This Is Us

Strangers

If there's one thing that This Is Us has taught me, it's that families can change in the blink of an eye. This Is Us Season 4 Episode 18 drove that point home. Kevin's life was shattered by two huge shocks, and he wasn't the only one making life-altering decisions. And both baby Jack and the Big Three's first birthdays were bittersweet occasions because of how difficult the year before had been. The fight between Kevin and Randall was as tragic as it was power... more

After the Fire

After an intense therapy session, Randall seemed to have a breakthrough. This Is Us Season 4 Episode 17 featured two alternative futures in which Jack lived, and Dr. Lee helped Randall understand that his anger at Rebecca for keeping William from him was at the root of his issues. Too bad that after all was said and done, Randall went down the same old path of controlling Rebecca's treatment instead of making the changes he needed to make. I had high hopes aft... more

New York, New York, New York

Often when families face a crisis, the ways people mask their pain stop working, and the results aren't pretty. That's what happened on This Is Us Season 4 Episode 16. Randall and Kevin kept fighting with each other over Rebecca, but it was clear there were deeper issues at play. Rebecca's positive attitude is a bright spot in what would otherwise be a depressing story about her cognitive decline. Rebecca: My life has been full of ne... more

Coronavirus Pandemic Puts a Bright Spotlight on Value of Local TV

The TV station group Tegna has been the subject of acquisition rumors for nearly a year. Finally, bids started to surface earlier this month that pegged the company’s market value at about $8.5 billion.  But in the space of a week, the assets up for grabs at Tegna have taken on a very different kind of worth. The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has put a klieg light on the invaluable role that local TV stations play in disseminating news and information in times of crisis and emergency.  Even in a hyperconn... more

TV Ratings: 'This Is Us' Finale Matches Season High 7.9 Million Viewers

The dramatic season 4 finale of “This Is Us” delivered plenty of surprises as well as strong ratings numbers for NBC. Tuesday night’s episode scored a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49, its highest mark since Oct. 2019, and 7.9 million total viewers, matching the premiere for a season high. That represents a 21% ratings bump from the penultimate episode, and only a 4% drop from the season 3 finale. Earlier in the night, “Ellen’s Game of Games” shot up to a season high 1.4 r... more

This Is Us Season Finale Recap: Brothers Gotta Slug (It Out)

Ladies and gentlemen, the great Pearson Estrangement of 2020 — and beyond? — has officially begun. This Is Us‘ Season 4 finale Thursday included a huge, no-holds-barred, no-insult-unsaid argument between Kevin and Randall that made it really clear why the two won’t be talking by the time their shared 40th birthday rolls around in September. After all, how do you come back from a fight in which your brother says he wishes you’d never been part of the f... more