush administration, corporate greed — appears to have prognosticated the cultural and political crises we find ourselves in 15 years later" but I think they've gone overboard. Yeah, 30 Rock would make fun of TV and what might air on it with stuff like MILF Island but I don't think anything the show did surpassed reality. Looking over broadcast TV, even before 30 Rock aired, you had Are You Hot?, Extreme Makeover and The Swan or Tiaras and Toddlers which began after it was airing as just some of the What-The-Hell ideas of shows to actually air. And I'll also add that when it comes to TV, the movie Network still seems like the most prescient and accurate take of TV's future that still applies to today despite coming out in 1975 and I'd say is more cynical than anything on 30 Rock.

Welp, that's my brief rant on 30 Rock. Spoiler alert, it's not going to make my final list. A real shocker, I know.

Abby’s

Micheal Schur has talked about his love for Cheers and this was his attempt to sort of duplicate it. Because of his work on stuff like The Office and Parks and Rec, I checked it out when it first aired. It only lasted a single season of 10 episodes. It wasn't that great and it wasn't that bad. Like I don't regret watching it but there's really nothing to recommend about it especially with Cheers still existing. It wasn't that memorable aside from the weird premise of a woman running an open air bar in her backyard that her neighbors actually would frequent.

American Crime Story

This is an anthology series. Each season focuses on a different real life crime. So far, the seasons have been The People v. O. J. Simpson, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and Impeachment (about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal). It's possible there could be more entries in the series but so far this has been it. Although I've found all seasons to have some compelling elements about them and would consider worth checking out, by far, it is the first season with O.J. Simpson that is the must see of this show. When it first aired back in 2016, it was the show that I couldn't wait for the next episode to air. Back when it actually happened in real life, it was called The Trial of the Century and, after watching this version of it, I feel that comment is still appropriate. I was joking at work that here we are over 20 years later and I can't wait to see what happens next in the trial. 

I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the show has been unable to top that first season because of all that things that happened and coalesced during that trial. Of the other two seasons, I'd put Impeachment as second best. It was a bit different than expected as the impeachment isn't exactly the main focus. Rather it's more focused on Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky and what led to the whole affair coming out and the effect it had on them with although how that led to an impeachment trial was enlightening as it wasn't something I really followed back at the time. Although it can be debated, I felt the ending points about Clinton being found Not Guilty and the effects it had on US politics after that seemed to have a ring of truth to them.

The second season on Versace is the weakest of the three. There's a couple reasons. There was no trial in this case. I'm not sure it was really a news story that dominated like OJ or the Impeachment. It's also told of backwards with each episode sort of happening at an early point in the life of the killer until the last episode which resumes after the death of Versace. Moreover, most of those other episodes would then take a focus on the other victims of the killer before he got to Versace so you're being introduced to all these people coming and going and it makes for a bit more of disorienting journey compared to the unfolding action of the other two. Plus, there's really no connection between Versace and the killer aside from the killing. So then you have Versace's past also unfolding which just feels superfluous. At the same time, I think I get why it was done this way because of when you get to the penultimate episode. I won't say why so as not to give much away for those that may want to see it but if anyone just wants to know then I guess I can post something in spoilers later or maybe you can figure it out by looking up reviews of it.

American Vandal

I wasn't planning on doing a review of all these shows yet I seem to have suddenly put myself down this path which I'm regretting as I didn't expect to do all this typing. Unless there is an actual demand for it I'm going to scale down my comments here. (If you want more of my thoughts on a show listed, you can also ask for them since it's easier typing more when you know there's an interest).

Basically, I saw this show earlier this year. I'd been intrigued by it's premise and reviews back when it first aired. The idea is a comedy and sort of send-up of all the true crime podcasts or documentaries that have been springing up with things like Making a Murderer but this is all fiction and scripted. Yet, it proved me to why this content has become so popular in the last decade. As it would slowly examine the evidence and testimony to see what could or couldn't be trusted and dole out different evidence and conclusions in the unfolding of the investigation, I was hooked and invested in seeing how it would all unfold. It also gave me a slight vibe of working through Phoenix Wright cases. Worth checking out.

Andy Barker P.I.

