Today was interesting to be sure. A brand new show, and an attempt to watch something presented in a new format.

1) Locke and Key (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

So, as we march onward to the series finale, Ellie led Gideon to an alive former classmate, someone who was very nice back in high school days, and really wanted to be a part of their group, but they never let him in on the secret. They actually went in one time to remove a memory from his head, and it was that point that they hid the key. But, Gideon being Gideon, decides to stab the guy so he’s bleeding out, and he and Ellie are on borrowed time. no one has any idea what happens when you’re in a head when someone dies… but they’re all about to find out. Can Rufus save the day? Will anyone listen to him? Second thought, it took Nina a lot of time to accept that Sam wants to clearly put himself in harms way to make amends. Let Sam take a bullet for your kids. It’s obvious to the audience that’s the mission he’s on, that he has accepted he won’t be returning. Y’all let Dodge help, and she killed a bunch of people.

Episode Grade: A

I am not emotionally prepared for the next episode to be the last.

2) What We Do In The Shadows (FX/Hulu)

English Audio Description?: No

Sadly, Hulu and FX decided to stop the AD after like the first 2 episodes, which is becoming an annoying trend. The humor in this show has been in the writing, and just like the last episode where there was a gap missing, here we get a fight with the Jersey Devil that has no narration. I don’t even know what the fucking thing looks like. An otherwise entertaining episode full of little jokes along the way, that might have gotten the top mark, was marred by a fight sequence made harder to follow due to the desire of those at FX/hulu to not provide audio description. Please, don’t tell anyone you are about inclusivity.

Episode Grade: A-

3) Quantum Leap (Peacock)

English Audio Description?: No, but it had it when it aired live on NBC.

So, now I have to have a chat with the Peacock chat bots about loading the audio description tracks for this show. Since Peacock won’t stop reminding me that it is the new home for all my NBC and Bravo favorites, that means they should be taking the audio description with these shows. Jesus Christ, it’s exhausting going from streaming service to streaming service over this bullshit. The show itself has pros and cons. The biggest con is Scott Bakula not being in the show, however they didn’t kill him off. He jsut never leapt home. So, the new guy could presumably find him at some point and leap him home. Wouldn’t that be beautiful? We now have a female in Al’s place, so I’m sure someone thinks this show is woke, but she was supposed to leap, not this guy, so that would have been even MORE woke. Like, ultimate wokeness. We do get a larger ensemble as there is considerably more time invested into the team that doesn’t leap (including Ernie Hudson), giving us a wider feel of the scope of the Quantum Leap project. This is a sequel series, that directly acknowledges that there was a project before, and they’ve been working to make it better so the leaper can make it home. Of course, that doesn’t work, and he’s stuck just like Sam. The pilot is fine, and likely would have been better if I had seen it with audio description. I’ll see if I can fix that.

Episode Grade: B

4) Physical (Apple Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

After all that hard work to build this series up, we got a 10th episode that had to push us unnecessarily further. So, instead of going out on a high note with Episode 9, we saw her trying to make a go for her business, deal with her perpetually awful husband who wants half of everything she has because he’s a loser, and now some blonde TV star is out there selling her videos. Episode 9 would have been a much stronger finale, actually completing the arc for the season, but I guess they felt like doing one more. That was a mistake.

Episode Grade: B-

5) Rap Shit (HBo MAX)

English Audio Description?: Yes

I like when I start seeing these women in their normal habitats, especially separate from each other. I believe the characters, obviously as a choice, lose their individuality when thrown together, sudddenly like they’re a girl group that has one unifying personality. It’s a frustrating show, because some moments are really good, then others are not. The characters are a bit all over the place. Honestly, this show makes me miss Queens, which did a much better job fleshing out its characters.

Episode Grade: B-

6) Dancing With The Stars (Disney Plus)

English Audio Description?: no

I had hoped that moving this to Disney plus meant the consideration of audio description. That is not the case. I do have to check with the service to see what their long term plans are for AD, will it ever have it? But, watching this without it is pointless. I can’t hear the dance, so all I get is a pre-dance interview, music, and judges comments. We could be breaking ground, as I understand So You Think You Can Dance runs with audio description. Sadly, Disney opted out.

Episode Grade: unwatchable.