#269 Let’s Reboot Crossing The Streams (Bonus Ep73) – 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, your host of classic conversations and your guide through this bonus episode of crossing the streams. What is crossing the streams? It's where we answer the universal question. What should I be binge watching next year, just finish something. And now you got to watch something else. It's the universal problem we all face. But good news. You've come to the right place. We have over 125 hours of streaming binge suggestions on our YouTube channel. But you're in luck because right here we're gonna beam three segments from three of those live shows right into your ears from Live episode. 85 homecoming Live episode 90 Reboot, and live episode 99 causeway is they're all coming at ya right now. We're gonna kick things off with homecoming jog Cohen, and his debut on crossing the streams. Take it away, Doug. All right. The next show is home calming. And this is Doug's foray into crossing this drain. cool picture

Doug Cohen 1:43

pressure is on? Well, so homecoming, I feel like this is a show that not a lot of people know about it kind of flew under the radar. In my opinion. Has anyone else here watched it if any of you watch homecoming, I've never heard that is so bizarre to me that no one has heard of a show that Julia Roberts is the star of the show. I mean, it's got an A list cast and it just kind of flew under the radar. And she's fantastic in the show. What's interesting about it is it's actually based on a podcast. It started out as a podcast and I haven't actually listened to the podcast, but they took the premise of the podcast and made it into the show. And I'll go into the details of the rest of the cast. But I mean, you know, you got Sissy Spacek in the show, Bobby can avow Chris Cooper, Joan cusecs, Janelle Monae like just crazy cast for a show that nobody seems to know about, which is so and it's really bingeable. Because there are only two seasons, and 17 Total episodes, and they're between, I looked it up there between 24 to 37 minutes. And I feel like most of them are like 24 minutes, like maybe the finales are 37. So they go by you can knock them out really fast and be done pretty quickly. It's only 17 Total episodes. But to get into the premise a little bit, it's, and I thought about this when I brought it up, that it's a tough show to talk about without giving too many spoilers, because the fact that there's a twist is kind of the whole appeal of the show. And I don't want to give the twist away too much. But I will say this premises it centers on character named Walter played by Steven James, who also played Jesse Owens in the movie race. Fantastic. And he is he's a war veteran. He's done a couple tours of duty. And he comes back with some post traumatic stress disorder. He's seen a lot of stuff. He's been through a lot. And so he volunteers to go to this facility to get help for his PTSD. And let's just say that this, that this secret government facility, where they're treating him for his PTSD isn't exactly what it seems, for that way. And that's kind of where the sinister psychological drama part comes in. And the way it kind of builds and, and the way they tell the story is really, really compelling because they tell it from 2008 teen, which is the year that he returns and goes to this facility, but they also juxtapose it against current day, which is a couple years later, and Julia Roberts plays the part of his main therapist at the facility. And so they focus a lot on their interaction and him going through this program and then treating him for his PTSD. But a couple years later, when they follow Julia Roberts in her present life, she can't remember any of it. And they're trying to figure out why she can't remember any of it. And those two stories as they start to converge, is really where the tension builds and where it gets really, really good. So it's, it's really well done.

Jeff Dwoskin 4:58

Now, is there a goldfish or something About this a goldfish, is there anything I'm trying to remember is I mean, I saw like I it's I'm starting to have a flashback to Julia Roberts TV show. I thought like, I might be thinking

Doug Cohen 5:12

there is there is a fish tank in her office trying to remember if that was a I don't know if that's a real significant, like

Jeff Dwoskin 5:20

visual I remember for maybe a commercial I saw or something um, because I'm starting. I'm having flashbacks.

Doug Cohen 5:27

I think you're right about that there is a there's a fish tank in her office. I don't know. Maybe just a visual that you remember. I don't know how I don't remember it being the is there

Ron Lippitt 5:35

a significance to the fish or the fish tank? Is it Are you still thinking about the boys? If people have sex with the fish, yes. Oh,

Doug Cohen 5:44

no one has sex with the fish that I remember.

