Ty Watches "The Righteous Gemstones" Series Premier

Last night my wife and I watched the new Danny McBride show "The Righteous Gemstones" on HBO. I have been anticipating this show, as I stated on a previous podcast, and boy did the pilot, for me, live up to the hype.

This show has all the elements that I have come to expect from McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green, but amped up by ten. No show of theirs will live up to "Eastbound and Down", that was lightening in a bottle, but "Vice Principals", and now "The Righteous Gemstones" are excellent. What i really enjoyed about "Vice Principals", and I have written about this before, was how comedic, yet dark, it was. That show was excellent, and it had a great run. What I found in the pilot of "TRG" was that, while still funny, this show may be their darkest yet. There was some wild stuff that went on in the pilot episode. I am not going to spoil anything, but man did stuff gets nuts at the end.

What I want to focus on more today is the plot and the actors. I love the plot of this show. I am a non religious person, not at all, so to see a show that sends up the whole Evangelical TV minister, and makes them sinister and evil and only interested in making more money than any person could ever need. We have all seen how awful some of these TV ministers, Joel Osteen comes to mind first, are really are behind the scenes. That is what this show shows us. The three main characters, John Goodman as the patriarch and main minister Eli, Danny McBride as the screw up, yet thinks he is more important than he really is Jesse Gemstone and the gullible and wet behind the ears youngest son, Adam Devine as Kelvin Gemstone, are all great in their own ways. Goodman is menacing and in a deep state of depression. His wife has died and his family is constantly fighting each other. Add on the fact that he is trying to be the only game in town, he is a bad dude. Goodman is perfect for this role. McBride is perfect in the role of an asshole who is way in over his head. He seems good on the surface, but he has some demons that he is fighting, and he refuses to go it alone. He wants to drag all kinds of people into his own mess. And Devine, in a very different role for him, is so innocent and maybe has some kind of soul and just wants to help people. They are all great. The third child of the family, Edi Patterson as Judy Gemstone, is definitely the smartest one of the family, but she doesn't get her due because she is a female. Patterson was a revelation on "Vice Principals", and now, in a much bigger role, I feel like she is going to shine.

Outside of the Gemstone family, the supporting actors so far are really good. Tim Baltz is Patterson's soon to be husband, and he is a pushover and hilarious. Dermot Mulroney, as a rival minister, is kind of badass, and I actually found myself rooting for him in the episode. Casidy Freeman as Amber Gemstone, McBride's wife, is so good and menacing herself. She had the line of the episode to me when Baltz's character said that the family is backwards and they never give women a chance, Freeman speaks up, but before going into her rant, she asks McBride if she can speak. Even a guy in a super small role, Tony Cavalero as Keefe, the former Satan worshiper who is now working for the church and has found God, I found him absolutely hilarious. Everyone, so far, has been wonderful, and I cannot wait to see where they take the characters from here on out. I have also seen that Walton Goggins, one of my very favorite actors, is going to show up in upcoming episodes, and I'm sure that will rule. It is not only the characters that I cannot wait to see where they go, it is the story too. Like I said, no spoilers, but the way the pilot unfolded, things are going to get wild in this first season. It should be dark and hilarious.

Look, I am a McBride fan. I am predisposed to like what he does, and a show like "The Righteous Gemstones" is perfect for his sense of humor, and what he wants to do on a show. I have a feeling this will be one of my favorites from 2019, and I cannot wait to see how the next 8 weeks pan out. I highly, highly recommend this show. It is really good.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ok people, one spoiler. Never in your life will you see the efficiency of a Land Rover running over not one, but two people. It was shockingly awesome

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Ty Watches "The Lion King"

I have spent the last 2 weeks talking about football, so today, I want to take a break from that and write about the new "Lion King" movie.

My wife and I decided to take our kids to see it last weekend, along with some of her family, and I was excited. I love the original, it is one of my all time favorite movies. And when I saw the cast for this new one, I got my hopes up very high. I know other critics have come out lately and said some negative things, calling it pointless and saying it looks weird and the songs are odd.

