Turn and Smile Prime Time, June 19th: The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, Jessica Kirson: I’m the Man, Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark
What's a little lying between friends??
Welcome back, Sofa Taters!
In this Prime Time, we get freaky.
We see aliens, crazy starships, and a lot of tentacles in the opening sequence for The Second Best Hospital In The Galaxy. Jumping over into comedy, we get punched by Jessica Kirson’s heavy hitting stand-up, I’m The Man. Finally, we see singles test their skills at monogamy as we review the full season of Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark.
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Table Of Contents
OPENING: The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy
Summary:
This intro sequence for the adult animated show is a madcap explosion of sci-fi goodness, chronicling its two lead characters (Dr. Sleech and Dr. Klak) waking up (late) and going about their day, including messy hook-ups, surgeries, and treatment of odd aliens and unusual denizens with unheard of conditions before starting a surgery that splatters unusually coloured blood where the title appears.
Sound 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: Mason likey the theremin.
Star Trek? Banger theme song.
Classic Doctor Who? Banger theme song.
Wherever you hear a theremin, you know you’re going to have an imaginative, creative, unique, and FUN time. It also adds to the hard sci-fi of this series and, in my humble opinion, helps prime the audience for the weirdness to come.
Larissa’s take: I can imagine the theremin talking to their agent dismayed. “When will I ever break type-cast?? I want to play for 17th century period romances, or WWII dramas! Maybe even a film noir…” Sullen, the theremin eeks out another sci-fi tune.
Conveyance (of Tone/Theme) 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: If you were to describe this show to me and ask me to suggest a musical opening for it, this would be it. It’s perfect for this show.
Larissa’s Take: I didn’t really know anything about this show before Mason pitched it for this week’s opening. I will say that this was probably one of the best opening sequences for conveying the tone and theme I’ve seen. I know the show is about alien surgeons who seem to be relatable characters (we meet them in the intro as they are fast asleep getting jolted awake by their alarms, already late, and see them gardening and having hobbies). I see weird remedies for conditions - slicing someone in half apparently makes them feel better - and extremely foreign anatomy! I also know that the show won’t be totally focused on medical - we see some alien hanky-panky ala Grey’s Anatomy overlooking a futuristic space cruise ship resembling a whale. The final splat of bodily ooze leading to a machine malfuction to display the title card is genius.
Aesthetic 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: Well, it’s very unique.
Larissa’s take: I love the animation style that blends sketches with VFX, which is representative of the tone of the show, blending the familiar hospital environment with the futuristic.
Innovation 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: This isn’t the first adult animated show with wall-to-wall weirdness, but it’s also very, very forward with the weirdness. It doesn’t just let its freak flag fly, it has a whole bodysuit made of its freak flag, a large chest tattoo of its freak flag, and it’s also waving its freak flag on top of all of that. And fortunately, it’s not just an interesting opening. It’s attached to a fun show, too.
Larissa’s take: What Mason said.
Overall Opening Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟
SPECIAL: Jessica Kirson: I’m the Man
Summary of Special
Boisterous comedian, New Yorker, and queer icon Jessica Kirson stars in this new comedy special on Hulu. In it, Kirson talks about her bygone days as a dick jockey, TikTok, her time at a tramua centre. No, that wasn’t a typo.
Plot/Drama: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Larissa’s take: “You just haven’t met the right man,” one guy said to Jessica Kirson. She replied back, “I’m the man.” She’s corse, crude, and hilarious. Ranging from her first handjob at fat camp (what came out was hot butter), to her four daughters with two women (all being trained to be raging lesbians…and she is coming for your children too), to her experience with equine-assisted therapy (what came out was hot butter), her set was tight and well done.
Mason’s take: Comedians who come out of any recovery organization always have the best stories about their time there, and Jessica Kirson is no exception to that. Really good stand-up comedy is also really good storytelling. To that end, Kirson is great at telling stories, as she weaves humour in and out of the tales of her experiences. This is a very smart, good work of comedy.
Personalities 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Larissa’s take: Jessica Kirson is awesome. She seems to be no bullshit, hating yappy teenage girls, awkward teenage boys - all teenagers really - and men. No topic was off limits. Her timing was impeccable.
Mason’s take: Kirson gives off distinctively New York energy and a very Fun Aunt vibe. Like the friend of your mom who teaches you swear words and then goads you into saying them in front of her. Suffice it to say, Jessica Kirson’s new special is a fun time.
Aesthetic 🌟🌟
Larissa’s take: This was a fairly small stage for a comedy special tbh. It was slightly bigger than Comedy Cellar. Jessica Kirson hit really hard, so I am hoping to see her on a much bigger stage next time!
Mason’s take: I like theatres. I like the rake of the auditorium. I like how they’re designed. I like how classy they look. Jessica Kirson picked a very nice theatre to host her special, and what’s even better about it is that she didn’t have the stage occupied by unfunny nobodies sitting around like they were twelve-year-olds trying to impress their brother. And even better than that, Kirson is so funny that there was no need to cut to the siding lights and the audience while trying to put something interesting on screen for three seconds.
Innovation 🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of ways to innovate the stand-up comedy format. Or, rather, stand-up comedy hasn’t been innovated a lot.
