#93 New Year New Crossing The Streams (Bonus Ep6)

CTS Announcer 0:01

Looking for your next TV show or movie to binge? Well buckle up, grab the remote and settle into your couch for this special edition of crossing the streams. We're here to help you tune in and get the most out of those 50 monthly streaming channels you're currently paying for. So without any further ado, here's your host of crossing the streams. Jeff Dwoskin

Jeff Dwoskin 0:29

Hey, everybody, it's me, Jeff Dwoskin. back for another bonus episode of crossing the streams. I'm getting letters from all over the world, people thanking me for putting out these bonus episodes. He was spending countless hours in front of the TV that they would have spent with family, and they can't thank me enough. So let's keep it going, shall we? This bonus episode is made up of a collection of three segments from our live show. That's right. Our live show is every Wednesday at 9:30pm. Eastern time. You're welcome to join us for a full hour of live crossing the streams. You can comment along, join us on the fireside app even come on stage and talk about the shows that we're talking about. And maybe one day you'll end up on one of these episodes. I'm going to mention that a few times during this episode. I really want you to join us when we're live. It's super fine, you can catch up on our YouTube channel just search the Jeff Dwoskin show we have over 54 hours of TV watching suggestions waiting for you. This bonus podcast episode is excerpts from episodes 23, 37 and 38. Were discussing and TV shows upload Longmeyer and the real rocky without further ado, I'm going to turn it over to Howard Rosner to tell us all about upload. We're gonna talk to Howard is gonna talk all about up. Hello, thank you, Brian and Brian. Well done

Howard Rosner 1:55

both. Yeah, upload was a show that I just stumbled across this past weekend and didn't realize so uploads on Amazon Prime. It was created and written by Greg Daniels who created the Office, Parks and Rec among other things. It is it's one of the best new shows that I've seen in a long time. 10 episode first season. It's such an amalgam of like four different types of shows, it's got a great satirical comedy. So just the gist of the show, just the show is set about 10 years, 12 years in the future. And when it is your time, or when you know it is going to soon be your time you have an option to die. And hope you go somewhere to say in a faith religion. Okay, hang on, I had something show up in my microphone, sorry. So you can have faith that you go somewhere or the other thing is you could upload to a for lack of a better term virtual reality afterlife. And there are different after lives, depending on where you in, you know how much money you want to invest in it. So the story is a young guy who's in the IT world was a very rich girlfriend, and he is in a car accident in the first episode, and trying to decide what he wants to do. And his girlfriend convinces him you can be uploaded to Lake View, which is the most ritzy of all the afterlives, you can upload, I'll take care of it, my family will cover you forever, and we can be together forever. So he uploads to like you. And so that's the gist of the show. But where it becomes really four different shows is It's a satire on where we are today in terms of being online. So in the afterlife, everything extra, like if you want to change your clothes, there's a pop up, do you want to pay the extra charge just like an iTunes in an app, it's an in app purchase to upgrade your room or upgrade that. So there's the satire of that. There's the very poignant, I think, message about about the afterlife, and about is it better to have faith that you go somewhere, or to know that you're going to be connected in this very grounded connected to the world still thing the rest of your life? So there's that poignant story, his customer service rep. Who's his angel, who he discovers in the first episode, he ends up developing a very close relationship with so there's a bit of a romantic edge to it. And then the other part of it is as the episode goes on, as the series goes along, you discover that it's very likely that the cause of him having this car accident in the self driving car was probably some form of espionage, and there's a little bit of a mystery as to who did it and how we ended up this story wrapped

Jeff Dwoskin 5:02

in a story wrapped in a sense,

Ron Lippitt 5:04

because there's a lot going on on the show. Really?

Howard Rosner 5:07

It really is. Yeah, you know, I, we talked about it a lot. I started watching it, I was about an episode and a half and, and just, you know, watching it my wife paying attention to the background. And by the end of that second episode, she was hooked and sat down to watch the rest of the series with me. And that's always a good judge for me, right? I know that she's locked in like I am and saying to me, this is a really interesting show. It's really funny, but not haha, funny. Again, there's some great commentary on how we are how our lives are today. There's he's living in this lake view on an unlimited plan. So he's got the best of everything. The food is unlimited, just unbelievable food. And then living in the basement of Lakeview are the two gig ORS who get two gigs of data a month for the rest of their lives. And who if they end up using it, they're just frozen for the rest of the month, just black and white frozen sitting on a bed. So it's you know, there's a great commentary and again, it's really good. The actors are you know, there's there's nobody that you've really seen. One of the main actresses is a woman named Andy aloe, who I came to discover is Cameroonian and she's a musician who actually was in the with the new power generation with Prince toward the end. So she's a you know, trained musician. I think she's an amazing actress. I think she's really really great in the show. The main characters pretty good. So yeah, it's, it's really intriguing. I'm super hopeful they make another couple of seasons, which I think they would with Greg Daniels. And yeah, I really, really enjoyed it. I highly recommend Howard.

