Worth Watching: A ‘Crazy’ Final Bow, ‘Our Planet’ on Netflix, ‘Boat’ Hits 100, ‘Warrior’ on Cinemax
A selective critical checklist of notable Friday TV:
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (8/7c, The CW): What would the grand finale of a musical comedy be without a traditional (and in this case, meta) “11 o’clock number?” No one knows the rules of the musical game better than Rachel Bloom — so as her character of Rebecca works through her relationship issues, making a choice that could define the rest of her life, she first has to figure out who she truly is. Cue the medley: “Oh, good, an abstract theatrical space. Now I can actually think.” And sing. It seems all of West Covina is awaiting news on what, and possibly who, Rebecca will decide to move forward with. It’s a satisfying, even moving, finale that gives all of these beloved characters a chance to say goodbye.
Did you say encore? Crazy hears you loud and clear. Which is why after the series finale airs, it’s immediately followed by Yes, It’s Really Us Singing: The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Concert Special (9/8c), in which cast members belt out live versions of some of the show’s best-remembered original songs, a few of which are not safe to mention in this space. But always worth another listen.
Our Planet (streaming on Netflix): The streaming giant dives into the crowded nature-TV space with glorious results in a visually spectacular eight-part series, narrated by Sir David Attenborough (with Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek for Spanish and Latin America audiences). Filmed in 50 countries, from pole to pole with seas and deserts and forests and jungles in between, Our Planet celebrates the resilience of the earth’s wildlife and natural habitats while warning against their fragility and what could be lost if we don’t take steps to preserve these interconnected ecosystems now. Plus: It’s just great visual TV.
Fresh Off the Boat (8/7c, ABC): Much as Jessica (Constance Wu) hates to admit it, the family misses Eddie (Hudson Yang) when the brat heads to Taiwan on a student cultural exchange program for the family sitcom’s 100th episode. Warnings by Jessica and Louis (Randall Park), who know the perils of being strangers in a strange land, fall on deaf ears, as Eddie promptly finds himself lost and broke and depending on the kindness of strangers on his very first outing. It’s all worth it to see Jessica succumbing to sentiment, whining, “Why are cheesy things right?”
Warrior (10/9c, Cinemax): Those mourning the imminent departure of AMC’s Into the Badlands can take solace in a new martial-arts adventure, inspired by the writings of Bruce Lee, that harks back to Chinese immigrant conflicts in 1870s San Francisco. Barely has lean, mean fighting machine Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) landed on American soil than he’s whipping his fists and feet of fury at bigoted authorities — which endears him to one of Chinatown’s most powerful tongs just as a war is brewing between rival clans. Not to mention the antagonistic Irish mob and corrupt politicians, all seemingly out for blood — which this blunt melodrama delivers without even breaking a sweat.
Inside Friday TV: Former Saturday Night Live star Jon Lovitz guests on Fox’s The Cool Kids (8:30/7:30c) as former teen idol Kip Samgood, a special favorite of Sid’s (Leslie Jordan)… In a change of pace for CBS’s Hawaii-Five-0 (9/8c), the team’s search for a girl who has bought a gun from a junkie becomes a history of this single firearm, which turns out to have affected each of their lives over several decades… In a second season of HBO’s topical docu-series Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas (11/10c), the former Daily Show comedian takes on America’s embattled education system… In the streaming world: Amazon Prime Video’s goofy superhero parody The Tick is back for a second season, as is the Netflix supernatural hit Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Also on Netflix: the movie Unicorn Store, a coming-of-age fable starring and directed by Oscar winner Brie Larson (Room).
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I enjoyed H50 but stopped watching several seasons ago -- fell behind often, hadn't been DVR'ing it, and constantly got fed up with how glitchy steaming on CBS's site was, so finally gave up. The conceit of tonight's episode has me curious about tuning in to see how much is the same and how much as changed, especially with glimpses of the characters' pasts. I seem to remember another show -- perhaps just proposed but never ordered to series -- based on the idea of following a gun's history in recent years.
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I watch H50 strictly for the action sequences. The plots are okay, and again, there's a lot of good action, so it's basically a popcorn show. To me, the absolutely WEAKEST part of the show is the stupid "car-guments" and bickering of Danny and Steve. I find it tedious and boring and not enjoyable in the least. In fact, I find Danny tedious and not very enjoyable.
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Tonight it's the 100th of Fresh, Last Man Standing and The Cool Kids. Looking forward to some laughs tonight which is what Friday night television should always be filled of.
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IIRC, the plot concerning a gun and its history through all its owners was used on an episode of the Streets of San Francisco. Might be worth checking out Hawaii Five 0 although I haven't watched it in years. ( that and the Streets of San Francisco) With all the reboots either being broadcast or in development, I'm surprised the latter was never mentioned, that I know of. It was a good solid police show with two great leads (Karl Malden and Michael Douglas) It wasn't the same after Michael Douglas left but I could definitely see it working again if they cast the right actors. I've always been a fan of TV shows that feature an older/younger mentor relationship, if done well.
