The TV thread

I think the dynamic between Jimmy and Alice makes more sense than that. You have to remember that he pretty much abandoned her for a year after his wife was killed. She had to turn to the neighbors and Paul for support all that time. Jimmy is still trying to earn back her trust, so his authority is on very shaky ground with her. That is why his hesitancy to confront her makes some sense, even though it is bad parenting.

If you think about it, Jimmy is an asshole. He keeps doing damage to everyone around him. He tries to repair it and his behavior is rooted in his own unresolved trauma, but this is a story about damaged people.

I'm not sure Paul's storyline is interesting, but I find the character funny. Then again, I may be biased because it is Harrison Ford.

I agree with your point about Brett Goldstein's character. And yes, Paul's girlfriend is the best part of just about every scene she's in.

Of course, we all have our things we like and don't like. I just think it works better than you do.

 

Not disagreeing with anything you have to say*. I think I still have a bad taste in my mouth from season 3 of The Bear, where I think the plotline sucks or the characters suck, and there is always a fallback to the character's 'previous trauma'. In fact, you could say that I have a 'previous trauma' about shows where any shitty behavior is excused by previous trauma.

*Well, except the part about your high school kid walking in at 7:00 am, and you don't ask a question. In fact I think that Jimmy did ask a question about her cut leg and it was, "oh, okay".

 

The problem with Season 3 of The Bear is that the show wasted our time with a lot of navel-gazing rather than moving the story forward.

Shrinking isn't doing that. They have moved on things like Jimmy's relationship with Gabby and Alice screwing up, but also dealing with her feelings through getting to know Louis.

I certainly wouldn't handle much of anything the way Jimmy does. No matter how bad he screwed up, he should still be acting like a father to Alice, asking questions and guiding her away from poor decisions. That's kind of the point. Jimmy isn't just screwed up. He is trying to work his way through all the damage he has done since his wife's death and he is lost enough to allow that to undermine his authority with his daughter.

 

re Paul's girlfriend: I swear, Wendie Malick seems to show up on my TV screen every 32 minutes. (Not that she isn't good in just about anything she does.)

Regular on Shrinking. Regular on Night Court, apparently, though I don't watch that. Saw her in a guest role on Doctor Odyssey the other night. Recently, a considerable role on Young Sheldon. Recently, a considerable role on Dear White People. It also seems she's starring in a Hallmark series called The Chicken Sisters.

How's she find the time?

 

I marvel at Malick's career. There are very few sitcoms or network dramas in the past 30 years she hasn't at least guested on. Her IMDB lists 197 projects dating back to 1978

 

It is still a notable achievement to be the worst-looking woman on "Baywatch."

 

Had no idea she was ever on that show. First saw her on Dream On.

 

She certainly had a longer shelf life than Brian Benben. Although I suppose being married to Madeleine Stowe is a nice consolation prize.

 

Rivals on Hulu is pretty good so far.

 

My life always goes back to Seinfeld, and she played the doctor charged George for a visit even after he cancelled.

 

Ted Danson in the Netflix limited series "Man on the Inside" is really good. Some over acting from others, but a comedic serial with poignant undertones. Enjoyable light entertainment.

 

I like Shrinking. My wife and I think it’s better than much that’s on TV (yeah, that’s a low bar).

My concern with it is that it started out, at least to me, exploring situations and issues that were not the usual fodder. Grief, forgiveness, aging with a potential debilitating condition, PTSD, etc. through seemingly new eyes. There seemed to be a bit of a quirky authenticity. Things were a bit strange, but buyable.

To me, the second season stretches that buy-in. The bouncy cute approach such as Paul and Jimmy’s canoe ride, Gabby’s crotch dialog, the “get in the sea” thing. That strikes me as writers the having fun they might no often get the freedom to have, which isn’t a flaw in and of itself, but are those antics the best way to tell the story? I kind of had the same sort of reluctances with parts of Ted Lasso; some of the storylines seemed to step a bit outside of plausibility. Do that too much and it becomes farcical. Jimmy seems a bit bubble-wrapped through his self- generated train wrecks.

More optimistically, Alice seems to be making headway and the continually under appreciated Derek is showing some backbone. There are still fresh perspectives and interesting directions. I hope it doesn’t stray too far from what brought me in.