#155 Crossing the Streams is Out of This World (Bonus Ep26) – 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 0:30

Hey, Oh Jeff Dwoskin Hey, yeah, host from classic conversations bringing you bonus episode focused on our live show crossing the streams where we answer the universal question. What should I be binging now? I just finished something now I gotta watch something else. Well, if this is what weighs on your mind, you've come to the right place. All the bonus episodes are chock full of amazing binge watching suggestions. You can also head over to our YouTube channel, where we have over 80 hours of TV binge watching suggestions awaiting you. All right now you're in the right place. You don't have to go anywhere. We're about to feed three suggestions right into your heirs, lower decks, the Irishman and the Orville, we're going to talk about all three. These segments are pulled from our live show, which we do every Wednesday at 9:30pm. Eastern time. Just a bunch of my friends rotating cast some Oh geez. And we just talk about TV shows. It's kind of like if you were at the bar with your friends. And you're like, hey, guess what I watched and then you talked about it for six minutes or so that's exactly what crossing the streams is. So it's just in depth and fun. And usually we go off on some tangents. That's it. All right. Well, we're gonna get things going and we're going to talk about Star Trek lower decks with our guests. Casey Ryan plot this is from Episode 82. Take it away, Casey. Casey Ryan plots gonna take us through Star Trek, lower decks. This is something I've always been interested in me too.

Casey Ryan Plott 2:11

So how do y'all so Star Trek lower decks can be found on Paramount plus, that's where it's currently streaming. It is about to start its third season on August 25. So really love this show. If you're a fan of Star Trek, you're gonna love this show. This show fits right in the animations hilarious. And they do callbacks to things that like, you know, they have will Riker's on it. So characters from previous seasons and series are all actually on this show. So it's fully endorsed fully back, they respect the heck out of it. And it's basically following this ship that goes behind the USS Enterprise. So if the enterprise is the first ship that shows up first contact and has all the adventures, this is the ship that shows up and is like Alright, here's your shipping stuff. Here's your clothes. Here's, you know, parts of the Federation. They're there. They call it second contact, and they just follow up everything. Like they have to clean up when they have some big terrible monster attack. They have to clean it up the crew that goes in and grabs it, and then has to take it back to Earth Federation headquarters. That's funny. But yeah, it's pretty. It's pretty good. Your fault you wind up following the for instance, who are basically the main characters you have Marriner Beckett, played by Tawny Newsome, who's from SpaceForce she's great. Brad. Brad word is a guy who's played by Jack Quaid. He's voiced by Oh, okay, boys. Yeah. So he's fantastic. Lots of lots of big names. One of them if you ever watch the good place? Yeah. Yeah, the guy. Okay, so the guy who's the best friend of Jason, the crazy guy in Jacksonville who always gets into trouble and they want okay. Yeah, so he's the one who actually voices, one of the other main characters, Jerry O'Connell's in plays. Yeah, he's hilarious. So, yeah, so basically, you follow this crew around and they get into wacky high jinks and it's tons of ridiculous callbacks to Star Trek. So if you're a fan of Star Trek, you'll love it. Red shirt guys. Yes. Okay, they're the red shirt lower decks who actually like they wind up interacting with the bridge crew a lot like Mariner her mom is the captain you're not really that's kind of like this big secret they try to keep on the ship because she doesn't want special treatment. And she basically is kind of adventurous and whenever they go on away mission she's taken off and leaving and getting into wacky stuff. All high jinks ensue. So it's it's a lot of fun. It's a really fun show. area. Sorry.

Jeff Dwoskin 4:35

It's true. But and and but they because it's June, they can do pretty much anything because it's so easy to get the voices.

Casey Ryan Plott 4:43

Exactly. They have characters die and come back and there's always a mystery of Wait a minute, how do they come back? Like they try to they ask all the questions because they play out all the tropes. So the bridge crew is playing out every single trope you're used to seeing. And then these lower deck characters are you know, they're the ones who are cleaning up the messes. They're they're caught in the messes all the time. It's it's great. And it's all animated. All animated.

Unknown Speaker 5:05

Wow, was it?

