Coronavirus Changes 3: The Coronavirus Storylines

With shows delayed for as long as they have been due to coronavirus, a lot of them have finally come back to air future seasons. More still are waiting for their return dates as they were never meant to come back sooner this time around due to all of the delays that take place. But there is one notable change that is worth discussing that is happening much to the chagrin of people who were wanting to watch shows to escape the pandemic. That change is quite clear based on the title of this post.

It only seemed natural that such a thing would happen. Sure, some shows probably went back to what they had planned to do before the shutdowns at least starting out. But then they felt that they had to something about one of the biggest stories of the year. Plus, some of them might have honestly just wanted a reason why the characters would be in masks a lot of the time so they have to worry less about the risk of infection on the show.

Plus, it would be hard for a medical show not to talk about the biggest medical crisis this world has seen since the invention of the television itself. Other shows would want to target the issue as well. I mean, even with everything else going on in the world, you’d still want to cover the pandemic. I know that there has been racism against those perceived to Chinese as a result of this. I’d imagine that a show like Grey’s Anatomy could cover the aspect of medical treatment to someone affected by this pretty well while a show like S.W.A.T. has already covered some of the police aspect of it when a main character’s mother was affected by this sort of thing.

What other aspects could be covered? It is hard to tell just how many shows will cover it and a lot of shows might not actually cover it at all if they would rather discuss other things instead. I’d have to imagine that some do want to try to escape from the pandemic by not focusing on it at all. Others aren’t even set in this world so they wouldn’t need to put in real world issues. Some would be better off not focusing on issues like it. And reality competition shows don’t really need to cover them since their focus is on something else instead. They might put in fake crowd shots like in The Masked Singer. Other shows are set before this pandemic happened. Others still were set to air earlier so there’s no need for them to do subjects about it unless they are renewed for future seasons.

One of the most important things that needs to be done is coordination between shows. For instance, now that NCIS: New Orleans has set some of this show during the pandemic, pretty much every other show still on that’s part of the franchise will now have to put this in the storylines. For instance, NCIS is set to, I believe, at some point in the future. NCIS: Los Angeles must as well, although they still might be covering the planned episodes from the previous season first.

Both MacGyver and Magnum P.I. will also have to cover the pandemic as well. Otherwise, we’ll have to split the canon of those shows into two different aspects where one covers the pandemic and the other doesn’t. I do believe that MacGyver might have been the show that lost the most planned episodes so they may take the longest to write the pandemic onto the show provided that they don’t just start over and repurpose this for later. Some scripts and planned plots could be put in new stories.

Honestly, there isn’t much else to cover about this just yet. Some shows have been better off and have ran as usual on TV. Whether or not they will address the pandemic is currently unknown. How much we will see of it on other shows remain unknown at this point in time. As for how a franchise plans to cover it has to be made clear as one show can’t cover it without all the other shows forced to as well. Let’s hope that there is some coordination between the showrunners as a result. As for all of the plots that we will see, I plan to watch as usual and hope that they are good.

A Recap or a Common Courtesy

Maybe it is just because now that shows have been gone for quite a while, when they come back, they can be confusing in some ways. But I think that something good can be done easily to help viewers. It is often done, but since it isn’t, it is good to remind people what it is and how helpful it is. All that we need is a simple recap to keep track of what’s going on with the show.

While some might be annoyed with shows that always begin with a recap, this seems strange to me. But that might not be the case. I like recaps. I can get annoyed when I miss them. I also get annoyed at times when they aren’t there.

It isn’t too bad when recaps aren’t there provided that they have never been part of the show. Thus, you aren’t too annoyed when they never happen because they aren’t part of the show much in the first place. But when they are there, even rarely, you can get annoyed when they aren’t.

What’s especially annoying is that some shows that have recaps don’t keep doing them. Once a staple of the show Survivor, recaps have disappeared in recent seasons. And they don’t even have a theme song anymore either. When recaps disappear from shows, that is especially annoying.

But the most annoying things about a lack of recaps is when a new season starts after a long gap of time has passed between seasons without a basic courtesy of what happened before the show went away. Even during a simple hiatus of a show with a long stretch of time between episodes in the same season, it would help to remember what happened even if we have seen all of what happened before the break. That is why we need recaps in the world of television.

Wish List for the Final Season of Supergirl

I had thought of this idea for a while now, but it was too late to do it in previous season’s posts. Now that I know that the upcoming season of Supergirl will be its last, I might as well do a post on all of what I want to see from the show’s final season. I doubt that they will follow all of them, even if they had any control over it. But these are some of the things that I want to see from this show’s final season. Expect there to be more of these for final seasons of shows that I watch.

1: Don’t kill off Supergirl at the end. Considering how you just did the same thing with Oliver Queen last season, I’d have to recommend against this. She could still appear in other shows in the franchise if you avoid killing her off. If you want to signify her story coming to an end, maybe give a good reason why she would give up her powers, move to another planet full time, or otherwise retire from being the superhero that she is in the end.

