Tag: Ryan Murphy

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The Small Screen Diaries: 10/07/26

John Stark

Netflix has been on a bit of a roll with series renewals and cancellations lately, and today is no exception, thanks to the early renewal of The Hunting Wives for a third season. When a streaming service is comfortable with a show’s budget, and social media reactions consistently suggest that investing in its future is worthwhile, making an early renewal decision is smart. As I’ve noted before, and as many others have pointed out, the longer audiences have to wait between seasons, the more likely they are to lose interest. Honestly, I think Netflix has to be terrified about the … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 10/07/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 10/06/26

John Stark

Yesterday, I talked about the renewal of one show and realized that I completely skipped over another renewal, which was Imperfect Women on Apple TV. This surprised me because it really isn’t a show that needs a second season, and it falls right in line with the ongoing trend of making me wonder why we even bother labeling things limited series anymore. It was a limited series, and now it has a second season coming, so it’s not very limited, is it? Apple has ordered a second season of Imperfect Women that will focus on Kerry Washington’s character, Eleanor, continuing … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 10/06/26

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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: 10/02/26

John Stark

Kicking off today’s Small Screen Diaries is a brand new show, something that I heard through the grapevine from critics was going to be excellent, and that is the new HBO Max drama War, starring Dominic West and Sienna Miller. This definitely piqued my interest, although I think the title may be a little soft and not necessarily descriptive of what the show is actually about. We’ll see with later episodes if they end up justifying the title. Sort of like how Succession told you exactly what that show was about, War seems to perhaps go a little bit overboard, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 10/02/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/30/26

John Stark

Kicking off the Small Screen Diaries for the day is Ted Lasso, season four, episode nine, which is on Apple TV+ with audio description. I didn’t have any problems this week with Ted Lasso. I didn’t think there was a scene that was missing something like last week. This episode has the girls fighting to get their underdog team promoted to the next level, and it revolves around the game that will either do that for them or not. There’s also still the mystery of who is trying to steal the team by buying shares, and Keeley has a little … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/30/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/25/26

John Stark

Well, to start off my Friday, of course I watched the season finale of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe on HBO Max with audio description narrated by Elliot Schiff. The finale, “Spoiler: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience,” of course has people divided, but the one thing we shall not be divided on is the excellent audio description that Elliot has provided all season long. I actually liked this show way more than I thought I would when they conceptually announced that there would be yet another Big Bang Theory spinoff. I figured it would continue to deplete the … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/25/26

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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: 09/18/26

John Stark

Unfortunately, we have to start off the Small Screen Diary for today with a sad bit of news. Not really, because I gave up on the show after the first episode, but I’m sure someone out there cares. Netflix has canceled Sweet Magnolias, which really indicates to me, following the cancellation of Ransom Canyon, that there’s a very specific audience that has either abandoned Netflix or that Netflix is looking at abandoning. And if I was a fan of Virgin River, I would be afraid. I would be very afraid. I mean, I am casually a fan of Virgin River, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/18/26

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The Small Screen diaries: 09/13/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Walking dead: Dead city: S3E8 (AMC Plus) no audio description, Tomb Raider King: S1E6 (CrunchyRoll) with audio description, My brilliant Career: S1E6 (Netflix) with audio description, The Shards: S1E4 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Have I Got News For you: S5E1 (HBO MAX) no audio description, jeopardy Masters: S4E3 (Disney Plus) with audio description, The paper: S2E1 (Peacock) with audio description Dead City- Already reviewed, but 1 of 8 episodes with audio description is not accessibility. If eight kids were dropped off at day care, and one survived, that daycare doesn’t remain open. Tomb Raider King- … Continue reading The Small Screen diaries: 09/13/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/10/26

John Stark

Never Forget. Yesterday, Netflix surprisingly axed Ransom canyon, which dipped over 40% from Season 1 to season 2. It is a recurring problem with streaming TV. The longer the wait, the bigger the drop. Despite feeling like it fit perfectly along Virgin River and Sweet Magnolias, with a dash of the Taylor Sheridan vibe, Ransom canyon couldn’t buy its audience back. Also, in blind news, sighted gamers are complaining about the existence of accessibility within the new Wolverine game, and Neon’s Hope topped Spider-Man: Brand New Day in its first day of release, despite not having an English Audio Description … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/10/26

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The Small Screen Diaries: 09/03/26

John Stark

TV Shows Watched: The Shrouds: S1E1 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Tomb Raider King: S1E4 (CrunchyRoll) with audio description, Lucky: S1E6 (Apple) with audio description, Rick And Morty: S9E2 (HBO MAX) with audio description, and Oasis: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description The Shrouds- I actually started the day thinking I’d knock this series out either in full, or in part, but it is a miserable watch, so i couldn’t do it.The Troller is just such a disgusting distraction from an 80’s piece that could actuall have something to say about sexual fluidity from the eyes of Bret Easton Ellis. Instead, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 09/03/26

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Movies With pride: The Normal Heart

John Stark

I believe fairly recently, I mentioned to someone why I was taking the opportunity to celebrate Movies With Pride in the month of June. I’m a blind film critic, and my driving force in life is to change the perspective on how blind and low vision people do actually enjoy films, and that there’s just this massive problem in terms of getting the accessibility we need on a consistent basis. This month, I made it a point to track down some titles I hadn’t yet reviewed, at least from my blind perspective that highlight the LGBTQ community in impactful ways. … Continue reading Movies With pride: The Normal Heart

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Mr Harrigan’s Phone

John Stark

Where I Watched It: Netflix English Audio Description Provided By: International Digital Center Written By: Liz Gutman Narrated By: CJ Hardy Stephen King adaptations can be all over the place. I haven’t seen enough of them to be able to do some kind of comprehensive list, but in a world of Carrie’s (the original), The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile, this one is a bit more Riding The bullet. Ryan Murphy, who apparently spent a great deal of time stockpiling material to release on Netflix this Halloween season, produces an adaptation of a short story that sees a young … Continue reading Mr Harrigan’s Phone