#52 – Summer of Strike, Comedy in Crisis, and Disney's TV Dilemmas

The one with the return of "What's that, Bob?"

We’re gathered in the Streamageddon war room with a clear-eyed (panicked), sober (not), and thoroughly researched (hastily googled) analysis of the shocking double strike that seems destined to paralyze TV and streaming productions for months to come. In less than 40 minutes we promise to (maybe) explain:

  • Why Netflix might be willing to throw their “peers” in the AMPTP under the bus
  • Which shows are still in production (and why!)
  • Who stands to lose the most with the shift away from residuals
  • And why that Black Mirror episode about AI CGI Annie Murphys was probably more accurate than we were willing to admit…

You’ll even learn why Ronald Reagan’s name was in the news again last week!

But that’s not even the only emergency-pod-worthy news we have for you!

  • The Emmy nominations are here, they’re weird, and apparently we have to get used to calling The Bear a comedy now.
  • Speaking of TV comedies: Wait, where did all the TV comedies go? And why aren’t any of them on NBC?
  • At least ABC has Abbott Elementary… at least until Disney’s Bob Iger says something ominous that gets us asking our favorite question-slash-segment: “What’s That, Bob?”

Also, we have an extremely legitimate pitch for John Oliver to buy The Disney Channel. (Just hear us out, Bob!)

Finally, we’ll lighten the mood with two spoiler-free streaming recommendations!

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#51 – The Bear is the Show of the Summer… Again!

The one where we say "Yes, chef!"

Hollywood is in turmoil but what does that mean for your fall streaming?! We’re digging into the upheaval with a super-sized round of Renewed or Canceled?! that will leave you screaming… and then apologizing to the people around you for screaming (tell them to subscribe!).

Then we’re digging into the show of the summer: The Bear.

Join us for some hospitality, won’t you?

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📺 Review: The Bear (Season 2)

🚨 Spoiler Alert: All Episodes through Season 2, Episode 10 (starting at 34:46) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 2 (All Episodes Available)
  • Where to Watch: Hulu

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🔗 Links:

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#50 – Joan is Awful, Paramount+ is Purging, and Black Mirror is Back!

The one where we realize we’ve been living in a Black Mirror episode this whole time.

Black Mirror is back, but in a truly shocking twist: One of us has never watched it! We’ll rewind time to 2011 and compare the original season 1 premier (“The National Anthem”) with the star-studded season 6 kickoff (“Joan is Awful”). Plus: Chris shares some of his favorite episodes from past seasons (no spoilers!) to help you find the perfect Black Mirror entry point for everyone in your streaming life.

But first! A dizzying trip through the headlines:

  • Paramount+ pulls a “Max” and purges everything from Amy Schumer to Star Trek…
  • … and purges their cheapest ad-free plan along the way (But hey, at least you get whatever’s left of Showtime included now!)
  • Netflix tells new Canadian customers “No cheap ad-free tier for you, either!”
  • Warner Brothers Discovery casually threatens to murder classic films
  • And Wheel! Of! Fortune!

☀️ All that and more on a particularly summery Streamageddon. ☀️

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📺 Review: Black Mirror

🚨 Spoiler Alert: All Episodes through Season 6, Episode 1 (But it’s an anthology, so don’t panic!) (starting at 25:06) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 6 (All Episodes Available)
  • Where to Watch: Netflix

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🔗 Links:

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#49 – Maximum MAX: Clone High, The Other Two, Succession, and… CNN?!

The one with the Greggest Greg.

BREAKING NEWS: Less than 12 hours after we said “yeah but they probably won’t fire him this week…” CNN CEO Chris Licht was driven to a beautiful farm upstate by WaBro Disco CEO David Zaslav. The Hollywood Reporter has a full obituary of the Chris Licht era.

We also apparently summoned the cancellation of I Love That For You on Showtime, so rest assured: We’re back from vacation and more cursed than ever before!

Join us for a trip through the latest strike news, the existential cringe at CNN, and some shows on MAX that you’ll actually enjoy watching (if you can ever find them in that garbage interface). And as a bonus: We score our TV Tarot predictions after the Succession finale! (Spoiler alert: We’re more Kendall than Tom, if you know what we mean.)

