A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in May 2022, our panel of (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Eddy, Micah, Jessica, and Jared – reconvenes around the CPU! Water Cooler to discuss Season 4 of the popular ABC medical drama The Good Doctor, in this, Episode Four of our four-part “Catching Up on The Good Doctor” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of The Good Doctor, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “The Good Doctor” is a medical drama series that airs on ABC, though it is currently on hiatus.
What: Based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name, the series stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young autistic savant surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. In Season 4, Hill Harper, Christina Chang, Richard Schiff, Antonia Thomas, Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, and Paige Spara are also part of the regular cast.
SYNOPSIS
The series follows Shaun Murphy (Highmore), a young autistic surgeon with savant syndrome from the small city of Casper, Wyoming, where he had a troubled past. He relocates to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
When: Season 4 aired on ABC from November 2, 2020, to June 7, 2021, with a total of 20 episodes.
Where: The action in Season 4 primarily occurs in San Jose, California, with one trip to Guatemala.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode covering Season 1 via the link below!
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
This is Episode Four of our “Catching Up on The Good Doctor” series. You can listen to Episodes One, Two, and Three here and at our audio feeds (Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, and Amazon Music):
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes surprisingly suggested The Good Doctor, a previously passed series for show coverage at CPU!, and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang in short order. It was surprising because medical shows are very much hit and miss here at CPU!, but our roster has grown, and it is possible that so too has the appetite for medical shows and the willingness to discuss them. Ch-ch-ch-changes! Thus, herein we offer our Season 4 recap and review of The Good Doctor, in which our panel – consisting of Eddy, Micah, Jessica, and Jared – remarks upon the success or lack thereof of the series as we catch up, season by season.
As such, tonight’s episode is the fourth episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on ABC in 2017. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 4 of The Good Doctor, in which we follow Shaun’s continuing adjustments to his job and his romance with Lea (Spara), the cast of supporting characters including a group of brand new residents for which our more familiar faces serve as instructors and mentors, and the effects of real-world sociopolitical events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on this medical drama that very much roots its story arcs as well as its patient-of-the-week cases in real world foundations. The panelists’ Season 4 reviews remain overwhelmingly positive, with few qualms to dissect, which we do thoroughly in tonight’s episode.
This episode was recorded in May 2022, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the fourth season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, and on Amazon Music to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, our Animaniacs: the Once and Future Namey Series panel triumphantly returns to the CPU! Water Cooler, prepared to Look Foward and to review the 2020 reboot of the show, specifically the available first two seasons. Stay tuned for more baloney in the proverbial slacks!
RECOMMENDATION
The Good Doctor is now unanimously recommended by our latest CPU! panel – to those who enjoy other medical dramas, such as Grey’s Anatomy and ER, but especially to those who like and are looking for something different; to fans of Freddie Highmore, whose resume continues to expand at an impressive rate; and to fans of other David Shore properties, like House, as the tone of the show is not dissimilar to that auspicious predecessor, even if the subject matter and main character of both greatly differ. Ultimately, the panelists’ opinions about this show began to coalesce in this episode and in light of the viewing of this excellent fourth season. All panelists now regard the show as accessible and entertaining without requiring one’s full attention while simultaneously rewarding those who do devote their full engagement to the viewing proceeding. The panel continues to praise Highmore’s performance, deeming him the biggest draw and the most satisfying reason to watch. The panel also proffers some love for the supporting cast, particularly Thomas as Claire and Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, whose father/son dynamic with Shaun provides much of the series’ heart.
Contrary to the panelists’ opinions about the first two seasons but more in line with the third season review, the panel, in tonight’s episode, opines that the writing of The Good Doctor maintains the quality demonstrated in the third season. The panelists note that not only do the medical situations in which Shaun and the other residents and attendings at St. Bonaventure find themselves oftentimes seem to be more nuanced and more thoughtful than the situations depicted in Season 1 and even in Season 2 episodes, but the drama central to Shaun’s life, his romance with Lea, and the interconnections and dynamics between characters left our panelists with an altogether rosier view of the show than had been previously described, even by the hitherto less impressed moderator, Chief Couch Potato Kylie.
To that end, the panel continues to regard The Good Doctor as an easy, pleasant, and increasingly and frequently riveting watch that offers interesting and more holistically engaging, if not necessarily awe-inspiring, characters and situations by which to be entertained. Though there might not be a consensus as to whether The Good Doctor constitutes “great” television, there is still plenty to entice even the most skeptical of our panelists (still the Chief CP on this panel), though the median of the panel’s collective reaction to the fourth season more consistently leans toward vociferous enthusiasm than in past discussions. The panelists remain committed to the universal belief that there is an audience for this show, so long as the potential viewer in question walks into the experience with an open mind and a willingness to watch a hospital drama with a new and different spin on what is typically understood as the medical drama motif. To wit, all of our panelists remain steadfastly open-minded enough and more than willing to continue watching the fifth season, which we will cover as a regular Water Cooler series beginning later this year!
LOOKING AHEAD
The Good Doctor was renewed for a sixth season in March 2022, though no premiere date has yet been announced. Our The Good Doctor panel will return later this year to cover Season 5 as part of a typical “Around the Water Cooler” feature. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding The Good Doctor as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in October 2021, our panel of resident Couch Potatoes who might tell some big little lies (well, not really) – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Eddy, Hilary, Kallie, Julianne, and Anna Laura – reconvenes around the CPU! Water Cooler to discuss Season 2 of the star-studded HBO drama Big Little Lies, in this, Episode Two of our two-part “Catching Up on Big Little Lies” Miniseries. As always, if you have not watched any of Big Little Lies, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “Big Little Lies” is a drama series that airs on HBO, though it is currently on an extended, possibly temporary, possibly permanent hiatus. The most recent season aired in 2019, and the show has not been officially renewed, but it has not been officially canceled, either.
What: Based upon the 2014 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty and created and written by David E. Kelley, “Big Little Lies” stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz. Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, James Tupper, and Jeffrey Nordling also feature in supporting roles. Meryl Streep appears in Season 2.
SYNOPSIS
Five affluent/suburban women become embroiled in a murder investigation.
When: Season 2 aired on HBO from June 9, 2019, to July 21, 2019, with a total of 7 episodes.
Where: The action in Season 2 primarily occurs in Monterey, California.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the Episode One/Season 1 podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
We discussed Season 1 of this series last week. To listen to the episode, click the link below or find us via our audio feeds at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, and Amazon Music:
Season 1
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning resident Couch Potatoes clamored to talk about some Big Little Lies and subsequently encouraged season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang in short order. Thus, herein we offer our Season 2 recap and review of Big Little Lies, in which our newest panel remarks upon the success or lack thereof of the series. Eddy, Hilary, Kallie, Julianne, and Anna Laura, along with your very involved moderator, reconvene Around the Water Cooler to continue discussing this drama about five women and a suburban homicide, and in so doing, to ruminate in-depth upon the production values, performances, and writing of this program.
As such, tonight’s episode is the second episode of a two-episode miniseries in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on HBO in 2017. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 2 of Big Little Lies, in which we reunite with the cast of characters that we met in Season 1 as well as meet a new character or two, only to learn how their lives interweave throughout a subtly unraveled murder mystery, still left a mystery to the wider world of the show, given that the main characters and leading women of the story have made a pact to keep silent about the truth of Perry’s (Skarsgard) homicide. The reviews are a bit more mitigated and mixed after this second season, which we thoroughly discuss in tonight’s episode.
This episode was recorded in October 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the second season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, and on Amazon Music to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, a new panel convenes Around the Water Cooler for the purpose of Catching Up on a British period drama that airs on PBS in the United States (and on the BBC in the UK). The show, popularly requested for discussion, is Call the Midwife, and next week we get caught up on Seasons 1 and 2 of the long-running drama. Stay tuned for talk of all the nuns and babies in our Catching Up Series, starting next week.
Questions, Impressions, and Future Considerations
1) Did the women, after walking into the police station, confess to their role(s) in Perry’s death?
2) Will there be a Season 3?
3) Will Meryl Streep return if is renewed?
4) Where will Madeline (Witherspoon) and Ed (Scott) be in terms of the health of their marriage, particularly if a confession was made?
5) How will Celeste’s (Kidman) life go on?
6) How will Renata (Dern) survive the selfishness of her husband Gordon (Nordling)?
7) What will happen to Bonnie (Kravitz) and her family?
8) How will Jane (Woodley) continue to fit into the story, if a Season 3 occurs?
