This is the second of a multipart series inspired by the hit movie musical “Wicked–Part 1.” This series will be about musical theater, fairy tales, and fantasy in general.

Hello, this is Chris Young. Welcome to Episode 82 of Contemplating Life. This is the second in a multipart series inspired by the hit movie musical “Wicked–Part 1”. In this series, we will explore my relationship with musical theater, fairy tales, and fantasy in general.

My original plan for this episode was to do a brief epilogue to last week’s episode about Disney’s Snow White and then move along the story of the 1965 production of the made-for-TV musical “Cinderella” by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. But have you ever known me to do anything brief? Digging deep into the research for that allegedly brief epilogue hit another vein of storytelling treasure I couldn’t leave untouched. The script was nearly double the length it should have been, and I left some things out. Being an obsessive completist, I split the episode into two parts and fleshed out the missing sections of the first half. Cinderella will have to wait until next time.

All that talk about Disney last week meant we had to tell the story of my most significant connection to the Disney franchise: my first TV appearance. (Yes, there were more appearances later on. Those will wait for another episode someday.)

My best estimate is that I was eight years old when I was in the audience of a local children’s TV show called The Mickey Mouse Club.

An old joke goes, “I was on TV one time… My mother made me get off because I was scratching the set.”

Younger members of my audience won’t get that joke. TVs used to be housed in fine wooden cabinets. Climbing on top of such a piece of furniture would draw ire from one’s parents.

Disney produced the original “Mickey Mouse Club” for ABC from 1955 to 1959. I was too young to remember the original show. However, from 1962 to 1968, it was shown in syndicated reruns, and that is when I became a fan. A cast of teen and young adult performers known as Mouseketeers sang, danced, and introduced animated shorts.

Although the show was theoretically aimed at a preteen audience, many teen boys were fans of its female cast members. The most popular was Annette Funicello, who appeared on the show from age 13 to 16. She was well-endowed, with an ample chest highlighted by her tight-fitting white Mouseketeer sweaters. She went on to become a bigger teen idol in a series of beach party movies starring Frankie Avalon.

I was a bigger fan of Darlene Gillespie, who was also shapely for her age, if not as prominent as Annette. She later went on to a career in nursing. Little did we know that Mouseketeer Doreen Tracy would feel trapped by her childhood role. In an attempt to break out of that stereotype, she later appeared nude in men’s magazines. I linked articles about these stars in the description.

The Mickey Mouse Club has had several reboots over the years. It has launched the careers of some very famous people, including Ryan Gosling, future NSYNC members Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, actress Keri Russell, future En Vogue member Rhona Bennett, and Hallmark movie star Nikki DeLoach.

Local TV channel 13, which in those days went by the call sign WLWI, produced a local show with a studio audience of kids. Local live segments were interspersed with segments of Mickey Mouse Club reruns. I estimate my brief appearance in the audience for one episode was sometime in 1963

I couldn’t remember the host’s name, but some deep dives into Wikipedia and help from two different Facebook nostalgia groups helped me piece together the following information.

The show was hosted by Bill Jackson, who started his TV career with a children’s show in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and then moved to Indianapolis to host a show for three years from 1963-1966. It was initially titled “The Mickey Mouse Club” but was eventually renamed “The Bill Jackson Show.” I couldn’t recall what happened during the local segments, but the nostalgia groups reminded me they would pick a panel of children from the audience. Bill would draw a cartoon character on a large paper easel, and the kids would buzz in and guess the character he was drawing. Prizes usually consisted of a large case of candy bars or root beer.

Many people in these Facebook groups said they or their family members were in the audience as part of a Cub Scout, Brownies, or Camp Fire Girls troop. At the time, I was in the Cub Scouts as a member of a troop of disabled kids from Roberts School. I theorize we were invited because we were in scouting.

There were probably 50-75 kids in the audience seated in bleachers. I sat in the front row on level ground with a handful of other kids in wheelchairs. None of us were picked to be on the panel.

I recall the studio lights were extremely bright and hot. They would turn them off during the Mickey Mouse segments and then on again when it was time for a local segment. They advised us to close our eyes tightly while they turned the lights on and then gradually open them. That technique was so successful that I’ve used it for my entire life anytime I’m in a dark room, and someone is about to turn on the lights. I highly recommend it.

In 1965, Jackson moved to Chicago, where he had great success with a program called “The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show.” While in Indianapolis, he created the Dirty Dragon character based on a friend he met here. In 2021, Jackson was diagnosed with COVID-19 but was released from the hospital. He died shortly after in January 2022, but his official cause of death was not released.

My queries about the local Mickey Mouse Club sparked a lively discussion in the Facebook Indy nostalgia groups. The early 60s were a treasure trove of locally produced children’s television in Indianapolis.

People shared fond memories of Janie Woods Hodge, who hosted a show called “Popeye and Janie,” later renamed just “Janie.” I was a frequent viewer of the show, which aired from 4:30-6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday on Channel 4 WTTV from August 1963 until 1972. She then returned to her original profession as a music teacher. See the article linked in the description, which details her career. She also has a Facebook page. However, the latest post is from 2022. Google searches did not include an obituary, so I presume she is still alive.

Also fondly remembered was Bob Glaze, who performed under the name Cowboy Bob. Wearing a cowboy hat and a shirt with fringe, he played acoustic guitar and sang. Glaze began his television career as a cameraman for WTTV. He made personal appearances with Janie as Cowboy Bob and was later invited to perform on her show. In January 1970, he was hired to host “Chuckwagon Theater” as a replacement for Mary Ellen Reed on her show “Lunchtime Theater”. Glaze passed away in 2016. See the linked article for details about his career.

Also of note was personality Hal Fryar, who performed under the name Harlow Hickenlooper as the host of “The Three Stooges Show” on Channel 6. In those days, the call letters were WFBM. He shared hosting duties with country singer Curley Myers and Captain Star (Jerry Vance, a.k.a. Larry Vincent). Together, they sang songs and did skits for a live studio audience of children. Fryar fell into the Stooges’ slapstick comedy routines with passion. In comedy sketches, he regularly ended up with a (shaving) cream pie in his face.

In 1965, Fryar played Outlaw Johnny Ringo in the Three Stooges feature film “The Outlaws Is Coming.” I recall thinking it was a pretty big deal that a local TV host who showed Stooges shorts was cast in an actual Three Stooges film. I seem to recall that he took a local TV camera crew with him and shot some behind-the-scenes footage of his experiences on the film. Many viewers were disappointed he was not wearing his signature battered straw hat and striped coat. They were expecting to see Harlow Hickenlooper, but what they saw was Hal Fryar portraying an outlaw.

Fryar succumbed to bladder cancer in 2017 at the age of 90.

Any discussion of Local TV personalities in Indianapolis would be incomplete without mentioning Bob Carter, who hosted Friday night scary movies under the stage name Sammy Terry throughout the ’60s, ‘70s, and briefly in the 1980s. He was immensely popular, and many hold strong nostalgic feelings towards the character. Bob Carter died on June 30, 2013. Wikipedia reports his son, Mark Carter, has appeared occasionally as the character since 2011 and has an active Facebook following. I had heard it was his grandson, and not his son, carrying on the character, but I could be wrong.

His late-night show was typically past my bedtime, but I have fond memories of the evenings when my parents went all out to dinner and a movie, and I would have my grandmother and great-aunts as babysitters. They would let me stay up late and watch scary movies hosted by Sammy Terry.

My favorite recollection of Sammy Terry was as an adult. My family and some family friends were at our cabin on Cordry Lake one weekend. Among those gathered were Nancy and Jerry Bishop and their children. Jerry worked as a firefighter with my uncle John. We were all playing cards in the dining room while the kids watched scary movies hosted by Sammy Terry in the living room. Jerry was a consummate prankster. He put a sheet over his head, put a ladder up to the front porch of the cabin, and suddenly appeared in the living room windows making eerie noises. My sister, cousins, and the Bishop kids screamed in terror. One of the Bishop girls continued crying for some time, even after Jerry took off the sheet and tried to reassure her, “It’s just daddy playing with you.” She didn’t care. She was equally angry and still scared for quite some time.

Anyway, I’ve linked articles about these characters and personalities and links to Wikipedia pages about the TV stations mentioned here. I was fascinated by the history of how the network affiliations of the stations have swapped over the years.

Before moving on to our next fairy tale in the form of a famous musical production, I want to explore my musical history and early indoctrination into the joys of Broadway musicals by my mother.

Mom enjoyed playing show tunes and pop songs on the organ. She grew up with a piano in the house and learned to play a little bit. I don’t believe she ever had any formal lessons. She was self-taught with some assistance from our friend Stu Byram, who was also self-taught. She learned to read sheet music but only the right-hand treble clef. She could not read the left-hand base clef. Instead, she would get sheet music that included chord symbols for the guitar.

When I was about 6 or 7 years old, my family bought a Sears Silvertone Chord Organ. The organ had a keyboard with 44 keys. On the left was a series of buttons to play chords. You would push a button for the base note with your thumb, and then there were columns of other buttons for major, minor, seventh, and diminished cords you would push with your fingers. It would only play chords A, D, G, C, F, and B-flat.

I searched for a photo of our model and stumbled across a YouTube video by a guy who discovered such an instrument sitting on a curb, waiting to be picked up as trash. He took it home and restored it. It was fascinating to see its inner workings, and it brought back many fond memories.

He identified it as a model 4751 Silvertone. It was a variety known as a reed organ. A blower would pressurize a wooden air chamber. When you pressed a key, it opened a valve, allowing air to pass across a metal tang. This is the same way harmonicas and accordions produce sound. It sounded very much like an accordion. Two microphones inside the cabinet were connected to a vacuum tube amplifier and a 6-inch speaker. A foot pedal called “an expression pedal” varied the amplifier’s volume. But even without amplification, you could still hear the sound produced by the metal reeds.

I had enough use of my hands in those days to play a little bit. Although I never learned to read music, I have a good ear for music and had no difficulty picking out melodies by ear.

I believe we only had the instrument for a few years before getting a good deal on a used Hammond M2. It had two keyboards and an octave of foot pedals for base notes. You control the nature of the sound with the famous Hammond drawbars, which allow you to adjust the primary frequency volume and several harmonics.

I also played the Hammond from time to time. Primarily, I played single-note melodies, sometimes using both hands. But for a couple of tunes, I could occasionally play some harmony. Unfortunately, I lacked sufficient dexterity to play full cords. The most complex piece of music I played was an arrangement of the Christmas hymn “What Child is This?” I would play the melody with my right hand and a base note with my left hand. Mom had an arrangement with many chord changes – more than one would typically find for that music. I thought it sounded pretty good. I enjoyed playing Christmas music, pop songs, and an occasional show tune. I had a pretty good rendition of “The Impossible Dream” from “The Man of La Mancha.” I could also play a multi-note arrangement of the Beatles’ “Let It Be,” which I was quite proud of.

In addition to hymns, Mom played a variety of standards from the American songbook. Her favorites, however, were show tunes from Broadway musicals–especially by composers Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II. At an early age, I became quite familiar with the major songs from “The King & I,” “South Pacific,” “Showboat,” “Oklahoma,” “Camelot, “West Side Story,” and “Fiddler on the Roof,” just to name a few. In later years, she added songs from “Jesus Christ Superstar,“ “Phantom of the Opera,” and “Les Miserables.”

Growing up in this environment gave me a deep appreciation for Broadway musicals, which lasts to this day. Just for fun, here are my top 10 favorite musicals.

10. The Wizard of Oz–We will cover this in an upcoming episode.

9. Guys and Dolls—I discovered this show when I took my high school sweetheart, Rosie, to a production put on by Northwest High School. I later enjoyed the 1955 film starring Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando.

8. Cinderella– This made-for-TV musical by Rogers and Hammerstein will be the major focus of our next episode.

7. Fiddler on the Roof– This is one of Mom’s favorites. I saw a production of it perhaps 30 years ago at Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University. It was part of a package I had to purchase to get tickets to Phantom of the Opera. I occasionally quote lyrics from the show when teaching religion classes at my church.

6. Hamilton– With great difficulty, I memorized the opening song. I once wrote a parody of that song dedicated to a friend of mine. Now, if I try to sing the song, my parody is the only version I can remember. I have seen the version that aired on Disney+, but I would love to see it live someday.

5. West Side Story– Another of Mom’s favorites. I’ve seen a live production at Clowes Hall, as well as the 1961 film and the 2021 Spielberg remake. I love them all.

