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Ghost Adventures: House Calls: Mansfield Meltdown (2024)
Little activity, but a methodical investigation
In the end, what seems most likely to be happening is that there is some very little amount of real paranormal activity happening in the house, but that the women who called for the Ghost Adventures team to investigate were embellishing their story. When the women hung up on the Ghost Adventures team and became unreachable after being questioned about a certain aspect of their story, I think this clarified that the story being peddled, of remarkable poltergeist activity, was not true.
Regardless, the Ghost Adventures team investigated the house like any other, and were methodical in trying to understand what, if anything, was going on. They did capture a very minimal amount of paranormal activity, but it was nothing to write home about. I think the value in this episode was in seeing how the Ghost Adventures team are skeptical when coming into an investigation- they didn't approach this trying to prove the existence of the claimed poltergeist, but rather tried to disprove it by looking for alternative explanations. Seeing how the Ghost Adventures: House Calls team does an investigation, even with little to no "evidence" is still entertaining to see.
The Muppets Mayhem (2023)
The Muppets have returned to form
Ever since Disney acquired the Muppets (franchise), it seems they haven't really known what to do with them. The 2011 movie The Muppets was excellent, while the sequel was just okay. The 2015 ABC show "the muppets." was terrible, but the one-off Muppets Haunted Mansion was good.
In The Muppets Mayhem, the Muppets (at least some of them) finally return to the small screen in a season reminiscent of the look and feel of the Muppets from the original Jim Henson movies. This show is the best use of the Muppets at least since 2011's The Muppets.
The Muppets Mayhem is surprisingly good- in addition to nearly every episode having a significant cameo, there is great music, lots of humor, and a lot of backstory on the members of the Electric Mayhem. Through the season we see a lot of character growth not just for the Electric Mayhem, but for their human partners helping them record an album.
Unexpectedly, I saw that Adam F. Goldberg co-produced the show- the same Goldberg that gave us the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs. This show seems like a natural next step for Goldberg- the humor in The Muppets Mayhem and the seamless introduction of cameos is reminiscent of the early seasons of the Goldbergs.
This season diving into the backstory of the Electric Mayhem was a lot of fun. I hope that the success of this show means that more Muppet shows are on the way!
The Simpsons: The Very Hungry Caterpillars (2023)
Watchable but out of character
The Very Hungry Caterpillars is a clear parody of the COVID lockdown, which on its own isn't a bad premise for a plot. This was a major event everyone experienced. The episode just wasn't executed well. First, I didn't find it funny. COVID had such a dramatic impact on our daily lives that there was definitely more opportunity for comedy than to have an entire sublot revolve around Maggie's addiction to ranch dressing. Second, I felt the characters were out of character. Normally peaceful Marge snaps and goads Homer into breaking into Ned's house. Ned himself snaps, which has only happened a bare handful of times in the history of the series, and attempts to murder Homer. That scene played out like it was from a Treehouse of Horror episode. Finally, Lisa gets heavy anxiety from caterpillars, despite being the "brain" of the family and normally being into anything science/nature. In season 19 Lisa even helped Martin Prince with his butterfly project in Dial N for Nerder, but now for some reason she's disgusted by caterpillars. I didn't feel the plot of the episode justified these characters being so out of character.
This episode was very mediocre. I didn't find either of the two sublots (one about Maggie and ranch dressing, the other about Skinner and a baby quilt) to be funny, and I didn't feel the episode justified Marge, Ned, or Lisa being so out of character.
The Goldbergs: That's a Schwartz Man (2022)
Nothing Fresh - the show has become tedious
I've watched every episode of the Goldbergs from seasons 1-9 and just started season 10. Season 10 episode 1 was easily the weakest episode of the series- the writers didn't know how to properly handle Murray's "passing". Episode 2 isn't much better. A week away from leaving for college, Adam throws the curve ball that he's deferring for a year. What an enormous let down for the viewer. Then we have Geoff and Erica, who we learn in Episode 1 will also be living at the Goldbergs home. Pop Pop has moved into the basement of the Goldbergs home, apparently to replace the loss of Pops from a few seasons ago. Barry, despite being in college, is still a constant presence in the house. At this point in the show the JTP are also in college, but still act like they did in high school and, unsurprisingly, are also constantly at the Goldbergs house. The JTP have had absolutely no character development throughout the series.
Old characters that were good we haven't seen in many seasons; Dan Fogler was fantastic as Uncle Marvin. Seeing more Dan Fogler would have been really good for the series, especially as Jeff Garlin was being phased out as Murray. It doesn't make sense that Beverly is always with Mrs. Kremp, but that Chad (her son) hasn't been in an episode since the early seasons. No new characters have been added to liven things up other than the great addition of Richard Kind as Formica Mike in a minor role a few seasons ago.
