Down To Watch

Spring break is over, and Down to Watch is back with a history course from the great classical author Mel Brooks! Dan and Raul checked out History of the World Part 2, the new Hulu sequel series full of modern comedy stars, as well as the original hit film full of vintage comedy greats. Part 1, the '81 anthology film, is an avalanche of old gags both classic and dated, and great fodder for conversation about comedy styles past and present. The new class of internet jokesters and sitcom stars swing for the fences to match the manic energy of the original and the guys debate whether they achieve it. There's at least fifteen good reasons to listen... Ten! Ten good reasons to check out this pod!  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/downtopod/message

This week on Down to Watch, slap some steaks on the grill cuz we got Beef! Dan and Raul and guest-extraordinaire Natalia are all pretty into the new Netflix road rage series starring Ali Wong and Steven Yuen, and they're real heated about it, in a good way. The show centers around a couple of rotten people who cross paths and decide to ruin each other, while letting their humanity slip through the cracks as their war consumes the relatable jerks that surround them. Spoilers abound because two of the three hosts have seen it all the way through, and the conversation includes whether spoilers ruin things, why this show is of the moment, and of course, what happens at the end! Check it out! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/downtopod/message

This week, Down to Watch is all about fate and fandom! Dan and Raul grabbed a couple shows off the April upcomings heap that might be instant classics and are back with their thoughts. First off, The Big Door Prize has a small town flipped upside down when a futuristic machine that appeared out of nowhere starts handing out cards with everyone's potential written on it. This slightly sci-fi beat seems to be just a catalyst for a feel-good story about achieving untapped dreams, and how striving might affect the world around the characters of this surreal-ish world. Quite in contrast, the dreamlike sequences new series Swarm are usually harbingers of tragedy or violence as the buzzing of the bees in one superfan's head lead to a string of murders in what the series assures us is a true story. The death of her best friend leads a socially unmoored and mentally disturbed lead character to portray a tale of misguided vengeance in a toxic world. Does the talent on display in these new shows raise them to gr

Things are starting to heat up in April after a brutal winter, and luckily DTW has you covered with some hot new TV shows that include a Florida Man (Netflix) resolving some criminal matters, a Beef (Netflix) involving a traffic accident gone too far, and a pair of 80’s movies being remade as TV shows: Cronenberg fresh retread of Dead Ringers (Amazon) with Rachel Weisz playing twin sisters & the steamy Fatal Attraction (Paramount+) with Joshua Jackson and Lizzy Kaplan.  Doc series this month aplenty with controversial ex-NBA player JR Smith going back to school and playing golf (Redefined: JR Smith, Amazon), and the legendary hip-hop rapper/producer/artist J.Dilla getting a feature-length over on FX/Hulu.  A diverse month of options means something for everyone, and thus no chance for any bitchin’ about nothing to stream: get out there and get watching! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/downtopod/message

This week on DtW, the Down of Us are finishing season one of the huge HBO game adaptation, The Last of Us! Dan, Raul, and gaming guru Jonnie are together again at the end of a beautiful and gut-wrenching journey, following Joel and Ellie as they make their way across a zombie America: fungus edition. The guys kick around the difficulty of adapting an interactive medium, like gaming, into a passive one you only watch before diving into the final episode themes and ideas and prognosticate where the series might go from the emotional finale. Does this ep draw comparisons between many different types of storytelling? Yes! Does it compare Ellie to Grogu? Nope! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

This week, the DtW crew watched the rest of Poker Face and is back to discuss whether it's flush with quality writing and acting or just full of jokers! Dan and Raul finished up the series they checked in on a few months back and are both happy to report the show is a hit with not a lie detected. Natasha Lyonne has appeared in a few other Down to Watch shows and is quickly becoming a pod favorite for her dry wit, hapless courage and rapport with the murderer's row of acting ringers that fill the episodes with victims, witnesses, red herrings and the aforementioned killers. A throwback to classic TV and a great new show, no bullshit! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