Jeff Dwoskin 5:46

So now the gel now Janelle. Janelle Monae says she's second season then only she Yes. So

Doug Cohen 5:53

she is second season. Exactly. So the first season basically follows the story of the podcast and then the second season deviates from that. And there's still some holdover from the first season. There's ties between the story in the first season and the second season. But it does go off in a bit of a different direction. It's a little confusing the second season, but it's still really good. And it's seven and it's seven episodes or seasons. 10 second season seven still very much worth it. And Chris Cooper is fantastic. I love

Jeff Dwoskin 6:30

volley fan too, aren't so good.

Doug Cohen 6:33

I'm a huge Bobby Kandivali fan. So and you know, he was amazing and Boardwalk Empire. Amazing. And he was fantastic and vital. I thought which was short lived. I thought he was really good in that show. And I even I liked his character and his chef a lot too. So I'm a big, big Bobby Caraval fan. And

Jeff Dwoskin 6:51

he Oh my gosh, I

Ron Lippitt 6:53

forgot he's in chef. That's yeah, that's great. Yeah,

Doug Cohen 6:56

he's only in it for like, the first really like the first 20 minutes of the movie. But he's got a great role. Right? So yeah, so And since he space sec, and oh, and you know who else is going to do I love speaking of Boardwalk Empire is Shea Whigham, who played Nucky Thompson's brother, the sheriff. And so I don't know if any of you saw that show. But he was great in that. And he was also great in the third season of Fargo. So he's one of my favorites as well. And he's, he's great in the show, too. So yeah, I mean, it's it's loaded with talent, really compelling, really easy to binge. So

Ron Lippitt 7:35

why do you think this didn't catch on? Like, what? Like, maybe it did, and we're just not seeing it. And there's so much content that's out there right now. That's good. Like, why? Why are we not talking about this more?

Doug Cohen 7:46

I honestly don't know. I mean, you know, I don't know if they promoted it much. I don't know, I really don't know the background in terms of whether they view it as a failure if they expected it to be bigger and it wasn't or what I really don't know, I will say that Julia Roberts, you know, her character in the film, she does a great job with the character because it's not big Julia Roberts like dominating the screen in the scenes. And she's very, she's got a very low key kind of timid, trying to do the right thing kind of character and it's not it's, I just don't see it's not like Pretty Woman where she's dominating the, you know, it's not a V I don't feel like it's a vehicle for Julia Roberts. I feel like she just plays a great role in the show. And maybe from that standpoint, they didn't want to promote it as some big Julia Roberts vehicle. That's the only thing I can think of aesthetically in terms of why maybe it didn't blow up. But even that is a flimsy explanation in my book because of how, how loaded the cast is. Or why I don't know why it flew under the radar. It's not surprising to me that you guys haven't really heard of it or watched it. So no, everyone I tell one of the shows where I tell everybody you got to watch homecoming. They're like, What are you talking about? I don't

Jeff Dwoskin 9:00

know Mystic Pizza.

Ron Lippitt 9:02

Right now, Mr. Pizza,

Doug Cohen 9:05

yeah, but it's really good.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:07

Awesome. And where's it on again? Prime? Another prime?

Doug Cohen 9:11

Yeah. Think pretty sure it's Brian.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:17

Somebody's drinking.

Doug Cohen 9:18

I know somebody might be drinking. I thought they had like someone's waiting to drink. Go ahead and drink in case I'm wrong. I'm 90% sure it's private.

Jeff Dwoskin 9:29

All right, thank you just going smashing first time on the show. And just to confirm homecoming is on Amazon Prime. Up next from Live episode 99 Cosway take it away Ron Lippitt. Causeway, the Apple TV classic. Now you tell me if it's a classic I have no

Ron Lippitt 9:50

I listen. I this is I actually watched this in London and I I've been traveling constantly for the last few weeks. I've watched more movies on freakin Delta Air The lines in the last three weeks then I didn't even know what I was going to talk about today. I literally have so many things to talk about at this point. But causeway was was an interesting one. It's won a bunch of indie awards. And the only reason I discovered it is because I am fascinated by the A 24 Production and Distribution Company. Do you guys know at 24? I mean, I think I've talked about them on other episodes of crossing the streams, whatever they touch just seems to either be incredible in its talent or production or whatever, or just major sellers. Like they just everything they touch turns to gold. So I saw a 24 was behind this, this Jennifer Lawrence film. So I went and checked it out. And you know, listen, is there any more anything more commercial than Jennifer Lawrence at this point, right. I mean, Jennifer Lawrence,

Jeff Dwoskin 10:45

we have some respect for the lead and action movie.

