A lot of people are upset that NBC is airing a Town Hall with Donald Trump tonight, but not me. That is because, at 9p, they are two back-to-back episodes of Connecting… Giving it the promotion and publicity that it deserves, so that more will discover it.
The sitcom is for today’s society. As in it about a group of seven friends who are dealing with the pandemic just like us. The only way they can connect is via Zoom, just like that is the only way we can connect with our loved ones. We need support, and this is how they are getting it.
Pradeep (Parvesh Cheena) is a married man who cannot get the food he wants for his spoiled kids. The shortage is driving him to lose it with a delivery person who screws up his order. However, that is not the real reason why he is tense.
While he is tense, Ben is lonely, and he is offering to be Pradeep’s live-in manny. However, their friend, Annie (Otmara Marrero), is also lonely and wants to live with Ben. Will she tell him?
Garrett (Keith Powell) and Michelle (Jill Knox) are married, and they are trying out new things. However, tonight they will get into a fight when it comes to helping their friend, Ellis (Shakina Nayfack). Ellis lost her job, and now she is having problems paying for her rent and health insurance. That health insurance pays for her hormonal treatments. Garrett is willing to give her the money, but Michelle is against it. That is because everyone’s future is uncertain.
What cures stress? A trip. That is what Garrett and Michelle are planning with their friends during the second episode. The only thing is they have to stay in quarantine for two weeks. What happens when none of them can do it?
All of that leads to an ending that had me chills.
This is a sitcom about what we are all going through. It is a relatable more than any show on television. The series is also enjoyable. We can all see ourselves and our friends and family when we watch it.
I didn’t know until I watched the program, how much I needed it. But I do, and so do you.
These actors all need to be commended because the chemistry is so strong, even though they are all working from their homes, not on a set, and shooting themselves through technology. Not many actors can do that even when they are working on a stage together.
Therefore, watch a show every Thursday night, unlike anything else on television, but it is more real than reality TV.
Back in March, Hollywood shut down production because of the coronavirus pandemic, and no one knew when it would restart again. Therefore, the networks had to get creative, and NBC came up with Connecting… with Martin Gero and Brendan Gall. Tonight at 8p, it makes its network debut.
The show is about six friends who are trying to navigate in our normal. A world where we have to be social but also distant. How can you see your friends when you can’t? Technology is allowing that happen, and this sitcom was shot via mobile phones, computers, and web conferencing apps. All the things we have been using to still be social with our friends and family.
Since travel has become something we cannot do, many of our friends have become our family. The latter is the case for the characters of this series. Pradeep (Parvesh Cheena) is married with children. For the first time in a long time, he is getting to spend time, all of his time, with them. You know what, he loves them, but he doesn’t like them.
Annie (Otmara Marrero) is single and lonely living by herself. She has a crush on her recently single friend, Ben (Preacher Lawson), and wants him to move in with her. Ben wants to move in with Pradeep, his husband, and their kids as their manny. Ben is also lonely and doesn’t want to live by himself.
Pradeep is not the only married person in their group. Michelle (Jill Knox) and Garrett (Keith Powell) are also married. They are trying out new things and enjoying being home together. Why not make the most of it? Ellis (Shakina Nayfack), on the other hand, misses the old things like basketball games.
Just like you and me, they are each dealing with lockdown differently. Because of that, there is at least one character we can all relate to. Plus, there is also that character we all know. His name is Rufus (Ely Henry). Rufus is the guy who is spending all of his time on the internet trying new things that can save him from COVID-19. He also read some interesting theories, and he is going to share it with all of them.
They are going to share the good times, and they are going to be there during the bad ones. In the coming weeks, they are going to deal with flipping out because Postmates got their order wrong. The over-reaction is due to stress about everything being out of control. What also causes stress, losing your job. That means you cannot pay for your rent and health insurance that pays for your hormones.
As nice as it is to talk via Zoom, you still want to get away and see your friends. They plan a trip away, but they all have to quarantine for two weeks to make sure they are healthy. Can they actually avoid everyone else for two weeks so that they can spend a weekend together?
Along with dealing with the reality of this madness of do I have enough toilet paper, they also touch on events that shaped our last few months.
You might think I don’t want to watch a show about what we are all going through, but you do. It is comforting to know we are not alone. This show is more real than reality TV, and that is a good thing. They say someday we will look back at this time and laugh. That time is now with Connecting…
Another thing many people can connect with when it comes to the sitcom is that it is a really diverse cast full of people of color and different sexual identities. It is more like America than most of the programs on our televisions today.
