i think the 4th episode drops today. I really enjoy the show so far. Martin Short & Steve Martin brought together in a fun little whodunnit caper. Selena Gomez seems to be brought in to rein in the younger demographic. Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard but the show is still a lot of fun so far.

I like that more gets revealed as the show goes on. But i'll never buy that someone Gomez's age would ever know or care about the Hardy Boys. Mild gripe, though.

I also really like that the show is only roughly 30-35 minutes long per episode.

I love this show as well. Reminds me why I was such a Steve Martin fan back in the day. Some of his best recent work.

There were a few scenes that my wife and I were laughing out loud (LOL I believe the kids say). I haven't laughed at a TV show in years.

It's great.

Not as good as The Wire.

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My Maserati does 186.

Agreed with the previous two. Great show and a funny mocking of true crime podcasts.

The costume person should be fired for how Gomez is dressed: jeans that highlight a gunt (far too young to have one, especially if she hasn't had kids), jump suits that make her look like an oompa loompa, etc. She's still pretty but the miles have been hard and she needs to hide the flaws.

I'm with you Doc regarding having to be reminded why I like Steve Martin. There have been too many years where I'm asked to care about his banjo prowess because I liked him as a comedian.

I've always liked Martin Short going all the way back to SCTV

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

You nailed that, gd. He really can't help himself with the music stuff as evidenced by this week's episode. But, it wasn't too bad.

Ep 4 - weird. It came around and I still enjoyed it but just pretty out there.

Also - strangely, a link to The Wire.

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My Maserati does 186.

I guess you reach a certain age and you are allowed to indulge interests.

It doesn't mean WE have to indulge your interests, yet everyone sits back and has to say "yes, Steve, you really are the best banjo player I've ever heard"

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I don't know anything about the banjo.

If I hear one, I have farm kid flashbacks.

But, by all accounts that I've heard/read, he is a legit world-class banjo player.

But, I can count the number of world-class banjo players I've ever known on 1 finger. I don't know Steve Martin because he's great banjo player.

I know him because he was very excited about being in the phone book. He had an arrow through his head and made a real drink to "BE SOMEBODY".

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My Maserati does 186.

I love Steve Martin. Love him.

But sometimes he gets too artistic for his own good.

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My Maserati does 186.

I'm liking Gomez more than I thought I would. She sort of holds her own with Short and Martin, which isn't as easy because, well, Short and Martin are basically just playing themselves.

she's not a bad actress but that put-upon voice (which is really hers) is grating.

last night's episode was a bit over-the-top for me, too. gimmicks are fine if they work seamlessly but there were so many moments where silence was not only manufactured, but really strained.

overall i still love this so far though. martin short is hilarious, and low-key steve martin is pitch perfect.

Wound up overall enjoying this, MOSTLY because of Steve Martin & especially Martin Short. There are just some annoying tendencies in modern shows that have become major pet peeves (i.e. the introducing of new characters each new episode that don’t really go anywhere or develop into anything, the same said characters getting the opening narration to the episode). My major pet peeve is the padding. So much of the middle-to-late episodes that wasn’t necessary. And the “mute” episode was really gimmicky.

That said, I did wind up liking the finale enough to recommend as a show. I guess this is being approved for a new season so things can always go south. But for now I like it.

the second season dropped the first 2 new episodes yesterday.

the good: of course, steve martin & martin short are excellent as always. they seem like, as people (not just characters), they're fish-out-of-water. gomez has a nice quiet approach to her character (but still...the voice...). the murder victim's mother (no spoilers) is a hoot. and, the new mystery is well-conceived. i like the set-up for the season.

the bad: amy. fucking. schumer. WHY. there is absolutely nothing funny about her. obnoxious. gross.

the eye-roll-inducing: the character, and purpose, of alice. but, she is most likely going to be important to the story in other ways than a potential love interest.

good start for the most part. and i stress again how much i appreciate the 30-min-format.

there hasn't been any amy schumer in the last 5 episodes, and the show has been 100% better for it. she'll probably be back toward the end, maybe in a stinger...and it's possible she's a suspect but she hasn't even been mentioned in the last few episodes.

this season, otherwise, has been 10 times stronger than the first season. the stroke of genius by the writers was to introduce the building itself as a character. there is a whole world going on inside that makes it even more intriguing.

none of the new characters are interesting, but they're strengthening the main characters much more. and teddy's deaf son is outstanding. his scenes with selena are a lot more believable in chemistry and tension than her scenes with the alice character. that shit is so forced. and that actress (cara delevingne) is dreadful. selena gomez herself isn't a good actress either but she's meryl streep compared to her (or, i think it's they).

the show has built itself into a very nice mystery who-dun-it so far...

the ending wrapped up very nicely. this was not only a worthy second season, it surpassed the 1st season in its intrigue and satisfactory conclusion. there are still some minor annoyances (way, way too much broadway--which looks to continue even moreso into the 3rd season). theater has been pummeled into just about every show there is these days.

it is still pretty damn entertaining.

out of

She had a kidney transplant* a few years ago so maybe thats part of why she looks little haggard and/or loose in the midsection.