The month of March has descended upon us and with it plenty of new shows for the DtW crew to sift through in search of your next favorite show! Dan and Raul have an extensive summary of anything worth checking out this month, and the wide range of shows arriving on the streaming apps mean there's something for everyone. The guys get into the returns of some Mandalorians, lines of Succession and Ted Lassos, Chris Rock doing his thing live on Netflix, pop fans Swarm-ing the haters, and what went down in Waco. The shows this month are chock full of big-name stars and there's plenty of new series that will be talked about all month, so listen to this pod and get your info so you can win conversations! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

Look out for the little pod! Down to Watch is growing it's cast by one guest as the MCU shrinks down it's current big bad to do battle in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quanumania! Dan, Raul and Jonnie all went to the theater to see what tiny adventure Paul Rudd and company had lined up to launch the next Phase of the continuing Marvel universe, and they agree with the critical consensus that this one is more miss than hit creatively. The conversation weaves in and out of where the guys think this series is going, what worked and what didn't in the film, and what they hope to see in the future. This movie didn't hit the guys with big positive feels but there's plenty of good little ant-sized things to talk about, and this ep is full of 'em! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

The DtW crew is doing a flashback double-take, trying to understand how Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenneger could be twin brothers in the classic comedy Twins! Dan and Raul are again traveling to the 80s to fill in pop culture blind spots by catching up on classics, and this dual-lead caper is a great glimpse at what a couple of legends were like in their heydays. Arnold stomps and smiles as a giant fish out of water trying to find his long-lost brother after being born to a sketchy science experiment, while Danny DeVito sleazes and smarms into the hearts of audiences long before he gave Philly its sunniest days. Does this relic of a bygone comedy style still hold up in the modern world where such mismatched lab-made twins would surely be a giant story? Probably, but to be sure, you better listen! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

This week, Down to Watch has been dealt a dream hand with Peacock's new original series, Poker Face! Dan and Raul make three of a kind with guest Hannah back to talk about another Natasha Lyonne show that everyone on the pod thinks hit the jackpot. They discuss Rian Johnson's career of cool colors and quick talkers, the structure of classic network mysteries, and the place of a breezy, brainy detective show in the current tv landscape. More than anything, everyone agrees the show is bouncy and engaging, and chatting about it is half the fun, so come listen! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

Down to Watch has your freshly baked February TV releases hot out of the oven and ready to shake off the winter cold. Dan and Raul have to look outside of the big red N for their picks this month, as Apple TV+ steps up and delivers Hello Tomorrow, a retro-futurist sci-fi salesman story, and Dear Edward, a drama centered around a miracle, grief, and trauma.  As well as, The Reluctant Traveler, which sees lovable Eugene Levy globetrotting to exciting locales and more! Not to be outdone, Prime has the darkly comedic The Consultant is set to release, Showtime delves into profound injustice in the docuseries Murder at Big Horn, Party Down returns to the delight of all, and even more! This pod is Feb in a nutshell; go crack it open! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

The Home Box Office has launched a big show for 2023, and the guys at Down to Watch are just the fun guys to tell you about it! Dan, Raul, and the game-veteran guide Jonnie help you wade into mushroom mayhem and madness as the Red Viper and the Lady of Bear Island team up to try to cross a fungus-filled zombie America. These actors from Game of Thrones play a found family fighting humans and infected alike as they attempt to turn this Playstation adventure into another HBO hit while maintaining everything that made the source material worth experiencing. So should the hopeful fans and critics look forward to a satisfying and entertaining adapted story, or are they high on shrooms for getting their hopes up? Listen up and get into the conversation! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

Down to Watch is back this week with something a bit experimental from the big red N. Dan and Raul saw some or most of the new Netflix show Copenhagen Cowboy, full of slick synth and burning neon edges as well as bits of misery, magic, and mayhem to flesh out an artistically told tale. The nearly mute Miu has arrived in a particular corner of European hell, as the current denizens refer to it, and seems to be using almost otherworldly powers of perception to process the actions of the flawed, damaged, and depraved that populate her current situation. Fairly quickly in, the guys realize this show is going for some strange angles and hiding some of its more fantastic features but is it enough from the visionary director and Dan's favorite NWR to capture the attention of people skeptical of the pretention? Whatever the answer, at least the guys get to it quickly! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

