TV Shows Watched: Sirens: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Bet: S1E7 (Netflix) with audio description, The Buccaneers: S1E3 (Apple plus) with audio description, The Pitt: S1E7 (MAX) with audio description, Secrets We Keep: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Berlin ER: S1E7 (Apple plus) with audio description, Next Gen NYC: S1E1 (Peacock) with audio description, Earnhardt: S1E4 (Amazon) with audio description, Bad thoughts: S1E6 (Netflix) with audio description, The Daily Show: Monday (Paramount Plus), your Friends And neighbors: S1E9 (Apple Plus) with audio description

new Show Alert!- Next gen NYC is the most forced reality show ever. I know the “Real housewives” franchise follows different wives each season, sometimes changing up a cast member, and acting like this is a friends circle that would exist without reality TV. This show takes kids who have grown up on those shows, from different cities, some who have truly never met each other, and forces them together for a new reality experience of kids who grew up on reality TV. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the worst thing to sit through, since all of them are comfortable with cameras and fake setups and situations, but the audio description is so barebones you will actually forget it has some audio description every once in a while.

Best Episode: Sirens- I’m obsessed. I love this sho, this is the finale, and I rarely ever ask for a limited series to become a full on series, but I would love nothing more than to see sirens come back. I love this cast, the fluffy inconsequential quality this show has, and the terrific audio description. The entire cast is excellent, and I don’t want to let them go. The end is a little nuts, but also makes a lot of sense.

Runner Up: The Pitt- An increasingly heavy show with an increasingly irritated Noah Wyle. This episode tackled some heavy topics like abortion and sexual assault in thoughtful ways, and continues to try and find little ways to push and grow the vast ensemble.

Best of The Rest: Bet, The buccaneers, Your Friends And neighbors

Best Audio Description: Sirens- One of my favorite audio description tracks of the year for a TV series. I love how much this has been able to shape the world these characters inhabit, mention things like colors of walls, new looks and dresses, and push the depth of what we can enjoy in the design of a show further.

Runner Up: Bet- I think there’s a big gap between Sirens and everything else, but bet usually finds a really good way to help the anime feel of this adaptation, keeping it feeling larger than life, and embracing its cartoonish eccentricities. It also did a really good job of tracking Michael tearing up at multiple points.

Best Of The rest: The Buccaneers, Your Friends And Neighbors, Berlin ER

Best performance: Bill Camp (Sirens)- Dammit. This day is really hard. I loved more than five performances, but elevating one to the top, i have to pick camp, who does an excellent job portraying someone whose mind is continuing to slip. Anyone who has ever had a family member in the early stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s will notice how well Camp navigates different variations. there are moments of complete lucidity, there are moments where someone seems to be having a conversation with him, but while he retains some knowledge, it has merged with him being in a different place and time, or he’s confusing the person he’s talking to. then, he has the moments where he’s scared, because he doesn’t know where he is, or recognize anyone. his character isn’t the star, but he had these lovely moments, including one where he talks to one of his daughters and offers the best apology he’s capable of, and taking responsibility for being a shitty father. In a sea of excellent performances, Bill camp rose to the top today.

runner Up: Noah Wyle (the Pitt)- He’s also starting to unravel a bit, and snap at people. He’s frustrated by the threat of being bought out, staffing shortages, a full waiting room, and the anniversary of a death of a friend. he somehow walks in and out of patient rooms with measured calm and kindness, but when he’s away from patients, he starts loosening at his seams.

Best Of The rest: Megan Fahy, Millie Alcock, Julianne Moore (Sirens)- The ladies of sirens all deserve to be mentioned in the final episode, and they played off each other nicely. but, I also want to mention Jon Hamm (Your Friends and neighbors), as that was the season finale, and he has held that show together.

Best Moment Of Audio description: The Pink Room (Sirens)- We go in Simone’s room a few times, with the second being Simone realizing all that has changed, and the description. What I love later is when peter comes in the room, not much has changed, but he still is in the room, looking about, and the description finds even more to describe. The richness overflows.

Runner Up: How to Save A Life (Berlin ER)- The ambulance duo goes out, and the more veteran of the two finds himself in a bit of a predicament, leaving the less experienced one to figure it all out, and this scene was effectively described.

Runner Up 2- Michael Cries (Bet)- Michael is on the verge of tears a few times, and we get to track that throughout this episode.

Runner Up 3- the Hiding Spot (Your Friends And Neighbors)- Elena finds something in a hiding spot pivotal to the plot.

Runner Up 4- Run To You (sirens)- The cheesiest moment of the series was also well described, with two people running to each other like it was destiny. there’s even a dream sequence like quality to it that is worked into the description, even though it isn’t a dream.

Worst Of… The only show without audio description is the Daily Show, the worst episode I watched was either Next Gen NYC or Bad Thoughts, and the worst audio description was Next Gen NYC. I have a pretty good idea of who is doing the description, because they only use a tiny baby handful of narrators, and they persistently write inadequate audio description. i didn’t hear an actual credit at the end, so I’ll avoid saying the name. But, my pick for loser of the day is the AD team for Next Gen NYC. I’ve been making a concerted effort to watch more reality TV, even if I don’t stick with it, to hear a variety of approaches. I’ve seen this format done better. While it isn’t a format that allows for the most robust description, it should have more than this.