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TV Shows To Watch This Weekend: 'Grimsburg,' 'Echo,' And 'Ted'
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Scott Grimes, Max Burkholder, Seth MacFarlane, and Giorgia Whigham attend the premiere of Peacock's "Ted" at The Grove on Jan. 10, 2024.
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It's easy to hear the term “mixed bag” and immediately think it's being used to mean "bad." But like the proverbial glass containing some amount of liquid, it's not always half-empty, right?
So let us, help you, make sense of shows with “mixed” reviews and whether they’ll scratch an itch for your TV-watching habits.
Each week on AirTalk, LAist 89.3's daily news show, we're joined by television critics who help parse through the biggest releases and tell us what's worth a binge. This week we were joined by Roxana Hadadi, a television critic for Vulture, and Angie Han, a television critic for The Hollywood Reporter.
Listen to the full conversation for a rundown of the variety of shows they hit on. I’ll dig into three of them a little further to offer added insight.
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Listen to the full conversation here
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• 17:42
TV-Talk: 5 Shows To Watch Including ‘Grimsburg,’ ‘Echo’ & More
This week's shows include:
- Grimsburg (Fox & Hulu)
- Echo (Disney+ & Hulu)
- Ted (Peacock)
- The Brothers Sun (Netflix)
- For All Mankind [Season 4] (Apple TV+)
Grimsburg
Airs on Fox & Streaming on Hulu
Follows detective Marvin Flute, who comes back to solve crime in the town of Grimsburg, a fictional place that’s riddled with humorous crime.
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“[Grimsburg] feels in that Archer lane of quick-witted, little bit vulgar, playing [of] animation tropes” – Roxana Hadadi, Vulture
“I don't think Grimsburg always kind of knows what to do with its ideas — I found it to be a mixed bag.” – Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter
Overall take: This show is definitely in the vein of other Fox adult animated shows, where you get some classic crude humor throughout an episodic format. If you’ve had a chance to check out Krapopolis since its premiere in September 2023 and have enjoyed it, Grimsburg will be just as entertaining of a watch for you on your Sundays.
Fun fact: The show is produced by the Fox subsidiary company Bento Box Entertainment, whose other credits include Grimsburg and Krapopolis. They're also behind Bob’s Burgers and Central Park.
When and where: Episode 1 is now available to stream on Hulu; since it premiered with a preview episode, don’t expect Episode 2 to arrive until Sunday, Feb. 18 at 5:00 PM PT.
Read Angie's review of 'Grimsburg' for The Hollywood Reporter by clicking here.
Echo
Streaming on Disney+ & Hulu
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Follows superhuman Maya Lopez, who once was an apprentice under crime lord Wilson Fisk, but is now getting chased down by his goons. Amidst facing these consequences, she goes back to her ancestral home within the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
“So I found the first three episodes really challenging to get into and to know about this world. The last two are really engaging, and the action [and pacing] picks up.” Roxana Hadadi, Vulture
Overall take: In some ways, this is a departure from prior Marvel Cinematic Universe stories — the protagonist is an Indigenous woman who is deaf — but it makes the most of its unique story. It also contains more violence and mature themes viewers haven’t seen since Netflix’s Marvel programs (ex. Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones).
Fun fact: The show’s lead actress, Alaqua Cox, is a deaf person, and she’s certainly shared the importance of that in press interviews for Echo. In an interview she did with Variety, she also noted how much it helped to have people working behind the scenes who were also deaf or knew American Sign Language (ASL).
When and where: All five episodes are now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu; the show will be available on Hulu until April 9.
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Ted
Streaming on Peacock
A '90s prequel to the Ted film franchise that starred Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane in the 2010s. It sees a young Ted and John in their grade-school years.
“It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, it's not necessarily mine, but I do feel like Ted lets you know early on what that sensibility is going to be, you can take it or leave it.” – Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter
Overall take: Similar to Grimsburg, it’s a show that offers crude humor, which makes sense given that MacFarlane’s been best known for his work on the long-running Fox show Family Guy. Worth a watch if you enjoyed the films the show is based on.
Fun fact: OK, maybe not so fun, but worth noting — Mark Wahlberg, who played John in the films, isn't in the series. Seth MacFarlane told NBC Insider that he figured that Wahlberg’s busy schedule wouldn’t allow for him to be a part of the Ted TV series, and that assumption ultimately came true.
When and where: All seven episodes are now streaming on Peacock.
Read Angie's review of 'Ted' for The Hollywood Reporter by clicking here.
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