Ya know, I try and try to stay away from politics, but y’all are making it hard for me! We’re about to have a really ugly week ahead of us, so I need you guys to temper your expectations and to BREATHE. Way too many people lost their shit this week over a staged photo op. “The McDonald’s wasn’t even OPEN!” Um, you think the Secret Service is just gonna let any regular McDonald’s clientele in while this was going on? I mean, the man was shot 3 months ago! Yes, it was staged, like most of those things. But you gotta remember: He’s weathered an indictment and so many charges I’ve forgotten the count at this point. So, oversalting some fries wasn’t going to be the “smoking gun” a lot of folks thought it would. Just breathe. I know there’s a lot at stake, but you’ve really got to choose your battles wisely.
I started this TV season off so excited about the new shows, and 2 of the most hyped series debuted this week. And now I’m not feeling so great.
First up, Poppa’s House premiered on CBS, which is a father-son sitcom starring Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Now, I’ve loved Jr since Happy Endings (I was glad he left New Girl for that role, ’cause I didn’t really like him there). He’s funny, and seems like a good dude. I’d want to be his friend. Damon Sr, however, has never really done it for me. When it comes to the Wayans Family Dynasty, I’ve always just seen him as “The One Who Was Also There”. I mean, Keenen was the visionary. Hell, even Shawn and Marlon have their credits. Yes, Damon had memorable In Living Color characters, like Homey D. Clown, but he’s just not the most talented in that family to me. In my mind, he’s The One Who Got Fired from SNL. That’s not to put him down, but rather to show where I’m starting from with this show. While Sr is supposedly The Legend here, I’m actually here for Jr. So, given it was created by the two of them, I’d hoped for something new and fresh. Instead, it’s just a collection of stale sitcom tropes.
First off, I can’t remember the last time a laugh track worked so hard. Like, they amped it up to where the laughter isn’t even at an organic level. You’d think the “audience” was busting a gut after ever bon mot. Remember in the 90s, when a sitcom star would get a “pop” just from entering the room? Think Al Bundy, coming home from the shoe store. Well, they do that here, yet it doesn’t feel earned. Sure, everyone knows The Wayans Family, but this is the damn pilot! That starts happening around season 3! It’s unfunny all around. Sr is doing his best Fred Sanford, while Jr is just sort of sniveling. Sr is apparently the #2 radio DJ in NYC, which I guess is the only city left where that would still mean anything. We’re supposed to realize he’s rich, by his flashy studio and his nice house. He makes a point to let us know that his ex wife (and Jr’s mom) got $5 million in the divorce. So, he’s basically Seacrest-level, as far as radio goes. Meanwhile, Jr. went to film school, and really wants to be a director, but has been forced to take a sales job from a father-in-law that hates him. In the pilot, Jr tells Sr about his plan to sneak off to a directing interview, while Sr gives some fatherly advice that he shouldn’t jeopardize the job he has for the job he wants. Meanwhile, Sr, whose DJ name is “Poppa”, has slipped to #2 in the ratings, so the company has decided to pair him up with a popular female podcaster & psychiatrist to bring in the female listeners that Poppa has driven away. Poppa doesn’t respect women or podcasts, so sparks are gonna fly! Plus, there’s a whole Will They/Won’t They dynamic.
One of the biggest problems I had revolved around casting and characters. The new radio partner is played by Essence Atkins, who might as well be the lost Tia & Tamara Triplet. She did a lot of WB shows, including Smart Guy, which starred Tia and Tamara’s brother, Taj. So, I didn’t realize she’s 52 now (Man, time flies!), but that still makes her roughly 11 years younger than Poppa. I know age doesn’t matter much at that age, but I don’t really see them as the couple that the show will undoubtedly try to force them to become. Damon Sr. looks great for his age, but it still doesn’t feel like they’re an even match for each other. Sam & Diane they are not! Poppa’s producer is basically every pre-Will & Grace gay trope you’d find on a sitcom, and that’s actually pretty disappointing. It’s fun to see Geoffrey Owens, of The Cosby Show and Trader Joe’s fame, as Sr’s nemesis and Jr’s father-in-law. He’s the only one who really seems to understand the assignment. And I don’t love the actress playing Jr’s wife, but that’s probably because I thought he and Eliza Coupe were so great together on Happy Endings. At the end of the day, I had a lot of hope for this show, but I don’t think I’ll be back.
