Alabama Liberal talks about watching “Shark Tank” from the first episode, why he enjoys the show, why Mark Cuban was the best shark, and the real limitations of the sharks left on the show from the remaining best shark “Queen of Plastic” (Lori Grenier) to Mr. Burns (Kevin O’Leary) who had to literally be bailed…
Category: Mindless Mondays
Disney “Star Wars” Accidental Masterpiece: “Rogue One” and “Andor”
Alabama Liberal describes how “Rogue One” accidentally became the only great “Star Wars” movie since the original trilogy, and how “Andor” (particularly in the second season that overlaps with the Trump regime) became the exact kind-of TV show or movie he HOPED Hollywood would be making right now, similar to the darker films of the…
When Your Favorite Actor Blows Up (and the Common Thread of a Great Walton Goggins Performance)
Alabama Liberal describes the feeling of watching an actor he’s championed since “The Shield” days finally get big, a script he wanted Danny McBride and Goggins to share long before “Vice Principals,” and the only thing the chameleonic Walton’s best performances have in common: joy, and how contagious he makes that for the audience. “Too…
“Gemstones” Finale Proved Danny McBride is the Greatest Living Depicter of the Southeast
Alabama Liberal is sad to see “The Righteous Gemstones” go, but describes WHY he’s such a Danny McBride (and Jody Hill) fan, the parallels between Southern and Irish people, how R-rated Christian themed movies and TV shows would be more realistic, and why he’s looking forward to whatever McBride, Hill, or Walton Goggins do next….
“The Conners” Finale: What Nostalgia TV Will Future Decades Have in Such a Fractured Media Landscape?
Due to powerful “Roseanne” nostalgia, I watched “The Conners” finale despite having never seen an episode of this spinoff and was struck by how much it leaned into a show that ended decades ago as if it hadn’t built new moments for fans to think fondly…Then wonder what the nostalgic reboots will be in the…
Now That Bill Maher is Dead, Who Should Replace Him?
After losing a long and tragic battle against irrelevance, Bill Maher finally died while “sane washing” Trump on last week’s “Real Time.” In the last minute or so of this video, Alabama Liberal looks at some potential candidates to replace him, and thinks he may have the perfect one who should: Ziwe Fumodoh
“‘The White Lotus’ is a Spiritual Thriller that Gets Better Every Season”
Note: Massive spoilers for the “White Lotus” season three finale, but after watching that, check out this video I made rebutting the critics that the third season was “slower” when it was actually darkly thrilling to push materialistic characters into philosophy, existentialism, and (scariest of all) introspection
“Severance” Became Apple+’s Best Show by Subverting Their Oppressive Product Formula”
In the first half of this video, Alabama Liberal explains why too many Apple+ shows feel as machine-made and interchangeable as Apple’s physical products. In the second half, he reveals that “Severance” became a great show by subverting their oppressive formula altogether–especially in the exhilarating second season finale.
Why “The Brutalist” Should’ve Won Best Picture (and Explaining the Ending)
Note: If you have not yet seen “The Brutalist,” this video discusses the ending from about the mid-point onwards. Here, Alabama Liberal explains how “Anora” continues the recent trend of Best Picture winners that are forgotten a few months after you watch them (and blames rank choice voting for it) whereas “The Brutalist” is a…
The Best TV Shows of 2024
Honorable Mentions: “Bob Hearts Abishola” is probably the last laugh-track sitcom I’ll ever watch, and it’s true that many critics weren’t exactly wrong when they said the jokes were repetitive. However, I still feel compelled to have warm feelings towards one of the only TV shows I’ve ever seen that’s even remotely similar to my…
The Best TV Characters of 2024
Best character twist: John Sugar (Colin Farrell) in “Sugar”…Is the overall series “Sugar” very good? No, no it isn’t. But I admit I was genuinely surprised when the series abruptly changed genres in the middle of its first season. It’s a bold swing that I wish more series would attempt in this age of “we’ve…
The Worst TV Characters of 2024
Note: I do this countdown of the worst every year, and almost always do individual characters more than overall series, but this year I felt the problem was more systemic to the entire series. This list could almost double as “the most disappointing TV shows” of the year. As always, the 10th spot is not…