Camera One

I know it is common in a lot of shows these days (especially on the old CW), but I find it distracting when half the screen is out of focus. Especially in a period drama where I want to see the surroundings. It seems more glaring this season than last.

I think this is the key motivator. She mentioned that she didn't want to be Mrs. Astor's lackey. She wants to be the new Mrs. Astor, instead of someone just in the flock. They overplayed her whining about the box a bit too much, so it made it seem like that was all she had a problem with. I think they also need to show a bit more of her relationship with the other women with "new" money. What do they think of her? Is she inviting them to dinner too because last season, she was simply obsessed with being accepted by the old money people. The way it's portrayed, she isn't their "leader" either. Clearly, there were some power women in that arena who spearheaded the new opera house, but we have not seen them or their influence. Aren't they trying to get Mrs. Astor's attention too?

It took me awhile to get into this one. I don't like the characters enough yet to have nearly an episode of nothing happening. I was surprised the baby search story ended abruptly. I half expected Peggy's father to hand some money to that guy as we find out he was pretending to be the foster father. Having Peggy go back to live with Marian's family feels like a reset. I hope Gladys won't fall for Oscar. He looks way too old. Aurora, why did you help him? It was obvious she really didn't want to, though. I did think it was funny how befuddled Mrs. Astor was with the "show" Bertha put on at dinner and after. As others said, it seemed like Bertha now has everything she wanted. Mrs. Astor even willingly came over for tea earlier. Nathan Lane said Bertha dines at all the fine houses. So she came off as petulant about not having a box at the Academy. Though I thought that dinner at the end was when things finally picked up. I'm not looking forward to another boring romance for Marian and that "cousin" guy. I'm hardly over the shock of finding out she was teaching watercolors. Will wonders ever cease.

This episode was better and had some amusing moments. Still, both subplots felt a bit rote. The actors are certainly competent, so at least the show has that.

Here's an article about him from the Harvard student newspaper: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/4/27/theater-cutmorescott-really-harvard/

I'm not exactly sure what I think, except that I just wasn't moved when I should have been. I agree these types of feelings could occur, and Frasier's seeming disinterest could have been due to a defense mechanism from childhood trauma of worrying about his father's safety on the job, but at the end of the day, it was jarring in the sense it seemed to come out of blue and I didn't buy it and the whole thing... setup, carry-out and resolution just felt too pat.

It was watchable enough, but it felt too after-school special for me to find it funny. The first half was cringey with Freddy whining that Frasier didn't respect his job. But the sentimental stuff in the second half felt too cheesy so I found it cringey in a different way. The writing just felt too simplistic.

If this show falls through, I guess the next step is a prequel. Cast two cute kids as Frasier and Niles and watch the hijinx ensue as their blue collar dad deals with two kid snobs.

This episode was also uneven. There were actually moments in the first half where I thought the show was finally getting its legs. The nephew character had some decent line deliveries. The flashback TV sequences were pretty funny in parodying talk shows. But in the second half, it was back to cringe. The nephew and the mom fighting in the lecture hall was embarrassing, along with that dean setting up the talk show environment. David's rant at Frasier "quitting" dragged on for too long. At the same time, it still felt like I was watching Frasier with only him, so I am still surprised at that. Unlike the characters in the Murphy Brown reboot, Frasier still mostly seems to maintain his energy of old. I agree the Harvard setting isn't working any better. Neither is the living arrangement premise either, but the Harvard parts really stick out as unnatural.

I mostly liked this finale to the season. The extortion used to get people to the ball was amusing, though I don't buy that Mrs. Astor doesn't want to kill Mrs. Russell forcing her hand. I was surprised when Mrs. Russell asked Mrs. Astor to ask Agnes to the ball. We had never even seen Agnes and Mrs. Astor talk. I'm glad Marian didn't marry Raikes, but that was rather anti-climatic. It doesn't make sense that Raikes was so pushy but just didn't show up. He was certainly not discreet with being so close with other women at a public venue, so he seemed almost clueless. I was surprised how sharp Ada was. Her scene with Peggy in that scene of realization with the bags, and the scene with Marian afterwards was well acted. You could see her conflicted feelings. I guess brain cells were inherited by the two sisters, but not Marian's father or Marian. So the chef was just pretending to be angry he couldn't cook all French foods a few episodes ago with the dinner that no one attended? I think this was the first episode I truly felt for Peggy, when she saw the letter about her baby. I am looking forward to her and her mother searching for her baby. I'm sort of glad there was no big twist with Turner showing up to throw a bomb shell or Raikes tricking Marian into her marrying her, or anything. It made the episode just a fun diversion, though not overly well written. I think a major problem for me is that Marian herself is still a blank slate in terms of personality. What was her life like before coming to New York? Didn't her father just die, but she has hardly mentioned him.

