Shrinking S3 E7

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“I Will Be Grape”

It is the birthday of Tia so Jimmy and Alice are celebrating in their own way. The whole group of characters are circling around, lending their help and support. Alice is very worried that her father will be alone and be completely lonely when she went to college.

Jimmy definitely showed how much he still missed his wife, as we see a sweet scene with them singing “A Thousand Years” and Tia messing up the lyrics to sing “I Will Be Grape.”

Alice called Louis to come to Tia’s grave so Jimmy can see how good his life has become. Alice tells Jimmy that he was the reason why Louis was able to move on, and she worried that Jimmy would never be able to move on.

New epic guest star this week. Shrinking has amazing actors in secondary and supporting roles, and Candace Bergen is here as Constance, Derek’s mother, who has had a very contemptuous relationship with Liz over the years.

I love Candace Bergen and having her on Shrinking is fabulous. What was even better was the all-too-short scene between Candace Bergen and Harrison Ford. What a wonderfully written moment and I loved every second of it.

Michael J. Fox also returned this week in a session with Paul.

Then, we get Cobie Smulders back as Sofie, who gets invited to the final sing-a-long with Jimmy and his whole family/friends at the celebration of Tia’s birthday. A little awkward, but fitting right in with the way Shrinking goes.

Then, it ends with a brutal thud as Gaby gets a phone call telling her that “We lost Maya.” I assumed that she died, as she did seem like she had made a decision at the end of last episode.

Strong episode again as this show is just so awesome. So many amazing actors with such excellent writing.

The Pitt S2 E10

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“4:00 PM”

“You hold the leg.”

I laughed at this line as Ogilvie was handed the severed leg of an incoming patient. The look on his face was just hilarious.

The Pitt was thrown several more rough cases after a water park ride collapse.

Robby is showing the stress of everything a bit more this year as he ripped into Samira after her panic attack. Robby did come right to the point sharply. He also had some words with Dr. Al-Hashimi. Robby has been slowly cracking over this show and those cracks are beginning to show.

There are a bunch of characters struggling with their own personal issues. Mel came back from her disposition and the lawyers were apparently rough on her. Langdon and Santos’s dialogue is sarcastic to say the best. Both Samira and Javadi are having mommy issues. Becca tells Mel that she had a UTI because she has been having sex with her boyfriend- lots of sex, she said.

Things feel as if they are beginning to get tense among the characters and I wonder if things are going to become rough soon.

Paradise S2 E5

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“The Mailman”

Episode five is a very strong episode that kind of reminded me of the season one episode from The Last of Us where we met Bill, A Long, Long Time. It felt outside of the story that was being told around them for much of the episode.

This is the background of the story of where Teri has been and how she survived the three years outside of the bunker.

Turned out there was a mailman named Gary and a friend of his named Enos he met playing games online. The two of them were bouncing around conspiracy theories and how they would survive a zombie apocalypse, when things seemingly became real for them.

Gary discovered that there was a fallout shelter in the basement of the post office that he worked in that was hidden and was not used. No one even knew it was there.

Gary and Enos were collecting a small group of people to join them in the shelter and Teri wound up among that by happenstance.

There was also a young boy named Bean, who had an abusive homelife, that Gary would see on his mail route. Gary brought the boy with him into the shelter. It was Bean that helped bring Teri into the group as they bonded very quickly.

Gary was the man Xavier had at gunpoint at the end of the last episode. He had told Xander that he had known his wife and that she was taken.

However, this all seems like BS. The end of the episode threw a real twist as we see a scene where Gary and Enos went to see the people in the train and discovered that they were people looking to help others and were on the way to Colorado. Gary shot Enos to keep the story away from Teri (though it looked like Bean saw that happen) and Gary has been lying to Xavier this whole time.

I was feeling something was off with Gary for awhile during the episode. I thought maybe Gary was the one to destroy the radio, but Enos did admit to doing that.

