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Hello RTV people, So many choice adjectives can be used to describe the year 2020. The person of faith in me chooses to hope for better days ahead. And I know with the coming of the new year, quite a few TV shows will be starting up again. So maybe our pages will be far less quiet? We'll see. But anyway, as far as 2020 went, OUR focus, of course, was all about things television. Sadly, I'm not sure if I can come up with much of a list. Okay, there were a few shining moments: From the winter TV season, my favorite NEW show would have to be: "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist", NBC I knew from the first moment I heard about this upcoming show that I would enjoy it very much. Zoey (Jane Levy) leads a fantastic cast (some of whom you can identify in this picture) in an unconventional story about a young woman who finds herself in the very odd position of being able to hear people's deepest emotions through song and dance - unbeknownst to THEM. How did she come about this strange superpower, you might wonder? Well, I could explain about how a series of bad headaches prompted her to go to the doctor for an MRI; while in the machine, her fear of being enclosed in such a tiny space prompted her to ask for some soothing music to calm her fears; how the attendant flipped on not SOOTHING music but a playlist of some of the greatest music, from all genres, of all time (Zoey is a science geek and has paid NO attention to the music world - so most Top 40 songs were lost on her. Her friend Mo: "This power is wasted on you! "Oh Jesus Take the Wheel"!): about the mild earthquake, which somehow - no one knows how - caused that playlist of songs to download into her psyche, where she was experiencing some pretty deep emotions; which ultimately caused her to acquire this very unusual superpower. "I'm like 'The X-Men' meets 'The Voice'!" she declares to friend Max at one point when she is trying to explain it to him. I COULD describe all that to you, especially now that I've done a recent run-through of the series in anticipation of season two beginning shortly. But it might be more fun if you watch it for yourself. A lot of humor. A lot of heart. A lot of classic music being performed by some exceptional artists (who are all actors first but are ALL doing their own singing, showing this emotional side to perfection). Who knew these people could sing? I know I didn't. But my favorite part of season one was every time Zoey had an interaction with her sick dad and her amazing mom. Hmmm., we can do this..... The five minute clip above will give you a clear picture of this beautiful show. It's set to the song "American Pie". Yes, funny choice for a funeral. But for some reason it makes perfect sense, and is so beautifully performed and choreographed for this final scene of the series that it's hard not to love it. Someone was obviously as moved by this story as I was. They took the last scene of the season one finale and then added splashes of scenes from other episodes. Through the "heart" songs (her term) Zoey hears, WE get to know each and every one of the characters in her life, seeing the deepest emotions in their souls. It can be her mother (played by the wonderful Mary Steenburgen), her best friend/potential soulmate number one Max (played by Skyler Astin), her neighbor Mo (played by Alex Newell), her boss (played by long time TV veteran of Lauren Graham [The Gilmore Girls, Parenthood], as strong and tough and confident as a high tech company CEO must be, yet can always make me smile), or Zoey's co-worker (and potential soulmate number two) Simon (played by John Clarence Stewart). And of course, her dad (played by Peter Gallagher) who, much to the heartbreak of Zoey and her family, is suffering from a disease that has robbed him of his ability to speak and move. But he's still able to express his heart to Zoey through this amazing gift she has: the ability to see and hear the deepest emotions of those around her in song. Sounds crazy? Sure. But it's a lovely, lovely show in every way. Yes, sad - but with enough humor and heart to alleviate the sadness. So looking forward to season two, which starts January 5th (I think). Team Max or Team Simon? I'm #TeamMax all the way. Survivor Season 40: Winners At War... the BIG one! It was here. What all true Survivor fans had been waiting for - long-rumoured, now finally accomplished. And boy did it not disappoint! Not at all. Such a fun season. So great to see some of the old school players have a chance to prove themselves against the best of the recent players. So funny: we veteran Survivor watchers couldn't help but deeply root for the old school players to rule the island. But it didn't exactly turn out that way.... Boston Rob - one of the game's most infamous and controversial (some love him, some hate him... I personally love him) got himself schooled. Michelle, a winner who many didn't think deserved her victory at all, proved to all that she had some real game and deserves credit for her original win (yes, strange sentiment coming from ME... ha!). I'll leave some room for WM to add his thoughts but let me just say... A fantastic season. A fantastic winner in... Tony. Even the despised inclusion of Survivor tenet-destroying "Isle of Extinction" (the winner must obtain jury votes from players they had a hand directly or indirectly voting out, not players they had spent some of the season bonding with) didn't dampen the enthusiasm a lot. Producers tried as best they could to make IofE an important part of the season with new tweaks requiring strength and strategy. But since the ultimate