I think this was the first episode where I liked all the subplots. It helped there was minimal Marian and Mr. Raikes. I too was extremely frustrated that she brushed off Aurora's warning and it made her even more determined to get married. I actually liked the stenographer in previous episodes, so it's a shame she was in on the scheme. Though at least tell us how she got into cahoots with Dixon. I suppose if I had to choose between Armstrong or Turner, a grump is better than a creep. Or a combination of both like O'Brien. A good lady's maid is so hard to find. If Marian moves away, it will be harder to keep her in the story organically. Hopefully, she moves back after Armstrong eats humble pie, or gets a few thrown at her by mommy dearest. Newsies going to the grave was cute. Is Mrs. Astor really that influenced by Nathan Lane's character? It doesn't seem like she has changed her mind about Mrs. Russell at all. I felt for Aurora when Mrs. Fish told them to play after-dinner games. That ending with Mrs. Russell facing the horrifying fish scaling/feather plucking, and gasp, carpet beating was straight out of a Halloween movie. Definitely hilarious.

I did like this episode a bit more. I too liked the lighting of the building at the end, and it is very neat to see how amazing that was to people in the 1800s when we take it for granted today as a necessity of life. I liked seeing a bit more of Larry and his father's relationship. I was surprised that Mr. Russell sort of left open the possibility later. I too cannot believe that Turner could walk into Mr. Russell's room like that so casually. Not telling his wife what she did is a huge mistake on his part, when he's so strategic in his work life. The Marian/Raikes rendezvous at Mrs. Chamberlain's place was a bit cringey. I don't feel any chemistry and I am not convinced by their "love". Hopefully, Marian sees his true colours sooner rather than later. He jumped at the opportunity to go Newport in the carriage with that other woman. Ada and Agnes had some funny conversations in this one.

This episode was sort of entertaining, though the writing was rather clunky. Once again, they wrote Mrs. Morris as quite a villain. So were all the random voting women originally going to support her? Does Aurora care about her friendship with her, or no longer? Likewise, the luncheon was humorous but ridiculous. Marian had to sneak out to go to the Russell's party a few episodes ago, but now she just announces to Agnes she's going over for luncheon? What was the special occasion? At least have it be related to the Red Cross, so there would be a reason for it. Why did Ada suddenly ask if Mr. Raikes would be at luncheon in front of Agnes? Did she want to put Marian on the spot? I thought Ms. Astor's daughter had a thing for Larry, but I guess not?

Seeing the cranky housekeeper's even crankier mother's living conditions was sort of interesting. Not that excuses her for being such a pill. They're clearly not be subtle about not wanting us to feel for Mrs. Morris at all. I think my favorite character is getting to be Aurora Fane as well. I liked her reaction when Marian piped up that she's on speaking turns with Mrs. Chamberlain. Mr. Russell really laid it on thick with that ultimatum to that boy they invited to dinner. Threatening to destroy his career prospects? I've mostly found Mr. Raikes to be boring and overbearing, but he crossed the line to unlikeable with kissing her in the hallway and insinuating they go into the room together? I don't get when Marian started falling for him. Seemed like it began when her aunt forbid her from seeing him. Not looking forward to the unholy alliance between the wicked lady's maid and Agnes' slimy son.

Not much to say about this one. I can't believe there was a subplot about a lost dog, but the butler's visit was amusing. Mrs. Russell didn't react that she didn't get to return the dog herself? Or was she not planning to? I thought we would check in with Mrs. Morris in this one. I wonder how she feels about Mrs. Fane helping out Mrs. Russell. Marian interrupting Peggy's lunch with her parents was cringeworthy and unnecessary. Wouldn't someone have seen Marian entering the house of The Disgraced?

I do find this show relatively engaging, but I'm still not able to root for anyone. The Russells are the underdogs, but they are so slimy, vengeful and self-important that I can't cheer them on. Especially with his game resulting in a suicide now. Marian has never expressed a romantic interest in the lawyer from the first scene. Nothing has indicated she has changed her mind, so it's almost like she's leading him on. Peggy's story is alright, but not overly interesting either. Maybe she could have sold one of the stories she didn't care as much about, though I don't know if it was an all-or-nothing deal. I did feel badly for Ada, with that old "friend" coming back. Though it was sort of fun to see Agnes handling that situation after feigning she could barely remember the guy.

