Coming up this week, Rooster (HBO), Top Chef (Bravo/peacock), One Piece (Netflix), Sunny Nights (Hulu), Virgin River (Netflix), The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives (Hulu), The Madison (Paramount), Scarpetta (Amazon). And because you’ve all been so good this year, some major stars are in those shows. Steve Carell stars in The Rooster, Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis top line Scarpetto, Sunny Nights stars Will Forte and Darcy Carden, The Madison has Michelle Pfiefer, Kurt Russell, and Patrick J Adams, and there’s even the return of Celebrity Jeopardy with God knows who.

TV Shows Watched: Monarch: S2E1 (Apple) with audio description, CIA: S1E1 (Paramount) with audio description, Cross: S2E2 (Amazon) with audio description, Simon Cowell’s Next Act: S1E5? (Netflix) with audio description, and American Prince: JFK Jr: S1E1 (HBO) no audio description

Monarch- Kong is all over this episode. For people missing their Godzilla and Kong content, this Agents of SHIELD type show set in their universe is like treading water waiting for the boat to come back to pick you up. I’m sure the production values here are fun, but the show feels like it tries really hard to expand the lore, but will it lead to anything in the films? The AD here is pretty great as new monsters are uncovered, and they heavily suggest some Kraken or giant squid is in the future.

CIA- I love Tom Ellis, and I’m considering trying to push through, but this was not a good pilot. It just kind of happens, does a poor job of establishing any characters and their relationships, even within the case of the week. Nothing about this was good, which is not great for a pilot. Even their explanation for Tom Ellis being a British CIA agent is very much like “it’s a long story, we don’t have time.” Make time. CBS axed both FBI spinoffs. You’re not safe. Make the fucking time to explain yourself, have character development, and make it so people cannot live their lives without watching another episode of CIA. For some reason, streaming has killed the art of the pilot, but everyone in any show, even if you went straight to series, should know you may never get more than one episode with your audience.Make it count. This doesn’t. The AD was fine, but the show is lifeless.

Cross- I’m mildly interested, but I was mildly interested in Season 1. Alex cross gets into some dark shit, and for some reason, I always just wanted him to be the step ahead version we got in Kiss The Girls. The AD here is fine by Media Access Group.

Simon Cowell’s Next Act- Bafflingly, Simon is down to the Top 16? He decides three boys MUSt be in the band, he cuts a few, and tells the remaining boys they have to still prove themselves to join the band with the other three boys. What a weird choice. It’s getting easier to get to know the boys as there are less of them, though I’ve forgotten what any of them sang at their audition. Simon is trying SO HARD to be loveable here. he gives so many hugs. This is such a weird show.

American Prince- Want to know or reminisce on JFK Jr? This show is for you… if you don’t mind that it doesn’t have audio description.