It seems that at this point the writers of the Goldbergs don't know how to keep the series moving unless each episode revolves around all the main characters living in the same house. The writers could easily have had Geoff and Erica live at the Schwartz house (or the beach house), which if anything would have added a *little* more diversity to the plot. Sending Adam off to college would arguably have given the show the kick it needs- an entirely new location, new characters, and new opportunities for comedy. Instead, we get another year of the entire Goldberg extended family living in the same house. By season 10, this is tedious for the viewer.
The Goldbergs should have ended with season 9 (which already was well past the show's prime). I've kept up with the Goldbergs up to now, but at this point I can't watch any more. The show is derivative of its earlier seasons and isn't offering anything fresh.
In sitcoms the main characters usually experience some sort of change or development throughout the series. In Frasier, Frasier went through a few different jobs, while Niles got divorced, got married, and moved. In It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia the gang learned about Dennis and Dee's parentage, Mac got fat, and the gang even spent a whole season in Ireland. In Modern Family, it seems all the characters developed in some way, including having Phil going from being a real estate agent to a teacher at a community college, while the show was strengthened by having the Dunphy kids go off to college and do internships *away* from the house. To have basically no development in the Goldbergs characters by season 10 and to have them all still be living at home as full-on adults is a huge detriment to the series. The only real development we've seen is the marriage of Erica and Geoff, followed by Beverly's cookbook (but that happened way back in season 6).
TL;DR: The Goldbergs is offering nothing fresh and is bending over backwards to keep everyone (and every episode) revolving around the same house. By season 10, I've had enough of the same old same old.
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXXIII (2022)
One of the best Tree House episodes
I would have never expected it to happen in the 34th season, but Treehouse of Horror XXXIII was one of my all-time favorite Treehouse of Horror episodes. The show takes the classic approach to the Treehouse of Horror- the episode is made up of multiple independent stories. However, I thought each was very creatively done. Without giving anything away, the first is a classic horror story, the second is in the style of anime (which I thought was a very refreshing take for the Simpsons), and the third is... the third one has to be seen, but I enjoyed it the most. It's the Simpsons, meta.
This episode has a little bit of that Halloween horror vibe, has enough of that Simpsons humor, and was creatively different enough from past Treehouse episodes that, for me, this one is a winner.
The Simpsons: Lisa the Boy Scout (2022)
Clever Idea
I enjoy being surprised, and Lisa the Boy Scout surprised me. The showrunners pulled a fast one on the viewer; "Lisa the Boy Scout" is a red herring, as the episode itself actually has nothing to do with that. While the rest of the episode is a compilation of "bad" scenes from the history of the show, the scenes are funny. I enjoyed the creativity the showrunners put into making an episode like this.
Disney is referenced in the end of the episode, but I think the Disney integration with the Simpsons seems natural. It doesn't come off as forced, and it added to the humor of the scene.
With Lisa the Boy Scout, coupled with what I thought was a strong season opening with "Habeas Tortoise", Season 34 is off to a remarkably good start.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: Whose Show Is This? (2022)
Very satisfying curve ball
She-Hulk has been a fun diversion but hasn't been anything spectacular like Loki or WandaVision. It's been an enjoyable show, but I wouldn't call it "must watch" tv. Still, this season finale surprised me in all good ways. The episode continues the story threads from earlier in the season. Then, without spoiling anything, the show completely turned the concept of what a Marvel finale "should" be on its head. I wasn't at all expecting what She-Hulk did for this finale episode, but I thought it was very clever and I really enjoyed it. I'd like to see more of "this" concept in the show in future episodes.
I look forward to She-Hulk season 2.
The Simpsons: Habeas Tortoise (2022)
Great opening to 34th season
No, the Simpsons aren't what they were in the first 10 seasons, but for the season premiere of the 34th season the show is still doing pretty good. The writers of the show are clearly aware of current events. This episode revolves around conspiracy theories (and their followers). It's basically a thinly veiled critique of conspiracy theorists in society. Some of the jokes were well thought out, particularly the opening scene. This isn't a "peak" Simpsons episode, but still, it's a solid, enjoyable half hour.
The Simpsons has always been a reflection of American society. The references are too many (including the chronically underfunded Springfield Elementary). Some people may not like this episode's focus on conspiracy theorists, but I feel that has more to do with where American society is now than with how the Simpsons has changed.