Tag: John Oliver

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The Small Screen Diaries: 10/04/26

John Stark

I guess I’ll kick off today’s Small Screen Diaries with a little good news for fans of Tulsa King, as Paramount has renewed the Sylvester Stallone drama for a fifth season, despite the company still being in flux in the middle of a merger. Interestingly, the fifth season will apparently move the action to New York, which isn’t entirely surprising given the direction of the series, but does seem a little strange when your show is literally called Tulsa King. I suppose you can still be the king of Tulsa without actually living in Tulsa. Meanwhile, I don’t believe Lioness … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 10/04/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/21/26

John Stark

I feel like I consistently come in here with bad news all the time, and apparently we’re opening with bad news again. Ride or Die, the Prime Video series starring Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham, has been inexplicably canceled after one season. This is particularly surprising considering it outperformed other Prime Video shows that have already been renewed. I’ve seen the trades breaking down the viewership data that is available and lining it up against shows like Off Campus, Elle, and some of the other younger-skewing series Amazon has picked up, and Ride or Die was ahead of several of … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/21/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/25/26

John Stark

Wow. We lost a true legend yesterday. Dolly Parton.What an immensely kind, warm, gifted, generous, and humble human being. Our world isn’t just a little less bright, we lost the North Star. TV Shows watched: Survival Of The Thickest: Season 3 (Netflix) with audio description, Last Week Tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description yet yes, a really short diary. My work, with classes resuming, is always far more consuming at the beginning and end. I basically focused on Survival Of The Thickest, which truth be told, I had already powered through half of it before walking out the … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/25/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/10/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: House Of The Dragon: S3E8 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed: S1E8 (Apple) with audio description, Big Mistakes: S1E10 (Netflix) with audio description, The Bear: S5E8 (Disney Plus) with audio description, The Rise and Fall Of Reggie Dinkins: S1E10, Last Week Tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description yet, and American Classic: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description House Of The Dragon- Full review dropped yesterday, but this is one hell of an AD track, and for every company that has told me that those big mean studios kept them from putting credits, let … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/10/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/03/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: House Of The Dragon: S3E7 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Widows Bay: S1E9 (Apple) with audio description, Detective Hole: S1E? (Netflix) with audio description, Robin Hood: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description, St Dennis Medical: S2E11 (Peacock) with audio description, Last Week Tonight: Current (HBO MAX) no audio description yet, and American Classic: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description House Of The Dragon- I got cheated out of my Bring The Usurper To Me! But, the episode still featured an epic dragon battle, the most oedipal thing on HBO ever, and something presumed dead rises. There’s also … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/03/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/23/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: High Potential: S2E1 (Hulu) with audio description,Platonic: S2E8 (Apple Plus) with audio description,The Runarounds: S1E4 (Amazon) with audio description, Red Fish Blue Fish: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Black Mirror: S4E6 (Netflix) with audio description, Next Gen Chef: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description,Last Week tonight: most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description High Potential- With Jimmy Kimmel back, so is Hulu/Disney content. So, I caught up with the Season Premiere of High Potential, which I was disappointed to find out was using the same AD team as last year. Although, I’ve heard worse, from this narrator and … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/23/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/08/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Black Mirror: S4E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Platonic: S2E6 (Apple plus) with audio description, The Runarounds: S1E2 (Amazon) with audio description, The Terminal list: Dark Wolf- S1E3 (Amazon) with audio description, My Life With The Walter Boys: S2E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Red Fish Blue fish: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description, Rick And Morty: S8E1 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Last Week Tonight: Most Recent (HBo MAX) no audio description Black Mirror- Metalhead is a disappointment. Basically Black mirror made The Terminator, but didn’t flesh out a world interesting enough for it to be in. we don’t … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/08/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/18/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Black Mirror: S4E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Platonic: S2E3 (Apple Plus) with audio description, Last Week Tonight: Most recent (HBO MAX) no audio description yet Black Mirror- Archangel. Sadly, not The X-Man, but a program you can install into your child’s brain that will tell you where they are, what their vitals are, allow you to have parental controls to block out troubling things they may encounter in real life, and even see what they see. Rosemarie Dewitt (Untamed) stars. I could see all the problems with this software immediately, and knew where we were headed. However, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/18/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/11/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Black Mirror: S4E1 (Netflix) with audio description, The hunting Wives: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, Dexter: Resurrection: S1E4 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Leanne: S1E5,6,7 (Netflix) with audio description, King of The Hill: S2E13 (Hulu) no audio description,Last week tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description yet, The Gilded Age: S3E8 (HBO MAX) with audio description Black Mirror- The USS Callister episode. I’ve heard so much about this, and it was the first episode to get a sequel. It’s a bit silly. The idea that they would retain their memories, when he’s basically just doing a … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/11/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 08/04/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: Eyes of Wakanda: S1E4 (Disney Plus) with audio description, The hunting Wives: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Dexter: Resurrection: S1E3 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Leanne: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, All Of Us Are Dead: S1E6 (Netflix) with audio description, Last Week Tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description yet, The Gilded Age: S3E7 (HBO MAX) with audio description Eyes of Wakanda- Full review coming. the Hunting Wives- I think this might be everyone’s new guilty pleasure. It’s a hot mess in such a good way. It’s this show where everyone is really conservative, but … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/04/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: 07/28/25

