This is my third attempt at writing this post. I just can't seem to find the words. I keep using too many of them.

There are just ten actors that become an obsession for me. Betty White, Michael Clarke Duncan, Eloise Mumford, Alan Rickman, Angela Bassett, Sigourney Weaver, Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Gosling, Charlize Theron... and Catherine O'Hara.

She's such a brilliant character actor. Everything she's ever done has been interesting. Just look at her IMDB page.

I loved her from her SCTV days. Then she just kept popping up. And every time she was as brilliant as I had come to expect. She could do anything.

But it was Moira on Schitt's Creek which sealed the deal for me...

I was extremely saddened to hear of her passing.

I'm absolutely gutted. I was really holding out for a Schitt's Creek movie or special or something. So many incredible roles by such a phenomenal talent.

You will be missed. Your works will live on.

It's not just another day in hell... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms! I really liked the Dunk and Egg trilogy of books, but was wary of the HBO/HBO Max adaptation because I feared that they would fuck it up like they fucked up Game of Thrones after they ran out of books. But the showrunners say that they will not adapt stories that don't exist, so there's that...

I will say that Dunk and Egg are both flawlessly cast and the first episode is promising. Charming even. I really hope they nail it this time.

   
• DRAMA! Lord only knows I need a cute distraction from the horrors of the day, and here it is...

I don't know how dog groomers don't end up kidnapping a dozen clients a day.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Washington state lawmakers consider 10-cent bottle fee to boost recycling. Christ. Everybody has a recycle container that's bigger than their garbage can now... we already have incentive to recycle. Recycle bins are EVERYWHERE! This isn't the 1970's! This is just going to make shit even more expensive because now you can't use your recycle bin because you don't get your money back unless you make another trip to the store. Get fucked. This stupid shit is driving me insane. Is this going to make such a massive difference as to be worth the trouble for everybody involved? Are stores going to have to raise prices again to cover the labor of having to be a recycling center? This is performative politics, and I really hope that voters ACTUALLY THINK FOR TWO FUCKING MINUTES and shoot this idiocy down. INFURIATING.

   
• Seafarer! My latest YouTube obsession is Joe Franta talking about his life as a U.S. merchant mariner. It's all interesting and fascinating stuff. The first one I watched was when he was working on a cruise ship instead of the cargo ships he usually works on...

He's a fairly level-headed and pragmatic guy, giving you both the good...

And the bad...

My favorite videos are the behind-the-scenes stuff where he talks about what life is actually like and how he gets by when on the job...

If you want a great channel to watch, here's the one for you.

   
• Pengo! This story from years ago is going around again. Some documentarians rescued some penguins... and were roundly criticized for interfering in "natures plan" or whatever...

Yeah... you could not stop me from helping creatures in need. I care more about these penguins than I do 99.9% of the people on this planet, and I am not a part of the United Federation of Planets, so the Prime Directive doesn't apply to me!

   
• He-Him-Man! I gotta say, the new trailer for Masters of the Universe looks darn good...

And of course dipshits across the internet are losing their shit because of the frame where Adam has his pronouns under his name tag. Except ADAM IS HE-MAN... THAT'S THE JOKE! So who is it that's ruining everything? Dipshits like this who just want to complain about how "pronouns" are destroying the American way of life, I'm guessing. Gawd. We truly are living in the stupidest timeline.

   
• Alex Pretti. The right to protest is baked into the First Amendment. It literally guarantees citizens "...peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances..." The State of Minnesota allows open and concealed carry of firearms with a permit. The narrative of Alex Pretti approached officers brandishing a handgun has been proven false. Video evidence shows exactly what happened. Alex Pretti was pepper-sprayed while protecting women and then murdered. Executed. Shot 10 times. The only time his weapon was unholstered was when it was removed from him. The only thing in his hand was a camera at the time of his murder...

I've seen video analysis saying that he was reaching for his gun. It's absurd. The actual analysis is clear to anybody who doesn't buy into a bullshit narrative they cling to. Yes, this video is by partisan MS NOW, but the analysis is on-point...

Alex Pretti worked on curing cancer before becoming an ICU nurse at a VA hospital. He dedicated his life to helping others. He died helping a woman who had been shoved to the ground. Witnesses have testified that he was no threat to anybody... he did not brandish a weapon... he did not reach for a weapon... he did not attack anybody... he was just trying to help when he was executed. Alex's parents released this statement...

"We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man."

Done and done. It's the very least I can do.

American citizens are being executed in broad daylight by government action while legally filming at a legal protest. And you know it's problematic when even the NRA is chiming in for a full investigation. It's painfully obvious that this country has taken a horrific turn. I cannot help but wonder how history will view this period of our country. I suppose it depends on whether the government or the people are the ones left standing at the end of it all.

   
And now... back to our shared nightmare.

Don't fear the reaper... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Cardio! For somebody whose on the internet way more than he would ever admit, it's genuinely shocking that I somehow missed this viral video from last year...

Poor thing. She nearly had a heart attack. And can you really blame her?

   
• Pet Heaven! Oh man. I need to get Jake & Jenny baptized so they can get into Pet Heaven! Never even thought of it!

A friend sent me this video because they call their cat Boo-Bear, just like I call Jake Boo-Bear. Or "Bubair" if you'd rather.

   
• That Mitchell & Webb Look! The fact that you know what's coming just makes it all the funnier...

David Mitchell is phenomenal in the BritBox series Ludwig, if you're looking for something good to watch.

   
• Fart Patio! I miss Portlandia...

There's something about scathing satire which speak truth in a way you love to see.

   
• I'm Donut! I look forward to this event every Christmas, but didn't find it last year. But they did reenact it, so I must have somehow missed it...

Some traditions should never die. Especially when donuts are involved.

   
• Gain? I've been in a lot of smelly situations. I've had some smelly jobs. But there is nothing... NOTHING... that I've experienced which is worse than the horrific stench of Swiffer "Fresh-Scent with Gain" mop pads. I accidentally purchased them instead of the usual Swiffer I get (the boxes look almost identical) and have been trying to use them every once in a while because it's wasteful to throw them in the trash. Especially given how expensive they are. Tonight I spilled spaghetti sauce in my kitchen and grabbed the Swiffer. And now, in the middle of winter, I have all the doors and windows open because my house smells like total ass. I do not understand how people want their house to smell like this shit. I regret using them every time, and I really, really need to suck it up, take the L, and toss them... because this is awful awful awful.