Casey Ryan Plott 5:07

What do I want to say? Is it like cells? Is the old Disney kind of animated or now it's not the Disney cells it's actually it's yeah, it's more of the almost Family Guy animation. Okay,

Unknown Speaker 5:18

right yeah, well cool so

Howard Rosner 5:20

every time Star Trek comes up and somebody talks about canon or something like this, it always reminds me Jeff and I went to see Star Trek six. No Star Trek. Yeah. Star Trek six. Yeah, that was pretty high in a theater in college on a Friday night. Opening weekend. It was packed. This is what you guys did with your Friday nights in college. What? Never mind go ahead. Bob after the movie. No, we went to see the movie. And we I had never experienced true Trekkies firsthand. And we were sitting there and there's the scene toward the end of the movie where Sue shows up with his ship he's captaining and trying to figure out where the peace talks are going to be held. And he says they're going to be held at Camp Khitomer and the two super Trekkies in front of us like in unison turn to each other and when the camera massacre and Jeff and I looked at each other like what it was that's where the Romulans Yeah exactly.

Jeff Dwoskin 6:37

nKC in front of us Yeah.

Howard Rosner 6:42

You know, I obviously hurt hurt all the tricky jokes and saw the two great tricky Saturday Night Live. Well, the one tricky Shatner, Saturday Night Live skit and then the other Star Trek rotating restaurant which is

Casey Ryan Plott 6:58

it's great at being able to laugh at yourself as always fantastic. And that's really what this show does is it just brings all that out. So everything that you always laugh at either either being a fan or you know other people who you know Makia and it's great, whatever I enjoy what I enjoy, it's fantastic.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:13

That just came out and said that Gene Roddenberry would be spinning in his

Casey Ryan Plott 7:17

grave over these well, because rod Roddenberry's at the helm and they never got to show over lower oh yeah discovery everything which of which is outrageous because I think they're fantastic. I think they're falling right behind. Oh, they're all the original Star Trek. I love it.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:33

Yeah. Sandra needs to hold on to as well sure

Casey Ryan Plott 7:37

there's always upset about stuff man. He's got to get some kind of spotlight and by talking smack it usually helps. All

Jeff Dwoskin 7:42

right, so lower deck on parentvue plus. All right, Casey Ryan plot approved I write Star Trek lower Jax for all your animated Star Trek needs and a fun college story about Star Trek from Howard. That was funny. All right, up next, we're going to discuss the Orville keep this science fiction theme going Peter Macon and BJ Tanner, were guests on the podcast check out that if you need more Orville in the meantime, I'm going to take us through that make Manhattan's gonna lend me a hand and we take it away now. I'm excited to talk about this one. This is the Orville I'm a huge fan of this show. That Star Trek. So the Orville is I take it if either of you watched the Orville I love that show. Okay, so you haven't watched it? Alright, so the Orville is from the brain of Seth MacFarlane. Does Family Guy, American Dad, I find the one of the most brilliant people ever. Yes. And so what the Orville is, it takes place 400 years in the future. And it is a basically it was it was originally meant to be kind of a parody homage to Star Trek and Star Trek The Next Generation. So that's that's how it got its inspiration. I think he wanted to bring back Star Trek personally. And this was sort of what happened. It was one of the most viewed dramas when it debuted since 2015. And it debuted on Fox in 2017. It had two seasons. There's only 36 Total episodes of The Orville. It did the first two seasons, and then they were gonna move to Hulu, and then COVID heads. I think this season actually finished filming in August of 2021. And, and so anyway, so they go from there. The byline is an exploratory ship from Earth faces interstellar challenges for 100 years in the future. The cast of the Orville is amazing, like the way they all work together. They all have these specific types of personalities or quirks But when they work together, it's like a masterpiece of dialogue and I think communication and working together so Seth MacFarlane is the captain. Right he's captain at Mercer. And there's Adrian publickey, who she was Mockingbird from Agents of SHIELD. And she was also trivia Wonder Woman and the failed Wonder Woman pilot that never saw the light of day. Then there's Penny Johnson who is the Dr. Scott Grimes, who you may remember from er and creditors when he was Yes, just a young tad young to young boy theater making the tender commander board is he's sort of a cling on ish type thing. It's an all male species actually had Peter Macon on my podcast. We talked a lot about the Orville then there's thank you thank you and then you know there's Mark Jackson he plays Isaac kind of a robot and then yeah, Fed is like there's just basic goo and it's nor McDonald so they have it is voice first season three anyway, there's a bunch of other BJ Tanner Jessica czar plays the Security Officer Chad Coleman, who was in The Walking Dead and any other things plays one of the one of the aliens as well. So it's it's an amazing cast Victor Garber, Ted Danson have reoccurring roles. Anyone who's ever worked with Seth MacFarlane seems to show up at some point, the meets and showed up sorry, Charlize Theron showed up once you know so this was the original season one set 400 years in the future show follows the adventures of the Orville a not so top of the line exploratory ship and Eros interstellar fleet facing comic challenges from without from without and within this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before. So the evolution of the Orville these in one just give you an idea on Rotten Tomatoes got about a 30% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, season two got 100% and Season Three also right now ranks at 100%. So it's one of those shows season one is still great. I enjoyed season one a lot, but they really got their footing on season two, and season three, which is the current season called New Horizon, which is the season three is a Hulu original call to New Horizons versus season three, but it is season three, when I tell you hands down. The Orville is the greatest Star Trek show ever made ever. And

