In one of our greatest holiday traditions, Hayley Leier (ADHD-DVD) returns to talk about the best TV shows of the year. Pluribus! Severance! The Chair Company! Platonic! Much more!

Happy birthday Tom Waits! This year, inspired by the new Knives Out, we're talking about Tom's songs in movies and TV. From The Wire to Beavis and Butt-Head, I'm covering the things I like! Also, with the help of AI, we determine whether or not Tom Waits is Hellboy.

The delightful Rachel Hadaway (host of Rachel's Chart Chat on the People are the Enemy podcast) returns to talk about Season 2 of Peacemaker. We're talking bird blindness, super pets, John Cena being awesome and much more. We had so much fun talking about our favorite guy and hope you'll join us!   NOTE: I don't know why I pronounced "Vigilante" so weird multiple times. I think I got in my head about how harsh my Midwestern vowels sound and overcorrected. 

It's the most sacred holiday on our calendar! After doing two commentary tracks and two drinking game commentary tracks, this year EJ drank weed soda while watching Crank. You will notice that the runtime of this episode is significantly shorter than the movie...   I'm not proud of this one.

This week, EJ watches his favorite new show of the year, Pluribus! Also, Roofman is surprisingly delightful and we wrap up the Predator franchise (for now) with Badlands, a movie that rules. It's all enthusiasm this week, baby!

This week's episode was hastily thrown together while I edit next week's episode. So we talk a little about Slow Horses, Chair Company, Down Cemetery Road and quite a lot about Predator: Killer of Killers. And then some existential, well, not dread exactly. More like some kind of malaise.

In a little bit of a catch-up episode, we make some Cranksgiving plans, and discuss the alphabetical order of James Bond movies. Plus, the Predator rewatch gets us to the awesome Prey and we compare Drive to the Transporter series. You might say I see things.... a little bit differently.

This week, EJ talks about the things he's looking forward to before the end of the year. TV! Movies! Games! Comics! Podcasts! The main five forms of entertainment!   In the Franchise Report, The Predator is a slog but we also watched Edge of Tomorrow and fell in love all over again.

This week, EJ discovers that he's somebody's type. We review the premiere of The Chair Company (awesome) and the finale of Peacemaker (also awesome), and in the Franchise Report, we dig into Predators and remain surprised that it wasn't directed by Robert Rodriguez.

This week, we're talking about One Battle After Another and also a history of Daredevil's tallest villain. In the Franchise Report, a Predator 2 viewing leads us to discover a Quibi version of The Fugitive. We're all over the place today!

This week, we're looking at some recent TV shows that have thematic connections if you squint hard enough - Slow Horses, The Lowdown, and Task. Plus some thoughts on Peacemaker and the newly functional DC Universe and in the Franchise Report, we take on Predator and end up joining the Bill Duke Fan Club.

It's a crumbling nightmare world out there, so EJ's talking about the things that make him happy. The movies, games, podcasts, comics, and TV shows that put a smile on his face. Wizards, mysteries, revivals, radical empathy, and Superman. It's a no bummers episode! Except for the implied bummers of living in 2025.

We're getting back to the original premise of the show this week (EJ talks into a microphone to get away from crushing depression). There's a little bit of TV talk but mostly disappointment in the surprise sequel to one of the greatest comedies ever. The vibes are a little weird this week.

It's a media catch-up week with new seasons of Peacemaker and Only Murders in the Building, plus Alien: Earth and The Paper. And over on the movie side, the 50th anniversary re-release of Jaws makes it clear that Jaws is, in fact, a good movie. Who could have known?

Tim Kenny returns to the show to talk about Superman (2025). We both liked it and we have a lot to say! Too much? Possibly! We also talk about the Peacemaker season premiere and the transition from one continuity to another, along with some general DC excitement.

This week, EJ looks at some of the September and October releases that are on his radar, for good or for ill. (Spinal Tap 2 seems, if we're being honest, ill-advised.) Plus, some talk of Long Story Short and Nobody 2. 

This week, EJ enjoyed a movie that was probably too scary for him and feels like he's missing important cultural context for Shin Godzilla. We also talk about the second seasons of Platonic and Twisted Metal and check in with the Monsterverse rewatch.  There's a lot of monster talk this week!

We're talking about the revivals of The Naked Gun and King of the Hill. Is it OK for Liam Neeson to make a racial profiling joke? Is Dale Gribble still funny after paranoid conspiracy nuts ruined America? We'll talk about it!   Also, in the Franchise Report, we kick off a Monsterverse series with 2014's Godzilla, a movie that is too serious but not in the good way.

This week, EJ's talking Fantastic Four: First Steps and the idea of superheroes as progressive fantasy. Plus, a back-to-back watch of Hot Fuzz and The World's End has us swimming in great British character actors. It's all movie talk, baby!

This week, EJ makes friends with animals both (very) big and small. Then, he hops on the Switch 2 train and reviews Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. He awkwardly discusses a thing in the Poker Face finale that made him uncomfortable, and then talks the new Jurassic World, Shaun of the Dead, and Annihilation.  It's a real grab bag!