   
• Greenland? Maybe I'm cynical in that I think this whole load of nonsense about Greenland being taken by the USA is just another bullshit distraction from the Epstein Files. But if it's not? Two things. 1) In 1917, the Virgin Islands were sold to the USA to become a US territory by Denmark, and part of the agreement is that the USA recognize full Danish control over Greenland. In other words, we signed up for this. And, 2) Somebody out of NATO has already said "If you take Greenland, we take every single base of the Americans from Aviano to Ramstein, from Romania, to all the other military bases will be confiscated, and you will lose it, and the whole position of American power since World War II, if you take Greenland, you have to leave." Which is to say that we would be in seriously deep shit. I cannot fathom how incredibly fucking stupid it would be if somebody... ANYBODY... doesn't explain that there are consequences to being a complete moron in this situation.

   
And now? Time to wash another load of clothes.

There have been few people in the world of Star Wars which have been more divisive than Kathleen Kennedy, and today it was announced that she is stepping down as the head of LucasFilm. An event which has been a long time coming, because most of the stuff she oversaw didn't really give us anything truly worthy of the franchise.

Most but not all, which we'll get to in a minute.

I'm really hoping that new boss Dave Filoni finds ways of making Star Wars exciting and fresh again.

But anyway... Kennedy took over from George Lucas after his terrible prequel trilogy, and and I thought I'd take a look at all the projects that she was overseeing. Except The Madalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter, because they haven't come out yet.

THE PHENOMENAL

• Andor Season 01 - If there's anything that Kathleen Kennedy did to make her work at Lucasfilm notable, it was greenlighting one of the best television shows of all time. I don't know how much involvement she actually had (other than giving Tony Gilroy the space he needed to churn out this masterpiece in two parts), but I'm going to give her credit for standing behind the show (and renewing it). This is the best Star Wars to come out of Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back.
• Andor Season 02 - Ditto.

THE GOOD

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - This is the film which caught me by surprise. The fact that it works so well given the mess that was going on behind the scenes is some kind of miracle. Plus it gave us Andor.
• The Mandalorian Season 01 - I don't know if it was just that it came along at the right time or what, but everything about Mando is entertaining. Whether it's introducing one of the most meme-worthy, cutest, and all-around cool Grogu (aka "Baby Yoda"), or introducing lore to Star Wars which is actually worthy of remembering, this series gave me hope that the franchise was back.
• The Mandalorian Season 02 - The second season rarely lives up to the first. But this one does. And then we get Bo-Katan and a full-on Jedi Luke Skywalker as the cherry on top of the season.
• Ahsoka Season 01 - It may be because I grew to love the character so much that I was able to overlook some of the problems, but I was quite happy with how the series panned out. If you were a fan of the animated stuff (as I am), this was a no-brainer to watch, and the cast was perfect.
• Skeleton Crew Season 01 - Color me shocked. A Star Wars series built around CHILDREN that's actually GOOD?!? Yes. Yes indeed. I wish that it could have been a bit more imaginative in the settings (seemed very earth-like to me), but it had a cool shades-of-gray mentality about it that made me love it even more.

THE MEH

• Solo: A Star Wars Story - I don't think this movie was quite the disaster that many people made it out to be. Though it should have been. Phil Lord and Chris Miller departed, Ron Howard stepped in, and it still ended up being mostly coherent! Yes, things would have likely been stronger if either team had been given the entire project, but I enjoyed it enough to overlook the flaws. Especially since we got Daniel Glover as Lando, which is brilliant, brilliant casting.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 01 - I love Ewan McGregor's take on Obi-Wan. Unfortunately, he's been given nothing but terrible material and has had to make the best of it. When his mini-series arrived, I was so frickin' optimistic. And it turned out that the guy was having to elevate shallow material again! Even with the problems and nonsense, I still liked this show enough to keep watching. And I guess that's something.
• The Acolyte Season 01 - Despite having some killer fight scenes (seriously, some of the best in Star Wars lore), this show really fell short in the story department. And yet... I still enjoyed some of it. I liked that it was a darker take on the Jedi Order. I liked that the heroes and villains were shades of gray instead of black-and-white. The cast was great and everything was entertaining... until you get to the whole "Force Witches" angle, which was so badly done that it sabotaged everything. A lot of people review-bombed the show because it was female-forward. But this was a non-issue to me, and I thought there were far more critical things to be critical about. I am very sad that the show didn't do well enough to give Manny Jacinto's Qimir another series.
• The Mandalorian Season 03 - It's not that the third season was bad, it's just that it was a big drop from what I was expecting after the awesome first two seasons.

THE BAD

• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - Here it is. The last movie with the original Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones that there will ever be. Gotta make it a great story and an even greater film. Right? RIGHT? Nope. While marginally better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and possessing some good moments, this it still a bad film.
• The Book of Boba Fett Season 01 - Turns out there wasn't enough Boba Fett in his own show. Or maybe there was, it's just that his storyline was so boring, uninspired, and didn't give us anything interesting, so it just seemed that way. This should have just been another season of The Mandalorian. Maybe Season 2.5 or something. That way, they could have just focused on what they were good at and had Boba Fett guest-appear in an interesting way. Certainly more interesting than anything we got here.
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens - This probably deserves to be a "meh" rated movie, but I watched it again recently and it's just not that good. Though there are some really good moments. And I liked the actors who were cast as Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo... all of whom manage to build compelling characters. Where things fall apart is the story timing. How are Rey, who's not been trained as a Jedi, and Finn, who's not a Jedi, even remotely able to put up a fight against Kylo Ren? Senseless.
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi - As a massive Rian Johnson fan, I was thrilled when he got a Star Wars movie handed to him. But it turns out even a genius can't pick up the broken pieces of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and get greatness out of it. And he made some seriously bad choices here that kinda sabotaged his film. Primary among them would be "Space Leia," which was laughably stupid (and don't get me started on the entire Canto Bight crap). There were bright spots though. "The Holdo Maneuver" made zero sense logistically, but was a visual treat. More eye-candy like that and I probably wouldn't have minded the sub-par story so much? I dunno.

