Shrinking (serial)

Season 1-3

Jason Segal, Harrison Ford and Jessica Williams are all therapists in Ford's practice. Segal lost his wife to a drunk driver a year ago, so his own recovery and that of his teen daughter are front and center. Surround these three with the nosy, lovable neighbors, the over-the-top gay friend, the PTSD Veteran/Patient living in the pool house and you would expect chaos. And it is... but also perfect. I know, too perfect. But I don't really care since every episode is both laugh out loud and cry in 35 minutes. Written by Brett Goldstein, also has a recurring role as the drunk driver, and somehow that works. Great series.

5 stars (out of 5)

The Best of the Best

The UCLA Bollywood competitive dance club gets a couple of new freshman dancers who are life best friends. Who gets the lead, who is likable, who is the better dancer, who can do school without trying, what romantic intertwinements will we see? All while enjoying good Bollywood/HipHop fusion dancing in route to beating USC in the National Best of the Best competition. Purely predictable. And decent dancing. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Ted Lasso (serial)

Season 4

Ted is pulled back to Richmond to coach the new women's team. Actually to form and then coach. This seems more like season 1, introducing the characters and the personality and methodolgy of Ted. But we already know Ted, so somehow it doesn't work as well. Pieces of good story and character, somewhat funny, somewhat emotional ... but overall, somewhat flat. 

3 stars (out of 5)

Reacher (serial)

Season 3

New season, new story, new city. Reacher witnesses (instigates?) a suicide on the Philly metro and opts to investigate the reasons. This leads to terrorists developing and trying to sell bioweapons, the CIA trying to cover up the source, a Senator trying to understand his involvement, a conspiracy theorist journalist pulling at threads, a back bench Philly cop and a small town policeman all weaving a web of action and entangling Reacher. This may be the first Reacher offering that I both got exactly what was promised/expected and was not really interested. Hmm...

3 stars (out of 5)

Mayday

Ryan Reynolds is a cold war pilot who is shot down in central Soviet Union. Kenneth Branaugh is former KGB living off the grid who finds and nurses him back to health. The two strike up an odd couple friendship with the goal of leaving to the USA together. Some definite Austin Powers vibes with some of the stereotype schtick and banter, but a bit more high brow... (a bit). Not too clever, but enjoyable and witty at times. 

3 stars (out of 5)

The Chelsea Detective (serial)

Series 1-4

DI Max Arnold is the homicide inspector in Chelsea, along with his team of DS and DC. He is a bit regular and a bit eccentric, but also self aware enough that when the good natured ribbing between colleagues takes place, he always gets that "Oh, I see" look. The pacing is great (clues given, not too soon, not too late) and each episode is standalone. I appreciate that 4 seasons in, we haven't devolved to personal vendettas an serial killers. Excellent British police procedural. 

4 stars (out of 5)

The Mandalorian & Grogu

Mando and Grogu are now working for the New Republic as independent contractors. They are sent to the Hutt twins (successors to Jabba) to take a job in return for info on former Imperial leaders. This job is to find wayward Ratta (Jabba's son) and return him to the fold. This is one of the most re-tread movies I have ever seen. It is remarkably lazy storytelling, relying on Star Wars tropes and nostalgia entertainment. Unfortunately, the tropes haven't held up well, and the nostalgia is long gone. If Disney is going to continue the world with any success, they need creative storytellers exploring new worlds. 

2 stars (out of 5)