Television Man | Aidan Morgan
“If you want a picture of the future of television, imagine a boot about to stamp on a human face, but just as it’s about to stamp, the season ends. Hype builds. Forums come alive. Theories abound. Then the show gets cancelled.”
—Catherine Ray Tuber, Twenty Twenty-Three
The WGA strike, which was presumed to have ended after the negotiating committee struck a tentative deal with the AMPTP, is officially over after said deal was ratified by the membership. Ninety-nine per cent of the votes were in favour, which seems like a pretty resounding “yes” to me.
Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
Remember Frasier? Well, he remembers you. A reboot of the series starts October 12 on Paramount+. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), that snooty but endearing talk radio psychiatrist, has left Seattle and is now in Boston, seeking to reconnect with his son. Look, I just want to know if the intertitles are still a bit archin the way that I like. Also, Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin are returning, so if you liked the original, there’s a good chance you’ll dig the reboot. Enjoy, you pack of Grammerheads.
Time Keeps on Slippin’
Season two of Loki (Disney+) has hit the airwaves… er, streamwaves. Airstreams? Anyway, it’s here. Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson are still running around trying to save time or something. Sophia di Martino is there too, off in some pocket 1982, squeezing a lot of drama from ordering off a MacDonalds menu. The best thing about the season so far is Ke Hey Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once), who delivers every line with impeccable comic timing.
Blahsoka
The eight-episode Star Wars: Ahsoka (Disney+) finally came to an end, and as a fan of every modular component of that series, I can confidently say that it was a tremendous bummer. The demands of creating a live-action series with a dramatically satisfying story was clearly too much for Dave Filoni, who shines in animation but could not defeat the entropy machine that is Disney Star Wars.
Scary Stuff to See
Are you looking for serialized thrills and chills and so on as we approach the end of October? Do you call the September/October interregnum “spoopy season” because you are disgustingly online? Here are a few suggestions, you Tumblr-poisoned degenerates.
Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix): The tremendous Rosa Salazar (Undone) and the excellent Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich) get tremendously excellent in this 2021 horror series from Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion (Channel Zero). The story is secondary here to the wash of body horror images and the intensity of the leads.
The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Netflix): Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor) can not stop running classic horror through the Netflix blender. Having drunk Henry James and Shirley Jackson’s milkshakes, he’s taken his long straw to Edgar Allen Poe. Hearts will tell tales, ravens will offer updates on the odds of finding Lenore, and someone is definitely going to try a glass of Amontillado. There’s a cask in the basement. Go on down, I’m right behind you.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (AMC+): You masochistic fools. You want more Walking Dead? You like it when Norman Reedus looks like he slept in a sewer? Of course you do. This time, Daryl’s in France, presumably stumbling around with a phrase book, asking zombies for directions to the Louvre. Nah, he’s killing the dead and saving the world. Side note: if Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan are more your style, try The Walking Dead: Dead City. ■