THE GUT-WRENCHINGLY AWFUL

• Willow Season 01 - I couldn't get past the first episode. No, I wasn't a huge Willow fan to begin with, but this was so badly conceived and implemented that I don't understand what Kennedy was thinking when she greenlit it. Who was it for? The script needed serious work, and allowing it to proceed without another couple of passes is a failing.
• Galaxy's Edge Disney Park Land - Out of all the bad decisions that can be left at Kathleen Kennedy's doorstep, this is the one that blows my mind. Disneyland and Walt Disney World are going to build huge new lands. Imagineers wanted them to be a celebration of the Star Wars that everybody loved. Apparently Kennedy shot that idea down and insisted that they be built around the sequel trilogy instead. No Darth Vader. No Luke Skywalker. No Princess Leia. No R2D2 & C3PO. Instead we get Rey, Kylo Ren, and who-the-fuck-ever. AND THEN... yesterday it was announces that Disney was bringing the original trilogy characters to Galaxy's Edge as they should have done in the first place. And it's about fucking time. I can only guess this was supposed to be announced after Kennedy's stepping-down was announced and somebody goofed. It's crazy that she thought ditching the characters that made Star Wars be Star Wars in favor of the new characters that she oversaw was a winning strategy. Yeah, the time-frames converge, but who cares? It's not like EVERY. OTHER. LAND. at the parks isn't merging different times and even worlds. So dumb. There's no excuse for this nonsense.
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - I honestly don't understand how this nonsense soup was put into production. It's just so dang stupid. It has absolutely nothing to say, doesn't progress Star Wars at all, wastes a golden opportunity for a proper send-off of the original trilogy, and is head-scratchingly awful with story beats that make absolutely no sense. Wayfinders? Really? There's not a lick of internal logic here. Ideas are half-baked. Dialogue is plain bad. As executive producer, was Kennedy asleep at the wheel... or did she just not care?

THE MISSING IN ACTION

• Rogue Squadron - After the hot fucking mess that came out of Patty Jenkins shitting the bed utterly in the awful, awful, Wonder Woman sequel, I can't say I'm upset that this movie was canceled. But it is fucking embarrassing that Kathleen Kennedy championed it to begin with only to have it disappear.
• Untitled Kevin Feige Film - When he was riding high on the incredible success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was kind of a no-brainer to let Feige helm a Star Wars project. Then the movies started tanking, the shows weren't memorable, and his movie had apparently vanished.
• Untitled Rian Johnson Trilogy - Did I love what Rian Johnson did with Star Wars: The Last Jedi? No. But did this deter my enthusiasm for him getting a new trilogy of Star Wars films? It did not. I would have loved to have seen what Johnson would have done if getting to start from scratch instead of inheriting something to work off of. Oh well.
• Untitled David Benioff and D.B. Weiss's Trilogy - Thank God this was canceled. These dumbasses fucked up an un-fuck-upable series with the final two seasons of Game of Thrones in order to rush it to a conclusion so they could do Star Wars. It should have been apparent to everybody... especially Kathleen Kennedy... that Benioff & Weiss were only good at adapting existing material and should have never been given an entire trilogy which would rely on them creating their own ideas. Again, I refer you to the final two seasons of Game of Thrones. Kennedy side-stepped an absolute landmine here, and had this trilogy of movies went forward, I'm almost certain that it would have resulted in her getting fired.
• Star Wars: Duel of the Fates - The original movie ending to the sequel trilogy, this Trevorrow script (which was leaked online) had problems and wasn't perfect... but it was better than the wet fart of an ending we got out of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and my guess is that Kathleen Kennedy is the bad decision that's responsible. Much like her shepherding of the entire sequel trilogy.

And it's time once again for my annual wrap-up of my favorite TV shows that came out this year. Or, more accurately, a "wrap-up of TV shows that I saw which came out this year." As always, there's a bunch of shows I never got around to watching that might have ended up on my list... and (more likely) shows I loved but have forgotten about. And here we go...

   
THE TWELVE BEST

#1 Andor - S02 (Netflix)
The second season brilliant divided up its twelve episodes into four three-episode-chunks which were slices of the four years leading up to Rogue One. The first "chunk" ended with an episode so haunting that I decided right then and there that this season was my favorite thing to ever come out of Star Wars. Or television in general. Things only got better from there. Every episode right up to the end was a master class in storytelling, and the finale was so deftly handled that Lucasfilm/Disney should just fill a truck with cash, back it up to Tony Gilroy's house, then let him do whatever he wants with Star Wars. Everything from the story to the dialogue to the music to the special effects to the cast to the acting created some of the best television to ever exist, and I cannot imagine how many times I will re-watch this show. There is not a single major cast member here that doesn't fully deserve all the awards. Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Elizabeth Dulau, Ben Mendelsohn, Elizabeth Dulau, Adria Arjona... even Alan frickin' Tudyk as droid K-2SO... just given them everything. They deserve it.

#2 Shoresy - S04 (Hulu)
Last year I inexplicably forgot to put Shoresy on my best-of list. Not this year. This time around was a different take on the characters, showing Shoresy, Goody, Dolo, and Hitch in the off-season as Shoresy has to find a life after hockey. I loved all of it, and I didn't know that I would. Not only did we get some of the sweetest moments of the entire series, but the music was amazing from beginning to end. And of course it was hilarious as always. The minute I finished the last episode it made me want to start all over again from the beginning. I don't know that I can offer more of a ringing endorsement than that. It's never going to be Ted Lasso, but there are moments it gets very close. The only thing I don't like is that it's only six episodes per season. But if that's how they make each episode be this good then I'll take it. As a bonus, the fifth season started on December 26th (if you live in Canada).

#3 The Residence - S01 (Netflix)
Is there anything better than coming across a show so unexpectedly great which you had no clue was even made? I loved every minute of this series. From the phenomenal performances of Uzo Aduba and Giancarlo Esposito to the entertaining story and deft direction, this show had it all. And what put it over the top for me were the fantastic visuals they created to show you how The White House is constructed so you can put the mystery together in your head. I wanted so very badly to get a second season with more Cordelia Cupp but, alas, Netflix unceremoniously canceled it instead. What a damn shame.

#4 Adolescence - S01 (Netflix)
I'm just going to say this to get it out of the way... for the most part I do not like child actors. I don't find them realistic or compelling. So when you have a show with a young actor that actually is realistic and compelling, you have my attention. And when that performance is so multi-faceted, complex, and brilliant that you could literally put it up against the finest actors of any age? Well, there's the ballgame. This series hinges on a brilliant script having a brilliant cast implement it flawlessly. But even that wasn't enough, because each episode is a single cut shot. How in the hell they managed to make this all come together so breathtaking perfect will remain a mystery, even if everybody involved laid it out. It just shouldn't work. It couldn't work. But it does. Oh but it really does.

#5 Reacher - S03 (Amazon)
The first season of Reacher completely blew me away because it felt like the books had come to life in a way that the Tom Cruise movies never did. And while the second season was nowhere near the highs of those first episodes, I enjoyed it just the same. With the third season, it's as if the writers remembered what made the initial concept work so well, and just went back to doing that. Which I loved. All the action and how-will-he-get-out-of-this-one beats are just as fun as they always have been.

#6 PLUR1BUS - S01 (AppleTV+)
It's nice to know that I can still be won over by television which is not your normal fare. Apple rolled the dice on Vince Gilligan putting together a show that people want to watch, and boy did he. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul were no fluke. Each episode is slow and methodical, but never ends up being plodding or boring (at least not to me). Most of this is due to the fantastic performance of Rhea Seehorn being riveting to watch, but it also falls on the way the scenes are constructed. Everything is just so smart, with enough holes to fill to keep you guessing. I'd argue the season finale didn't really land as hard as it should have, which was a bit of a let-down. If they managed to stick that, I'd likely have the show higher on my list, because it's a compelling watch to be sure.