4. South Pacific– One of Mom’s favorites. I enjoyed watching some of my high school friends in the Northwest High School production and greatly enjoyed the 1958 film and the 2001 made-for-TV production starring Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr.

3. Phantom of the Opera – I saw a memorable production of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s masterpiece by a touring company accompanied by my friends Judy and Anne. I love the film and have listened to the soundtrack dozens of times. I once wrote a parody of “I Dreamed a Dream” as a love song to a girlfriend, turning it into a positive song about how she fulfilled my dreams.

2. Les Miserables– This is the first professionally produced musical I ever saw in person. I’ve seen it live three times and watched the movie dozens of times. I own three different versions on CD. I could sing many of the songs on demand.

1. Jesus Christ Superstar – I fell in love with the original album and have listened to it easily 100 times. I saw a touring company production with Ted Neely as Jesus. He played Jesus in the 1973 film and devoted his entire life to playing the part. I’ve seen that film version perhaps 50 times, the 2012 Arena Tour version twice, and the 2018 TV concert version possibly eight times, and it still resides on my DVR. I could sing the entire rock opera front to back.

I once saw someone in an online discussion say that Broadway musicals were ridiculously unrealistic. “Nobody suddenly bursts into song in the middle of an ordinary day.”

Someone replied, “You don’t know my mother.”

I chimed in, “My mother, too.”

Mom loved to sing show tunes. She could get triggered by the most mundane things. My dad, sisters, and I learned to be careful what we said. We had to avoid saying anything that contained a phrase from a musical. For example, any mention of the word “tradition” would trigger the song from “Fidler on the Roof.” One dared not mention the state of Oklahoma.

Sometimes, the triggers were unavoidable. At about 6500 N. Georgetown Rd., there is an apartment complex called Lake Camelot Apartments. We frequently traveled Georgetown Road en route to St. Vincent Hospital and several of our doctors’ offices. As annoying as it was to have Mom burst into the title song of the 1960 musical Camelot by Lerner and Loewe every time we passed there, sometimes, when I go by the place today, I can’t resist humming a few bars in memory of my mom.

These are just more examples of how fantasy, musicals, and fairy tales provide us with rich inspiration as we continue contemplating life.

In our next episode, I will discuss a memorable made-for-TV production of Cinderella that still moves me to tears. In future episodes, we will take our first journey to Oz, courtesy of the 1938 classic film The Wizard of Oz. Only with that background and context can we appreciate the 2024 musical film Wicked Part 1 and the origin of the alleged Wicked Witch, Elphaba.

That should take us into my annual series on the 10 Oscar-nominated films of the year. Note that the voting period and nomination announcement have been extended because of the Los Angeles area fires. The announcement of the nominees scheduled for January 17 has been pushed back to January 23, and the trophies will be awarded as scheduled on March 2.

If you find this podcast educational, entertaining, enlightening, or even inspiring, consider sponsoring me on Patreon for just $5 per month. You will get early access to the podcast and other exclusive content. Although I have some financial struggles, I’m not really in this for money. Still, every little bit helps.

As always, my deepest thanks to my financial supporters. Your support means more to me than words can express.

Even if you cannot provide financial support. Please, please, please post the links and share this podcast on social media so that I can grow my audience. I just want more people to be able to hear my stories.

All of my back episodes are available, and I encourage you to check them out if you’re new to this podcast. If you have any comments, questions, or other feedback, please feel free to comment on any of the platforms where you found this podcast.

I will see you next time as we continue contemplating life. Until then, fly safe.

This is the first of a multipart series inspired by the hit movie musical “Wicked–Part 1.” This series will be about musical theater, fairy tales, and fantasy in general.

Hello, this is Chris Young. Welcome to Episode 81 of Contemplating Life. Happy New Year, and welcome to the first episode of season 3. I didn’t think we would get this far, but here we are.

When I first came up with the idea for this episode, I thought it would be a one-off episode and not part of a lengthy series. Having written 2300 words and barely scratched the surface. It’s evidently the beginning of a longer series. Probably 3 or 4 episodes. That’s great. I like having rich topics to explore, and apparently, I’ve hit a bigger vein of storytelling treasure than I originally anticipated.

This series is inspired by the hit movie musical “Wicked–Part 1” which my sister Carol and I just watched a few days ago on a digital download. This series is going to be about musical theater, fairy tales, and fantasy in general.

Although it’s embarrassing to admit, fantasy has always played a role in my life, from my earliest memories to the present.

I had an imaginary friend named Dopey when I was about three or four years old. He was named after the seventh dwarf from Disney’s 1937 film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” In the film, Dopey never speaks, which I suppose makes him a convenient subject for an imaginary friend.

My parents were concerned this was an indication that my disability was not just physical. Perhaps I had some mental or psychological issues. They took me to see a child psychologist who tested me. She assured them that I was fine mentally. I was highly intelligent, and that imaginary friends were normal, especially for gifted children with vivid imaginations. My lack of opportunity to interact with other kids also made it more likely that I would invent a playmate.

According to the lore I invented, my friend Dopey drove around in a small metal pedal car. Perhaps I’d seen such kids’ vehicles on TV or in the Sears Christmas catalog. Realizing that my feet were not strong enough to pedal such a vehicle, Dopey was a manifestation of my desire to be able to power a wheeled vehicle myself. This fantasy would not be fulfilled until I was 10 years old when I got my first motorized wheelchair. At the time, I don’t think I yet had a manual wheelchair. My parents didn’t purchase it until I was nearly 5 years old. Up until that, they just carried me around.

Another early memory is that I was extremely shy and reluctant to participate in physical affection. The constant demands to give my grandmothers and great-aunts hugs and kisses were often met with protests from me. At one point, I distinctly recall claiming that I had no kisses to give. It was as if they were a tangible entity that could only be dispensed when supplies were available. I further explained that Dopey was my supply source, and I could not share what had not provided for me. By the way, I was not talking about Hershey’s Kisses. I meant real kisses. Furthermore, I did not imagine that Dopey had to kiss me before I could pass it along. That was not my relationship with him. We were just buddies. It was simply that, somehow, he was a mysterious source of my ability to give kisses.

Over the decades, I’ve tried to analyze this bizarre memory that, somehow, a kiss was in limited supply and had to be obtained from a source. I’ve not been able to uncover the logic behind it. No wonder my parents thought there was something mentally wrong with me.

One clue in my quest to uncover the source of this strange connection between Dopey and kissing came several years ago. I don’t recall when. I saw a clip from Snow White where the dwarfs were going off to work. As they go out the door, Snow White kisses each of them on the top of their head. When it is Dopey’s turn, he attempts a kiss with his lips. Snow White grabs him by his big ears and forces the kiss on his head. He runs over to the cottage window, climbs back in, and exits the door again to get a second kiss. Again, he puckers his lips, is grabbed by the ears, and receives another peck on the forehead. On his third attempt, he is unsuccessful in getting anything but a stern look from Snow White. This is the only connection I’ve ever found between Dopey and kisses. Apparently, he was a horny little dude. No wonder he was a role model for me. I have no idea if it’s the source or inspiration of my bizarre idea that my imaginary friend provided me with kisses to give.

I’ve given a lot of thought to how children are forced to give hugs and kisses to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. For decades, I’ve seen many children who were reluctant to give physical affection to adult relatives. This seems especially true for male children.

What are we teaching our children by this practice? The way I see it, we are telling them that people in authority, especially adults over children, have the right to demand physical affection from us, and we are powerless to stop it. What precedent does this set in their young minds? How many victims of child sexual abuse were raised in an environment in which it was mandatory to give hugs and kisses to adult relatives?

Most abusers were abused as children. But even if one was not abused as a child, doesn’t this plant the seed that could lead them to justify pedophilia later in life? How many spousal abusers and victims of spousal abuse were taught at an early age that physical affection could be forced upon an unwilling participant? The same is true for any sexual abuse or manipulation by someone in authority over someone powerless to say no, such as employer/employee and teacher/student relationships.

Obviously, not everyone who was forced to give grandma a kiss turned out to be an abuser or victim of abuse. But how and why did such practice become common without consideration of its possible consequences?

Fortunately, I’ve been blessed in that I have never faced even a hint of possible abuse. This is especially comforting because I know that disabled people are at higher risk than the average population.

Anyway, moving along. Back to Snow White and my fantasy life.

Part of the mystery I want to solve is how I was aware of the Snow White characters in the first place.

I don’t think my parents or grandparents took me to see the 1958 rerelease. It would’ve made a memorable impression on me as my first film. As previously reported in this podcast, I’m confident my first movie was at the drive-in and was likely either “Ben Hur” or one of the early Ray Harryhausen stop-motion animated action films. I’m confident the first Disney film I saw was Mary Poppins in 1964. The first animated Disney film I saw was “The Jungle Book” in 1967. Both of these were at the Lafayette Road Drive-In Theater.

I wondered if perhaps I became aware of the characters from the weekly Sunday night TV show “The Wonderful World of Disney” hosted by Walt Disney.

I created my own controversy over the title of the show. I remember it as “The Wonderful World of Disney.” Both Wikipedia and IMDb say that it was originally titled simply “Disneyland.” That’s no problem. But IMDb says its real name was “The Magical World of Disney.” I was ready to concede that IMDb was right and my memory that it was wonderful versus magical was in error. Perhaps it was an incident of We have the Mandela effect. I even wrote and recorded part of this episode, claiming that I was wrong. The problem haunted me. I went looking through YouTube and found episodes of the show as far back as 1958. Clearly, it was titled “The Wonderful World of Disney.” Not “The Magical World of Disney.” Granted, the show was full of wonder and magic, but I’m confident I had the title right all along.

I tried googling when and if the 1937 Snow White aired on TV. Many Disney classics were aired in edited versions on the Sunday night Disney show. My research indicates that Snow White did not make its television debut until March 6, 2010, on the ABC Family Channel and a few days later on the Disney Channel.

For decades, I believed Snow White had made its theatrical premiere sometime in my early childhood in the late 1950s. I did not realize it was as old as 1937. Wikipedia reports its first re-release was in 1944 to help Disney Studio get over a financial slump during World War II. Subsequent releases were in 1952, 1958, 1967, 1975, 1983, 1987, and 1993. I was three years old in 1958, which is probably when I first became aware of it. I know I had many children’s books in the Little Golden Books series featuring Disney characters. I specifically recall a much beloved Christmas book featuring the Disney chipmunk characters Chip and Dale. A quick search of eBay revealed that, indeed, there was a Disney Snow White Little Golden Book. Of those that I browsed online, they did not show the scene of Dopey stealing extra kisses.

In addition to Disney’s Chipmunks Chip and Dale, I was also a huge fan of Alvin and the Chipmunks and their 1958 record “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).” Recently, my 22-year-old home health aide was shocked to learn that Alvin and the Chipmunks dated back to when I was three years old.

You are off-topic again, Chris. Get back to Snow White.

I recall that my Aunt Jody drew seven portraits of the dwarfs, which we framed and hung on my bedroom wall for many years. They were drawn in crayon. My guess is that they were traced from a coloring book. She would have been in her late teens at the time.

According to Wikipedia, the 1993 re-release of Snow White was the first time in history that a feature film was digitally scanned, restored, and then copied back to film.

In October 2023, in celebration of 100 years of Disney, a new digitally restored version was released in 4k UHD Blu-ray format. It had been painstakingly restored from an original Technicolor negative over several years. That 4k version was also released to Disney+ streaming and is available now.

The first time I can guarantee I have seen the entire 1937 Snow White was today – January 6, 2025, when I watched it on Disney+ streaming. I was very impressed with the quality of the restoration. The quality of the hand-drawn animation also blew me away. I can’t recall any other hand-drawn animated film I’ve ever seen that could compare with what I watched today. It is absolutely stunning.

The story of Snow White, as we know it today, originated as a German fairy tale passed down by oral tradition. It was eventually published in 1812 in the first edition of Grimms’ Fairy Tales and revised into its final form in 1854. There is much scholarly debate about the origin of the tale.

What is it about this story that makes it a timeless classic? It’s a love story between a prince and a princess. It’s a story of longing. It’s a story of hope. It’s a story of evil expressed by vanity, envy, persecution, and hatred. It’s the story of Snow White’s kindness towards the dwarfs and their hospitality, loyalty, and protectiveness towards her. It celebrates the diversity of the dwarfs, each with their own distinct personalities embodied by their names. It is a story of the Resurrection and salvation.

We need allegories in the form of fairy tales like Snow White. They provide a proven, timeless way to contemplate life.