Alright. I'll admit. I hardly remember anything about this series. It was a late TV season addition and only had 6 episodes made and aired. For some reason, the only thing I recall is a hazy season of tracking down a bad guy who worked at a chicken farm and in the confrontation he ranted about having to handle chicken eggs and the smell with the hens laying them. I don't know why that's my only memory but that's about all I can tell you of the show. I regretted missing out on Richter's earlier sitcom effort of Andy Richter Controls the Universe so when this came out, I was there plus it aired during the Thursdays of The Office, Parks and Rec, etc so it was easy for me to catch. I suppose like the Abby's right up, it was just alright, clearly nothing memorable. I'd have been ok with it getting more a chance to flesh itself out and see what it might develop into but I'd also have to watch it again at this point to see what the quality was like. It certainly was no First Season (6 episodes) of The Office.

Arrested Development

When I finally got around to watching Arrested Development, it was around 2017 and it felt like this sort of missing link between your classic sitcoms of Seinfeld, Frasier and the newer style like The Office, Parks and Rec, etc. It wasn't a mockumentary but it almost had that feeling with the cameras not being in the same sort of fixed locations and moving along with the characters. So many great things about the first two seasons. The shorter third season is still pretty good but I thought the British / Mr. F stuff was a bit weaker while the second half when it worked on wrapping some things up worked better. I have also seen the fourth and fifth Netflix seasons. They're definitely weaker and you get the sense that the creativity and comedic magic of the first years had been lost by the gap in time. There are still some great moments to me in those later seasons but it seemed more like the show was interested in how much plotting it could cram in than jokes. Look at how many plates we keep spinning at the same time. Still, those later seasons don't ruin the show for me or undo the greatness of those early seasons. Absolutely loved those ending stingers for next time.

Arrow

Myself and other users have engaged in a lot of Arrow talk over the years as the show unfolded. Thus, I'm not going to comment much on it but to say, when thinking about it overall, I still have some fondness for the series. Not that much fondness that I'd think about watching it all over again but enough that I'd still say it might be worth a watch for someone who hasn't seen it but were looking for a superhero show to watch. Casting Stephen Amell was a big reason in keeping that show watchable even when it got rough in the later seasons particularly when a lot of the stronger secondary characters slowly left over time although David Ramsey's Diggle sticking around also helped.

Band of Brothers

It's harder for me to remember much about this miniseries compared to things like Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day or Patton which are movies I've seen a few times and deal with a lot of the same moments of the war like D-Day or The Battle of the Bulge. The one thing I do recall is near the end of the series when they liberate a concentration camp and the bewildering sight of seeing how the prisoners had been starved and treated. Perhaps I should revisit this series again because I'm surprised how much has faded from my mind.   

Batman Beyond

Looking it up, about half of the show aired in the 21st Century. Around 7 or 8 years ago, I watched through the whole series because I had missed a lot of the third season episodes back when it was first airing and had recently gone through the whole Batman: TAS episodes. This still feels like an underrated series when people think of the DC Animated series as talk usually is about the Batman, Superman or Justice League series. Personally, I still quite enjoy the unrealistic future setting that was created for it and the premise and situation the characters find themselves in. Yet, it also feels like they only scratched the surface here and there was a lot more drama and conflict that could have been found from it beyond how it often felt of just setting up new villain origin stories and foiling their plots when they returned.

Better Call Saul

I'll probably talk more on this later as it will be somewhere on my list. Absolutely one if not the top show for the year during the years it aired. As soon as a season was over, the idea of having to wait so long for another season just seemed so cruel. And then counting down the time when a new season would get an air date. But it always felt to be worth the wait and I got so engrossed in each episode as it would air. So well shot and directed.

[Khushrenada]

Shows That I've Watched Completely (11-20)

Bones

I got into this series for a couple reasons. One is that I'd heard there was a good twist about the hunt for a killer on the show and the second is because Noah Hawley who was responsible for Fargo and Legion had been a writer on it. (I've still yet to ever get around to Legion despite being interested about it). Ultimately, I got semi-spoiled on the twist based on a little bit of knowledge of future seasons when I did begin watching it. As well, Hawley wasn't really a major writer on the show. He might have been showrunner for Seasons 2 and 3 but he was gone after season 3 and the show went for 11 seasons. There's a lot of ridiculous things about the show and I'm surprised I watched the whole thing through but it had a lot of characters you just liked seeing play off each other and it found ways to inject a lot of comedy to keep things a bit more light amongst the continuous rotting corpses and bones.

