Streamageddon

#60 – The Highs and Lows of Loki

The one where we try to escape to a better timeline.

It’s a big week for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (but please don’t make us call it that), and we’re celebrating with a deep dive into Loki ahead of this Thursday’s finale that seems destined to set up the next phase of Avengers mayhem (whether we like it or not).

We’ll be back in your feeds next week with our thoughts on the season finale, but that’s not the only Marvel-ing in the news: After months of reshoots and delays The Marvels hits theaters this weekend and promises to reunite us with some of our favorite characters from the Disney+ series WandaVision and Ms. Marvel (if only we can remember those long-ago shows).

We’ll dive deep into the interconnected Marvel mess and discuss whether the company’s new “Spotlight” branding for more standalone series will chart a new path forward.

But first! We’re asking the hard questions that the streaming universe refuses to answer:

  • Just how much is a Hulu worth these days? (Disney is about to find out!)
  • What’s going on with the forbidden episode of Bluey?
  • Who has the better strategy to jam ads in our eyes: Netflix or Amazon?
  • Why is YouTube willing to lose over a billion dollars a year just to carry NFL Sunday ticket?
  • And should Marvel arch-villain Kang be replaced?? (Spoiler alert: Yes!)

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📺 Review: Loki (Season 2)

🚨 Spoiler Alert: All Episodes through Season 2, Episode 5 (starting at 46:45) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 2 (Season In Progress)
  • Renewal Status: Doomed to set up another movie
  • Where to Watch: Disney+
  • Season Finale Premiers: Thursday, November 9
  • Spinoffs: It’s more like an ouroboros at this point (get it?)

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#59 – Marvel's Frasier Invasion

The one where everyone raises their prices.

1990s Pacific Northwest radio icon Dr. Frasier Crane is back, but is the new Boston-set reboot of Frasier really listening to what viewers want? We’ll share some of our favorite classic Frasiers and compare them to the new Paramount+ reboot (which, like the sherry at a Bean Town bar, we found… questionable).

But first!

  • Chris shares his love of CNN Max (he’s aware this makes him a middle aged man now, thanks for asking!)
  • The Daily Show announces more guest hosts (including some returning favorites!)
  • Dianne learns the difference between Space Whales and Earth Whales (it’s a sci-fi thing!)
  • Price hikes at both Netflix and Disney+ leave Chris and Dianne wondering how much spaceships and comic books are really worth these days…
  • …and it turns out Marvel is asking itself the same thing?? We’ll explain!

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🥗 Review: Frasier (2023)

🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 3 Episodes 🚨

  • Where to Watch: Paramount+
  • New Episodes Release: Weekly, on Thursdays
  • Spinoffs: Yes, it is.

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🍳 Bonus Review: Frasier (1993)

🚨 Spoiler Alert for… oh come on, it’s Frasier! 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 11
  • Where to Watch: Paramount+, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu!
  • Spinoffs: Yes, it is.

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🔗 Links:

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#58 – We LOVE The Golden Bachelor (But We Don't Want To Know How He Votes!)

The one where the AMPTP finally offers a rose.

We’re celebrating the end of the WGA strike with a tribute to some of the most emotionally manipulative creative fiction on TV: The Golden Bachelor.

But first we’re wrapping up the big strike settlement, catching up on the return of late night TV, and sharing our streaming advice for YOU in an autumn edition of Add? Keep? Cancel?!

Join us as we bravely enter the Bachelor-verse, even though we’re generally Bachelor-averse!

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📺 Review: The Golden Bachelor

🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes 🚨

  • Where to Watch Live: ABC (Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern)
  • Where to Stream: Next Day on Hulu

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🔗 Links:

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#57 – Oktoberfest Show Swap! German hits Babylon Berlin and Deutschland 83

The one where we ask "is THIS the future of cable?"

The rumors are true… Fall is here! And we’re celebrating with an Oktoberfest-themed German show swap: Babylon Berlin and Deutschland 83.

Plus: Is this the future of cable?!

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📺 Review: Babylon Berlin

🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 4
  • Renewal Status: Renewed
  • Where to Watch: Netflix

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📺 Review: Deutschland 83

🚨 Spoiler Alert: First 2 Episodes 🚨

  • Where to Watch: Hulu
  • Sequels: Deutschland 86 & Deutschland 89

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🔗 Links:

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#56 – The Meryl of It All: Disney Drama, Cable Clash, and Only Murders (Season 3!)

The one with Bob Iger’s bathroom.

We’re teaming up and uncovering all the secrets inside the House of Mouse: From the drama over Bob Iger’s bathroom (really!) to the mysterious disappearance of ESPN and other Disney-owned channels for Charter and Spectrum cable customers. (We even have the latest details on the last-minute deal they struck on Monday!)

