#177 Crossing The Streams Decides To Go For It (Bonus Ep35) – Great TV binge watching suggestions!

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, oh, it is I Jeff Dwoskin host of classic conversations bringing you this bonus episode of crossing the streams. Three magical segments from our live show we do every Wednesday at 9:30pm Eastern time. You're welcome to join us on YouTube Twitter or the Facebook. What is crossing the streams? We are here to answer the universal question what should I be binge watching next? You just finished something you got to watch something else you have come to the right place. This bonus episode pulls from our 90 plus hours of episodes all available on YouTube but this or pack on three right in to is for you from Episode 4627 and 78 we're bringing yeah highlights for you to jot down and binge the second this episode is over this episode we're talking Rita Moreno just a girl that decided to go for it another documentary 1971 That yeah, that changed everything. And um movie The Incredible Hulk returns. So much goodness awaits you. Let's kick it off with Saudi familia from Episode 46. RITA MORENO just a girl that decided to go for it. Take it away. So let's talk about Rita Miranda, just a girl who decided to go for it. Yeah,

Sal Demilio 1:54

thanks, Jeff. So this is on Netflix like Ron does. I clicked on Netflix and it suggested this Rita Moreno documentary I love documentaries. I love Rita Moreno who doesn't know anything I found out she's not Dan Marino's mother. So first thing I found

Howard Rosner 2:14

are Omar Moreno.

Sal Demilio 2:16

She is for some of our millennials watching you might not know who she is. She's a she's a wonderful, wonderful actress started her career. She was born in 1931. She's actually still live in today. And she's part of the documentary herself. She actually narrates the whole documentary. It's kind of shot with with scenes of her and her looks like a fabulous apartment in New York or something. But she kind of narrated herself. She's 89 years old. She's actually doing creating a project right now for Netflix. So she's still working but kind of a hit home for me because she's obviously she's an immigrant, which is what I am. I'm a naturalized immigrant myself. My parents are from Italy. I was born in Switzerland, she was from Puerto Rico. And she came to this country for you know, she even says it in in the documentary that she her mom, her dad was nowhere to be found her dad stayed back in Puerto Rico. But her mom brought her to America to have a better life. And she has kind of I love I actually love this documentary because she, she said her first viewing of the Statue of Liberty, she actually thought that lady was the President of the United States. She didn't know she's just like, I see this big lady holding a torch in the middle of the in the water. And to her that was that person must be the president. I mean, that's how far fetched some of these immigrants were. But anyway, her mom brought her to New York to have a better life. And the problem was, is she was Puerto Rican. And back then, you were labeled that. I mean, that's what it was. And she started dancing at a very early age. She was very theatrical, her whole life. She said she wanted to be in the movies ever since her mom took her to a movie. So that's what she wanted to be. And boy, did she ever go for it. And it's kind of ironic. That's the name of her show, her documentary, but she just worked herself up. And you know, when she got her first roles when she was 16 years old, they literally some of the roles, and they would show great, great footage of all our movies and just things that she went through. But they literally showed her she looked she wasn't that brown. They painted her brown in everything she did to make her look more Caribbean or more Puerto Rican. She hated that. She said she was very, very depressed for many, many years because she was always labeled as well. Go ahead, Ron. Yeah,

Ron Lippitt 4:42

well, if you if you look at the screen adaptation of West Side Story, which which she stars in they clearly painted her and it looks bad.