Jeff Dwoskin 12:25

the fact that it came out the same time as discovery Star Trek Discovery, which is on Paramount plus right now. And the Orville out Star Trek Star Trek 1000 to 1001. And when I tell you there are certain episodes of The Orville, that after you watch them, you're like, I cannot believe I just watched something this good on television. I mean, it's like the best science fiction. You know, when you look back at like Gold Star Trek's and stuff like that a lot of the best episodes are ones that you know, like the ones with the black and white face and then dealt with social issues. Well, Seth MacFarlane doesn't pull any punches with the topics that he's covering. But things are a lot more digestible when they're done in a science fiction fashion. It's not so hidden, though. But they deal with a lot of things like really, really well like when you think of Seth MacFarlane, because I think originally people thought of this show as Family Guy and face. It's not that at all. Now, the interesting thing about season three, they changed the tone of the humor. I hadn't watched season one and two for quite a while I just started watching season three, I watched it. It was great. I loved it. It was really great. And I thought the humor was it's very organic and real. Then I went because I was interviewing Peter, I went back and watch a few select episodes from one and two, season one and two. And the humor is very different. It's very different. It's much more I don't know how to explain it. But it's it's more not Family Guy ish. But it's more like if we were all at a bar and it was just like, you're funny. Like, you know, like jokes are saying like, they're they're very clever. They're overly clever, does it

Ron Lippitt 13:59

do the Family Guy thing of flashbacks and cutaways and Oh, no

Jeff Dwoskin 14:03

family guy, just you if you watch it, it'd be like your buddies at a bar being funny together. Yeah. And so it was like, but this series, it's sort of as it found its footing through his two and into three. It's become a serious drama like that with some humor in it. So they've moved away from the

Mick Manhattan 14:24

the first season the pilots, the pilot episode, the second episode had a lot more MacFarlane style jokes that we see in more of his famous shows. And then it kind of moves into like, because season one is when you have the episode about the daughter having to have the sex change into the sun because that's the way of the people on the planet. And that's it's a very heavy show. The very big social issue and yeah, they don't like you said they don't pull any punches and yeah, this is the most Star Trek show on TV today. I still say that. And actually Seth MacFarlane went to CBS and pitch them the show as a Star Trek show to say let's return the forum. Let's do it like next gen did it but we can bring it up to date. And they like almost laughed him out of there. And it is in my opinion. I know Casey Casey is the foremost authority on all things Star Trek. I don't know what he would say. But I say that this is a vastly better show than anything that they're putting out on the on the actual Star Trek banner.

Jeff Dwoskin 15:26

I think Casey says Orville is the greatest star trek out there. Huge fan of the show. Yes, we'll have to rewatch right now. They did bring a lot of Star Trek people. The N James L. Conway was the director he did next gen Deep Space Nine. Brannon Braga is a writer, producer of next generation Voyager. He's written a lot of episodes of The Orville. So there's a Jonathan Franks. Riker has directed a lot of the episodes. So there's a lot of roots Star Trek built into this and like and people who are part of it from the old school, John fabro, as as a point who we know are fan of on this show actually directed the pilot of the Orville Wright. So which actually feature is Rob Lowe in a character that they bring back later. I think one of the brilliant things about the show, is that how they introduce a topic or an episode, and they'll bring it back, they can thread it through like in season three, they're still dealing with it just had one of the most powerful episodes I think I've ever seen on TV, which was a follow up to the episode that Mick just talked about and season one and and so they just did a time travel episode with Scott Grimes. When I tell you it was one of the greatest. I felt like one of the greatest things I've ever seen, like it was like, and I they the music, they use a 75 piece orchestra for every episode, they score it like a movie. I mean, it's beautiful. It really is. It's amazing. Check this out. Yeah, it's on its way. But I tell you, if you start watching that, you'll you'll love it. If you're binge watching it. You'll notice the humor tone much more distinctly from season two to season three, because you'll be right she won't have had three years in between the seasons like like everyone else has been watching. I think it gets better. I think it's better. It's it's a it's a it's a weird transition. If you're just like, whoa, what just happened here, but it's much Oh, sorry.

