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….
Category: TV Reviews
“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…
“‘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.
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…
TV Review: The Surprising Reason Why “TWD: The Ones Who Live” Worked and “The Regime” Didn’t
Both “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live” and “The Regime” are about the power moves behind oppressive states, and the lies it takes to sustain a dictatorship. By almost any conceivable metric, “Regime” is the better show–more cerebral, more realistic, more relevant, smarter characters, less “Comic Con” influenced–but, shockingly, “The Ones Who Live” actually…
All 2023 TV Shows Ranked from Worst to Best
Note: It is now impossible for any one human to watch all TV shows in a given year, especially all the bad ones. This list is 70-odd shows that I had a reasonable expectation would be good, and I ranked/graded them only on the basis of what I actually watched vs. hypothetically lousy shows I…
Reviewing, Grading, and Ranking the “Succession” Seasons From Worst to Best
I had planned to post this article right after the “Succession” series finale, but the bleak finale (combined with “Barry”‘s equally hopeless ending that aired right after it) was a little too harrowing to review immediately after it was over. I can’t say I’m entirely surprised that it ended in a depressing place (some of…
“Succession”‘s Apocalyptic Series Finale Made “Barry”‘s Look Upbeat, and Confirmed Kendall was Always Surrounded by Assholes
“Succession”‘s series finale was so bleak it made “Barry”‘s bruise-black finale (which aired right after it) look downright sunny in comparison. More than half of “Barry”‘s main cast was killed or wrongfully convicted for murder–with Hollywood even giving them the full villain treatment, which is probably worse than death for most of Barry’s limelight-obsessed characters–and…
Season Finale Reviews: “Schmigadoon,” “Lucky Hank,” “The Diplomat,” and “Rabbit Hole”
“Schmigadoon”…I loved the first season of what turned out to be one of the best TV series Apple+ had ever produced (no small thing on a platform rapidly becoming known for its high-quality), but was skeptical if it really needed a second season. It turns out that it probably didn’t, but the second season is…
TV Reviews: “You,” “Your Honor,” and “Mayor of Kingstown”
Although “You” remains the worst show I watch, it definitely had some competition with the completely unnecessary second season of “Your Honor.” Both had such lousy seasons, that it makes me question watching any more shows with variations of the word “you” in the title. “You”…Although I’m sure this isn’t actually the worst show on…