I disagree. I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. I thought it was fun, sad, looked cool and I really enjoyed the music. The fact that they got these animals to look so real with CGI work is stunning to me. It legitimately felt like I was watching real life animals speak to one another and sing songs. It looked like something that could have been on the National Geographic Network. It felt so real. I almost immediately forgot that it was CGI, until the animals started to speak. And the voice actors, for the most part, I thought were great. I'm a big time James Earl Jones fan, and he nailed it this second go round with Mufasa. It was comforting to hear a familiar voice right off the bat. He was excellent. Alfre Woodard as Sirabi was great as well. She empowered the loyalty, yet fierceness that the character brings in the movie. Young Simba and Young Nala, the actors escape me right now, were cute and fun and when they sang "I Just Can't Wait to be King", it brought me right back to childhood. Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Scar, was scary and menacing and made me forget that Jeremy Irons was the same guy in the animated "Lion King". Donald Glover was a perfect choice for grown Simba. He has a unique, well known voice, and he can sing. His renditions of some of the classic songs were great. Billy Eichner, as Timon, and Seth Rogen, as Pumba, were the best for me. They were funny and witty and charming and really brought on the essence of the original Timon and Pumba, with a little updated flair. Billy Eichner was truly wonderful. He was the best one in the movie in my opinion. John Oliver as Zazu was a good choice. They kept the character British which I liked. Keegan Michael Key and Eric Andre, along with Florence Kasumba, were frightening and funny as the hyenas. My only minor criticism would actually be for Beyoncé. She was the only one I didn't really let myself get lost into like I did with the other animals. I love Beyoncé, but this role, and her performance, felt kind of forced. It almost seemed like she didn't really want to be there. I felt like she was reading her lines off the script as they recorded her lines. She is wonderful, but acting just may not be her thing.

Outside of the cast and the look, the music was all good. They had all the classics, along with a refurbished "Be Prepared", which I was appreciative of because I didn't need my kids to be as freaked out as I was as a kid.

I do want to point out that, in a movie where CGI is used to make the animals appear real, it does get violent. But, imagine what would really happen if some lions got into a fight, or there was a stampede, or if some hyenas had you trapped. It would be scary, and this movie showed that.

All in all though, I found myself really enjoying the movie, and the experience of sharing it with my kids. My wife and I loved it, and we were glad that our kids had a good time with it too. I'd say, ignore the critics that are saying mean things about the movie. The critics trashing it, for the most part, are clichéd , hackey critics that only like Oscar bait. If you liked the movie as a kid, and you have kids of your own, or just a grown up kid, I'd highly recommend seeing it. It was great.

Ty

Ty Watches "Yesterday"

Yesterday was finally able to go out and see one of my most anticipated movies of 2019, "Yesterday". I talked about it on the pod, I wrote about the trailer, I love Danny Boyle as a director, I am a big time Beatles fan, as I said on the pod, I think they are the greatest band ever, and I really, really wanted to take my dad to see it. I bought tickets for us, and we went, and this movie more than lived up to my personal expectations.

I saw the tepid response from critics, and that is exactly why I don't let critics dictate which movies I go see. I knew that I wanted to see this movie, and I was pretty sure that I would find myself enjoying it. I was right. "Yesterday" is one of the better "feel good" movies I have watched. After watching it I was happy, in a good mood and I wanted to listen to nothing but the Beatles, and the soundtrack, to the movie.

For starters, Himesh Patel, who was the main character Jack, was outstanding. I have never seen him in anything before this, but he absolutely blew me away. For him to show the angst, guilt, confusion and illusion of fame the way he did was tremendous. I mean, imagine waking up in a world, one in which you are a struggling musician, and finding out that no one but you knows who The Beatles are. How would you deal with that scenario? I know that I for one would have trouble remembering all the lyrics. But, to see Patel decide to claim them as his own, then become famous overnight, then have to deal with everything that comes with fame, it was a great job on his part.