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📺 Review: Clone High

🚨 Spoiler Alert: All Episodes through Season 2, Episode 3 (starting at 34:02) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 2 seasons, 20 years apart (and confusingly separate entries with identical names in the MAX app)
  • Where to Watch: MAX (or is it “max” all lower case? WHO KNOWS!)

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📺 Review: The Other Two

🚨 Spoiler Alert for All Episodes through Season 3, Episode 6 (starting at 47:08) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 3 Seasons
  • Where to Watch: MAX (or “max”, your choice!)

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📺 BONUS: Succession (Final Thoughts!)

🚨 Spoiler Alert for All Episodes (starting at 1:11:04) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 4 Seasons
  • Where to Watch: StarGo

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🔗 Links:

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#48 – Jury Duty on Freevee, Disney Devours Hulu (If You Want), and The Future? It’s Ads!

The one with MaxCock.

The fall TV lineup is taking shape and it’s looking bleak if you’re a fan of… scripts. We’ll have the latest on the WGA strike, plus some big reveals from the biggest streamers:

  • Disney loves Hulu (and ads)
  • ~~HBO~~ Max loves bundles (and ads)
  • And Netflix just loves ads!

Speaking of ads, we’re diving into the FAST-paced world of Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV with Amazon Freevee and the charmingly odd original series Jury Duty.

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📺 Review: Jury Duty

🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes (starting at 33:00) 🚨

  • Renewal Status: Renewed for Season 2
  • Where to Watch: Amazon Freevee (all episodes streaming)

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🔗 Links:

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#47 – Writers Strike, NBC Turmoil, and ‘Citadel’ Spends $300 Million On Some Spy Stuff

The one where we delete your memories.

The Writers Guild of America is on strike demanding a more equitable deal for streaming rights and we’re here with the entirely biased news and analysis you deserve as a true connoisseur of streaming. Coincidentally (really!) we’re reviewing the $300 million Russo Brothers spy series Citadel that just premiered on Amazon Prime Video. (Spoiler alert: We think there are better ways to spend $300 million.)

Plus:

  • We’ll take a look at which shows are immediately impacted by the strike.
  • Roy Wood Jr. hosts the White House Correspondents Dinner.
  • The Super Mario streaming story gets Super Confusing… again.
  • And, oh yeah, the head of NBC got fired in a scandal that tangentially involves Vladimir Putin and somehow that’s not the biggest story of the week.

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📺 Review: Citadel

🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes (starting at 40:53) 🚨

  • Renewal Status: Renewed for Season 2
  • Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video (Streaming Weekly)
  • Spinoffs: Several reportedly in the works

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📼 Rewind Review: The Night Agent

🚨 Spoiler Alert for ALL EPISODES (starting at 1:00:38) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 1
  • Renewal Status: Renewed for Season 2
  • Where to Watch: Netflix

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🔗 Links:

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#46 – Netflix-a-palooza! The Night Agent, BEEF, and… Nike? Plus Everyone’s Favorite Show: The Q1 Earnings Call!

The one where we break a sweat.

You might lose sleep over this meaty episode, because we’re digging into the 2 hottest new shows on Netflix this week: The Night Agent and BEEF. They’re both dominating dominating the charts, but they couldn’t have less in common. We’ll tell you why we’re obsessed with both of them and what their success says about Netflix’s ever-evolving strategy.

Speaking of Netflix… We picked apart the news from the company’s Q1 earnings call and (spoiler alert for your old roommates!) learned that the password crackdown is coming for U.S. customers any day now. But in a twist worthy of The Night Agent we also discovered a shocking truth: Netflix’s Basic with Ads plan might actually be… good now?!

Plus the latest on the looming Hollywood writers strike and, after months of anticipation, Dianne delivers a special report on Netflix’s Nike training collab. That’s right, we’re breaking a sweat so you won’t have to.

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📺 Review: The Night Agent

🚨 Spoiler Alert for First 3 Episodes (starting at 42:43) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 1
  • Number of Episodes Overall: 10 (All Episodes Available)
  • Renewal Status: Renewed for Season 2
  • Where to Stream: Netflix

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📺 Review: BEEF

🚨 Spoiler Alert for First 3 Episodes (starting at 58:17) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 1
  • Number of Episodes Overall: 10 (All Episodes Available)
  • Renewal Status: TBD
  • Where to Watch: Netflix

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🔗 Links:

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#45 – David Zaslav’s Max-tacular! (Feat. HBO)

The one with all that quality content!