PARTING SHOTS
Big Little Lies continues to be unanimously recommended by our latest CPU! panel to David E. Kelley show aficionados; fans of ilk like Desperate Housewives, Little Fires Everywhere, and soap operas generally; and to anyone who simply enjoys high-quality, seamlessly executed television as well as to fans of any of the actors or actresses comprising the main cast. Our panel maintains the collective belief that this series offers a little something for everyone, as the seasons are short; the cast is superstar stellar and nearly flawless in their performances; the soundtrack is impeccable and stands on its own; and the cinematography is beautiful and thoughtfully conveyed. Some of our panelists struggled with the second season, which was, notably, not based on underlying source material (as Season 1 essentially covered the one existing book). Some panelists felt that the story overall “went in circles,” while other panelists enjoyed watching the slow implosion of the ladies’ pact and its effects on their lives and families. Universally, the panel continued to love Scott and had nothing but the most laudable praise for Dame Streep, who entered the proceedings with a character so detestable and “cringy” and yet so easy to watch, her typical aplomb performance-wise only served to impress. The panel continues to regard Big Little Lies as a complex, complicated, grossly engaging watch (and rewatch) that depicts strong, three-dimensional female characters and a mystery that flows well without becoming dense or difficult to understand, but it is fair to say that our cadre of panelists, in a tentative consensus, acquiesced that the second season is a bit rougher, a bit messier – and not due to the story itself but due to the fact that two directors oversaw the episodic work, and that the source essentially dried up as of the Season 1 finale. The panelists, still, universally believe that there is a potentially wide audience for this show, regardless of personal television preferences; in fact, this series upholds the pace of a multi-part film, benefitting from the long-form storytelling of television to fully flesh out not only its character profiles but the highly riveting interpersonal dynamics between the characters and how their decisions, motivations, and actions come to affect the other women well as their families, friends, and careers, all while maintaining the big/little lies of the facade that they have all created to mask darker truths about their own flawed natures. To that end, all of our panelists proved eager to watch a Season 3 – though one, Eddy, was more tentative than the others – if one should be made.
THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW
HBO has not officially renewed nor canceled Big Little Lies for Season 3, though talks of producing a new season were active as recently as October 2020; Couch Potatoes Unite! will continue to monitor reports of these talks as they become available. If the series is renewed, CPU! will next visit Big Little Lies following the potential Season 3 finale. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding Big Little Lies as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in June 2021, our panel of resident Couch Potatoes who might tell some big little lies (well, not really) – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Eddy, Hilary, Kallie, Julianne, and Anna Laura – convenes for the first time around the CPU! Water Cooler to discuss Season 1 of the star-studded HBO drama Big Little Lies, in this, Episode One of our two-part “Catching Up on Big Little Lies” Miniseries. As always, if you have not watched any of Big Little Lies, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “Big Little Lies” is a drama series that airs on HBO, though it is currently on an extended, possibly temporary, possibly permanent hiatus. The most recent season aired in 2019, and the show has not been officially renewed, but it has not been officially canceled, either.
What: Based upon the 2014 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty and created and written by David E. Kelley, “Big Little Lies” stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz. Alexander Skarsgård, Adam Scott, James Tupper, and Jeffrey Nordling also feature in supporting roles.
When: Season 1 aired on HBO from February 19, 2017, to April 2, 2018, with a total of 7 episodes.
Where: The action in Season 1 primarily occurs in Monterey, California.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It?
The pilot/premiere rating scale:
***** – I HAVE TO WATCH EVERYTHING. HOLY SMOKES!
**** – Well, it certainly seems intriguing. I’m going to keep watching, but I see possible pitfalls in the premise.
*** – I will give it six episodes and see what happens. There are things I like, and things I don’t. We’ll see which “things” are allowed to flourish.
** – I will give it three episodes. Chances are, I’m mainly bored, but there is some intrigue or fascination that could hold it together. No matter how unlikely.
* – Pass on this one, guys. It’s a snoozer/not funny/not interesting/not my cup of tea… there are too many options to waste time on this one.
Big Little Lies = 4.6, by an average of the podcast panel.
SYNOPSIS
Five affluent/suburban women become embroiled in a murder investigation.
THOUGHTS
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning resident Couch Potatoes clamored to talk about some Big Little Lies and subsequently encouraged season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang in short order. Thus, herein we offer our Season 1 recap and review of Big Little Lies, in which our new panel remarks upon the success or lack thereof of the series. The panel convening at the Water Cooler tonight includes Eddy, who is currently active on our American Horror Story Franchise Series; This Is Us; and The Good Doctor panels but who has appeared on several past panels; Hilary, who is active on our DCTU Series; Stranger Things; Doctor Who; and “Breaking Better Series” panels, though she has also appeared on several past panels; Kallie, who is active on our American Horror Story Franchise Series; Julianne, who is active on our “Breaking Better Series” panel; and Anna Laura, who is active on our Outlander panel. Our newly constituted panel of Big Little Liars (or Little Big Truth-Tellers), therefore, gathered “Around the Water Cooler” to take a “First Look” at this drama about five women and a suburban homicide, and in so doing, to ruminate in-depth upon the production values, performances, and writing of this program.
As such, tonight’s episode is the first episode of a two-episode miniseries in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on HBO in 2017. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 1 of Big Little Lies, in which we are introduced to the cast of characters and to how their lives interweave throughout a subtly unraveled murder mystery. The reviews are glowing, with a few qualms to dissect, which we do thoroughly in tonight’s episode.
This episode was recorded in June 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the first season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, and on Amazon Music to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, our Big Little Lies panel quickly returns to the Water Cooler to Catch Up on Season 2 of this drama, rounding out CPU!’s Catching Up miniseries about this show. Stay tuned!
RECOMMENDATION
Big Little Lies – and especially its first season – is unanimously recommended by our latest CPU! panel to David E. Kelley show aficionados; fans of ilk like Desperate Housewives, Little Fires Everywhere, and soap operas generally; and to anyone who simply enjoys high-quality, seamlessly executed television. Our panel believes that this series offers a little something for everyone, as the seasons are short; the cast is superstar stellar and nearly flawless in their performances; the soundtrack is impeccable and stands on its own; the cinematography is beautiful and thoughtfully conveyed; and the story adaptation from the source novel in the first season is expertly directed by the now (recently) deceased Jean-Marc Vallee. Notably, our panelists found little negative to say – about Season 1, anyway; some panelists described that the story progression started off as a slow burn but gradually increased in tempo in a manner that lent well to misdirection and suspension of disbelief. Not all panelists were fans of all of the first season’s supporting cast but generally lauded the five main actresses as well as Skarsgard and Scott. In fact, the panel regards Big Little Lies as a complex, complicated, grossly engaging watch (and rewatch) that depicts strong, three-dimensional female characters and a mystery that flows well without becoming dense or difficult to understand. The panelists, further, universally believe that there is a potentially wide audience for this show, regardless of personal television preferences; in fact, this series plays like a multi-part film, benefitting from the long-form storytelling of television to fully flesh out not only its character profiles but the highly riveting interpersonal dynamics between the characters and how their decisions, motivations, and actions come to affect the other women well as their families, friends, and careers, all while maintaining the big/little lies of the facade that they have all created to mask darker truths about their own flawed natures. To that end, all of our panelists proved eager to catch up on Season 2, which we will discuss in Episode Two of our “Catching Up” Big Little Lies miniseries next week!
THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW
HBO has not officially renewed nor canceled Big Little Lies for Season 3, though talks of producing a new season were active as recently as October 2020; Couch Potatoes Unite! will continue to monitor reports of these talks as they become available. CPU! will next visit Big Little Lies for Episode 2 of this “Catching Up” Miniseries next week, during which our Big Little Lies panel will focus upon Season 2. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding Big Little Lies as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
THE MUSIC OF BIG LITTLE LIES
In tonight’s episode, our panel particularly praises and celebrates the thoughtfully selected soundtrack of Big Little Lies, so much so that panelist Eddy bleeped in a link to a Spotify playlist during the recording. Here is that playlist. Let us know if you vibe to it as much as we do.
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, our panel of resident CPU! connoisseurs of snark paired with cheesecake – including moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Nick, Eddy, Leslie, Jordon, and new panelist Richard – convened Around the Water Cooler to Look Back at one of our all-time favorite series and situation comedies, The Golden Girls. This episode was recorded in October 2021, and, as always, if you haven’t seen any of The Golden Girls – if that is even possible – be aware that there are MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “The Golden Girls,” an American situation comedy created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1985 to 1992.
What: “The Golden Girls,” with an ensemble cast starring Beatrice “Bea” Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty, is centered around four older women who share friendship and a home in Miami, Florida.
SYNOPSIS
The series revolves around four older single women (three widows and one divorcée) sharing a house in Miami. The owner of the house is a widow named Blanche Devereaux (McClanahan), who was joined by fellow widow Rose Nylund (White) and divorcée Dorothy Zbornak (Arthur) after they both responded to an ad on the bulletin board of a local grocery store a year before the start of the series. In the pilot episode, the three are joined by Dorothy’s 80-year-old widowed mother, Sophia Petrillo (Getty), after the retirement home where she has been living has burned down.
When: The show aired on NBC for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992. Each season consists of 25-26 episodes.
Where: The show is primarily set in Miami, Florida, though the girls occasionally travel, and there are some flashbacks to life in Brooklyn, New York, during Dorothy and Sophia’s younger days.
Why: Listen to this episode, linked below, for the panelists’ individual stories on how they found The Golden Girls.
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
Couch Potatoes Unite! has existed in podcast format now for six years, and while we are not gangbusters huge, like, say, Michelle Obama’s podcast, we are holding our own enough for listeners to find us, join us, and/or request series and shows for us to cover in our proprietary panel format. One of the most highly requested shows by our Couch Potatoes, Couch Potatoes adjacent, and by some of our listeners – of all CPU! time – is one of the most highly lauded series and situation comedy – of all actual time. The show is The Golden Girls, and tonight’s episode Looks Back lovingly at the sitcom that thanked us all for being friends.