Ron Lippitt 6:46

I just I just looked it up online, I see that William Davis is one of the recurring characters that is the older guy. He was the smoking man and x by health.

Howard Rosner 6:56

Yeah, he plays a choke brother, who lives across the hall from the main character who just He is got. So his room, like a hotel room opens up to an A ridiculous estate. He's worth $57 billion. And he's everything. Everything he does, he does a lot of things that are inherently inappropriate. But he also is the one in the first episode when he meets the main character tells him that you were killed. That's what he tells him and he's like, how do you I just died in car accidents? Like no, I you were hurt. And bone. Yeah. So it's, it's, he's he's really good in the show. Yeah, I mean, it's really well cast. His girlfriend is a woman named Allegra Edwards. I've never seen her in anything before. But she's over the top of families over the top. And really good. So yeah, again, another show that, you know, similar in a way to made for love, which I did a few weeks ago. But you know, that combination of it and our lives as we go forward, but really, really good and a really easy watch. And we plowed through 10 episodes in like a day and a half. So

Unknown Speaker 8:08

a little echoes of San Junipero when you first came out of the gate describing it that reminded me a lot of that same, that episode of Blaine award winning Black Mirror. Yeah. Sandra peros. Yeah, I've watched that episode.

Bryan Green 8:21

And I watched a TEDx speech that said there's a statistical probability that we're living in a matrix, right? It was a guy, David, I couldn't sleep for four fucking weeks. Show for me. I was like, no, no, no doing that.

Jeff Dwoskin 8:36

I don't wonder though, with an upload thing. Because technology changes. Imagine like, you know, 15 years ago, I was like, you can put you everything you know, on this floppy disk, or this zip drive or this side quest drive. Right? And then it's like, and then it'd be like, you'd have to go to the family go, we had to upgrade. But that's yeah.

Howard Rosner 8:55

That happens in one of the later episodes in the series, they have to the customer service reps actually have to talk in virtually. So you're connected to real to the real world via the afterlife. Like he the main character actually is on a computer screen at his own funeral, which is pretty funny. It makes for some funny things. But that actually is one of the later episodes is they get a software update. So the characters need to be tucked in at night and they update all the software like one of the guys make characters wakes up the next morning and he's like, Thank God, you've finally made good tasting bagels. Yeah, it hits on all those tropes of technology where we're at. Yeah, I recommend it. I love it.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:44

All right, that was upload with Howard Rosner sounds like a really great show. Next up is friend of the show Jess Paul, and she is going to take us through Longmire Meyer Maybe we won't.

Jess Paul 10:01

I mean, I have to I have to convince you guys, right?

Jeff Dwoskin 10:04

You just have to you just have to lay it out. You like

Jess Paul 10:07

it, it will seep through we listening for the passion, just that's what we're looking for. Oh, and do I ever have it for anything that talks about Okay, so I gotta say about Longmire it's a bit of a comfort show and I'll read you guys off, you know the little log line here so that we can just get a foundation Okay, Walt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of absaroka County, Wyoming, Wyoming. widowed only a year he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face on assuming grin and dry wit and does he have it ever? The way that I discovered this show is that my dad and I we swap show wrecks and they don't always match up like it doesn't it doesn't make sense for us to watch the shows that each other are watching, but we try to find some you know, some qualities that overlap and so he mentioned Longmire he's like yeah, I watched Longmire and it's like there's I think there's six seasons I'm only on like season four or five I think they also originally was on one of the network shows and had like a normal amount of what's that? Is that right? Am I making that up? I should have really looked that up I don't even know I don't think was made for Netflix it was it because it was out in 2014 or 2012 as as early as 2012 up to 2017 It was funny because the the very first episode they played all of the so very 2014 music it was like a no rest for the wicked. And my cage the elephant and stuff I'm like oh this is reminded me of very post college or whatever. So anyways, so it's got it's got Robert Taylor I don't know if any of you guys are familiar. This is my introduction to him but he has done a lot Katie sack off who does a couple like calty call T cod things you know shows that people like I feel like she was on like Star Trek or something. I might be making that up too. I can just be saying anything right now I'm pretty sure she was

