Ask Matt: Are Those ‘Bear’ Actors Really Cooking? Plus ‘Gemstones,’ ‘Strange New Worlds’ & More
Welcome to the Q&A with TV critic — also known to some TV fans as their “TV therapist” — Matt Roush, who’ll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today’s vast TV landscape. (We know background music is too loud, but there’s always closed-captioning.)
One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won’t be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it’s already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected] and follow me on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush). Look for Ask Matt columns on most Tuesdays and very occasional Fridays.
Well Done, Chef!
Question: I just completed viewing the excellent second season of The Bear. I love the way they integrated stars like Jamie Lee Curtis, Will Poulter, and others into the storyline. I am just wondering: Do all of the actors and stars on that program actually have culinary talents or have they been coached or trained? It all seems so realistic to me, Chef! — Mark D., Whitewater, WI
Matt Roush: Realism is one of the hallmarks of The Bear, and while none of the cast (to my knowledge) has a culinary background, the two leads who play the most seasoned chefs (Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri) did extensive research with culinary school training and spending time in the kitchens of top restaurants. The series also has a culinary producer on set (the sister of the show’s creator) to coach the actors, and professional chef Matty Matheson, who plays Neil Fak on the show, is also an executive producer, so there’s plenty of expert talent on hand to keep it looking real.
Could the Gemstones Matriarch Still Be Alive?
Question: Are you familiar with HBO‘s The Righteous Gemstones? Did the final scene of the Season 3 finale mean that Aimee-Leigh (Jennifer Nettles) is still alive? Or did her presence symbolize her spirit watching over her family? She looked realistic, not glowing that would indicate otherworldly. — James H.
Matt Roush: I didn’t see it that way at all, although in flashbacks, holograms, or otherwise, Jennifer Nettles makes family matriarch Aimee-Leigh such a warm presence that I could understand this as wishful thinking. (It would change the show forever should this be the case.) For me, her appearance in the final scene where everyone got a turn driving the Redeemer (and destroying anything in its path) was more of a benediction, a reminder that she is always there watching over her imperfect brood and in this moment enjoying a spectacle of rare family unity.
Streaming Shows Leave Us Wanting More
Comment: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is why I hate streaming networks/shows/etc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome, and I’m so glad to have a Trek I enjoy again. But at 10 episodes a season, it’s too short a run. And due to the combined strike, it’ll likely be 18 months to two years before we see the resolution of THAT cliffhanger. That’s unacceptable to make audiences wait that long. I long for the days of the 20-ish episodes a season with a five-to-seven season run, released weekly in predictable manners. Maybe that’s why everyone is on strike. — Veronica
Matt Roush: Well, shorter seasons and shorter duration of streaming series are certainly among the issues fueling these strike actions, because the way the industry operates and compensates creatives in this new era has dramatically changed, probably irreversibly. It is jarring, though, to look back and realize that the Star Trek series of the syndication era (roughly 1987 to 2001, not counting UPN’s Enterprise) averaged 26 episodes a season, feeding a hungry marketplace. Even if the current Trek shows were still being produced for that system, which isn’t hospitable anymore to expensive scripted series, it’s unlikely they’d be churning out that many episodes for purely budgetary reasons. I understand and to some degree empathize with this sentiment, even though I often argue that less can be more when it comes to quality over quantity. I know for sure that I’d have liked this season of Strange New Worlds in particular to be much longer, and I’m resigned to the long wait until we see new episodes.
Has Strange New Worlds Jumped the You-Know-What?
Comment: First, it’s great to browse your website and read the enthusiasm for the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I was very impressed with Season 1. The main cast is great, the stories are pure Star Trek, and the music and special effects are all top-notch. I particularly love the rousing series theme tune. What let Season 1 down for me was finding this new 23rd Century bridge crew using totally out-of-place, anachronistic contemporary 21st Century phrasing. I’m especially aghast at how Erica Ortegas is such a disrespectful smart-mouth toward her superior officers. She says things that on The Next Generation would have had her hauled into Picard’s Ready Room for a severe dressing down, or maybe even demoted and thrown into the brig if she kept doing it—which she does! However apart from that, I do actually like the character on the whole. (As a long-time Star Trek fan, I was so incensed by these short-sighted creative choices that I emailed startrek.com to state my disapproval and to politely ask for my feedback to be forwarded to the showrunners if possible. I actually received a reply thanking me for the feedback and assuring me that it would be dealt with, which I hope means that my feedback will indeed be forwarded to the people now in charge of the franchise.)
