Just in case you need reasons to be excited for this week, we mark the return of American Idol (will it finally have audio description?), Bridgerton, Shrinking, and School Spirits, along with the premiere of the new Marvel show Wonder Man.

TV Shows Watched: Talamaska: S1E3 (AMC Plus) no audio description, The Mighty Nine: S1E1 (Amazon) with audio description, Murdaugh: Death In The Family: S1E8 (Hulu) with audio description, Star Search: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, and Landman: S2E4 (Paramount Plus) with audio description.

Talamaska- As someone who is struggling through Interview With A Vampire,I’m familiar enough with the series to limp through this for review purposes, unlike Spartacus. So, I’ll keep this one on the watchlist. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone as the horror elements without audio description is a barrier it can’t overcome.

The Mighty Nine- the spinoff to The Legend Of Vox Machina, which I believe shares at least one of the same voice cast, is tonally way different. it is more serious, and for some reason, longer? I’m not as enthused, and the thing that came before it is hard to beat. The audio description is solid, especially for an animated fantasy series. it hasn’t earned my endorsement yet though, as a series. Watch the Legend Of Vox Machina instead if you haven’t.

Murdaugh: Death In the Family- the finale was weak. I actually didn’t think they met the burden of proof in the fictionalized version of the trial, though we see him kill his family anyway. I wish we had ended on Buster, a far more compelling character as he contemplates his future, and clearly deals with survivors guilt. Why didn’t his dad kill him too? Excellent audio description. Jason Clarke is terrific. overall, I’m fresh on the show, but the trial did nothing for me.

Star Search- If you wait a bit, you get audio description. considering the second episode has fresh new categories, youth variety, solo singers, comedy, and a weird hodgepodge category that someone clearly made up, and makes no sense. Aerialists and Animal Acts? WTF?But, Liz Gutman is doing the description for Descriptive Video Works. Yes, read that last sentence again. it’s her usual standard of excellence, as immediately witnessed by the depiction of the judges outfits, the variety acts reliant on visuals, and little asides like jelly roll chewing on his finger while watching an act. Great stuff. Netflix may not be doing live, but DVW is pushing out some high quality AD relatively fast, and Liz is writing and narrating. It streamlines.

Landman- So, while Billy Bob is great in everything, I wish we’d move away from critically praising the show. the female cast is so poorly written, clearly by dudes jerking off. I can’t find a credited female writer for the show. I asked my Alexa Plus if they could find any info that there is a female in the writers room for this show. It said No. You can feel it. Ali Larter’s character feels like she fell out of porn. She deserves better. Yes, there are things to like about this, but I’m constantly distracted by shitty writing.