TV Shows Watched: The residence: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, North of North: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Jurassic World Chaos Theory: S3E1 (Netflix) with audio description, Lazarus: S1E1 (MAX) with audio description, The Traitors UK: S3E3 (Peacock) no audio description, Will Trent: S3E13 (Hulu) with audio description, The Bondsman: S1E3 (Amazon) with audio description, Dying For Sex: S1E3 (Hulu) with audio description, Happy Face: S1E5 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Suits LA: S1E7 (Peacock) with audio description, and Your Friends And neighbors: S1E1 (Apple Plus) with audio description.

Best Episode: Your Friends And neighbors- this show has an excellent pilot. It really sets up the characters who will be revolving around Coop (Jon Hamm) for the remainder of the series. He’s back in his businessman/working man form that worked so well for him in Mad Men, and the show revolving around a man trying to keep up appearances by any means necessary is interesting. Amanda Peet did a good job as the kind of person who justifies her cheating on her husband, and also being OK with her daughter having sex at home. Those two things make sense together. There might be some plot holes, but those might also be filled in later episodes. Like, how did anyone know those two had sex… if neither of them reported it?

Runner Up: Happy Face- What a maddening ending to that episode. I had a hard time figuring out what to do about this runner up spot, because I liked a lot of my shows, then I remembered the ending. there were also some meaningful conversations, and performances from some of the supporting cast who have mostly supported Annaleigh Ashford until now. James Wolk even had a nice moment.

Worth Mentioning: Dying For Sex, The Residence, The Bondsman- These three would round out a top 5.

Best Audio Description: The Bondsman- I have to give the edge to this horror series again. It has a lot to describe, including missed calls from Pot Of Gold.

Runner Up: Dying For Sex- A funny show with lots of sexual content. I also like how the title card is described. The squirting. Plus, Michelle ends up still largely unsatisfied in these earlier episodes and needs to do the job herself. It’s pretty explicit for a half hour Hulu show.

Worth Mentioning: Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, The Residence, Your Friends And neighbors- I’d pick these three to round out the top 5. Chaos Theory always does a solid job with the action scenes, and naming of the dinosaurs. The Residence manages a large cast, and some time jumping, as well as specific clues for the mystery, and Your Friends And Neighbors did a nice job of describing the setting, and an OK job of describing people.

Best Performance: Jon Hamm (Your Friends And Neighbors)- He fits perfectly in this role. He navigates the monologues with ease. he feels like a modern Don Draper, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, considering the Emmy love he received for Mad Men.

Runner Up: Jenny Slate (dying For Sex)- In the best friend role, Jenny deserves some mentioning. She has a scene where she thinks she’s going to be on hold much longer than she is, which plays out perfectly, and she also is frantic when she can’t help her friend at the hospital.

Worth Mentioning: Tamera Tomakili (Happy Face), Jason Lee (the Residence), Kylie Minogue (The Residence)- Tamera makes it for her steady and reliable performance as ivy. She has an opportunity to voice plans for her future, indicating that searching through trash for DNA isn’t in her future. she’s also present to empathetically react to both Elijah’s sister, as well as that baffling response from the DA. Jason Lee really gets to shine as Tripp in Episode 5 as the focus turns on the ne’er do well brother of the President, who is just a hilarious screw up. He constantly lies, but also might not be smart enough to tell the truth. And, Kylie got a little bit of screentime where she delightfully pulls a diva card by asking to take a nap in the Lincoln Bedroom, which she was promised as payment for performing for the event.

Best Moment Of Audio Description: This Is Your Captain Speaking (Chaos Theory)- Things get out of hand, and the kids (and for some reason the only adult on board the plane) have to take care of a dinosaur problem, leaving Kenji and Ben to try and figure out how to fly a plane. This segment was done well, front to back.

runner Up: The Red Lights? (The Residence)- Is it possible that the red light the kid saw from all the hell the way across DC was from a watch?

Worth Mentioning: Basically Any Sexual Encounter (Dying For Sex), Keeping Track Of The Homes (Your Friends And Neighbors), Quick Change (Lazarus)- Pick any of the sexual encounters in Dying For Sex. In Your Friends And neighbors, Hamm’s coop recounts his past, and how many homes he moved into with his family, before now ending up in his rental home, which is House #4. When he shows up at his wife’s house, it is labeled House #3, because even though the first two were only briefly mentioned, they were mentioned. And, while Lazarus sounds like it was recorded on a prototype for the original iPhone, it is the best writing I’ve heard from a ViTac produced show in a while. The show has a moment where an escaped prisoner changes clothes and leaves his old ones on a mannequin, which the cop chasing him finds. It’s a cute sight gag. I’m glad they left it in.

Worst Of: I’m pretty sure the narrator for Will Trent mispronounced ViTac at the end when crediting her own company, but because no one quality checks at ViTac, no one caught it. I’d like to challenge a narrator by ending the next episode with “Description Provided By Cthulhu. All Hail Cthulhu!” And see if it makes it to air.

Runner Up: Seriously, what microphone is that guy using on Lazarus? I actually liked the written track. The description was maybe the best I’ve heard from Vitac, and the narrator has a ton of potential if they can record his sound properly. Was it not delivered correctly on their end, or did Max just upload a bad file? The track sounds like ass.

Worth Mentioning: No audio description for The Traitors UK.