I encourage you to check out the linked Wikipedia articles on Snow White for more details about the Disney adaptation and the original telling of the folktale by the Brothers Grimm.

In our next episode, I explore my relationship with another classic fairy tale and my introduction to Broadway musicals. This is all in service of our journey to the Emerald City and the origin of the alleged Wicked Witch, Elphaba.

If you find this podcast educational, entertaining, enlightening, or even inspiring, consider sponsoring me on Patreon for just $5 per month. You will get early access to the podcast and other exclusive content. Although I have some financial struggles, I’m not really in this for money. Still, every little bit helps.

As always, my deepest thanks to my financial supporters. Your support means more to me than words can express.

Even if you cannot provide financial support. Please, please, please post the links and share this podcast on social media so that I can grow my audience. I just want more people to be able to hear my stories.

All of my back episodes are available, and I encourage you to check them out if you’re new to this podcast. If you have any comments, questions, or other feedback, please feel free to comment on any of the platforms where you found this podcast.

I will see you next time as we continue contemplating life. Until then, fly safe.

This week, we conclude my reviews of 31 new primetime TV shows.

Hello, this is Chris Young. Welcome to a special episode of Contemplating Life.

Back in Episode 75, I set myself the goal of writing a brief review of every new TV show that premiered from September through November this year. I accumulated a list of 31 shows.

I planned on making it one large episode, but it was too large, so I split it into two parts. This is Part B.

Unfortunately, many of the shows will receive my lowest two ratings of “Skip It” or “Worthless.” But there are some that I’m going to highly recommend.

CBS/Paramount+ brings us a new reality competition series, “The Summit.” A group of 16 people have 14 days to hike across a gorgeous New Zealand landscape and climb a mountain. Each contestant starts out with a package of thousands of dollars totaling $1 million for the group. If a contestant is eliminated for medical reasons or is eliminated for failing to meet a challenge, the money is lost to the group. But as they camp at each checkpoint along the way, the group votes out one member and splits that person’s money equally among them.

The gimmick is that if they don’t reach the summit in 14 days, NONE of them get any money. As a fan of shows like “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race,” I’m really enjoying this new take on reality competition. By the way, I never cared for “Big Brother” because it is almost 100% a social game and doesn’t require much in the way of physical challenges.

The thing that surprises me about this series is that the contestants must think they are playing “Survivor,” but they are not. They are consistently voting out players who they think are “a threat to my game.” They don’t seem to appreciate that if they don’t vote out the physically weaker players, they will ALL lose the money. This is not going to be a winner-take-all game with just one winner like “Survivor.” They need to be voting out the weakest players, guaranteeing that they can reach the summit by the deadline, and then work on voting out the people they don’t like socially.

I’ve seen about five episodes, so I don’t know what will happen, but I seriously hope they don’t meet the goal and everyone walks away with no cash. Maybe then, contestants in season 2, if there is one, will learn how to play this game.

We’re calling this one “I Really Like It.” And if you enjoy “Survivor” or “The Amazing Race,” I’m sure you will too, even if it’s just to yell at the screen to tell the contestants how stupid they are for throwing out strong players and slowing themselves down by keeping weaker players.

Now we get down to action and drama, and boy, we have some whoppers here.

Let’s start with the only questionable series in the bunch.

Apple TV+ brings us Billy Crystal, in a dramatic role in “Before.” Crystal plays child psychiatrist Eli Adler, who is grieving the recent loss of his wife to suicide. He blames himself for not seeing the signs of her depression. One evening, a young boy knocks on his door. The boy doesn’t speak, and Eli tries to find out where the boy is from and if he is in some sort of danger. The boy escapes before he can extract any information from him. The next day, a social worker tries to get him to take on a difficult case. He initially refuses because he still dealing with the grief of losing his wife. The social worker persuades him to meet the boy, and of course, it’s the same boy who showed up at his door.

The kid is troubled by bizarre visions of some evil force trying to attack him. The description of the series reveals that the “troubled young boy seems to have a haunting connection to Eli’s past.”

Although I normally like Crystal in both comedic and dramatic roles, this one was just too strange and slow-paced to grab me. I struggled through an episode, and I may go back again to see what happens when, overall, at this point, I’m going to have to say “Skip It,” even though it’s based on some pretty incomplete information. Again, I’m reluctant to commit to the show until I have a better idea of what it’s about. Based on my recent bad experience with “Grotesquerie.” The IMDB classifies it as “drama” and “thriller.” It doesn’t say “sci-fi” or “horror,” so I don’t think there is a supernatural component at work here, but I could be wrong. Proceed with extreme caution.

Next up, Amazon Prime offers us two new spy thriller series. “Citadel: Diana” and “Citadel: Honey Bunny.” These are both spinoffs from an earlier Amazon series, “Citadel.” The gimmick is that the original was produced in Britain, and the various spinoff versions are produced in other countries. Diana is an Italian series dubbed in English. Honey Bunny is from India and is also dubbed in English. I had not seen the original series, so I decided to go back and watch it first before taking on the spinoffs. I’m quite happy I did.

The opening sequence of a gunfight on a high-speed European train. It’s cinematic in its execution. It looks like something out of a James Bond movie. There is much chemistry between the male and female agents who are on board the train trying to stop the bad guys. The opening sequence ends with the destruction and derailing of the train and our two heroes barely escaping with their lives.

We fast-forward eight years to find the male agent has amnesia and doesn’t remember his life as a secret agent. When his former boss recruits him for a special mission, his wife inquires, “So what is the deal here… Are you Jason Bourne?” So, they are upfront about ripping off a plot. There are also other highly unoriginal scenarios, including a chase down a mountainside on snow skis reminiscent of James Bond in “The Spy Who Loved Me.”

Our hero eventually meets up with the female agent, who has similarly lost her memory. It turns out that they have had their memory wiped as a security precaution. There is a vile of medication that will restore his memory, but it is accidentally destroyed.

They work for an agency of good guys called Citadel. They have an archrival agency called Manticore. The whole thing feels like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. versus Hydra. The opening sequence on the train was one of several traps that Manticore set for Citadel, essentially destroying the agency. The series revolves around the efforts of the boss, played by Stanley Tucci, who is trying to revitalize the organization.

Despite all of these unoriginal plotlines, I really enjoyed this series. It had some great plot twists along the way, and the action and special effects were cinematic quality. Rate it “I Really Like It.” I highly recommend it.

After watching a couple of episodes of the Italian spinoff “Citadel: Diana,” showed some potential, but I did not find it nearly as compelling as the original. The series takes place in 2030, which is 10 years after the fall of Citadel. I’ll eventually go back and watch the rest of the series, but I was not as impressed as I was with the original. Let’s call this one a weak “I’m Watching.”

The version from India, while not as compelling as the original Citadel, is much better than the Italian spinoff. The title “Honey Bunny” actually refers to 2 married agents: Honey and her husband, Bunny. This story flashes back and forth between 2000 and 2010. In earlier flashbacks, we learn how Honey was recruited by the agency. In 2010, we find that they are married and have a young daughter. Watching Honey fight bad guys to protect her child was much more compelling than the CW series “Joan,” in which an allegedly humble single mother takes on the glamorous life of a jewel thief to regain custody of her daughter. You feel a lot more for Honey, Bunny, and their daughter than you ever do for Joan and hers.

Let’s rate this one a strong “I’m Watching.” It may not be as spectacular as the British original “Citadel,” but it still has plenty of action and drama. The kid is adorable, and you can really feel the struggles of her parents trying to maintain their secret life while protecting their daughter from the forces of evil.

My only complaint so far is that they’ve not mentioned that they work for Citadel, which leaves a nagging question: Could they possibly be working for Manticore and just believing that they are the good guys and not the bad guys? Then again, are the allegedly good guys at Citadel really good guys? I will be binge-watching the remaining episodes soon. All three series have six episodes each. The original Citadel has been renewed for a second season, which I’m really looking forward to.

Another thriller with an international flair is Peacock TV’s reimagining of “ The Day of the Jackal.” The original 1973 film based on the 1971 Frederick Forsyth novel was about an assassin hired to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s. This updated version stars Freddie Redmayne, who is most known for his portrayal of Newt Scamander in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, and Professor Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” It’s strange to see him playing a bad guy, but he pulls it off well. This series is as much about him as it is about a British MI6 firearms agent, Bianca Pullman, who struggles to balance her life as an agent with her home life with her husband and daughter.

In this version, Jackal assassinates a German politician, which draws attention to him because it involves the longest sniper kill in history. A group of businessmen hires him to kill the richest man in the world – a tech entrepreneur who is about to release software that will trace any banking transaction in the world, thereby exposing all of their money laundering, bribes, and other transactions they would prefer to be kept secret.

Five of the 10 episodes are available now, and I can’t wait to see the remaining episodes. I’ve heard it’s been renewed for a second season, but I can’t imagine it ends with the Jackal getting away. I’m not sure what will happen in the second season. Rate this one: “I Really Like It.”

Just for fun, I’m also re-watching the original 1973 film and, for the first time, reading the book at the same time. I highly recommend the new theories, the book, and the original film. I can’t comment on the 1997 film “The Jackal” starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, but I know that novelist Frederick Forsyth insisted his name be removed from the film. That’s one strike against it.

Moving along to another action drama, Amazon Prime has “Cross” about Detective Alex Cross from the novels by James Patterson. This DC homicide detective is also a trained psychologist. In the opening scene, his wife is murdered. We then skip ahead one year later, where we see him filling out forms requesting a leave of absence. His Captain and the Chief of Police have different plans. They need an African-American detective to investigate the death of a community organizer. Although the official cause of death is a drug overdose, no one believes that. Cross and his partner, John, find plenty of evidence that the deceased did not overdose.

Eventually, they begin to realize they are dealing with a serial killer who is kidnapping victims and giving them a makeover to make them look like famous serial killers. In the first episode, you will learn who the killer really is. You follow along as Detective Cross first tries to identify the killer and then, upon doing so, has to figure out how to catch him and make his case. Meanwhile, Cross, his children, and his grandmother are all being threatened by a stalker. This stalking is related to the death of his wife.

This is a very enjoyable wild ride that I highly recommend. Rate this one: “I Really Like It.”

Another procedural drama worth checking out is the new CBS spinoff NCIS: Origins. Set in 1991, it follows the opening days of agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs’s career as he joined what was then called NIS: Naval Investigation Service. We see his relationship with his old friend, Agent Mike Franks, whom we saw in the original NCIS in 20 episodes.

Mark Harmon provides a voiceover as the present-day Agent Gibbs. The narration teases that of all the stories of his past, these are the ones he has never told before. We see Gibbs still struggling with the murder of his wife and daughter. Franks recruited him even though he failed his psych evaluation.

Having only seen a couple of episodes, I can tell it’s going to be up to par with the other versions of the NCIS franchise, and for now, I’m giving it an “I’m Watching It.” However, I’m not sure if I will be able to keep up because I’m at least two or three seasons behind on the original NCIS. So maybe it’s better to describe it as “Recommended Watchable.”

Just two more to go.

Apple TV+ offers us a thriller called “Disclaimer.” Cate Blanchett plays Catherine Ravenscroft, a respected award-winning documentary journalist. Kevin Klein plays an elderly widower, Stephen Brigstocke. He is forced to take a sabbatical from his teaching job, and while puttering around the house, he discovers his late wife wrote the manuscript of a novel fictionalizing the events of their son Jonathan’s death 20 years ago.

In the novel, Jonathan is on vacation in Italy and meets an attractive young woman with whom he has an affair. We learn that the woman is Catherine. She was on vacation with her husband and five-year-old son, but the husband was called back to work. In the novel, she seduces Jonathan, and he takes a series of erotic photos of her. Stephen discovers the photos with the manuscript.

While Jonathan and the woman were having sex in a beachside cabana, the young boy drifted out into the Mediterranean in a small inflatable raft. Jonathan swims out to save the boy. Two other bystanders join him and bring the boy back safely, but Jonathan is so exhausted he cannot make it back and drowns.

Stephen decides to get revenge on Catherine. He will ruin the woman’s life as she has ruined the lives of him and his late wife. He self-publishes the novel under a pseudonym and sends a copy to Catherine, her husband, and their now 25-year-old son.

The book contains a disclaimer that reads, “Any resemblance to real people is NOT a coincidence.”

The series uses a variety of voiceover narrators. Some are of Stephen, others Catherine, and sometimes an omniscient narrator who speaks in the second person present tense, which is a bit strange but effective.