Our convening panel of enthusiastic “Golden” fans features our second most involved panelist and a member of our moderating team, Nick; Eddy, who is currently active on our American Horror Story Series Franchise, This Is Us, and Good Doctor panels and who has Looked Back with us at True Blood, Desperate Housewives, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Revenge; Leslie, who most recently featured on our Full/er House Series panel; Jordon, who most recently featured on our Schitt’$ Creek panel; and a brand new panelist. All panelists have since watched or re-watched the series at hand and take time in this episode to reflect on all that was golden about The Golden Girls.
Our one-time Golden Girls panel, then, gathered Around the Water Cooler to Look Back at a series for which our panelists express the kind of passion that only fans of four older women who love cheesecake, zingers, and sass can have. Whatever else might be said, this series perennially endures in our panelists’ hearts, which they gleefully expound upon in the episode linked below.
Plus, The Golden Girls constitutes another entry in our “Best Of!” series. To wit, herein be the list of The Golden Girls’ Best Of!:
#54 on TV Guide’s list of 60 Best Series of All Time
#48 on The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Hollywood’s 100 Favorite TV Shows”
#98 Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time
In addition, The Golden Girlsranked #69 on The Writer’s Guild of America’s Best Written TV list in 2013, as it is also considered one of the best written (scripted) television series of all time.
This particular CPU! episode was recorded in October 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points, sight gags, jokes, and snarky dialogue offered up throughout the entire series of The Golden Girls! Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, and on Amazon Music to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next week, Couch Potatoes Unite!’s Doctor Who panel will herald a triumphant return to the Water Cooler to recap Series 12 (a bit late but better than never) as well as the 2020 and 2021 New Year Specials, as the airing of Jodie Whittaker’s final Series and related specials is currently underway. Stay tuned for the wibby wobbly timey-wimey of it all!
RECOMMENDATION
The Golden Girls – if you haven’t already watched it – is recommended to anyone who hasn’t somehow seen any portion of it in the over 30 years since it first premiered and who enjoys well-written, well-performed, well-directed, and thoughtful situation comedies, filled with humor based around largely benign insults coupled with light drama, and/or anyone who considers themselves a TV connoisseur. The Golden Girls capitalized upon the ensemble comedy formula that has become a staple of everything from Cheers to Friends to The Office to Modern Family but also elevated its own contribution to the craft by embracing a pioneering spirit: showcasing an all-female cast of women of a certain age talking, snarking, and otherwise coexisting about and with issues that generally face women of a certain age. As we discuss in tonight’s episode, The Golden Girls created something timeless that continually appeals to new generations of fans who can find something to which to relate among the many socially relevant situations and stories that the show tackled. It is also apparent that this comedy clearly influenced so many other comedies to follow, not to mention spin-offs of its own, though none of them could match the success of the parent show. To wit, The Golden Girls is a timeless, perenially funny comedy that showcased four actresses with unparalleled chemistry and ultimately gave its audience reasons to laugh not only about the process, pitfalls, and possibilities associated with aging but also at friendships that turn into family and all of the associated highs and lows that found family can produce. Further, the panel unanimously agrees that this series holds up “amazingly” well because the situations and stories are so well-written, and the comedic timing of the four stars was so expert and endlessly amusing, not to mention the fact that the producers and writers were never afraid to tackle salient social and cultural commentary that has only resonated throughout the decades to follow as society continues to grapple with some of the same issues. If you love trying something new, and if you have somehow missed this series in its nearly 40 years of existence, you should make time for The Golden Girls. The panel universally loves this show, praises its influence on each of the panelists’ lives and individual senses of humor, and can only imagine that others, of any age, generation, or sensibility, would probably feel the same if they gave the show a look-see (and, again, if the show was somehow missed from its decades of faithful syndication by a myriad of cable and other networks).
All seven seasons of The Golden Girls are currently available to stream on Hulu. In the meantime, from our couches in Shady Pines to yours, thank you for listening, and thank you for being a friend.
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in September 2021, our panel of (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Eddy, Micah, Jessica, and Jared – reconvenes around the CPU! Water Cooler to discuss Season 3 of the popular ABC medical drama The Good Doctor, in this, Episode Three of our four-part “Catching Up on The Good Doctor” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of The Good Doctor, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “The Good Doctor” is a medical drama series that airs on ABC, currently fall to spring Mondays at 10:00 PM.
What: Based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name, the series stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young autistic savant surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. In Season 3, Hill Harper, Christina Chang, Richard Schiff, Nicholas Gonzalez, Antonia Thomas, Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, Paige Spara, and Jasika Nicole are also part of the regular cast.
SYNOPSIS
The series follows Shaun Murphy (Highmore), a young autistic surgeon with savant syndrome from the small city of Casper, Wyoming, where he had a troubled past. He relocates to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
When: Season 3 aired on ABC from September 23, 2019, to March 30, 2020, with a total of 20 episodes.
Where: The action in Season 3 primarily occurs in San Jose, California, with one trip to Casper, Wyoming.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode covering Season 1 via the link below!
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
This is Episode Three of our “Catching Up on The Good Doctor” series. You can listen to Episodes One and Two here and at our audio feeds (Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, and Amazon Music):
Season 1
Season 2
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes surprisingly suggested The Good Doctor, a previously passed series for show coverage at CPU!, and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang in short order. It was surprising because medical shows are very much hit and miss here at CPU!, but our roster has grown, and it is possible that so too has the appetite for medical shows and the willingness to discuss them. Ch-ch-ch-changes! Thus, herein we offer our Season 3 recap and review of The Good Doctor, in which our panel – consisting of Eddy, Micah, Jessica, and Jared – remarks upon the success or lack thereof of the series as we catch up, season by season.
As such, tonight’s episode is the third episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on ABC in 2017. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 3 of The Good Doctor, in which we follow Shaun’s continuing adjustments to his job, to the cast of supporting characters, and to the rotating parties in charge of surgery and the hospital itself, which leads to some lessons in what not to do, particularly in love and in life. The panelists’ Season 3 reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with few qualms to dissect, which we do thoroughly in tonight’s episode – though, notably, our panel universally regarded Season 3 as the best of the seasons so far.
This episode was recorded in September 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the second season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, and on Amazon Music to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, a new, one-time CPU! panel convenes upon our virtual couches to lovingly Look Back at one of our collective panelists’ all-time favorite comedies and, really, shows of all time – we are finally sitting around our Water Cooler, er, our kitchen table, enjoying a slice of cheesecake, and reminiscing about the high and lasting value of The Golden Girls. Picture it – and stay tuned!
RECOMMENDATION
The Good Doctor is (more or less) recommended by our latest CPU! panel but not necessarily to those who enjoy other medical dramas, as the panel largely agrees that, medical drama though it is, it does not quite fit the mold of similar ilk, such as Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and others. Conversely, the panel does cautiously recommend this series to those who like and are looking for something different; to fans of Freddie Highmore, whose resume continues to expand at an impressive rate; and to fans of other David Shore properties, like House, as the tone of the show is not dissimilar to that auspicious predecessor, even if the subject matter and main character of both greatly differ.
Ultimately, the panelists’ opinions about this show vary widely. Some panelists, such as Micah and Jared, see the show as accessible and entertaining without requiring one’s full attention while simultaneously rewarding those who do devote their full engagement to the viewing proceeding. Panelists Eddy and Chief Couch Potato Kylie are more tepidly interested in the show, enjoying its quirky aspects and its lofty goal of depicting a surgeon on the spectrum and how he copes with such a high-intensity profession but also struggling with some of the more manipulative aspects of the story, including the series’ almost slavish devotion to the discussion of whether or not Shaun is capable of acquiring the technical skills required to be a surgeon when his skill is demonstrated fully in the pilot, even if not to rest of the characters’ particular satisfactions. The panel especially praises Highmore’s performance, deeming him the biggest draw and the most satisfying reason to watch. The panel also proffers some love for the supporting cast, particularly Thomas as Claire and Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, whose father/son dynamic with Shaun provides much of the series’ heart.
Contrary to the panelists’ opinions about the first two seasons, the panel, in tonight’s episode and in a rare show of overall consensus, opines that the writing of The Good Doctor vastly improves in Season 3. The panelists note that not only do the medical situations in which Shaun and the other residents and attendings at St. Bonaventure find themselves oftentimes seem to be more nuanced and more thoughtful than the situations depicted in Season 1 and even in Season 2 episodes, but the drama central to Shaun’s life, his (multiple) romances, the interconnections and dynamics between characters, and, most of all, the shocking two-part season finale, left our panelists with an altogether rosier view of the show than had been previously described, even by the hitherto less impressed moderator, Chief Couch Potato Kylie.
To that end, the panel continues to regard The Good Doctor as an easy, pleasant, and now, as of Season 3, more frequently riveting watch that offers interesting and more holistically engaging, if not necessarily awe-inspiring, characters and situations by which to be entertained. Though there might not be a consensus as to whether The Good Doctor constitutes “great” television, there is still plenty to entice even the most skeptical of our panelists (still the Chief CP on this panel), though the median of the panel’s collective reaction to the third season leans further toward vociferous enthusiasm than in the discussions of the first two seasons. The panelists remain committed to the universal belief that there is an audience for this show, so long as the potential viewer in question walks into the experience with an open mind and a willingness to watch a hospital drama with a new and different spin on what is typically understood as the medical drama motif. To wit, all of our panelists remain steadfastly open-minded enough and more than willing to continue catching up on Season 4, which we will discuss in Episode Four of our “Catching Up” Good Doctor Series very soon!
THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW
The Good Doctor, Season 5, premiered on September 27, 2021. CPU! will next visit The Good Doctor for the final episode, Episode 4, of this “Catching Up” Series in December 2021 (or January 2022), during which our The Good Doctor panel will focus upon Season 4. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding The Good Doctor as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in August 2021, our panel of (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Eddy, Micah, Jessica, and Jared – reconvenes around the CPU! Water Cooler to discuss Season 2 of the popular ABC medical drama The Good Doctor, in this, Episode Two of our four-part “Catching Up on The Good Doctor” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of The Good Doctor, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “The Good Doctor” is a medical drama series that airs on ABC, currently fall to spring Mondays at 10:00 PM.
What: Based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name, the series stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young autistic savant surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. In Season 2, Hill Harper, Christina Chang, Richard Schiff, Nicholas Gonzalez, Antonia Thomas, Chuku Modu, Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, Paige Spara, and Tamlyn Tomita are also part of the regular cast.
SYNOPSIS
The series follows Shaun Murphy (Highmore), a young autistic surgeon with savant syndrome from the small city of Casper, Wyoming, where he had a troubled past. He relocates to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
When: Season 2 aired on ABC from September 24, 2018, to March 11, 2019, with a total of 18 episodes.
Where: The action in Season 2 primarily occurs in San Jose, California, with occasional flashbacks to Casper, Wyoming.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
This is Episode Two of our “Catching Up on The Good Doctor” series. You can listen to Episode One here and at our audio feeds (Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, and Amazon Music):
Season 1
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes surprisingly suggested The Good Doctor, a previously passed series for show coverage at CPU!, and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang in short order. It was surprising because medical shows are very much hit and miss here at CPU!, but our roster has grown, and it is possible that so too has the appetite for medical shows and the willingness to discuss them. Ch-ch-ch-changes! Thus, herein we offer our Season 2 recap and review of The Good Doctor, in which our panel – consisting of Eddy, Micah, Jessica, and Jared – remarks upon the success or lack thereof of the series.
As such, tonight’s episode is the second episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on ABC in 2017. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 2 of The Good Doctor, in which we follow Shaun’s continuing adjustments to his job, to the cast of supporting characters, and to the rotating parties in charge of surgery and the hospital itself, which leads to some lessons in what not to do on the part of administrators who do not wish to run afoul of anti-discrimination laws. The reviews are largely positive, with a few qualms to dissect, which we do thoroughly in tonight’s episode.
This episode was recorded in August 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the second season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, and on Amazon Music to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, CPU! offers an encore presentation of one of our Patreon bonus episodes: our M*A*S*H Legacy Panel, entitled “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,” in which viewers who have a better memory of watching the classic comedy in real time comment upon the series’ longevity and timeless appeal to younger generations of viewers. Stay tuned for this thoughtful and nostalgic discussion, next week!
RECOMMENDATION
The Good Doctor is (more or less) recommended by our latest CPU! panel but not necessarily to those who enjoy other medical dramas, as the panel largely agrees that, medical drama though it is, it does not quite fit the mold of similar ilk, such as Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and others. Conversely, the panel does cautiously recommend this series to those who like and are looking for something different; to fans of Freddie Highmore, whose resume continues to expand at an impressive rate; and to fans of other David Shore properties, like House, as the tone of the show is not dissimilar to that auspicious predecessor, even if the subject matter and main character of both greatly differ.
Ultimately, the panelists’ opinions about this show vary widely. Some panelists, such as Micah and Jared, see the show as accessible and entertaining without requiring one’s full attention while simultaneously rewarding those who do devote their full engagement to the viewing proceeding. Panelists Eddy and Chief Couch Potato Kylie are more tepidly interested in the show, enjoying its quirky aspects and its lofty goal of depicting a surgeon on the spectrum and how he copes with such a high intensity profession but also struggling with some of the more manipulative aspects of the story, including the series’ almost slavish devotion to the discussion of whether or not Shaun is capable of acquiring the technical skills required to be a surgeon, when his skill is demonstrated fully in the pilot, even if not to rest of the characters’ particular satisfactions. The panel especially praises Highmore’s performance, deeming him the biggest draw and the most satisfying reason to watch. The panel also proffers some love for the supporting cast, particularly Thomas as Claire and Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, whose father/son dynamic with Shaun provides much of the series’ heart.
Contrary to the panelists’ opinions about the first season, the panel opines in tonight’s episode that the overall writing of The Good Doctor improves in Season 2, noting that the medical situations in which Shaun and the other residents and attendings at St. Bonaventure find themselves oftentimes seem to be more nuanced and more thoughtful than the situations depicted in Season 1 episodes, which struck several panelists as repetitive and derivative from and as compared to other shows in the genre, like Grey’s Anatomy. Most panelists commented that in addition to the medical cases forming the foundations of The Good Doctor’s episodes, it is how this cast of characters reacts to those situations that provides the series’ sense of difference and individuality among the plethora of medical dramas proliferating throughout the TV landscape, particularly when Shaun is involved in the case.
In any event, the panel regards The Good Doctor as an easy, pleasant, and occasionally riveting watch that offers interesting if not necessarily awe-inspiring characters and situations by which to be entertained. Though there might not be consensus as to whether The Good Doctor constitutes “great” television, there is still plenty to entice even the most skeptical of our panelists, which turns out to be the Chief CP on this panel. While the median of the panel’s collective reaction might not be teeming with vociferous enthusiasm this time around, the panelists universally believe that there is an audience for this show, so long as the potential viewer in question walks into the experience with an open mind and a willingness to watch a hospital drama with a new and different spin on what is typically understood as the medical drama motif. To wit, all of our panelists are certainly open minded enough and more than willing to continue catching up on Season 3, which we will discuss in Episode Three of our “Catching Up” Good Doctor Series next month!
THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW
The Good Doctor, Season 5, premiered on September 27, 2021. CPU! will next visit The Good Doctor for Episode 3 of this “Catching Up” Series in November 2021, during which our The Good Doctor panel will focus upon Season 3. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding The Good Doctor as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in May 2021, our panel of (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Eddy, Micah, Jessica, and Jared – convenes for the first time around the CPU! Water Cooler to discuss Season 1 of the popular ABC medical drama The Good Doctor, in this, Episode One of our four-part “Catching Up on The Good Doctor” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of The Good Doctor, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “The Good Doctor” is a medical drama series that airs on ABC, though it is currently on hiatus.
What: Based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name, the series stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young autistic savant surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. In Season 1, Hill Harper, Christina Chang, Richard Schiff, Nicholas Gonzalez, Antonia Thomas, Chuku Modu, Beau Garrett, and Tamlyn Tomita are also part of the regular cast.
When: Season 1 aired on ABC from September 25, 2017, to March 26, 2018, with a total of 18 episodes.
Where: The action in Season 1 primarily occurs in San Jose, California, with occasional flashbacks to Casper, Wyoming.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It?
The pilot/premiere rating scale:
***** – I HAVE TO WATCH EVERYTHING. HOLY SMOKES!
**** – Well, it certainly seems intriguing. I’m going to keep watching, but I see possible pitfalls in the premise.
*** – I will give it six episodes and see what happens. There are things I like, and things I don’t. We’ll see which “things” are allowed to flourish.
** – I will give it three episodes. Chances are, I’m mainly bored, but there is some intrigue or fascination that could hold it together. No matter how unlikely.
* – Pass on this one, guys. It’s a snoozer/not funny/not interesting/not my cup of tea… there are too many options to waste time on this one.
The Good Doctor = 4.2, by average of the podcast panel.
SYNOPSIS
The series follows Shaun Murphy (Highmore), a young autistic surgeon with savant syndrome from the small city of Casper, Wyoming, where he had a troubled past. He relocates to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
THOUGHTS
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning (surgical) resident Couch Potatoes surprisingly suggested The Good Doctor, a previously passed series for show coverage at CPU!, and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang in short order. It was surprising because medical shows are very much hit and miss here at CPU!, but our roster has grown, and it is possible that so too has the appetite for medical shows and the willingness to discuss them. Ch-ch-ch-changes! Thus, herein we offer our Season 1 recap and review of The Good Doctor, in which our new panel remarks upon the success or lack thereof of the series. The panel convening at the Water Cooler tonight includes Eddy, who is currently active on our American Horror Story Franchise Series and This Is Us panels but who has appeared on several past panels; Micah, who is currently active on our Riverdale panel; Jessica, who is currently active on our Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Charmed Series panels; and Jared, who is currently active on our This Is Us panel. Our newly constituted panel of Good Doctors and Good Couch Potatoes, therefore, gathered “Around the Water Cooler” to take a “First Look” at this drama about a surgical resident who reaches for his dreams despite his limitations, and in so doing, to ruminate in-depth upon the production values, performances, and writing of this program.
As such, tonight’s episode is the first episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on ABC in 2017. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 1 of The Good Doctor, in which we are introduced to Shaun and the cast of supporting characters – to him as well as to the show – at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. The reviews are largely positive, with a few qualms to dissect, which we do thoroughly in tonight’s episode.