2: Set up some links to Superman and Lois. Since this newer Arrowverse show is clearly there to be like this old show and would have different links to it in the end, this is the only time to include all of the Easter eggs that you can between the two shows, even though it might be likely that there won’t be an official and big crossover between both shows ever instead.

3: Make an appearance or otherwise do something relating to Oliver Queen. While he is dead in the show, it is hard to say goodbye to the known trinity of this show the way things are now already. There could be more with them or perhaps a hand off to a new trinity would work as well.

4: Resolve things with her new journalist friend. I forget his name, but they introduced him in the season before the upcoming one as what I felt could be a possible love interest. They also seemed to sow the seeds that he knows her true identity or could easily figure it out. If she is to go out with a love interest, this would be the time to do it in the end. And he’ll make more sense than anyone else.

5: Do a what if Leviathan won episode. I doubt that they could actually have this group wipe out ¼ of all life on earth. It could be interesting to see considering how it would have major affects on the whole universe of this show, but it just shouldn’t be done for real. But, there could be a special way that they take care of this potential plot point by putting Supergirl or someone (perhaps a group of people) in the world where Leviathan wiped out ¼ of the world’s population just to see what that would be like.

6: Keep Lex alive this time. While killing him off only seemed temporary in the season finale of this show’s earlier season and the potential for him to be the season’s final big bad (unless someone else has been announced as that already) is a big urge for them, I want to see his dynamics with Superman that we won’t get to see otherwise if he stays on this show all the time and he dies forever this time.

7: Have Lena switch to Superman and Lois. It would be good to set up the changes that would happen to the shows that are connected like this if we see at least one of the characters from this show switch to the other at some point in time. While that isn’t always feasible depending on what happens with the actors and other people on the show (I mean, I thought that some people from Arrow might be put on other shows and they still could be, especially if they make Green Arrow and the Canaries in a show), it would still be nice to have at least one character from this show move on to a different one.

8: Give Brainy and Nia a happy ending. They or at least someone deserves to see this in the end. There have been a lot of ups and downs in their relationships thus far, which is all the more reason that they need to be good in the end and stick together.

That’s all that I want to see from the final season of this show. I can only hope that it happens in the end. Now some of you might have gotten tired of Arrowverse related posts in this blog since I had talked a lot about Arrow after it ended. But they won’t be over as I got a lot more of Supergirl to share about and discuss in the future, although I plan to wait until after the show is over and, like last time, only do one a month. I also plan to cover another Arrowverse related post in the end probably next month. As for what else I want to do with this blog, you’ll have to see what happens when I write them and I honestly don’t know what will happen for sure. I do hope to get a post on the cancelled shows of this previous season done soon with special notes on things that could go wrong. Until then, stay tuned.

Saturdays in Primetime Version 4

It isn’t often that I review shows on Saturdays as it isn’t often or long that shows air then. In fact, the one new review that I’m adding might already be done airing, but I feel like including it anyways in case it isn’t over just yet. Now let’s get to the reviews.

Manhunt: Deadly Games: Status- Currently on CBS on Saturdays now. Why I’ve seen it- I watch every new CBS show at least once despite the fact that this isn’t really a CBS show. Noteworthiness- This is based on true stories. Part of this is based on the story of Richard Jewel. This also previously aired on cable before it repeated these episodes on CBS to make up for production slowdowns due to covid19. Description- Law enforcement tries to find the person or people who did a bombing while a man has to deal with being falsely accused of the crime. Notable People- It stars Desmond Harrington who was also on Elementary for a season. Pros- This seems pretty good and interesting even if one can be spoiled to what happens by simply looking up what happened in the past. Cons- There could be a bit too much in there at once while also dragging things out for a while. Note to Parents- Teens can watch this, but kids should not. Recommendation- I like it feel that it is good to watch and keep track of. Prediction- There are no plans for any more of this after what airs as it is meant to air for only one season. If they use the title of this again, it would likely cover a different story as they have already done in the past. Reception: possibly positive. Grade: A. New review

48 Hours: Status- Currently on CBS at 10/9 Central on Saturdays. There are times when it fills gaps in the schedule caused by cancellations on CBS, although that hasn’t happened in a while. Why I’ve seen it- I guess it was just me wanting to watch something that was on, although on occasion, I was interested in what the episode was dealing with. Description- A true crime series that is basically a documentary type show exploring a criminal case. Pros- The episodes are typically quite interesting. Cons- It airs at a bad time. It can also be gruesome and drawn-out. Note to Parents- Don’t let your kids watch this. It is far too dark for them. Recommendation- I guess that this is worth watching from time to time, although I don’t’ typically go out of my way to watch it typically. My Viewing Habits- I have seen this at times, but don’t tune in most times as it isn’t my cup of tea. Prediction- Somehow it has remained a long time on the air despite it typically airing on Saturdays all the time. I imagine that it will continue to last a while. Reception: positive. Grade: B.