Also, the thing the critics seemed to have the most problems with, I enjoyed the love story. Sure, I will always take more Beatles songs over pretty much anything, but this is a big Hollywood movie, and love stories are the name of the game. And Patel's love interest, Ellie, was very well represented by Lily James. James has been in a good amount of some of my favorite recent movies, most notably "Baby Driver", and she is nailing it. In "Yesterday" she is Jack's manager, driver and producer, but she is also in love with him, and has been since they were kids. She is vulnerable and wants him to love her back, and she does such a good job. Joel Fry, as Rocky, was hilarious and fun the whole time. He was the true comic relief. Jack's parents were great and believable. Ed Sheerhan, as kind of a stylized, arrogant version of himself, was great. Kate McKinnon was evil and villainous and hilarious. The cast was just tremendous.

What I think I loved most about this movie was how they showed the current generation reacting to hearing Beatles music for the first time. When Jack gets released from the hospital and he plays "Yesterday" on an acoustic guitar, his friends are blown away. They have never heard anything like it before. They are crying at how beautiful it is. When Ellie hears Jack play songs like "I Saw Her Standing There", or "All You Need is Love" or "And I Love Her", you can she her love for Jack grow and grow, and she wants him so badly to love her like the lyrics in the songs do. When Sheerhan, in a great scene, challenges Jack to a "song off", and Jack comes back and plays "The Long and Winding Road", he is so moved he calls Jack Mozart, and himself Salieri. It is remarkable. When McKinnon gets a hold of him, she decides that, since she claims he doesn't have the right "image" yet, that they are going to release his genius to the world one song at a time until they get his look right. To see his likes and retweets and the amount of followers go up and up and up, it is truly how we consume music nowadays. When he decides, the day before his album is to be released, to play a concert on the top of a hotel, his version of "Help" is not only a great, sped up version of the song, it holds so much more meaning because of how much he is struggling with what he is doing. When, in a great one scene moment, Lamorne Morris, who plays the head of A and R at the music company, goes on his spiel about getting the buzz out on social media, and finding the right album title and getting Jack's look just right, and the pictures that surround him and all the yes men and women around the table, it is too perfect.

"Yesterday" is a wonder of a movie. I loved every single second of what I watched. I cannot wait to see it 4, 5, 6 more times. I will buy it when it comes out on Blu Ray. I have already been telling my wife how great it is, and how much I can't wait to show it to her. This movie is the perfect movie for Beatles fans. But, I also think it is a great movie for anyone that loves music, and for people my age, and also my father's age. To all the parents that played Beatles music for their now grown up kids, go out and see this movie together. I think seeing it with my dad made it that much more enjoyable. I cannot recommend this movie enough. Please go see it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is unaware that adding Beatles music to a movie will automatically make it good. Check out “Across the Universe” to see how adding the Beatles can not save the most terrible of films.

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Ty Watches "The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience"

Last night I was finally able to watch the new Lonely Island visual poem “The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience”.

It is a wonder people.

This visual poem was one of the most unique and coolest things I’ve ever seen. It was made as a faux art project, I assume, and the Lonely Island absolutely nailed the absurdity of these visual art pieces. Add on the fact that it is basically a new rap album from them, this was bound to hit me in all the right spots. Then, add on the other news that Andy Samberg played Jose Canseco and Akiva Schaefer played Mark McGwire, I mean, it’s just absolutely perfect in every possible way. All the new songs they did, I’m already a fan, are peak Lonely Island. They’re goofy and hilarious, but the beats are top notch, and these dudes can rap. If they decided to go the Donald Glover route, and take it seriously, they could be this generation’s Beastie Boys. They’re that good. Add on guest appearances from people like Maya Rudolph, Jenny Slate, Hannah Simone, Stephanie Beatriz and Sterling K Brown as Sia, you read that right, take this from great to classic. I was absolutely blown away by this visual poem. It was so perfect in every way. It hit my funny bone perfectly. The Lonely Island are in that territory for me where they can do no wrong. Everything they’ve touched lately has been gold. This was a great follow up to “Pop Star”. I cannot recommend this enough. It’s weird and funny and absurd in all the right ways. I’ve already watched it twice and listened to the album 3 times.