#7 The Pitt - S01 (HBO)
Just when you thought that there couldn't possibly be more to be said in the genre of medical drama television, along comes ER on steroids. Compelling (and occasionally gory to a fault) this near-real-time series covers just one day over the course of its 13 episodes, and what a day it is.

#8 Dept. Q - S01 (Netflix)
If I had a nickel for all the deeply-flawed protagonist detectives I've seen over the decades... I'd have loads of nickels. But this time it's used as more than just an accessory to main character which explains why they are a drug addict or alcoholic or explosive or unhinged or abusive... it's woven into the show almost as another character with a secondary mystery to be solved. The result is one of the better mystery series to come along, anchored by the excellent cast.

#9 Ludwig - S01 (BritBox)
They wound up David Mitchell then handed him some decent scripts and let him run. And it was a fun sight to behold. Sure, he seemed to come out of his recluse nature far too quickly and easily... and, sure, they brought it back when it made little sense... but Mitchell is just so perfect a character that you can't be mad about the shortcomings and just have to appreciate the gift you've been given. Which is David Mitchell. As a celebrated puzzle-creator turned detective in the most unexpected way. Thankfully, a second season has been greenlit, because I like this character enough to watch whatever they put him through next.

#10 Slow Horses - S05 (AppleTV+)
I keep waiting for this show to lose me, but it never does. Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas are fully present and in their element, and the writing and extended cast are just icing on the cake. The previous season is probably my favorite, so the show really had nowhere to go but down... and yet... it would be hard to classify anything about this season as a downgrade.

#11 Deli Boys - S01 (Hulu)
I was steeling myself for a cancellation, thinking that this show would go the way of The Brothers Sun, but Hulu mercifully renewed it. Smart, funny, and having a premise which allows for some fantastic story beats, I'm really glad that I happened upon this... sheerly by accident... because I never saw a single promo for the show.

#12 Murderbot - S01 (AppleTV+)
This show lacks... something... that I just can't put my finger on. All I can say is that it felt adrift at times, and if I hadn't read the books, I am not sure I would have liked it as much. What the show doesn't lack is a great cast which is lead by the amazing Alexander Skarsgård, who makes you care about a character which you could very easily not. The books became progressively darker as time went on, and it will be interesting to see if the show follows suit... or tries to keep the tone lighter in order to match where the first story ended up. I'll definitely be watching to find out.

   
ANIMATION WORTH YOUR TIME

#1 Common Side Effects - S01 (Hulu)
The utterly bizarre animation style and humorous beginnings belies the compelling, thrilling, disturbing, and deadly serious story. I went into this cold with no warning as to what I was going to get, thanks to the recommendation of friends who were raving about it.

#2 Invincible S03 (Amazon)
Having read the comic books, you'd think that nothing in this show could surprise me. But it does. It's just so epically paced and relentless. It's wonderfully bonkers, and I loved

#3 South Park - S28 (Paramount+)
In a day and age where our news agencies are increasingly sucking up to the government, it's refreshing that there's still a show out there saying whatever the fuck they want about current events. And doing it in a hilarious way which is actually presenting news topics as the absurd, which is just what they are.

#4 DAN DA DAN - S02 (Netflix)
Strange and satisfying, I honestly didn't hold out much hope for a second season... but here we are. Bizarre, challenging television doesn't have much of a chance with modern audiences, but DAN DA DAN apparently found a niche.

#5 The Summer Hikaru Died - S01 (Netflix)
Animated horror has to work overtime to provide the necessary chills when you're watching a cartoon. This is exactly that. Brilliantly crafted and exploring interesting themes makes for great television.

#6 Long Story Short - S01 (Netflix)
I almost gave up because there's an annoying slant here that works against the show... but I'm ever so glad I pushed through. Told non-linearly, the show carefully crafts the story of the characters' lives in a way that's interesting to watch, and the way the past defines the future makes for a show that's a rewarding watch.

