Reviews

I loved Seinfeld as a show. I even bought the full series on DVD. Beyond that, I haven't been very impressed with Seinfeld's shows/movies. When Bee Movie came out, I had high hopes for it, but found it quite lame. This Unfrosted movie has really been promoted for some time, so I thought I'd give it a try as well. Wow, it's bad! It's not funny at all. I really tried to get through the whole thing (it's an hour and a half long), but I kept falling asleep. Maybe what's missing is Larry David. David was the head writer and executive producer throughout most of Seinfeld. It was his creativity and off-beat sense humor that made that show so great. (Watch David's show, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and you'll see what I mean.) So instead of wasting your time with Unfrosted, I suggest watching the original Seinfeld series or Curb Your Enthusiasm if you're looking for some fun entertainment.

I am a Star Trek fan with my favorite series being The Next Generation. I recently checked out this series, Strange New Worlds, and have mixed feelings. Overall, I like most of the characters. Some of the episodes are really good with great plots and cool aliens. Unfortunately, there are some episodes that are quite off-putting to me, including turning into fairy tale and cartoon characters, humming, singing and dancing. Like, is this Star Trek or a variety show? Also, while I appreciate that the original Uhura was one of the first black female characters featured on a television series, I feel entirely too much focus and credit is given to her in this series. Personally, I'll stick with the older series.

I was a big fan of Cheers and liked the Frasier spinoff even more. Kelsey Grammer's description of the character he played as "flawed, silly, pompous and full of himself, yet kind and vulnerable" was spot on. He played the role perfectly. He and his costars were so funny together; they made me laugh every week. I was disappointed when the series ended, but after 11 seasons, it had run its course. When the show was released on DVD, I bought the entire series and watched the shows over and over. Fast forward 15 years (or whatever). When I first heard they were going to bring back a Frasier sequel, I was excited, but a little leery. Could it even compare to the original? Then I heard the only actor returning from the original Frasier cast would be Kelsey Grammer, and I immediately thought uh-oh. Regardless, I signed up for Paramount so I could check it out. I've watched the first few episodes and have been VERY disappointed. The show is so lame compared to the original. The scenes and jokes are corny, not funny, and seem forced. I will not slam any of the actors in the show, other than to say this line-up does not compare to Niles and Martin and Roz and Daphne (but much of that is due to fault in the writing). I'll stick with the old Frasier series and suggest you do the same.

I started watching NCIS after it had been on a few years. I immediately got hooked and eventually saw the seasons I had missed. I thought it was a great show. In my opinion, it was at its best with Tony, Ziva and Abby. Other characters have tried to fill their roles, but they could not fully replace the people we had known to come and love. I thought the send-off episode for Gibbs was great. But now that he has departed, it's time to retire the series. The show suffered after the loss of the aforementioned characters, but it absolutely will not be the same without Gibbs. Ideally, they should have ended season 18 with the first few episodes from season 19, but they were probably trying to get people hooked on yet another season. It's time to say good-bye.

"See No Evil" is my favorite show on Discovery ID. When it first aired in February 2015, I was blown away. I was naïve and had NO idea how often we were on camera. (And since then, the number of cameras has significantly increased.) After watching every single episode to date, some of the "novelty" has worn off, but I still like it. When the killer is revealed, it is surprising to find out who it was and how it is usually someone close to the victim [friend, boyfriend, spouse, in-law or even child (!)]. When they show video from media coverage showing the victim's family pleading for their safe return, family members look so distraught. It is amazing how often one of them happens to be the killer! Anyway, I find it fascinating how investigators are able to piece things together and solve crimes by using various videotapes. Two drawbacks to the show is that it can be redundant, as in they often repeat the same information a few times within the same episode. Also, the show has a lot of commercials, but those can be avoided by recording the show and fast-forwarding through the ads. I always enjoy seeing the criminal busted in the end!

I was/am a big fan of Star Trek TNG, especially Patrick Stewart. It was because of this show, Star Trek: Picard, that I subscribed to CBS All Access. (I debated, because we were already paying a lot to watch the shows we enjoyed.) Anyway, I was excited to see Patrick Stewart reprise his role as Jean-Luc Picard. Unfortunately, I have been very disappointed in the series so far. (I have watched 8 episodes.) Here's my list of complaints:

* The shows are painfully slow.

* Picard's character is a downer, very different from the captain we knew and loved from TNG. (Yes, the situation is grim, but he is not the same Picard as before.)

* The series must be watched in sequence. You cannot just tune in an episode and watch like in TNG. You would be completely lost.

* The series is full of bad language (as in cussing). I personally say "bad" words now and then, but they aren't necessary in Star Trek, especially the "F" word. To me, it seems the swearing is added in an attempt to sound "cool," and it just seems forced and out of place.

* Some of the gore is not necessary. It used to be if there was something bad happening, they wouldn't show it. Now they go so far as to show someone's eye being popped out without anesthesia, among other things. Really? Yuck and no thank you.

* I repeat, the shows are painfully slow.

The one thing I have enjoyed is seeing some old "friends" again, if only for a short time, including Data, Seven of Nine, Riker and others. I will watch the remainder of this season. However, if something doesn't drastically change in the next couple of episodes, I will cancel my CBS All Access subscription and give up on this series. Too bad, because I had high hopes. After all this time, I expected something MUCH better.

************** Update after watching the last 2 episodes: The felt the 2-part season finale was good. However, it was slow going to get there. Although it was nice to see Picard and others from previous Star Trek series of the past, I much prefer the older series (TNG and Voyager especially) and will stick with watching them instead of continuing with Picard. My overall rating of this series remains a 4.