Trio of TV Show Recommendations

Call Me Kat is an American reboot of the British sitcom, “Miranda” which is produced by and stars Brit, Miranda Hart. Jim Parsons, formerly of “The Big Bang Theory” decided to adapt it for the American audience and produces it alongside his former BBT co-star, Mayim Bialik, who plays the lead role of Katharine “Kat” Silver. Kat is a former math professor who quits her job after her dad dies and decides to pursue her dream of opening a cat café. Swoosie Kurtz plays her mom who is forever trying to get her daughter married. 

I love the set design, which is suitably cozy, though for a cat café, you hardly see any cats, but then I guess the show isn’t really about them (though it is a cat café, so it kind of is). The actors are all likeable enough, especially Bialik, Kurtz, and Leslie Jordan (café employee). I’m just not sure I buy Bialik as this frumpy singleton who can’t get the guy. Yes, I realize the character is somewhat Amy Farah-Fowler-like, but still not sure I can make the transition so soon after “Big Bang Theory.” My bias probably comes from being so familiar with Miranda (who some may remember as Chummy in “Call the Midwife” circa 2012), who really does play the role so much better.  

From what I just read of the initial reviews of this series, it’s not exactly been a big hit with American viewers (or at least the reviewers). “Despite Mayim Bialik's innate appeal, her new sitcom Call Me Kat is a woefully unfunny throwback that has precious few good ideas - and not nearly enough cats.” – Rotten Tomatoes. 

“I want to like this because I loved Miranda the original show. The casting is awful, Leslie reminds me too much of his characters in Reba and Will and Grace..Swoosie same story. This combination of extremes : unknown actors and actors who have been on hit tv shows forever it doesn’t work ,  a cat cafe is very lame..you could’ve chosen a more modern concept..finally where’s the eye candy! Max is suppose to be hot! I understand talent is key but you gotta give the audience some eye candy...it was hard to watch this first episode and I paid for it! Not sure if I will keep watching...maybe the main difference is Miranda is a comedian..she is gifted..Mayim  is a great actress but something is missing..there’s no chemistry among the cast it looks forced.”  -- Rosa Gonzalez 

If you truly want some laughs, you would be better tuning in to Ted Danson’s newest sitcom, “Mr. Mayor.” The plot line is pretty simple – retired businessman, Neil Bremer, on a lark, decides to run for mayor, never expecting to actually win, but ‘he surprises everyone and wins the seat.’ (IMDB) Holly Hunter plays his deputy mayor and Kyla Kenedy (formerly Dylan DiMeo on “Speechless”) is his daughter. 

Not surprisingly all the laughs in the first episode are fairly predictable as they were all in the series trailer (which is why I am less of a fan of trailers these days). However, we (my husband and I) enjoyed the second episode even more than the first – largely because of the fool-proof plotline and Danson’s excellent acting skills (the mayor visits a CBD dispensary and enjoys one of the free samples : )

I also enjoyed the other storyline where Hunter’s character teaches young Mikaela (the mayor’s Chief of Staff) how things are accomplished in City Hall (a somewhat more simplistic lesson to the one demonstrated each week in “West Wing”) – you give me what I want and maybe I can help you with what you want, using the example of trying to obtain some scotch tape for Mikaela’s vision board. 

I don’t think there’s a single series starring Danson that I haven’t liked (“Cheers,” “Becker,” “The Good Life,” etc.). If you can’t get enough of him, and you have HBO, be sure to tune in to “Bored to Death” where he plays an agent with similar character traits. You can also stream “The Good Life” on Netflix I think. Of course Holly Hunter, a veteran Hollywood actor is also excellent, as is young Ms. Kenedy who is certainly an aspiring ingénue. 

If you’re a fan of trivia or game shows, or like grittier reality shows, you might like “The Chase.” This is one of the newest prime time trivia shows (also a British adaptation) starring Jeopardy’s trio of champions, Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer. Each week the knowledge of three members of the public are challenged by the speed and intelligence of one of the Jeopardy champs. Spoiler alert! If you haven’t yet watched the first two episodes, read no further!  The first episode featured the loveable temporary host of “Jeopardy,” Ken Jennings (looking very healthy and tan I must say) who gave the opposition a run for their money, but didn’t reign victorious. It was definitely a fun episode in that it was close, and the questions were of easy to medium difficulty, so we enjoyed trying to answer them as well. 

Since we were still curious about how things would play out with a different Jeopardy champ on the other end, we tuned in for the second episode. I would say the questions were a little more difficult, but then that might be because I didn’t know as many of them. Also, I can’t help but notice the similarity in the second trio of challengers in that there always seems to be a weakest link in the form of an adult nerd (guy) who does little to help his teammates. 

James Holzhauer stepped up to the top of the board in the second episode and made quick work of destroying the trio by answering every single question quickly and correctly in the lightning round. 

My husband and I agreed we would like to see how Brad Rutter does in the hot seat. If I were to place my bet now, I would say he might do slightly better than Ken Jennings did, but I doubt he will annihilate. 

After the third episode, we might continue to record them, but not sure I’m interested enough to continue watching. That’s partly because it’s gimmicky, which is everything “Jeopardy” wasn’t, and as far as trivia shows go, I much prefer “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and of course, “Jeopardy.”  

Having seen “Quiz Show” a couple times, I wonder how much things are orchestrated behind the scenes. For instance, I might suggest to James Holzhauer that he get a question wrong every now and then (in the final round). Otherwise, if he always crushes the competition, that becomes a little predictable, though maybe that’s a reason to continue watching to see if he really is this superhuman, unemotional trivia machine.