Mick Manhattan 17:28

No, one thing I was gonna say I really liked about this show compared to like the TNG s, the s nine stuff like that is a lot of those shows back in the day that they would like follow pop culture in a way where one of them's like always constantly reading Sherlock Holmes or Shakespeare this that no thing this like they're actually watching a movie on the deck. You know, they have movie nights, you know where they're eating popcorn and where they listened in like new music and stuff like that. So like, I feel like it really like if it's 400 years in the future. You're gonna have stuff that we can identify with that say Okay, listen, they all watch read Sherlock Holmes and I listen, I like Sherlock Holmes. Don't get me wrong, but

Jeff Dwoskin 18:08

they have a real affinity for this culture from R Us right, which is where they're from. They make so many references like the Adrian publickey has the journey record on her wall. Because in an episode, she sings his song and karaoke Marvel space. Space man what's up buddy wants to know, he just wrote the garlic Guardians of the Galaxy ride and Epcot. Oh, you know, Marvel Spaceman? I was in Epcot. And that in that ride was opening like four days later, so I didn't get to do like, I saw the setup of it the ship you know that's outside of it. It was like really cool, though. Nice. All right. Thanks for helping me out with that one. MC man had another scene snobs. That was the Orville check that out on Hulu. I promise you will not be disappointed. All right, we got one more show to cover the Irish man. I know this came out two years ago with some of you might still be deciding or thinking about whether you should watch it again. And Howard's gonna talk to you right through that. Take it away, Roz. I said the next the next step we're gonna talk about is we're gonna whittle this down. So number one in Yemen, Irishman, the Irishman I was going through.

Howard Rosner 19:28

So obviously, the movies been out for two and a half years. It came out in 2000. Late Late 2019.

Jeff Dwoskin 19:35

Howard started when it came out. He just finished it. I did.

Howard Rosner 19:39

Yeah. I watched like two minutes every day since so I just rewatched it I couldn't sleep between the hours of 12 and 331. Night last week and I rewatched it and I forgot how really good the movie is. So the Irishman is for those who haven't seen his Netflix movie. It's a Scorsese Movie. movie starring Robert De Niro. Joe Pesci, who came out of retirement to hit had to beg him to come out of retirement to be in this and the only reason he came out is because it was Scorsese dinero and Al Pacino. And that's really why he came out. It's it's based on a book by Charles Brandt called I heard you paint houses, which I didn't even realize is they never refer the title block at the beginning, says, I heard you paint houses to honor the title of the book. And it doesn't say, the Irishman until the credits at the end of the movie, so they were very loyal to, to the author of the book, before I go into what it's about, and a little bit more about it, to me part of the major significance of this. And it may be just perceived significance, and partially the timing of it being just months before the pandemic hit. But to me is a major significance of this movie is it felt like the first blockbuster caliber Hollywood movie that was made exclusively for streaming, and I'm sure there's others that I'm forgetting, but to me thinking back, it's the first one that I could pinpoint in my mind of a major director and major actors, and a major movie that would have completely been released in theaters. Again, not pandemic related films that had no choice because movie theaters were closed, but the first Hollywood blockbuster caliber movie that was made exclusively for streaming, I couldn't think of another one prior to that. And now every month we get movies of that caliber. So I think it's that's a pretty significant thing that Scorsese made a three hour block three hour plus blockbuster solely for streaming, I thought that was really a significant part of the movie. So just the plot is based again on this book, and the story is shot in flashbacks from the main character Sharon, who was a mob hitman and became the right hand to Jimmy Hoffa, so it shot in flashbacks of how he became involved and became a hitman for the mob. How he grew within the structure, how he became a confidant to Jimmy Hoffa, how he became heavily involved in the Teamsters, and how in the end, being more loyal to the mob. He was asked to be the one that did away with Jimmy Hoffa. When he became a threat to the mob. Pacino plays Hoffa. And he's, he's great. He's in between old school, quiet acting, Al Pacino and modern who are crazy over the top chewing scenery, Al Pacino. So he's, he's sort of in between those two things. I think. There's a great relationship that develops between generis character, his daughter who's played in her adult years by Anna Paquin, and she has a real love of Hoffa as an uncle, almost a second dad type fixture in her life, and I think Pacino does a really good job with that pesci is incredible. The secondary roles are just a whole host of character actors who I just love in everything they do. Bobby Cannavale is just amazing and everything. It reminded me that the first episode of the HBO series vinyl, which only did the one season was a two hour episode directed by Scorsese and Bobby Cannavale was the main character and that episode itself plays like a movie if you've never seen that and you have HBO Max, like Casey Ryan plot, or like Jerry, that episode itself is worth watching Ray Romano, who's also in vinyl is great in this movie, Harvey Keitel, Jesse Plemons, who has become much bigger and was in Breaking Bad amongst other things, and I think is one of the best young actors working today. He's that that young, best one young actors and then another character that my wife who's unbelievable at spotting things like this, we're what we were watching it and Welker White is her name and actress. She plays Pacino, his wife, Jimmy Hoffa, his wife in this and my wife goes, pause it, the first scene she's in and I'm like, why she goes, That's Lois. And I go, who's Lois? She does Lois, the babysitter from Goodfellas. I go, there's no way 30 years later that you know, that was Lois from Goodfellas shirt off. It was the babysitter who wouldn't leave wouldn't leave without her hat. I'm like, how did you notice that? I don't know that she's been in anything in 30 years. But yeah, that was pretty amazing. So it's long. There's no doubt about it. And it deserves a little bit of a beating. It also was it was really roasted. Buy some articles after the fact that said that it was just like we talked about winning time. It was a they took some significant dramatic liberties with some of the story and there are people that's that we're going to say that it actually changes can change opinion of some of the folks involved and they were concerned about the reception it would have but it's, it's a very, very good movie. In the vein of any solid Scorsese film, the caliber of acting to obviously superb with that cast of characters. split it into two. Give yourself an intermission at the hour. Mark,