The next big debut was Happy’s Place, on NBC, starring Country superstar Reba McEntire. If you were a fan of the old WB sitcom Reba, then this is for you. If you weren’t, then you should keep moving. I know it had its fans, and it’s running pretty much all day on basic cable, but I never watched Reba. That’s not to say I don’t like her. You can’t help but love Reba (the person), with her down home charm. But the show…it never looked like a show I’d enjoy. I guess you could say I like “New York Humor”, and her stuff always came off like The Torkelsons (That’s a deep cut for you TV folks!). Anyway, that show ran for 6 seasons, and was so beloved that the crew got together to figure out how to revive it. That didn’t come to pass, but what resulted from the renewed collaboration was this show, Happy’s Place, with a lot of the old folks both behind and in front of the camera. The most recognizable returner is Melissa Peterman, who played Reba’s husband’s mistress, who eventually became her partner in hijinks. And, from what I’d seen of Reba, Peterman is basically trying to play the same character here. I mean, they’ve got a good dynamic, so it works.
Anyway, in this series, Reba runs her father’s bar, called Happy’s Place, which is basically the town watering hole. So, think of Cheers, but with more diversity sprinkled along the periphery. Happy has just passed away, and Reba is mourning the loss, as they had been close. Turns out, however, they weren’t as close as she’d thought, as she discovers her father had a secret lovechild, Isabella, played by Blue Beetle‘s Belissa Escobedo. They had gone through a “meet-cute” just prior to discovering their relation, which completely unravels when they learn that Happy left his bar to both of them. So, you’ve got a generational family comedy, a cross-cultural comedy, and more. It just feels like the show is trying to do too many things.
Reba’s Reba. You pretty much know what you’re gonna get with her. The cast of folks around the bar are basically what you’d expect there, too. They’re all pretty one-note, and not overpowering enough to take the focus away from Reba, Isabella or Peterman’s Gabby. It’s clear who the stars are here. But that’s also a problem because I think the audience would rather see Reba and Peterman slip back into their old roles, and Escobedo is sort of in the way. She seems sweet, but she’s not a star. Not yet. If this thing gets a second season, I could definitely see a retool, where Reba says something like “I bought out Isabella’s half of the bar, so she could go off to that art school in Paris that she’d always dreamed about.” I’d like to say it’s a show with potential, but I think NBC would have to be pretty desperate to keep it around longer than necessary.
Trailer Park
Laid (Peacock, December 19)
This has a distinct “beach read” vibe to it, in that you’d probably really enjoy the book, but you wouldn’t exactly recommend it to anyone. Still, I don’t know if it’s based on a book, but it certainly feels like it. I like the cast. Zosia Mamet is always awesome, and Stephanie Hsu was great in Joy Ride. That said, it’s Peacock, so I’ll probably quickly forget it exists. Don’t get me wrong – they’re trying. They really are. They market their stuff a Hell of a lot better than Apple TV+ does theirs, but, still, it’s Peacock…
Creature Commandos (MAX, December 5)
Ya know, it’s really hard to hate James Gunn. I wanted to go into this, like, “Who the hell cares about the Creature Commandos?!”, but this looks really fun. Sometimes, I feel like Gunn’s whole “grand plan” is Doing Too Much, with its multilayered, TV, streaming, and theatrical approach. Just feels like it’s too many moving parts. That said, if they’re all on this level, DC might finally be turning things around!
Cruel Intentions (Prime Vide0, November 21)
So, I guess my question is “WHY?” I mean, in a world with Euphoria, why do you need this? At first, I wasn’t sure if this was a remake or a sequel, considering Sean Patrick Thomas is in both films, I was thinking sequel, but then I thought “Man, there sure has been a ton of incest going on at this school over the years!” Turns out, however, he’s playing a different character. One thing people forget about that movie is that the cast is what truly made it great. You had Buffy the Vampire Slayer playing a sexual psycho bitch, and you had Ryan Phillippe just really showing us what a cad he could be. And innocent little Reese in the crossfire. But it was intriguing because we KNEW who those actors were. I don’t recognize a single person here, and I doubt it’s because I’m “old”, but rather because they don’t have many credits to their names. The concept just isn’t sexy with unknowns. It’s already been done. A lot of folks don’t realize that a Cruel Intentions series was already made after the first film, and it was called Manchester Prep. Fox canceled it before it premiered, so the episodes that had been filmed were sewn together, and released straight to video as Cruel Intentions 2. At the end of the day, though, it’s all just Dangerous Liaisons, so why not just go watch that instead?