Plus: Why is Comcast eagerly moving up the Hulu sale? What does Brian Roberts know that we don’t?? And is it the identity of Ben Glenroy’s killer?!

Yes, we’re also digging into season 3 of Only Murders in the Building, which just passed the halfway point and is turning into quite the whodunit. Except this season one of the whos who might’ve dunit is none other than Meryl Streep. What does her celebrity star power do to the carefully-balanced gravity of our beloved Hulu comedy? Listen through to the end of the episode to find out our opinions on "the Meryl of it all" and our predictions about the identity of the latest killer stalking the halls of the Arconia.

But first! Join us as we…

  • Catch up on the Hollywood strikes!
  • Discuss Rolling Stone’s bombshell piece about the toxic culture at Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
  • And pour one out for Quibi (again!).

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📺 Review: Only Murders in the Building (Season 3)

🚨 Spoiler Alert: All Episodes through Season 3, Episode 6 (starting at 41:23) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 3 (Season In Progress)
  • Where to Watch: Hulu
  • When to Watch: New episodes release Tuesdays

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🔗 Links:

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#55 – Why You Should Still Be Watching What We Do in the Shadows

The one where we embrace the discouraging vibes!

We’re back from our hot streaming summer vacation and ready for a sweaty (and depressing) streaming fall! We’ll summon some laughs with our review of FX stalwart What We Do in the Shadows (wrapping its fifth season this week!) and try our best to conjure some good news after a bleak August.

But first! Get excited for a surprise round of Renewed or Canceled?! (Discouraging Vibes ONLY Edition) and a deep dive into the existential questions plaguing the streaming universe:

  • What exactly will be airing on network TV this fall? And just how many of those things are Bachelor-themed?
  • What’s the deal with the price hikes at Disney+ and Hulu? Listen in as we struggle to understand our options in real time!
  • And speaking of Disney: What are they going to do with ESPN?!

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📺 Review: What We Do in the Shadows (Season 5)

🚨 Light Spoilers for this Vampire Comedy (starting at 26:15) 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 5 (Season Finale This Week)
  • Where to Watch: FX (Next Day on Hulu)
  • Where to Stream Past Seasons: Hulu

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🔗 Links:

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#54 – How To with John Wilson, Hulu’s Animayhem, and Which Streamer You Should Cancel RIGHT NOW

The one where you have to listen to the episode to find out which streamer you should cancel right now.

We’re sharing life lessons this week with our favorite episodes of HBO’s How To With John Wilson (now in its third and final season) plus the inaugural edition of our new segment that helps you make the most of your streaming budget: Add / Keep / Cancel (like F@%& / Marry / Kill, but for streaming!).

But wait, there’s more! Because we’re digging into the Animayhem at Hulu, and playing America’s favorite game— with a twist! Yes, it’s a special all-animation edition of Renewed or Canceled!

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📺 Review: How To With John Wilson

🚨 Light Spoiler Alerts for… 🚨

  • How To Find a Public Restroom (S3 E1)
  • How To Make the Perfect Risotto (S1 E6)

  • How To Throw Out Your Batteries (S2 E4)

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 3 (Season In Progress)

  • Renewal Status: Ending
  • Where to Watch: HBO (a.k.a. “The Max App”)

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🔗 Links:

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#53 – Show Swap! Lincoln Lawyer vs. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The one where we beg for more product placement.

We’re swapping shows and spending a night streaming in each other’s shoes:

  • Will Chris jive with sad jazz law procedural The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix?
  • And will Dianne boldly go where no Dianne has gone before watching a sci-fi rom com episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount+?

But first! In the predictably apocalyptic news:

  • Comcast doesn’t want ESPN (we called it!) but maybe the sports leagues do?
  • Marvel’s Secret Invasion was a bust, but Barbenheimer is a hit! What does that say about IP?
  • Netflix is hiring a Quamputer expert in the midst of a double strike…
  • … and speaking of the strike: Is Netflix really poised to outlast the competition? Or is their international strategy falling flat?
  • Oh, and guess what? DVDs are back, baby! And we love to see it.

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🚙 Summer Show Swap: The Lincoln Lawyer

🚨 Extremely Light Spoilers for Season 1, Episode 1 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 2 (Season In Progress)
  • Where to Watch: Netflix

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👽 Summer Show Swap: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

🚨 Extremely Light Spoilers for Season 2, Episode 5 🚨

  • Number of Seasons Overall: 2 (Season in Progress)
  • Where to Watch: Paramount+

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🔗 Links:

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#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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🔗 Links:

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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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