This episode was recorded in May 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the first season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, and on Amazon Music to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, after CPU! jumped the shark watching 13 Reasons Why with our “Shark Jumpers Anonymous” episode published in 2020, and given that the final season was released by Netflix in June 2020, Kylie, the Chief Couch Potato and the last United Couch Potato to persevere with watching the entire series, returns to the Water Cooler, all by her lonesome (again), to offer you her Final Thoughts about 13 Reasons Why, in the third published iteration of the companion feature to our “Shark Jumpers Anonymous” episodes. In “Final Thoughts,” anyone who did not jump the shark in the previous “SJA” episode visits the moderating microphone a final time for the relevant series to offer their individual Parting Shots about a show that their co-panelist(s) simply could not complete on their own, for whatever the reason. Stay tuned!
RECOMMENDATION
The Good Doctor is (more or less) recommended by our latest CPU! panel but not necessarily to those who enjoy other medical dramas, as the panel largely agrees that, medical drama though it is, it does not quite fit the mold of similar ilk, such as Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and others. Conversely, the panel does cautiously recommend this series to those who like and are looking for something different; to fans of Freddie Highmore, whose resume continues to expand at an impressive rate; and to fans of other David Shore properties, like House, as the tone of the show is not dissimilar to that auspicious predecessor, even if the subject matter and main character of both greatly differ.
Ultimately, the panelists’ opinions about this show vary widely. Some panelists, such as Micah and Jared, see the show as accessible and entertaining without requiring one’s full attention while simultaneously rewarding those who do devote their full engagement to the viewing proceeding. Panelists Eddy and Chief Couch Potato Kylie are more tepidly interested in the show, enjoying its quirky aspects and its lofty goal of depicting a surgeon on the spectrum and how he copes with such a high intensity profession, but also struggling with some of the more manipulative aspects of the story, including the series’ almost slavish devotion to the discussion of whether or not Shaun is capable of acquiring the technical skills required to be a surgeon, when his skill is demonstrated fully in the pilot, even if not to rest of the characters’ particular satisfactions. The panel especially praises Highmore’s performance, deeming him the biggest draw and the most satisfying reason to watch, though he might not be a neuro-divergent actor playing a neuro-divergent role (which we discuss briefly in tonight’s episode). The panel also proffers some love for the supporting cast, particularly Thomas as Claire and Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, whose father/son dynamic with Shaun provides much of the series’ heart.
On the flip side, the panel spends much of this episode struggling with the episodic writing of The Good Doctor, noting that the medical situations in which Shaun and the other residents and attendings at St. Bonaventure find themselves oftentimes feel repetitive of scenarios depicted on other medical dramas. If one is a medical drama aficionado, like panelist Eddy, they will likely notice this repetition more, while, perhaps, those who watch medical dramas less generally will not be bothered by the unfettered borrowing of topical medical cases already utilized in other television programs. Still, as panelist Micah notes, it might be difficult, given the sheer volume of seasons comprising the full runs of Grey’s and ER, to not be somewhat repetitive, and most panelists commented that despite the perceived repetitiveness of the medical cases forming the foundations of The Good Doctor’s episodes, how this cast of characters reacts to those situations is what provides the series’ sense of difference and individuality among the plethora of medical dramas proliferating throughout the TV landscape, particularly when Shaun is involved in the case.
In any event, the panel regards The Good Doctor as an easy, pleasant, and occasionally riveting watch that offers interesting if not necessarily awe-inspiring characters and situations by which to be entertained. Though there might not be consensus as to whether The Good Doctor constitutes “great” television, there is still plenty to entice even the most skeptical of our panelists, which turns out to be the Chief CP on this panel. While the median of the panel’s collective reaction might not be teeming with vociferous enthusiasm this time around, the panelists universally believe that there is an audience for this show, so long as the potential viewer in question walks into the experience with an open mind and a willingness to watch a hospital drama with a new and different spin on what is typically understood as the medical drama motif. To wit, all of our panelists are certainly open minded enough and more than willing to continue catching up on Season 2, which we will discuss in Episode Two of our “Catching Up” Good Doctor Series next month!
THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW
ABC renewed The Good Doctor for Season 5, which will premiere on September 27, 2021. CPU! will next visit The Good Doctor for Episode 2 of this “Catching Up” Series in October 2021, during which our The Good Doctor panel will focus upon Season 2. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding The Good Doctor as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in April 2021, our unbreakably reunited and ever-rotating Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt panel – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Kristen, Nick, Sarah, Krista, and Eddy (as one of the original panelists departed the podcast for life’s greater journeys) – reconvened On the CPU! (Virtual) Couch for a good old-fashioned Watch Party (and our very own CPU! reunion special) in which we watch and react real time to the small screen (interactive) reunion of the cast of small screen CPU! favorite Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, in Kimmy Vs. The Reverend. If you have not watched this special or the original four seasons of the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt series, be aware that there are MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
PS: This audio episode was recorded via Discord; there is some audio feedback as a result. Sometimes, our best technological attempts don’t go perfectly, and we apologize for the sound quality on this episode!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs. The Reverend” is a Netflix original interactive special, always available on Netflix, as it is Netflix-produced original content.
What: “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend” is a 2020 interactive special for the sitcom created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, and it is directed by Claire Scanlon. It stars Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess and Carol Kane.
SYNOPSIS
Due to the interactive nature of the film, the film offers various possible “endings” that lead to the movie ending earlier or later depending upon choices the viewer makes; however, all early endings result in the audience being re-routed to a choice that extends the story. Kimmy Schmidt (Kemper), now a hugely successful children’s author, plans her wedding to Prince Frederick (guest: Daniel Radcliffe), thirteenth in line for the throne of England. Joining her are her friends Titus Andromedon (Burgess), Lillian Kaushtupper (Kane), and Jaqueline White (Krakowski). When looking in her backpack, Kimmy finds a “Choose Your Own Adventure”-style book that she has never seen in a hidden pocket. After reading the book and realizing that it was not one of hers, she decides to travel to the prison in Durnsville, Indiana, to question Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (guest: Jon Hamm), the man who kept her captive for fifteen years, with Titus coming with her for support.
When: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs. The Reverend was released to the Netflix streaming library on May 12, 2020.
Where: The action is set in and around New York City, New York; Durnsville, Indiana; and somewhere called East Virginia, which could possibly just be more of West Virginia.
Why: Because CPU! had previously discussed the entire series of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt! How could we not have an entire reunion special of our own?
How – as in How Unbreakable is Kimmy Schmidt, Really?
Our Unbreakable(ish) panel of Kimmy Schmidt fans – Kristen, Nick, Sarah, Krista, and newly returning panelist Eddy (one previous panelist departed the podcast for life’s greater journeys) – was ready to reunite, after two years since this specific panel gathered to talk about unbreakable Kimmy antics, upon the release of Netflix’s latest interactive special experiment and the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt cast’s first reunion: “Kimmy Vs. The Reverend.” In fact, Kimmy the Special proved to be a perfect candidate for one of our Watch Parties, also one of our Tier 3 Patreon Perks! Thus, our panelists gathered onto our Virtual Couch via Discord (which actually gave us a few sound quality problems, please bear with us) to watch this interactive special together!
If you, gentle listener, were not already aware, as it has been a minute since we published one of our (in)famous Watch Parties, in these types of episodes, the panelists watch an episode of TV and interact with each other (and the TV) in real time and/or recap and review it immediately following our watch or re-watch. Because we watch it in real time or pause playback to digest something in the moment, there are snippets (faintly) of audio from the special. Be aware that we do not hold copyright to any of the content, none of it is connected, none of it makes sense, and this watch party is as wacky as the special at its heart!
This podcast was recorded in April 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as we watch the special in real time, shout out the interactive options, and react to jokes and sight gags in the moment. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, on Amazon Music, and now on Patreon(!) to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next week, our Full/er House Series panel triumphantly returns to the CPU! Water Cooler to recap and review the final season, Season 5, and to Look Back at the Netflix-produced revival as a whole! Stay tuned!
PARTING SHOTS& RECOMMENDATION
Our recently reunited Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt panel proves unable to recommend this interactive special to anyone who has never watched a single iota of Kimmy – but also to anyone who has. The panel universally agreed that while the attempt was creative, fresh, and might have been a better footnote on which to end the show than the original series finale, the panel felt that the interactive format largely did not benefit the Kimmy Schmidt property in the end. The panelists observed that adding the interactive element stretched the episode to a less brisk, dully paced hour, instead of its typical half hour, which, therefore, caused some jokes and sight gags to be overused to a point at which the humor is all but wrung from even the naughtiest bits. This unfortunate side effect of the interactive mechanic rendered the exercise somewhat boring to the average CPU! viewer; many of our panelists drudged through a watch of this special a first time and were reluctant but for the podcast to re-watch it. While the panelists enjoyed gamely guest turns by Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm, they also agreed that Kimmy Schmidt in all of her unbreakable glory should probably be done for good now, as there is not much more to mine from the comedic premise here, no matter how enjoyable it might have been to watch Kemper, Burgess, Krakowski, and Kane once more. Though all panelists continued to find reason to laugh when inspired by the show’s over the top characters and absurdist situations, many of them struggled, as they frequently have in the past, with the scattered and somewhat tonally flat reach for gimmicks, even as this interactive special was really one over-the-top gimmick of its own accord. If nothing else, when the humor sticks the landing, which has become less and less often the case throughout the run of anything Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the panelists are reminded of what brought them to this sitcom in the first place and what kept them watching (except in panelist Eddy’s case – he had to be persuaded to return, having all but jumped the shark on the original four-season run). In the end, though, our panel opined that this interactive special and its overall execution, while a spirited try for something zany and new, signified that it is time to stick a fork in the ever Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. To wit, our panel would be more than satisfied to know that this is the last we see of this whimsical but ultimately overdrawn comedy.