Jeff Dwoskin 25:39

I think yeah, I think there's things out there to tell you when when to stop the trivia head for this is Joe Pesci could have refused as many as 50 times also. So Mark is red fox is the last place that Jimmy Hoffa was seen, which is actually not too far from my house. It's 1015 minutes is on Telegraph. It's where andiamo is now. But it was the mark is red fox, which is in in the movie is interesting. So I had Jack O'Halloran. He was not in the big, Krypton, bad guy and Superman wanting to and his father, part of Jack O'Halloran story is his father was a mob boss in New York prior to like the big mob families that took over there. So he, if you go, Listen, that was when I tell you what he talked about what really happened to Jimmy Hoffa? He said, This is not even close to what really happened. Because this again, you gotta remember the book was written by the lawyer, not by the guy, right. So but he's like, like, Jeff, why do you think he's buried anywhere? like, Ooh, yeah. Anyway, so but then he also talks about the JFK assassination. I'm not saying right or anything, but I'm telling you, it's up as a conversation. It's one of those where I'm like, I can't believe this is being recorded right now. Um, so I enjoy the Irishman. It was just it was long that would they use that the aging thing a lot. It was one that was also known a lot for that. They talked

Howard Rosner 27:06

about that, after Goodfellas. Scorsese, and dinero wanted to write another movie, they wanted to write a movie together, not just create a movie with director and acting. It took them 30, almost 30 years to do that. They started production for this movie in 2007. And it just had so went through so many rewrites, script rewrites, and you know, getting the film off the ground with production companies. And they really started producing it in what 2015 or 14 and and that's when they really launched it. And then they announced it that it was coming out at the Oscars in February of 2019. was when they announced it, it was I had never seen the that for the they did a two day premiere and marketing launch of the movie in New York, where they turn the streets into 1975 They rolled back the streets to add a focus that basically on the day before Hoffa disappeared, which would have been pretty cool to see I don't I don't remember seeing that at all. Again, I long movie, a really good movie. And I was surprised how much I liked it. The second time around.

Jeff Dwoskin 28:26

It's definitely good movie. And I agree. You don't have to watch it all at once. Yeah, just to give you an idea, just put in perspective, it took 108 days to film the Irishman. It took 18 days to film Sharknado so a different perspective.

Howard Rosner 28:41

17 days 17 days to money. You just say

Jeff Dwoskin 28:45

like 85 days do for you? That's that's the answer right?

Howard Rosner 28:51

Out with an iPhone. Howard. Every

Ron Lippitt 28:53

time I every time I think of the Irishman I think of Ricky Gervais just hammering it and his monologue at the globes. The movie was so long that Leonardo DiCaprio has date was too old for him by the end of it.

Jeff Dwoskin 29:07

Yeah. Man. All right, that was the Irishman and a little plug for vinyl. So check both of those out. Those are Howard Rosner approved. All right. Amazing recap episode four. Yeah, Star Trek, lower decks, the Irishman and the Orville, you got a lot of homework. So here's what I recommend. Go grab your favorite spot on the couch, grab the remote, cross your own streams, and I'll see you next time.

CTS Announcer 29:41

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. I'll be busy for a while.

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