DanaK

FYI, Doctor Who Series 12 is now streaming on HBO Max for American viewers

CNN is now promoting the last 2 episodes this Sunday so at least they seem to mean it this time

My DVR is showing that the last 3 episodes are being shown on Sep 6, so check your local listings

Man, I'll tell you all, the wacky way that first scenario was going when I thought it was real, I was starting to think they really flubbed the finale with some stupid hijinks. The fantasy segments really confused me. During the second one, I kept thinking, "Wait, is this the same guy that she identified as her rapist? Didn't she kill him? What's going on?" How it all actually went down will leave me thinking about the episode for a time because it's hard to digest given the mixture of fantasy and reality. Given all the fantasies that were going on, should we question that she actually saw her rapist again or just remembered him and his accomplice? I echo @Blakeston thought that she at least could have called the police to have him questioned, but perhaps she thought that would just prolong the pain.

I have to say, “Fridge Wars” is kind of silly and I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to watch it, but it turns out to be a fun, lighthearted Summer show. I’m not usually interested in cooking competitions, but the pandemic got me to start cooking and baking more

I have to admit, I was really confused by this episode. Were all 3 encounters all in her head as her running through scenarios? I figured the first 2 were after the second one, but I’m not sure about the last. The book release was real though, right?

I have to say, having the Ball without an audience and turning it into a telethon and putting the volunteers in smaller groups is both awkward and creative. The continued tributes to frontline workers while dodging Covid talk is also awkward and creative

Killer Camp was rather interesting in a dumb sort of way. If I were a contestant, I would have refused to continue until I got in person meetings with the first 2 eliminated contestants to make sure they were still alive and unhurt because that first reveal was totally nuts. As was the host. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a host that totally over the top in any reality show I’ve watched. But at least he seemed to be enjoying himself. If they were really there only a week, the hurt reaction from the lady who was falling for the “killer” seemed a little much because she only knew the guy a week

So were those scenes with Zain telling us Bella didn’t really know how to write; that is, write a structured thing like a book? I’m forgetting what drew the publishing house in the first place. Just her social media postings? I would be pissed that Zain was essentially absolved by his (female!) publisher and given a fake name to use so he could still write. I told you all there was something nasty about that woman. I hope Bella doesn’t return to her; she’s a backstabber

New season for Secrets of the Zoo (Columbus Zoo I think) premieres Saturday October 17 at 9pm on Nat Geo Wild

Who knew the Cookie Lady would beat the pants off supposedly better competitors? That was so surprising and lovely. Also, it was heartwarming how the football guy helped her out of the water (though some staff should have helped as well), though she went on to beat the pants off him This is such a silly, fun show. Except for the fire-breathing dragon spewing real flames Is Jon Lovitz really good at golf? His putting over the water hazard with both eyes covered is really good

He's not a favorite Doctor of mine, but I agree this is pretty great news particularly since he parted on such bad terms with the show and only recently has started to embrace the show again, especially with going to conventions, which seems to have helped heal his broken spirit. This could be a percurser to maybe entice him to do some 60th anniversary thing for the series

BBC America will show the animated recreation of the missing Doctor Who serial "The Faceless Ones" on Wednesday October 7 at 8pm ET and Thursday October 8 at 8pm ET http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2020/08/07/amc-networks-announces-fall-and-winter-2020-21-premiere-dates-for-new-and-returning-original-series-and-specials-95105/20200807amc01/

Lost Who serial "Fury From the Deep" will be coming to DVD/Blu-ray in animated form Sep 14, 2020 https://cultbox.co.uk/news/doctor-who-lost-episode-animation-fury-from-the-deep-release-date-art-and-details

A couple of award nods notes: Series 11's New Year's special "Resolution" was nominated in a previous announcement back in April) for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form), but didn't win. The 2020 Hugo wins were announced a few days ago The US Primetime Emmy Awards were announced a few days ago and the BBC's VR short Doctor Who: The Runaway was nominated in the category of Outstanding Derivative Interactive Program. It does not appear that the show or an offshoot of it has ever been nominated for a US Emmy Award

I finished watching Part 2 of “Lance” and I thought the doc was well done. I didn’t know much beforehand about Lance’s early life or his early career and it was all very interesting. In the end, I didn’t change my negative opinion of Armstrong, but I feel I’m better informed. He’s a superb athlete, ferociously driven, and a complete asshole of a human being who hurt and let down a lot of people

New season on Animal Planet premiering Aug 1 http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2020/07/31/the-secret-life-of-the-zoo-returns-to-animal-planet-for-an-all-new-heartwarming-season-on-saturday-august-1-223213/20200731animalplanet01/

I recently finished watching American Experience's "McCarthy". He was a decade before my time, but I've known about him for a long time but not necessarily all the finer details. What a horrible person, especially in the position of US Senator. He hurt a lot of people and he didn't really find any communists to speak of (I guess he looked in the wrong places or they were all rounded up in the decade or two before). His lying was off the charts and Roy Cohn as his assistant was such a horrible turd. Cohn went on teach Donald Trump all he knew and I think Trump's lying probably surpasses McCarthy's. It's sad to see how the other Senators just let him do what he wanted, at least until they and the President had enough of his antics I had always thought the Army-McCarthy hearings was just about McCarthy accusing the Army of having communists, so it was interesting to learn it was more about accusations against McCarthy and Cohn inappropriately leaning on the Army Another good recent American Experience episode was the 2-part "The Vote", the final decade or two in pushing legislation or an amendment to give women the vote. Interesting how interests collided, especially with White women wanting to sell out Black women to at least get the vote for White women

I watched the first part of “Lance” so far and just the opening story alone that Armstrong told about some hecklers shows exactly what he’s about. At first, he wanted beat them up, then he chose to get in their heads and dominate them by telling the waiter that he was paying for their meal and to make sure the waiter told them that. If it were someone else, I suppose those actions would be seen as a positive thing in fighting adversity, but with Armstrong, it’s a weapon. Everything he has to dominate, whether it’s tough races, cancer, or people. It’s all the same to him, at least it seems so to me.

In spite of me rolling my eyes pre-broadcast at yet another show doing a time travel plot, this was very entertaining and a lot of fun with some pathos. Bye Enoch, you were a great asset and friend. Sorry to see him go. I thought Elizabeth did a good directing job

Nothing has been announced yet. It’s probably too soon

It's interesting to compare these various cases and where one sides on the matter, especially years later. In Betty's case, both sides were clearly wrong and even if you feel sorry for Betty and thought Dan was an ass, killing two people was wrong (of course, there are people to this day who cheer Betty on). Lorena Bobbitt is another case where it was huge headlines and remains a fascination to this day. Though some will question where she really was raped and beaten and whether she should have cut off John's penis, it's clear these days that Lorena went on to live a fairly normal life and kept out of trouble, even remarrying and apparently being very happy and is a victim's advocate. John Bobbitt on the other hand has had repeated cases of abuse of his girlfriends and run-ins with the law and cashed in on his notoriety and continues to show what a scumbag he really is Strangely enough, I recall not wanting to bother with Jodi Arias, perhaps thinking it was nothing more than did she or did she not kill the guy and people were only interested because she was pretty or something. So I mostly didn't watch most of the coverage because I was sick of it pretty quickly. It seems like that was one of the few times I did that

I read its ratings are maybe half of Season 1, though it seems to be getting a lot of attention and mostly positive reviews