S03.E01: Call Me Ken Jennings

[Door County Cherry]

Quote

Kat is seated next to "Jeopardy!" contestant Ken Jennings on her flight home; Kat discovers some significant changes have been made to the cafe by Randi and Phil; Max has returned home from his time in Nashville.

 

[PinkRibbons]

I don't think you can say that you took care of a close friend's business while completely jettisoning the heart of it. Especially when it was a largely altruistic endeavor. Yeah they homed the cats that were already there, but Cat Cafes help socialize cats so they can be adopted, which is the ultimate goal for the cats in residence. There's a revolving roster as more cats are taken out of line for euthanasia and more shelter spots are freed. So Randi's changes may have literally cost lives. I want to appreciate that she made the business much more financially lucrative, but not at the cost of its soul.

[possibilities]

Does Ken Jennings drink? I thought his characterization was really different than his persona in other contexts. Not sure why they did that.

I think both Kat and Randi were wrong-- it annoys me when people don't listen and negotiate instead of just going straight to conflict.

I'm not sure whY I keep watching this show, because I really don't enjoy it.

[Door County Cherry]

27 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Does Ken Jennings drink? I thought his characterization was really different than his persona in other contexts. Not sure why they did that.

Yeah.  I believe I heard Ken describe his "Ken" portrayal on this show as sort of  "evil Ken." 

1 hour ago, PinkRibbons said:

So Randi's changes may have literally cost lives.

Sure but Kat was preparing to completely walk away from the cafe at the end of last season until Randi and Phil said they'd watch over it. Either way, there'd be no cats in that cafe over the summer.  

[cinsays]

I'm glad the show is back.

I enjoyed seeing Ken in a different light and thought he did a good job in the role.  I was expecting him to be kind of stiff.  Maybe that was real alcohol to relax him.

Swoosie looks a bit healthier this season.

Are juice bars really a thing anymore? The ones here seem to have all closed a few years ago.  

Her song writing friend in the bar doesn't add anything to the show, in my opinion.

[sugarbaker design]

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought his characterization was really different than his persona in other contexts. Not sure why they did that.

Because a drunk and annoyed Ken Jennings is a funny Ken Jennings?  I enjoyed it.

19 minutes ago, cinsays said:

I'm glad the show is back.

So am I.  I like a goofy old-school network sitcom.  I don't think this was a particularly strong episode for a season opener, but nonetheless I'm glad it's back.  I'm not sure if I remember what the outcome of the plot was?  Cat Cafe or Juice Bar?

22 minutes ago, cinsays said:

Her song writing friend in the bar doesn't add anything to the show, in my opinion.

There are still problems with the supporting cast that have not been ironed out yet.  It's season 3 producers!

[ctlady]

9 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

Sure but Kat was preparing to completely walk away from the cafe at the end of last season until Randi and Phil said they'd watch over it

Which is not the same as completely changing the business model and shipping out the cats - regardless of Kat wanting to walk away. Once Randi and Phil agreed to keep it going there was no question. It was still Kats business  Was Kat out of communication range during her entire trip?  She was obviously posting on IG so she had service. Randi is completely wrong here, yet wanted validation for it    She should’ve ran every idea by Kat first. 

Maxs character is useless and uninteresting. Mayim looks great. Love her longer hair; especially when she wore it up

Line of the night:

[after Kat gets accidentally punched by Randi]. “How many rings are wearing?  Who are you, Tom Brady?”

[nelroy78]

Whatever happened to Laura Bell Bundy? I guess they broke up and that song was about her. But we need an explanation. 
 

I guess Randi could do whatever she wanted to with the cafe while Kat was gone…but WOW…technically it was still Kat’s cafe.

[MaryMitch]

I know the cats are part of the "thing", but honestly if I went into a cafe and saw a cat walking on the countertops like that I would turn around and leave.

I liked the fact that Randi was making a go of it. If it weren't for her ideas, Kat would have returned to an empty building.

[Door County Cherry]

38 minutes ago, MaryMitch said:

I know the cats are part of the "thing", but honestly if I went into a cafe and saw a cat walking on the countertops like that I would turn around and leave.

The cat cafes in my area all have separate food/drink and cat areas.  You pay extra to go hang with the kitties. 