Watch this visual poem, it rules.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He now challenges The Lonely Island to chronicle the rise and fall of Shawn Kemp. There could be a song called Fat Off Cocaine.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

Ty Watches "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum"

I was going to do a thing on “Game of Thrones” today, but I need to save that for Monday. I need to save it because I went to see “John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum” with my dad this morning, and I need to talk about it.

I have been a big time fan from the start of this franchise. I’m so much more in on “John Wick” than I am on other series of movies. I’ll take “John Wick” over any “Fast and Furious” movie, I’ll watch it over “Star Wars”, I’d spend my time with it over “Jurassic Park”, I’ll even take it over the “Raid” movies. This is my new favorite franchise in movies. It is so perfect. “John Wick” knows what it is, and they absolutely go for it all the time. “Parabellum” was no different.

This movie picks up exactly where the second movie ended. Wick is on the run in downtown NYC. He has pretty much every assassin in the city after him. He has a multi million dollar bounty for his head. He is no longer safe. And from there on out, for the next 130 minutes, it’s pretty much all action. The fight scenes in this movie are astonishing. I read someone earlier this week call it a “gory ballet”, and they were 100 percent correct. I was taken aback at how well done and brilliant these scenes were. The movie was also filled with them. Sure, there’s a story attached, and they spend a little time telling it. But, for every minute or 2 of dialogue, there’s a 4 or 5 minute action scene that follows. It was exquisite. I have loved how the writers and directors have upped the ante with each movie. They have the budget now to go absolutely wild. It’s awesome.

As far as the acting, it’s perfect for this style movie. Keanu Reeves is Wick, and he barely has to say anything, which is perfect for him. He says a few things here and there, but he’s mostly there to whoop bad guys. Angelica Houston was chewing so much scenery in the best possible way in this movie. She was excellent. Laurence Fishburne knows what kind of movie this is, and he does his role magnificently. Ian McShane and Lance Reddick are dapper and badass. Halle Berry tried a little too hard, taking it a bit too seriously, but her action scenes, and dogs, ruled. Asia Kate Dillon was a menacing villain. I knew she was crushing it when I hoped she would be taken down by Wick at some point in the movie. Mark Dacascos, you may know him as the chairmen from “Iron Chef America”, was a great bad guy, and he was pretty funny. Jason Mantzoukas had one or 2 lines, but they were memorable, and his expressions were wonderful. Even actors in very small roles, be it Jerome Flynn or Said Taghmaoui, did a really campy, really good job.

“Parabellum” is the third of a very, very solid action franchise. I love that these movies come out every other summer because I get so hyped to see them on opening day in late May. This movie rules, and I hope they will continue to keep making them as long as they keep having fun. Go see this movie, it will most likely be the best action movie you will see all summer long. What a great movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Much like the character of John Wick, Ty’s true passion is restoring old books.

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Ty Watches "Detective Pikachu"

As RD and I talked about on a recent podcast, I did take my kids, mostly because my son begged me, to see "Detective Pikachu". I talked on that pod how I was kind of reluctant to see the movie. I am a Pokémon novice. More correctly, I know next to nothing about Pokémon. I do know who Pikachu is. I know some other names of some other Pokémon. I knew that Ryan Reynolds was the voice of Pikachu. But, other than that, I was lost. My kids uncle did come with us, and thankfully, he knew a ton about Pokémon. He was able to talk to my son about everyone in the movie. He knew just as much, if not more, than he did, so it was nice for my son to have someone who he could converse with about the deep characters in the movie.

