Now that all 8 Cabinet of Curiosities episodes are up, I’d say it’s probably worth watching the 3, 4, and 8.
The rest fall somewhere between mediocre and outright trash. A few (episode 7) feel like they’ve stolen potentially useful seconds of my life to absolutely no purpose.
I watched the first and it seemed interesting enough. I will continue later.
Looks like it wasn’t just Hemlock Grove being removed.
Dusk til Dawn is marked as leaving in a couple days.
It’s quite interesting that it stays concerned with ‘SF’ issues, rather than just being some kind of mystery or adventure in a futuristic setting. I watched it all.
Been watching a bit of The Good Doctor. Not a big fan of medical shows, but this one for some reason has me quite entertained, a lot thanks to the lead (who acts exceedingly well) as well as the subtle humor. It doesn’t mock Dr Murphy (the titular autistic/savant character) but rather creates humor by contrasting his unique outlook on life with the mainstream. I also like that most of the characters are somewhat likeable - even the ones who are ambitious/nastyish have other sides to their characters.
Not sure if it holds up for all five seasons (I find the medical cases of each episode begin to blend together after a while - the interesting thing to me is following the “outside” lives of the characters), but so far I find it good evening distraction.
rowe33
2674
I used to play hockey with the creator of this back in his House days so it’d shock me if the show in any way mocked him or anything along those lines. One of the genuinely good guys in Hollywood.
Cormac
2675
Just watched the first episode of Blockbuster (sitcom about the last Blockbuster store) and it was pretty rough.
It just feels very “old-school”. Cast is fun though: Randall Park, Melissa Fumero & JB Smoove are trying their best, but it just feels so clunky. The basic premise feels like Superstore, but that one just had an extra “zinginess” to it? (at least initially)
Anyway, will give it another shot as sometimes shows just try too much in a Pilot to really connect.
LockerK
2676
I watched the first two episodes and tend to agree. It was enjoyable, but they’re trying to cram waaaay too much setup in right away. Good enough that I’ll keep watching it - largely on the strength of the leads you mentioned.
Cormac
2677
Ok, second episode done & I think I’m out. It’s just too retro / 80s / old-school for my tastes.
Watched the first episode of Blockbuster and while I love much of the cast, it didn’t light my world on fire. We usually give things three episodes to see if we stick with a thing so we’ll give it some more.
That is “The 100” rule :)
JD
2680
I too quit after two episodes. I like the cast, but I found the humor mildly amusing at best and the writing and pacing overall clunky. It’s not even remotely as good as something like Brooklyn 9-9; let’s not even talk about 30 Rock or Parks & Rec.
I already figured it wasn’t for me by the time Timmy launches into the speech from Independence Day, and another character goes “Hey, isn’t that the speech from Independence Day?” because that’s how much faith in the audience the writers have. I can even accept that they want to cover their bases with a younger audience that might be less familiar with ID4, but even that could have been done in a smarter way.
One problem Blockbuster has is the usual “abbreviated streaming sitcom season” issue. With only 10 episodes, waaaay too much time is taken up on The Main Plotline (a very conventional will-they-or-won’t-they, plus financial woes) and too little time on random characters-hanging-out nonsense. As I’ve said before, random nonsense is where the heart of sitcoms is.
There’s also the “who is it for?” question. For a show about Blockbuster, it over-explains most of its old-school references (per JD and the ID4 scene.) And it over-explains the Gen Z characters for us old fogies. I’m not sure any generation would really cotton to it.
Last but not least is the whole bizarre “Nextflix says Blockbuster is spunky, indie, and cool after driving it to extinction” thing. It’s just weird, like the US Army sponsoring a documentary on the history of Native Americans. And, because it is the modern way, the show just makes it all the weirder, lampshading the incongruity by having a character give a speech about it.
Cast is good, though, including the Gen Zers.
orald
2682
We watched Facing Nolan the documentary about The life and career of Nolan Ryan. My wife is not a baseball fan but she watched the entire thing with me and we both enjoyed it.
https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81615834?s=i&trkid=13747225&vlang=en&clip=81630382
I’m not expecting much from Blockbuster, but the concept is deeply funny to me.
When I was a Blockbuster clerk and Netflix subscriber (DVD mail), the consistent messaging from corporate was that it was just a fad and that in-person movie rentals were here to stay. Netflix launching a disposable sitcom with the Blockbuster brand name feels like dancing on the grave of their enemies.
Sort of the same flavor as “Space Force”… then (which I have also not seen).
Blockbuster the entity ends up in textbooks for business students as a cautionary tale of ‘here is how not to compete’.
…although, oddly enough…
That’s a puzzle? What on earth is the Blockbuster branding doing on it?
I know, right? It is a 500 piece puzzle a friend and I discovered at a board game store in a mall.
I mean jigsaws are kind of bust blocks.
I watched both seasons and thought they were a lot of fun, but then it was unceremoniously cancelled. :-(
Tawny Newsome (aka the voice of Beckett Mariner on Star Trek: Lower Decks) was one of the main cast members.