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in April 2021, our supersized panel of Pearson-loving resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Kristen (L), Spencer, Eddy, Emily (S), Kristin (T), and Jared – reconvenes around the CPU! Water Cooler, cheering “Big Three!” all the while, to discuss Season 4 of the critically-acclaimed and widely popular NBC family drama This Is Us, in this, Episode Four of our four-part “Catching Up on This Is Us” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of This Is Us, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), or our Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/couchpotatoesunite. Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “This Is Us” is a romantic family drama series that airs on NBC, though it is currently on hiatus.
What: Created by Dan Fogelman, the series follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different time frames and stars an ensemble cast featuring Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, Jon Huertas, Eris Baker, Faithe Herman, Lyric Ross, as well as Asante Blackk and Griffin Dunne in Season 4.
When: Season 4 aired on NBC from September 24, 2019, to March 24, 2020, with a total of eighteen episodes.
SYNOPSIS
This Is Us follows the lives of siblings Kevin (Hartley), Kate (Metz), and Randall (Brown, known as the “Big Three”), and their parents Jack (Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (Moore). It takes place mainly in the present and uses flashbacks to show the family’s past. Kevin and Kate are the two surviving members from a triplet pregnancy, born six weeks premature on Jack’s 36th birthday in 1980; their brother Kyle is stillborn. Believing they were meant to have three children, Jack and Rebecca, who are white, decide to adopt Randall (Brown), an African American child born the day before and brought to the same hospital after his biological father William Hill abandoned him at a fire station. Jack dies when his children are 17, and Rebecca later marries Jack’s best friend Miguel (Huertas). Randall becomes a successful finance professional and marries college classmate Beth (Watson); they raise two daughters (Tess, played by Eris Baker, and Annie, played by Faithe Herman). Kevin becomes a successful actor while struggling to be taken seriously. After lacking direction much of her life, Kate meets Toby (Sullivan).
Most episodes feature a storyline taking place in the present (contemporaneous with airing) and a storyline taking place at a set time in the past, but some episodes are set in one time period or use multiple flashback time periods. Flashbacks often focus on Jack and Rebecca in and around 1980, both before and after their babies’ birth, or on the family when the Big Three are children or adolescents (and played by two sets of younger actors); these scenes usually take place in Pittsburgh, where the Big Three and their parents are born and raised. As adults, Kate lives in Los Angeles, Randall and his family are in New Jersey but relocate to Philadelphia in Season 4, and Kevin relocates from Los Angeles to New York City and back again.
Where: The action follows the core family members – two parents, three children, and their eventual spouses – who are originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but who later move and spread, particularly in the present/future timelines, to Alpine, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Los Angeles, California; and New York City, New York.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the Season 1 podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
This is Episode Four of our “Catching Up on This Is Us” Series. You can listen to Episodes One, Two, and Three here and at our audio feeds (Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, and Amazon Music):
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning Couch Potatoes and This Is Us devotees called repeatedly for a This Is Us panel and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang. Thus, herein we offer our Season 4 recap and review of This Is Us, in which our panel – consisting of Kristen L, Spencer, Emily, Eddy, Kristin T, and Jared – remarks upon the success or lack thereof of this gripping and layered family drama, and in so doing, ruminates in-depth upon the production values, performances, writing, and, in the case of this panel, the music of this acclaimed program.
As such, tonight’s episode is the fourth and final episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on NBC in 2016; our panel will convert to one of our regular Water Cooler panels to discuss Season 5 later this year. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 4 of This Is Us, in which we continue learning about the Pearson family in several different eras of the family’s story and in pieces and parts, providing clues to a larger mystery around how the family survives hardship while remaining centered and grounded in the face of life’s greatest challenges. The enthusiasm from our panel remains palpable, as this series has become one of the highest rated shows (by review of our panelists) that we have covered on the podcast.
This episode was recorded in April 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the fourth season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, on Amazon Music, and now on Patreon(!) to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, our Altered Carbon panel triumphantly (or, perhaps, defeatedly) returns to the Water Cooler in the first of a two-part panel-ending series, in which the panelists recap what has now become the series’ final season, Season 2, in light of Netflix’s late-2020 cancellation of the high-concept science fiction drama. Stay tuned!
RECOMMENDATION
This Is Us continues to be wholeheartedly and boisterously recommended by our CPU! panel to “almost anyone” who enjoys watching television – full stop – but particularly to those who enjoy family dramas like Parenthood, Brothers & Sisters, and The Council of Dads and to those with some years of life experience behind them that would make some of the more difficult parts of this series, in terms of the challenges that the characters face, resonate more fully on an emotional level with would-be watchers. Our panel believes that this show will appeal most to people who appreciate some reality in their fiction, as opposed to pure fantasy, because the creator and writers have infused their story with an undercurrent of wisdom and a concentrated sense of genuineness that renders the show a fulfilling and emotional viewing experience that keeps one wanting more, as the story is told non-linearly, with meted out clues and parallelisms connecting well-meaning, three-dimensional characters with whom it quickly becomes easy to identify. The panelists universally describe This Is Us as well-written, well performed, and well directed, with expertly plotted, interweaving storylines that both tease the mind and fill the heart and are executed by earnest and genuine performers who breathe a comfortable vitality into smart, relatable, and emotionally complex characters. Our panel notes that a decision to watch this NBC drama should be one made with a firm commitment, a preparation for an investment that requires full concentration for the watch without the “second screen experience” and other distractions, as there are glimpses and hints of story revelations in early seasons that ultimately play out masterfully in later seasons. The panel further praised the casting, lauding the seamless ensemble of this drama and its effortless cast chemistry. In the end, the panelists unanimously enjoy this series and enthusiastically recommend it to any would-be viewer who would be enticed by it to start, without hesitation; in fact, our supersized panel proved all too eager to continue watching – or to re-watch – Season 5, which we will discuss in one of our standard “Water Cooler” formatted episodes later this year. Stay tuned!
LOOKING AHEAD
NBC renewed This Is Us for three additional seasons, including a sixth season, at the same time that the show received its fourth season renewal (May 2019). In May 2021, however, it was announced that Season 6 would be the show’s final season; a Season 6 premiere date has not yet been announced, and there is some speculation that This Is Us is not expected to return until 2022. Our panel will react to the announcement regarding Season 6 being the final season when they recap and review Season 5; in fact, CPU! will next visit This Is Us to discuss Season 5 “Around the Water Cooler” later this year. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, Patreon, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding This Is Us as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in February 2021, our supersized panel of Pearson-loving resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Kristen (L), Spencer, Eddy, Emily (S), Kristin (T), and Jared – reconvenes around the CPU! Water Cooler, cheering “Big Three!” all the while, to discuss Season 3 of the critically-acclaimed and widely popular NBC family drama This Is Us, in this, Episode Three of our four-part “Catching Up on This Is Us” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of This Is Us, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), or our Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/couchpotatoesunite. Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “This Is Us” is a romantic family drama series that currently airs on NBC, fall to spring Tuesdays at 9:00 PM.
What: Created by Dan Fogelman, the series follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different time frames and stars an ensemble cast featuring Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, Jon Huertas, Eris Baker, Faithe Herman, as well as Melanie Liburd and Lyric Ross in Season 3.
When: Season 3 aired on NBC from September 25, 2018, to April 2, 2019, with a total of eighteen episodes.
SYNOPSIS
This Is Us follows the lives of siblings Kevin (Hartley), Kate (Metz), and Randall (Brown, known as the “Big Three”), and their parents Jack (Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (Moore). It takes place mainly in the present and uses flashbacks to show the family’s past. Kevin and Kate are the two surviving members from a triplet pregnancy, born six weeks premature on Jack’s 36th birthday in 1980; their brother Kyle is stillborn. Believing they were meant to have three children, Jack and Rebecca, who are white, decide to adopt Randall, an African American child born the day before and brought to the same hospital after his biological father William Hill (Jones) abandoned him at a fire station. Jack dies when his children are 17, and Rebecca later marries Jack’s best friend Miguel (Huertas). Randall becomes a successful finance professional and marries college classmate Beth (Watson); they raise two daughters (Tess, played by Eris Baker, and Annie, played by Faithe Herman). Kevin becomes a successful actor while struggling to be taken seriously. After lacking direction much of her life, Kate meets Toby (Sullivan).
