Too Much TV

 This week we discuss Chernobyl, the HBO miniseries from 2019, and fair warning, it’s a heavy one. Jeff had stopped at episode four twice before, so this was his first time finishing it, and he binged the whole thing in one day, which he does not recommend. We go through it episode by episode, from the first night in the control room to the trial in the finale. Along the way we debate whether Dyat...

 This week we discuss South Park, and it’s a special one for me because South Park is my number one show of all time. A few weeks ago Jeff gave me five episodes of The Office to rank, and this week I return the favor. I gave Jeff five South Park episodes, and he ranks them from five down to one. Jeff never got into South Park growing up, but he has always loved Cartman. The five episodes are Scott...

 This week Jeff and I take on the best deaths in Game of Thrones, and we do it as a draft. We go back and forth picking five each, and the rules are loose. Shock, satisfaction, the character, and how they go out all count. I open with Hodor, Jeff grabs Joffrey, and from there we get into Lady Olenna’s perfect exit, Oberyn’s fight with the Mountain, the Red Wedding, Ned Stark, Tywin Lannister, Rams...

This week we’re doing something way more fun than Lanterns. Jeff’s favorite show of all time is The Office, so he picked five episodes from across the seasons and I ranked them from fifth to first. The hard part is that they’re all funny, but two of them are all time top five Office episodes. Number five is The Lover. Michael starts sleeping with Pam’s mom, and the whole episode is everyone tellin...

We finally made it to the end of Lanterns, and this week we're closing the book on the season with the finale, "Dirt and Stars." (I couldn't remember the title, which tells you how invested I was.) Here's the twist: Jeff really liked it. He had the show at a C going in and bumped it up to a B+ on the strength of this episode, and it mostly came down to Hal's last line...

We're calling this one the homework assignment episode, because that's basically the theme for the whole thirty minutes. Episode 7, "Jordan Boys Legacy." Second to last of the season, and neither of us feels much different than we did last week. There are real flashes of a good show buried in here — the "good arm kit" callback to Hal's dad actually landed, and it...

Last episode felt like a season finale. This one felt like a fart. That's basically the review of Episode 6, "Bad Optics." We fully closed the loop back to episode one — Hal is dead, or "dead," we still don't know — but after the high-octane pace of last week, this one was almost nothing happening. Hal barely appears, and he was genuinely the most interesting characte...

Jeff genuinely thought he was watching the finale by accident. He wasn't. But this was, hands down, the best episode of Lanterns so far, and the first time we both actually felt the urgency. Zoe is dead. Will Macon is dead. The whole town is basically wiped out. And somehow the goodbye scene between them landed even though we didn't care about Will three episodes ago. Turns out he spent...

This week: Lanterns Episode 4, "The Weenie." Yes, that's the real title, and yes, we get into why. We think we're finally past the exposition stretch and into real forward motion. John was genuinely funny this episode, the gun shop scene, killing the vibe at Disneyland, and Hal's reaction ("did you just make a joke?") had us cracking up. It feels like John's...

We were both lukewarm on last week's episode of Lanterns, and I've seen people online calling episode three the worst of the season. I think that's mostly racists being racists, but Jeff, who is not racist, still didn't love it either. His complaint: the interview scene has a super advanced intergalactic police force dropping applicants through a portal onto a stack of mattress...

We're adding a second show to the rotation: Lanterns, the new HBO Green Lantern series. We didn't cover episode one last week, so we're doing episodes one and two together. Honest verdict up front: it's fine. It started pulling us in by the back half of episode one, and by episode two we're both genuinely interested. We're staying with it and we both think it's g...

This week we're doing something different: our top five favorite shows of all time. Favorite, not best. That distinction matters, because at least one of mine has not aged well and I knew I'd have to defend it. We also didn't share our lists beforehand, so every pick is a genuine reveal. Jeff comes out swinging with Love, Death & Robots at five, and honestly? Banger. We get into...

We're mixing it up. No more House of the Dragon (for two years, anyway) — this week we're starting Ted Lasso. I binged all three seasons in about three weeks and then went straight into the first two episodes of season four, so we spend the first stretch talking about what makes this show work. Jeff put it best: Ted Lasso the show has the same effect on you that Ted Lasso the character h...

This week we discuss the Season 3 finale of House of the Dragon, "The Treasons at Tumbleton." And we need to tell you something up front: we don't think we like Rhaenyra anymore. She sucks. Baela was right about her, "if a person is useful to you, you wield them, if not, you abandon them," and then Rhaenyra proved the point by dismissing Mysaria one episode after sleeping...

This week we discuss Episode 7 of House of the Dragon, "The Dragon in Winter." The best episode of the last few, and yet the pot is still simmering. It's been simmering for four episodes. Somebody please let it boil. We open with Helaena's visions, which keep getting darker: the birth, the dragonpit, the farm with the chickens (Kiki's take: "Helaena just wants to be a...

This week we discuss Episode 6 of House of the Dragon, and the big one finally happened. Cole is dead. "We light the way." *dies. The man walked into a trap, briefly made you think he'd fight his way out, then took three arrows for his trouble. Jeff has a mild hot take: by the end he didn't hate Cole, he just pitied him. A sad, obsessed man clinging to the memory of Alicent rig...

This week we discuss Episode 5 of House of the Dragon, "Unbowed and Unbent," and it might be the darkest one yet. We were right about Cole. The man is on a suicide mission and basically says it out loud this episode. Jeff has to walk back some of last week's respect (he loves Cole, don't let him tell you otherwise), and we get into what happens when a skilled commander loses th...

This week we discuss Episode 4 of House of the Dragon, the second plot-building episode in a row, the payoff later is going to be worth it. We finally meet Alicent's youngest son Daeron (the real one this time) and dig into his complicated relationship with Ormund. Ormund, btw, is hilarious with his smell sensitivity — something we don't think we've seen in any media before. But und...

No big battles this week — just pure political chess, and honestly? It might be the most intense episode of the season so far. Josh and Jeff break down Rhaenyra's impossible decisions, Ormund's unexpected submission, the bread crisis Rhaenyra may have cause, and that tense conversation with the High Septon and Corlys Velaryon. This episode does something quietly brilliant — it makes you...

House of the Dragon just had its best-rated episode of the season — and we couldn't not talk about it. Episode 2, "Queen's Landing," really got us. We're breaking down exactly why it's hitting different: a small music change that hit harder than it should've, a storyline twist we're still thinking about, and the character moments that had us pausing the epis...

In this episode, Josh and Jeff discuss the first episode of House of the Dragon's third season, reflecting on their experiences with the previous seasons. They analyze key characters, the themes of love versus duty in leadership, and the complexities of succession and heritage within the Targaryen family. The conversation also touches on the adaptation choices made in the show compared to the...

The Boys finale left many fans feeling lukewarm —but what if the show’s biggest lessons lie not in its plot, but in what it could have been ? This episode dives deep into the season's missed opportunities, unraveling why the ending didn’t deliver the explosive crescendo we expected and what makes the series truly legendary. You’ll discover how the show's masterful satire and iconic chara...

In this episode, hosts analyze the philosophical and moral dilemmas presented in The Boys Season 5, Episode 6, exploring themes of immortality, power, and morality through character analysis and predictions for the series finale.

Join us as we analyze episodes four and five of The Boys, exploring character development, plot twists, and thematic symbolism. We discuss the show's narrative choices, character arcs, and the implications for the upcoming episodes.

Josh and Jeff analyze the fifth season of The Boys, exploring its themes, characters, and shocking moments. They delve into the show's satirical take on superheroes, its political commentary, and predictions for the season's finale.