and then and then Lou Diamond Phillips and so this is Wyoming and the when my dad was talking to me and recommending his shows he gave me like a medieval one that was also on Netflix couldn't even tell you what it was called. And then he gave it he said Deanna watch along Meyer but you know, I don't know if you'd like that. It's like this Sheriff out in Wyoming. And he's he's solves mysteries kind of like cuz Wyoming is kind of like not 10 years into the past, but they're just more simple there. So, you know, everybody knows everybody. And it also shares a lot of territory with Native Americans like modern you know, the rez, you know, the rez, as they call it. And so I don't know if it's to Hollywood eyes, but I feel like I'm learning a little bit about that part of the country because there's no other reason that I would understand or even care about what's going up and like, you know, our hat like buy our hat America's hat. And it's like, the reason why it's kind of a was it I call it like a guilty pleasure or a comfort I call it a comfort is because I love the mountains, I think I want to like go die there eventually, like go out in Montana or somewhere where it's really beautiful. So you see a lot of this lovely landscape these again, like the farmland that you don't get to visit very often. But also this is actually after a series of books called the Walt Longmire mysteries, I don't know when they were around, but I guess they were popular enough to make a TV show into and Robert Taylor is just, he's got this like older salt tree man. And like, there's a little bit of something, I don't want to spoil it too much. But there's a little bit of something going on with him and his much younger deputy. But you know, they just really hang in there to keep your interest to keep you watching, will they or won't. Yeah, and and so like I said, I think the start on network, but now it's got like the usual 10 Episode 10 episodic like Netflix kind of season into the later seasons, I haven't finished it yet. To be honest, I wish I could watch it more. But if you want to kind of like a modern cowboy, because Walt, what I do love about it, too, is because like, I'm an actor, so I always really pay close attention to acting performance actors, you know, that are in these shows and movies that I watch, and I don't usually see such a wonderful will not, I don't see them at all, like much older protagonist, you know, much older actors being portrayed in, in television. And so I mean, he's like this grizzled kind of older gentleman and everything. And it's, uh, it's, I don't know, like every actor that ever comes up they have to be like 30 to 40 years old or less than that, you know, when it comes to protagonists on network TV so it I mean, it's probably made for maybe that same demographic of older and I think that's why my dad was like, I don't know if you like this, but it is it's so comforting and there's a little bit of mystery and the characters are great. The actors are great. I to be honest, everything that I'll ever pick for like the crossing the street like shows or movies. It has Have good acting roles on turn it off before I even know if it's a good show or not so good acting always here for my recommendation got a movie or a series? I'm sorry, this series. Yeah, I'm one. I'm like seasons. Yeah.

Ron Lippitt 15:12

Yeah, six seasons. I just looked it up. It's from 2012. That ran a long time. six seasons. That's actually pretty impressive. Wow.

Jess Paul 15:19

Yeah, that's a perfect run. In my opinion. You guys watch so much TV? Don't you think like I we've been talking about the British television model, which is six episodes. And I guess Australia would do something similar probably. And then you've got the Netflix season, which is 10 episodes. And then you've got network, you know, seasonal TV, which could go up to like, like, what is that? 21 to 24? Or something like that. They vary against the network's but like, I have to say that I believed disagree or agree that like the 10 episode, Netflix model, maybe 12. Maybe 12 is just the perfect right spot for a season. What do you think please weigh in? Well, some

Jeff Dwoskin 15:57

some only do like one I'm going to talk about a little bit is only six. Yeah, the British model. And then a lot of them are I think eight even I really? Yeah, there's a lot

Jess Paul 16:07

of 13 that there are,

Jeff Dwoskin 16:11

I think I think the important thing is, I think this maybe what your point is or where I think the smaller seasons, whether it be eight or 12, or nine or 10 It's all storytelling in the 24 episode, like seasons, which we're used to just from growing up in America, it's 80% of that's filler it totally is and it's so they can get to reruns you know the the 100 episode. Oh, they get faster right? If they are knockout 25 to 30 a year they can get there within four years. So you know a but again, and then you have like these weird episodes like oh, that was the episode where just just drove off to the CVS because she needed a new SBI two real quick episode. Yeah. When she learned something about yourself on the way you know, so I'd like the shorter ones, but I'd say it doesn't make it necessarily better. I think all the American horror stories, which are very short, and they don't continue and you know, they're it's an analogy, right. So it's not into the next thing. I always feel like the first three, four episodes killer, and then everyone goes off the rails like, in my opinion, like you would

Jess Paul 17:23

leave. Did you guys ever talk about American Horror Story? As a as an episode, like as a pick on this show? No,

Jeff Dwoskin 17:29

no, no, you could pick it a season I think. Yeah, you're right.