Sal Demilio 4:53

On all of them, yes. And she she hated that about that, you know, but she was trying to earn a living. She was trying to make a name I mean, and there's I don't want to get into too much. I know we're pressed for time. It's a wonderful documentary. One of the highlights that that I liked about it was, this is the Yeah, remember, this is like the early 1950s. And things were kind of crazy one of one of her kind of side jobs and it's not prostitution, I please do not take it this way. Back then there was actually a service it was in the Yellow Pages or something where you can be an escort for people that have a lot of money that aren't married. And she literally did that. She went along with this guy to a party and he was well off and she's at this party and she meets I don't know his name exactly. But its mayor, the mayor from gold, you know, the mayor movie industry mayor, he actually sees her at the party and literally just says she even says this in the in the documentary. That's the first time she ever heard a guy use this phrase, but she's basically the guy said, I want to fuck you. Okay, pardon my French, but she's like, Oh my God, it shocked her. She she had never heard a guy say that to her. And, and obviously, she did not go down that road. But she was like, Okay, now I see what's happening in Hollywood, how women are perceived as I was just a piece of meat to one of the biggest industry people, one of the biggest producers and owners of a studio in those days. So, you know, here we are today with the me to movement. I mean, it started all back then. But anyway, it kind of dives in a little bit of that dives into her relationship with Marlon Brando. She had over an eight year relationship with Marlon Brando never married on but had a very tumultuous relationship fights and weaponizing and all that kind of stuff, where it she actually had a mental breakdown and actually tried to commit suicide fail that that thank God, and seven years later ends up doing a movie with Marlon Brando seven years after trying to take her life because of her relationship with him. And it's kind of funny, they showed this scene where she had with him where she's supposed to be like, kind of like in a fight with him, so to speak. And she does it she does it great. She actually says in in the documentary that there was some old feelings that were hashed, hashed around that scene. So it was something fun for her to do in that moment. But anyway, just went on for a great career. She was actually he's actually one of the only actors actresses to ever win a Tony a Grammy. And yes, and he got

Jeff Dwoskin 7:33

it's exactly the only living actor to have one. Correct. And

Sal Demilio 7:37

she's just a wonderful, just a wonderful talent that persevered for many, many years. She won an Oscar, as Rogers said, in West Side Story. She didn't get a job for seven years. Think about that. Think about Matthew McConaughey winning an Oscar, how many roles did he get offered after winning an Oscar, she got none. None for seven years, she did nothing because they kept offering her the roles where they wanted her to be kind of like the brown girl. And she didn't want to do that. So she stuck to her guns didn't work as much, but went on to do many, many different things. And she was she was in the series eyes where she won where she was just granted that and the directory that she was in that yeah, the interview that the director that interviewed she they interviewed for the documentary they said people thought he was crazy for for casting her as as that part and she went on to do tremendous things with that part and many, many others and she's over 70 years, seven decades. In Hollywood. She's just a national treasure, and I really liked it. I recommend it for everybody. Sauce jars. I give it five tomato sauce. Dr.

Howard Rosner 8:54

Tomato sauce. Yeah, absolutely.

Unknown Speaker 8:56

A lot of tomato sauce six with my house.

Howard Rosner 8:59

So most importantly, she was on the electric

Jeff Dwoskin 9:03

company. No, yes. Oh, good. Good. Her episode of The Muppet Show is season one is corrupt. And I

Sal Demilio 9:11

didn't know Morgan free Morgan Freeman. Unbelievable.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:15

Man was

Sal Demilio 9:16

he looked like JJ Walker back then. He looked young. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, great, great career I highly recommend.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:27

All right, sounds great job there. Yes, read a one a Oscar for West Side Story. You can check out my podcast with George Securus. He's the other guy from my side story that won an Oscar. So if you want to hear more about West Side Story, you can head on over to that episode. In the meantime, let's piggyback another episode my episode with Pat Janka wits. We talked all about the Incredible Hulk recently but here's my review of The Incredible Hulk returns starring other classic conversation guest Eric Allen Kramer take it away. Me I think I'm gonna try and keep the emotion level high. Somewhere, and I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about the Cabal. What

Howard Rosner 10:10

do you make Jeff angry? nobody like him when he's saying

Jeff Dwoskin 10:16

I'm gonna I'm leaving this up for a second just to show you. So you can see. Lou Ferrigno, his hair was not necessarily updated. Now, here's the other thing about this show and I just had so this is a whole action or this oh, this was actually the very first live actually, they made us watch. That's so hang on. So that's Eric Allen Kramer he was just on my podcast. He went on to star as the Father and Good Luck Charlie, which is how a lot of generation knows him. Uh, but I would always watch that show with my kids. And I'd be like, Oh, Bob Duncan, he's He's the original Thor. And they were like, We don't care what costumes Yeah,

