BEBrady2020 Reviews

The Great British Baking Show (2010– )

Please, please different hosts

[4/10 · 12 November 2020]

It is just me, or are the hosts of this show becoming more and more irritating as the years go by? Having just binged seasons 6, 7 and 8, I can say for certain that not one word out of their mouths did I find funny or interesting. They are clearly there to distract and annoy the contestants, which it is clear they do. And they annoy me! Never have I used the 10-sec-forward button so much. Skip the lame hosts and false drama and get straight to the final products and the judging, which are always interesting.

The things that make the GBBS charming are still there--friendly, supportive contestants, bucolic setting with cutaways to baby ducks and butterflies, interesting and sometimes bizarre challenges, doing it all for a cakeplate, etc. But the hosts are killing the show.

The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank (1988 TV Movie)

Unlistenable audio

[5/10 · 11 September 2019]

My impression is that the content of this film is quite good. However I did not get 10 minutes into it because of the absolutely atrocious layering of the audio in the soundtrack. The music underneath the narration is overbearing. And the use of simultaneous speech into languages is unintelligible. This is really too bad, because I am very interested in the content of the film. I hope other viewers have better luck, or more patience, to hear what this film has to say.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977)

Very good but not exactly "terrific"

[8/10 · 27 August 2019]

I just binge watched all seven seasons, and a lot of the humor holds up after all these years. The supporting characters, Ted Baxter, Sue Ann Nivens, Georgette Franklin and Phyllis Lindstrom, are hilarious and timeless. They make the show worth watching. Murray, on the other hand, is pathetic and cloying. Lou is a lout and a drunk. Mary plays insecure extremely well and is an all-time great funny crier (as is Ted Baxter), but her voice can be quite shrill, she appears anorexic, and her love life, quite often, makes me think "MTM" stands for "me too moments."

One thing that drove me up the wall was hearing the word "terrific" so many times per episode, especially in the last few seasons. Did the writers know any other adjective? Every character uses it. You could have a great drinking game if you took a swig every time someone says "terrific." But wait! Don't try that! You would get dangerously drunk dangerously fast.

My Uncle Silas (2001–2003)

Cloying and raunchy

[1/10 · 1 May 2019]

The tone of the show is cloying in the extreme, from the cheery theme music to Albert Finney's over-the-top, hammy portrayal of the lead character. My Uncle Silas depicts a lecherous old man who drags his young nephew all over the countryside then tells the kid to scram so he can hit on the ladies. Uncle Silas typically gets his women drunk or high, even slipping them a mickey without their knowledge. When he's not pursuing women, Uncle Silas is poaching fish and game, which he gleefully allows the young boy to witness. The whole message of this show seems to be "boys will be boys," and somehow that's okay if it's set in the 1800s and the costuming is authentic No thank you.

The Young Pope (2016)

Disgusting. Banal. Vapid. Don't waste your time.

[1/10 · 27 November 2018]

This series strives to be provocative for provocation sake. It purports some sallow, stupid theology that makes no sense, even as fantasy. And I don't say this as some kind of religious fanatic or Catholic apologist. It's just an utterly dumb series. They just threw some badly drawn characters and a thin plot onto a semi-interesting premise to see what would stick. Bleah! Diane Keaton is at her most unappealing when she appears. How did she get sucked into this? Or Jude Law for that matter.

Red Oaks (2014–2017)

Well written. Interesting, likable characters. Endearing.

[10/10 · 27 November 2018]

This is an eminently watchable (and re-watchable) series. The romance between the dumpy, nerdy guy and the smart hot girl is so refreshing. I have never appreciated Paul Reiser's and Richard Kind's talent more. Even the smarmy tennis pro has some redeeming qualities. Except for the wedding dress in the big wedding episode (which did not have anything close to the amount of fabric characteristic of the era) the soundtrack and art direction evoke the 80s extremely well. Red Oaks is definitely worth watching.

Mosaic (2018)

Casting director did us no favors

[1/10 · 8 October 2018]

In addition to the writing, which gets weaker as the series goes on, the casting is pretty bad. Sharon Stone is great, but everyone else is middling. Worst of all, they all look alike. The writing does not support strong characterizations, so you wish Eric looked dramatically different from Joel, and that the women weren't all brunettes, and that two detectives didn't both have scruffy, light red beards (well, maybe we put that down to the makeup department). And which of these characters do you really want to look at for six hours? There's not an attractive one in the bunch except Ms. Stone. By the middle of episode 5, I'm seriously wondering if it's just me or if this series is really bad. So I start reading the user reviews on IMDB and learn that (a) it's not just me; it's bad, and (b) the ending is going to be a huge disappointment. So I'm not bothering to finishing it. I'm guessing no redeeming qualities will emerge at this point to make it worth my while.