I hope you enjoyed the replacement for the diary yesterday, as I just couldn’t find the time to watch anything on TV. If you ignored it, it is stealthily my best of 2025 in film lists, with only audio described titles listed. I did squeeze in some TV on Tuesday.

TV Shows Watched: Ripple: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Down Cemetary Road: S1E3 (Apple Plus) with audio description, Robin Hood: S1E2 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Best Medicine: S1E1 (Disney plus) no audio description, and The Daily Show: Monday (Paramount Plus) no audio description

Ripple- I’m trying to circulate shows back in. It has been about two months since I watched the first episode of this, I think. It was back when I wasn’t doing the diaries, due to only watching one show. I saw some talk about this online, and gave it a look, figuring at least it would be in my continue watching. it wasn’t particularly memorable, but it caught on with some, so I’m trying to give it a chance and figure out why. it feels like a life intersects type show, with very different people that somehow are connected. other than Frankie Faison, the acting isn’t memorable, and the plot is slow. it feels like a network show that didn’t get picked up on ABC or NBC, but Netflix snapped up because they saw something. I hope to figure out what that something is. the audio description is solid though.

Down cemetary Road- of the scripted shows, it is by far the best. A serious crime thriller with a dash of dark humor, much like Slow Horses. Emma Thompson is perfection as usual. Excellent audio description. I was hooked before, and this episode reminded me why. glad to be getting back into it.

Robin Hood- If I’m being really honest, it has a long way to go, however, the second episode is better than the pilot. It has some grounded moments, and it takes the time to explore some characters. I think the pilot had a lot to overcome, in terms of introducing a large ensemble, redefining a legend, and shaping this world. The second episode shows that the writers were really only just struggling with how to do that at the onset, and I believe they are capable in the long run. This might be a rewarding show for those willing to stick to it. the audio description… I had a thought. And I slept since then. I do remember having something to say, but I don’t remember what. But this is not a bad track, I just sidestep the praise for now. Like, there are differences between a B+ and an A-, it’s that small of a thing. Not a big deal.

Best Medicine- This is awful. Kill it with fire. If I had unlimited money, I would buy the network just to cancel this. I’ve never seen Doc Martin, but I have a feeling, a very strong one, this pales in comparison. I’m here for a show starring Josh Charles, and apparently the original actor from Doc Martin is here, but the pilot is dreadful. I actually didn’t finish. It’s so inept. It is clearly trying to have this weird quirky batch of townspeople, an an abrasive doctor, though Charles is miscast, and the townsfolk are caricatures. the gay couple is just tokenism, like the show was checking a box. You have the usual dumb Sheriff trope, and Abigail Spencer’s potential love interest character is so oddly written, like they want him to have one, but they want to keep her as fflexible and somewhat ambiguous as possible. And the whole first episode, they keep calling him Doc Martin, and he has to correct them, it is Doc Best. They rationalize it by making his first name Martin. I have no fucking idea why. if you’re remaking something, and paying so much heavy homage, why not just name him the same thing, and then benefit from the name, instead of everyone wwondering what best medicine is about. It is like, you paid for the franchise rights to something, and you would likely draw in the fans of that work, but instead you hide the work and bury it in a heavy sea of tropes that end up suffocating the original premise, and the whole reason for making this show. How many “doctor moves to small town’ shows are there? we’ve definitely done the grumpy doctor bit before. I think we’ve even had the gag about having a doctor who can’t deal with blood. One of the more recent medical dramas, like New Amsterdam definitely had a character that wanted to be a doctor, but had to overcome a phobia of blood. Why bother at all to tip your hat at all if you’re just going to make a decidedly more mediocre, probably far worse, Americanized version with walking stereotypes and a miscast lead? The Copenhagen Test is still like on a whole different level of stupid, and I judge anyone who watches it and finds that to be enjoyable, but this is the kind of frustrating project that makes everyone hate remakes, reboots, updates, and most certainly “Americanized” versions. I have a sneaking suspicion that if they can get past the appearance of Martin Clunes, the original Doc martin, they will turn it off. there will be no full review. I never review anything I didn’t finish, and with TV shows, I needed to at least finish the pilot, which I couldn’t even force myself to do. About 20 minutes in, I had this shows number.

The Daily Show- Jon Stewart is once again, perfection. That is all.