Excuse the Intermission
Alex, Erica and Max take you on a journey through film with this discussion podcast about movies.
Excuse the Intermission
ETI's Spring Television Episode: From White Lotus to The Studio
Ever wondered what happens when film critics turn their analytical gaze toward television? In this captivating episode, Alex and Erica connect virtually to dissect the most compelling shows dominating our screens right now, revealing why these series have become cultural touchpoints worthy of deep exploration.
The conversation opens with a fascinating look at HBO's "The White Lotus" and how it revitalized appointment television viewing. They explore the double-edged sword of social media fan theories – how they enhance community engagement while potentially diluting major plot surprises. "Rip Chelsea, what a sweet angel" becomes both a spoiler and a moment of shared cultural understanding.
When discussing "The Last of Us," Erica brings her extensive knowledge of the source material to highlight the adaptation's bold choices. From controversial casting decisions to significant narrative departures, they examine how the show navigates the delicate balance between honoring its origins and creating something fresh for new audiences. The meticulous recreation of post-apocalyptic Seattle emerges as a particular triumph, blurring the lines between digital and physical worlds.
Apple TV+'s "The Studio" receives glowing praise as a sharp industry satire that offers viewers rare insight into Hollywood's absurd inner workings. Seth Rogen's portrayal of a studio head trapped between artistic integrity and commercial demands feels authentic precisely because it walks the line between exaggeration and painful truth. The hosts consider whether the show glamorizes or indicts an industry increasingly driven by algorithms and IP rather than original storytelling.
Throughout their conversation, Alex and Erica weave in thoughtful commentary on shows like "Your Friends and Neighbors," "Hacks," and "Black Mirror," demonstrating how television has evolved from a secondary medium to a cultural powerhouse rivaling cinema itself. Their enthusiasm is infectious, making you want to immediately add these recommendations to your watchlist.
Ready to discover your next television obsession? Listen now and join the conversation about the shows everyone will be talking about tomorrow.
How's it? I'm Alex McCauley.
Speaker 2:I'm Erica Krause.
Speaker 1:And this is Excuse the Intermission a discussion show surrounding what's hot on TV. Erica and I are back after a short break and, as we await the return of Max after his big move to Los Angeles, we will be talking about some of the hottest new shows on television this spring and summer. All that on the other side of this break. Hi, Erica, how are you doing? Today we're testing out our first virtual experience, our first true virtual experience, the new normal, if you will.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:I feel like we're back in a pandemic, almost.
Speaker 2:I know it's kind of weird. I don't love the virtual stuff, you know, but it is what it is. I mean I am nice and comfy in my bed right now, so it could be worse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say we've had our fair share of technical difficulties just trying to get this recording off the ground, but it is nice. I mean we're nearing what it's past nine o'clock now on a Wednesday. There was kind of no rush to get in the studio or anything today, so I do like the freedom that it gives us in that respect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do too.
Speaker 1:You, uh, you even came to pick up a piece of equipment from, uh, my work today, which was kind of fun. I wish you had a chance to hang out a little bit more, but such as the busy day goes, it was onto the next stop for both of us, I think. But that was kind of fun to have a quick little pop in. Yeah, okay, so how you been? We took a week off. My assignment, really but I know you were trying to keep up with as much television as possible was to watch some shows. So how much did you dive into? Maybe some new things? How much of your time off was spent, maybe, away from a screen? Just give us a quick update on what's going on.
Speaker 2:Well, I've been busy. So that's kind of why I've been gravitating towards shows so much and why I've been wanting to chat about them, because I don't normally.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'll watch a show here and there, you know, especially like a really popular one. But I've just found a lot of little gold mines here and there and so it's been nice to just have like an episode to watch like at the end of my day and not feel so like I need to get to the movie theater this week, although I'd love to get to the movies and I'm so glad that I you know I'm kind of coming down off the high of sinners still, so might try to make it out to Thunderbolts here soon, considering what I've been reading about it, considering what I've been reading about it. But yeah, as far as shows, some of the shows that we'll be talking about today I have already mentioned with you, but I did stumble upon a new one. It's not new, it has quite a few seasons, but new to me, and it's called Hacks on HBO, big fan of heart, and it's great. It's. It's I, I know that it's.
Speaker 1:It's a won awards in the past for um, comedy performances, um, and yeah, it's a good one, it's, it's a fun new watch for me I am glad that you brought up thunderbolts because I I know Max has seen it as he has seen it, and this is something that we looked ahead at the theatrical release schedule and sort of thought, oh, with there being maybe sort of a gap in movies that are going to be relevant post Sinners, and we've already done probably as much dirty work as we will do covering the Minecraft movie, and maybe we can have another discussion on a future pod about that movie's overall financial success Now that we've seen kind of where it is probably going to plateau at, which is great, like Minecraft has done what we expect a lot of these family friendly IP film franchises to do, which is like keep movie theaters busy and in business during some slower times at the box office. It's done great in that respect. Thunderbolts is getting good reviews and I do think we should pay some attention to that, because I think that's a surprise to both you, me, max. I'm sure he gave it a decent rating on his letterbox, and so I think Thunderbolts will have its time on this podcast. I know that people really listen to us for hot takes on Marvel.
Speaker 1:No, not necessarily true. However, I do think that we should probably touch on that. Maybe next week, it may be as soon as next week, and so we'll see. But shout out to Thunderbolts for at least not sucking, it sounds like. But but yeah, tv, I mean I'm, I'm right there with you, it's. It's a busy time of year, as the school year is wrapping up, just the weather's getting nicer, people want to do things outside. I'm trying to play pickleball and golf and stay active, and and so it is kind of nice to have just like 35 minutes at the end of your day to sit down and watch an episode of the studio.
Speaker 2:So you've watched it.
Speaker 1:As opposed. Well, yeah, and that's the other funny thing about watching TV is there really is no like logging system. I mean, there probably is out there somewhere. But yeah, you haven't really known what I've been watching over the last two weeks, but I've been watching a lot and it is nice to have, um, you know, it's almost like just catching a quarter of a basketball game, or I, you know, speaking of pickleball, there's a lot of televised pickleball now and so I can just watch a match. Like it's not the same as watching necessarily like serialized TV, but I am also finding a lot of comfort in in just being able to kind of throw something on, as you might say.
Speaker 2:That is such a that's exactly how I've been feeling this past week is just. It's so nice, it feels comforting to have a show to look forward to and it's like I like last week I woke up and my coffee and caught up on my episode of the studio that I didn't get to watch the night before and it was just so nice and you know the studio is a quick watch it's about.