   
HONORABLE MENTION

• The Sandman - S02 (Netflix)
  In all honesty, this show should have ranked around #6 for me. But here's what left a bad taste in my mouth: the adaptation of Death: The High Cost of Living which we got as a bonus episode. If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I was clamoring for this from the minute the first season debuted. It's one of my all-time favorite pieces of The Sandman lore, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste was so brilliantly perfect as Death, so how could I not? But they didn't adapt it faithfully. They screwed the pooch... badly... and I don't understand why. Maybe they felt the need to deviate in awful ways because they needed more time to do it justice, but I don't feel that's the issue. They just wanted to do their own thing, and they shouldn't have done that. As for the second season as a whole though? Very good. They tied everything up beautifully, and spent the money to make it look and feel like you'd hope it would look and feel like.
• Last Samurai Standing - S01 (Netflix)
  Just when I thought the "battle to the last" trope was getting stale, along comes a very different kind of show built around a structure we've seen many times. I understand that this was adapted from a manga which I've never read. Not sure if it follows the books faithfully, but there is money on the screen to bring it to life in a way that feels worth your valuable time. Apparently a second season has been greenlit, which was a nice surprise.
• Peacemaker - S02 (HBO)
  Did I guess the big twist before it was revealed? Yes. Did it in any way diminish my enjoyment of the second season? It did not.
• High Potential S02 (ABC/Hulu)
  This might have made my Top Twelve... if they didn't split the fucking season in half. Why are studios doing this? It just fucking kills the momentum of the show, and makes me forget why I even care. I will say that I'm glad they didn't prolong the first season cliffhanger, but they didn't.
• A Man on the Inside - S02 (Netflix)
  This series, surprisingly, sabotages itself when it deviates from the mystery attempts to delve into the lives of its characters. Not that they do it badly or anything, it's just that it feels like a distraction which never quite hits as hard as the investigation does. It's too much. This show would fare far better if it would be more like Murder She Wrote and not divide focus... instead concentrate on the whodunnit and have the personal drama be a far smaller, slow reveal. Still, can't help but enjoy this series and hope we get more. Ted Danson has a real bead on his character and is fun to watch.
• Severance - S02 (AppleTV+)
  I liked the slow burn of the first season, but didn't love it. My problem is that the entire show is built around secrets, mysteries, and weirdness, and I was more focused on the idea that it would be canceled before anything was ever answered or that the answers would be awful (the cautionary tale of Lost's shitty ending has burned me forever). Plus it ended on a massive cliffhanger, which I loathe because it's often so pathetic and lazy. Wrap up your show in case of cancelation, then find an interesting new angle or direction if you're lucky enough to get another season. I ignored the brilliant acting and writing because I couldn't see it. Then everybody kept saying how it's one of the best shows on television and how much they love it, so I decided to tune in to Season 02 with an open mind and focus on the actual show instead of the unanswered questions. And... I still like it more than I love it, even though I can appreciate it more than I originally did. There's no serious cliffhanger this time, but there's still a ridiculous number of unanswered questions that are lingering. It's mysteries and secrets on top of mysteries and secrets and that can't go on forever without us getting Lost 2.0. Which would infuriate me because I hate "journeys to nowhere" storytelling.
• Death by Lightning - S01 (Netflix)
  I took a pass on this presidential drama because I just wasn't that interested in the life and times of President James Garfield. But then it got some buzz and I found out it was more about the life, times, and death of President James Garfield, along with his assassin! Well worth a watch.
• The Recruit - S02 (Netflix)
  This is a far, far better show than The Night Agent, but guess which series Netflix renewed? I can't be too upset because it was a drastic drop in quality from the excellent first season, but I sure would have liked to have gotten another one just to see where they'd take things next.
• The Diplomat - S03 (Netflix)
  While I don't think this series reaches anywhere near the atmospheric heights that many critics want to take it, I do think that they know how to craft a compelling watch. The cast knows what they're doing, the drama feels real, and they don't mire you down in boring details.
• Pee-Wee as Himself (HBO)
  As a huge Pee-Wee Herman fan, this was everything I wanted to see. In many ways, a complete validation of the man when most people only paid attention to all the trash that got piled on him.
• Boots S01 (Netflix)
  A dramedy about closeted Marines in the era of "Don't Ask Don't Tell" that never failed to entertain, I seriously thought that a second season was guaranteed after all the attention it got. Alas, the US Government's attention is apparently what mattered, and it was canceled. A real shame, because you got the feeling that the real story was just beginning as war loomed.
• Cassandra - S01 (Netflix)
  What if AI happened in the 1970's but was ultimately discarded... only to be reactivated 50 years later when a family moves into a house where it's been dormant? A very good question! And leave it to this excellent German series to build a decent mystery around it.
• A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - S01 (Netflix)
  Good for a binge-watch, the series doesn't get too dark, but has a good enough mystery at its core to fill a niche. What's unreal is that it stars Emma Myers, whom most people will only know as "Enid" from Wednesday.
• Bref. - S02 (Hulu)
  When this popped up on Hulu, I thought I was dreaming. I watched the original short-form French series years and years ago. Did they combine the episodes into bigger episodes and re-release it? Nope. This is six episodes of frantic storytelling that picks up 14 years after the original.
• Heated Rivalry - S01 (HBO)
  You know you're in trouble when the B-story between a fellow hockey player and a juice bar barista is far more interesting and engaging than the A-story with two hockey players who start a steamy, softcore porn romance. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if the acting was elevated to get you invested... but it's really not.
• Hacks - S04 (HBO)
  The show returns to form with a fourth season that's nearly as good as the first. Yeah, it gets bogged down by distractions that you know won't go anywhere... and they didn't really carry the falling out as far as they should have, and it got resolved before it could really mean anything... but it was witty and entertaining enough to make it worth a watch.
• Black Mirror - S07 (Netflix)
  Another season rises above the mixed bag we usually get. Even the episode I liked the least was still worth watching, something I haven't been able to say in a few seasons.
• Paradise - S01 (Hulu)
  A similar idea to Silo, but giving us something slightly more interesting both in scope and in setting. While the pacing is wildly inconsistent, I thought the story was good and the acting top-notch.
• Running Point - S01 (Netflix)
  This show lives and dies on Kate Hudson's performance, and she manages to carry it with relative ease. The plot is something we've visited before in a number of sports comedy shows and films, but it's funny enough to feel different.
• Your Friends and Neighbors - S01 (Apple TV+)
  John Hamm gives us a sharp performance as a hedge fund manager who turns to crime after his divorce. I was more than a little impressed at how they managed to keep things moving forward just when you thought it was going to stall out, which makes you not mind when it falters quite so much.
• Daredevil: Born Again - S01 (Disney+)
  My favorite of the Netflix-era Marvel shows gets a new life at Disney which is not quite a reboot, but not quite original either. Maintaining a gritty edge, it (thankfully) doesn't dwell on his appearance in She-Hulk which felt more than a bit out of character.
• North of North - S01 (Netflix)
  While no second coming of Reservation Dogs, it is refreshing to have a First Nation series which feels like there was a genuine effort to portray the Inuit community accurately. Funny, heartwarming, and interesting, it's a rom-com that treads old ground in new ways.
• Alien: Earth - S01 (Hulu)
  The critics praised the show to the rafters, so I was enthused to watch it. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I found it dropped from excellent to mid at far too many intervals to get in on my Top 12. Still... it was ultimately entertaining, which is more than I can say for a lot of television we get.
• Only Murders in the Building - S05 (Hulu)
  The show that keeps plugging along, finding new mysteries and interesting plots to keep everybody watching. While not up to the heights of the first two seasons, I did enjoy the fifth more than the fourth... even though they decided to inject a fucking robot into the mix for some bizarre reason.
• Ripple - S01 (Netflix)
  The whole idea of "strangers whose lives intersect" isn't new, but at least they found interesting ways to do it in this series. I tuned in specifically for Frankie Faison (and he was great, as expected), but it was Ian Harding who managed to have a death-grip on my attention with his storyline. His character is interesting, nuanced, and manages to stay grounded as he's pulled in a hundred different directions over all aspects of his life. You can't help but want to watch where he lands next, even though the artificial drama that gets put in his way could have been better.
• Landman - S02 (Paramount+)
  I missed the first season, but binged it before the second season debuted. While hardly a show to get excited about, the characters are at least interesting to watch... assuming you can appreciate the sheer soap-opera depths of it all. Which I can, for the most part, but I can't help but wonder how much longer Taylor Sheridan can keep things going when it already is starting to drift into the mundane. The show needs a serious shake-up to open up the third season or I'll likely be saying good bye.
• IT: Welcome to Derry - S01 (HBO)
  Now, I'm in the minority in that I did not care for the movies adaptation at all. They were as good as they could probably get, but they just pale in comparison to the book (though the films mercifully ignored some of the crazy-ass shit that the novel could have done without). This prequel series adds a big concept to how Pennywise operates. And boy does it poke some seriously huge holes into the story of it all. But in the end I was entertained more than annoyed by what they managed to pull off, so I'll be tuning in for a second season. If we get one.

   
HAVEN'T SEEN YET, BUT SURE TO GET A NOD

• Down Cemetery Road - S01 (Apple TV+)
  Emma Thompson in another Mick Herron adaptation? Take me away. If it's even half as good as Slow Horses, it's worth a watch.

