TV Shows Watched: Wednesday: S2E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Twisted Metal: S2E2 (Peacock) with audio description, The Wonderfully weird World Of Gumball: S1E3 (Hulu) with audio description, Leanne: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Dan Da Dan: S1E1 (Netflix) no audio description, South Park: S27E2 (Paramount Plus) no audio description, Match Game: S?E3 (Hulu) with audio description

Wednesday- the camp episode was perfect. The only thing missing were some direct references to Addams Family Values. I forgot to mention that Christopher Lloyd made his voice available in the previous episode, and a cameo from either David Krumholtz or Christine Baranski would have been really inspired here. or, that cabin where they had to watch cartoons. But, instead, there’s a group of soldier-ish normies that show up to challenge our outcasts. I am loving the new little invisible girl, Agnes, and her energy. Pugsley is still a hot freaking mess of a character, and Season 2’s insistence on keeping the parents around for every episode is unnecessary. I’m still having fun with this show, and the IDC audio description by Liz and Frankie is excellent, but Season 2 isn’t Season 1. I did enjoy the ominous beginning where we see someone breaking into the cabin, without knowing who it is. I thought that was handled really well. It felt dangerous, like it was intended to.

Twisted Metal- *sigh*. They’re doing that thing again where they have things that clearly have a visual component, and the audio description just leap frogs it. I tried being nice with the season premier, believing this fucking company might have finally made a decent audio description track, but I’m just tired of it. I’m tired of this company being paid to do half assed audio description. I don’t really have the time, but I’m deeply considering breaking down the next episode in a quality check. I’ll make the time. This audio description, parading as equivalent accessibility, is like knowing In need a cane to walk with, going out into the yard and breaking a limb off a tree, and saying “here”. I mean, it is a stick, but that’s not what anyone actually expected. But, I suppose on the most base legal definition, this is technically audio description, just like what Taco Bell serves you is technically meat. If you’re watching Twisted Metal, sound off in the comments. I’d love to know if anyone else thinks this track is drivel.

The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball- this is a treat. I never watched the original, and this quirky little animated comedy is just funny enough for adults to follow, with some references only older people will get, while still being overall family friendly with a TV-PG rating. Not all adult animation needs to be crude. And, in general, the audio description is fine. I made a comment about the pilot that since the franchise was off the air for seven years, and the original series didn’t have audio description, it would have been a good idea to actually describe the characters. Normally, I don’t care, if we’re mid-franchise, assuming we had it in the beginning. Example, all Mission Impossible films have audio description, so if you boldly went into Final Reckoning as your first ride with Ethan Hunt, and didn’t know what he looked like, that’s on you. but, this is also a kids show, meaning it needs to now cultivate an audience of (broadly) 6-13 year olds who were not born-6 when the original stopped producing new episodes. On top of that, the original has no known audio description for any blind kid to have ever known what the characters look like.

Leanne- I made a vow to myself, before I review Leanne, because I’m not watching all 20 episodes of this, I will watch her stand up special. I want to see how Chuck Lorre has translated her onto the small screen. She reminds me of Brett Butler in Grace Under Fire, but I remember actually liking that show. I’d argue Kristen johnston’s shtick is actually too close to Leanne’s, and she needed to be a bit more different to work. the show seems to have a desire to rope in a red state audience, while also kind of making them seem like idiots. It’s one of those shows that pokes fun from the outside, but believes it is doing it from an honest place. I wonder how much control Morgan has over her own show, because I don’t think Lorre has any idea what it’s like to be someone like these characters he’s putting out there. Oh, and Post House is doing typical multi-cam sitcom narration. It’s a genre that never impresses, because they don’t use a lot of locations, and focus heavily on dialogue that is then beaten to death by a laugh track.

Dan Da Dan- I watched this because A) it was trending in the top 10 and B) it was a great time for me to mention that we’re hearing CrunchyRoll has some audio description. I’m planning on exploring that again at some point. I’ve already had a CrunchyRoll subscription, and included them in the roundup before when they didn’t have it. Right now, I’m trying to figure out what to watch next on Acorn while I still have that. I could not tell you what this show was about if my life depended on it.

South Park- I’m playing around with the “when does the audio description drop?”. So, i didn’t do next day, I actually watched this toward the end of Friday. Next week, I’ll try and push it to Saturday. We will find the sweet spot. This episode hilariously continues to lambast our current political climate, and while the mockery of Kristy Nome has caught the most attention (and its funny to hear her just obliterating dogs), I actually laughed the most when ICE raided Heaven and deported all the brown people out of Heaven. Of course, it’s silly, because we know no one in ICE is ever actually going to get to go to Heaven.

Match Game- i love her, but Andrea Martin is terrible at Match Game. Like, please never have her back. I miss her on Evil, but she gave some of the weirdest and worst answers.