Big TV News! ABC is (finally) letting The Goldbergs go at the end of their current season. The show, which has had several cast departures over the years already, will finally get to rest. And in a bit more shocking news, HBO has announced that the upcoming season of Succession will be its last. The showrunner for Succession has always hinted at this show having a limited life cycle, but I’ll admit that this still feels early. But, it’ll be the first time that I don’t call out WBD, because I really do believe this is Jesse Armstrong’s decision. Ozark went out after four seasons, and it was still an incredibly strong show. Succession is just deciding to not overstay it’s welcome. That means I’ll miss out on Brian Cox making fun of Jeremy strong for being “fucking obnoxious” in his choice to method act his way through Kendall Roy. I mean, is Kendall really so radically different from Jeremy Strong that he can’t act without Method acting? Cox is my favorite actor, and we both share a disdain for Method actors.

Anyway, after the longest intro I’ve gotten to write for this….

6) This is hard.

6) Night Court (Peacock)

English Audio Description?: Yes

The goodwill built up in the third episode was thrown out the window by a 4th episode script written by kindergartners again. These rave reviews Melissa Rauch are getting are mind boggling. Here, she gets really excited for a blouse with cats on it. Her… I’m gonna guess clerk… has no real purpose, and was used as the butt of a joke of a guy who gets stood up on a lot of dates. The main plot featuring John larroquette trying to act annoyed at women throwing themselves at him, only to find himself at a loss for words when someone he liked showed up was silly, but did summon Wendi Malick, so there’s that. Then, the series two potentially funniest characters, were stuck in a situation where they were trying to use a “quiet space” for work, but obviously at least one of them couldn’t be quiet. The actress who plays the Bailiff really deserves a separate award for being thrown the most random things to say and do, and somehow making them funny. I want so much more for this show. I don’t hate multi-cams, and I find them to be very soothing in that nostalgic way. But this needs better writers.

Episode Grade: C+

5) That 90’s Show (Netflix)

English Audio Description?: Yes

In this rave centric episode, I still don’t like these kids. Hell, I can’t even tell some of them apart. It seems like our main character, Leia, stumbled into a friend group where the two girls shared the same personality, and the two boys shared the same personality, and for fun… there’s a gay kid. And she rounds out the six by being kinda nerdy. But, the other four characters almost function in twin pairings, because the show does so little to differentiate them. The original cast, all were clearly very different, and that’s why the show worked. Here, I’m literally watching because Red and kitty were always great characters, and they’re actually still really great in this revival.

Episode Grade: B-

4) Velma (HBO MAX)

English Audio Description?: Yes

in an effort to continue to try and get itself cancelled, Velma pushes forward on a rather incoherent storyline where Velma is tasked with trying to figure out who the five hottest girls in school are so they can have police protection from being murdered. Meanwhile, Norville spends an unhealthy amount of time with Daphne, Fred reads The Feminine Mystique and starts getting attracted to inner beauty, and while the writers try to make some amazing grandstanding point about slut shaming, and how women shouldn’t have to change who they are so they won’t be murdered by a man, they just spent the whole episode calling it “Uggo Training”. It’s like intentionally throwing mixed messages at the wall. It’s both incredibly offensive and anti-feminist at times, but then chastises and grandstands all of a sudden like this is some kind of new representation for a brighter and female first tomorrow. I don’t mind shows in this style, but make it make sense. Stick to a mode.

Episode Grade: B-

3) The Legend Of Vox Machina (Amazon)

English Audio Description?: yes

If I explained this grade, it would spoil the results of the cliffhanger from the previous episode. It’s problematic, because at some point, I will likely have to talk about this, so I’ll use this week as padding, and a warning that next week… I will be talking about the actual episode. Damn spoilers.

Episode Grade: B+

2) Extraordinary (Hulu)

English Audio Description?: Yes

Man, this show found its stride quickly. The first episode did really push a lead character that is kind of obnoxious, but the next episode allowed us to see a bit more of her friend circle, and understand her place a bit more. It’s not just her, it’s her little group of awkward friends, who spend the second episode trying to scare her power out of her. Meanwhile, the whole thing with JizzLord was great. My only reservation is that I’m not sure we needed to resolve him in the second episode, as I would have loved to push that back another episode.

Episode Grade: A-

1) Jack Ryan (Amazon)

English Audio Description?: Yes

This was a great hour of television. Not even a full hour. The stakes were insanely high, Jack was evading capture, having to perfectly time everything, and figure out every last detail to prevent a nuke from going off. It was a non stop thrill ride, and possibly the best episode of the series. It’s hard for me to remember individually every episode from the past seasons, but this really defined high gear.

Episode Grade: A+