Last week, Andrea and I caught up to the 3rd season premiere of Abbott Elementary. We came late to the party and caught up on the first 2 seasons last fall.
Abbott Elementary is an anomaly, a sitcom on a broadcast network (ABC) that is both popular AND critically acclaimed.
The show follows a group of teachers at an underfunded and over stressed elementary school in Philadelphia. Show creator Quinta Brunson plays Janine Teagues, a young eternally optimistic educator who has not yet had the love of teaching beaten out of her yet. But despite her enthusiasm for her kids and for teaching, season 3 opens with a status quo change. Janine has stepped aside from the classroom for a position with the much maligned "district".
The new district school board has learned the lessons of the old board (do NOT embezzle money) and are trying to do right by Abbott.
The season opens with Janine leading a Career Day at Abbott that somehow brings in Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (and an appearance by Jason Kelce who is the brother of a certain Taylor Swift boyfriend.)
The Eagles appearance leads Gary the vending machine guy to arrange a surprise proposal for Melissa Schemmenti who she had told previously she was NOT interested in getting married again.
Having Jalen Hurts set up the proposal did not change her mind.
Awkward!
Meanwhile, Principal Ava Coleman realizes she does not know how to actually do her job as principal and has swung in the opposite direction of a by the book martinet. It's so bad, the teachers unite in a plot to bring narcissistic, irresponsible Ava back.
Also Gregory Eddie and Janine Teagues are AND are not a thing and they both okay AND not okay with that. It's classic will they or won't they but the show is still young, we'll let them have this.
Abbott Elementary returned with a strong and funny season 3 opener and ABC has announced the show is renewed for season 4.
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The Tuesday TV Touchbase moves from elementary school teachers to a college professor with a docu-series called The Power Of Film.
Appearing on TCM, the six episode series explores some of the most popular and memorable American films of all time. The series is hosted by Howard Suber.
Well who is that guy? Howard Suber is a...
- renowned UCLA professor emeritus
- founding chair of UCLA’s Film and Television Producers Program
- one of the founders of the UCLA Film Archive
In other words, this guy knows his subject matter very well and each 40-minute episode is a deep dive into what makes a film work, what makes a movie popular AND memorable across generations.
Suber's presentation is not a dry delivery of facts but a passionate exploration of the human condition that makes a movie stand the test of time.
Clips from the movies provide context for Suber's discussion but his depth of feeling about the power of film almost makes those clips unnecessary.
Word of caution: Suber does assume you've seen the films he's talking about so beware of spoilers.
Howard Suber's The Power of Film is an engaging and provocative education about the movies, why they work and why we care.
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Other TV Stuff 'N' Junk
I'm kind of/sort of back to watching the new Law & Order. Jeffrey Donovan's reprehensible Det. Frank Cosgrove was given the heave-ho between seasons 22 & 23.
(I saw an article online that bemoaned the loss of a such a remarkable character and yep, the article originated from a right wing news site.)
Reid Scott is now in place as Det. Vincent Riley who is a lot more nuanced character.
I'm not watching every episode but I will be on hand on February 22nd when Sam Waterston steps down as D.A. Jack McCoy. God bless 'im but Waterston does seem to be too old for this job.
So did Kunal Nayyar save Night Court? Kunal's turn as fashion designer Martini Toddwallis did demonstrated Kunal has range beyond Big Bang Theory's Raj. And his character did have some good chemistry with Abby Stone.
But no, Kunal Nayyar did not save Night Court. Bless him, he did what he could but the funny still could not be found.
With other show coming back to fill out our TV watching schedule, can I talk Andrea out of keeping this one on our list.
Andrea and I finished season 1 of Gravity Falls. We've really enjoyed this buried animated treasure from Disney. We'll pick up the shorts and season 2 when we get past our current batch of new TV shows coming up.
I've also brought Andrea through the 2nd season of my re-watch of The Orville. She's really enjoying this show and gotten into these characters. It's gonna break her heart when we finish season 3 (which continues to look like the last season.)
And the big TV event of this past weekend gets it's own post. Tomorrow, it's the return of This (Non) Sporting Life as I post about the Super Bowl.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
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