Jess Paul 17:33

I mean, nothing's ever done. At least that I can think of anything like American Horror Story is done. It's really novel. And I did I've watched the first three seasons and just like every No, that's fine.

Ron Lippitt 17:49

He just have you. I'm just curious. Have you seen the show godless?

Jess Paul 17:54

No. Never even heard of it?

Ron Lippitt 17:55

I don't. Because I believe it's it's Netflix. But that's also it's a Western seven season. Show that it kind of feels very similar to Longmire like the way you're describing it. Yeah, but that that is actually you know, it's been super highly rated by a bunch of like Washington Post and Vanity Fair and all these other actually, when you first started talking about Longmire I actually thought you were talking about God. Let's had to go. Okay, let's see. You might want to check that out.

Jess Paul 18:23

Is it so is that said an old Western? Yeah, it's 1818

Ron Lippitt 18:27

Jeff Jeff Daniels and

Jeff Dwoskin 18:29

oh, it says it said in the days of your visit your I want to see justified with Timothy. Timothy. Oh, a fan. That's one that's a Western I want to see. All right, fabulous job. Just Paul. Thank you very much. That was long mire. You never know where the conversations are gonna go tweet at us at Jeff Dwoskin show. How many episodes do you like in a season? Let us know what your sweet spot is. In the meantime, the final show we're going to cover this week the real rocky from Episode 38 with Bob Phillips if you keep along with the show, you know Bob loves boxing movies and documentaries. He does not disappoint with the real rocky take it away Bob. Who can't get enough Oh can't get enough of boxing that guy's face look at that guy spent our man Bob Phillips is with yet another boxing. MMA

Bob Phillips 19:29

i there if For me there is no more dramatic there's no more moving there's no more interesting arena to explore. You know what with people than when it comes to boxing the ring life in and outside of it. And I hope I'm not boring viewers who are not boxing fans so I'll keep it to the interesting points about this fellow named Chuck Wepner

Jeff Dwoskin 19:54

you're not boring anyone by the bay

Howard Rosner 19:55

our leader. Yellow

Bob Phillips 20:02

Well, so Chuck Wepner, six foot five and a half 225 pounds, a mountain of a man, a very little talent for the game. But he had a heart that just never gave out. He's still alive. I believe Chuck is 79 Maybe 80 Now, and this this documentary was an ESPN documentary and it's it's called the real rocky because Chuck Wepner is the man whose story upon which Rocky was built. Sylvester Stallone cut the rocky character right from Chuck Wepner his life after Chuck fought Muhammad Ali, in 1975. Muhammad was was at the top of his game he had just beat George Foreman knocked him out in the eighth round to the top of the world. And as happens a lot in boxing, when you have a big fight like that, and you're go, you've gone to limit your next fight you generally you take around off and he took around off by fighting Chuck Wepner, who was like the number eight contender in the world, but he might as well have been the 800 he had no business being in the ring with Ali with his skill level. But like I said, the guy was all hard. So this whole this movie follows Chuck from before and after the bout with Ali and I'll tell you, this is not a spoiler. Chuck loses badly. It's not very badly his his nickname was the bail leader. He was from New Jersey. And he bled a lot and but but in the ninth round, out of the blue, he knocked Muhammad Ali down something that didn't happen. A lot of Muhammad scourge Joe Frazier knocked him down once I think maybe Ken Norton, any Norden Yeah. But he he he hit him with a body punch right under the heart. While Muhammad was going back. They claimed Muhammad claimed that he was stepping on his foot. They ruled in a knockdown. Muhammad went down and he went down hard. But he wasn't real hurt, he got up. And while while they had to go to their corners, Chuck Wepner went to his corner and told the manager go start the car, we're both going to be millionaires. I'm going to finish this guy. Well, that's not what happened. So the the end result of that was it just pissed Muhammad off. And he used him as a punching bag for the next six rounds. And Wepner then made it his goal just to finish the fight and rocky borrowed from again, his life. So he just wanted to go the distance that's really all Wepner wanted. He got within 19 seconds of that there was 19 seconds left in the 15th round. And the referee stopped it because he got knocked down almost out of the ring. But enormous heart enormous courage, a very funny man. After that fight fell on hard times. That documentary takes you through the years of drug abuse that takes you through, you know, failed comebacks takes you through his marriages, a very colorful guy. It's to me one of the most interesting guys that ever fought because he made 100 grand for that fight. I think Muhammad made 1.5 million, something like that. But he went on to clean himself up and fight again. And when a couple fights it was it just had this sort of unbelievable heart with him. He later sued Stallone and Stallone tried to put him in Rocky two, he tried to put him in as an opponent. But Wepner showed up on set and was too stoned to actually play the part, which was maybe a half day shoot and send him home. He later sued Stallone and I think back in 2000, I think it was 2006 there was some kind of settlement. It was undisclosed. I'm not sure they had any grounds to sue. I mean, there was a lot of license taken but he truly was the guy that Rocky was built around. And there's there's a lot more by the way, there's a there's a movie called Chuck. That's a regular Hollywood kind of movie stars Liev Schreiber, very good movie. And it goes through this whole thing again, but there's more to it his his life growing up and that's a really good movie, but I recommend it to anybody who wants to see somebody who has utterly no business

