Honestly, while not the only shows I watched, only two had audio description. Masters Of The Air (Apple Plus), which saw Bucky trying to survive after being shot down, and Has Been Hotel (Amazon) which had the gang preparing for war against the angels. So, get your Oscar predictions in order for tonight, because this is a light post. Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/09/24

I have started to do this thing where I only mention a new show I’m watching that doesn’t have AD once, either as a series or season premiere. I’m still sad that The Masked Singer (Hulu) doesn’t have audio description on the streamer. I know it has had audio description live before, and it’s sad that description goes nowhere. Also, Rita replacing Nicole is fine. Nicole is working on making her Broadway dreams happen with Sunset boulevard. And, Kevin Hart is an awful singer. But, a good sport. He’s a great first elimination, since this is Season 11, and the … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/08/24

So let’s jump right into a real audio description topic. This happened, and smacked me in the face because I happened to watch two shows on the same day, almost back to back. On Sunday, I watched the first episode of Shogun (FX/Hulu) and gave my thoughts on the use of one narrator for every voice. Granted, there are a few English speaking characters, but not many. I did think it was odd that the series is going out of its way to represent Japanese characters through their own language, but has a Portuguese character who speaks perfect English. Shouldn’t … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/07/24

Well, I guess the once rumored Home Improvement revival isn’t happening, as Tim Allen is now in a development deal for a new sitcom at ABC. That’s just that cookie crumbling. I did sit through another episode of the Second Best Hospital In The Universe (Amazon), and I’m getting Strange Planet vibes. Strange Planet was adult animation without needing to be crass, because it put our own human condition in a very unique perspective. Here, it feels a little like that, but not quite as strong in terms of hitting the mark. There are too many things that make sense … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/06/24

Well, no internet this morning means my routine is very different. But, a blog post is easy to upload, so I can continue to do that. A couple HD videos to my YouTube? We’ll see… In TV news, CBS has officially ordered the Young Sheldon spinoff centered around Georgie to series. In related news, Disney’s Bob Iger mentioned that Disney has been quietly killing projects in development that it has lost faith in. I wonder if any of those are Star Wars or Marvel projects? I am a huge proponent of the fact that the superhero fatigue is fake, and … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/05/24

CBS has opted to stick with Justin Hartley’s buzzy new drama Tracker, giving it a fairly quick Season 2 renewal. CBS is already looking at the final season of Blue Bloods, SWAT, Young Sheldon, and Bob Hearts Abishola, so they have room. Interestingly, two NCIS spinoffs are in the works, so that franchise will never die. One is NCIS: Origins, and the other is a Tony/Ziva spinoff. Fire Country also has a spinoff in the works. I watched a sad amount of audio described shows. this isn’t all the TV I watched yesterday, but I’ve avoided continuing to platform non-audio … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/04/24

Let’s jump right in to Shogun (Hulu/FX) which seems like a series that has a lot of money in it, except the audio description is on a budget. First, the actual written description is great. It is fine. I even typically enjoy that very American sounding narrator. But, where I run into a problem, is that one guy has to do the narration for a show in which almost every character speaks Japanese. So, he’s doing the usual description, and also reading what would be subtitled for every male character and every female character. No other voice talent is used. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/03/24

Masters Of The Air (Apple Plus) continues to impress with the level of difficulty. There’s a very large cast here, and without facial recognition, it’s hard to follow who is who sometimes, but Laura Post is tracking them as much as possible with names. It’s really important in this episode, where a lot of these guys are killed in an air battle that doesn’t go their way. Some get to parachute out, but some just don’t make it, and for the ones who do, you can feel that weight on them of survivors guilt. Tokyo Vice (MAX) continues its run … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 03/03/24

I did happen to see an encouraging statement from one of the stars of Criminal Record (Apple Plus) that was confident a second season was happening, which is great because I just finished the first, and for a very predictable series, it was surprisingly well done. The acting is excellent, the audio description is terrific, and I would fully watch with anticipation a second season. I do not get One Day (Netflix). I don’t like this couple I’m supposed to like. This lead guy is annoying. I don’t hate the audio description, though I’ve seen some grumbling about it online. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/28/24

I do typically now avoid continuing to platform shows without audio description, but I have to say that watching The Daily Show and Jon Stewart’s tribute to his dog that passed the day before was very moving. While I do not currently have a dog, I have had them before, and I miss them very much. It is so odd in life that we as humans chose long ago to pair ourselves to creatures that do not have an average lifespan remotely near ours, always setting us up for some kind of grief. No matter what you feel about Jon … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/27/24

Let’s kick this day off with the big new debut. The Ones Who Live (AMC Plus), which AMC has finally added audio…. Oh wait. no. They haven’t. This show, like Daryl Dixon, Dead City, and the flagship show completely lacks audio description. Great. I wish the show I love loved me back. I’m stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship with The Walking Dead universe, ever since my vision loss. One of the biggest TV shows of all time, which has produced now SIX spinoffs, has no audio description. In Comparison, one of the biggest and longest running TV shows, NCIS, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/26/24

Let’s go ahead and get the big title out of the way first. Avatar The Last Airbender (Netflix) is finally out, and I even conferred with a friend, a sighted one, who is obsessed with the original series. he loves the new show, and hated the movie. I think his direct quote was “The first 15 seconds of this show are better than that 3 hour movie”, and went on to tell me all about the actors, and how close they look and act like their cartoon counterparts. as a late stage fan, who technically has seen all Airbender related … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 02/25/24