CTS Announcer 10:51

Jennifer Lawrence, she's

Jeff Dwoskin 10:53

Jennifer Lawrence. I love she's the highest

Ron Lippitt 10:55

paid actor in Hollywood, male or female.

Bob Phillips 10:58

I did a retrospective of every time she falls down on an award show. I just need that on repeat. I handled that. So well. Though. I

Ron Lippitt 11:06

agree with you. I makes her human. It makes her human. Yeah, her interviews I think are better than there are movies. I think the who she is in real life and just how wacky and silly and just direct she is, I think makes her a very

Bob Phillips 11:20

adorkable she is what she does.

Ron Lippitt 11:24

So causeway is a dramatic film. It's a it's a she specifically I guess she had talked about she'd taken a hiatus from acting, which I didn't even realize that she had done. And she came back to this movie, which was built and produced by her own production company. Does anybody know the name of her production company? It's called

Jeff Dwoskin 11:43

Lawrence productions. Excellent,

Ron Lippitt 11:45

excellent cadaver. So and she's actually backing a whole bunch of movies right now. But this is this was hers. She built it and sold the product of the distribution rights to age 24. And, and it's about a young lady coming back from deployment at from Afghanistan, having suffered a traumatic brain injury, which is not the funnest of topics I will I will just say so much of the film is about her coming back to society, having to make that transition from the military, particularly with an injury back to trying to live a normal life in a shitty part of New Orleans, which is where she is from and in so doing, she actually meets I would say just a person who who helps to support her through this troubling time and ends up being Brian Tyree, Henry if you guys knew Brian Tyree Henry has he's actually Jeff you might know him because he's seems to have been in every Marvel I gotta look him up cinematic universe movie out there but I knew him I was looking at the guy McMahon I know you from somewhere he was in the original Broadway cast have a Book of Mormon which is which is one of my

Jeff Dwoskin 12:51

very favorite he's got he was in bullet train.

Ron Lippitt 12:53

There you go. Yeah, he wasn't bullet train actually. Okay, so he's also a disabled person, although not through the military and and the two characters develop a friendship and and that's the story of this movie is her of her coming to grips with her life back military and then her new life as a as a civilian here in in the US and in particularly in a tough part of town in New Orleans. And I have to just have to say, and it kills me to say this. She's so freaking talented. She's so freaking talented. Jennifer Lawrence, I got a crush. I want to be able to tell you right here that she's just such a sellout in such a shitty actress and that she just you know that Hi, do you want to be I don't know if like The Hunger Games seems like she just kind of crazy coasted away through that. Yeah, but

Bob Phillips 13:41

you know what she brought? It's gonna sound weird. A 60 year old man saying this. She brought a little bit of gravitas to that role. That's why those movies worked because you believed her in it. I don't know how she did it but she did it.

Ron Lippitt 13:54

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm here to tell you this this is Silver Linings Playbook level quality this this movie and and she won an Oscar for that movie. So I don't know if this she's gonna be up for for this but but I will just say this. This is by far the best dramatic performance I've seen from her or I think from any female lead that I've seen in quite a long time

Speaker 6 14:13

but that didn't even come out at the movies now it's out now it's

Ron Lippitt 14:17

just gonna go on a Delta lake this is streaming on the Apple TV plus platform right now which is which is interesting is that okay? Because they are streaming it on Apple TV plus before the cinematic release and I think it's coming out for like either this week or next week in you know, in partial distribution. So I think you can see it the theater coming up, but I don't know man I like like I said I wanted to come here and kind of rag on Jennifer Lawrence. But the truth is, this is an excellent film. It's an excellent piece of acting from her from her supporting cast. The ending of this is absolutely tear your heart out cry on the couch. kind of thing. Wait, did she

Bob Phillips 15:01

fall down in this?

