I had that wonderful moment this week where my TiVo to-do list finally started capturing some of the fall shows that are coming. Most of what I watch from the big networks doesn’t land until the end of September so this month continues to be in that weird place where I find it hard to start up new things, dabble in a few others, but mostly am in a kind of limbo until everything new hits.
The Chef Show really delighted with its first season and the people that Favreau and Choi worked with but the real heart of it was the two of them and their long and deep connections to food. While I’m not a celebrity follower by any stretch of the imagination, a show like this that lets you get to know them better is a lot of fun as it really does help to humanize. I’ve enjoyed a lot of Favreau’s stuff over the years with directing and acting but the more well-rounded aspects we see here, talk of childhood, working in pizza joints, and just the general back and forth is a delight. I’ve only taken in the first two episodes so far but it’s a lot of fun with Seth Rogen in the first while the second digs deep into some Naples style pizza that just left me drooling. The guest stars are a bit lighter this season but that’s not hurting it in the slightest as the two main men definitely are worth every minute of watching.
Welcome to Sweden finally drew to a close as I burned quickly through the second season. This show was a delight since it played into my enjoyment of seeing other cultures through travelogue and food shows but with some good comedy along the way. That it was based on the actual events of the lead, for some of it, definitely made it more enjoyable. The additional things with the guest stars played well into reminding me of Parks and Rec to some degree but you also get people like Will Ferrell into it, who is married to someone from Sweden as well, and so many other guest stars that it just clicked. It also helped that unlike a lot of shows that have played to this kind of piece where it’s in the reverse, this one taking place there and filmed almost entirely there really gave it a lot of character. Definitely one that I’m going to miss.
With the first season of Titans getting off to a slow and bit of a rough start last year as the DC Universe service launched, I suspect they’ve seen how things have grown since then and we’ll get some maturing this season. We’ve watched the first two episodes, the first of which was the original finale for the first season, and it’s just a blast. I like seeing very different takes on properties in how they’re adapted so getting a new vision of things here is a lot of fun with characters that have often been considered too hard for live-action. The Arrow Deathstroke will always be my favorite adaptation as Manu is just perfect for the role but I’m excited to see what Esai brings to the character here, especially as his daughter Rose is in this. The new Bruce Wayne is intriguing and I love that the actor isn’t trying to play American with his accent but rather owning it and creating something new. We don’t get a lot of new characters but Donna has a bigger role working with Kory and the time spent with Dawn and Hank is perfect as I wish they’d get a spinoff of their own. And more Jason Todd means more of a real dick in the group for everyone to play off. It’s a fascinating show that I’m excited to see how it starts to pull things together as the second season really gets underway.
