NBC officially inked a new deal for SVU to return next season, but also axed Organized Crime after five seasons. The Law and Order flagship show has not been renewed yet, but is looking good, while The Hunting Party and Brilliant Minds are expected to be cancelled. The question marks are the new comedies The Fall And Rise of Reggie Deakins and Stumble, both heavily on the bubble. It may actually turn out that the pedigree behind Fall and Rise may lead to NBC keeping that over Stumble, whose ratings with Happy’s Place on a Friday night really aren’t bad.The two sides to the coin is that Fall and Rise has had a better timeslot, and benefits from better lead-ins, whereas Stumble is on Fridays with a mediocre lead in. If NBC axes Stumble, since they are sticking with Happy’s Place, something else will need to fit into that slot. it isn’t a great slot, it never will be.

TV Shows Watched: The Boys: S5E3 (Amazon) with audio description, Beef: S2E1 (Netflix) with audio description, Hijack: S2E8 (Apple) with audio description, High Potential: S2E14 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Bait: S1E1 (Amazon) with audio description

The Boys- As we inch closer to the end, the character deaths here were minor, at least my interpretation of how some of the fates were left. I don’t think one character who was left beaten is dead. They mentioned the Gen V cast again without having them pop up, affirmed that *spoiler* didn’t die in episode 2, and brought back a familiar face we hadn’t seen in a while. Actually, a few familiar faces. Cindy’s origin story is priceless.

Beef- Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Charles Melton, and Kailee Spaney star in this awards friendly cast, where the Beef isn’t totally clear right away. the reason being is that this all revolves around a country club run by Josh (Isaac), who has beef with his wife (Mulligan), and they have a huge War Of The Roses style fight, which is witnessed by two younger staff (Melton/Spaney) who are also a couple, and swung by Josh’s house after he dropped his wallet. No good deed. There could be a four way Beef, or just between the couples. Episode 1 leaves both doors open. The AD was solid, and Andrew Thatcher is performing the AD. I can’t remember the last time I heard him on something, but I’m glad he’s out there working.

Hijack- Finished the lackluster Season 2. Apple hasn’t decided on another season, but my gut instinct is a hard No. They had a really tough time topping Season 1, and never did, and I’m still not sure this season justified itself. I never could get into it, and Sam can’t keep being in random hostage situations, especially ones poorly linked to the previous season.

High Potential- On the other hand, I’m adoring this show. The team goes all in after one of their own is nearly killed at a day spa. But by whom? And why? The twist here is pretty clever, the AD however, is not.

Bait- Riz Ahmed plays a young actor who is reading for James Bond, and even though he’s not nailing it, he uses the opportunity to be recognized by the press and see if that can help his career as a rumored next 007. However, he’s not white, and the series oddly (for an Amazon original) explores what happens when the world thinks there’s a possibility that a non-white actor could be James Bond. What a weird little show. I didn’t immediately love or hate it. It has some very clever satire woven in here, but also could have done a better job establishing the lead before the show starts where it does. I feel like I don’t know the lead character, how famous he is, what he’s done, or how he got the audition. It starts with his audition. The AD gets cluttered when one narrator is trying to read subtitles and describe at the same time.