Will Around The Web
I had a lot of thoughts about the current state of pop music. Like to hear it? Here it go!
Things You Might Have Missed This Week
- There were a bunch of Star Trek franchise developments this week, as the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was renewed for a 2nd season – before the show’s debut – with Tatiana Maslany joining the cast. Meanwhile, a panel at New York Comic Con revealed that Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek: Section 31 movie will be released on Paramount+ Friday, January 24th, 2025. Lastly, the final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks began on Paramount+ this week. I swear I’ll get around to watching that show one day…
- CBS is the first broadcast network to renew a new series this season, with Matlock scoring a renewal for season 2, after only airing 2 episodes.
- The 3rd and final season of the BBC series Good Omens will be comprised of ONE (!) 90-minute episode. Due to some…allegations, creator Neil Gaiman will reportedly have no involvement in the production of that “season”.
- In a puzzling marketing ploy, Pepperidge Farm is going to temporarily rebrand their popular Goldfish crackers as “Chilean Sea Bass” crackers, in an effort to court more adult consumers.
- Speaking of questionable marketing tactics, East coast pizza chain &pizza had to discontinue, and apologize for, their Marion Barry dessert knots, which mocked the former DC mayor’s drug scandal.
- Disney board members believe that a successor to CEO Bob Iger will be chosen sometime in 2026, and there are rumors that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos might be in the running for the job.
- Apparently acknowledging the brand confusion caused by the DC Black Label imprint, DC Comics announced the return of their mature readers Vertigo imprint. One Black Label title, James Tynion IV’s The Nice House By The Sea, will adopt the Vertigo branding as of issue #4.
- Hulu has picked up the US rights to Paris Has Fallen, which is a TV spinoff of the Gerard Butler Has Fallen film franchise. While a 4th film, Night Has Fallen, is reportedly in development, this sort of squashes my hopes for a Disney Has Fallen…
- It was the battle of the fandoms, as Elvira fans were upset to hear the scream queen talk about an event where she was disrespected by Ariana Grande. Once the story went viral, Ariana quickly issued an apology, but not without throwing a little shade at the Mistress of the Dark.
- Our long national nightmare is over, as Disney has officially removed Blade from their release schedule, meaning the project is no longer in active development. In any case, I hope Mahershala Ali enjoys the new pool he probably bought with the money.
Back in 2002, DC Comic published a Batman comic arc, called “Hush”, which was supposed to be THE BIGGEST BATMAN STORY YOU’VE EVER READ!!! They’d brought on a Big Talent creative team, with writer Jeph Loeb and superstar artist (and current president, publisher, and Chief Creative Officer of DC) Jim Lee. Running in the main Batman title, from issues 608-619, it introduced a new Bat villain named Hush, who was formidable because he seemed to know more about Batman than anyone else – including his identity. I’m gonna be honest with you: that series was over 2 decades ago, and I barely remember what happened in it. Even at the time, it was more notable for its art than its story. The story was kinda “meh”, but it was a great excuse to have Lee draw every Bat character he’d ever wanted to draw. The Hush character remained, even after the story completed, eventually getting what was basically his own series in Batman: Streets of Gotham. Well, since everything old is new again, DC Comics used New York Comic Con to announce “H2SH”. Yeah, they’re going back to the well, and they really thought that title somehow worked…
It’s funny because DC is doing the revisionist history thing, basically acting like the Hush character hasn’t been touched since that heralded creative team worked their magic in the early ’00s. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, as Hush got to levels of overexposure mainly reserved for characters like The Joker or Deadpool. So, this isn’t some Grand Return of the character like they’d like us to believe, but it’ll still probably be gorgeous to look at. Slated to begin in March’s Batman #158, we’re going to see if they truly can go home again. And that’s why H2SH (God, I hate typing that…) had the West Week Ever.