Howard Rosner 11:09

I was just gonna say not a lot of budget for costumes

Jeff Dwoskin 11:12

no no so so I so here's the thing here's the whole show is always one of my favorite things you know it's like and I always I love the opening could just rattle you out Dr. David Bruce Banner position scientists searching for a way to tap into the hidden strength that all humans have an accidental overdose of gamma radiation all alters his body chemistry now whatever David Banner goes angry or outrage just startling metamorphosis occurred. And then I'd always go like this, I'd put my hand up and go are because he split the face. I actually watched I think he came up on Pluto or something, your original, incredible hulk pilot, the actual show, not this movie. And it's really good. It holds up I mean, except for you have to suspend for a second that the whole transformations are of the time, but they're not horrible of the time. But if you can get past that, it was actually a really good it was a great series. It really was in it really, at the time. set the bar for Marvel and television. Superheroes. It faltered after that, but alright, so incredible. Hulk has its run. It's a great show. It does really well. The original series ran from 78 to 1982. And then in 1988, six years later, there was a resurgence. It was like a lot of in the 80s reunion shows on television. So it was really, really, really big business. So they're gonna bring the Incredible Hulk back. The Incredible Hulk comes back. Kenneth Johnson, who was the showrunner for the original, incredible hulk does not come back with it. We have Bill Bixby kind of taking the rearranging everything Lou Ferrigno comes back as the Hulk. The idea here is that they're going to create a series of movies that are backdoor pilots. So the idea was by introducing Thor into the Incredible Hulk returns. That was a pilot for Thor spin off when we

Howard Rosner 13:07

did it back then. I mean, right, right, right. More mark on Happy days. Yeah, exactly.

Jeff Dwoskin 13:14

And the Incredible Hulk returns, we find David Banner, he's been Hulk free. For now for years. He's learned to control himself. He's got a job. And he's created a gamma transponder. And so he finally has found a way to read his DNA of what turns him in to the Hulk. However long Behold, there's a new character in town, Blake, Donald Blake, actor, Donald Blake, right, who? Well, the Thor character in this movie, isn't the god of thunder. He's more like a Viking. Right? He's more it's more Viking more than thank God. And so, Donald Blake had found the hammer, and now controls and can bring Thor back wasn't exactly like the comic book where Blake became Thor, which they didn't do in the Marvel movies. They alluded to it in the Marvel movies, his fake ID said, like once, but so they had those two characters. So a little banter between them that would have been part of what the spin off was where Thor trying to get into Valhalla, and doing good deeds along the way. So basically, my name is Earl before 2020 years earlier. Here's the interesting thing that I think is really funny is that and one of the reasons I kind of put this up is, is this is Ragnarok. Before Ragnarok Yeah, yeah. So later this was the team up that they found really great success with the helped elevate the Thor character and the Hulk. So this was not only the first Thor, this was that first kind of real pairing of that the movies fine you can get it on to be it's free. You can Watch it. I rewatched it because I was interviewing Eric Allen Kramer who played Thor. And I just I like to rewatch stuff it's fun to you can kind of get a little deeper when you do it. There's a lot of fun parts to it Thor calling the Hulk patrol. The two of them fighting is great. You know he has to scream Odin to like trance go back and forth. That's how they do that. So that's fine. And then there was a drinking game I found online that said, David Banner transforms into the Hulk you drank you take a shot. If someone yells Odin, you take a shot. Someone says the word angry shot Donald blank. Holding the hammer shot. A Hulk is called a troll shot. The sad music plays double shot, the Hulk walking. So basically, whoever made this drinking game on Joe blow.com wanted everyone to die.

Howard Rosner 16:00

You can't watch a movie and then count how many times they say angry. They're getting a half gallon of vodka.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:11

This is Jack McGee, Jack Calvin's last appearance as I entered the Hulk series, he became sick and passed away. So he didn't make it to the other movies. It of course, was the reporter that, you know, is trying to find the hall can break that story, which by the way, interesting thing when I mentioned I rewatched the original The Incredible Hulk he that character is the character that actually causes the explosion which creates incredible hulk, he actually creates the entire scenario. So it was meant to be a spin off as I mentioned, but at the time, the Writers Guild of America strike so it took a heavy toll and a lot of these shows it was actually originally supposed to be a She Hulk spin off, which has a lot of the same beats I think is the one coming out Stan Lee was a consultant he definitely liked this movie more than he liked the Amazing Spider Man 1970s version of Nicolas Hamad who played Spider Man was on my podcast Are you noticing a theme but this I think this would have gone to pilot because at some of these things not been employed and not the bad things not happened because it was a huge rating success like huge they actually made another one called trial the Incredible Hulk with Rec Smith and they introduce Daredevil

Bob Phillips 17:28

Smith You mean this the singer?