The year starts out weird as the DtW crew gets into some experimental TV in January! Dan and Raul are scratching their heads, trying to make heads or tails out of two tricky shows with different twists. First off, the duo dissects a couple of episodes of the new Netflix show Kaleidoscope. It's a couple of eps because the crime caper starring Gian Carlos Esposito purports to be watchable in any episode order, apparently. Then they dig into Paul T Goldman, a Peacock venture that is at once a biopic adaptation, behind-the-scenes investigation, and subversive deconstruction of a "regular guy" that is anything but. Do these shows with aspirations to break the mold remember to entertain along the way? These podcasters know! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

Down to Watch starts 2023 with some sneaky spy stuff from both sides of the pond with the two new Netflix streaming series, The Recruit, and Treason! Dan and Raul can't help but compare how the levels of haplessness the protags of each secretive show bring to their similar situations, measuring The Recruit's cast shoehorning comedy into a bouncy action-filled fish-out-of-water thriller with the writers of Treason introducing more than a few soap opera level stakes throughout what plays like a serious drama. Are either of these shows worth meeting in a smokey dark alley for the spy game goods, or is the audience being set up as the fall guy holding the bag? This pod knows the truth! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

January is upon us and Down to Watch is all about new TV in 2023! Dan and Raul went out into the winter wilds of the television landscape to forage for worthwhile entries to keep you indoors and toasty in front of a roaring smart tv. This month, the warming glow of the screen will be bringing us docs on killers caught and killer serves with How I Caught My Killer and Break Point, some colorful carnage and snazzy tunes from the likes of Kaleidoscope and Copenhagen Cowboy, the interconnected levels of Paul T Goldman, shrinks, poker faces, and even mushroom zombies on HBO. DTW has the post-holiday shows you want to know about! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

The snowy winter wonderland can hide deadly secrets behind its shine, and Down to Watch has enlisted Doc Ock to reveal them! This week, Dan and Raul are checking out what's happening in Three Pines, a new small-town murder mystery show with Alfred Molina as an investigator applying a kind but sharp mind to the tight-knit community of suspects. The real mystery here is whether this show is shiny enough to sparkle next to the great detective series it attempts to emulate. The solution lies between the opening music and goodbyes on this podcast! Listen and find out! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

Down to Watch has a couple of gifts left in this holiday season, and a peek under the tree reveals a couple of Disney-wrapped packages for good TV nerds! Dan and Raul need another set of hands to handle ripping the wrapping paper off these Star Wars, and MCU-shaped presents, so they're lucky to find Jonnie halfway down the chimney. He's here to talk about the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, a throwback pastiche of the initially maligned cult classic Star Wars Holiday Special but painted with the James Gunn/Marvel palette. Speaking of a galaxy far, far away, the main chat this week is about Andor, possibly the first foray into the world of lightsabers and wookies aimed squarely at adults. Between space-based holiday antics and legitimate revolutionary drama happening Vader-adjacent, this week is stuffed like a stocking! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

Down to Watch has one more monthly look-forward as December brings 2022 to a close. Dan and Raul have a collection of new and returning shows that should give everyone good reason to stay cozy indoors for the rest of the year. It might be opening presents next to any of the gifts Taylor Sheridan has given us, like Harrison Ford in the new 1923. Perhaps a big blanket and mugs of hot cocoa go great with some crime solving by Alfred Molina in Three Pines. It could be time travelling to slave-era Kindred, spying around with Jack Ryan and some Treason with DareDevil or even whatever Hot Skull is, all beneath the glow of colorful lights. It's the season of year-end tv and this is the pod to get you to 2023! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message

DtW had a little horror left over from trick 'r treating, but maybe saved the best treat for the end in the surprising and terrifying, Barbarian! Dan and Raul need a female perspective to appreciate this thriller and Natalia's back to drop some wisdom on the fellas. In this sleeper hit that recently arrived on HBO Max, traveler Tess finds herself at a double-booked rental house containing Keith, played by Bill "Pennywise" Skaarsgard as only the first in a series of stressful and fraught encounters that go from dangerous and uncomfortable to wildly shocking and frightening. Does this scary tale from a comedy-based director deserve the praise it has seen since its release or is it just a flash in the pan during an "elevated-horror" renaissance? If any two people plus guests know the answer, it's probably in this ep! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/downtopod/message