Breaking Bad

From the first episode, this show hooks you and just seems to continually have one obstacle after another to overcome. It just seemed to keep building momentum and expanding its world to keep surprising you. At the time, I was so impressed at how tightly written it seemed to be like keeping track of how many days the action of the show was taking place over and making sure it didn't exceed it or keeping track of things like the ricin poison. It's crazy to find out that they were mostly making it up as they went along. Still a top tier series to me.

Brooklyn Nine Nine

As a fan of Andy Samberg because of SNL and his Lonely Island stuff and with Micheal Schur also behind it, I checked this show out when it first aired and followed it all through as it aired. If it wasn't for Abby's or Rutherford Falls, this would probably be the weakest of the Schur created comedies I've watched. Perhaps it was because of the setting but the show just never seemed able to get to a higher comedy level being stuck with what it could do in that law enforcement setting. As well, it just seemed like there were some characters that couldn't mesh well together for comedy and felt uneven in that regard. I'm sometimes amazed how much leverage the show got out of the deadpan seriousness of Captain Holt but it was often the reason for some of the biggest laughs on the show. Also, a shoutout to Amy Santiago who's nerdiness and facial reactions also did a lot of heavy lifting for that show when things like Boyle's weirdness or Gina's indifference could fall flat. There were times I considered dropping the show but I don't regret sticking with it and watching the whole thing. However, I also have no real desire to go back and rewatch it at this point in time.

Community

There's a lot I can think about saying on this show because it's a wild ride. It starts out like an expected sitcom. There's even a sort of love triangle forming by the end of the first season. But Dan Harmon isn't interested in going by regular story beats so he dismisses and blows up that stuff at the start of the second season and forget about even trying to keep things semi-realistic. Although there are some signs of it in the first season, by the second season on, I had the thought that this was practically an animated series just done in real-life. I drew a parallel to Futurama which would often do a lot of episodes parodying something and slotting in the characters to work within that parody. With the cast changes and some background drama that occurred during its run, that approach basically helped the show keep surviving and still being able to put out funny stuff without ever feeling stale although the later 3 seasons do feel a bit uneven compared to the first three.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I'm not sure if anyone else here as ever seen this show or given it a chance. As far as I remember, I was the only one to post about it or try and talk about it in the "Rate the Last TV Show You Watched" thread to try and generate interest on it and give it some word of mouth. I think the idea of Musical TV scared a lot of people perhaps because of Glee which seemed to be a polarizing show. I wasn't really sure if I would care for it myself when there were advertisements for it before it aired but the premise did seem like it could be funny so I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. It could have some of painfully awkward comedic moments like The Office and there were a lot of great comedic moments and gems in the songs that were created for the show. Yet, I was also surprised at how much it actually cared about the "Crazy" part of the name and also began to take a serious look at mental health which just wasn't something I'd seen in many shows at that point. The triumphs, the setbacks and the effort that can come from taking an honest look at ones self and working to improve and get better. I still think this is a gem of a show and hopefully other people will find they like it more than expected if they give it a shot also.

Godless

My father likes Western movies. I was visiting my parents at a time when this had just recently come on Netflix so we watched through it all over a few nights. It was a mixed reaction. It could have some good moments and there were a few characters that we got invested in but there were also some characters and subplots that felt like they were dragging or taking away from the more interesting ones and then when it ended, it was kind of a shrug. It just wasn't the most satisfying ending. It's something I've mostly forgotten about.

Good Eats

I don't know how I missed out on this show when it first aired as I liked Alton Brown from stuff I'd seen him do on the Food Network like Iron Chef or appearances on shows like The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Before I finally saw this in 2017, I had been watching a bit of MasterChef and Chopped and always found it amazing how people could know how to make all types of food without a recipe in front of them. Watching Good Eats felt like getting a real cooking class on understanding how a dish came to be, how to properly cook it and the science behind the recipes and ingredients. This alos includes the recent Good Eats:Reloaded and Good Eats: The Return. Sadly, it seems Good Eats is now done forever but I hope Alton continues to find some new ways to keep educating on the science of food. Good Eats:Reloaded was fascinating to me in seeing how even in the past 15 - 20 years, there have been new refinements and innovations in cooking to change up a lot of things he had first presented and do them better.