Speaker 2:You know, the episodes are really just around 30 minutes each. Very, it's just like a nice little show. And then I'm on with my day and I felt like I'm like OK, cool, I'm, I'm plugged into what's happening and the new stuff that's coming out. And then, you know, friday night I'm watching my episode of your friends and neighbors, and Sunday night I'm excited to watch, uh, the last of us, and so it's it's fun to look forward to. I love when I do kind of miss those shows that come out like once a week, like one episode a week, and it does feel comforting and, yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:And I think that I think that the show that really started that feeling for both of us, which really is more in the spring season I think the third season of the White Lotus premiered back in February or March, if I'm not mistaken, probably early March and really brought back that feeling of like water cooler appointment television, where you would talk about it the next day at work or over drinks at a part at a dinner party the next weekend or something like that, because everyone watched it on Sunday night and so that was really, I think, kind of a shot in the arm to those of us out there that haven't had a TV show to watch in a while, and I definitely include myself in that camp. The White Lotus is something that I definitely make time for when it's on and I want to watch. I know you feel the same way. We want to watch it in the moment, in real time.
Speaker 1:And then something I love about hbo is they are so good at rolling right into something else.
Speaker 1:You know whether it is like one of their comedy shows that run um, something like succession, something I can always remember, like when a Game of Thrones season would end it would maybe be a Sunday off and then, like a new season of Curb, your Enthusiasm would start and so you could just roll right in to something else, and that was the case with the Last of Us, and so I don't know if there's any more to do.
Speaker 1:When it comes to like putting a bow on the White Lotus conversation, I know we did a pretty decent job. You and I have having some sort of spoiler free conversations about it, because Max was not caught up. But if there is anything that I think now we can speak freely about, with the statue of limitations kind of having passed, most people should either know what happened in season three or at this point, I think that we are sort of in the clear and maybe abstain from any sort of um, I don't know hatred that might come our way for spoiling things. So is there anything else, uh, that you want to say about that that show?
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I mean I really enjoyed the third season. I think that you know, I think the natural progression of shows like this right is that you know everyone's going to kind of compare it to its predecessor and the first season is pretty hard to be, it's. I mean, I can still remember the first time I watched the first season I had no idea what the show was and I watched I think the whole thing in one day show was, and I watched I think the whole thing in one day. And the second season kind of lost me a little bit, although I was still pretty locked in. But this new season was great, I loved it.
Speaker 2:But my something I was like really reflecting on and just kind of a social in a social aspect, is that I noticed that my presence on social media, just seeing so many people trying to figure out what's going to happen, and so of course there's tons of fan theories going around and you know, like Alex said, you know we are going to share some spoilers here, so it's your fault that if you haven't watched it. So sorry, not sorry, but um that's forward three minutes or something seriously.
Speaker 2:But um, so you know at the very end, uh, chelsea and rick die, that those are, that's the death that happens. I think that the whole scenario of that was like maybe how it panned out was a little shocking, but their death was not shocking, and for me, I think it's just because everyone that I would see. I couldn't escape it, and that's my fault for watching and participating, I guess. But it's interesting. I want to see what people have to say and you're excited about the next episode, what's going to happen. And then all these people are playing detective online and and then I kind of had to like take a step back and just be like, just wait and see what's going to happen each week. You know like, maybe that's a, you know, a problem that we've. We've kind of faced with this new age of television where we're so used to getting like the whole season right at the beginning and you know, you just want to know what's going on, especially if it's kind of.
Speaker 2:You know, I think a lot of people would say that the White Lotus maybe drags a little bit, but personally I love it and I think I don't know if we said it on here or if I just was having this conversation with a friend, but the white Lotus is a show for people who love gossip and who love the tea, and there's a lot of just human interaction and like dynamic, and I personally think that's fascinating.
Speaker 2:I love watching that kind of stuff. Um, it's not everybody's cup of tea, however, um, but I think, with just people trying to figure out the show ahead of time, there was a lot of really accurate fan theories that I had seen, especially regarding Chelsea and Rick, especially regarding Chelsea's dying. So I can't say that I was totally surprised by the way that it ended. I was a little surprised that rick kind of did what he did with, you know, to his um, to his dad, that we found out which again another spoiler that fans had guessed ahead of time. So but overall I I loved the show. I thought it was great, some really standout performances. Cannot wait to see what mike white does in the future.
Speaker 1:I think that's a very fair criticism Of social media and the way that people I wouldn't even really call it review, but the way that people just analyze shows and movies to a different extent, I feel like. But you're absolutely right, because even in some of the quote unquote quieter episodes where maybe they're not might not be as much happening, as much action as people may want, mike white in the production team and the set design and everyone is so good at leaving little breadcrumbs for you to follow around. And I was getting fed a very similar type of content on my algorithm where it would be like this week's White Lotus episode, broken down by a Thai person to explain all the things that you might not know about, all the little subtleties that people have added. You know, hints at Thai culture, hints at Thai folklore, things that would tie into then the characters in their arcs and really start to give people an idea of where things were going. And so I absolutely agree.
Speaker 1:You know just like how, when you know the, the, the brat pack of filmmakers from the 70s like Scorsese and De Palma and Paul Schrader and all these different guys, even Steven Spielberg to a different degree, when they were all coming up, they never imagined that there would be the internet and there would be fan theories based on which Spielberg movie is really about his life, you know which De Palma movie is unpacking Hitchcockian, you know subtext and all these different things where now we can just spend hours and hours doing deep dives on Reddit or reading different articles.
Speaker 1:Yes, there's always been like film literature, but that was something that you had to really go out and and search for and then find your niche people in real life to have these conversations with, and things weren't just so accessible like they are now. And so, whether it is like the ability to go back and almost like psychoanalyze different movies from the seventies, eighties and 90s, pre-internet, or now, just in this age of television, where things are from reality, right From reality TV shows and people talking about love on the spectrum or love is blind, or all these different shows that people want to sit down and basically create their own career over just talking about, create their own career over just talking about or if it is like narrative television and everyone trying to guess what's going to happen week after week, it does feel like it is all this extra shoulder content that is like kind of diluting, just the fun that should be had when you are strapped in and you're invested week after week. So I totally, totally agree with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so fun to watch those videos and to hear what people are saying because-.
Speaker 1:It is. That's the tough part. Like it is fun to engage.
Speaker 2:Exactly. It's just the same as like if you're getting together with your friends and talking about what happened last week on the White Lotus. You know, and I think, because this is such a and I think because this is such a mystery type of thriller drama, that there, like you said, there are so many breadcrumbs throughout every episode and you're kind of wondering what is going to happen. And even the first episode starts off by saying like there is a shooting. You know, something happened and, based off of previous seasons, we do know to expect some kind of drama, right.
Speaker 1:And that it's going to be tied to like a main player.
