Reviews of television shows
Spoiler warning for the 2022 A League of Their Own TV series The original A League of Their Own is a stone cold classic, half a fist pumping crowd pleaser of an underdog story, half nuanced, heartwarming relationship drama between … Continue reading LGBT Media/TV Review: A League of Their Own (2022)
When I entered this world in 1995, my father, a public school English teacher, was waging the sixth year of war against his mortal enemy. He never encountered his foe directly, except on bootleg t-shirts and bumper stickers, but he … Continue reading Late to the Party: The Simpsons of the 20th Century (1989-1999)
SPOILER WARNING: I’m assuming in these reviews that readers have seen the show. The most bizarre thing about this episode is its premise, because neither freaks nor geeks in high school tend to be filled with school spirit. I know … Continue reading Freaks And Geeks: S01E09 “We’ve Got Spirit”
Going home means different things to different people. Some never leave home; some count the days until they can leave, and never go back. For most everyone else, it means a kind of reconciliation between the past and the present, … Continue reading TV Reviews: The Bear (2022)
Two teens apply for a job at a haunted amusement park. Barney (Zach Barack) is looking to emancipate from his transphobic family. Norma (Kody Kavitha) is obsessed with the park’s mysterious founder (Coco Peru). A mishap leaves Barney’s dog, Pugsley … Continue reading TV Review: Dead End: Paranormal Park
I could have and should have seen this movie when it came out In theatres. Back then I would often spend my allowance at the movies but at one point I interrupted that habit because I was saving up my … Continue reading Late to the Party – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
I got permission from SadClown to post this, because they had done an LGBT media of Looking approximately a year and a half ago. I recommend reading that first, I haven’t fully read that review as I write this. This … Continue reading Late to the Party: Looking (2014-2016)
Who is Victor Salazar? A popular jock? A clueless wrecking ball? A good man? In season one he suffered the humiliations of the closet. In season two he experienced the ups and downs of coming out. The frustrating final season … Continue reading LGBT Media: Love, Victor. Season Three
In the early aughts Queer as Folk and its remake were the primary sources of gay men on television. Peacock’s re-imagining arrives amidst a wave of queer programming. This takes pressure off the writers. After a shocking opening they transition … Continue reading LGBT Media: Queer as Folk (2022)
The L Word follows a group of lesbian and bisexual women living in Los Angeles. They hang out, gossip and hook up. The first season is short on plot and momentum. It takes eight episodes to introduce a serious conflict. … Continue reading LGBT Media: The L Word. Season One (2004)
Boy meets boy. Boy dates boy. Boys kiss without tongue. Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper is a slow burning comic. It’s happiest when the leads are simply hanging out. The series has been adapted to television with a strong cast and smart … Continue reading LGBT Media: Heartstopper (2022)
In which Stan and Francine get heated… The Stan/Francine marriage dynamic is one that feels well explored because it’s one that has been done on American Dad’s contemporaries, such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. However, often times they’ll throw … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 8 “A Song of Knives and Fire”
In which Klaus maybe isn’t’ the worst?… Klaus is designed to be the punching bag. The one everyone hates because it’s easy to be mean to a man in a fish. The show and its characters can score easy jokes … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 7 “Beyond the Alcove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Klaus”
In which Stan tries to save a restaurant… As originally conceived, American Dad! was animated All in the Family with Family Guy sensibilities. That is to say, an arch-Conservative father butting heads with his liberal hippy daughter. The show has … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 6 “American Dad Graffito”
In which Stan tries to hold on to his memories… Stan is a person defined by his traumatic childhood. He has a father who abandoned him, and a mother who needed the attention after her husband left. So Stan often … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 5 “Epic Powder Dump”
In which Steve and Snot try to hold it together… The Steve and Snot friendship is always one that seems to be teetering on the brink of disaster. From “Jenny Fromdablock” to “Steve’s Franken Out” there always seems to be … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 4 “A Roger Story”
In which Stan can’t chop it… Stan Smith is a man out of place in the world, whether it was the original conception of the show where he was a Conservative butting up against a liberal world, or just a … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 3 “The Book of Fischer”
In which Stan gets a new look… The immutable nature of episodic television means that the characters can almost never change from episode to episode (both metaphorically personally and literally physically whether it be clothes or body). We’ve seen AD! … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 2 “Dressed Down”
In which Francine and Roger are reality TV stars… Like the progenitors of American Dad! (The Simpsons and Family Guy specifically) the long running nature of the show and the malleability of some of its characters means that in order … Continue reading American Dad! Season 19, Ep. 1 “Langley Dollar Listings”
The Doctor, Yaz and Dan are back! This time as per New Year tradition those Dastardly Daleks are up to their old tricks again! Can The Doctor and Fam save the day again? Tune in to find out! [Review Here … Continue reading Doctor Who New Year’s Day Special: Eve Of The Daleks!
In which Steve tries to keep a friendship alive… While not as sacred as Treehouse of Horror, nor as critically well received as AD!s own Christmas episodes, American Dad! actually does have a history of horror tinged episodes (“Best Little … Continue reading American Dad! Season 18, Ep. 22 “Steve’s Franken Out”