Stephen becomes so obsessed that he will stop at nothing to get his revenge. With each victory along the way, Klein delivers an evil smirk that shows Steven’s joy that his plan is working.

Although a bit slow-moving and difficult to follow at first, with multiple flashbacks and flash-forwards, this one will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the 7 episodes. There are award-worthy performances from Klein and Blanchette, as well as great supporting work by Sacha Baron Cohen as Catherine’s husband, Robert, in a rare dramatic role. Also noteworthy is Louis Partridge as Jonathan and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the adult son Nicholas.

There is a huge plot twist in the final episode that you will not see coming. But in some respects, we enter the story through Stephen’s eyes, and the twist is a surprise to him that we really feel. I was concerned it was going to end with the audience not being sure what really happened, but there is no doubt at the end as to what the truth really was.

Again, it is very slow-moving but well worth your time. Let’s rate this one “I Really Like It.” Strongly recommended.

Finally, here is the review of the last of the 31 new TV series.

CBS/Paramount+ offers us a 10-episode series, “Landman,” starring Billy Bob Thorton as Tommy Noris. He works for an oil company in the oil fields around Midland, Texas.

In the opening scene, we find him in a remote warehouse, tied to a chair with a burlap bag over his head, being guarded by some nasty-looking guys with guns. When the boss arrives, he asks, “So you are going to take our land to drill oil?” Tommy calmly explains that the man purchased the land from someone who had previously sold the mineral rights. All he is there to do is negotiate a lease for the surface rights to put in a road and set up the drills.

After some fascinating exposition, Tommy explains that the oil company is bigger than this man’s drug business. Tommy says, “We are the same. Your customers are dependent upon your product, and so are mine.” He threatens that if they don’t cooperate, he will see to it that the DEA sets up a substation on the property, and/or the oil company will hire mercenaries to eliminate them all. The company will pay them for a lease to the surface rights as well as reparations for any damage that is done to the land.

After escaping with the signed lease and his life, Tommy has a voiceover narration that explains how massive the oil industry is. He then comments, “You gotta secure the rights and lock up the surface. Then babysit the owners, babysit the crews. Then manage the police and the press when the babies refuse to be sat. That’s my job. Secure the lease, then manage the people. First part’s pretty simple. It’s the second part that can get you killed.”

Really? This guy was just tied up and about to be killed by a bunch of cartel bad guys, and that was the simple part of the job?

After two episodes, one starts to understand he was right. We see Tommy managing one crisis after another, and most of them are deadly.

The action sequences, special effects, and stunts are top-notch. They must’ve had a massive budget for the series. Thornton creates a memorable character, as always. We have memorable supporting roles: Ali Larter as Tommy’s ex-wife, Jon Hamm as the head of the oil company, and a cameo by Demi Moore as his wife.

I’m giving this one a very strong “I Really Like It.” I can’t wait for the remaining episodes. Very highly recommended.

Let’s do a brief recap of all 31 series we have reviewed in the order in which they premiered.

Fox animation “Universal Basic Guys” rated “Worthless.”

ABC police procedural “High Potential” rated “I’m Watching It.”

Disney+ Marvel series “Agatha All Along” rated ”I’m Watching It.”

HBO/Max “The Penguin” rated a strong “I Really Like It,” and after seeing all 10 episodes, I can almost upgrade this to “Must See.” Destined for multiple Emmy nominations and hopefully several wins. Again, this is a gangster movie, not a comic book movie. I think anyone would like it.

CBS/Paramount+ legal drama “Matlock” starring Kathy Bates rated “I Really Like It.”

Fox drama “Rescue Hi-Surf “ rated strong “Skip It.”

NBC medical drama “Brilliant Minds” rated very weak “Could Be Watchable.”

Fox police procedural “Murder in a Small Town” rated “Skip It.”

FX/Hulu horror series “Grotesquerie” rated “Skip It.”

ABC cruise ship romantic comedy “Doctor Odyssey” rated “Skip It.”

CBS/Paramount+ reality competition “The Summit” rated “I Really Like It.”

CW network crime drama “Joan” rated a weak “I’m Watching It” or “Could Be Watchable.”

CW game shows “Trivial Pursuit” and “Scrabble” rated “Skip It.”

Amazon Prime spy drama “Citadel” rated “I Really Like It.” Italian spinoff “Citadel: Diana” rated a weak “I’m Watching It.” East Indian spinoff “Citade: Honey Bunny” rated strong “I’m Watching It.”

Peacock horror series “Teacup” rated strong “Skip It.”

Apple TV+ revenge drama “Disclaimer” rated strong “I Really Like It.”

Max CGI animated children’s show Barney’s World rated “Recommended Watchable” for its target audience.

CBS/Paramount+ crime procedural “NCIS: Origins” rated “I’m Watching It.”

CW reality show “The Wranglers” rated “Skip It.”

Amazon Prime game show “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity” rated “Skip It.”

CBS/Paramount+ sitcom “George and Mandy’s First Marriage” rated “Could be Watchable.”

NBC sitcom “Happy’s Place” starring Reba McIntyre, rated “Could Be Watchable.”

CBS sitcom “Poppa’s House” starring Damon Wayans, Sr. and Jr., rated “Could Be Watchable.”

Apple TV+ drama “Before” starring Billy Crystal rated “Skip It.”

Disney Channel tween sitcom “Wizards Beyond Waverley Place” rated “Recommended Watchable” for its target demographic.

Peacock thriller “Day of the Jackal” rated “I Really Like It.”

NBC/Peacock sitcom “St. Denis Medical” rated “Skip It.”

Amazon Prime crime thriller “Cross”, based on James Patterson’s novels, rated “I Really Like It.”

Finally, Paramount+ drama “Landman” starring Billy Bob Thornton rated “I Really Like It.”

So that’s it with all my reviews. I’m not sure where we go from here. It will probably be more about the aftereffects of having to quit work for health reasons and the establishment of my work-from-home software business. Then, early next year, it will be Oscar season again. There will be more prime-time shows in January, but I don’t know if I will do this again.

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I will see you next time as we continue contemplating life. Until then, fly safe.

This week, we have the first part of a two-part episode in which I review more new TV shows. The final part will be available in a few days.

Hello, this is Chris Young. Welcome to a special episode of Contemplating Life.

Back in Episode 75, I set myself the goal of writing a brief review of every new TV show that premiered from September through November this year. I accumulated a list of 31 shows. I did several of them in episode 75 and intended to do a review episode every other week until I was done. But I got on a roll with writing my regular autobiographical podcast, and some of the TV shows were so good I had to binge-watch the entire season. So, I’m just now getting around to finishing up the remaining reviews. I should probably split this into two episodes, but I’m just going to make a really long one since it probably won’t come out on time. I apologize in advance for the length.

I was going to make this one big long episode, but after doing some editing I realized it was just too long. So, we are going to split this into Parts A and B. Here is Part A.

Unfortunately, many of the shows will receive my lowest two ratings of “Skip It” or “Worthless.” But there are some that I’m going to highly recommend. So, let’s get rid of a bunch of the stinkers first.

For some reason, I’ve never been a big fan of Fox’s Sunday evening animation. I’ve probably only seen one or two episodes of “The Simpsons.” I appreciate that it is highly popular. It has run for 36 seasons and earned 37 Primetime Emmy Awards, but for some reason, it never appealed to me. I know that other Fox animated series have been popular as well, most notably “Family Guy,” but I’ve never seen it. So, I’m probably not well-qualified to be objective about the newest entry in the lineup, “Universal Basic Guys.”

The premise is that a bunch of guys got laid off from work, and as severance, they were awarded guaranteed universal basic income. Other than the title and an opening sequence explaining that premise, the concept of UBI never came up in the first episode. It seems that it’s just a gimmick to explain a bunch of guys who sit around with nothing to do all day except come up with harebrained schemes. In the first episode, our lead character, Hank, tries to do his wife a favor. She is upset that the local country club does not admit women, and she wants to play golf there. He cooks up a scheme to get admitted to the club to try to get her access. It turns out that the members’ wives want to keep the club male only to keep their husbands occupied so that they can pursue more important feminist agendas. It’s not very funny. It doesn’t work as social commentary. I’m sure that other Fox animated series are more entertaining. We’re giving this one a big fat “Worthless” rating.

I’m similarly unqualified to be objective about the next entry from Fox – “Rescue: Hi-Surf.” This is a basic ripoff of “Baywatch” set in Hawaii. It follows the lives of a bunch of lifeguards who cover the beaches of the North Shore and rescue people in trouble in the high surf. While the action sequences of rescues are well done and exciting, you can’t help but feel it’s going to be the same thing week after week. How many different ways can a surfer get in trouble and be rescued? The characters are thinly drawn. The only plot is a politician who holds the pursestrings over the program insisting that his son be hired as a lifeguard. Wow. How compelling…No, not really. If you’re desperate to see beautiful people running around in bathing suits, go watch the new ABC series “Doctor Odyssey,” which we gave a bad review of last time. It’s not any good either, but it’s better than this. I’m giving this a strong “Skip It” bordering on “Worthless.”

I hate to trash Fox continually, but I also give the new procedural “Murder in a Small Town” a hard pass. The title tells you everything you need to know. I watched the opening episode about a week ago, and I’ve already forgotten what it was about. They solved the murder, so there will be a new case every week. There is nothing to see here. Again, I rate it “Skip it,” bordering on “Worthless.”

Let’s take a quick look at several new game shows. The CW network offers “Trivial Pursuit,” hosted by LeVar Burton, who was recently rejected as a possible host of “Jeopardy!” I had no problem with his ability to host the iconic game show, even though I really like Ken Jennings, who is the new permanent host. I have no problem with Burton hosting this show. But this show is extremely boring. The pace is too slow, and the questions are either trivially easy or ridiculously difficult. Rating it strong “Skip It.”

I was even less impressed by CW’s other adaptation of the board game “Scrabble.” While I enjoy playing the game, watching other people play it is incredibly boring. You’ll never find yourself saying, “They played the wrong word! They could’ve scored higher if they’d spelled something else.” Host Raven-Symoné is adequate but brings nothing interesting. Another strong rating of “Skip It.”

Only slightly less boring is Amazon Prime’s “Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity.” While I generally enjoyed the original “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader,” this spinoff, which uses adult celebrity helpers rather than fifth-grade children, lacks all of the charm of the original. It might be better if they used celebrity kids to help adult contestants rather than adult celebrities helping adult contestants. The format is identical to the original “5th Grader” game. Contestants answer questions ranging from first through fifth-grade levels. Host Travis Kelce brings nothing interesting to the effort. I doubt that his relationship with Taylor Swift will draw viewers to this show, even though she vastly increased the viewership of Kansas City Chiefs NFL games. Unless she shows up as one of the celebrity helpers, I doubt the Swiftlies will tune in. Kelce lacks the charm and humor of original “5th-grader” host Jeff Foxworthy.

Speaking of Kelce, he is a better game show host than an actor. He has a minor part in the Hulu series “Grotesquerie,” but his performance was grossly inadequate and amateurish.

So, let’s talk about “Grotesquerie.”

I’m not a huge fan of the horror genre, but this one caught my attention from the beginning, and I had high hopes for it. It stars Niecy Nash as Detective Lois Tryon, who is trying to solve a series of bizarre homicides in which the killer leaves the bodies staged in bizarre tableaus filled with religious symbolism. She is accompanied by a young nun who is a reporter for a Catholic newspaper and website. Her true crime articles about this bizarre serial killer not only increase the readership of her website but also boost attendance at local churches. This show is highly reminiscent of the NBC series “Hannibal,” which ran for 39 episodes from 2013-2015. That series covered the early days of the killing career of iconic character Dr. Hannibal Lecter, brilliantly portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen. I really enjoyed “Hannibal” and was ready to declare this a worthy successor.

This is a compelling mystery with excellently written episodes and deeply drawn characters with despicable flaws. With the exception of Travis Kelce, there are quality performances throughout.

I found “Grotesquerie” so disturbing I actually had a nightmare about it.

Throughout the first 6 1/2 episodes of the series, I wondered if there was going to be a supernatural component to this story. The series was co-created by Ryan Murphy, who is known for his excellent series “American Horror Story,” so it would not surprise me if there were a supernatural plot element. I’ve only seen 8 of the 12 seasons of “American Horror Story,” but my favorite was season 7, which contained absolutely no supernatural elements. Often, real life can be more terrifying than demons and witches.