Yeah, in the first episode, didn't Eve say something like "Can you turn off/down your dad's TV show in the baby's room" or something to that effect when she walked in and Frasier was right there? Why was his TV show even on? Are we supposed to believe Freddy watched it regularly? And wouldn't Eve already know Frasier's voice soothes the baby if the show was always on in the background?

I guess the first episode did a good job of setting the scene, since it was really easy to fall into the story with this second episode. I still find the main character slightly unlikeable with her somewhat whiny and ungrateful attitude, but I do want to root for her. She seems oblivious to the lawyer's interest in her, or does she not like him but is too polite to say? I do think she has more chemistry with Larry, though we really nothing next to nothing about him. I felt a bit badly for the two ladies who organized the bazaar. It seemed like they chose the hotel over the ballroom so they wouldn't offend Mrs. Astor, but Mrs. Astor couldn't get away fast enough. Mr. Russell is very slimy and his stunt was immature, but sort of entertaining. Agnes finally had a good line, about the people at the bazaar and the gutter. I'm starting to like Ada. I had a bit of prejudice about the actress but the scenes with Marian were good. I like how Ada sees what Agnes is trying to do, but understands their impact on Marian. I agree Agnes' son looks way too old for the Russell's daughter, and he's such a snake. Why does Fellowes always have to write gay men in such unfavorable light. This episode was quite short compared to the first one.

I think this is just on streaming. It was originally going to air on NBC but then it ended up on HBO.

Finally got around to trying this show. This first episode was alright. It did a decent job of laying out the premise, though none of the characters stood out as particularly likeable or interesting. Hopefully that changes with time. With the main character, she seemed a tad ungrateful to her aunts. When she said she wanted to work, I was wondering what she did before her father died. Did she not feel at all betrayed by her "daddy" leaving her with nothing? She should have understood her aunt's plight a little better. She did look a little like Cinderella sneaking off to the ball. I like Christine Baranski, but she didn't really stand out in this first episode either. I enjoy historical fiction to be immersed in the setting, but the CGI in the background just didn't look real. The music was also not memorable. Anyway, I think the show does have potential and there's enough to make me want to watch more.

That thought entered my mind as well. It's part of the reason why the setup felt forced, since it was so obviously trying to set up the same dad/son-in-the-same-space scenario in the original, but without a convincing reason. If Freddy needed to help out with the baby, it might make sense for Frasier to offer a bigger apartment for them both, with all 3 of them living together. Or Freddy also got injured in that fire that killed the baby's father (or maybe PTSD), and would need Frasier around for help, so he would reluctantly agree to the arrangement to all 3 of them moving in.

Martin's love interest in Season 11 was about 10 years younger? I hope Niles and/or Daphne eventually makes a guest appearance. I suppose with Frasier living in Chicago, I wonder how often he visited his dad in Seattle. They didn't show Frasier with regret that he had moved away, so would inevitably have seen his father (and brother) less over the last two decades.

A few people in that studio audience went way overboard with the laughter. I normally don't mind background laughter on sitcoms, but it stood out in this show because they were loudly laughing at stuff that I didn't find remotely amusing.

I thought this episode was pretty on par with the premiere. There were some mildly amusing moments, and was overall watchable. I guess for me, the emotional stuff just didn't land. The clash over the furnishing felt like a rehash of the original show with Frasier and his dad. Reboots and sequels often have that problem of setting up a parallel situation which has already been played so well (and played out, by the end of the original series), so you get a pale, boring imitation. There were a few moments in this one which felt too cheesy.

I too thought it wasn't too bad, but the new premise and the supporting characters were forgettable. The Frasier character still felt like Frasier, so that was an important plus. Albeit with average dialogue for the most part. I didn't feel motivated to care about Frasier and his son's relationship, which is a problem since that is at the core of this new premise. Having his friend's girlfriend and her baby move in was a rather lame setup. It didn't justify all the secrecy. I wanted to like Niles and Daphne's son, but David didn't quite cut it with his dialogue or delivery, either. The only one with the wit was Frasier's friend, but the whole skipping his next class to go drinking was ridiculous and not funny. There were a few mildly amusing moments, though, so it was still alright overall. Hopefully, the supporting cast grows on me and the premise results in situations that are actually interesting. I think I would give it a C+.