in the ring with the greatest fighter of all time hanging in there until the last 19 seconds. To me it's not like some people see it as failure. I see it as enormous guts courage. Like I don't think I've ever seen in a lot of other really good, famous fighters. So, I do recommend it

Ron Lippitt 25:07

sounds like a good way to get your brain dislodged from your cranium as well.

Howard Rosner 25:12

It's also crazy when you look at all the major fights of that era and and think that, how did they allow people to go 15 rounds? You know, 12 is the most Yeah,

Bob Phillips 25:25

yeah. The just crazy one worse than the last.

Howard Rosner 25:28

Yeah. I mean, the the three fights of the of the, you know, Ali Frazier series. I mean, those guys ended each other's lives essentially in those.

Ron Lippitt 25:39

Yeah. Did this guy have like Rockies affectations? Like, did he talk like Rocky and have that whole?

Bob Phillips 25:48

No, he was he had had a hit a jersey accent instead of Philly. There's a there is a difference and I can't really like he listened to him talk now he's talks like this, you know? Yeah. And he's an apologetic version. Yeah. So about anything, just loved his life. He made some missteps. He knows he did. He cleaned himself up. And he's a liquor distributor or something now, I don't know. So he knocked Muhammad Ali down,

Jeff Dwoskin 26:15

though. Interesting, interesting thing on that run. And Bob is on my podcast live from Detroit. The Jeff Dwoskin show.

Unknown Speaker 26:23

You have a podcast I do.

Jeff Dwoskin 26:26

Anyway, my podcast I talked to Jack O'Halloran. Right and he was right. But he was also a boxer. And yeah, I don't think he fought Muhammad Ali. But Joe Frazier. He says that if you listen my interview with him, there's a whole section out of it where he was talking with Stallone on the set of a movie. And a lot of what he put into rocky came from Jack O'Halloran, his life not necessarily that one specific thing you talked about, but the specifically the Philadelphia stuff. There was a lot of stuff like that. So

Bob Phillips 27:03

one last little fun fact. I'll throw out here before we conclude this latest boxing edition irony of ironies. In the boxing Hall of Fame, you will find a plaque of Sylvester Stallone. But you will not find Chuck Wepner ah. Wow. Yeah, the boxing Hall of Fame. That's just a crime. That is

Jeff Dwoskin 27:29

thank you, Bob for taking us through the real rocky sounds fascinating. You know the real crime is not subscribing or following or liking the podcast on your favorite podcast app. That's a crime in 32 states my deal. That being said, that completes this week's episode, upload from Episode 23 Longmeyer. From episode 37, the real rocky from Episode 38, head over to YouTube. You can search up those episodes, watch the full hour, subscribe on YouTube. And you can be notified every time we go live on Wednesday at 9:30pm. Eastern Time. Join us as we record crossing the streams live. And you can comment along or chat along on the fireside app. Thank you once again. Tweet at us at Jeff Dwoskin show if you watch any of these or any of the other suggestions and let us know what you thought. In the meantime, don't let me keep you from your favorite spot on the couch where you love to cross the streams. And we'll see you next time.

CTS Announcer 28:32

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