Episode 7 of “Grotesquerie” introduces a plot twist that completely upends the entire story. By the end of the series, in episode 10, you will be totally confused. Although I think I understand “what really happened,” the entire thing was such a disappointment that it left a really bad taste in my mouth. It turns out to be another version of a horror trope that I’ve never liked in any of its other implementations, and this one did nothing to change my opinion. I won’t spoil it by telling you what trope I’m talking about.

Had I written this review prior to episode 7, I would have given it a strong “I’m watching it” rating. But all I can say at this point is that I watched it, and I’m not sure it was worth the time. Your mileage may vary. Let’s officially downgrade this to “Skip It.”

By the way, I love a good plot twist. But when the twist reveals that the story is deliberately deceiving the audience rather than just setting up a mystery or a big reveal, I cannot help but feel betrayed. While we are on the topic of betraying the audience, I want to talk briefly about the 2022 Netflix film “On the Line” starring Mel Gibson. By the way, I’ve always been able to separate the art from the artist, so no matter how I feel about him as a person, I’ve always been able to enjoy his work both as a director and actor. He gives a quality performance in this deeply flawed film.

Gibson plays a late-night radio talk show host that takes phone calls from listeners. Someone calls in, claiming to have kidnapped his wife and daughter. We eventually learn that he is holding them in the office building where the radio studio is located. Gibson and a new employee who runs the control room start searching the empty office building. Along the way, they find the bad guy has killed a security guard and a janitor.

As the show reaches its climax, there is a plot twist that will leave you extremely angry. I won’t hint at what it is. Just when you are about to forgive them for tricking you with this ridiculous twist, and you think the movie is back on track, there is another twist guaranteed to piss you off again. I tried to explain these twists away, saying that the characters in the film were heartless people who toy with each other’s emotions, but ultimately, the real victim is you, the audience, that is toyed with throughout the film.

Going back to the horror genre for a moment and back to our TV reviews, we have the Peacock TV series “Teacup.” It is described as a horror sci-fi thriller in which a group of neighbors who are trapped on a farm in rural Georgia must put aside their differences and unite in the face of a mysterious and deadly threat. It stars Yvonne Strahovski, who was recently seen as one of the villains in “A Handmaid’s Tale” and Scott Speedman, who is known for playing Dr. Nick Marsh on “Gray’s Anatomy” for 37 episodes.

Somehow, I managed to struggle through the first episode, but it took me multiple attempts. I’m hoping that because IMDb described it as sci-fi, it’s some sort of alien invasion rather than demonic possession, but I couldn’t get far enough into the show to find out even the basic premise. That description, which says these people are trapped on a farm, like a bug trapped under a teacup, presumably, only becomes apparent early in the second episode, which I couldn’t stand watching. I will be generous and rate it a solid “Skip It” rather than “Worthless” because there is the tiniest possibility it could get better. It runs just eight episodes, so maybe if you have more patience than I do, you can figure it out. But the pacing is so slow that it is unbearable, and I just couldn’t stand it.

While I enjoy reality competition shows like “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race,” I’ve never been a fan of so-called reality shows like “Real Housewives” or Kardashians. CW network has a new series described as a “Documentary charting the lives of ranch employees in Montana, navigating personal relationships and work duties at the Circle Bar Dude Ranch.” This has to be the most phony “reality” show I’ve ever seen. In case you are unaware, a “dude ranch” is where city slickers go on vacation to experience allegedly authentic cowboy life. The casts of wranglers, ranch managers, and other staff are about 60% female. While that is commendable, it could hardly be considered an authentic representation of classic cowboy life. The job of head wrangler is open so the staff is going to be competing for the new position. The previews hint that there are going to be romantic entanglements among the staff. The whole thing simply wreaks of fake situations created by the producers. Let’s call this a strong “Skip It” unless you are the kind of person who would go to a dude ranch but can’t afford it.

That wraps up most of the really bad ones. Let’s move on to something slightly more interesting. The CW network has a new series called Joan, based on the real-life exploits of British thief Joan Harrington, who was known in some circles as the “Godmother.”

It stars Sophie Turner, best known for playing Sansa Stark in “Game of Thrones,” and Frank Dillane, who played Nick Clark in 44 episodes of “Fear the Walking Dead.”

Turner plays Joan, an ordinary British housewife whose boyfriend is a small-time criminal. Fearing for her daughter’s safety, she turns the girl into Child Protective Services, telling them that she is homeless and cannot care for her daughter. She gets a job working in a jewelry store and has the opportunity to make off with a handful of diamonds. She tries to sell the diamonds to an antique dealer named Boisie, played by Dillane. They fall in love and begin working on bigger jobs.

We are supposed to sympathize with Joan, who is turning to a life of crime to establish herself financially and get her daughter back from authorities. Personally, I don’t feel that much sympathy for her. Had she made some smarter choices and stayed legitimate, she would’ve had a better chance of getting her daughter back. But now, enjoying the fruits of a life of crime seems to be more of a motivating factor than regaining custody of her daughter.

I’ve seen three of the six episodes, and so far, I’m giving it a week rating of “I’m Watching,” but I’m doing so more out of curiosity to see what happens than because it’s a compelling story, which it is not.

Let’s look at some sitcoms. Maybe we can find something to laugh about there.

NBC/PeacockTV brings us “St. Denis Medical.” I’ve never been a big fan of the “mock documentary” format in which the story is interrupted by the characters talking to an unseen interviewer. It worked for “Modern Family,” but I’ve never cared for any of the other uses of this gimmick, such as “The Office.” It’s not just the format that stinks here. Sadly, this works much better as a drama than it does a comedy. I’m not talking about the kind of mix of comedy and drama we saw in a series like “M*A*S*H,” which could get uproariously silly, but then there would be a poignant moment to reflect the dire circumstances of the setting. The show tries to be funny, but it isn’t. When it goes for poignant, it almost works, but it fails so miserably at the comedy that is not worth waiting for the touching parts. I’m giving this one a strong “Skip It.”

CBS/Paramount+ brings us “George and Mandy’s First Marriage.” It is a spinoff from “Young Sheldon,” which is, in turn, a spinoff from “The Big Bang Theory.” I never missed a single episode of BBT, and I must admit I’m about a season and a half behind on “Sheldon,” but I have been catching up. In this series, Montana Jordan reprises his role as George Cooper, big brother to Sheldon. His wife, Mandy, is played by Emily Osment, who appeared in 39 episodes of “Young Sheldon.” I don’t particularly recall her because George had lots of girlfriends in the series. And as I mentioned, I’m way behind.

My guess is that there was an episode of “Sheldon” that served as a pilot for this series. It seems to hit the ground running, assuming that you already know that the young couple is living with her parents. Mandy has such a difficult relationship with her mother that, at first, I wasn’t sure it really was her mother but perhaps a stepmom. In the opening episode, after a feud with her mom, in which her mother questions George’s intelligence, the couple moves out and tries to make it on their own. By the end of the episode, they make up and move back in with her parents.

My number one criterion for a sitcom is that it has to make me laugh. I may have chuckled once or twice, but I can’t remember at what. We will be generous and call this one “Could Be Watchable.” However, given that I am a huge fan of the parent shows from which this spinoff was created, I’m severely disappointed. I would have rather seen a spinoff series with Sheldon’s sister, Missy.

NBC is keeping Reba McIntyre busy these days. In addition to her role as a coach/mentor on “The Voice,” she returns to scripted television and a new sitcom called “Happy’s Place.” In this series, she plays Bobby, a woman who just inherited a diner from her father, who had the nickname “Happy.” As she is trying to manage the restaurant while dealing with the loss of her father, she discovers she has a half-sister she never knew about who is now co-owner of the facility.

The character McIntyre is playing has the exact same perky personality as her own, so there is no acting stretch involved here at all. I never saw her previous self-titled sitcom, so I can’t really compare this, but if you were expecting anything different, you won’t find it here.

If I laughed, I don’t recall at what, but I will be generous and give this one a weak “Could Be Watchable.” But it’s not for me.

A slightly better choice if you’re looking for a new sitcom might be “Poppa’s House.” Damon Wayans plays Damon “Poppa” Fulton, who is a radio personality. He is forced to take on a female psychologist as a new sidekick on his popular show to attract a more diverse audience. At home, he deals with his son Damon Jr., played by Damon Wayans Jr. Was the writing team so untalented that they couldn’t even come up with a fictitious first name for these characters, or were the Wayans such bad actors they couldn’t remember to refer to one another by the character names consistently? Draw your own conclusions.

That said, the show did have some laughs. Both stars have proven their comedic talents in other vehicles, and you can see them shine in this open-ended situation, which essentially lets them play themselves. I will give this one a stronger “Could Be Watchable,” but I don’t have room for it in my busy viewing schedule. You might want to check it out and see if it appeals to you.

The only other comedy that has potential is Disney Channel’s “Wizards Beyond Waverley Place.” As best I can tell, this is a spinoff of “Wizards of Waverly Place,” which ran for 106 episodes from 2007- 2012. I’ve never seen the original. David Hernie reprises his role as Justin Russo, who, in this series, has decided to give up his wizardly powers and live the normal life of a mortal. His wife and children have no idea about his magical past.

Life gets turned upside down when his sister Alex, played by Selena Gomez, brings him a young girl named Billy, who is a wizard in training. Apparently, Justin was a teacher at a wizard school in the previous series. Billy conjures up a silly monster to impress Justin’s children and then can’t figure out how to put it back from wherever it came from.

Although the kids now know that Billy is a wizard, they remain clueless about their father’s abilities, as does his wife.

This Disney Channel series is clearly aimed at a younger audience, and I think it will do well with them and fans of the original series. It shows lots of potential. Let’s call this one “Recommended Watchable,” which means if you like this kind of thing, I can highly recommend it, but personally, I will not be watching.

While we’re on the topic of watchable kid’s shows, Max streaming has a CGI animated kids’ show called “Barney’s World” featuring the iconic purple dinosaur. As I understand it, only kids can see him, and he has the ability to transport them to fantasy situations that only they can experience. The show is full of positive life lessons about being responsible, cooperative, and helpful, along with a dose of positive vibes about diversity. If you are anti-woke, then you are probably out protesting this show right now. But for reasonable parents, the show is completely harmless and quite positive. Obviously, it’s not for me, but we will call this one “Recommended Watchable” for your toddlers.

That’s going to wrap up for Part A of this two-part episode. Give me a couple of days to edit Part B, which will be coming very soon.

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Even if you cannot provide financial support. Please, please, please post the links and share this podcast on social media so that I can grow my audience. I just want more people to be able to hear my stories.

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I will see you next time as we continue contemplating life. Until then, fly safe.

This week, we have a special episode where I review six new TV shows and one movie that have recently premiered.

Hello, this is Chris Young. Welcome to a special episode of Contemplating Life.

Years ago, I used to write an entertainment blog in which I would post non-gossip entertainment news. That is, I didn’t care who was sleeping with whom. I didn’t care who got divorced or broken up or got married or got arrested for something. I simply covered things like what new TV shows were being released, what new movies were in production, what was being canceled, who was going to guest star, etc. I also did movie and TV reviews. Obviously, I couldn’t see every new movie. I did attempt to watch at least one episode of every new TV show in the new fall and midseason to review it.

Unfortunately, I got busy, and some of my favorite web sources quit putting their content on an RSS feed. This made it hard for me to keep up with the latest news. Although the broadcast networks still release new shows in the fall and some midseason premieres, streaming services release new shows all the time, and there are just too many to keep up with. For example, I just finished binge-watching three seasons of the hit show Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, even though it was highly recommended to me by many people and won 13 Emmys. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s still streaming on Apple TV+ and is available for purchase on Blu-ray.

But that’s not why I’m here.

It’s been almost exactly two years since I last did an entertainment blog. Rather than go back to blogging reviews, I thought we would try some TV reviews for this podcast. Once again, I will attempt to watch and review every new series this fall season. I can’t promise you I will get through all of them, but we are going to give it a good attempt.

I will try to keep spoilers minimal, but I cannot make promises. I will give you a warning when I spoil.

In my old entertainment blog, I had my own system of ranking shows. Before we begin, I want to explain my system.

The worst rating was “Worthless.” Shows with this rating were so bad I didn’t even bother writing a complete review.

Only slightly better than that is a rating of “Skip It.” This is a bad show, and I will explain in detail why.

Next is “Could Be Watchable.” That means it’s not so bad that I’m telling you to skip it. On the other hand, either I wasn’t impressed or perhaps the jury was still out. I may have to watch another episode or two to decide. Some shows rated “Could Be Watchable” turned out okay, and I did add them to my viewing schedule. However, I usually drop such shows unless they get better.