We all want something we can relate to, and Connecting… will connect us. Too bad we can’t talk about it at the watercooler at work the next day. You know, because we are not working in an office. Instead, we will have to Zoom our co-workers and talk to them about it that way.
Welcome to 2020. This the first time I can remember a show actually being done about real time in real time.
Since 2020 is all about being sad, NBC is moving This Is Us’ season premiere up two weeks. The melancholy drama is now debuting on October 27th instead of November 10th.
Since it is moving up two weeks, Connecting and Superstore are each debuting a week later. Connecting, the sitcom that is shot via smartphones and Zoom, will now premiere on October 8th at 8p.
Then on October 29th, it will move to 8:30p to make room for Superstore. NBC revealed that America Ferrera will guest star on the first two episodes to wrap up her character. She announced, before the coronavirus pandemic, that she would not be returning to the sitcom this season. Since production was shut down before she shot her farewell episodes, they made sure that Amy will get a proper sendoff.
While they are dealing with a sendoff, Saturday Night Live is dealing with homecoming. They will be returning to 30 Rock for the season premiere. Today, we found out that Chris Rock is hosting, and Megan Thee Stallion is the musical guest.
Got it? Good because I don’t.
UPDATE: Mandy Moore is not only playing pregnant on This Is Us, but she is also pregnant in real life. She revealed on Instagram that “Baby Boy Goldsmith coming early 2021 💙” This is the first child for Moore and her husband, Taylor Goldsmith. The two were married in November of 2018.
To see her growing real baby bump, then click here!
We have seen talk shows, reality shows, award shows, and horror movies like Host shot via video chat. On October 1st, NBC is giving us the first scripted television show that is completely shot that way throughout the series.
Connecting stars Otmara Marrero as Annie, Ely Henry as Rufus, Preacher Lawson as Ben, Parvesh Cheena as Darius, Jill Knox as Michelle, Keith Powell as Garrett, and Shakina Nayfack as Ellis. It is “about a group of friends trying to stay close (and sane) through video chats as they share the highs and lows of these extraordinary times.”
I think many of us can relate to this show because that is how we have been surviving over the last few months. I mean, how many of us have forgotten what our friends and family look like when they are not two-dimensional? I know I have. Therefore, I cannot wait to see how Show Creators, Martin Gero and Brendan Gall, create humor out of our reality.
Plus, it looks like it going to be the much-needed comedy we have been craving about our daily lives.
Due to a real-life medical crisis, medical dramas like New Amsterdam, The Resident, Chicago Med, and Grey’s Anatomy are delayed indefinitely. However, NBC knows we need one, so they transplanted one from Canada. Tonight at 10p, get to know Transplant.
Dr. Bashir “Bash” Hamed (Hamza Haq) is from Syria, and he moved to Canada to make a better life for him and his 11-year-old sister (Sirena Gulamgaus). He interviewed for a job at York Memorial. Since he needs money, he is working as a restaurant.
One night, Dr. Jed Bishop (John Hannah), the man that interviewed him York, comes into that restaurant. Just as Bash is going to confront him, a truck crashes into the dinner. Bash is OK, but everyone is severely injured including Bishop. Bash drills a hole into the doctor’s head to save his sight. That is just one of the people that he examined after the accident.
When they get to the hospital, everyone thinks that an unconscious Bishop worked on everyone, and they think that Bash is behind the accident. However, when Dr. Magalie “Mags” LeBlanc (Laurence Leboeuf) examines him, she realizes that Bash worked on all of the patients. Not before he is on the run because the cops are after him.
After Bishop wakes up, everything falls into place, and the truth is revealed. Bishop also decides to hire Bash as one of his doctors. Something that is easier said than done because Syria does not want to release his school records. Putting everyone, including the hospital, at risk.
Yet, Bash is a good doctor who is good at saving lives. Although, he has to tone his expertise because he has to learn how they do things in Canada.
As he learns the Canadian way, we learn what he and his sister went through in Syria.
Besides all of that, it is still a medical drama. It not only gives us our fix, but it also gives us an hour of enjoyable television.
As much as I enjoy our medical dramas, I think Canadian ones are sometimes better. This is one of the ones that is better.