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Waterfront: S1E8 (Netflix) with audio description, Dexter: Resurrection: S1E2 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Ginny and Georgia: S2E5 (Netflix) with audio description, And Just Like That: S3E9 (HBo MAX) with audio description, Adaptive: S1E1 and S1E2 (Peacock) no audio description, and Last Week Tonight: MOst Recent (HBo MAX) no audio description Random Audio Description News: South Park’s Sermon On The Mount now has audio description on Paramount Plus. The Waterfront- This was the season finale, so look for a review coming shortly. Dexter: resurrection- I really like Blessing. I hope he doesn’t get killed off. He … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/28/25

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The Small Screen Diaries: The Weekly Rankings

John Stark

I actually finished a lot of shows this week, which should free up a ton of space and shake up the list next week. Joining the list this week are Dexter Resurrection (Paramount Plus), Building The Band (Netflix), Back To The Frontier (HBo MAX), Foundation (Apple Plus), Sullivan’s Crossing (Netflix), and The Art detectives (Acorn). Also, I took a look at A Different World (Netflix) which has audio description! WINNER: Squid Game (Netflix) with audio description- I’m not quite done with the final season, and I’ve basically lost all the new characters I was rooting for, yet something about this … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: The Weekly Rankings

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The Small Screen Diaries: The Weekly Rankings

John Stark

Once again I’m running down the sixty shows on my broad watchlist. Joining the list this week, which was fairly slow for new shows, are The Sandman (Netflix), All Of Us Are Dead (Netflix), The Office (Peacock), Such Brave Girls (Hulu), Nautilus (AMC Plus), Dexter (Paramount Plus), and Prison Break (Netflix). I wrapped some shows, and anything that would rank outside the top 60 dies. WINNER: Squid Game (Netflix) with audio description- I knew I was going to lose my favorites. After the tragic uprising didn’t work last season, it meant playing out Squid Game till the end. I’m only … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: The Weekly Rankings

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/18/23

John Stark

I’m happy for Fred Armisen, and I’m happy for anyone who actually enjoyed his portrayal of Uncle Fester. He was my least favorite casting choice in the series. I would much rather have watched a prequel series that showed the times Gomez and Mortica spent there as young folk. But the world needs more Fester. 1) bodies (Netflix) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Limited My perpetual problem with this show will be the massive cast and the time jumps. there are too many people for me to follow or care about, and I’m also trying to unravel a really complex … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/18/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/11/23

John Stark

The Golden Globe nominations came out and several TV shows managed to work their way onto the list. But, mostly Succession. 1) Bodies (Netflix) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Limited I’m enjoying the mystery of it all, but my complaint is the same. Even as the story impresses me, there are too many damn characters across too many timelines, and these episodes feel crammed and jumbled. I shouldn’t always be wondering who the hell someone is. but, every episode so far, I either wonder who they are, or what timeline we are in. Episode Grade: B+ 2) Billions (Paramount Plus) … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/11/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/04/23

John Stark

You know, if Apple hadn’t just bothered to raise their rates, this wouldn’t bother me so much, but I fully expected Killers Of The Flower moon to move from theatres to Apple Plus like all prior Apple releases. This time, it is taking a pit stop where I can rent it for 20 bucks or buy it for 25. No. Go fuck yourself. I should *at least* have a discounted rate on this nonsense. Apple, unlike the other streamers, does not have licensed content. So, unlike when Disney, Warner, Universal, etc., release a film to theatres, their streaming service not … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 12/04/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/22/23

John Stark

Well, looks like Jenna Ortega is unable to film Scream 7 due to Wednesday, so the world just became a lot less interested in a 7th entry… unless they pay up to reunite Nevé Campbell with her franchise. Maybe even Patrick Dempsey? Just a thought. Also, a Happy Thanksgiving to yours today. Enjoy all the food. However you eat, may it be plentiful and delicious. 1) The Witcher (Netflix) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Renewed It’s hard to tell exactly what the plans are for the next season without Henry Cavill, but they seem to be turning Siri into her … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/22/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/13/23

