There’s the threat of a writers strike looming over Hollywood, so this week we invited the new Bing chatbot to join us in the hopes of befriending our new cloud-based creative overlords. Take it away, Bing!
"Hello, this is Bing. Welcome to Streamageddon, the podcast where we review everything streaming and TV. In this episode, we’ll take a look at two mid-season network sitcoms: Not Dead Yet on ABC and American Auto on NBC.
"But that’s not all. We’ll also check in on the guest hosts at The Daily Show, discuss the impending end of Succession, try to explain Paramount’s new pricing strategy and play America’s favorite game: Renewed or Canceled?!
"You don’t want to miss this episode of Streamageddon!"
(Check out the bonus segment at the end of the episode where we fact check Bing!)
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes (starting at 48:36) 🚨
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes of Season 2 (starting at 1:02:19) 🚨
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Rian Johnson’s Poker Face is a sly new case-of-the-week detective series anchored by Natasha Lyonne’s performance as Charlie Cale, a woman on the run with one special skill: She can always tell when someone is lying. Oh, and everywhere she goes someone seems to die. Thankfully the lie thing usually helps her solve the murders, so it all works out in the end!
The series is arguably Peacock’s first bonafide hit, but is it any good? We unpack the pros and cons of the show’s throwback format: Inspired by classics like Columbo and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (classics, I say!) each episode of Poker Face reveals the murderer at the start of the episode and asks us to watch Charlie try to piece it together.
Plus! We check-in on The Last of Us and answer these burning questions about the streaming universe:
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 4 Episodes (starting at 35:47) 🚨
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 5 Episodes (starting at 56:13) 🚨
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This week we’re coming at you with a double feature of deja vu starring a pair of reboots: Night Court (NBC/Peacock) and That 90s Show (Netflix).
Do these spiritual successors capture the essence of their original runs? And honestly, should they? The original Night Court was horny on main years before we even had a term for it, and That 70s Show thrived in the cynical heyday of early 2000s Fox.
Join us as we discuss the many challenges involved in successfully rebooting any show— but especially comedies!— and how we draw the line between Reboots, Revivals, and Spin-Offs.
And yes, we’re going to answer the BIG question we already know you’re asking: Is the upcoming Frasier series a reboot or a revival? Spoiler alert: Dianne makes a shocking case for deeming it a spin-off (!!!) and Chris proposes retconning a new title for the entire Frasier canon in order to make it work. So if you’re listening, Paramount execs, My Seattle Life! is just waiting to be green-lit…
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: The First 2 Episodes of Night Court (2023), plus the original series (starting at 30:36) 🚨
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes of That 90s Show, plus the original series (starting at 41:23) 🚨
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Finally, a show that answers the age-old question: “What if The Mandalorian let us see Pedro Pascal’s face and had a sidekick who can talk?”
Yes, this week we’re streaming a different -ageddon: It’s the kind of armageddon that puts the “fun” in fungal… but is it any good? We’re reviewing the pilot of HBO’s The Last of Us in order to find out!
On the way we’ll discuss the latest streaming news and TV’s rich history of post-apocalyptic fare (and not-so-rich history of live action video game adaptations).
But first it’s an emergency round of America’s favorite game: Renewed or Canceled?! Play along as Dianne guesses the fate of these streaming shows:
Can you go 10 for 10? Lock in your guesses now and find out in this week’s episode.
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: First Episode (starting at 38:42) 🚨
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Contains spoilers for Renewed or Canceled?!
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We love a good storytelling gimmick and this week we’re sharing our favorites (and least favorites) as we unpack the new Netflix heist series Kaleidoscope.
Plus we answer all your burning questions, like:
But first it’s a surprise round of America’s favorite game: Renewed or Canceled?! Play along as Dianne guesses the fate of these streaming shows:
Can you go 5 for 5? Lock in your guesses now and find out in this week’s episode.
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🚨 Spoiler Alert starting at 43:34 🚨
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Contains spoilers for “Renewed or Canceled?!”
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We’re stuffing your stocking with a spoiler-packed bonus episode about this holiday’s streaming hit: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: Full Movie 🚨
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We saw the latest Knives Out mystery in theaters and we have spoiler-free thoughts to share to help you get excited to stream it on at home!
We’ll discuss Netflix’s latest experiment with a hybrid theatrical/streaming strategy, plus the other mysteries plaguing the streaming universe, such as…
It’s a case only Benoit Blanc can solve, but unfortunately you’re stuck with us instead!
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🚨 Extremely light spoilers starting at 44:29, but really we’re not spoiling this one for you!🚨
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It’s kill or be killed (or just, like, have a so-so vacation) in the explosive finale of The White Lotus in Sicily! We’ll dish out the details, including the results of our White Lotus Murder Bracket in less time than it takes to drive to Taormina.
Plus: Will HBO Max drop the HBO and go all-Max all the time? Can you even trademark the word “Max” and does this mean people named Max will be signing up for “Max’s Max”??
But that’s not the only madness brewing in the streaming universe this week, because Warner Brothers Discovery CEO is picking a fight with the big dogs at Netflix. And we have real news about the next chapter of fake news now that The Daily Show is officially without Trevor Noah.
Pour another glass of white wine and join us as we bid arrivederci to one of the year’s best shows!
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: All Episodes through Season 2, Episode 7 (starting at 22:13) 🚨
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2022 was a wild year for streaming and we’re here to crown the winners (and a couple of losers) in our First Annual Streaming Superlative Spectacular!
Which news story captured the essence of streaming in 2022? Which characters were the best couple? Who was best dressed? Which show was the life of the party? Who gave us the best finale? And who delivered the biggest disappointments of the year?
We’ll answer those questions (and more!) but don’t worry: No spoilers, just superlatives!
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Has franchise fatigue doomed the excellent Andor to streaming obscurity? Or is the hype cycle about to go to hyperspace as viewers binge the full season? We’ll dissect the data then unpack our favorite moments from season 1 (don’t worry, we’ll warn you before we get to the spoilers!).
But first! Is a Fraiser reboot still a reboot if only Frasier returns? Where do we draw the line between reboot, spin-off, and spiritual successor? And if reboots are all the rage can someone do us a favor and reboot Whose Line Is It Anyway? before the series ends this winter?
Plus: The Disney Empire Strikes Back, but will the Return of the Jed-Iger bring A New Hope to the rebel alliance that ousted Emperor Bob Chapek? Will the returning Bob prove to be more of a Phantom Menace or is he the only Rogue One capable of navigating the Disney+ through the Attack of the Clones (by which we mean the ever-expanding universe of indistinguishable streaming services)?*
All that and more on this week’s Streamageddon!
*We aren’t even going to try to squeeze the sequel trilogy in there. Make of that what you will.
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🚨 Spoiler Alert: Season 1, All 12 Episodes (starting at 25:46) 🚨
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