Did you feel like you got hit on the head yesterday? That’s because Paramount Global has axed streamer Noggin, which launched as a cable channel in 199, before developing its own paid service in 2015. Nine years later, Paramount Global is on fire, and they need to cut costs. A lot of the basic core programs of Noggin are available on Paramount Plus anyway, so I’m sure this is just a redundancy they felt was needed. I was more surprised that 800 people worked for Noggin. Just to balance themselves out, they also cancelled Evil. So, something on either end of the spectrum was cancelled yesterday at Paramount. I’m reading that Evil is already hoping for a bone from Netflix, as the series lead directly reacted to her shows cancellation with a tweet to Netflix that said “u up?” Ha.

Apple launched The New Look, which is dreadfully slow. I’m not even a fan of the audio description. It is a rarity for me to be unimpressed with audio description from Apple, as they went big for their audio description on recent mega-offerings like Monarch (with Jedidiah Barton) and Masters Of The Air (with Laura Post). The show is just painfully slow as it is, with no real concept during the pilot. It thinks that simply being about Coco Chanel and Christian Dior during the post-WWII Nazi occupation of France is inherently interesting, but without a clear plot, this thing just aimlessly wanders. It can’t establish its cast, and thereby its greatest flaw is in the misuse of its extraordinary talent, led by Juliette Binoche and Ben Mendelssohn. I can honestly say, I have zero desire to continue this. I happened upon the IMDB page, which already shows a tepid reception in just a 24 hour span. What a disappointment. Pilots are so important, and in a day and age where shows aren’t having to make a killer pilot to get a green light anymore, streamers end up with content that audiences have to struggle through. I love these actors, and I typically allow that to guide me into another episode, but I can’t express how little I want to even grant that here. I felt nothing. I got nothing.

On a happier note, I did finish my Fleabag (Amazon) catchup, and that series is terrific. I fully agree with all the accolades thrown its way. I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a friend in real life who was also happening to watch fleabag for the first time, and we both reveled in how somehow we missed this show the first time around. We can’t watch everything.

Also, while I desperately need more from the audio description on this show, one of my obsessions right now is The Traitors (Peacock), and I just got to a very crucial elimination. Now I have to wait and see if the move the Traitors made in response was the right one. While I see why Pavarti needed to make that choice, if she stood a chance, there’s no reason to believe this will work in her favor.

The Connors (Hulu) might be setting up a credit card scam plot, in a rather obvious way. However, John Goodman is excellent in this. Every time I run into someone who is shocked that I like The Connors, I just point to John Goodman. We have not given this actor enough accolades in his career, and he’s terrific. The scene between him and Beverly was so well done, almost entirely on his end, as he reacts to positive compliments coming from someone he was certain hated him. Good stuff. Also, in more Connors news, the show is cleared for syndication starting this fall.

The Brothers Sun (Netflix) leaned in on a John Cho reference, and also went in a predictable direction. Of all the episodes, Episode 6 is my least favorite, because nothing surprised me, from a show that actually had surprised me quite a bit before this point.

And finally, on the night the American version returned to TV, I actually started Season 2 of Ghosts UK (Paramount Plus), which had a very familiar ghost hunter storyline.