winner DID survive on the island (not on IofE) for fourty days, we were satisfied it was a TRUE victory. I loved the way Tony played: keeping a low profile at the beginning, not coming out "big" in any way. Then one moment clicked and it was GAME ON! He played a perfect game and deserved this win, hands down. (And the general consensus is that the internet will no longer be filled with endless debate about who the greatest Survivor player EVER is. Only extreme contrarians will deny the title to Mr. Vlachos. Discourse will now be limited to deciding exactly how far from the top is Sandra Diaz-Twine's second place status) Just typing this is making me sad that we have had no Survivor since that exceptional season ended. :( Re-watch, please. ASAP! Spring 2020 was also the season of Australian Survivor All Stars... If you are a Survivor fan and have never made the leap to "International" ... I highly recommend it. But don't start with this season. Start with at least numbers one and two. Get to know a few of these people before you dive into the fantastic All-Star season. The Aussies have put their own spin on this game, increasing it to 55 days (yikes!). Insanity. All Stars was a fantastic watch. I'm having difficulty giving too many details, in case anyone is inspired to check it out on their own. Go ahead! Dive into Australian Survivor! You won't regret it. "Tough As Nails". Created and hosted by Phil Koeghan. It took a guy from New Zealand to come up with a show to celebrate Blue Collar America. I admit - I only checked it out for Phil. But in the end, I really enjoyed the show. Was it the best RTV I've ever seen? No, can't say it was. But it was enjoyable. And... Phil. After such a long absence, it was fun to see his return to TV as a host of anything! Looking forward to season two. Back to a favorite scripted show: we cannot forget... "This Is Us" One of the few scripted shows we can get a good chat going for. This started when I saw the season one premiere and was so moved that I wrote up a big page explaining all the things I loved (And that twist! Some caught it early, some didn't see it all and were shocked at the end. Had the internet ablaze the entire next day!) That write up is long gone: lost with the much-mourned free channel of Disqus. But the overall sentiment is the same. The storytelling in this show is exceptional. This past season we were taken through the harsh reality of the Pearson family realizing their beloved mom, Rebecca, is be sinking into the devastating disease of Alzheimer's. Now when I think of this season, I first see Rebecca. Older Rebecca.... having some troubling memory issues. Troubling enough to make Randall spring into action to solve the problem (that's what Randall does). Also a huge arc for Kevin, as he struggles to overcome his addictions and to understand more about his father. In season three, that desire took Kevin all the way to Vietnam in search of his father's brother Nicky, who the family had always believed died in Viet Nam. But mostly, it's Kevin's inpending fatherhood that drove him this season. Will he always judge himself against his own dad? I can't recall all details... please feel free to add your thoughts, WM. But still, as far as I'm concerned, THIS IS US remains one of the best scripted shows of all time (well, unless you're an EW message board contributor, which gives you a chance to trash the show in a new way week after week!) The Amazing Race The best way to describe "The Amazing Race" season thirty-two is... memorable. That doesn't imply good OR bad; just that you can't forget it. Unfortunately, this time it's not for good reasons. It wasn't the best season...and that was a shame. Phil, we still love you though. We will give the show a mention. Only for you, Phil. :-}} After how many missed seasons (three, maybe four dozen?) So many, I don't even know. At last we were FINALLY given a new season of The Amazing Race to enjoy! What a blessing this would be! Good TV had been so scarce lately! And then.... it turned out to be a stinker of a season. At least we could enjoy the cultural experiences that TAR brings, seeing other countries and their lifestyles, etc. Here's hoping for a better future for this show - if indeed there ARE upcoming seasons. Not sure if there will be, but if they are: cast people who have never seen Survivor or Big Brother so have no idea about "alliance building". No, alliances are not against the rules of the show. But most long-time fans I know found that domination of a five team "Mine Five" alliance was a show killer as far as the enjoyment of the season goes. Made it hard to root for any of the five teams when it came down to it, honestly. And that is a terrible thing to happen to a season. There are lots of opinions and I know not everyone hated this season. But I admit, I wasn't a fan of this one. Still hoping for more, better TAR. I have seen no word on it's future. The Invasion of the Masked Shows! What fun guessing games these shows have turned out to be - and made more enjoyable by our live chats. And now, not only do our masked players sing - they also dance! Follow the clues as best as you can and see if you can correctly identify who is beneath that mask. Okay, I'm running out of steam. It's late and I have to work in the morning. So I will leave it up to WM to dress up this page as well as he'd like to, adding any detail he wants. I'm sure there are plenty of memorable moment that I didn't include. Please share with us all what your favorite TV moments of the year were. Prayers for a brighter future ahead. Happy New Year from RTV Fanatics Unite
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