For this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase, I writing about another Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik and her new series Call Me Kat. I've only seen one episode due to... well, it sucks.
Let me mention something about my wife Andrea. She is hardly a reliable arbiter of what constitutes quality entertainment. She is, to be blunt, easily entertained. After watching the first episode of Call Me Kat, Andrea's assessment was "I'm not feeling it!"
What the hell is this thing that could not reliably entertain Andrea?
Mayim Bialik is Kat, a 39-year-old single woman who leaves her job as a professor at the University of Louisville to open a cat café in Louisville, KY.
Kat brings the audience watching at home up to speed on the plot and the backstory by frequently addressing the camera. Mayim Bialik is not Phoebe Waller Bridge and Call Me Kat is not Fleabag.
Call Me Kat is based on Miranda, a British sitcom written by and starring comedian Miranda Hart who plays a socially inept person frequently caught up in awkward situations.
Call Me Kat is too much a throwback to the sitcoms from the 1980s with its flat sets and jokey acting. Mayim Bialik's 4th wall breaking is the only thing that makes this show interesting and it feels out of place, too forced.
I can't wrap this up without commenting on Swoosie Kurtz who plays Kat's mother. Kurtz is 76 years old and has had WAY too much work done to try to not look like she's 76. She looks like the Crypt Keeper with a new skin suit that is two sizes too small. I know that sounds rather harsh but damn, under the glare of studio lighting, it's very distracting.
____________________________________
Last week was a big week for Star Trek: Discovery with the epic finale for their 3rd season, a sweeping adventure of time travel and new frontiers that I cannot talk about here.
Last week, the family here at the Fortress of Ineptitude finally finished the 1st season of Star Trek: Discovery.
I will say that this first season is epic in scope as the war with the Klingons pushes the Federation to the brink not only of physical annihilation but also the brink of sacrificing their ideals. A plan to detonate a bomb that will annihilate all life on the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS is subverted by Michael Burnham. Her scheme ends the war, the Federation is saved and with its ideals intact.
I wish more had been done with the ensemble of the Discovery crew. I really liked Doug Jones as Saru, Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets and Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly and would've liked to have spent more time with them.
I still think the series should've started with episode three. All the information from the first two episodes could've been provided in a later, flashback episode. Then we've could've begun the series with the cast.
I'm hoping we can get to season 2 soon. I've seen clips of Tig Notaro as engineer Jett Reno and I'm really looking forward to seeing Jett in action on the Discovery.
Other stuff I'm watching:
I'm a 3rd of the way into season 2 of Justified. God, I love US Marshal Raylan Givens more than a middle aged straight man should.
And I'm about halfway through the 1st season of The Orville.
____________________________________
Next week on the Tuesday TV Touchbase, it's time for game shows as I look at the prime time offerings of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and The Chase. And how is Ken Jennings doing behind the host podium on Jeopardy?
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down,would ya? I'm trying to watch TV here!
No comments:
Post a Comment