There are some real questions about what Gary did and why he did it. I am sure that it will make more sense once we hear the full story, but, for now, Xavier is planning on attacking this group of people on the train to find Teri. It could be that she is not even there.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #7

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#7

The Muppet Show

 “It’s time to play the music / It’s time to light the lights…”.

Written: Jim Henson and Sam Pottle

Performed: The Muppets

On the most sensational inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational

The Muppet Show was such an epic variety show featuring all of the greatest celebrities of the time. The opening theme, done in a vaudeville style, is one of the reasons this was such an amazing show.

They had Fozzie Bear early in the show’s run doing a joke in the middle of the theme. This was replaced later by Staler and Waldorf singing a verse.

First season theme

Undertone

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I have seen some poor horror movies to kick off 2026. I was not a fan of Iron Lung. I did not like the new Dracula film. Scream 7 was a real disappointment. The Bride was a big swing that did not work, and Psycho Killer is currently the worst film of the year.

So I went into the new horror film, Undertone, which was the big screen debut of director Ian Tuason. I had found the trailer intriguing and knowing it is a new A24 film, I went into the film with hopes that this would break the rotten horror streak.

According to IMDB, “The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way.“

Lead actress Nina Kiri carries the heft of this film on her shoulders as she does a tremendous job in the role as this podcaster who is the skeptic on her podcast about the supernatural topics they cover. Her co-host, who we never see on screen, is voiced by Adam DiMarco, and he has a really strong voice over performance.

The film is a perfect example of the use of sound in the horror genre. Called Audio Horror, the sound design is so tense and anxious that it really affects the audience. The use of the sounds, the silence, the way the sounds change when Nina Kiri puts on her headphones… all of it is sensational and creates a theater experience unlike many.

The camera work in the film is also strong. There are some shots that are specifically designed to make the audience expect that a scare is coming, but many times, the idea that there is something in the dark is only suggested, allowing the audience to provide their own scares. The film does have some jump scares, but they are kept to a minimum and are effective when they appear.

I am not sure that I found the ending overly satisfying, but it was certainly intense and worked as a way to end a film that matched that intensity level.

This is definitely a film that broke that run of terrible horror movies. It is a slow burn, but it moves fairly quickly over the run time of the film. It was a suspenseful theater experience and I would recommend people see this. Not only because it is a good movie, but for the fact that the budget on this film was only like $500,000, which is ridiculously low and there should be more films succeed that take a chance at keeping the budget down.

4 stars

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #8

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#8

Peacemaker

Season One

Season Two

James Gunn is renown for his choices in music to use with his projects. However, no one expected the opening title sequence to his HBO Max series Peacemaker to be what we got. The dance routine done by John Cena and the rest of the cast was absolutely amazing and was something that no one would skip. It was must watch every week.

Title: “Do Ya Wanna Taste It”

Composed: Trond Holter

Lyrics: Åge Sten Nilsen

Performed: Wig Wam

Then, came season two and the new theme was anticipated almost as much as the show. The new song was “Oh Lord” by Foxy Shazam. My first reaction to the new opening was… “It’s fine… it just can’t compare to the first season.” Then after about two or three weeks, it was every bit as great as the firs tone.

Title: “Oh Lord”

Composer: Foxy Shazam (Eric Nally, Loren Turner, Sky White, Daisy Caplan, Alex Nauth & Thomas Pridgen)

Lyrics: Eric Nally and Alex Nauth.

Performed: Foxy Shazam

One Piece S2 E2

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“A Promise Between Men! Luffy and the Whale Vow to Meet Again!”

The Straw Hats are on the way to the Grand Line and the path gets distracted by a giant whale.

Yes, a giant whale.

Laboon is his name and he wound up swallowing the ship of the Straw Hats. They give the whale a backstory and a reason why he was pounding his head against the Red Line. The show introduced Crocus as the man who watched and tried to help Laboon.

We also get two more assassins inside the whale. Miss Wednesday and Mr. Nine are the two assassins from a group and I do not think we ever found out why they were inside Laboon.