   
OVERHYPED BUT NOT TERRIBLE

• Mid-Century Modern - S01 (Hulu)
  This was billed as a kind of "gay Golden Girls" and I never got that. Despite a cast that was fantastic, there just weren't enough laughs or compelling stories to hold my interest. I guess my expectations were just too high. As were a lot of other people's expectations, as it got canceled. Still, I'd watch this over a dozen shows that got renewed, so it's more than a little depressing.
• The Studio - S01 (Apple TV+)
  I do not, under any circumstances, understand the love for this show. It has funny concepts, amazing guest-stars, and Seth Rogan, which are all great. But it's just one scene after another that runs too long and goes right past entertaining and plunges head-first into annoyance. They needed to edit these things down. Some episodes could have lost a full 15 minutes and been so much cleaner and funnier.
• The Gilded Age - S02 (HBO)
  The sophomore season could have been so much better. It should have been. All the pieces were there. But they decided to run head-first into the tired old "Kill Your Gays" trope in the most ludicrous way possible, and you have to wonder what the fuck they were thinking. I know we're supposed to be enthralled with the scandalous sub-plot of invited a divorced woman to a party, but they didn't even attempt to make it an interesting plot point, so I (unsurprisingly) wasn't. Then you have George Russell's mutant healing properties, the artificial drama and inane "let's add in the worst possible Hallmark misunderstanding trope" for Marian Brook's love-life, and Peggy Scott's A-to-B trajectory getting a silly and tired detour for her love life, and... well... I was compelled to keep watching, but far from enthralled.
• Stranger Things - S05 (Netflix)
  I was already pissed when they diced this season in half and saved the final episode as a movie, but at least "Volume 1" was interesting and did the show justice. But then they just kinda crapped out a half-assed "Volume 2" which didn't really start wrapping things up so much as it coasted to an unsatisfying break before we get the "Volume 3" movie finale. Between that and Will's inexplicably lengthy coming out scene after being sidelined, and I had checked out completely. I will get around to the movie, but it's not like I'm going to be counting down the seconds. What a way to end a once-great series.
• Wednesday - S02 (Netflix)
  It's not that the show was bad... I actually enjoyed some of it (mostly the settings and some performances), but it was so frickin' weak compared to what came before in utterly baffling ways. Rather than try to come up with something interesting for the TITLE CHARACTER, they just crammed people into the story in the most boring and uninspired way possible. The entire second half of the split-season was so mind-numbingly terrible.

   
DISAPPOINTING to BAD

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - S03 (Paramount+)
  If you had told me that I'd be disappointed in a new season of Strange New Worlds, I would have told you that you're crazy. It was, after all, one of my favorite shows on television. But here we are. This season was mid from the start, then reached new lows in television history with that shitty fucking episode where they turned the crew into Vulcans, and now I honestly don't care if I ever see another episode. How does this even happen? Why is it allowed to happen?
• The Night Agent - S02 (Netflix)
  I just... don't get it. The first season was great. Good concept. Interesting characters. A serviceable plot. Dialogue that hit. The whole package. But the second season tanked so hard that I found it nigh-unwatchable in places. It's as if this was the tenth season, they were completely out of ideas, and just coasting on fumes. A sad drop for a once decent series.
• The White Lotus - S03 (HBO)
  The first season didn't stick the landing, but it was a fascinating watch so you didn't mind so much. Then they fumbled it pretty bad in season two, spinning out of control with characters you couldn't possibly care about. And now we get this wet fart of a third season where I was so fucking bored that I thought about bailing way too many times. It's like Mike White is all "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO TO KEEP THE SHOW TANTALIZING AND INTERESTING! I KNOW! LET'S THROW IN SOME INCEST AND SEE IF THAT DOES IT!" Spoiler alert: it does not. Characters approach a point where you think things could get interesting... but then they get jerked back in a way that has you wondering if HBO is just pushing to hard to get new seasons instead of giving White the time to find good stories.
• The Last of Us - S02 (Netflix)
  What the fuck happened? The first season was fantastically good, adapted the game deftly, and even managed to fill in some blanks in the best possible way. Then it all fell to shit in the second season, which had me hovering over the fast-forward button because I just didn't care to muddle through it all. No idea what happened, but I'm out. If I want to see a fantastic sequel to the first season, I'll replay the awesome game... which wasn't adapted so much as twisted into something unrecognizable.
• The Witcher - S04 (Netflix)
  Henry Cavill, who understood the character better than the writers, has enough complaints with how the series is adapting the source material that he bows out of the show. And then we get... whatever this was supposed to be. It's infuriating, because had the writers actually fucking listened to the guy who knew what the fuck he was talking about, we wouldn't have got a season with a new actor doing his best and lesser story that people are going to ignore. Now the series will get canceled, and Netflix will be all "People stopped watching, so what choice did we have?" Well, dipshits, you could have paid fucking attention to what what happening with development so it could have maintained its popularity, for one thing. Crap like this drives me insane.
• Ironheart - S01 (Disney+)
  Now, I love love loved the idea of this show. The character in the comics is amazing. I thought that Riri's appearance in Wakanda Forever was great. I love the actor in the lead (Dominique Thorne gets it)... but holy crap did they not give a shit about crafting a compelling story. It was just so... pedestrian. They didn't give her anything interesting to do, and then whiffed the introduction of fucking MEPHISTO, a comic book legendary character, which seems impossible to do, even intentionally! I am shocked at how badly Kevin Feige has dropped the ball. Between Ironheart, Captain America: New World Order, and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, what is he even doing?!? Is he asleep at the wheel? Do we need fresh blood to be more ruthless about fighting for quality? What?

   
GOOD GOD NO!