Great News

I'm not sure why I watched this. I saw it after it had been cancelled. I remember it being mentioned as kind of the next big project for Tina Fey and Tracey Wigfield after 30 Rock which didn't exactly peak my interest but I feel I probably some online comments and reviews of people liking it or saying it was funny. It definitely felt like a comedy more in-line with 30 Rock's approach and I never really found it that hilarious. For some reason, the biggest laugh I remember having was when a character talked about the sadness of eating alone at the Olive Garden; "They say when you're here you're family... but they don't really mean that." Perhaps those who like 30 Rock would enjoy it but I don't think anyone is missing out on anything if the skip it.

Heroes & Heroes:Reborn

Hey! Remember Heroes?! This show went from so popular to so forgotten pretty fast. Plenty enough has been said about it already. I'll just say that I seem to be on the more forgiving side of the show and don't hate the time I spent on it compared to others. I feel it did a lot of things well in doing a "superhero" show for TV that one could learn from or copy for future projects. When Heroes:Reborn first aired, I was struck at how well they were able to recreate the tone and pace of the original series and how exciting and compelling it could feel at times. Yeah, there was weakness in the logic at times and the plotting could fumble things. I know there was always disappointment at never showing any kind of great budget heavy superhero fights but I still enjoyed the ride enough that I'd still try it again whether there is a Heroes: Reborn Again or maybe watch it all through again with someone else who hadn't seen it before.

Hit & Miss

Wow. Here's an obscure show. A quick synopsis from Wikipedia: "It stars Chloë Sevigny as a transgender contract killer who discovers she has a child with her former lover. She struggles between caring for her newfound family and maintaining her job as an assassin." It was a British show that only lasted for one season of six episodes. It's been around a decade since I saw it. I don't remember why I ended up watching it now. I recall being more interested in the assassin part than the becoming a parent part but in the end nothing was particularly great about it. Forgettable.

[Khushrenada]

Shows That I've Watched Completely (21-35)

Gonna increase this entry for a reason that will be obvious soon. But first, Homeland.

Homeland

Homeland came onto my radar when it won the Emmy for Best Drama in its first season ending Mad Men's reign of winning that award for four years in a row. I hadn't even heard of the show until that point. When watching that first season, I get why it was immediately popular. It's got a great premise and immediately starts building suspense and a lot of forward momentum to keep you hooked for more. Unfortunately, it also never really was able to keep up with how well the first season went with a lot of diminishing returns. It started off as kind of trying to be a semi-realistic look at the current state of espionage and global politics at the time while still wanting to have larger than life plots and missions. It continued trying to do that while also basically becoming its own alternate reality as the show continued since the events that were unfolding on the show weren't always meshing up with actual things in life. This also created a contrast in which people lost their suspension of disbelief over the larger than life plots because of the show trying to have it both ways. For instance, the show was already going off the rails by the end of the second season when like the second most wanted terrorist in the world is somehow able to get into the US and meet an operative.

If you can accept the show would do dumb things and just roll with it, you could still be entertained. That push and pull of smart and stupid also meant as a viewer you'd feel conflicted of liking and disliking the show throughout its run. It also seems hard to discuss Homeland without looking at it by its seasons as the various plots each season varied in quality. Would I still recommend it? Yes, on the condition that you don't necessarily try to binge it all at once. I think it helped watching it slowly air over time season by season to stick with it. If you binge it, you'll probably get sick of it at some point faster. Maybe you return later but maybe not depending on how much it could burn you out.


And here we get to the reason why I went with 15 shows for this post. I sort of broke up the alphabetical order of things with this as I wanted to just post these shows more in order from oldest to newest and sort categorized them all as under "Jamie" when first making my list. I wondered whether I should bother listing a whole bunch of cooking shows like this but this is TV I've ended up liking and rewatching a bunch of times. Stuff like 30 Minute Meals or 15 Minute Meals have around 40 episodes each so it's a significant chunk of time to watch it all. Moreover, most of the shows have their own sort of identity and moods which might seem odd to hear if you just think of a standard cooking show.

What might be surprising is that I really only got into all of Jamie's shows early 2019. Before that, I didn't really think much of the dude. I'm not going to try and sell you all on watching his stuff but I'll just say that I've appreciated the more positive vibes of his stuff. It's also quite instructive to be able to actually see a person cook the recipes in a cookbook. Most of his shows are based off his latest cookbook. While one can read a recipe and figure out what to do, it still helps to see things in action. Particularly with the 30-Minute and 15-Minute meal stuff he did since that relies on doing a few things at once which is something that takes more practice and skill.