Our next category is “I’m Watching.” This means the show may not be a must-see, highly recommended, wonderful show, but it’s good enough to hold my interest. Sometimes, it’s a type of guilty pleasure show that I like, even if it isn’t top-notch entertainment.

Our next category is “Recommended Watchable.” This is sort of equivalent to “I’m Watching” in that it’s good enough for me to watch but not so good that I would bump something out of my busy viewing schedule. You should consider it a mild endorsement, but I just don’t have space in my life for it. Check it out and see if it’s for you. You might like it.

Next is “I really like it.” I highly recommend it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think you will too. It’s good for general audiences, not just sci-fi or comic book genre fans like myself. Count “Ted Lasso” in this category.

My top rating is “Must See.” This is extraordinary television that is above and beyond the average fair. It is destiny to become a classic. It works on every level. Great writing, acting, and directing make it sure to be an award winner. It is landmark television.

Now that we have that out of the way let’s get on with the reviews.

First on our agenda are a pair of spinoff shows set in comic book universes. One is set firmly in that fantasy world, while the other is quite realistic.

Let’s do fantasy first.

“Agatha All Along” is a sequel to the Marvel TV series “WandaVision” from Disney+ streaming. “WandaVision” was a surreal series about the Marvel character Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch. I can’t set up the premise of this new series without spoiling part of the plot “WandaVision.” I also cannot discuss this new series without spoiling something from the opening episode. Sorry about that.

In “WandaVision,” Wanda was trapped in a spell that made her believe she was a sitcom character. In each episode, she occupied a different style of sitcom ranging from a 60s black-and-white homage to shows such as “The Dick Van Dyke Show” up to more modern sitcoms.

Ultimately, we discovered that the villain in the series was an evil witch named Agatha Harkness. The big reveal in the final episode was, “It was Agatha all along.” Thus, we get the name of this new series. At the end of the previous series, Wanda steals Agatha’s powers.

In the new series, Agatha is now a woman named Agnes, who is a homicide detective in a small town. Along the way, we discover that everything is not what it seems.

This is going to spoil a plot point, but if you’re familiar with this character from the previous series, it should come as no surprise that what appears to be reality isn’t real. I mean, let’s face it: Wanda really wasn’t a character in a variety of five or six different sitcoms set over the course of five decades. She was a powerful witch living in a warped reality. It shouldn’t surprise you that Agatha/Agnes is not really a small-town detective.

Episode two sets Agatha on a quest to recruit other witches to travel something called the Witches’ Road, at the end of which you get whatever it is you desire. Naturally, Agatha desires to get her powers back.

Catherine Hahn reprises her role as Agatha. She really shows her acting range as she credibly portrays the small-town cop in the first two-thirds of the first episode and easily transitions into the over-the-top, conniving, evil witch Agatha.

Fans of the MCU, especially fans of “WandaVision,” will love this sequel, but I’m not sure it will find a wider audience. I would recommend that you watch “WandaVision” first if you’ve not seen it. If you don’t have time or inclination to do so, I think I’ve set things up well enough that you can probably jump into this series.

I’m ranking “Agatha All Along” as “I’m watching” with the caveat that it’s definitely a comic book/fantasy genre piece that might not appeal to someone who wasn’t a fan.

Our next review is another comic book piece that I can highly recommend. I will give it a ranking of “I really like it,” and you do not need to be a genre fan to appreciate it.

We are talking about the HBO/Max series “The Penguin.” It is set in the Batman/DC comics universe and is essentially a sequel to the 2022 film “The Batman,” directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson. In this series, Colin Farrell reprises his role as Oswald Cobb, a.k.a. The Penguin. Neither Batman nor Bruce Wayne appears in the opening episode, and I doubt that they will make an appearance in future episodes.

This series picks up immediately after the events of the film, and although it was enjoyable for me to go back and rewatch the film one more time as a refresher, this series does a great job of setting the scene without the need to watch that film.

Two crime families have controlled Gotham: the Falcone’s and the Maroni’s. In the film before this, the Maroni crime family was broken up, and its leader, Salvatore Maroni, was jailed. This leaves the Falcone family to take over the drug trade in the city. At the film’s end, Carmine Falcone is murdered, leaving his son Alberto to try to hold his father’s empire together. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the gangster skills to do the job. Oswald sees the opportunity to get rid of Alberto and try to take over the criminal enterprise.

Falcone’s daughter Sophia, who has only recently been released from the Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, stands in the way of his plans. Oswald must find a way to avoid Sophia while avoiding getting caught by the police or either of the city’s criminal organizations.

Farrell gives a highly nuanced performance in this well-written character. We see how his mother manipulates him to become a powerful man despite his clubfoot, which causes a severe, penguin-like waddling gait. State-of-the-art prosthetic makeup completely obliterates Colin Farrell, and if you didn’t know that he was playing the part, you might have never guessed. Even if you do know it’s him, only in the eyes can we perhaps recognize the famous character actor who has previously won Golden Globe awards and an Oscar nomination. Certainly, he will add an Emmy nomination to his resume and perhaps a win this year for this role.

Along the way, he recruits a young black man named Victor as his assistant. Initially, he was going to have a young man help him dispose of a body and then kill him. However, when Victor begs for his life, Oz decides to give the kid a chance. They both grew up in the same neighborhood. Victor’s home was destroyed by a flood caused by the Riddler at the end of the Batman film. We explore Oswald’s character through Victor’s eyes. Victor is played by actor Rhenzy Feliz, who you might recall from the Marvel TV series Runaways, which I greatly enjoyed.

Sophia is brilliantly portrayed by Cristin Milioti, who gives a chilling performance as the heir to the Falcone family, who was recently released from an asylum. She will make a worthy adversary to the Penguin.

Overall, you don’t feel like you’re watching a comic book story. These are realistically drawn characters that could’ve appeared in a mainstream gangster movie by Martin Scorsese. There is none of the over-the-top theatrics that we come to expect from comic book villains.

As I said earlier, I’m rating this one as “I really like it,” and I highly recommend you check it out. It will run for eight weekly episodes, with new episodes premiering Sunday night on HBO. It will also be available for streaming on Max.

We will take a brief look at a pair of medical shows. It was with much anticipation that I watched “Brilliant Minds” on NBC, starring Zachary Quinto. Quinto is famous for playing Mr. Spock in the 2009 JJ Abrams reboot of the Star Trek franchise. Now playing a doctor in this NBC drama, it’s difficult not to refer to him as Doctor Spock. And if you know who that is, your back hurts.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure there are any brilliant minds in the writers’ room of “Brilliant Minds.” Quinto plays Doctor Oliver Wolf, a brilliant but unorthodox neurologist. In the opening scene, he helps an Alzheimer’s patient escape from the hospital to attend his granddaughter’s wedding. Although he helps the man come out of his zombielike state and recognize his granddaughter briefly, you know that afterward, the patient won’t remember anything. While we can feel some empathy towards the patient and sympathize with the doctor’s intent to give the man a happy moment in his otherwise empty life, the fact that he took a nearly catatonic patient on an adventure by having the man right on the back of a motorcycle stretches credibility. He is fired from his position.

We see him as a reclusive man who tends to his plants and keeps his nose in a book. A friend of his recruits into a new position at Bronx General, but he declines, saying, “You know why I can’t work there.” By the time the reason is revealed in the final scene of the opening episode, I already had it figured out.

Wolf struggles with a neurological condition called “face blindness.” It makes a person unable to recognize people’s faces. In the first episode, his first patient at his new job also struggles with a cognitive condition in which she doesn’t recognize her own children and thinks that they have been kidnapped and replaced by substitutes. In finding a solution to her problem, he’s forced to confront his own condition, which he keeps secret from everyone except the colleague who got him his new job.

In the new job, he is surrounded by four interns who he is forced to supervise even though he prefers to work alone. They have varying degrees of enthusiasm about working with a brilliant yet radically unlikable boss.

There’s nothing original here. If you want to watch a show about a neuro-atypical doctor, I recommend you go watch “The Good Doctor,” which has more compelling characters than this series.

I’m rating this one as very weak: “Could Be Watchable,” leaning strongly towards “Skip It.” There are much better medical dramas available than this. It appears on Monday nights on NBC and is available to stream on Peacock TV.

Unfortunately, among those better medical dramas is not the new ABC series “Doctor Odyssey.” Picture this: Someone walks into a TV executive office with a great pitch for a new serious. Imagine it. It’s a cross between Grey’s Anatomy and The Love Boat. The executive buys it on the spot without seeing a single script. I don’t know for a fact that this happened, but it sure looks that way.

The story follows Doctor Max, a newly hired ship’s Doctor on a luxury cruise liner called “The Odyssey.” He is played by Joshua Jackson, known for his roles in “Dawson’s Creek” and “Fringe.” He works with a pair of experienced ship medical nurses. Avery Morgan, played by Philippa Soo, is an attractive young nurse practitioner. She is accompanied by Triston Silva, a hot young Latino nurse and a ladies’ man who is secretly in love with Avery.

The ship’s captain is played by an aging Don Johnson, who gives long discourses about his commitment to creating a fantasy paradise for the passengers. He tries and fails to have the same charisma and mystery as Mr. Rourke from “Fantasy Island.” Again, if you know what “Fantasy Island” is, your back hurts.

Like most medical shows, it’s populated with realistic yet undistinguishable-sounding medical jargon as they treat their patients miles from the nearest hospital in a state-of-the-art sick bay. Unfortunately, whoever advised them on the medical jargon knows nothing about tracheostomy tubes. They inserted a trach into a patient, and he was still able to talk without a speaking valve. Technically, it is possible to do so with a partially inflated cuff. There was no sign of a cuff inflation balloon on the trach prop they were using.

It’s populated by beautiful people running around in skimpy bathing suits and partying constantly.

The characters are mildly interesting in the medical situations run from a serious man overboard rescue to a more comical man with a fractured penis and some food poisoning along the way.

If you are desperate for a new medical show with eye-candy characters and light humor and romance, then you might find this a guilty pleasure, but for the most part, I will have to say, “Skip It.”

We wrap up this episode with a pair of episodes that I can recommend.

First, we have the new CBS series, “Matlock,” which stars Kathy Bates as the title character. This isn’t exactly a reimagining of the original series. In the opening scene, she explains her name.

“I’m Matty, informally. Formally, Madeline Matlock. Yes, Matlock like the old TV show, which was all I heard between 1984 and 1992. “You’re a lawyer like Matlock. You’re a lawyer like Matlock.” And every time I’d correct ’em, “No, he’s just pretending. You know, I’m a real lawyer.” But, you know, you can only protest so much before you sound like you got a big old pole up your heinie, so I just let ’em have it, and I just said, “Yeah, well, yeah, I’m a lawyer just like Matlock.”

She makes this explanation after sneaking into a partner meeting of a large, prestigious law firm. She has been trying to get a job interview, but the firm is not interested in hiring a septuagenarian lawyer who hasn’t practiced for 30 years. She explained that she had put herself in a position to overhear a conversation with a lawyer on the opposite side of one of their cases and learned that they would accept a settlement of $4 million greater than their current offer. Because she just made the firm $4 million, they agreed to hire her on a two-week probationary basis.

She is assigned to work with partner Olympia Lawrence, played by Skye P. Marshall. Olympia is unhappy having her on her team but accepts her help because it is the only way to prevent the law firm from dropping her case. She is defending a woman who was wrongly accused of a crime and framed by corrupt, racist police.

Olympia is divorcing one of the other partners, Julian, who is played by Jason Ritter. Olivia sends Matlock the impossible task of getting Julian to give up Thanksgiving weekend with the child even though it’s his turn.

Matlock has some missteps along the way that nearly cost them the case, but it’s not much of a spoiler to say that it all works out in the end.

Bates gives a memorable performance as a quirky, down-home, “awe-shucks,” 70-something-year-old lawyer.

The closing scene contains a gigantic plot twist that reveals a running plot line throughout the series that you will not see coming. I will make no attempt to hint at what it is. All I can say is that even without this new continuing plotline to keep you coming back, I think the show is worth watching. The big secret plot is just icing on the cake.

I’m rating it “I Really Like It.” I suggest you check it out. Kathy Bates should be enough to get you to watch this, and the character they’ve written for her makes full use of her talent.

Our final new series is the ABC crime procedural “High Potential,” the title of which is an appropriate description of my opinion. The show has potential, but it remains to be seen if it will live up to it.