Jeff Dwoskin 17:31

Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think so. Really? Breath Away Rex maybe I didn't but but anyway, I if you haven't installed Jeff for the Incredible Hulk if you really liked that series, this movie is a fun rewatch

Howard Rosner 17:48

right i mean i To this day, and I don't know if you would agree with me Jeff. Aside from AMC, you versions of all these great Marvel characters, the best interpretation ever of Marvel characters anywhere on TV or movie other than the current MCU slates. Were the cartoons the after school cartoons they did. There was Iron Man, Thor, Hulk. Yeah, the other ones Iron Man Thor Hulk, I remember. And I still remember the

Jeff Dwoskin 18:22

Spider Man Spider Man.

Howard Rosner 18:23

Yeah. That's what Iron Man was. Oh, well, I mean, I remember Thor the Thor theme song was crossed the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard. And the whole blood heavy roar. Yeah, the Hulk was Bruce Banner belt belted by gamma rays turned

Bob Phillips 18:43

into the Hulk. Eight he unglamorous what was it? Only the four

Howard Rosner 18:47

of them. It might have only been the four it might have

Jeff Dwoskin 18:49

been. Yeah. That was a good times. Good times. Yeah, it was it was pure. And it was. It was just kind of fun. Yeah, and so yep. And you could watch returns without having to watch 40 other series.

Howard Rosner 19:05

I mean, I you know, I haven't watched them in years. I'd have to watch some of them online. But from my memory of them, they weren't goofs. They treated them like comic books. Did you know

Jeff Dwoskin 19:17

that's incredible. Hulk was a great, great show. I started to rewatch it. Yeah, it was like oh, this

Bob Phillips 19:23

those two it didn't it has kind of come because you know, Bill Bixby brought something to the role that you know, he you can see he really fought for to play that straight. Yeah. And the agony that he went through to try and regain this humanity. But yeah, it was a weird time, you know,

Jeff Dwoskin 19:42

but a great time as well. All right, that was from Episode 78 of crossing the streams. Watch the full episode of any of these segments on our YouTube channel, our final segment and show for you today that you can then runoff and binge is from Episode 2719 71 The year that changed everything Howard Rosner is gonna guide us through this documentary. Take it away Roz. 1971 that yeah, that music changed everything.

Howard Rosner 20:16

So this is an eight part Apple TV Docu series, in addition to fast cars and comic book movies. Thank you, Ron. I love documentaries as well. But this really is so much more than a music documentary. It's a superb historical documentary as well. So first, let me just talk about the series. And what's unique about just the production of this Docu series for a music documentary, it focuses so little, there's no talking heads that they're interviewing now about it. It's got a bunch of historical footage, and behind the scenes camera shots that nobody has seen before. It's all unique. And I'm talking stuff like John Lennon in the studio, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger in the south of France. It's just absolutely unique. They weave that with the music from the timeframe, it's really so well produced. But why 71 was so unique. And what the story tells throughout this is it was absolutely a divergent point in history in the US history. And they really focus on the US in the UK, predominantly, it was coming out of the 60s. And it was so much was changing. So they focus on that you were getting just a bunch of things. First of all, the race, the African American movements, like the Black Panthers were becoming more prevalent, it was becoming a much stronger presence, Angela Davis, so that was a significant issue. You were getting much stronger women's rights pushes, you were getting a much stronger homosexual rights push you were getting coming out of sort of the free love era to a much more awakened and heightened concern about things like the Vietnam War in a much, much more serious manner. Nixon, as President, you are getting a much stronger take from folks being concerned about economic policy. All of these things were absolutely reflected in the music in 1971. So from a homosexual rights standpoint, you had Elton John, who just launched in America and was really one of the first truly out musicians to hit it big. You had an African American major push with artists like Sly and the Family Stone, you had a more coming out of the like rough, more rough and folksy period, you had artists that were a little bit more artistic and synthesized, like Bowie from women's rights. You had strong female musicians that were honest female musicians they weren't trying to be there were stronger women in especially Carole King and Joni Mitchell. Elton John has a line in this documentary where he says at any given time in any week of 1971 You could go down by 10 albums at the record store any week. And of those 10 albums six or seven to this day would be considered absolute classic albums. Carole King tapestry, one of the best albums of all time, Rolling Stones sticky fingers in Exile on Main Street, Elton John Tumbleweed connection, unbelievable music that came out and what they talk about in this is a lot of other areas, especially the 60s The music was reflective of the air in 1971. The music defined the era it was the opposite it became rallying calls for all these political points. Drugs is another one. It was coming out of the pot smoking era the 60s into really heavy drugs. There are a couple of archived pieces in this that are absolutely astonishing to see there is the Cavett Show, Sly Stone on The Dick Cavett Show so on. They talk about how high he was because he was out of control at this point in time. He was so high I was it's unbelievable. It did cabinet is like joking because it's out of control how high he was on live talent. And I'm not talking a little bit pot smoking. Hi, I'm talking like seriously cooked or heralded? It's one of the best. We've talked many times that a lot of these series repeat themselves.