I do love the way that Luffy painted the straw hat on Laboon to symbolize that he was the part of the Straw Hats and keep him from pounding his head into the Red Line.

This was a fun side adventure with Laboon. The whale actually turned out to be a pretty cool character for the show.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #9

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#9

Underdog

“There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!”

Composed: W. Watts “Buck” Biggers

Performed: Rober Ragaini

This was one of my earliest superhero TV memories. I loved these themes, with their different lyrics. I would look forward to the theme every episode to see which one would be the one.

It was apparently designed to be similar to the William Tell Overture (Lone Ranger theme).

Clean Room #18

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Written by Gail Simone

Art by Walter Geovani

Cover art by Jenny Frison

“A Bridge to Nowhere”

The final issue of Clean Room Vol 1 came to an end and, thankfully, it wrapped up the story in a nice, tight roll.

I was very worried that the series would end without sufficient closure, perhaps canceled by the cruel fates, leaving the threads a dangling. However, my fears were unjustified as this brought everything to an extremely satisfying conclusion.

The finale found the final showdown between Astrid and Derica, which turned out to be more one sided than I expected. I should have guessed that Astrid was in complete control of the situation. Of course she was.

We found out even more proof that Capone is one bad ass m-fer. I am so pleased that she made it through the conclusion.

The story of Chloe made perfect sense and what Astrid had Chloe do at the end also worked for this story. I loved having Spark make his return and play a huge role in the finale. I also loved having the brothers Havelin on site and brandishing a big piece of wood. Avil returned too and the idea of some threesomes between him, Chloe and Killian is mind-blowing.

I’ve been reading this series for the past 18 days and I am very pleased with the ending. It was satisfying and placed the characters that I have grown to love in great places and it works as an ending.

Thanks to Gail Simone for her creativity and storytelling skills. This was a fabulous series that I truly enjoyed.

The Daily Read will pause now for awhile until the next series presents itself. This was a fun time with comics and there is little better than that.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #10

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#10

M.A.S.H.

We are into the TOP 10!!!!

Title: “Suicide is Painless”

Composed: Johnny Mandel

The MASH theme song was an instrumental version of the song “Suicide is Painless” which was the theme of the original motion picture MASH (1970). The film version of the song featured lyrics from Michael Altman and was performed by The Ron Hicklin Singers.

The MASH theme is an iconic piece of music that delivered a feeling of melancholy that echoed the show.

One Piece S2 E1

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“THE BEGINNING AND THE END”

One Piece is back!

The surprise hit series from Netflix is back after a couple of years with a second season of pirate action and Anime adventures.

I knew One Piece was coming out on March 10th, but I did not realize that it was out right now. Because I did not realize this, I was only able to watch the premiere episode of season two, entitled “The Beginning and the End.”

The whole crew is back and they are on their way to the Grand Line, but they need supplies so they take a detour to Loguetown, which happened to be where the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was born and died.

Zoro needed to buy two new swords. He wound up with a couple of very special ones after “haggling.” We were introduced to Tashigi, a young woman Marine who helped Zoro out at the sword shop. She did not mention being a Marine, and that she worked for Smoker.

Buggy the Clown and Alvida showed up too and grabbed Luffy. They were out for revenge for what Luffy had done to them before.

You can’t watch this show without getting swept up in the positive energy of Luffy. He is one of the best, most engaging characters on television. The crew around him are fabulous too. I am not a viewer of the Anime One Piece, since it has like five million episodes (Looks like it is actually 1,155… but may as well be five million). However, I loved season one of the Netflix live action show and I am here for these new eight episodes.

It is just a lot of fun and has such an energy about it. I am glad it is back.

Clean Room #17

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Written by Gail Simone

Art by Walter Geovani

Cover arty by Jenny Frison

“Waiting for the Stars to Fall”

The penultimate issue of this first series in the Daily Read category sees Astrid re-establish control over her #1 Fan, Artus. He spent the first half of the book making himself seem superior to the “critter” but he took things a step too far and Astrid decided that enough was enough and she brought this little creep down big time while coming to rescue Chloe and Killian.

