Some TV Thoughts

Like most Americans, Deb and I have embraced streaming television, juggling three or four shows at a time, working in the few prime-time series we still follow. As one completes, we decide what we’re in the mood for, and miraculously, one of the services we subscribe to has exactly what we want.

We keep promising ourselves we’ll add Apple TV once we’re caught up, but we feel no closer as more and more series arrive. And with the existing service prices rising (Paramount+ being the latest today), we’re not likely to make the leap quite yet.

I have come to love the variety, along with the freedom producers have to tell their stories, taking the time they need. The best example is Taylor Sheridan, whose Yellowstone can go from 45 minutes to an hour and twenty minutes, and I don’t mind. The story takes the time it takes.

What I’m noticing, though, is that the craftsmanship and quality of the writing have raised the stakes, so it takes a lot for a network prime-time series to capture our attention. This may be the first season since childhood that I have not tried any of the new series on the five networks.

That changed with the midseason arrival of Night Court. If we didn’t have fond memories of the original, we probably wouldn’t have tried. We just got through four episodes and decided it wasn’t good enough for our limited viewing time. Had it aired a decade earlier, maybe we would have stuck it out. After all, John Larroquette remains a solid performer, and we enjoyed Melissa Rauch on Big Bang.

But it’s just not funny. There’s little depth to the characters, and the writing is flat. We chuckle maybe once an episode, and I find the antiquated laugh track annoying. Rauch and Larroquette are surrounded by largely unpleasant supporting players.

On the other hand, last night, I finally got to finish season one of Wednesday. Here, The Addams Family spinoff has clever extrapolations of what the youngest member of the cooky clan might be like as a teen. They avoid making Nevermore a Hogwarts knockoff and populate it with quirky, endearing, and somewhat tragic supporting players. The writing is strong (even if a few beats are predictable), and Jenna Ortega’s performance is stunning.

These two examples show that television for the masses rarely can hold a candle to the more sophisticated fare available elsewhere. Now, I admit I am selective in what I consume, and therefore, your mileage will certainly vary.

Still, I am happy to pay for these services because there is plenty of inventive, dramatic, quality fare. With my finite viewing time, I need to be very selective, and it will take a lot to get me to try something.

Any recommendations?

#Tags: Apple TV, Jenna Ortega, John Larroquette, Melissa Rauch, Night Court, Paramount+, Taylor Sheridan, Wednesday, Yellowstone