All of this leads me to my personal review of the movie. "Detective Pikachu", from a true outsider's perspective, was an odd, but fun movie. I do need to say, the look and feel of the movie was pretty cool. This movie took a real shot, and I think they hit a double. No homerun, not even a triple, but they accomplished a little something that made it memorable for me, and it has nothing to do with the story. The story, if there was one, was absurd, but I expect that from a Pokémon movie. That is my one very nitpicky thing about the movie. From an adult, and a parent's perspective, going to this movie, don't expect a cohesive story. The movie jumps and changes at the drop of the hat. Yes, there is a bad guy, a fake out and something that seems like a thru line, but outside of that, it kind of goes off the rails. But, when I really look into it, especially through my son's eyes, that doesn't matter. The movie was very nice looking. The way they shot it, they really made the world of Pokémon pop. And that is another thing, about shooting this movie, they did it on 35 millimeter film. That is wild. That is taking a chance. That was a baller move. I respect that. This is, for all intents and purposes, a kid's movie, yet they shot it on real film. That took some guts. I also appreciated the fact that they tried to make this a noir movie for kids. It also resembled old school detective movies. Hell, it is called "Detective Pikachu". I am a big fam of noir and thriller movies. It is one of my favorite genres. So, for a kids movie to attempt the noir, again, I respect the effort. I really enjoyed the thought that went into this choice, the lingo they used with the characters and the "dark" tones to try and set up a noir feel. It was fun.

All in all I'd give "Detective Pikachu" a solid B-, maybe a C+. It isn't the best movie in the world, but I have seen a lot worse kids movie. I was never bored for the 90 plus minutes run time. I liked the look. I enjoyed the feel. I had no idea what was going on, but my son absolutely loved it, and that was why I went to see this movie. It achieved its goal for me. My son has not stopped talking about it since we saw it last Saturday. He and his friends are all talking about it too. This movie knows its targeted audience, and they won all those people over. And, for a non Pokémon fan, it kept my attention. It was an okay movie, and fans of Pokémon, I'm sure, will love it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He feels cheated because they never made any big budget movies about his favorite toys. Where is Ty’s Pogs movie?

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Ty Watches "90 Day Fiance" Season Premier

A show that I’m pretty certain I’ve talked about on the site before came back this past Sunday night, and boy oh boy did they up the ante.

I have said many times that my wife has gotten into the whole reality TV craze, and one of our favorites, “90 Day Fiancé What Now?”, is back. This show is great because it’s so bad. It’s so poorly acted, and yes, these people are trying to be actors. I know it’s “reality” TV, but we all know now that it’s all scripted. “90 Day Fiancé What Now?” is “The Room” of reality TV. It started out as a look inside the K-1 Visa process, but now it’s blossomed into an insane portrait of couples that should not be together.

When the show first came out, it wasn’t as wild as it is now, and this newest season, they got some of the craziest and unstable people that they’ve ever had on the show. They took the worst of the bunch, making it the most gripping, I use that term very, very lightly, and engaging season so far. I mean, the couple that live in Vegas with the man’s mom, they’re nuts, in all the best reality TV ways. Since we last saw them, the wife may get deported, she flushed her wedding ring down the toilet, they got a new cat, the guy is even creepier than before and the mom is even more stressed out. We have the couple where the guy got a Tinder account only days after he was married to his girlfriend, who broke off 2 previous engagements because of infidelity. When these 2 are on screen, it’s so cringeworthy. It’s all fighting, the young guy trying to justify his scumbag decision, and the wife leaving him to walk home on the side of the road. We get the couple with the husband that legit looks like The Penguin, and is subjecting his wife to living in a storage unit, with no stove. Every time they interview her, I swear she wants to scream out, “help!, I’m a prisoner”. She looks so unhappy and uncomfortable. She’s also so bored, she’s taking an ESL class taught by her husband. The most “normal” couple is the one that lives in North Carolina, but we find out very soon that they aren’t together anymore, and then they flash back to 3 months prior. The husband is terrified to move, and the wife wants to become an actress and thinks Chicago is the best place to achieve this goal. She is also 20 and very much acts that way. The husband also gives off a real peaked in high school vibe.

