Night Cheese

I may be in the minority here, but I think they did a surprisingly good job showing a lot of the angles of the Shaw-family dynamic, and provided some insight into why Aiden feels compelled to put his life on hold until his son is grown. Raising a kid with ADHD is difficult, and Aiden and Kathy not being on the same page about how to handle/manage his disorder not only affects their co-parenting dynamic, but also affects how effectively they are raising Wyatt. I'm more on Kathy's side in that I believe in providing Adderall (the prescribed dosage, not whatever you can score in NYC 😑) is more helpful than hurtful, but I also empathize with Aiden's thinking that being an active and present parent will help Wyatt in a more natural and holistic way. I do, however, think Wyatt desperately needs therapy in addition to the Adderall, but I also know (second-hand) how difficult it can be to get kids woth ADHD to therapy. (In my opinion) you have to be receptive of therapy for it to be effective, and that's not always easy with ADHD kids--or troubled children, in general. I think there is a middle ground somewhere that Aiden and Kathy could find if they worked together a little more and maybe attended some sort of family therapy or parents of ADHD kids support group. I also think I gained a new perspective on why Aiden feels like he has to wait until Wyatt is grown to really move on with Carrie. But in the same vein, I think they both need to acknowledge that it's both unrealistic and unhealthy to try to maintain a real relationship while he focuses on his son. That allllll said, do I think that this storyline and the realities of raising a child with ADHD, navigating co-parenting, the medication debate, etc., etc., has any place on this show? Not really. This poorly written fluff job is meant to be just that. Keep the family drama in family drama series.

Wow! Wowwowwow! I too feel old. I was trying to place her the whole episode.

When the show started, this forum was just a single catch-all thread. Then it was upgraded to a full forum during the second season and the first season episode threads were added after the fact. You'll see more action in the episode threads for seasons 2 and 3.

I like Kayla too. I think she's hilarious and most of my biggest laughs are her lines/line delivery. Now, if I knew her in real life, that's a different story. At best I'd be exasperated with her like Jimmy is, and at worst, I'd really dislike her.

Any news on who is leaving? I've seen some cryptic things on social media but it's mostly just gossip or speculation disguised as reputable reporting.

Edit: spoilers.

I think this is a great characterization of them. Neither are characters who are easy to sympathize with, save for some rare moments. They're not particularly good people either, save for some rare moments, mostly with each other, but occasionally with others too.

I unintentionally watched all of this yesterday. It wasn't the best show, but i thought it was better than a lot of other shows about a longtime friends group of a certain age that we catch up with at certain points in their lives as they face life's challenges. Nick dying was a complete shock. I was wondering about halfway through if the show was going to end with him getting back together with Anne or if everyone would come around to accept and even become fond of Ginny. I guess the latter kinda happened. The pregnancy was predictable once Nick died. I loved the Alan Alda cameo. When Kate hugged him and said I love you, it was obvious that was more so Tina than Kate, and that was perfectly fine. I'm here for all the odes to the great ones before they leave us.

So is women ages 25-45 really the coveted demo for late night? Because I fall smack dab in the middle of that demo and I don't know any woman in that range that watches late night. I don't even know women who have cable in that age range. I know a lot of women who watch the Daily Show and Last Week Tonight, but not Deborah's brand of late night programming. I'm finding myself laughing week in and week out because this is inherently funny, but they've really doubled-down on Deborah and Eva as enemies and I don't think I'll enjoy this lasting all season.

Airing May 1, 2025 Clickable Face (2025) After a focus group reveals a weak performance with women, Deborah does whatever it takes to connect with the coveted demo, while Kayla and Jimmy set out to book a suitable guest and Ava desperately tries to maintain the show's integrity.

This one didn't really work for me. I'm still not enjoying Deborah and Ava being at odds with each other and curious how they're going to handle Deborahs late night gig if the show goes beyond this season. I'm starting to get the feeling Deborah will do the show for a year and realize she just needed to prove that she could do it, and then step away from the hosting gig. Which may work, or may feel like a waste of a whole season (of Hacks). Loved the Carol Burnett cameo and loved that she played herself. We need more overt praise of and metaphorical love letters to these amazing trailblazers before they're not around anymore. This was perfect.