Speaker 2:Exactly and somebody who you just might not like. It would be totally like just not someone you maybe really expect. And because I think with Chelsea now, I feel like her, like just her development over the season, and there was a lot of little comments kind of alluding to something bad happening to her, especially when she was telling Rick that bad things come in threes and she had, you know, the shooting at the little store or the robbery, and then the snake bite and then and then obviously her unfortunate death. Rip, chelsea, what a sweet angel.
Speaker 1:RIP Chelsea. What a sweet angel. Yeah, and just you know, amy Liu has done incredible work, really like becoming a A-list celebrity off of that show, and that's something I do also love about TV. Not that we can't see that happen in movies we see it happen in movies a lot but oftentimes someone will get big on television and then that leads to like their film breakout and now it can just happen on tv. And I, you know amy lou has been working for a while before the white lotus, but still this is like you know, she was just at the met gala and so it's like how you can go from being an unknown to walking the red carpet of an event such as. That is pretty spectacular, and she has television to thank for that.
Speaker 1:So let's use this as an opportunity to not only pivot to the next hbo show, but also another show that has had its fair share of online analysis the last of us now. This is obviously because there is much like how game of thrones started. This is obviously because there is much like how Game of Thrones started out. There is a blueprint, there is material previously provided from a different medium In this case it's a video game. So fans of the game, much like how fans of the books and Game of Thrones, they knew what to expect to a certain degree when it came to the show, what to expect to a certain degree when it came to the show.
Speaker 1:And so with this new season of the Last of Us, I think you are perfect to touch on how they are combining the different storylines from the different games, because I think we need sort of like a couple of broad strokes here to start our painting, if you will, as we begin this Last, this last of us, deep dive, um, because now, all of a sudden, this, this show, is really cooking with gas and there are some real stakes involved that I think maybe weren't there in season one and and also by saying that I'm saying that maybe aren't there in the first volume of the video games, or however you want to categorize those. So the floor is yours here to talk about how the Last of Us is being adapted.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is honestly the show is kind of why I wanted to do this episode, because of just so much drama with the show and and even with the first season too. You know, I will be totally honest, I did not finish watching the first season because it's it was like okay. So we'll first to preface this conversation, because this is such a hot topic, like I'm going to. I'm just going to be totally honest about how I feel about the casting and all that kind of stuff, because that is one of the biggest concerns and just biggest annoyances that people have also major, major spoiler alerts from like just up until what we've just recently watched. So I think there's what four episodes out now. Um, and I won't spoil too much of the game either, because I have played the game several times. I know, alex, you haven't played the game right, Okay.
Speaker 2:So the Last of Us is controversial in the sense that the casting, from what I understand, understand, is a very big um. It's just cause for concern for the show because of Bella Ramsey playing Ellie. Um, bella Ramsey not, and I think you know a lot of people. The criticism is that um, bella does not look a lot like Ellie in the first place. But also I don't think that they are doing a great job at embodying her, embodying Ellie, and especially I'm noticing that in this new season. But with that, the casting aside, there's a well.
Speaker 1:Well, can you tell us a little bit more about that? So how is ellie portrayed in the video games versus how bella is portraying her in the show?
Speaker 2:so in the second game, ellie. So there's a five-year age difference in between the first game. In the second game ellie is older, she is just a lot more hardened and from my perspective of her she's just pretty cool. You know she's, she's a badass, she's definitely a hothead, but she is pretty like like her demeanor is just very I don't really know. I just feel like Bella's portraying her as just a lot more animated.
Speaker 2:Not only does she not sound like her, it takes me out of it, unfortunately. I'm not trying to like totally nitpick it, but there is just this like immaturity that is being portrayed as Bella, whereas Ellie in the game feels like I'm not saying she's you know this grown woman by any means, but she's definitely a lot more level headed in the second game and I mean that's hard to say after considering, like, what happens in the beginning of the game, but um, with her relationship with dina is a big thing. Um, so you travel with dina throughout the game, through most of the game and um, you know, I think recently, just this most recent episode between her and dina's relationship they're really dropping. They're really changing things and dropping the ball on that, which is very strange.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so basically in the game. So right now in the show we've seen Dina and Ellie get together at the theater. That does not happen in the game. That actually happened when we saw in the third episode where the TV version has Ellie and Jesse in like a weed room. There's a bunch of weed everywhere. They're kind of out on a run or something like that, or maybe that was the second episode.
Speaker 1:They're being held up during the snowstorm, like the whiteout.
Speaker 2:So that's what the second episode right, because it's before.
Speaker 1:Second episode.
Speaker 2:So actually that is Dina and Ellie in the game and there's a very, very tender moment between the two of them where that is actually when they hook up for the first time. The conversation that is held in the in the tent in the third episode actually happens in the, the weed room.
Speaker 1:Um in the game are they talking about their moment that they have at the like new year's eve party?
Speaker 2:they're rating the kiss okay and it is. You can watch a side by side of it online, actually, of um, the game versus the show, and you'll see what I mean when ellie's character is just a lot more smooth with, like, the way she's talking to dina. Dina, in my, you know, opinion of her in the game, is this very grounded, nurturing presence for ellie. She is kind of a ride or die at this point and they're already dating, so they're already like established that. But then, you know, apparently in the tent there was, you know, dina kind of alluded that she was back with Jesse, um, which never happens in the game. I mean, her and Jesse were together, but they don't even touch on that really. So I think a lot of people are pretty upset and I'm emphasizing their relationship a lot because it is such a huge part of the game and you know, dina is with you the majority of, is with Ellie the majority of the time, and their relationship and how it develops is very important to ellie's evolution as well, um, and so I think people are having kind of a hard time with just how they're portraying that and also some of the weird dialogue choices from this past episode when dina reveals that she's pregnant. Um, in the game that is very much a conversation that happens that ellie is not happy about. She actually even calls dina a burden, um, whereas in this last episode, um, ellie's response was I'm gonna be a dad and and then they immediately hook up, which is very odd, definitely not how that happened in the game.
Speaker 2:I I can't obviously speak for the showrunners and neil druckman and like why they're deciding to make these changes. There's a lot that's I mean. I I could keep going because you know um, joel's death, that is it. That is definitely happens in the game very early on. It's absolutely shocking. Way harder to watch on television, I will say Even I saw it coming and I still just it was a rough watch. Tommy, however, is with Joel in that moment and not Dina. It is Tommy that witnesses Joel's death, which is a huge. That the, the, the horde that takes over Jackson, does not happen in the game. I I do.
Speaker 1:So does does in the game. I imagine Ellie still witnesses Joel's death, correct?