While it might be surprising to think there'd be much to say about each of these shows, you know me, the wall of text creating machine. However, I'm just going to try and limit things to a couple sentences each and keep this train moving so here go.

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

This is about as far back as I'd want to go with his cooking shows. Having seen some clips of footage of older stuff, they look pretty rough compared to the production quality of these episodes. This is also what I'd call the end of the "young upstart" Jamie era or the image that was part of why I wasn't that interested in his stuff. I do like this series as sort of giving me a goal of being better at multi-tasking in the kitchen and almost think it is necessary to see in order to fully understand the directions in the cookbook because of that multi-tasking.

Jamie's 15 Minute Meals

This series is kind of the transition from young adult Jamie to Dad Jamie which isn't exactly true since he's probably at 40 when making it. Unlike the previous series which tried to put together a bunch of different dishes, the meals here were basically one big dish like Chicken Cacciatore or maybe some prepared meat with a side or two. There's definitely a bit of a difference in the production from 30-minutes being a bit more refined and slicker.

Save With Jamie

This is a bit of a weaker series because time has changed what the pricing is and what might be available in the UK isn't the same for the rest of the world. That said, the recipes will still stand up if you want to use them. This also seems to be Jamie trying to deconstruct the idea of a cooking show as he shows more behind the scenes of his cooking operation and showing the cast and crew doing the filming.

Jamie's Comfort Food

This is kind of an odd show especially when considering Jamie's usually trying to talk more on healthy eating and putting forth balanced meals. Here he's putting forth his take on the ultimate lasagna or grilled cheese sandwich and desserts. At the same time, I think that's why he also seems to have made the recipes pretty elaborate to put people off from making a lot of this stuff. He's also bringing in his family and friends more on this and shooting stuff around his place making it almost like "Instagram Life Shots".

Jamie's Super Food Family Classics

A show recently popped up on Netflix about Live to 100: Secrets of Blue Zone Places which I guess are places noted where people live the longest. Quickly glanced at the episodes to see it's pretty much the same places Jamie visits and showcases in this series. A mix of travel and recipes.

Jamie's Quick and Easy Food

I feel this series is when he set the bar for what a cooking show should be. Every recipe on this show and the cookbook is based around 5 ingredients (not including seasoning stuff like salt, pepper, oil or vinegar). Because of this, he can bang out 4 recipes in a 30 minute episode. So, it makes it extremely appealing to feel like you could cook most of what is being shown and the photography seems to have hit a high point here that he's yet to surpass.

Jamie Cooks Italy

Much more of a travel show highlighting various spots in Italy and what locals are doing and then putting a bit of a spin on their recipes. However, it does feel like this is a lot more of a specialized cookbook and show and that duplicating these recipes would be a lot harder outside of Italy. At least he and Gennaro seem to be having a good time in making the show.

Jamie's Ultimate Veg

Another mix of travel and cooking but Jamie the locations are in different spots instead of one place like Italy. Again, the travel portions are neat to see how other cultures eat and cook things. The cooking portions still feel like they have some of the Quick and Easy Meals momentum but they've got more than 5 ingredients here.

Jamie: Keep Cooking Family Favorites

This was done during the Covid years and filming is done around his property indoors and outdoors. His family is making cameo appearances throughout. The cookbook was sort of his attempt to do another Quick and Easy Meals as that seems to have been the one to get the most positive reaction but here the recipes can go up to 8 ingredients. The show Fargo will sometimes contrast the cozy, maybe slightly dull but still loving home atmosphere of the good guys of the show compared to the anxiety and lacking in love home life of the bad guys. That former vibe kind of comes through on this show where you might think more about how nice it would be to live the life Jamie's got more than the cooking not that the recipes aren't lacking in appeal here. However, having his son Buddy do a few cooking segments felt a bit of overindulgent. It's fine to love your kids but that doesn't mean the viewer will have the same pride you might feel in seeing you child learning your craft.

Jamie Oliver: Together

This felt more cynical like trying to latch on to the desire people had of seeing Covid restrictions lift and being able to get more freedom to start resuming what life used to be like. It's about making large dinners for a big gathering that can be prepped (and probably need to be) both the day ahead and when people are coming over. Not sure how many people are looking for a cookbook to make big feasts like it has. Still the same vibes as the previous series in being shot around Oliver's home with family and friends around.