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The Streets of San Fransisco was popular in its day but I don't think its aged too well because its not on syndication anywhere and doesn't really get mentioned much at all anymore. I don't think a network would see the profitability of its name though I myself personally think it'd be smarter to rebooting open shows like Streets or the new SWAT that were good shows that did well but weren't exactly iconic classics like a Magnum, PI or a Rockford Files, Lost in Space or when they tried Ironside, Charlie's Angels or Kojack etc. They're even trying to touch Perry Mason which has already gotten a lot of eye rolls because Raymond Burr IS Perry Mason and I dare someone not to find that show airing somewhere right now lol
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"The Streets of San Francisco" was on MeTV a few years ago but I haven't seen it on any other channel since...
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My usual Friday shows are back: MacGyver, H5-O, and Blue Bloods. Nice to have the band back together again.
Any Supernatural watchers out there? I don’t like where this is going, based on last night’s episode.
SPOILER ALERT.
For one thing, the fight scene(s). Dean beat two guys, and came out practically without a scratch. Sam, on the other hand, got the crap beat out of him by ONE guy. (And I don’t think any supernatural activity was involved, either, as far as I could tell.) Not only was he getting the crap beat out of him, but Sam actually retreated into the car to protect himself. That is a very un-Winchester-like thing to do. I’m just not buying it. Obviously it was a plot device (albeit a bad, clumsy one) to allow Nick to get away and set up Jack to do the things he did. So yeah, that was pretty OOC. There are a few other things that are nitpicky, too, but the fight was the big one for me.
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I have a feeling Magnum will be moving to Fridays next season. And Blue Bloods to another night. We shall soon see.
I have Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , Proven Innocent, H5-0, Last Man Standing and Cool Kids. Not sure yet what I'm watching live.
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If they know what's good for them they better not move Blue Bloods. Its their biggest hit. Networks can be so stupid sometimes and moving Blue Bloods or with Fox moving LMS spells stupid all over it
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I think BB has a strong enough fan base that it can actually flourish on another night.
LMS is also quite popular and could perform well on a higher rated night.
Nothing is for sure of course. Either networks will play it safe and leave their hits where they are or be aggressive ( or sometimes stupid) and move them to more competitive slots.
We shall see soon.
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I had the same reactions to Supernatural, Jena.
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I'm inclined to agree that Blue Bloods and Last Man have strong fanbases so it could work but I know I still wouldn't do it if I were in their place lol
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It depends if CBS and FOX want to take risks next season. Remember when Grey's moved to Thursday away from monster lead in Desperate Housewives? And then to 8:00?! That was very controversial at the time.
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SPOILERS, ALSO...
It's funny, during the fight I rolled my eyes when Sam got hit with the rock, because that would've meant such a bad injury in real life, but then Dean got out there and I realized they were actually treating it like that scale of injury for once. I get what you mean though, it felt odd when he scrambled into the car, but I feel like they justified it afterwards when they showed how hurt he was. And I can buy that Sam could get caught off guard like that, he's been kind of off balance since everyone at the bunker got killed.
The nitpicky thing for me was how much foreshadowing there was that something would happen to Mary, too many sudden heartfelt conversations!
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Yeah, that's just the thing: all the beatings these guys take, and it's never really that serious. But one fight, during which Sam uncharacteristically acts like he's never been in a brawl before, and he's suddenly at death's door. Literally. Again, this was at the same time that Dean managed to beat up not just one, but TWO guys. And it doesn't really matter how distracted Sam might have been-- once the threat is right in front of you and the first punch is thrown, your focus becomes laser-sharp, and Sam should have been able to at least made the fight more even, even if Nick ended up getting away. (Muscle memory alone should make Sam a great fighter, lol.)
I knew that Mary was going to try to "look out" for Jack and try to be a friend/advisor, but I didn't think of that as foreshadowing.
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Oh, I meant the two conversations she had with Sam & Dean earlier in the episode, about how she was proud of them and had tried to be a good mother and stuff. It just got my guard up immediately. I get what you're saying about the fight though.
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Yeah, I see what you mean. That flew right over my head. 😮 But now that you mention it..... yeah, when was the last time Mary said how proud she was of her kids? I know it was a cliffhanger, and we don't 'know' anything yet, but I wonder if Mary will be either A) dead, B) seriously hurt for a few episodes, or C) flung into another dimension... or at least another continent. Anyway, that's what I meant when I said I didn't like where this was going. That, and the previews for next week with Dean & Cas....... 😮
ETA: another stupid thing: Sam & Dean let Jack talk to Nick alone. Even if Nick requested it be private (can't remember if he did or not) I can't believe the boys went along with it. They could have gone in with him, but worn noise-cancelling headphones, if they REALLY wanted to give them some privacy but wanted to be nearby.
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MacGyver is back again! I'll also try to catch Cool Kids, Speechless, and Graham Norton tonight!
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