Speaker 2:So Ellie and Dina are out on their run and that's how they come across the situation, with Abby in the cabin and Joel and all that, and Tommy is there with witnessing and it is Tommy and Joel who are the ones who saved Abby from that. That uh horde that happens. It's a really intense moment. I thought they did an amazing job in the show, um, capturing that, especially the fence scene where she's crawling through the fence. That is exactly you have to play that, you actually you. You play that, you, actually you. You play abby in the game. Um, which is very controversial at first. Um, and so that whole scene, I think I know people are really struggling with the fact that tommy was not present and and dina was instead. I know that there's reasoning for it, they, but you know, in the game Tommy storms off and he goes after Abby first. So in the show we've only seen Dina and Ellie's journey to find Abby. Well, they're in the game.
Speaker 1:They are tracking Tommy technically, they are tracking Tommy technically and in the show, tommy, who is Joel's brother, is approaching the situation, yes, with the response where he's basically going off of what the town, what the homestead of Jackson wants to do versus what his anger and his rage is telling him to do.
Speaker 2:Exactly, I was talking to my friend about this the other day, because that was a huge thing, a big change that they made. And personally, personally, I don't know yet how much of an effect that's really going to have, because you, you don't ever really you don't ever play tommy and you don't really interact with him a whole lot in the second game.
Speaker 1:so, um, however, the dynamic in seattle would definitely be different in the shows if dina, ellie and tommy were all there and now. Maybe that's not to say that Tommy still won't end up in Seattle at some point.
Speaker 2:I think that he will, because you know Tommy isn't with you when you're playing, at all Like there's times where you might meet up with him, or I think you know it's very minimal, like Tommy's presence in Seattle in the game is not, it's just kind of assumed. You know, because we know tracking on like his trail that he's leading of death and and you know just his path, you can tell like OK, that Tommy obviously was here, we're not far behind him or whatever's happening. We're not really with him very much so, if at all actually whatever's happening, we're not really with him very much so, um, if at all, actually. So it doesn't really matter that part, but I do find that it was a little interesting dynamic shift and the the change that the showrunners decided to kind of add more substance. And I think I was you know, I was looking at or listening to an interview with neilmann, the creator of the Last of Us.
Speaker 2:He was kind of alluding to the fact that you know, obviously with television and adapting from a video game, you're able to do so much more and make the story a lot deeper and a little bit more complex, which is why I think they decided to have the horde come and attack jackson. Um. However, how necessary was that?
Speaker 1:I honestly don't really know um I I mean honestly, I think it was a chance for hbo to send one of their golden children out there and mark mulloyd, who is a phenomenal director of like epic action tv episodes. He's he's uh the same director that did the battle of the bastards in game of thrones and and a few other of like the big sort of like single play, single battle. Um episodes of got were a lot of mark mulloy uh directed episodes, and so as soon as I saw his name on the credits for for that episode, I was like, oh, this is okay.
Speaker 1:I think I understand where the anticipation and all the hype that I've heard around this episode is going. Like all these um precautions that the that the folks in the town of Jackson are taking, cautions that the folks in the town of Jackson are taking, they're going to be all for nothing because here comes basically, like your White Walkers, you know, like here comes a big battle episode. So I you know, to hear that it was done differently from the video games is interesting. I think it was just then a chance for them to kind of flex, not only like the bottom line and the budget that they're working with this season, which is obviously pretty great um, but I mean, that was the most. What are we calling these things? What are they?
Speaker 2:uh the like a limited clickers oh the clickers. Is that what we call them?
Speaker 1:yeah, well, there's I feel like every and like every monster in any show. I want what? What is it?
Speaker 2:well, there's a, there's a it. There's a few of them. They start off as runners. They turn into clickers, which is where they have the mushrooms growing out. Then you get into the bloaters.
Speaker 1:The bloaters are wild.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the bloaters are wild, the one that was after Tommy in the second.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's that called?
Speaker 2:I can't remember. I kept wanting to say, I kept wanting to say a gusher, but that is so, but there's, there's like stages of them, and then, yeah, so, but the clickers are the big, you know, that's like kind of one of the main ones, but what was attacking the town was runners. And then of course there was some of the other, more advanced, um, uh, like what would you even call those? Just, I don't even know Mushroom people?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't even know, Um, yeah, but but yeah.
Speaker 1:So I think that that's definitely why you know, and maybe it to be this Ned Stark type of arc for Joel and so much, like how Sean Bean, I think, helped bring a lot of people into Game of Thrones season one, and then, of course, you kill him off in a very dramatic moment at the end of that season. Taking Pedro Pascal out of this season is a very dramatic moment at the end of that season. Taking Pedro Pascal out of this season is a very gutsy move and I have to respect it. And that's where this season, um, coming from someone who hasn't played the games, this season is really captivating me, because I do feel like are now real stakes and I'm I'm giving myself over to a show that is has has proven to be unpredictable to someone who hasn't played the games. Now, of course, if you play the games, or even if you watch the wrong TikTok, you're going to know that Joel dies in episode two. I didn't know where it was going and I tried to stay away from any sort of spoilers.
Speaker 1:And so that was great for me.
Speaker 2:I want to know what your reaction was to that.
Speaker 1:I mean, my reaction was much like it was with Game of Thrones, having not read those books, where I'm like, oh my gosh, they just killed off Pedro Pascal. What have they done to my boy, aside from Bella, really the main character? But that's what I was asking for all of season one and I can only be my feelings and my suspension of disbelief. My investment can only be taken so far. Belief, my investment can only be taken so far and I can only be manipulated so much as. As far as, like in season one, this is how I felt.
Speaker 1:Episode after episode, joel and ellie break up. If you will, or they get separated and it's like will they or won't they get back together? Of course they will. Like that's just how I felt after the end of every single episode. And in season one was, of course they're gonna be okay. Oh my gosh, ellie's in all this danger. Will joel save her? Of course, yeah, even like joel's gonna be in some trouble. Will ellie throw her arm out in front, like we've seen her do with dina now, already this year, and like, take a bite because she is immune? Like, yes, she will.
Speaker 1:That's that's just how I felt, episode after episode of season one and I'm. I I'm right there with you where it. I kind of had to drag myself across the finish line when it came to season one, whereas this this season now and we can maybe kind of talk about the other household names and faces that they are sort of handing this this second season over to, aside from Bella Ramsey, but like now introducing this Jeffrey Wright character, I think becomes really interesting, because here's someone where I don't know what kind of investment I'm supposed to make in this character Caitlin Deaver, playing the Abby role and basically our main antagonist, and who they're not really giving a lot of camera time to yet. I like that because they're keeping her in the dark. We don't know. You know where she stands now and you know and when I say we, I mean those of us who haven't played the video games and don't know where this season's going like.
Speaker 1:I don't know where she stands in the wolf hierarchy. Is she above someone like jeffrey right? Is she below someone like jeffrey right? So there's so much you know. Like the world has already been built. Season one did do a good job of of world building, I think, in talking about the political climate and the environmental climate and where different parts of the country have sort of landed in this apocalypse situation. So now we really just get to take a deep dive into, like, what's going on here in Seattle. Are we going to get revenge for Joel? And how? How this all plays out is such an unknown, it's such a mystery to me. Like I don't know what's going to happen, episode after episode. So I'm like I'm all the way back in. In that sense. Now you might know a little bit more about the Jeffrey Wright character and the Caitlin Deaver character. So again, maybe only speaking up until what we've seen four episodes in, but how have you liked their presence in the show so far?