The series stars Kaitlin Olson as Morgan Gillory, a single mom who works nights cleaning a police station. In the opening scene, she is dancing around the office, listening to music while she works, and accidentally knocking over a stack of case files. As she picks up the files, she can’t help but see some crime scene photos that catch her eye. She then walks up to the murder board, where there is a photo of the murder victim’s wife. She crosses out the word “suspect” and writes in “victim.”

The next day, when the detectives discover that the board has been changed, they review the surveillance video to find out that the cleaning lady did it. They bring her in and threaten to charge her with obstructing an investigation. They ask why she did it, and she explains her theory of the case. Her argument is so compelling they decide to pursue her theory.

As you might guess, she was right. By the end of the episode, they offer her a job as a consultant.

I’ve always been skeptical of the outside police consultant sub-genre, which traces its origins to Edgar Allen Poe’s 1841 character C. Auguste Dupin in his short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” 46 years before Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

On TV, we have had a wide variety of consulting detectives in shows such as Castle, The Mentalist, Elementary (which is a modern-day Sherlock Holmes), Psych, and Monk.

While it’s fascinating to think that there are people with such keen observation powers that they can see things that even the most highly trained detectives might miss, the entire premise of this entire genre is complete fantasy. In 2018, I wrote a review of a similar series, Carter, which I described as the worst ever such show. In that review, I expressed my dismay that the entire concept of consultant detective was a giant fiction with no basis in reality. I wish I knew someone in law enforcement who could verify for me that since things never take place.

Since then, I have spoken to at least three people who are familiar with real-life police work, and they assure me that they have never heard of a so-called “consulting detective” in their departments’ history. At best, a prosecutor might hire an expert witness to testify about evidence, but no outsiders ever participate in the actual investigations.

Along the way, we learn that Morgan is a bit of a savant with an IQ of 160. She can crunch numbers in her head faster than a calculator. So, her innate ability to observe what others have missed isn’t her only gift.

While it would be easy to dismiss this as yet another well-worn, unrealistic trope, something is compelling about these characters. If you enjoyed “Monk,” then consider this as potentially a reimagination of that series with a female hero.

I’m giving it a weak “I’m Watching It,” but it borders on “Could Be Watchable.” The jury is still out, but I liked the first episode for the same reasons I enjoyed Monk years ago. You might want to check it out and see for yourself. After a sneak preview episode, where episodes begin October 8 on ABC and streaming on Hulu.

One more quick review. If you subscribe to Apple TV+, check out the new movie, “Wolves,” starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, who portray the guys you call when you need to dispose of a dead body and make it look like it never happened. Through a contrived set of circumstances, these lone wolves are both called in to clean up the dead body of the young man who was accidentally killed in the hotel room of a female district attorney. They are forced to work together even though they prefer working alone.

It’s everything you would want from these two actors in a quirky comedy with some pretty good action sequences along the way. Highly recommended.

There are still more TV series in the coming days, and I will have another special episode to review them.

If you find this podcast educational, entertaining, enlightening, or even inspiring, consider sponsoring me on Patreon for just $5 per month. You will get early access to the podcast and other exclusive content. Although I have some financial struggles, I’m not really in this for money. Still, every little bit helps.

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I will see you next time as we continue contemplating life. Until then, fly safe.

In this episode, we wrap up my six-part series on Oscar-nominated films for 2024. Our final category contains my favorite film of the year and the film that is most likely to win significant numbers of awards including Best Picture. I call this category “Troubled Geniuses”

The 96th Annual Academy Awards will be awarded this Sunday, March 10. After this episode, I’m going to take off the rest of the month and will return with new episodes in April. This is been a labor of love but a labor nevertheless.

Hi, This is Chris Young. Welcome to episode 59 of Contemplating Life – Oscar edition.

The 96th Annual Academy Awards will be awarded this Sunday, March 10. This is the last of my series on the Oscar-nominated films for 2024. After this episode, I’m going to take off the rest of the month and will return with new episodes in April. This has been a labor of love but a labor nevertheless.

Our final category contains my favorite film of the year and the film and the film that is most likely to win significant numbers of awards including Best Picture. So, we have saved the best for last. I call this category “Troubled Geniuses”

We begin with Christopher Nolan’s epic movie “Oppenheimer”. It’s the story of J Robert Oppenheimer who led the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb.

The film is actually two interconnected stories told in parallel. We have the story of Oppenheimer beginning with his career as a young physics student through his development of the atomic bomb and eventually his activism to promote nuclear disarmament. This story is described by a title card as “Fission” which is the term for the splitting of an atom which releases tremendous amounts of energy. This portion of the film is shot in color 70mm IMAX film.

The parallel story is that of Louis Strauss who was a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and who later led the Atomic Energy Commission. This portion of the story is described by a title card of “Fusion” which is the process of combining hydrogen atoms into helium also releasing tremendous amounts of energy. It is a process that powers the sun and all of the stars and is the process of the hydrogen bomb that Strauss promoted. This portion of the film told from Strauss’ perspective is shot in black-and-white 70mm IMAX film which was specially produced for this project because no one had ever used black-and-white IMAX before.

The framework of these two stories surrounds hearings regarding the careers of these two men. Oppenheimer appeared for several weeks before a special committee of the Atomic Energy Commission in April and May 1954 as he appealed the revocation of his security clearance.

At the time he was a highly popular public figure for his role in developing the atomic bomb which was credited for ending World War II. Oppenheimer had hoped the development of a weapon as powerful as an atomic bomb would make war unthinkable in the future and would essentially end all wars. He imposed the development of the more powerful hydrogen bomb and was a strong advocate for negotiated arms treaties. This opposition to further atomic weapon development as well as past affiliations with known Communists led to the revocation of his security clearance. The story opens with Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, testifying before this committee. He chooses to tell his life story so that his work can be understood in proper context. So his portion of the film is told as a flashback as he testifies before the AEC committee.

Strauss is played by Robert Downey, Jr. His portion of the film also centers around a hearing. He is being considered for a position in the Eisenhower administration as Secretary of Commerce in 1958. Strauss testifies before the Senate committee approving his appointment and recounts the story of his feud with Oppenheimer over the development of the hydrogen bomb. His story is told in flashbacks from that hearing.

Although these two stories are told in parallel, clearly this is primarily Oppenheimer’s story. It begins with him as a graduate student in Cambridge where he proved to be clumsy and inapt in the laboratory. At one point, so frustrated with his scientific advisor at Cambridge that he tried to poison him with a poisoned apple. A fictionalized version of this true incident is shown in the film. Fortunately, he’d stopped the man from being poisoned.

Oppenheimer left Cambridge for the University of Göttingen in Germany to study under Max Born; Göttingen was one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical physics. Freed from his inability to perform in the lab, Oppenheimer prospered in theoretical physics. He became an expert in the new field of quantum mechanics and returned to the US to teach quantum theory at Caltech.

His brother Frank, also a physicist, was active in the American Communist Party. Oppenheimer never joined the party but was intrigued by the support of everyday workers and he contributed to programs to help refugees in the Spanish Civil War. Those funds were distributed through the Communist Party. One must understand that the early communist movement in the US was about workers’ rights and other liberal causes but was not yet associated with the kind of dictatorships that developed in Russia, China, and other Communist countries. So, there wasn’t quite the stigma of the Communist Party early on.

Oppenheimer had a relationship with Berkeley activist Jean Tatlock who was active in communist politics. He eventually married Kitty Puening who had also been involved in Communist politics at Berkeley but had renounced communism before she met Oppenheimer. They had an affair and she became pregnant. Kitty’s husband gave her a divorce and she and Oppenheimer were married. They eventually had three children together.

Oppenheimer was recruited by General Leslie Grove to lead a top-secret project to develop an atomic weapon. Grove is brilliantly played by Matt Damon. Grove was well aware of the communist skeletons in Oppenheimer’s closet. In the film, Oppenheimer figures out that Grove was not ignoring his previous communist entanglements but had specifically recruited him in hopes that he could hold those entanglements over his head and control him.

Oppenheimer and his brother Frank loved to roam the deserts of New Mexico and he had always dreamed of finding a way of combining his around of New Mexico with his love for physics. He recommended a location called Los Alamos where the Army would build an entire city complete with homes, schools, churches, and entertainment. Oppenheimer knew that he could not recruit the best scientists in the country unless they could bring their families with them.

The film chronicles some of the difficulties faced in this groundbreaking endeavor of creating a nuclear weapon. There were competing theories on how it should be done and there were early moves to create a hydrogen bomb although to detonate a hydrogen bomb one must use a uranium or plutonium atomic bomb. So they had to build the atomic bomb first anyway.

It’s not a spoiler to say that they did build an atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer then began actively working towards nuclear disarmament and that caused great controversy.

The committee reviewing his security clearance was stacked against him and he never had a chance at winning. During the testimony, it was revealed that he continued to have an affair with Jean Tatlock after he was married to Kitty. Kitty was aware of the affair but the way it was depicted in the hearing is quite explicit. I won’t spoil that for you.

The latter half of the film focuses on Strauss and his Senate hearings as he tries to explain his feud with the popular physicist.

Christopher Nolan is known for his extensive use of IMAX sequences in his previous films such as the Dark Knight Batman trilogy, Inception, Tenet, and Dunkirk. This film was shot almost entirely in IMAX or other 65mm film formats where IMAX would have been impractical.

There was great hype that the film would be shown in IMAX 70mm film in only 30 locations around the world and only 19 of them were in the US. With a three-hour run time, most of these theaters had to install special film platters to hold the 11 miles of film which weighed 600 pounds. The print was shipped to theaters packaged in 53 smaller reels which then had to be carefully spliced together by trained projectionists to produce the giant continuous three-hour print.

There were other digital IMAX and 70mm showings but not in full IMAX. One of those theaters was the IMAX Theatre at the Indiana State Museum at White River Park here in Indianapolis. I was able to see the film in that format at that location.

If you have heard recent episodes of this podcast you know what a huge fan I am of IMAX. You also know that I’m quite a science nerd. You would think that this was the ultimate viewing experience for a geek like me.

While it was an amazing film with a compelling story well written, well acted, well shot, and certainly worthy of its 13 Oscar nominations, overall for me it was no big deal. I go to IMAX or any other theater because I want to get my eyes maxed. I want to see something spectacular and immersive. I want to be taken to places real or fantasy that I could not otherwise go. Except for the actual detonation sequence during the test at Los Alamos, which wasn’t that spectacular by the way, there was nothing about this film that needed to be seen in the theater let alone an IMAX.

The vast majority of the film is people arguing about physics, politics, communism, and extramarital affairs, and none of that needs to be experienced 60 feet tall with state-of-the-art digital surround.

While I am eternally grateful that we have filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, and others who are keeping IMAX alive, this particular film was not a great showcase for the format.

Don’t get me wrong. This is an amazing film. I liked it a lot. It is my third favorite of the year. It deserves all of its nominations. It will likely win a bunch. It’s just not why I spend premium prices and risk my health to see something in IMAX. I quite enjoyed a second viewing streaming on my 23-inch desktop computer monitor. Even viewing it on my roommate’s 55-inch 4k TV wasn’t necessary.

In addition to its Best Picture nomination, Christopher Nolan is nominated as Best Director and has a good shot at winning. He has cleverly crafted a compelling story that dives deep into the minds of two amazing people Oppenheimer and Strauss. These are complex characters with complex motivations who shaped history.

The attention to detail is phenomenal. There are dozens of minor things that only physicists would appreciate. For example, at a social gathering, there is someone in the background playing bongo drums. Only physics nerds know that physicist Richard Feynman was famous for playing those drums. He is never mentioned in the film or identified as Richard Feynman but he is there in the background. Nolan already won directing BAFTA and DGA awards.

Cillian Murphy completely transforms into the character. Anyone who has seen video or photographs of the actual man can appreciate how much he has embodied Oppenheimer and from what I’ve read about the man it’s not just his appearance that he has re-created. He is nominated as Best Lead Actor and is likely to win. It is my second favorite actor performance of the year.

Robert Downey, Jr. gives a chilling performance as the manipulative, conniving Strauss. His nomination for Supporting Actor is well-deserved.

Emily Blunt is consistently interesting as Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty. She is someone who has devoted her life to supporting her husband at great cost and has forgiven him for his extramarital affair. She is constantly encouraging him to fight the forces against him yet when she is called to testify before the committee she struggles to maintain composure in the face of attacks against her. Fighting isn’t as easy as she thought it would be. She is deservedly nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar and is my third favorite pick in that category.