Most episodes feature a storyline taking place in the present (contemporaneous with airing) and a storyline taking place at a set time in the past, but some episodes are set in one time period or use multiple flashback time periods. Flashbacks often focus on Jack and Rebecca in and around 1980, both before and after their babies’ birth, or on the family when the Big Three are children or adolescents (and played by two sets of younger actors); these scenes usually take place in Pittsburgh, where the Big Three and their parents are born and raised. As adults, Kate lives in Los Angeles, Randall and his family are in New Jersey, and Kevin relocates from Los Angeles to New York City and back again.
Where: The action follows the core family members – two parents, three children, and their eventual spouses – who are originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but who later move and spread, particularly in the present/future timelines, to Alpine, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Los Angeles, California; and New York City, New York.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the Season 1 podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
This is Episode Three of our “Catching Up on This Is Us” Series. You can listen to Episodes One and Two here and at our audio feeds (Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, and Amazon Music):
Season 1
Season 2
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning Couch Potatoes and This Is Us devotees called repeatedly for a This Is Us panel and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang. Thus, herein we offer our Season 3 recap and review of This Is Us, in which our panel – consisting of Kristen L, Spencer, Emily, Eddy, Kristin T, and Jared – remarks upon the success or lack thereof of this gripping and layered family drama, and in so doing, ruminates in-depth upon the production values, performances, writing, and, in the case of this panel, the music of this acclaimed program..
As such, tonight’s episode is the third episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on NBC in 2016. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 3 of This Is Us, in which we continue learning about the Pearson family in several different eras of the family’s story and in pieces and parts, providing clues to a larger mystery around how the family survives hardship while remaining centered and grounded in the face of life’s greatest challenges. The enthusiasm from our panel remains palpable, as this series has become one of the highest rated shows (by review of our panelists) that we have covered on the podcast.
This episode was recorded in February 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the third season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, on Amazon Music, and now on Patreon(!) to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, our “Star Trek 50+ Series” returns to the Water Cooler to continue their mega-sized Retrospective Series covering all shows under the Star Trek franchise banner. Next week’s episode will talk the penultimate Season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Stay tuned!
RECOMMENDATION
This Is Us continues to be wholeheartedly and boisterously recommended by our CPU! panel to “almost anyone” who enjoys watching television – full stop – but particularly to those who enjoy family dramas like Parenthood, Brothers & Sisters, and The Council of Dads and to those with some years of life experience behind them that would make some of the more difficult parts of this series, in terms of the challenges that the characters face, resonate more fully on an emotional level with would-be watchers. Our panel believes that this show will appeal most to people who appreciate some reality in their fiction, as opposed to pure fantasy, because the creator and writers have infused their story with an undercurrent of wisdom and a concentrated sense of genuineness that renders the show a fulfilling and emotional viewing experience that keeps one wanting more, as the story is told non-linearly, with meted out clues and parallelisms connecting well-meaning, three-dimensional characters with whom it quickly becomes easy to identify. The panelists universally describe This Is Us as well-written, well performed, and well directed, with expertly plotted, interweaving storylines that both tease the mind and fill the heart and are executed by earnest and genuine performers who breathe a comfortable vitality into smart, relatable, and emotionally complex characters. Our panel notes that a decision to watch this NBC drama should be one made with a firm commitment, a preparation for an investment that requires full concentration for the watch without the “second screen experience” and other distractions, as there are glimpses and hints of story revelations in early seasons that ultimately play out masterfully in later seasons. The panel further praised the casting, lauding the seamless ensemble of this drama and its effortless cast chemistry. In the end, the panelists unanimously enjoy this series and enthusiastically recommend it to any would-be viewer who would be enticed by it to start, without hesitation; in fact, our supersized panel proved all too eager to continue watching – or to re-watch – Season 4, which we will discuss in Episode Four of our “Catching Up” Series next month!
LOOKING AHEAD
NBC renewed This Is Us for three additional seasons, including a sixth season, at the same time that the show received its fourth season renewal (May 2019); Season 5 is currently airing, and a Season 6 premiere date has not yet been announced. It was widely reported as of today’s publication, however, that Season 6 would be the series’ final season, to which our panel will react when they recap and review Season 5 later this year. CPU! will next visit This Is Us for Episode Four of this “Catching Up” Series in June 2021, during which our panel will focus upon Season 4. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, Patreon, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding This Is Us as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in November 2020, our supersized panel of Pearson-loving resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Kristen (L), Spencer, Eddy, Emily (S), Kristin (T), and Jared – reconvenes around the CPU! Water Cooler, cheering “Big Three!” all the while, to discuss Season 2 of the critically-acclaimed and widely popular NBC family drama This Is Us, in this, Episode Two of our four-part “Catching Up on This Is Us” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of This Is Us, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), or our Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/couchpotatoesunite. Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “This Is Us” is a romantic family drama series that currently airs on NBC, fall to spring Tuesdays at 9:00 PM.
What: Created by Dan Fogelman, the series follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different time frames and stars an ensemble cast featuring Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, Jon Huertas, Eris Baker, Faithe Herman, as well as Alexandra Breckenridge and Ron Cephas Jones in Season 2.
When: Season 2 aired on NBC from September 26, 2017, to March 13, 2018, with a total of eighteen episodes.
SYNOPSIS
This Is Us follows the lives of siblings Kevin (Hartley), Kate (Metz), and Randall (Brown, known as the “Big Three”), and their parents Jack (Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (Moore). It takes place mainly in the present and uses flashbacks to show the family’s past. Kevin and Kate are the two surviving members from a triplet pregnancy, born six weeks premature on Jack’s 36th birthday in 1980; their brother Kyle is stillborn. Believing they were meant to have three children, Jack and Rebecca, who are white, decide to adopt Randall, an African American child born the day before and brought to the same hospital after his biological father William Hill (Jones) abandoned him at a fire station. Jack dies when his children are 17, and Rebecca later marries Jack’s best friend Miguel (Huertas). Randall becomes a successful finance professional and marries college classmate Beth (Watson); they raise two daughters (Tess, played by Eris Baker, and Annie, played by Faithe Herman). Kevin becomes a successful actor while struggling to be taken seriously. After lacking direction much of her life, Kate meets Toby (Sullivan).
Most episodes feature a storyline taking place in the present (contemporaneous with airing) and a storyline taking place at a set time in the past, but some episodes are set in one time period or use multiple flashback time periods. Flashbacks often focus on Jack and Rebecca in and around 1980, both before and after their babies’ birth, or on the family when the Big Three are children or adolescents (and played by two sets of younger actors); these scenes usually take place in Pittsburgh, where the Big Three and their parents are born and raised. As adults, Kate lives in Los Angeles, Randall and his family are in New Jersey, and Kevin relocates from Los Angeles to New York City and back again.
Where: The action follows the core family members – two parents, three children, and their eventual spouses – who are originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but who later move and spread, particularly in the present/future timelines, to Alpine, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Los Angeles, California; and New York City, New York.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the Season 1 podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It? – THOUGHTS
This is Episode Two of our “Catching Up on This Is Us” Series. You can listen to Episode One here and at our audio feeds (Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, and Amazon Music):
Season 1
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning Couch Potatoes and This Is Us devotees called repeatedly for a This Is Us panel and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole shebang. Thus, herein we offer our Season 2 recap and review of This Is Us, in which our recently formed panel – consisting of Kristen L, Spencer, Emily, Eddy, Kristin T, and Jared – remarks upon the success or lack thereof of this gripping and layered family drama, and in so doing, ruminates in-depth upon the production values, performances, writing, and, in the case of this panel, the music of this acclaimed program..
As such, tonight’s episode is the second episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on NBC in 2016. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 2 of This Is Us, in which we continue learning about the Pearson family in several different eras of the family’s story and in pieces and parts, providing clues to a larger mystery around how the family survives hardship while remaining centered and grounded in the face of life’s greatest challenges. The enthusiasm from our panel remains palpable, as this series has become one of the highest rated shows (by review of our panelists) that we have covered on the podcast.
This episode was recorded in November 2020, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the second season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, on Amazon Music, and now on Patreon(!) to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next week, our Outlander panel re-gathers at the CPU! Water Cooler to continue a five-part Catching-Up series with Episode Three, in which we discuss the third season of the wildly romantic historical Starz drama. Stay tuned!
RECOMMENDATION
This Is Us continues to be wholeheartedly and boisterously recommended by our CPU! panel to “almost anyone” who enjoys watching television – full stop – but particularly to those who enjoy family dramas like Parenthood, Brothers & Sisters, and The Council of Dads and to those with some years of life experience behind them that would make some of the more difficult parts of this series, in terms of the challenges that the characters face, resonate more fully on an emotional level with would-be watchers. Our panel believes that this show will appeal most to people who appreciate some reality in their fiction, as opposed to pure fantasy, because the creator and writers have infused their story with an undercurrent of wisdom and a concentrated sense of genuineness that renders the show a fulfilling and emotional viewing experience that keeps one wanting more, as the story is told non-linearly, with meted out clues and parallelisms connecting well-meaning, three-dimensional characters with whom it quickly becomes easy to identify. The panelists universally describe This Is Us as well-written, well performed, and well directed, with expertly plotted, interweaving storylines that both tease the mind and fill the heart and are executed by earnest and genuine performers who breathe a comfortable vitality into smart, relatable, and emotionally complex characters. Our panel notes that a decision to watch this NBC drama should be one made with a firm commitment, a preparation for an investment that requires full concentration for the watch without the “second screen experience” and other distractions, as there are glimpses and hints of story revelations in early seasons that ultimately play out masterfully in later seasons (these become subjects of this and future episodes in our “Catching Up” Series). The panel further praised the casting, lauding the seamless ensemble of this drama and its effortless cast chemistry. In the end, the panelists unanimously enjoy this series and enthusiastically recommend it to any would-be viewer who would be enticed by it to start, without hesitation; in fact, our supersized panel proved all too eager to continue watching – or to re-watch – Season 3, which we will discuss in Episode Three of our “Catching Up” Series next month!