• All's Fair - S01 (Hulu).
  I tuned in to Kim Kardashian's legal drama for two reasons: 1) The reviews were so bad I was wondering if the show was truly bad or just getting review-bombed... and 2) The cast has some phenomenal actors in it, like Glenn Close, Naomi Watts, Teyana Taylor, and Sarah Paulson... plus Neicy Nash, whom I love. — And, yeah, it truly is that bad. I could barely make it through the first episode. To see actors I enjoy in this horrific pile of shit with such awful dialogue was unbearable. I am fully willing to admit that my problem with the show may be on me because I don't understand the tone. But either way, it just... fails. If it's supposed to be camp, it doesn't go far enough and feels like serious matters are being trivialized. If it's meant to be serious with camp beats, it is completely sabotaged by moments so cringe that you can't take the show seriously. Which is to say that I honestly don't know what the fuck to make of it all. A show which is assumed to be a monument to women empowerment feels an awful lot like mocking women empowerment. But I'm a guy, so maybe I'm missing the point. Good Lord I hope I'm missing the point. All that aside, my faith in humanity was shattered when this crap was renewed for a second season. Can we please just put Ryan Murphy on a spaceship and send him into the sun to spare us all before he kills again?
• Suits LA - S01 (Peacock)
  I didn't even make it through the second episode. Fucking terrible. They had Stephen Amell... and could have leveraged him in an interesting way. But instead they made him think, talk, and act just like Harvey Spector? This was gawdawful television with characters that were pathetic imitations of the originals and no fucking story to speak of. People should have lost their jobs over this hot mess.
• Nobody Wants This - S02 (Netflix)
  Good Lord. For the life of me I don't understand the appeal of this show. The first season was a nice distraction that I liked well enough, but this season was just so bad. Too many of these people are awful. Kristen Bell is a total mess who requires constant validation and non-stop attention. And that attention better come exactly how she wants and expects it or else she collapses in a fit like a two-year-old. Then it's up to Adam Brody to smooth everything over, no matter how irrational or insane she's acting. Bell's sister is borderline evil and comically self-obsessed. It goes on and on. It's impossible to like a show where it's impossible to care whether or not the main characters get together. It's been proven all season long that they're better off apart. But then they ignore absolutely everything that happened and just stay together anyway? Sure. Why not.
• Emily in Paris - S05 (Netflix)
  Why is this show still going? It's so bad as to be offensive. And has been from the start! I couldn't finish watching... skipping from Episode 02 to Episode 10... and it still seemed like a boring, awful, run of stereotypes run amok in a way that's not entertaining or even watchable.
• And Just Like That - S03 (HBO)
  Christ. I can't believe I sat through every episode of this shit. I guess I was thinking I had to in order to say goodbye to it all. Again. I hated everybody. Not just Miranda... everybody. At least they realized how fucking terrible Aiden was and ditched his stupid ass at the end. If there's one thing that made it worth watching, it's that.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Pleased do put a penny in the old man's hat. And an entry in his web browser... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Joining! I am utterly ensnared by PLUR1BUS. It's slow... but deliberate... you just know that Vince Gilligan is building things up for a payoff, because otherwise there wouldn't be a point to the show? But what form that takes for the first season when we have more seasons to go? No idea...

There's one episode left until the long wait for Season 02.

   
• Full Disclosure! I can't remember the last time I was even remotely excited for a Steven Spielberg film. I am a bit excited for this...

The film looks suitably disturbing, which is about the only way the subject like this could be interesting.

   
• Ignorance! “I don’t even know how to pronounce it, so it must be bad... and I’m too big of a dumbshit to do a Google search before cluttering social media with my ignorant bullshit, so here you go...”

We are so fucked. All the vanquished diseases are coming back, and these idiots are intent on keeping it that way.

   
• Blunder Woman! The first Wonder Woman movie was a revelation. It's one of my favorite super-hero films ever made, and definitely one of the best DC movies they've ever made. The scene where she steps out of the trench brought tears to my eyes, because it was that moment Diana is Wonder Woman. In a way we haven't seen since Lynda Carter's flawless take on the character decades ago. But the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, was a steaming pile of crap. I was mortified by it. There was no single area where it didn't fail. I couldn't believe that Patty Jenkins would release this. And this video explains why...

I am still furious that the franchise was destroyed by this one film. I can only hope and pray that James Gunn will be sure we get a Wonder Woman film that's deserving of the character's legacy.

   
• B- B- B- Buck! I was sad to learn that Gil Gerard died this past week. Though, to be honest, I don't remember much about his work. The only show I can even think of him appearing is Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which I only watched because Erin Gray's "Col. Wilma Deering" and Pamela Hensley's "Princess Ardala"...

The writing on the show was pretty bad, something I was able to recognize despite the fact that I was watching it at 13 years old. Though to be fair, the writers were likely under massive constraints to reign in the budget. But I do remember that Gerard dug into the corny, campy scripts with gusto, which meant that it was at least entertaining. And for that he'll be remembered.

   
• We're All Paying for AI! There it is.

I have found shockingly little use for AI, which is surprising, because I thought it would be changing everything for me. And maybe one day it will. But right now it's just so... bad.

   
• UnShock! Shocking. — I lie. This may be the least shocking story I've read in recent days...

Turns out there didn't need to ever be some kind of "deep state" conspiracy. It's all being done right out in the open.

   
And now I'm decorating the Christmas tree! Just kidding. My cats would murder it.

I'm going to be stockpiling my posts for a couple weeks because I've got a trip coming up but, no worries, I'm stockpiling bullets too... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Shoresy! YES! The new season of Shoresy is dropping for Christmas! IT'S THE MIRACLE WE NEED RIGHT NOW! I've grown to love this show almost as much as Ted Lasso...

I seriously hope that they find a way to continue keeping this show alive.

   
• Boosted Again! Because I am totally fucked if I ever get COVID with my screwed up lungs, I got my tenth booster yesterday. It only seems prudent since I'm going to be traveling and hanging out with loads of people in crowded spaces. So... can somebody please remind me when I'm dying again? I was told I'd be dead within three to six months the first time I got vaccinated. Then I was told I was definitely going to die with each new booster I got. But... nothing. Even worse though, I am still not a lizard person or a 5G relay, as promised by all the conspiracy theorists.

   
• Rolled! There's epic. Then there's this...

Rick Astley is still making music, and released a new album two years ago. He's still got it.

   
• Justice? Every fucking day it seems as though Trump is pardoning another criminal who totally deserves to be serving time for their crimes. Why? And, more importantly, why isn't his base calling him on it? I thought this was supposed to be the "tough on crime" movement. But, alas, that's apparently not the case.

   
• More Krypto! I was going to pass on the James Gunn Superman movie art book because it's only 176 pages, and the Marvel books run 350+ pages... so I thought it would be lacking. But I love the film, Geeks of Doom gave it a great review, and it was on sale, so I bought it. A really gorgeous book, and I'm glad to have it...

Needs more Krypto though! Heck, it could have all been Krypto! Where's that book?

   
• Blame Game! This is a terrific video. Why can't we all just be happy for consensual adults finding each other and making each other happy? Why are we always looking for somebody to blame for absolutely everything? And why are our LGBTQ+ brothers, sisters, and others so often where the blame gets placed? I wouldn't trade my LGBTQ+ friends for anything. Any one of them means more to me than any fifty bigots who would try to tear them down. Any hundred. Any thousand.

Just let people play the hand they're dealt the best they can and find their bliss... just as we're all doing.

   
And now to pack my suitcase...