*like my good friend Ed Farmer, and we all miss him. 1-0 to Robert is in there 1-1 now. Darrin, how many kidneys have you had?

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i have no doubt DJ wouldnt be able to answer that question

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'Your AT&T Universal Card has arrived'? Oh God, Kick-fucking-ass, I got a Master Card! I don't believe it, man. Life is kinda cool sometimes.

3rd season started yesterday with the first 2 new episodes.

as i stated earlier, this was going to be broadway-heavy. and it definitely was. it reminded me why i don't miss theater--and i wasn't even doing musicals.

unfortunately, unlike last season, which was a delight...this season hasn't started out that auspiciously. very few laughs, and the 3 main stars actually kind of look worn out. like, they don't really want to keep doing this but it's too popular to stop now.

maybe this will fade out, though. i didn't even know this dropped until something popped up on my feed on Google yesterday afternoon. we watched Hulu every night and i saw nothing until we went in to watch it last night.

tried getting into this and made it a few episodes into season 1 before I decided it was a whole lot of meh.

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it's gotten much better in the last 2 episodes. once they really dug into the murder mystery, and the personal stuff with the main cast plus the complicated history of some of the actors in the show, the intrigue has increased greatly.

again, so much filler with these newer shows. i consider each season to be an individual "movie" that could use a lot of trimming. so many of the ancillary characters are obnoxious and annoying--and usually muted toward the end as things heat up.

My wife has been watching so I watched along for a couple of episodes. It was good.

My goodness is Gomez devolving. She looks haggard.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

missed this thread completely, but I've been a fan of this show since day one. Loved season 1, season 2 wore on me a bit because of whoever that girl actress was that they brought in. But I've liked season 3. Can't wait for the finale.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

This season wound up ending well--it didn't go too far into the Broadway element that I was afraid it would in the earlier episodes. I thought it would *be* a musical, but it stayed grounded once the murder mystery truly unfolded.

The twist-into-another-twist toward the end was a little more predictable, but I liked the final shot as a set-up for the next (and, probably final) season.

I think 4 seasons is enough with this show, since the length of the season stretches it enough.

I liked this season better than 2 but I appear to be in the minority on that. Great cast, didn't mind the musical stuff, ending was predictable to be sure but the actors still drew me in. Four seasons sounds about right but I would guess they go for five.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

season 4 started this week, and i think it's probably been my favorite opener. a lot darker, creepier...has a Halloween Season feel to it. The ending of the premiere was quite a sting. I hope this continues...the tone is a nice change.

The weaker elements were Molly Shannon, although she wasn't as over the top as some of the other actors they've brought in to do these SNL cameos.

The "casting" of the movie counterparts was good. I feel like they could have a nice satirical touch to this season without being too jokey. like i said, keep that dark, ominous feel to it. it works.

the tone of that first episode has kind of been dropped and it's become its usual routine...it's been decent, but paul rudd coming back to be featured as an irish stand-in/stuntman(?) was unnecessary. rudd isn't really a character actor, he plays the same guy every time. this looks like a showcase for a friend that his mom put everyone up to.

the brothers sisters should be a funnier bit than it is, but the show has always been a little too afraid to push the boundaries of good taste jabbing into actual derision of its improv crop of actors. they're obviously suspects, as anyone is, but the show likes them too much to make them into targets of jokes.

two episodes to go after tonight's "lifeboat", which i guess tried to have parallels to the hitchcock movie but other than it having a lot of monologues and a thin string of "family", it just felt kinda there. i've been unmoved by this season, despite its strong premiere.

i know it tries to be creative, but there is just so much padding...it really just feels like an 8 hour episode of "murder, she wrote" or something like it. there are still funny moments here and there, but the effort is starting to feel very labored.

this has felt like a really long season, while last season got more and more interesting as it went on...the last few episodes were awesome. this one has felt stuck in neutral for a while.

the season finished a little stronger with the last few episodes, and set up the next season. but overall, this was probably the weakest to me. after the really strong premiere, the show didn't really build off of that. it just introduced another bunch of eccentrics, which is starting to get really old.

i'm hoping 5 is the last season, because everything that made it cute and sweet is becoming nauseating. not quite to the level of "ted lasso", and it still hasn't abandoned its principle of entertainment. but these padded seasons just are going to drone on into complacency. and the time commitment won't be justified.

haven't seen the last episode of this season yet but Paul Rudd was the problem in both seasons to me. I liked this season better until the episode where they went out to suburban New York and Melissa McCarthy got involved. That whole episode was a waste other than highlighting season 1 holes in the plotlines.

Last season was better but that to me was because it was a love letter to musicals. It was heartfelt. This season is not bad but like I said, has dragged after that episode.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.