But the best, at least so far, is the couple that lives in Atlanta. They’re a real mess. The wife’s family wants to hire a PI to investigate the husband. The husband started a huge fight with the wife’s family that he won’t own up to. They constantly bicker and fight. They can’t seem to agree on anything. The wife’s family is super duper crazy. The husband seems like he could be running a scam. It makes for great reality TV.

After the episode was over, we got a coming up on thing, and they’re going to bring back some classics for viewers of this ridiculous dumb, but addicting show. I cannot wait. Also, the premiere episode was 2 hours long, followed by a “where are they now” hour long show. That’s great. TLC knows what they have in this show, and they’re capitalizing on its popularity right now.

I literally cannot wait to see the next episode, and the whole season for that matter. I know it’s bad she dumb and pointless and predictable, but damn do I love “90 Day Fiancé What Now”. Check it out if you just want a hilarious escape for a few hours every week. It’s a delight.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is waiting for TLC to do a show about thoughtful people who get married. It can be called 900 Day Fiance.

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Ty Watches "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson"

I have always really liked the comedy of Tim Robinson. He is absurd and goofy and goes for it all the time. Some times his bits work, sometimes they don't, but he goes for it 100 percent regardless. I love that. I enjoyed him when he was on "SNL", he did a great Gary Busey. I also felt like he didn't get a fair shot on the show. He could have been great. I also really, really loved the show "Detroiters". I was on board with that show from episode one. I feel like that show didn't get a fair shot. Season 2 got so much better, and I felt like that could have been a major cult hit for Comedy Central. But, they bailed too early on it, and that was a mistake. I was hoping that Robinson and Sam Richardson, I'm pretty sure they are very good friends, would get another chance. Well, Richardson still has his role on "Veep", which he crushes, and he is in a ton of movies and TV shows. He works, and works frequently.

With Robinson, I was listening to "Comedy Bang! Bang!" this week, and found out that he has a new show on Netflix. Robinson was the guest of honor, and was there to promote the show, "I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson". After listening to the pod, I immediately went to Netflix to check the show out.

As I said, I love his sense of humor, so I had high expectations. I'm 4 episodes into the first season, which has 6 episodes, and I love love love this show. It is so weird and odd and absurd and goofy and ridiculous and hilarious. I have found myself belly laughing while I watch the show. Some shows make me chuckle, giggle and I can occasionally get a little loud with my laugh. This show makes me howl. I mean, in tears from laughing so hard at what I am seeing. It is a sketch show, but it is like all the odd sketches that get cut from "SNL", which are usually my favorite. I love the stuff Kyle Mooney does for "SNL" now, but it always gets cut. That is what this show is like. Robinson has such an odd sense of humor, but for me, it works.

The show is bizarre. The sketches are absolutely ridiculous, but they work. Robinson is tremendous. Richardson shows up from time to time, and the chemistry is up front and center. People still on "SNL", like Cecily Strong and Vanessa Bayer, especially Bayer, are so good in the sketches they are in. That Bayer sketch is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Fred Willard was in a sketch I saw yesterday, and my god it reminded me of how funny he is. It's a great performance. Conner O'Malley, who was tremendous on "Detroiters", is just as good, if not better on "ITYSL". The whole "honk if you're horny" bumper sticker sketch is amazing. Also, each episode is abut 16, 17 minutes long. It is the perfect amount of time for a sketch show like this. They jump from sketch to sketch with ease, and I laugh even harder at the next one. I love it. I am a big, big fan of this show. I also like that it is on Netflix because they will not really mess with Robinson and his crew. It really seems like he has carte blanche to do the show he wants to do.

I hope this show gets multiple seasons. It seems like it will, it has gotten a great social media response, and I will be there to watch every episode. Check this show out if you like absurdist humor. It is hilarious, short and executed to perfection. It is really, really good.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is in the weird inbetween of television fandom. He does not watch crap like “The Big Bang Theory”, yet he will not start petition drives to bring back his favorite shows. That is Ty’s tv fandom.