Speaker 2:So Jeffrey Wright as Isaac I thought was really exciting. We don't, I don't even really. I'm like trying to think in the game. I'm like, do we even see Isaac? Isaac is talked about quite a bit, but we don't I don't know that we really see a lot of him. So I'll leave it at that and we can touch back on this later, if you know, if I mean, if we ever do another episode like this or you and I personally can talk, but just yeah, I think that Jeffrey Wright as Isaac is great. I loved his scene. It was, I mean, very intense, very much.
Speaker 2:You know, we do see a little bit of that in the game and then with Abby. So I think it's important to talk about Abby here for a second, because Abby is a huge part of the game. Because Abby is a huge part of the game and, like I said, you do play her and all I will. I, yeah, I can't even say that. So Abby in the game is she has dedicated her life to finding Joel. She has ever since her father's death. That is not revealed until later in the game, whereas her motives for killing Joel were immediately revealed.
Speaker 1:I do understand the reason Was that, yeah, that was like the first scene of this season, wasn't it? And that was a real table setter. That that lets you know, as the audience member, like this is the number one thing you need to be paying attention to this season my theory for that is that there was so much rage with joel's death in the first place with the games.
Speaker 2:Um, the, the girl who played ellie or played abby in the games because it's motion capture um, she had death threats sent to her and her family um create after the game came out. Um, people just really need to like go touch grass at the end of the day. But like so I, there was a lot of like uproar with that from what I heard, and I didn't realize this until recently and until like the last year or so. But you know, when you play the game it's absolutely shocking. You have no idea that that's going to happen. You're like, who is this girl? Why is she here? Why did she just kill Joel? Like you're kidding me and then you're going to make me play her, you're going to make me play this character that just did that. I'm like you're absolutely not, and so I know a lot of people had stopped playing the game for a while before they picked back up again.
Speaker 2:Um, so, with the game, I, I really do believe that if they hadn't revealed, um, abby's motive in the beginning, that they would have lost a lot of viewers, kind of like. I'm seeing a lot of people compare this to like when glenn died in the walking, that they would have lost a lot of viewers, kind of like. I'm seeing a lot of people compare this to like when glenn died in the walking dead. You know this beloved character who just did not deserve to die. Um, I, I mean not that I believe that joel deserved to die, but it's not like abby didn't have a reason. You know, um, but in the game you are not. They do not tell you that until later, when you are having a flashback, um, going into the hospital, and then you realize what happened.
Speaker 2:You're like, oh my god interesting I really wish that they would have stuck with that, because it's just way more exciting and like just another that's a great reveal, yeah and twist, but I really I do really wonder if it was because they knew that there was going to be so much upset about joel dying and this like brutal death, the second episode in that it was going to make ratings tank, and so I think that they had to give abby a motive like right away.
Speaker 2:So you're like hey, hey, hey, wait, this is why she did it, you know, and not that it like I mean not that it justifies it necessarily, but it's just more so like people could understand. But I'm like, no, like you should have, it would have been way cooler to know that later on. Like, trust your audience to stick with you, but well, and now it.
Speaker 1:What it gives us also is this kind of like I don't know, like a scar mufasa kind of like arc for both, for both the abby character and the ellie character, where, like, abby is on her own revenge quest and, because of what she's gone through and what she feels she has to do on her revenge quest, it has set ellie off on hers and and so you have these two. You know, one is supposed to be good, one is supposed to be evil in our eyes, but it's like, how different are they really?
Speaker 2:of course, right so another big, you know, cause for concern is the casting decision for Abby. I personally think that Caitlin Devers is killing it as her. I think she sounds just like Abby. Physically she does not. She looks like her, but minus the physique. Abby in the game is this she is ripped, she's got broad shoulders, she's got big arms. She, like I said, she has spent the last five years training in military training and she's a wolf and she's a wolf and she is here to find joel.
Speaker 2:she has dedicated her life to finding joel and and and it shows, you know, she is a crazy bitch, you know, and it's. It is an interesting choice to have a very small, petite actress playing a character who is very famously supposed to be like, pretty built, that's like, and at first I was. You know, I've been talking with my friend about this a lot, because I go back and forth, because I'm like, okay, I would rather see a really great performance than her to look exactly like her. But the thing is is that her muscles and her physique is so much a part of who she is and a big part of her character, and so I think they did drop the ball a little bit on that. But from what I have seen from Caitlin, I'm really happy for her. I think that I really love her as an actress number one and I think seeing her in this role is exciting.
Speaker 2:Knowing the evolution of abby and what we see throughout the game, um, the, the rest of the game and I without spoiling anything is just an incredible dive into what revenge and grief can do to people. It's incredibly emotional. I mean, I'm not a gamer by any means, but this game changed my life. I mean truly. I think that it's just an incredible look at the evolution of father-daughter relationships, um, what one will do to combat grief, um, and, and there's just so much more layers to this game. I think that than like people realize, and it's a cinematic experience in itself.
Speaker 2:Um, the game and so I know you know there's it's exciting to watch it all unfold on the show, but I know that there are there's going to be obvious critiques, no matter what you do, when you add, adapt from something, but, um, I think, from what? Like, all, like what we're seeing so far, I'm really I'm, I'm pretty sad for it, right, like I'm not, I don't have a lot that I'm upset about really, so I don't know. I'm excited to see Abby's evolution more unfold in this way. I'm excited to see our audience experience Abby more because I, she's a, she's a really dynamic, she's an interesting character. We will see more of her.
Speaker 1:Well, you certainly had me excited to see more. I'm I'm also just I'm happy that Seattle's getting a lot of love and a lot of attention. It's really cool. There was even you, you know, as dina and ellie are on their way to seattle, they they pass a highway sign that says like the mileage until seattle. Tacoma is on that sign and gosh, it's in the game.
Speaker 2:It's incredible the way that they transformed seattle in the game and you know, even just I recently replay in the game and you know, even just I recently replayed the game a few months ago and I was up in Seattle like a month later and I was driving by the courthouse. The courthouse is a big part of the game and I'm just like that's so crazy, that's like from the last of us. It's just it's so cool. In game you explore you. There you have the opportunity, like in this last episode, that we saw them get into seattle and like and they're in in capitol hill they're in capitol hill and they're walking around.