I didn't realize how much I missed Vegas until this episode. I don't even really like Vegas, but it was great to blend an attempt at a writers retreat in with the typical craziness that is Las Vegas. This show is really firing on all cylinders. Even without almost all of the supporting cast, this was almost nonstop laughs for me and Mr Night Cheese. I'm curious what the gameplan is for the Late Night storyline. Given how much they've pivoted from season to season, I feel like they won't want to be stuck in LA beyond this season, but it would be pretty crappy to have Deborah fail after finally getting to host a late night show. Loved seeing Poppy and the Mayor. Both really elevate the comedy in this show.

My local ABC News affiliate did a segment on this this morning. They didn't show any of the cast there except Quinta who gave a speech. Great to see they all turned out to support Sheryl! A greatly deserved honor!!

Aww, I would love to see Longwood Gardens on Abbott Elementary! It's one of my favorite places in the world. I took field trips there as a kid a bunch of times. Other field trips we took (outside of the places they've already been to on the show) are the Mutter Museum (maybe too weird for little kids), the Herr's factory, Battleship New Jersey, Museum of the American Revolution, and the Liberty Bell. When I was in high school we went to all of the art museums or saw plays/musicals, so maybe not realistic for the Abbott kids. I never did this in school, but I could see them going on a field trip to the Linc or Citizens Bank Park. They'd probably be able to get some good cameos from Eagles or Phillies players.

Love this! I'm hoping and assuming they went on location to film this like the previous field trips/season finales. If I have ever been to the Please Touch Museum, I was too young to remember it, but I know of it well enough and am looking forward to seeing it on TV.

I really think they leaned away from the mother/daughter-mentor/protegee dynamic and heavily into the dysfunctional relationship/jilted lovers dynamic this episode. Some of it was hard to watch because I like this show best when they're getting along and gelling creativity. But I understand what they're doing from a storytelling perspective. They'll find their way back to each other. They each only really thrive with the support of the other.

Airing April 10, 2025 Cover Girls (2025) After their magazine feature is published, Ava feels even more stymied at work, while Deborah finds herself at odds with everything and everyone. Meanwhile, Kayla and Jimmy struggle with opening their new management company.

Airing April 10, 2025 Big, Brave Girl (2025) Deborah stops at nothing to get Ava removed from the head writer position at Late Night, while Marcus prepares for a difficult conversation.

I wish they'd keep Mr. Johnson in the background more because I do not find him funny at all. The Jill Scott stalker thing was super creepy. I think the show would be better suited if his character were like Creed from The Office. Very weird, full of weird and random life experiences, but never in the forefront of any storyline or eclipsing the main characters. I loved him popping up last episode as Ava's hype man slash t-shirt launcher. That's the perfect type of use for him. Ava, on the other hand, has somehow become one of my favorites, which I never would have expected during the first season. Poor Gregory. He really isn't suited for social interaction. I kept thinking about the scene a couple weeks ago with him rehearsing a basic greeting and small talk for his Uber riders. Poor guy.

The woman who is overseeing the Ratliff's trip (a wellness concierge? I don't remember her name) warned them about it in the first episode when she was taking them to their suite. I think it was when she was explaining the no phones policy.

I understand that from a storytelling purpose, Chekov's poisonous fruit adds suspense/intrigue/drama, but seriously, why would a health spa have any poisonous vegetation on the property that is very easily accessible to guests? It completely takes me out of the scene.

I loved even the medical professionals fangirling over NW (an actor) visiting. I'm not a medical professional, but i feel like I'd react the same way.

Lol yeah, I won't argue that she's not a little spoiled, shallow, and/or vapid.

Same! When she walked into the classroom I started humming "if you wanna be somebody, if you wanna go somewhere, you better wake up and payyyyy attention". I also just recently treated myself to a Sister Act double-feature so the songs from both movies have been stuck in my head for days now.

I thought Piper wanted to go on this trip herself, but her parents were all, "let's make it a family vacation!!!" I may be misremembering, but I thought she told her parents she needed to go to Thailand for her senior thesis (lying about that as we know now and actually wanting to scope out a new lifestyle), and her parents decided to tag along and bring the whole family. I didn't get the impression that Piper was the one pushing a 5-Star family vacation to Thailand.