Is also nominated for the adapted screenplay by Christopher Nolan, Photography, Production Design, and Sound all of which are richly deserved. I have no opinion about the nominations for Musical Score, Makeup and Hair, Costume Design, or Film Editing except to say that the hair and costumes looked period-authentic and the score seemed to heighten the tension in the film.

Its 13 BAFTA nominations included wins for Best Picture, Best Director for Nolan, Lead Actor Murphy, Supporting Actor Downey, Cinematography, Editing, and Musical Score.

Its 8 Golden Globe nominations included wins for Best Drama, Best Director Nolan, Best Actor Murphy, Supporting Actor Downey, and Musical Score.

The Musical Score also won a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.

There were 4 SAG nominations including wins for Murphy, Downey, and Ensemble Cast.

IMDb lists 305 wins and 381 other nominations.

Released in the US in July and produced on an estimated budget of $100 million. It has earned nearly $330 million in the US and Canada and $957 million worldwide.

It is currently still being shown in some theaters although not IMAX. It is available for streaming on Peacock, for rent or purchase on Amazon and YouTube, and for purchase on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4k Blu-ray.

I highly recommend the film although you already have heard my thoughts about seeing it in a theater or on IMAX or 4k.

* * *

Our final film of the year is my favorite of the 10 Best Picture Nominated films. “Maestro” stars Bradley Cooper as legendary composer, conductor, and pianist Leonard Bernstein. While I was impressed with Cillian Murphy totally inhabiting the character of Oppenheimer, it is nothing compared to what Bradley Cooper achieves in his portrayal of this musical legend.

The opening scene shows Bernstein late in life sitting at the piano and being interviewed by a camera crew. He talks nostalgically about his late wife actress Felicia Montealegre who was his inspiration and muse. I had to remind myself that I was watching Bradley Cooper. I’m familiar with Leonard Bernstein from many TV programs and YouTube videos I’ve seen about the great man. It was as if he was brought back to life before my eyes. The hair, makeup, voice, mannerisms, body language, and everything about the man became incarnate in this film.

After seeing the film, I became obsessed with Bernstein and began watching hours and hours of YouTube videos and documentaries about the great genius. With every minute that I watched, I became more and more impressed with Bradley Cooper’s performance.

He is nominated as Best Lead Actor and is by far my favorite performance of the year by anyone male or female.

In addition to the lead role, Cooper also produced, directed, and co-wrote the screenplay all of which were nominated. Consider that he also starred in, produced, directed, and co-wrote the screenplay for his previous film “A Star is Born” which earned nine Oscar nominations. He is proving to be an amazing filmmaker. If he does not win any Oscars this year, it is just a matter of time before he is finally recognized as the top of his craft.

After the opening scene with Bernstein in his late years, it jumps back to the earliest days of his career. He had to fill in as conductor at the last minute without any rehearsal to conduct the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall when guest conductor Bruno Walter fell ill. The next day, a rave review was published on the front page of the New York Times and was picked up by multiple other newspapers. The performance also aired on CBS radio around the country. This rocketed him to instant fame.

Although the film follows his career from that famous debut through his works late in life, it’s not your typical biopic about the career of a genius. The film instead focuses primarily on his relationship with his wife Felicia who is brilliantly played by Carey Mulligan who has earned a Lead Actress Oscar Nomination for the role.

The film is a love story about two extremely passionate people. Like some of the other films we have reviewed, it shows us the price that is paid by those close to driven people. Bernstein had multiple affairs with both women and men. This naturally put great strain on his marriage. He remained totally closeted about his sexuality and when rumors arose about his relationships with men, he flatly denied everything. There was an especially poignant conversation with his daughter in an attempt to spare her feelings.

Cooper uses a variety of cinematic styles to establish the time period being depicted. Early in Bernstein’s career, it was filmed in black-and-white in a traditional 4 x 3 nearly square aspect ratio used by early films. Later in the story, it switches to color but still in that narrow 4 x 3 aspect ratio. These scenes re-create the era much in the same way that “The Holdovers” established its era by its cinematic choices. Only later does the film switch to a widescreen format in full color. While the switch between color and black-and-white was occasionally distracting in Oppenheimer, this progression of film styles in Maestro greatly enhanced the experience and helped set the time frame and the mood of each scene. Except for that opening scene late in his life, the rest of the story is told, chronologically so the shift in cinematic style feels like a natural part of that progression. It is a very effective filmmaking technique.

Bernstein separated from Felicia in 1976 but reunited with her the next year when she developed lung cancer. He put his career on hold canceling many appearances so that he could care for her until her death in June 1978.

The film concludes with a re-creation of Bernstein conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in a famous performance of Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony “Resurrection” Himat Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire, England. Words cannot describe what a magnificent piece of filmmaking and acting appears in this single scene. It is an achievement beyond belief. I’ve seen a video of the actual performance and to say that Cooper has channeled the great maestro is a huge understatement.

The film has been criticized because it glosses over some of Bernstein’s greatest works. For example, the beloved musical “West Side Story” is barely mentioned at all. But as I said at the beginning, this is not your typical biopic. It is the love story between Bernstein and his wife and it tells the story beautifully.

In addition to Best Picture, its seven Oscar nominations include Lead Actor Bradley Cooper, Lead Actress Carrie Mulligan, Screenplay Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Cinematography, Sound, and Hair and Makeup all of which are greatly deserved. And yes, for once I do have an opinion about hair and makeup. It was essential to the transformation.

It had 7 BAFTA nominations and 4 Golden Globe nominations as well as SAG nominations for Cooper and Mulligan.

IMDb lists 21 wins and 179 nominations.

Released in December on an estimated budget of $80 million this Netflix production has grossed only $383,000 worldwide but as we have mentioned previously, such box office numbers are meaningless for films that are produced for streaming and have only limited theatrical release.

I have insufficient words to describe how magnificent this film is. Please watch it. Also, check out some of the links in the description which include the film’s Executive Producer Steven Spielberg interviewing director Bradley Cooper about the film. Be sure to see the behind-the-scenes feature which includes interviews with Bernstein’s daughters talking about how much they loved Cooper’s performance. The Bernstein family cooperated in the production of the film. Also, check out my side-by-side comparison of Bradley Cooper and Bernstein both conducting the London Symphony Orchestra at Ely Cathedral. I’ve also linked actual footage of Leonard Bernstein, and if there is not sufficient “West Side Story” for you in this film, check out the documentary I linked which shows Bernstein conducting “West Side Story” for a recording featuring operatic singers playing all of the parts.

* * *

Well folks, that wraps up our detailed look at 14 films nominated for Oscars this year. Let’s recap the entire bunch and I will rank my favorites in order and then tell you who I think will actually win. Keep in mind that although “The Zone of Interest” was difficult to watch and “Poor Things” was sufficiently bizarre that it might not appeal to everyone, I have to say I enjoyed all of these films on some level. There is not a stinker in the bunch.

Counting down to my number one favorite in each of these categories…

Let’s start with adapted screenplays. 5 “The Zone of Interest”, 4 “Poor Things”, 3 “Oppenheimer”, 2 “Barbie”, and my favorite adapted screenplay of the year is “American Fiction” for creating a memorable character and deep satire. I love it even though it doesn’t have a chance. “Oppenheimer” is likely to win but part of me hopes that Greta Gerwig wins for “Barbie”.

For original screenplay. 5 “Past Lives”, 4 “May December”, 3 “Maestro”, 2 “The Holdovers” for its witty charm and clever twists on old tropes, and finally my favorite original screenplay is “Anatomy of a Fall” for that amazing scene in which the husband and wife realistically argue as well as for the clever way it seems to resolve the story yet leaves so many doubts lingering. It’s a phenomenal piece of writing.

Supporting Actress 5 Daniel Brooks – “The Color Purple” in one of only 2 nominations with which I disagreed. 4 America Ferrera – “Barbie”, 3 Emily Blunt – “Oppenheimer”, 2 Da’Vine Joy Randolph – “The Holdovers” who is likely to win and I will not be disappointed if she does. And naturally, my number one pick is… you guessed it… Jodie Foster – “Nyad”. It really is a great performance and not just my obsessive bias for Foster.

Lead Actress I enjoyed all of these performances so consider it nearly a five-way tie. If I had to rank them I would say… 5 Carey Mulligan – “Maestro”, Lily Gladstone – “Killers of the Flower Moon” I moved her from 5th to 4th after reconsidering. She is very likely to win and it will be a close call between her and my 3rd pick Emma Stone – “Poor Things”. My two favorite performances haven’t got a chance but I greatly enjoyed 2 Annette Benning – “Nyad” and was totally blown away by my favorite of the group Sandra Huller – “Anatomy of a Fall”. I plan to look up more of her films. Keep your eyes on her in the future. I expect great things.

Supporting Actor – 5 Ryan Gosling – “Barbie” which is the other nomination that I felt was undeserved even though I found it quite amusing. 4 Sterling K Brown – “American Fiction” which was okay but probably forgettable. 3 Mark Ruffalo – “Poor Things” which had me in stitches at several points. 2 Robert De Niro – “Killers of the Flower Moon” who remains at the top of his form and is a very close second to my favorite in the category Robert Downey, Jr.. – “Oppenheimer” which is likely to win. In fact, I think this is the only one of my favorites that is likely to win. I have to pick a winner sometime don’t I? We’ll see.

We are going to take Lead Actors from the top down this time. As you have just seen, Bradley Cooper – “Maestro” blew me away. I could easily cop out and say it is a four-way tie for 2nd place but if forced to make a choice I would pick 2 Paul Giamatti – “The Holdovers”, 3 Cillian Murphy – “Oppenheimer” who is likely to win, 4 Coleman Domingo – “Rustin”, and 5 Jeffrey Wright – “American Fiction”. All five were phenomenal performances.

For Best Director… I’m a bit disappointed that Bradley Cooper was not nominated but it was really his performance that shined the most. I wouldn’t bump anyone from this list to make room for him or Greta Gerwig. I may have rearranged these from comments made in previous episodes but here is where I stand now. All five of them have done an amazing war this year but if I have to pick it is… 5 Jonathan Glazer – “The Zone of Interest”, 4 Yorgos Lanthimos – “Poor Things”, 3 Christopher Nolan – “Oppenheimer” who is likely to win. 2 Justine Triet – “Anatomy of a Fall” for the choices she made in showing the domestic argument and the overall structure of the courtroom scenes. This leaves us with the Grand Master Martin Scorsese – “Killers of the Flower Moon” who at age 81 still keeps topping himself year after year.

Finally, we come to the Best Picture. Although I might put an asterisk next to a recommendation for a couple of these films, as I said before, there is not a stinker in the bunch. Counting down…

10 “The Zone of Interest”, 9 “Past Lives”, 8 “Barbie”, 7 “Poor Things”, 6 “Killers of the Flower Moon”, 5 “American Fiction“, 4 “The Holdovers”, 3 “Oppenheimer” will likely wi figure n but Barbie might be a dark horse. 2 “Anatomy of a Fall” mostly because of the writing, the lead actress performance by Sandra Hüller and the way it kept me guessing even after the film was over. It was a very entertaining experience. And, as you know, my favorite of the bunch was “Maestro” for reasons previously stated.

Last year I covered 10 films in 3 episodes and I wore myself out editing all of the trailers, still photos, and movie clips into the YouTube version of the podcast. When I finished, I said to myself, “I’m not going to do that in such detail next year. It was too much work.”

Well, so much for that resolution…

This year I did 14 films in six episodes in even more detail. The editing was just as extensive as I tried to get the movie clips and still photos to match up with the narration. On top of that, I did so after three other movie-related episodes. That’s nine episodes in a row that were far more difficult than my usual talking head episodes. I had to throw out my usual schedule of releasing episodes on Monday mornings to get everything done in time for the Oscar ceremony.

I’m totally exhausted but I loved every minute of it.

Who knows what I will do next year? Maybe we will throw in animated animated features which I wanted to watch this year but didn’t have time this year.

I will return with a new episode formed by Patreon supporters on April 1st and the episode will be released to the general public on April 8th

Why do I love movies so much? Because they are all about contemplating life.

I find them to be educational, entertaining, enlightening, and even inspiring.

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You can check out any of my back episodes which are all available where you found this episode. If you have any comments, questions, or other feedback please feel free to comment on any of the platforms where you find this podcast. Tell me what you liked or did not like about these films. What are your picks to win the Oscar this year?

I will see you next week as we continue contemplating life. Until then, fly safe everyone.