Speaker 2:You're walking around like on the like the old interstate in the show and you in the game you can really explore that area and like go into all these little stores and shops and there's like a coffee shop that you can go into and like the record store that we saw, which I thought that they did that scene beautifully. By the way, when Ellie sings, take on me, that is a direct scene from the game. It's incredibly emotional, um, so very well done. I think this last episode was very well done, just in general. Um, but yeah, it's, it's so fun to play when you play in the game and you see the, just all the signs, and you're like that is so crazy because Cause that's actually what Seattle looks like, but overrun as if it was post-apocalyptic.
Speaker 1:So it's very cool, that's very neat, okay, so let's, let's also spend a little bit of time. I'll let you kind of go for, like a rapid fire, if you want to, at the end of of some of the other shows, but the other one that I really sat down and watched in preparation for this episode to have a good conversation with you about is the Studio, the new comedy satire of Hollywood, which is on Apple TV and it is being brought to us by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, along with a few other folks. It stars Seth Gold, us by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, along with a few other folks. It stars Seth Rogen as Seth Rogen and then Evan Goldberg, but it stars Seth Rogen as the newly hired head of a studio, continental Studios, which I'm wondering if that's supposed to be a stand-in for some other studio. I don't know.
Speaker 1:I'm sure if we got into the studio TikTok algorithm, there'd be people breaking it down for us, but it's one of these peek-behind-the-curtain kind of shows, much like what we've seen with something like Entourage.
Speaker 1:I think that is, I'm sure, being made as a huge comparison out there right now, and so I don't know In this day and age, in 2025, going back even just 15 years, when something like Entourage was really popular. The industry has changed so much and so I know you've never watched Entourage Me having seen both shows and then also, just you know, kind of like paying attention to other um, other satirical content that has come out, um, and almost these like indictments of of how goofy and how silly Hollywood truly is at its core. How do you think this show, what kind of job do you think this show is doing at, at exposing that? I mean, maybe that's like too heavy of a question. Like let's start with just like, do you like the show or you having fun watching it, I guess, but what I want to get to is like, is this show ultimately like effective in in what its mission is? You think I don't know a lot to unpack with this show for?
Speaker 2:me? I well, first of all, this is my favorite show right now. I was so pleased to hear that yesterday they announced that a second season is officially happening. Um, I think that this is and this is probably I am absolutely biased, being such a film nerd and somebody who has spent a lot of my life I, like you know, dreaming of working in the industry. I think, watching this show, it's easy for me to say, like watch, you have to watch this, it's so good. But I am realizing there is a lot of, like you know, hollywood inside stuff that is maybe not nearly as interesting as other like to other people.
Speaker 2:I'm loving it. I think it is. Not only is it just so like fascinating, because I do believe they are doing a really great job at portraying what Hollywood might really be like, but I'm also just enjoying the performances. It's just, you know, seth I, seth Rogen, has held my hand through my adolescence, right? I mean, we grew up with all of his movies in high school, post high school and he's a he's always a favorite of mine. His humor is just right up my alley him and Evan's humor and writing all that. But you know, I'm just I'm loving the characters. I'm loving just the.
Speaker 2:I love the setup because you know, if you haven't watched the show, it's every episode is totally different than the next. They just recently have we circled back from an idea that was mentioned very early on in the season, but for the most part, every episode is like a different issue. Um, they're. They're like we've talked about before, they're 30 minute episodes pretty much, and really we are just following Seth and his team just kind of tackle like a new studio issue each episode. And I love that format. It's just fun and it's just it's an easy watch and as is it effective, I think so. I mean, I think a lot of the stuff that they are talking about each episode there's a lot of like actual um things. I mean, you know, aside from our main cast, everybody plays themselves um you know, which is fun to see, where you know every episode.
Speaker 2:You know nick stoller was just in last week's episode and nick stoller is, you know, he is the director of of neighbors and um, god, what else, and forgetting sarah marshall and all those movies. You know he's a very famous comedian, or comedic director, slash writer, who has worked with seth rogan before, um, and so it's, it's nice to. There's just all these like quote, quote, unquote cameos, I guess in each episode, which I'm really interested in, and I think that a lot of the stuff that they're touching on is actually is they're probably not too far off from like what's you know what Hollywood was really like what's.
Speaker 1:You know what hollywood was really like? Yeah, I mean, I think about the episode I think it's either the second or the third episode but the one where seth, as the studio head, really wants to go be present, um, on sarah paulie's film set because she's shooting like a one-er, so like a one continuous shot, and he keeps saying that like this going to be this movie's Copacabana scene from, like good fellas, and to say that we were there is going to be so cool. So he and Ike Barinholtz, like he's dragging him along with him, he's like we got to be there, we got to be there. And then so much of what happens in that episode like it's it's very cringe, it's very cringe on purpose and it becomes like hard to watch at a certain point because Seth just can't get out of his own way and I have to imagine that either him and just his writing room team were pulling from lived experiences and or it could be in both. You know, like Sarah Pauly is saying I've had this happen to me on the set before. Greta Lee is saying I've had this on a set before, where I have to stop a take because I can hear somebody chewing or talking or whispering or doing whatever, like offset For those peek behind the curtain kind of moments where you know it's not like we're ever going to get.
Speaker 1:You know, probably bonus content or extra set or dealt with a studio head that that talked to you this way or wanted to green light a project like this over something, um, you know, maybe more artistic or whatever the case may be, because that's really Seth's whole thing, right Is, he's the head of the studio now and the only person who he really has to answer to is the Bryan Cranston character who is just bottom line oriented, just money, money, money. He wants to make a Kool-Aid movie because he thinks it can be the next Barbie movie. Seth Rogen's character just he wants to work with Martin Scorsese, he wants to make the next great art house film that wins 10 Oscars but it is also financially successful, and so so much of it feels like to me. So much of the show feels like it's Seth Rogen kind of like getting a chance to really tell Hollywood, and maybe more so because I'm sure his inner circle and people in the business know what kind of guy Seth Rogen is at this point. But it's really Seth Rogen having an opportunity to tell, I think the public at large, the kind of person that he is and probably the kind of person that a lot of people in Hollywood really are, and like, look, this is why we can't do all the fun stuff that that you want us to be doing anymore. It's because we have to do the song and dance, we have to sit through excruciating meetings, we have to watch, you know, a movie like the Ron Howard episodes I thought was again like cringe but also really funny, because it's like this is what happens when you guys think, oh, a director should just always have final cut.
Speaker 1:Like, give directors final cut, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And then they're like we had to sit there four and a half hours or whatever it is, you know, um, so it's definitely satirical, it's definitely poking fun at a lot of stuff, but then that's where, again, like and I can't wait to get Max's take on this you know this is the one show in particular that I know he is also plugged into and watching habitually, week after week, you know, because part of it is like it is glamorizing the industry, part of it is a huge indictment, I think, on the industry, and so how much you know how much of that do you want to buy into? And say so? How much? You know, how much of that do you want to buy into and say this is for the cameras versus this is really what's happening? And we are all kind of fucked because what's going to be made next is the Kool-Aid man movie versus Martin Scorsese's Jonestown movie. So I don't know, it's, it's.