However, the big throwdown is still coming as Derica is on her way to have a massive confrontation with Astrid. This is just after Astrid is informed by Artus that the way to destroy the Entities was to exorcise the child.

That sounds like a big war in the finale.

I have to say that I am worried that the series did not come to a clean conclusion. Was it canceled and so the storyline was left dangling? That would not be what I want.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #11

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#11

Scooby Doo… Where Are You?

Written: David Mook & Ben Raleigh

Performed: Larry Marks (Season One); George A. Robinson Jr.

Iconic music to the classic Scooby Doo show, Scooby Doo… Where Are You? has been used in countless other projects over the year featuring Scoob and the gang.

Season Two

Agents of Shield S3 E18, E19, E20, E21, E22

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“The Singularity”

This episode saw the final dismantling of Hydra… offscreen. Amazing that an organization that had such a huge impact on the MCU and this series was dealt with finally as Coulson watched on screens.

We get the debut of Holden Radcliffe, who would become more of a important character in the next season dealing with LMDs. Radcliffe is quite the snake as he is willing to switch sides without blinking an eye.

Fitz and Simmons have sex at the end of the episode, finally consummating a relationship that has been “cursed” from day one, seemingly.

“Failed Experiments”

The Kree appear in this episode as Hive lured them to earth in order to get their blood. Hive’s plan to turn the human race into Inhumans means he had to recreate the original experiment where he had been turned into an Inhuman.

Mac and Daisy faced off and she beat him silly. Mac kept saying that he wasn’t going to fight her. Mac is able to survive because Daisy does not really want to kill him. Mac ruins the experiment with the Kree too.

Daisy offers her own blood to continue the experiement.

“Emancipation”

The Sovokia Accords show their rotten faces in this episode as Talbot comes to Shield headquarters looking for answers. Talbot wants the Inhumans in Shield to be registered, but Coulson said that this is not what they need, they need to keep them secret.

Lincoln has been contacted by Daisy. It’s so funny how Daisy just pushes a few keys and she is throughout the Shield HQ. Daisy wants to help Lincoln to escape and come join her and Hive. Lincoln agrees, but it is part of the plan. Daisy manually brings in a Quinjet, that she believed had Lincoln inside. Instead, it was Lash.

Lash used his power to cure Daisy of the control of Hive, but ends up getting killed by James. Daisy returned to Shield with the Quinjet and the dead body of Lash.

“Absolution”

Daisy is struggling. Like she is addicted to Hive, she is having trouble dealing with things that she had done.

The team launched an assault on Hive, and they end up capturing him. They brought him aboard the Zephyr One, but it turned out that is exactly what Hive wanted. Hive had a bomb that had a virus connected to it and he needed a way to get high enough in the atmosphere to spread it across the earth, changing humans into Inhumans.

Daisy confronted Hive at the end of the episode and begged him to take her back. I was not a fan of this, because it made Daisy look pretty weak.

“Ascension”

The Hive storyline came to a satisfying conclusion as Coulson came up with a new plan, to load the bomb onto a Quinjet and send it into space. When the explosion went off, the virus would be in space and would not cause any trouble for the earth.

Of course, there are all kinds of trouble with the execution of this. Yo Yo gets shot trying to protect Mac. Lincoln gets injured by James. Hive is still running around causing trouble.

Daisy, who had had visions of the future where a Shield agent died, wanted to sacrifice herself in the Quinjet to make sure the bomb is safe for the planet. However, Lincoln beats her to it and he and Hive are trapped in the Quinjet as it leaves earth’s atmosphere.

I was never a big fan of Lincoln, but I appreciated his sacrifice and his last few moments with Hive in the Quinjet, knowing that their deaths were imminent, was very strong.

I did feel bad for Daisy, who sure went through it this season. Her grief over Lincoln’s death was tough.

The end of the episode restarted things for the next season, with Life Model Decoys, a vigilante Quake and Coulson no longer director being major hints dropped.