Unfortunately, I’ve been largely disappointed by Season 2 because although there are some good episodes, I think the creative risk-taking had gone too far. “Those Old Scientists” was a fun episode, but ultimately I don’t think it makes any sense to place the irreverent Boimler and Mariner from Star Trek: Lower Decks into the comparatively formal world of Strange New Worlds, because it’s too much of a clash. Mariner and Boimler only work in their animated comedy world, where anything goes and it’s OK, precisely because it’s an animated comedy. I also had serious doubts that “Subspace Rhapsody” would work, but when I watched the episode I was relieved that a) the musical theater aspect of it was explained in a logical narrative way and b) I thought the music was absolutely fantastic.
However, on the whole, I have to say that for me, Strange New Worlds has, as they say, “jumped the shark.” I say this because although outright comedy was often used in Star Trek during the network TV days of the franchise and it’s therefore acceptable in this new streaming era as well, I think that using full-on musical theater compromises the integrity of the characters just too much. It feels to me as if the showrunners of Strange New Worlds are just throwing caution to the wind and not using the appropriate degree of judgment as to what maintains the integrity of the franchise. I think they aren’t catering to its long-time fans and perhaps ultimately deep down they don’t really care about the franchise enough. While it may be a new “golden age” for Star Trek in terms of quantity of content, it’s not necessarily one in terms of quality of content — at least not consistent quality. For me, during this new streaming era only Seasons 1 and 3 of Star Trek: Picard and so far the entirety of Star Trek: Lower Decks have been of outstanding quality and rewatch-ability and considering the fact that I think everything from the franchise’s Network TV era is classic and timeless, that’s incredibly disappointing. — Chris R
Matt Roush: Truth in editing, I had to trim quite a bit of this lengthy analysis, but it’s interesting for me to hear from a purist who objects to many of the things that delighted me most about the most recent season of Strange New Worlds. I respectfully disagree that these thematic departures—the crossover with the animated characters and the musical episode—didn’t pay off or went too far. Without taking risks, a franchise takes a bigger risk of stagnating, and integrity like so much else is in the eye of the beholder. Trek for me is my TV sci-fi comfort zone—they tend to bring me more pleasure than most of the Star Wars, Marvel, and DC series that often do more to dilute than enhance those brands. I am thrilled whenever a Trek series takes a creative leap, and these were particularly fun. No apologies for championing them, although I may have loved Picard’s reunion of Next Generation characters even more. Bottom line: I can’t imagine a harder job than overseeing a Trek series, knowing how impossible it is to please everyone, especially the die-hard fans (and I consider myself an amateur in those ranks).
No Simple Formula for Cancellations
Question: Why were both Call Me Kat and East New York canceled? My wife and I think that since Leslie Jordan passed, and he was kind of the spark of that show, that was the reason Kat ended. And East New York was just too heavy. — Charlie and Rita S.
Matt Roush: The hard fact is that many network shows live “on the bubble” these days, with few bona fide hits being slam dunks for renewal (unless you’re part of a franchise). So the easiest explanation regarding these and other cancellations is that they didn’t perform to the network’s expectations and/or the network is placing a bet that something new (or these days possibly cheaper) in the development pipeline will work better to fill that time period. I wouldn’t be surprised if the incalculable loss of Leslie Jordan was a factor in Kat not returning for a fourth season, and according to industry reports, East New York’s fate had to do with budgetary and other financial issues, plus the network may have been weighing this against their decision to renew S.W.A.T. for a seventh and final season. This business is brutal and isn’t getting any easier.
And Finally …
Question: I watch just about all of the Hallmark evening movies. In several of them, there’s a lead actor named Ryan Paevey. He was exceptionally handsome and a good actor as well. In the most recent movie I saw him in, he and the lead actress were both left at the altar and by a series of coincidences got together in Hawaii. I would like to see Hallmark use him in more of their prime-time movies. Why don’t they use him more and what does he do when he is not working for Hallmark? — Gordon L., Milford, CT
Matt Roush: I don’t tend to get into the personal nitty-gritty involving TV stars, so will steer you toward our own page where you can find TV Insider’s coverage of Ryan and his past projects. But I’m amused to think anyone worries he’s being underemployed by Hallmark, which tends to feature him in two or three films a year. Ryan is a model (featured in several music videos) turned actor whose longest TV gig was as Nathan West on General Hospital (2013-18). Since 2016, he appears to have starred in something like 15 Hallmark movies, so he’s clearly a network favorite.
That’s all for now. We can’t do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected] or shoot me a line on Twitter @TVGMMattRoush. (Please include a first name with your question.)