Speaker 1:It is pretty fascinating, it it is, I think, saying probably more than a show like entourage was saying back in, like the early two thousands, whereas I was much more about just like look what the right people around you, you can make anything happen. Basically, um, but I do think that there still are a lot of comparisons to be made between the two shows, just because of their setting and much like how you said, everybody outside of Seth Rogen's character is playing themselves. That's exactly how entourage was handled. So so, yeah, I think I think it's good when there's a show like this, that that gets people engaged in why movies in particular and it's always ironic when you know a tv show kind of shows us why movies are made and why studios are ran the way that they are, um, and and so, yeah, I don't know it's. It caught me by surprise, I will say that, and and it's holding my interest longer than I expected it to. After episode one.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of little nods to just even just stuff that we've talked about. You know, the three of us together, you know, on here like like I'm.
Speaker 2:You know, there's one episode where, um, like Seth makes a comment about, you know, straight to streamers, movies and stuff. And you know, and they're really like I mean, just recently, in one of the episodes he was just really highlighting the importance of getting to the movie theater and I think that they're that's why I'm like I feel like this is a very authentic show because there's real like you can tell they're like, they're making light of this. But it's also, at the same time, like, hey, like you know, matt Remick, which is Seth Seth Rogen's character, matt, is extremely passionate about film. Rogan's character, matt, is extremely passionate about film. You know he is, he is a film lover and he was given this job, um, and, and he thinks, and he wants to really do well with this job. But you know, as in, you know, as is hollywood, things are about it's money first, really, it's really what's going to be most successful at the box office, and I that's a huge theme throughout every episode that we see is him trying to save his career, like you know, make sure, like his, his career is on lockdown, but also that he is being true to his like, like genuine love for for the game, you know, I mean, he loves movies and I think that, um, you know, just lots of little remarks, that's kind of. That's why I, I feel like this is like the really like outing hollywood in this, in the show, and I, I love it. I think it's fun to watch and I think it's fun to see these like, to see like these big actors acknowledge these things that maybe, like fans can obviously see too.
Speaker 2:You know where we're like. We want more original content. You know we don't want to see this like, you know, just like remake after remake or whatever it is. We want to see original ideas and it's nice, it's like. It's like I feel like so much of like what we've talked about and what I feel has just it's like being shown in this show, you know, and I'm like, ok, so it's not just me that feels like this. This is like, I mean, seth Rgan is is making a show about it, you know, and it's it's so fascinating to watch, um, it's also just fucking hilarious, you know, it's it's fun every, every episode does have a really sharp script.
Speaker 1:I do think that this show is going the extra mile to to really make every, especially like boardroom conversation and every scenario that plays out on a set like very, um, anxiety inducing, like like a lot of punchy dialogue, a lot of over-the situations, which, again, this is why I would love to know like what's real and what's not, like what are you exaggerating? What, um, is actually a lived experience by somebody? So I do think that the show could maybe and this is where I like and again like with the last of us and me I kept going back to game of Thrones it makes me almost want to like revisit entourage and like do I need to give entourage more credit for actually being a show that was doing more like inside baseball, kind of like here's how the sausage is made, kind of stuff, versus just like here's some guys and they're trying to date hot girls and drive fast cars and be in action movies, like that's, I think, a lot of what people remember entourage for, whereas the more I'm thinking back on it, I'm like there's a lot of uh, a lot of really deep stuff in that show which I think the studio is really just like they're focusing on that stuff first and like it's it's the way that the studio is. Funny to me is not like laugh out loud funny, but it's kind of like huh, yeah, like that's that is so ironic or that is like so ridiculous, or like this is great satire, because, yeah, I've seen that happen before, kind of stuff like it's just a tip of the cap kind of show we're like well done, I see what you're doing here um, kind of funny to me and, and maybe not even like funny, but just like really entertaining, like highly, highly entertaining, and so I don't know it's.
Speaker 1:You said it's renewed for a second season. It'll be interesting, It'll be very interesting to see how it comes or how it fares, come like the golden globes and the Emmys to see, because you know it's. It's a known fact that, like when it comes to the Oscars, hollywood loves movies. About making movies, like will the television voting bodies respond warmly to a show that is highly critical at times of more so the movie industry? But also just kind of like how things get made in the business, how things get, how things get made in in the business? Um, so, yeah, it's, it's very it's, it's refreshing to have it and it's.
Speaker 1:It's a big win for Apple. I think it's probably Apple's biggest shows, um, best, best new original show, since, like Ted Lasso or I know, the morning show has been around forever. But, um, this is like a big, it's a. It's a really good moment, or I guess severance right, severance is on Apple. Yeah, I can't keep track of them all. Erica Severance isn't that old, so so, yeah, I guess this is just like another domino and in a long line of like things that have have worked for for Apple.
Speaker 1:So, shout out to Apple. They've, they've sort of figured it out with their movies. They're one of the only streamers to have captured a major Oscar at the Academy Awards, that of course being Coda winning Best Picture. And yeah, now they seem to have really had it going in the television world for a while now. Yeah, I know that there's some others, others. Is there anything more about the studio that you want to give a shout out to? We've kind of hit the point where I think you just now we're going to tell everybody everything else that you've been watching, because I know there's a lot. Um, I think my beloved paramount plus and mob land maybe gets a shout out here. I don't know.
Speaker 2:You've been watching it all, so, so tell us what's good well, my other show that I've been watching on apple tv is your friends and neighbors, um, starring john ham, and we also have amanda pete in it and then um, I honestly at that off the top of my head, could not tell you the other people who are in it. But Jon Hamm is our main character. It's kind of like a crime drama and he is basically like an ex-hedge fund manager. He gets fired and he turns to burglary to kind of keep himself afloat. He lives in a very prestigious neighborhood I want to say somewhere in New York, maybe like upstate New York I'm not really I don't know exactly where it takes place, but very prestigious community and he is basically burglarizing is that the word His friends, like he knows the people that he is stealing from.
Speaker 2:The show is centered around that and it's just kind of this. It's kind of one of those like nosy neighbor movie shows. You know we're all. We're touching on everyone's drama and everyone's affairs and what's going on. And last week's episode really peaked and kind of circled back to a scene we see at the very start of the season and I'm just loving it. It's just a fun watch. It's definitely holding my attention.
Speaker 2:I think Jon Hamm is great as our main guy and you know it's it's not like the best thing I've ever seen it's, you know, but it's, it's a good. It's a good crime drama like neighborhood thriller type of thing. You know what I mean. So I'm really into that right now. Apple TV just has kind of a chokehold on me right now.