Ron Lippitt 15:04

I'm just saying it's possible.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:07

I'd say the production company angle thing is it seems where they're making all their money now like Reese Witherspoon. Yeah. Made a zillion dollars. Yeah. Building up her production company and then selling it. Yeah, I

Ron Lippitt 15:20

think I think just about every one of the a list

Jeff Dwoskin 15:24

for Red Hat makes Yeah, amazing grabby.

Ron Lippitt 15:26

Now that production company and I'm blanking on the name of that, Jeff, you might remember Brad Pitt's productions. No, no. That's a major company Brad Pitt's company. I think Jennifer Lawrence is just getting started in this.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:39

Not the one he had with Jennifer Aniston. 100 years ago. No. He didn't like Willie was 12. Like now he produced like 12 years of slave. Yeah,

Ron Lippitt 15:47

that's right. That's right. So listen, I will say that I come to you with an unexpected review, which is to say this is an excellent movie, you guys, you guys will absolutely like it. I don't know if you're into the whole dramatic thing or not. Some people just like to see comedies or things that are lighter in fare. There's nothing light about this movie. It's tough watch, but she was determined to do this role. And I think she pulled it off perfectly. So check it out. I think you guys are gonna like it.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:19

Thank you, Ron limit. And our final segment from Live episode 90 Howard Reisner is going to take us through reboot on Hulu. The greatest one season show ever cut short. I love this show so much. We got to talk about some other TV sequels and reboots. Take it away. Rhys. Howard. Yeah, talk reboot.

Howard Rosner 16:43

Yeah. So reboot is a show that kind of snuck up on me of lack patience to watch new stuff lately. And but reboot had people that I really loved so I gave it a shot. It is a comedy on Hulu. It's created by Steven Levitt. And if that names familiar, he's one of the CO creators of Modern Family. So certainly, like okay, well, that's pretty good genetics for a show to get a start. So the gist of the show is a woman who's kind of a film or TV and film writer and creator pitches Hulu, on doing a reboot of a famous old sitcom standard TV sitcom called Step right up, which was really popular years ago, but doing it in kind of a more alternative artsy way. But she wants to do it with the original cast, which is interesting. So the original cast is Keegan Michael Key. Who's great. The pride of Livonia, Michigan, Ross Michiganders, Judy Greer, Johnny Knoxville, and a young man who was the kid on the show, who's a teenager now I can't remember his name or in his early 20s, or something like that, who's really good. In the early the first episode, they all gather there's obviously intricacies from when they were on the show years ago, Keegan had walked off the show because he wanted to be a bigger actor, Judy Greer and Keegan's character had had an affair that cost issues. She has now married a Duke of Norway or Iceland or something, and but just got divorced. Johnny Knoxville was a stand up comic who goes back and forth between comedy and alcoholism. The kid is just an idiot. It's all great. So they get them all together. They're just about ready to start doing run throughs for the first episode, and she gets a call to quickly come to somewhere. And it comes out that the original creator of the show and showrunner they never cleared him of his rights for the show. He now wants in and wants to run the show. And then of course, it comes out that it's her father, who's Paul Reiser, who's great in this as always, and they have issues, it also comes out that he created the show as kind of a way of telling their family's story because he left her and her mother and family very similarly to kind of what happened in the show. So so that's the basics for the show. I really enjoy it. It's a great they have a writers room, where he brings in writers that Paul riser brings in writers that he's worked with, which are all these old time sitcom writers and vaudevillian types. And then her writers are all these alternative under every spectrum of of various groups that are represented amongst her writers, and the others are all you know, old white people. And so that causes some tension, which leads to some really good jokes. It's an intro I think show it's funny I think that the acting is really good what I love about it is it's not a haha quick hit live audience sitcom although that's what it's meant to be playing but a lot of the jokes in the show hit as if it were an old haha live audience sitcom Paul riser a lot of good one liners the writers room very good one liners but more modern jokes with the same flair of an old school one liner so it's five episodes in the it's on Hulu I really really enjoy it I think it's got a good pacing to the comedy and and that the cast is obviously is great really good. Johnny Knoxville is probably probably as good as anything I've seen him in other than of course, jackass I love Judy Greer. I've always loved Judy Greer in everything she's done. She's always the second fiddle This is better roll for her Keegan is was great as always. And Paul Reiser is great as always, so I really enjoy it and highly recommend picking it up checking it out. It's an easy quick watch the episode could fly through all five episodes. No time, Jeff, I know you watch this wall. Oh,