Howard Rosner 24:56

There's a couple of points that repeat from series to series. But every episode has kind of a different theme. I can't recommend it highly enough. It is an it's absolutely riveting. And again, it's you're not just watching a music documentary, you're watching a fantastic portrait of a time in our history as was defined in the music and, and then what's cool is they play the songs and then kind of spin this record, you know, so the music that they're using to narrate, then they spin this little record graphic. So you're like, Oh, crap, I didn't even know that song was from that year, and it's on 71. It's really good.

Ron Lippitt 25:32

Did they talk about hey, Howard, do they talk about the Beatles at all? They do.

Howard Rosner 25:35

They talk about the end of the Beatles. And then there's there's actually some great footage of like George Harrison, his first meal, visiting John and Yoko, after the breakup, their first chance getting back together and John talking about it. John talking a little bit about the breakup. And was that

Ron Lippitt 25:54

in 71, when they broke up?

Howard Rosner 25:56

It was a couple years earlier, I think. But 71 was kind of when John was doing his first solo stuff and trying to do some of that stuff. It's really amazing. You know, just all these musicians were just things that were relative Carole King had just gotten divorced and had really been treated poorly by her singer, songwriter, co author of all their earlier music. She had always written with him, but she had never performed and it was James Taylor that convinced her to go to the Troubadour and open for him and I mean tapestries. Still to this day, one of the best pieces of music ever put on wax. Wax is what for our younger viewers is music used to be put on it wasn't just on the internet. You know, Elton John, just exploding on the American scene. I've talked about one of my all time favorite documentaries Laurel Canyon, the Laurel Canyon scene in the 70s was Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt CSN, Jackson Browne, it was all going on. And again, it was Music The music became rallying cries can I'm forgetting his name, but the revolution will not be televised, which you know, is quoted a lot, and I'm forgetting his name, but he also wrote a song on that album called no knock, which they play the song and they show the lyrics of that I had never heard that song. It's unbelievably relevance right now. And it was, you know, 71 that that song came home like holy shit. 50 years that song lyrics is still absolutely relevant today. So yeah, it's great. I recommend it. Great music, great storytelling, and really cool behind the scenes stuff.

Jeff Dwoskin 27:41

All right. I love when Roz dives deep into music. That was 1971. The year that changed everything. We also covered the Incredible Hulk returns. And Rita Moreno just a girl who decided to go for it. Check out past Live episodes on our YouTube channel over 90 hours. Join us every Wednesday at 9:30pm. Eastern time. We love when our fans chat along with us during a show plenty of homework now plenty of shows to watch. So head on over to the couch, grab the remote bras, your own streams, and we'll see you next time.

CTS Announcer 28:17

Thanks for listening to this special edition of crossing the streams. Visit us on YouTube for full episodes and catch us live every Wednesday at 9:30pm Eastern time. Now turn this off and go watch some TV. And don't forget to tell your family yeah, I'll be busy for a while.

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