Larissa’s take: “It sounded like a llama getting a colonoscopy” is a new one.
Overall Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟
SEASON: Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark, S1
Summary:
Hosted by Chloe Veitch, Sneaky Links brings together a group of sexy singles who are all looking for love, to a sunny motel in Arizona. What they don’t know is that some of the other guests are their “sneaky links” (aka casual hookups) from their past! Throughout their stay in the motel, the singles are coached by relationship therapist “Spicy” Mari, who helps the guests break out of their hookup habits through commitment exercises with the other guests.
Plot/Drama: 🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: Most of the guys on this show have some sense of maturity. It’s impossible to determine if they came in with any hesitancy around commitment, but most of them matured through the show or showed up already understanding the assignment. But some of them (Colt) shot themselves in the foot with their roving eye. Most of them are seemingly great examples of healthy masculinity. But at the same time, most of the cast is extremely chill about their actions, so much so that it doesn’t feel like the stakes are at all high. It very much had the vibe of absolutely nothing to lose, especially from the guys. Notably, Travis Arenas and Zoe Martin live on opposite ends of the country and, if successful, would have to get into a long-distance relationship, which is a dynamic that strangles a lot of relationships in their cribs. Though it is a concern of theirs, it’s treated with less urgency and importance than figuring out where to go for dinner on a Tuesday. It leaves me uncomfortably unsettled. It’s like going to war without that little bit at the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo.
Larissa’s take: I have a totally different opinion than Mason this week on the pacing and stakes of this show. I honestly am getting really fatigued at the ludicrously high-pressure environments other dating shows put contestants in. You have to walk down the aisle after a week of knowing this stranger…or else!
Sneaky Links honestly seems less about the couple and more about the individual’s growth. Even when the contestants leave, the show doesn’t treat them like a failure. Chloe and Spicy Mari acknowledge they are not able to find any connections in the motel, and wish them well back in their lives with the tools they now have from the show. It was great to see these personal journeys for each contestant. I want more shows like this that don’t have manufactured drama from an arbitrary deadline. I felt like the contestants were able to show off their best selves, be likable, and actually be open to romance!
Personalities 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: I honestly like the women in this show and feel like we need more positive platonic relationships between women in media. It’s amazing to see the women in this show realize that they’re not competing against each other for the attention of men, but that this is a challenge to build relationships. All the women are very cognizant of each other’s feelings, and at multiple points, check in with each other to make sure they’re okay with diverting their attention to a different guy. This is what feminism wants.
Larissa’s take: I want to talk about the show’s ultimate fuckboy, Colt.
This dude could get away with murder. In fact, he gets so much undeserved love from other contestants (and hosts) that I think Colt might be the only person who could successfully run against Donald Trump and win.
Colt dated a minimum of two women at a time, if not three or four. Every woman was willing to give him grace, and even “Spicy” Mari, who gave blunt thoughts to other men, praised Colt for owning up to his indecisiveness.
That being said, Colt was able to commit and express love at the end of the day…even though it might not have been fully reciprocated!
Aesthetic 🌟🌟
Mason’s take: The aesthetics of this show need only one thing.
Dermatology clinics don’t have this much exposed skin. Should I be rooting for these people trying out monogamy, or should I be getting turned on? I’m conflicted.
Larissa’s take: The show was filmed at the Hotel Adeline in Scottsdale, Arizona. The aesthetic was cute 60’s vintage with fun bright colours. Compared with the OTT luxury resorts of other shows (looking at you, Bachelor), this show was fun and refreshing, matching the mood of the show!
Adding to the fun retro vibe of the show, each contestant was supplied a landline phone in their rooms for them to call the other contestants to arrange some sneaky linking at night! I loved this aspect and how it focused on the specific spoken connection of the contestants versus modern mobile phones.
Innovation 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Mason’s take: Imagine Temptation Island if everyone were five years older and trying to be friends. Maybe it’s a fun premise, but I wouldn’t call it “innovative.”
Larissa’s take: As someone who lives and breathes dating shows, I am going to call Sneaky Links innovative AF. Please note, the contestants on this show were actually NOT older. They ranged from 22 to 31, with the majority being around 25. The difference here was the presence of a therapist.
Dating shows are generally toxic hellscapes. You watch to see what hilarious drama the contestants will create while in a drunken stupor, not get actual relationship advice. This show is different. I’m not a therapist, but I am finally engaged in my late-30’s after a few decades of “situationships”, so I feel like I can comment a bit on the merit of some of these exercises. I honestly think they are great! Like the “emotions” egg-toss challenge, where contestants told each other the last time they felt the emotions written on eggs, and tossed them to each other. I would use that for team building somewhere tbh! Or having the guys all cook one meal for a chosen woman and explain why they cooked it. You could visibly see some of the relationships getting strengthened because of it, and it created good conversation afterwards!
I, for one, want to see more healthy, positive relationships on TV, and never would have expected that from a show called Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark! I loved the format of this show and the fact that it was grounded in solid relationship advice from an expert. Great format. I hope it continues for future seasons!
I was not expecting Sneaky Links to be this mature. I thought it would be full on too hot to handle meets love island in a motel. I enjoy a good dating show on a slow day so this is next on my list. Thanks for the review!