John Stark

While TV season production starts are lining up, it’s important to still note when a network has abandoned ship. So, RIP to Praise Petey on Freeform. We hardly knew ye. Also, all the drama around the bizarre death of Coyote Vs Acme has led to Warner Bros supposedly screening the movie for other distributors. Who do I think should pick it up? Aside from the humorous potential of having a Looney Tunes movie released by Disney, I’m gonna have to say Tubi. It’s a free streaming service, and a lot of their originals are lower budgeted indies. Should they be … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/13/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/06/23

John Stark

While it does seem like SAG is taking this latest offer seriously, they do have some things to iron out, and they’re planning another meeting. Meanwhile, it took until November for Hulu to renew The Bear. Why? Are they that hard up? The series is projected to win Emmy’s this year for the streamer. They literally can’t afford to lose the show, not with Handmaid’s Tale going into its final season. Their only other prestige show would be Only Murders In The Building. 10) How To Become A Cult Leader (Netflix) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Limited In the fifth … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 11/06/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/23/23

John Stark

Well, that was a lot faster the next time around. Amazon has picked up Good Omens for a third season, so hopefully the wait between Season 2 and 3 will be much less. 8) Krapopolis (Hulu) English Audio Description?: No Status: Unknown I still wish this show had audio description, but this silly plot about dead goats was funny enough. I didn’t realize until this episode that Matt Barry was voicing a monster, because all i hear is Lazlo. Episode Grade: B 7) Heartstopper (Netflix) English Audio Description?: Yes Status: Renewed? Some of the side characters had some plots, like … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/23/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/16/23

John Stark

Disney Plus is developing Gargoyles into a live action series. So, if you were a fan of Gargoyles in the 90’s, this was the best or worst news you heard all day. 7) Krapopolis (Hulu) English Audio Description?: No Status: Unknown I will concede that this episode was the funniest so far, with a lot of random jokes strung together nonsensically. We had a tribute to Prometheus, the rite of passage to go beat up your deadbeat Cyclops father, and a joke about giving squirrels the wheel instead of humans. I have no idea what this show wants to be … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/16/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/09/23

John Stark

It’s not TV news, but I’m pretty excited that michael Mann’s next movie is Heat 2. I’m less excited that he’s expressing interest in Adam Driver. part of what made the first film so great was that it put Pacino against DeNiro, and there just really isn’t anyone for Driver to go up against. While I’m unfamiliar with the screenplay, I think you have to go with some kind of pairing that is relative to that experience. The only one I can think of currently is Matt Damon vs Ben Affleck, but I’m sure there’s one out there that is … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/09/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/02/23

John Stark

SAG-AFTRA is now in the negotiation phase. My great hope for them is that they shut the AI shit down entirely. With there being a dental commercial where AI ripped off Tom Hank’s voice, and another thing using Robin Williams, enough is enough. 9) Krapopolis (FOX) English Audio Description?: No Status: Unknown Dan Harmon’s odd show isn’t winning me over. The voice cast is talented, but so recognizable it just makes me think of the better shows these people came from. There’s no way I don’t hear Matt Barry and think Lazlo. Episode Grade: B- 8) Chip and Dale’s Rescue … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- 10/02/23

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The Too Much TV Roundup- September 12th

John Stark

Well, how about those Emmy’s? Did your favorite win? With hundreds of scripted programs on the air, I’m going to guess probably not for many of you. Most of your favorite shows likely won’t even be nominated ever. But hey, at least they are predictable. 1) Love, Victor (Hulu/ Disney plus) English Audio Description?: Yes A perfect storm happened that allowed the series finale of Love Victor to rise to the top. House Of The Dragon produced its worst episode yet, and the other contenders just didn’t hit all the right notes. Love Victor figured out that what its audience … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- September 12th

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The Too Much tV Roundup- July 25th

John Stark

Normally, on a Monday, i would be praising Outer Range yet again. I finished that last week, so who made it to the top of this Monday’s chart? 1) Night Sky (Amazon) English Audio Description Available?: Yes Something interesting is finally happening to the secondary storyline, as it becomes more clear that for some reason our Latinx family is here to hunt down Jude. But what really made this show work had nothing to do with the science fiction,and everything to do with the quiet work JK Simmons has been building on all season. Some absolutely heartbreaking work from him … Continue reading The Too Much tV Roundup- July 25th

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The Too Much TV Roundup- May 16th

John Stark

Despite actually having to work at my job yesterday (Yes, i still have one of those), I still managed to knock out a fair amount of programming. Who earned the top spot from this random assortment? 1) Bridgerton (Netflix) English Audio Description Available?: Yes You know, i never quite commend Bridgerton for all the great audio description, but this is top notch. Lots of comments about heaving bosoms, which when you think about how many watch this program for the escapist romantic entanglements, makes a certain kind of description really appropriate. Plus, with such a wide ensemble, I somehow never … Continue reading The Too Much TV Roundup- May 16th