The Great Cookbook Challenge With Jamie Oliver

So far, the only type of "food competition" show Oliver has ever done. Yet, he's more the host on this as the judging is done by others while he just helps the contestants around the building that houses his cooking operation. There is no real cooking instruction with this show and you aren't missing much if you skip it.

Jamie's One-Pan Wonders

It's alright. More your average cooking type show. Jamie's returned to a studio for shooting this one. Just feels lesser than what has come before though. If ranking these shows, it would probably be right in the middle.


Joe Pera Talks With You

Hooray! The cooking talk is over! But the good vibes are not. I'd heard positive things about this show at the time it was airing its second season back when The A.V. Club website had worthwhile content. It was only around late 2021 that I finally saw an episode on Adult Swim and I was immediately a fan of it. It was the second episode of its first season and I watched through all that first season. Later tracked down the second and third seasons and am really disappointed that the series was cancelled after its third season. Most of the episodes are around 13 minutes long with a couple that are about 30 minutes so it's a pretty easy show to watch through but as tempting as that might be I usually like watching 2 or 3 and savoring them.

But how to describe this show? In a way, it is like an examination of life and looking closely at all the ways one can find joy or satisfactions from it. The delights that can be found in breakfast foods, shopping at the grocery story, growing a bean arch, or in sitting. Those are just some of the topics that can come up. Yet, it's also got a sweet and soft side of following along this fictional Joe Pera's life as he navigates the ups and downs that happen in life like love, death and interacting with other people. It occurred to me as writing this that Joe Pera himself is almost like a more modern version of Mister Rogers with his manner of delivery and talking to the home viewer but am disappointed to see someone else has had that same thought which is mentioned on Wikipedia when I was looking up a couple things on the show. Just when I thought I had come up with a great way to describe the show. Perhaps it can seen also be seen as yet another variation of the Andy Griffith show in which a genial main character in an idealized laid back small town dealing with the situations that can arise from the people around him.

In any case, it's a series I keep wanting to show other people in my life and hope more people check out. Highly recommended.


John Adams

Big admission coming up. I was not born and raised in the USA. As such, US History wasn't as thoroughly taught to me here in... Sao Tome and Principe (yeah! that's the ticket...) so watching this mini-series was very informative to me and helped give me a better picture on some of the events that were happening leading to the American Revolution and beginning of the country under its first presidents. It did so by still being entertaining. Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney gave some strong performances here and when thinking of them, this series usually pops up first in my mind for them. It's been over a decade since I saw this and I'd be up for watching it again now so clearly did something right.

[Adrock]

Batman Beyond

Looking it up, about half of the show aired in the 21st Century. Around 7 or 8 years ago, I watched through the whole series because I had missed a lot of the third season episodes back when it was first airing and had recently gone through the whole Batman: TAS episodes. This still feels like an underrated series when people think of the DC Animated series as talk usually is about the Batman, Superman or Justice League series. Personally, I still quite enjoy the unrealistic future setting that was created for it and the premise and situation the characters find themselves in. Yet, it also feels like they only scratched the surface here and there was a lot more drama and conflict that could have been found from it beyond how it often felt of just setting up new villain origin stories and foiling their plots when they returned.

As much as I enjoyed Batman Beyond, I docked points for this list exercise due to its real/true ending being on a completely different show. And while Amanda Waller rewriting Warren McGinnis' reproductive DNA with nanobots to match Bruce Wayne's is some of the silliest nonsense I've seen, the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue" still has one of my favorite scenes in any DC movie/show.

In less than two minutes, Batman talking to Ace illustrates a true understanding of the Batman character, certainly better than any other non-comic Batman media. Of course Batman wouldn't murder a child. He simply sits with Ace in her last moments while she faces her own mortality. Batman's empathy is especially missing from all live-action versions of Batman. Instead, we keep seeing Batman recklessly damage property and probably kill people, often unintentionally but weirdly sometimes very intentionally. And yet, sometimes, no amount of kicking, punching, and exploding things will solve a problem. I appreciated Bruce Timm's restraint with the DCAU, slowing a story down and focusing on why a character would behave in a certain way.