Speaker 2:And then what else am I watching? I started watching Hacks, which has been around for a while. I'm like, where the hell have I been? It's hilarious. It's a show, gene Smart which we actually just saw. A little Gene Smart cameo in the last episode of the studio, which I thought was funny, and kind of alluded to her accepting an award for the show Hacks.
Speaker 2:And so Hacks has been around for a while. But you know, shout out to shout out to that. I'm, I'm loving it. It's really funny. She plays a, a vegas comedian who is, um, kind of losing her spark a little bit. So they hire a young comedic actress to come work with her in vegas, um, or comedic writer and um. So I don't even want to like go into it too much because I know I'm going to just sound like not that knowledgeable, considering I think it has like five seasons, and so it's obviously been around for a while, and I'm just now coming to it uh, there's been new black mirror episodes that I know we've talked about off mic yeah, have you, have you I did not get to any black mirror, no, okay I have watched most of them.
Speaker 2:There is a very standout, a couple standout episodes. Um my particular favorite was eulogy with paul giamatti pretty, pretty deep stuff. I think that you could almost consider these episodes as like little miniature movies. You can actually log them on. Letterboxd Hotel Reverie, I believe, is another episode which was really amazing. It's a good. It's a very heavy season emotionally, I think it's it's it's just dark, you know, but that's Black Mirror for you. But without spoiling it, I think it's a good season. But definitely check out Eulogy with Paul Giamatti.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then tell me what is happening on Paramount Plus with Mobland, just like I don't know how much you've watched of it. So sorry to put you on the spot, but anytime I open up that app, I think people know that that's kind of my go-to.
Speaker 2:Have you watched any of it?
Speaker 1:I haven't, but it's one click away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I watched the first couple episodes and it was honestly a minute ago. I have I need to circle back to it, but I think it's definitely worth a watch. I think you'd like it. I mean again, I'm very biased because tom hardy is my man.
Speaker 2:He is my main guy I would watch him and do anything. So I don't, I, I can't. I would never say that he's bad in anything, to be totally honest. So, but I'm really enjoying it. I think that he's kind of in his element with a show like this. Um, and then, uh, what is the actress that's in it? Um, I'm trying, I'm totally blanking on the the main woman in Mobland, but it's, it's worth. I think that you, I need, I want to keep watching it. It's definitely, um, piqued my interest, for sure, paramount plus.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, I did fall off the the yellow jackets wagon, unfortunately, so I know that would be probably a big topic of conversation, but cause I know that the there's a new season that just recently came out, but unfortunately they've pretty much lost me, so I haven't not into that anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I watched season one of that and loved it. Season two definitely lost some momentum and and season three I've yet to engage with and I think that's the one that just came out yeah, yeah, well, that's, it's. This, it's a lot it's. I mean, this is the thing about television. Is that it's not like when we were growing up and Fox had a show, cbs had a show and then maybe your premium cable networks had like two or three shows, and it was kind of like, okay, yeah, my parents are watching Sex and the City and Sopranos and I'm watching some reality TV show on Fox, and then maybe a show like 24 or CSI is popular now, and there was just kind of your five or six.
Speaker 1:There's so much to watch now and so that's why and to be honest, like that's why that's why not that there aren't a million different movies that play in theaters and get released to streamers and do the festival circuit, and that is a ton to keep track of and can be overwhelming at times or whatever. But TV is just such a it's. It's an insurmountable mountain. You can never watch everything, which is why we usually don't dedicate too many episodes to it. On this show, we are a movie podcast, but it is always fun to kind of turn our attention elsewhere for a week and it was really fun A show like the White Lotus going to be watching it anyways and so to set aside 75 minutes to talk about that and the Last of Us and some other really cool things that are happening. It's refreshing, like we talked about at the top, to kind of switch gears here every now and then I agree um, okay, anything, anything.
Speaker 1:Well, okay, one last thing. I suppose are there other things coming out this summer that you're looking forward to on tv? Do you know if there's anything else big?
Speaker 2:I really don't know. I mean, I'm always just kind of waiting to hear when the next season of the bears coming out it's's a huge, like big favorite of mine. But honestly I have no idea. I'm not plugged into the new, like the new releases of TV shows, honestly.
Speaker 1:Euphoria is another one that I've been.
Speaker 1:That's another one that I do watch when it's on in real time, and more and more information and, of course, like some of it, problematic, some of it just like really concerning, again, it's almost good. It's now to the point where it's like the stranger things issue of, okay, these kids are supposed to be in high school, or what are you going to do? You're going to put them like freshman year of college Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney and all these different people, jacob Elordi, like we all know that they're in their mid twenties now, you know, like approaching their, you know some of them turning 30. And so this is the problem when you wait three years between seasons and then you only give us eight episodes or whatever it is. However, I did read recently that all eight episodes of the new euphoria season are each going to be pushing like 60 to 80 minutes, and so they will also be almost like their own mini movies. I love that week after week, which which is good At least. At least there's, there's more content there than just 45 minutes.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you brought Euphoria up, because that was definitely one of my favorite shows when it first came out. I mean just groundbreaking show I thought this was. You know, there's been a lot of tragedy around this show, unfortunately, and a lot of controversy too, so I will be really curious to see what this new season is like, just like you said, given that there's been so much time that's passed, and also we have seen Sydney Sweeney's career just completely skyrocket since the last season. That last season really put her on the map with her performance as Cassie, and so I'm very excited to see what's going to happen. But because of some unfortunate real life events that took place after the second season released and the way that the second season ended, I don't know. We'll see what happens. So very, very interesting show.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right. So that'll do it for our television conversation today. On excuse the intermission. Next week we will be back and, without spoiling too much, we're just going to be checking in on our guy Max. I know that there's been one story that will shock and surprise a lot of you, erica.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you've heard it yet from Max, but I have heard a story so I'm wondering if I know if it's the same one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, um, and then we'll do kind of, you know, like a roundup on on some news. Maybe some people are saying snippets and yeah, just try to get used to this, try to get used to this new normal of of meeting virtually week after week. Um, but I can't wait to have max back for the listeners to get updated on everything that's been happening with him. And you know me and you maybe we'll see. We'll see if max comes around, I know he'll want to talk about the studio with us but, um, maybe we can save like five minutes at the end of each episode going forward to talk about the last of us, because, um, I'm, I'm in, I'm all in cool all right.
Speaker 1:So until next time, follow the two of us plus max. On letterboxd, even though let me tell you people, I don't think I've logged a movie on letterboxd in like two months um, yeah, I and it's not that I'm not watching stuff, I just I don't know, I don't know what's gotten into me. Um, so you can't. You can try to keep track of what some of us are watching between episodes and we'll talk to you next time. On excuse the intermission, where movies still matter.