LOOKING AHEAD
NBC renewed This Is Us for three additional seasons, including a sixth season, at the same time that the show received its fourth season renewal (May 2019); Season 5 is currently airing, and a Season 6 premiere date has not yet been announced. CPU! will next visit This Is Us for Episode Three of this “Catching Up” Series in May 2021, during which our This Is Us panel will focus upon Season 3. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, Patreon, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding This Is Us as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in August 2020, our supersized panel of Pearson-loving resident Couch Potatoes – moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Kristen (L), Spencer, Eddy, Emily (S), Kristin (T), and Jared – convenes for the first time around the CPU! Water Cooler, cheering “Big Three!” all the while, to discuss Season 1 of the critically-acclaimed and widely popular NBC family drama This Is Us, in this, Episode One of our four-part “Catching Up on This Is Us” Series. As always, if you have not watched any of This Is Us, be aware that there are, most definitely, MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), or our Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/couchpotatoesunite. Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “This Is Us” is a romantic family drama series that currently airs on NBC, fall to spring Tuesdays at 9:00 PM.
What: Created by Dan Fogelman, the series follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different time frames and stars an ensemble cast featuring Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, and Ron Cephas Jones in Season 1.
When: Season 1 aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to March 14, 2017, with a total of eighteen episodes.
Where: The action follows the core family members – two parents, three children, and their eventual spouses – who are originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but who later move and spread, particularly in the present/future timelines, to Alpine, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Los Angeles, California; and New York City, New York.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode via the link below!
How – as in How Was It?
The pilot/premiere rating scale:
***** – I HAVE TO WATCH EVERYTHING. HOLY SMOKES!
**** – Well, it certainly seems intriguing. I’m going to keep watching, but I see possible pitfalls in the premise.
*** – I will give it six episodes and see what happens. There are things I like, and things I don’t. We’ll see which “things” are allowed to flourish.
** – I will give it three episodes. Chances are, I’m mainly bored, but there is some intrigue or fascination that could hold it together. No matter how unlikely.
* – Pass on this one, guys. It’s a snoozer/not funny/not interesting/not my cup of tea… there are too many options to waste time on this one.
This Is Us = 4.8, by average of the podcast panel.
SYNOPSIS
This Is Us follows the lives of siblings Kevin (Hartley), Kate (Metz), and Randall (Brown, known as the “Big Three”), and their parents Jack (Ventimiglia) and Rebecca Pearson (Moore). It takes place mainly in the present and uses flashbacks to show the family’s past. Kevin and Kate are the two surviving members from a triplet pregnancy, born six weeks premature on Jack’s 36th birthday in 1980; their brother Kyle is stillborn. Believing they were meant to have three children, Jack and Rebecca, who are white, decide to adopt Randall, an African American child born the day before and brought to the same hospital after his biological father William Hill (Jones) abandoned him at a fire station. Jack dies when his children are 17, and Rebecca later marries Jack’s best friend Miguel. Randall becomes a successful finance professional and marries college classmate Beth (Watson); they raise two daughters (Tess and Annie). Kevin becomes a successful actor while struggling to be taken seriously. After lacking direction much of her life, Kate meets Toby (Sullivan).
Most episodes feature a storyline taking place in the present (contemporaneous with airing) and a storyline taking place at a set time in the past, but some episodes are set in one time period or use multiple flashback time periods. Flashbacks often focus on Jack and Rebecca in and around 1980, both before and after their babies’ birth, or on the family when the Big Three are children or adolescents (and played by two sets of younger actors); these scenes usually take place in Pittsburgh, where the Big Three and their parents are born and raised. As adults, Kate lives in Los Angeles, Randall and his family are in New Jersey, and Kevin relocates from Los Angeles to New York City and back again.
THOUGHTS
Frequent CPU! contributors and panelists often suggest shows for CPU! to cover in our podcast episodes – loyal listeners should have picked up on this particular trend by now. As the podcast has been underway for several years now, many of our long-yearning Couch Potatoes and This Is Us devotees called repeatedly for a This Is Us panel and subsequently encouraged meticulous season-by-season coverage of the whole complex, multi-layered shebang. Thus, herein we offer our Season 1 recap and review of This Is Us, in which our new panel remarks upon the success or lack thereof of the series. The panel convening at the Water Cooler tonight includes requesting CPU! panelists Kristen (L), our most involved panelist and one of our moderating team; Spencer, our fifth most involved panelist (this week) and one of our moderating team; Eddy, who is currently active on our American Horror Story Series panel but who has appeared on several past panels; Emily (S), who is currently active on our American Horror Story Series and Riverdale panels but who has appeared on several past panels; Kristin (T), who is currently active on our The Crown panel; and Jared, who is currently active on our Full/er House Series panel. Our newly constituted panel of “Big Three”/Pearson supporting Couch Potatoes, therefore, gathered “Around the Water Cooler” to take a “First Look” at this gripping and layered family drama, and in so doing, to ruminate in-depth upon the production values, performances, writing, and, in the case of this panel, the music of this acclaimed program.
As such, tonight’s episode is the first episode of a four-episode series in which CPU! gets caught up on this show, which premiered on NBC in 2016. In this chapter, our panel reflects upon and recaps Season 1 of This Is Us, in which we are introduced to the Pearson family in several different eras of the family’s story and in pieces and parts, providing clues to a larger mystery around how the family survives hardship while remaining centered and grounded in the face of life’s greatest challenges. The enthusiasm from our panel is palpable – this series is one of the highest rated shows (by review of our panelists) that we have covered on the podcast.
This episode was recorded in August 2020, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the first season. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, on Spotify, on Castbox, on iHeartRadio, on Amazon Music, and now on Patreon(!) to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, our “Star Trek 50+ Series” returns to the Water Cooler to continue their mega-sized Retrospective Series covering all shows under the Star Trek franchise banner. Next week’s episode will talk Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Stay tuned!
RECOMMENDATION
This Is Us is recommended by our latest CPU! panel to “almost anyone” who enjoys watching television – full stop – but particularly to those who enjoy family dramas like Parenthood, Brothers & Sisters, and The Council of Dads and to those with some years of life experience. Our panel believes that this show will resonate most with people who appreciate some reality in their fiction, as opposed to pure fantasy, because the creator and writers have infused their story with an undercurrent of wisdom and a concentrated sense of genuineness that renders the show a fulfilling and emotional viewing experience that keeps one wanting more, as the story is told non-linearly, with meted out clues and parallelisms connecting well-meaning, three-dimensional characters with whom it quickly becomes easy to identify. The panelists universally describe This Is Us as well-written, well performed, and well directed, with expertly plotted, interweaving storylines that both tease the mind and fill the heart and are executed by earnest and genuine performers who breathe a comfortable vitality into smart, relatable, and emotionally complex characters. Our panel notes that a decision to watch this NBC drama should be one made with a firm commitment, a preparation for an investment that requires full concentration for the watch without the “second screen experience” and other distractions, as there are glimpses and hints of story revelations in early seasons that ultimately play out masterfully in later seasons (these become subjects of future episodes in our “Catching Up” Series). The panel further praised the casting, lauding the seamless ensemble of this drama and its effortless cast chemistry. In the end, the panelists unanimously enjoy this series and enthusiastically recommend it to any would-be viewer who would be enticed by it to start, without hesitation; in fact, our supersized panel proved all too eager to continue watching – or to re-watch – Season 2, which we will discuss in Episode Two of our “Catching Up” Series next month!
THE FUTURE OF THE SHOW
NBC renewed This Is Us for three additional seasons, including a sixth season, at the same time that the show received its fourth season renewal (May 2019); Season 5 is currently airing, and a Season 6 premiere date has not yet been announced. CPU! will next visit This Is Us for Episode Two of this “Catching Up” Series in April 2021, during which our This Is Us panel will focus upon Season 2. Like, follow, and/or subscribe to the website, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Amazon Music, Patreon, or our social media accounts to stay abreast of new episodes regarding This Is Us as well as new episodes for all of our podcast panels! And, if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Thank you!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in September 2020, the remaining CPU! enthusiast who sometimes enjoys getting away with murder – the one and only Eddy – triumphantly returns to the Water Cooler to launch a new companion feature to our interview-style series on CPU! entitled “Shark Jumpers’ Anonymous,” in which panelists – and about to be former-panelists – explain why they are making leaps and bounds over predatory fish (or like trees and leaving). In “Final Thoughts,” any panelist who persevered after the panel jumped that proverbial shark is invited back to the Water Cooler, whether solo or with a partner, to discuss their Final Thoughts about the hitherto discarded show following the airing of its series finale and whether completing the watch is worth the effort in the end. If you have not viewed any of HTGAWM, be aware that there are MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at: couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), or our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/couchpotatoesunite. Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
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