HBO Max is dead! Long live HBO… and, uh… Max! Just separately! But together! Also House Hunters is there! MAX!

(Don’t worry, we’ll explain.)

But first! Join us as we cruise through the week’s other big streaming stories sipping champagne with Conor and the gang (like the HBO loving coastal elite we know you are):

  • The Mario Movie broke records, but finding it on streaming will only break your brain.
  • WWE and UFC merged, but what will that mean for everyone’s favorite streaming bird: Peacock?
  • Disney tries to reassure fans that Star Wars is definitely, maybe, probably going to make another movie…
  • … and that they promise they won’t make us watch another season of Obi-Wan Kenobi (uhh… kind of a weird flex, but okay!).
  • But no troubled franchise is troubled quite like Amazon’s The Rings of Power, which even fans struggled to finish. We’ll share the eye-popping details from Kim Masters at The Hollywood Reporter.
  • Rumor has it the mad scientists at HBO are getting ready to invent prequel inception with a Game of Thrones prequel prequel…
  • … but first we’re all taking a trip to Thailand with The White Lotus!

And, of course, we convene an emergency check-in after last weekend’s big episode of Succession.

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📺 Review: Succession (Emergency Check-In)

🚨 Spoiler Alert for All Episodes through Season 4, Episode 3 (“Connor’s Wedding”) (starting at 34:20) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 4
  • Renewal Status: Going out on top, y’all!
  • Where to Watch: HBO, Sundays at 9 PM ET
  • Where to Stream: HBO Max (Er, “MAX”)

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🔗 News Links:

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🔗 Succession Links:

Spoiler Alert, of course!

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#44 – Succession Predictions, Disney Drama, and Hulu’s Hazy Future

The one with the Royal Death Clause.

See that “Explicit” content rating? That can only mean one thing: The final season of Succession is here and we’re dissecting the first episode (F-bombs and all) before sharing our predictions for the show’s ultimate winners, losers, and slime puppies. 🥰

But first! It’s a big week for Disney news: There’s a royal showdown in Florida, Mickey snubs the Metaverse, and personnel shakeups rock Marvel. But the real drama in the house of mouse? It’s the fate of Hulu, which might turn out to be a victim of its own success…

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📺 Review: Succession (Season 4 Premier)

🚨 Spoiler Alert: All Episodes through Season 4, Episode 1 (starting at 33:12) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 4 (Season In Progress)
  • Renewal Status: Going out on top, baby!
  • Where to Watch: HBO, Sundays at 9 PM ET
  • Where to Stream: HBO Max
  • Spinoffs: Yes, please!

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🔗 Links:

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#43 – We Get Down with 'Party Down'

The one with national treasure Ken Marino.

After over a decade off the air the comedy Party Down is back, but can it still serve the laughs? (First you’re going to have to figure out how to give STARZ your $3 to tune in, but we’ll get you caught up in meantime!)

Plus: Peacock doubles down on the success of Poker Face by reminding us that they’ve got plenty of Monk to tide you over until season 2 of the Natasha Lyonne hit. Oh, and maybe they’re threatening to kill off Monk in a new Monk movie? No biggie.

Speaking of movies: What the heck is going on with Netflix’s movie strategy and why don’t they want spend $180 million on the new Nancy Meyers romcom? (But $150 million was totally cool, obvi.)

And HBO celebrates another breakout hit with The Last of Us surpassing House of the Dragon, but that’s not enough to make Disney+ pay to keep streaming HBO’s content in India.

Wait, why is Disney streaming HBO’s content in India? Where’s MAX in all this mess? Someone get us David Zaslav, STAT! (And while we have his attention could he greenlight our Barry spinoff starring NoHo Hank?)

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📺 Review: Party Down

🚨 Spoiler Alert: The first 3 episodes of Season 3, plus assorted spoilers from Seasons 1 & 2 (starting at 24:30) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 3 (Season In Progress)
  • Where to Watch: STARZ
  • Where to Stream Past Seasons: Hulu

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🔗 Links:

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