[Yeah No]

I love that the show is back.  Mayim looks svelte and I like the longer hair even with the extensions.  But as usual there are issues, although somewhat forgivable.  Who takes care of a friend's business while they're away and makes huge sweeping changes to it?  I know, it's a sitcom, but still.  I do like that Kat eventually made Randi her partner, though.  That seemed fair.  And at least the changes she made were beneficial for the business and she proved how essential she is to it.  Maybe they can find a way to have the best of both worlds between juice and cats/coffee.

Also, who goes away for months and is completely out of touch with everyone back home?  This is not 1975.  But yeah, sitcom.  And I suppose she was supposed to be isolating from everyone and "finding herself".  So far it's not clear how she's found herself, but whatever.

[sugarbaker design]

17 hours ago, nelroy78 said:

Whatever happened to Laura Bell Bundy? I guess they broke up and that song was about her. But we need an explanation. 

I sure don't!

[chediavolo]

Hated Randy this episode. What balls to completely change someone’s business. Especially when it was saving cats lives. That was a bitch move. Kay is not completely blameless though. Not checking in at least once a week to see how your shop is doing. And did we ever find out where she got the money for a ; month eat pray love? 

[chitowngirl]

2 hours ago, chediavolo said:

Hated Randy this episode. What balls to completely change someone’s business. Especially when it was saving cats lives. That was a bitch move. Kay is not completely blameless though. Not checking in at least once a week to see how your shop is doing. And did we ever find out where she got the money for a ; month eat pray love? 

And where did Randy get the money for the new equipment to change the cafe into a juice bar?

[tennisgurl]

Ken was pretty funny here, he seems a bit more loose than other times when I've seen him playing himself. Maybe some of those drinks were real? 

Not a bad start to the new season, I needed a bit of a refresher to remind myself of what happened last season and it reminded me of how annoying I found last season. Hopefully this season will be better. 

I get wanting to increase profits, but its really not cool of Randi to totally change Kat's café. The cats are the whole point, not having them defeats the whole reason she started this place, it wasn't just money it was about finding purpose.  

[Lone Wolf]

On 9/29/2022 at 8:50 PM, possibilities said:

I'm not sure whY I keep watching this show, because I really don't enjoy it.

Because of the cats!  At least that's the only reason I watch.

Gotta admit, the show had me almost believing.  I was thinking, "If they've stopped with the kitties I'm so out of here."  

So naturally my favorite part was when they all came running in - reminded me of this:

and as always, it made me want to do this to my boy:

But I do that anyway...

Now they just need to get back to their roots and start giving us some cat-centric plot lines.  These characters have little-to-no charm for me, except when they wave and dance at the end.

[TOWTooMuchTV]

This is superficial, but did anyone else notice that Kat seemed to be all "glammed up" wearing a lot more makeup, false eyelashes, etc, than was usually her style? I liked the longer hair and less frumpy overall look, but I was distracted by her full face of obvious makeup when she was talking to Max on the roof. Couldn't decide who was more annoying this episode: weird starstruck country guy Max, control freak Randy, or control freak Kat. Honorable mention to whiny Carter. And where did Max's actually likeable girlfriend go? Obviously she was a placeholder but there could have been at least a line to say what happened to break them up. I hope the show settles down, I really enjoyed last season but this wasn't a great episode to return to. 

[CrystalBlue]

On 10/5/2022 at 4:55 PM, TOWTooMuchTV said:

This is superficial, but did anyone else notice that Kat seemed to be all "glammed up" wearing a lot more makeup, false eyelashes, etc, than was usually her style? I liked the longer hair and less frumpy overall look, but I was distracted by her full face of obvious makeup when she was talking to Max on the roof. Couldn't decide who was more annoying this episode: weird starstruck country guy Max, control freak Randy, or control freak Kat. Honorable mention to whiny Carter. And where did Max's actually likeable girlfriend go? Obviously she was a placeholder but there could have been at least a line to say what happened to break them up. I hope the show settles down, I really enjoyed last season but this wasn't a great episode to return to. 

Not a Max fan and his second outing as a fanboy is annoying.  Last season he was all gaga over some male artist, now this country gal.  Max and Kat will never read true to me, so I'd like them to knock off any further possible coupling of those two again.  Randi was a bitch.  She has browbeaten Phil to go along with her program.  Kat has the right to be a control freak if it's her cafe, cats she takes in and cares for to get adopted to furever homes, and she's paying the bills.  I thought Kat had ran away to Paris, France; this return made her sound like she was in India!

MVPs were Sheila and Phil but one of his jokes was weird.