I'm too tired to blog, but I'm committed to the madness... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Crashing Down? Does anybody want to buy some $BlogographyCoin cheap? It's the best crypto out there, and I'm letting people who worship me to get in on the ground floor, because this is sure to be an investment that skyrockets! Sink all your retirement into crypto because it's the investment that can't fail!

   
• Oh She Young! Sharing this for no reason at all...

Yep. Nope. No reason.

   
• Cringe Story! Some comedians can pull from experience in a way that should make other comedians jealous...

Guess I need to see if there's more material out there by this guy that's worth watching.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Pasta at Twice the Price? Some Italian Producers Face Huge U.S. Tariffs. If I could find bronze-extruded, slow-dried pasta that was American made... then great. Happy to buy it if the quality is good. But I ain't going to buy shitty American teflon-extruded, rapid-flash-dried crap that won't hold sauce and is just a slippery gawdaful mess. I'd eat half the pasta... but I'd pay twice the price for the pasta that's worth it.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Sales of AI-enabled teddy bear suspended after it gave advice on BDSM sex and where to find knives. But... so cute...

And now I really want one of these bears!

   
• Defunct Autonomatons! Defunctland released another video, and this one is beyond good... assuming you're into Disney stuff. This one is just over four hours long, but the time flies by as usual because Kevin Perjurer is just that good at his job. For the most part, this is just a timeline of Disney's adventures into autonomous animatronics, but it's also somehow deeply embarrassing for Disney who has become synonymous with overpromising and underdelivering...

They'll get there eventually. And once they do I'm sure it will be incredible. And, can I just say that Perjurer's take on whether Walt Disney would want himself resurrected as an animatronic is perfect? Probably because it's the same opinion I have.

At least until the autonomous animatronics get loose and decide to kill all the guests. Westworld never looked so adorable. I mean, just look at this...

Death by Olaf... what a way to go!

   
And... I'm off to a much-needed sleep.

The vilification of PBS is one of the most perplexing things I've ever seen.

In a world where kids are seen as nothing more than advertising dollars by television networks, PBS has been there to entertain and educate kids as kids. If PBS and public media were to start shuttering across the nation, it would be a terrible loss for Americans. If there's anything that I thought all Americans from any party would agree on... it's that PBS is value for the money and worth having. The money they get is such a pittance compared to the vast amounts of money being tossing left or right by our politicians. And yet... THIS?!?

I don't get it. I don't get it at all.

It's dreary and raining buckets here, but I'm not going to let that get me down... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Dating! I know. I know. Playdate got savaged in the reviews and is generally considered a bad movie. But I loved it! Alan Ritchson's character is hilariously random...

This is the kind of off-the-wall stuff that makes Amazon Prime worth the price of admission.

   
• NEWSFLASH: Pasta at Twice the Price? Some Italian Producers Face Huge U.S. Tariffs. If I could find bronze-extruded, slow-dried pasta that was American made... then great. I'd buy it. Happy to purchase American if the quality is good. But I ain't going to buy shitty teflon-extruded, rapid-flash-dried crap that won't hold sauce and is just a slippery gawdaful mess. I'd eat half the pasta... but I'd gladly pay twice the price to get something good.

   
• FedExSNL! This morning I popped in my DVD of Feds, a film from the 1980's which is so much better than it had a right to be. Mostly because the leads were so flawlessly cast...

And I was like "I wonder what Mary Gross is up to now?" But could find nothing current until I found a podcast interview, which was quite a treat!

   
• Hand Me That Paperclip! ZOMG! MACGRUBER IS ON THE EPSTEIN LIST?? I was such a fan. But no more!

UPDATE: Somehow, something has gone terribly wrong with the Saturday Night Live YouTube Channel... videos from the past five months have disappeared? Bummer.

I lie. I still think MacGruber is one of the funniest SNL characters, and I loved his movie and limited series. I'd love to get more of that, but if Will Forte is going to pop by Saturday Night from time to time to keep the character alive, I can be happy with that.

   
• Death of a Penny! Does ANYBODY who's whining about the US Penny ending know how rounding even works? Amount ending in 1¢ or 2¢... round down. For example, you're paying out of your piggy bank and something costs 52¢ but neither you nor the store has any pennies, so you pay 50¢ — But for an amount ending in 3¢ or 4¢... round up. For example something costs 54¢ then you pay 55¢. In the end, the odds are 50/50 that something will go up or down and, given the value of a penny now-a-days, nobody is getting rich off rounding. BUT LISTEN TO PEOPLE GOING ABSOLUTELY MENTAL... "BUSINESSES WILL LOSE MONEY!" And it's like... yeah... 50% of the time they will lose 1 or 2 pennies. BUT THE REST OF THE TIME THEY'RE GAINING 1 or 2 PENNIES! And how many people are paying cash any more? Apparently it's enough that BUSINESSES WILL LOSE MILLIONS! Except to lose one million dollars, you'd have to come up short 100 million pennies in rounding transactions. Okay, boomer... I'll take not wasting money minting coins that are worth less than they cost to make. As for those states which "don't allow rounding"... guess they'll have to fix that. — As for me? I'M MORE UPSET THAT WE'RE LOSING THE HAVE A PENNY GIVE A PENNY, NEED A PENNY TAKE A PENNY TRAYS! BLASPHEMY! THE END OF DAYS ARE NIGH! TODAY NO MORE PENNIES... TOMORROW PAYING WITH THE MARK OF THE BEAST! BET! Guess we're just going to be another penniless third-world country. Like Canada.

   
• Edo! A video from nine years ago which I had never seen popped up this week. It was on the history of Japan, which fascinates me anyway, but this was by Bill Wurtz, whom I was a big fan of back in the day. Which is why I was so shocked that I had never seen it...

If you want a different take on Japanese history which is half as fun but twice as long, here you go...

   
• Ugly! I will not call anybody "ugly" based on their appearance. That's a pretty shitty thing to do. But I don't hesitate calling somebody "ugly" when it comes to what they show us that's on the inside. In that respect, Kim Davis is one of the most butt-ugly, awful excuses for a human I've ever seen. She wants to "preserve the sanctity of marriage" by refusing to do her job of granting marriage licenses... all while having been through multiple divorces and so-called scandalous behavior around those marriages herself...

It's like having a job at a steak house and refusing to serve meat because you're vegan in public, but you eat steak at home. Hypocrisy 101. If the job isn't suitable for you or your so-called beliefs, THEN FIND ANOTHER JOB... LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DOES. But no. This repugnant pile of heinousness wanted the Supreme Court to give her license to shit on other people's happiness when the PURSUIT of happiness is SUPPOSED to be in this country's DNA. You did what made YOU happy when it comes to marriage(s), so let other people have that too. Or get fucked and go away. That works too.

   
And on that shiny note of perspective... enjoy the last of your weekend.