I managed to squeeze in starting a few new series today. Sadly, not everything had audio description today.

8) Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

The comedy version of Star Trek goes just far enough to be considered comedic, but not too far to be considered mocking the Trek universe. Maybe, it needs a little send up from time to time. I’ve been watching this for a few seasons, and it’s never been at the top of my list. it’s always just kind of sat here. Barely clinging on to my increasingly hard to maintain viewership.

Episode Grade: B

7) Rick and morty (Adult Swim)

English Audio Description?: no

Audio Description has officially ruined Rick and Morty for me. Not because AD is bad, but because Rick and morty doesn’t have it, and many other shows do. Plus, watching Solar Opposites right before Rick and morty in terms of seasons premiering didn’t help. One seems stuck, the other seems excited to explore the possibilities.

Episode Grade: B

6) Mike (Hulu)

English Audio Description?: Yes

This guy is trying really hard to pull off a Mike Tyson impersonation. I know it must be hard to find an actor who looks ripped like mike and can do the voice, but for a blind critic, I just got the voice. The narrative structure here, where Mike is telling his life story in some sort of bizarre stand up special along with plenty of fourth wall breaks, didn’t put this show off on the right start.

Episode Grade: B

5) Alaska Daily (ABC/Hulu)

English Audio Description?: Yes

I’m starting to wonder about the format. I’m far more interested in the long term season arc about what is happening to the indigenous women, but when they have a case of the week, my interest tends to wane depending on what it is. Last week, the restaurant closing was fun. Heck, the naked guy in the apartment was fun. This week? It became the B-Storyline as I didn’t care.

Episode Grade: B+

4) Little Demon (FXX)

English Audio Description?: no

I lived through the period of time where NBC got tons of blowback for God, The Devil, and Bob. Now, Little Demon is out, and i feel like had other shows not tried to push this boundary before, we never would have gotten here. I’m still not entirely certain we need to be here, but Danny Devito was a nice touch in the voice cast, and the pilot had some clever moments. What could work against it is the lack of audio description, as this show seems very visual, with many different things begging for description. She has powers… how do they manifest? What happens? How do people die? There are demons. What do they look like? What does her dad look like? What does the fringe look like? There was a hole in the sky, what was going on with that? This show is begging for audio description, and even though the writing is clever, and it’s high on the list for today, that means I’ll keep going for now. But I can see the lack of AD being a problem.

Final Grade: A-

3) Abbott Elementary (ABC)

English Audio Description?: Yes

The only thing I didn’t buy about the episode was that it seemed to suggest that there was this meeting that all the teachers that had been there knew not to go to, as the invitation was more of a formality, but Janeane (who is no longer a first year teacher), apparently missed this memo. it would have made more sense for this plot to be handed to Tyler James Williams’s former substitute, who now actually IS a first year teacher. Maybe he didn’t get the invite last year? This seems like a problem the gang would have solved in Season 1. It was still funny, but I couldn’t get past the fact that it seemed like the wrong character was chosen for this.

Episode Grade: A-

2) Ghosts (CBS/Paramount Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

An episode about saving a tree turned out to be a nice episode that really pushed the further character development of the Ghosts, and hearing Sass recite the translation of his native language simultaneously with the living guy was kind of a really sweet moment. Also, Thor is hilarious.

Final Grade: A

1) The Good Fight (Paramount Plus)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Kind of an interesting episode all around. I loved that quirky judge. I did find the ending to be deeply curious, especially since it seemed like the firm had the upper hand. But I guess not. The Tucker Carlson knock off played by Mo Rocca was hilarious. but, the real question is, what is Diane doing with her life? With only a few episodes left in the series, is she really going to end it in divorce? That’s a bleak ending. I know Gary Cole is busy with NCIS, but damn.

Episode Grade: A