Jeff Dwoskin 21:13

I love this show. I had to go and look at the credits to make sure that that was really Johnny Knoxville because that's how good he was. I couldn't believe John. I only seen him in Jackass and stuff like that. I'm like, it's this guy just look like Johnny Knoxville. And because this is really, I'm telling you like, this is the kind of show you actually have to watch. Because that's how funny this show is like, you have to pay attention. I will say Howard, I watched I binged it because I just couldn't stop watching it. And then I went back to watch it with my wife Robin. And I had her. I said I'm gonna rewatch the first episode. If you like it, you just keep watching and we'll catch up. And so rewatching the first episode, there's a lot of clues the father daughter if you if your watch in hindsight, in hindsight, right. It's there if you were able to, but it is if you go back and look, but Keegan Michael Key is great. Like you said, they're all really great. It's such a great showcase. It's from the one of the CO creators of Modern

Howard Rosner 22:11

Family. Steven Louboutin. There's a lot of great Hollywood inside jokes to you know, TV and movie making inside jokes. They repeated one of the jokes from the Kaminski method, which is it might have been the newest episode you may not have seen, but it's this the old waiter at the Palm type restaurant that was in Kaminski method that used to bring them their drinks super slow. There's a callback to that on this. It's yeah, it's just a good joke pacing Johnny Knoxville is He's great. He's really smooth, which I was surprised like his timing is really good comically or comedically, I should say, so it's really Yeah, I recommend it as well.

Jeff Dwoskin 22:51

Yeah. 100%. You got this as the fall Howard Dwoskin. We agree on this. We don't agree on Seahawk. But we completely agree on reboot. on Hulu.

Howard Rosner 23:02

I was gonna tell you, Ron, that you'll be happy to know that with your cousin, my wife and I have now gotten through the first three seasons we just started fourth of Better Call Saul, which we've never watched an episode of. And I know it might be controversial to say this, but after getting that deep into it now, obviously it wouldn't exist outside of Breaking Bad, but I really believe that it might be a better show. On an average show basis. The top Breaking Bad episodes are unbeatable. They're off the chart, good best episodes amongst all the episodes of television ever. But on an average episode basis Better Call Saul may be a better show, because it lacks like watching Breaking Bad again when they were running the marathons like a lot of the conversations in a kitchen or living room with Skyler and Marie they're just it's grating and it doesn't drive the plotline. It just adds background great, but it doesn't drive the potluck plotline Better Call Saul, there's no scene in any episode that doesn't in some way, shape or form, move the plotline forward, everything is now absolute push forward in the story. And

Ron Lippitt 24:20

while so that's, you know, one of the things as I've gone back and watched Game of Thrones as an example, I have not watched the entire game of thrones run, I think at least three or four times at this point. One of the things that I find interesting about that franchise which which echoes what you just said is that literally every word every piece of script in Game of Thrones whether you realize it when you first hear it or not everything that is said has meaning and as impact on where they're going with this and when you rewatch the shows you actually go to listen for Oh yeah, he did say something stupid about a flower or something and then you realize that that That was really important you need to know that Better Call Saul is the same way. I you know, I heard you were talking Better Call Saul is probably top three I would say all time in terms of top spin off series of intelligent history.

Howard Rosner 25:14

Yeah. You know, I

Ron Lippitt 25:15

know I know people talk about Fraser, the Jeffersons and Jeffersons and, you know, the whole the whole family tree the family, right so you have to match Yeah, but it's right up Shelly two Broke Girls,

Jeff Dwoskin 25:28

so that was actually pretty good. Two Broke Girls is not a spin off the two girls Bankai Oh, my thank you, Howard Rosner, reboot. causeway homecoming. Sounds like you've got a lot of homework on your hands and we're gonna let you go. Enjoy all the binge watching that lies before you. Here's to finding that comfy spot on the couch grabbing your own remote crossing your own streams. And I'll see you next time.

CTS Announcer 26:00

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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