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Ty Watches "Game of Thrones" Final Season Premier

Awhile back I wrote about catching up with "Game of Thrones" because I felt out of the loop, as far as social media stuff went. I didn't get a lot of the jokes. I didn't understand GIF's or meme's or jokes on shows I adored that were based on "GOT". My wife kept telling me to watch, but I kept putting it off. I tried once, early on with the show, but I couldn't get into it. But, after seeing how the last season that was on ended, I then decided that I was going to power through and watch it all.

Luckily for me, I was hooked from the jump. I don't know if it was time away or having my wife explain it to me, or the fact that I just wanted to be in the loop, I was on from episode one. I watched all 7 seasons in less than a month, which is pretty quick for me. After that, I was one of the million, maybe billions of people, that were left waiting for the new episodes, the final 6. I started to feel like everyone else. I was giving my own theories, guessing what was going to happen, siding with people I never thought I'd side with. It was crazy.

Well, last night the long anticipated wait was over. The first of the last episodes premiered, and it did not disappoint.

I'm not going to spoil anything, although, I feel like if you watch the show, you aren't going to watch to binge the final episodes, I'm sure you are going to watch in real time. Anyway, the season 8 premiere, in my opinion, was a great way to open the final season. Yes, there wasn't too many action scenes, although we did get the boat scene, but that is okay. I felt that this episode was more so to remind everyone of the big war that is coming, and reunions. The reunions in this episode were just awesome. I was so excited for the main characters who got to see one another again. The fact that Aarya got to see Jon Snow, Gendry and The Hound was perfect. Her interaction with each of them was so fitting for their respective pasts. I absolutely loved the 5 seconds her and The Hound had together. It was great. Jon Snow got the most scenes with people he hadn't been with in awhile. I already mentioned Aarya, but he also got to see Bran and Samwell. This was awesome, especially when he met up with Samwell. This was a very important scene, and totally sets the stage for the rest of the season, and it was great. To hear the news that was spilled, and to see the reactions, it was excellent. But the biggest "reunion", I don't even want to really call it that, lets go with "sighting", happened at the very end. This isn't a spoiler because it happened in season one, but at the very end, Jaime Lannister arrives in Winterfell, and he locks eyes with Bran. I mean, this has been years I the making. I was stunned, and I knew it was coming. It was such a baller move to end the first episode on that image. It has me very pumped for the rest of the episodes.

Outside of all that, I thought this was a very strong way to start the final season. I don't know why I was worried, this show has always delivered. I'm pumped for the rest, but I will be bummed when it is over. But, I have 5 more weeks, and I bet they are going to start getting very, very action heavy. "GOT" is back, and I'm fully back on board already. What a great, great show.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He also liked the scene where Jack, Hurley, and Kate got to meet up with Sawyer and Juliet in the past. Wait, that was a different show with a cast of many. 

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Ty Watches "What We Do In the Shadows" Series Premier

Two weeks ago a show that I have been waiting on for almost a year now finally premiered. "What We Do in the Shadows" aired its pilot episode, and I have to say, it was tremendous.

I was a teeny tiny bit worried, because I adore the movie so very much. But, they knocked it out of the park. I shouldn't have been so wary because both Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi were both attached, and gave their blessing. And man did it deliver. The pilot was pretty much like the first 10-15 minutes of the movie, with some added for TV type stuff. And it was so, so funny.

Right off the bat we meet the four main characters as they gather for a house meeting. The main vampire, the one who holds the meetings, is named Nandor, played by Kayvan Novak. He is so good as the typical fish out of water, that just wants things to run smoothly. He wants to have house meetings. He wants things to look nice for guests. He wants to make sure that the house is cleaned up after they have their feedings. He wants everyone to get along. One of my favorite scenes in the pilot revolved around him going to the store to get decorations for a big visitor, and he keeps calling crepe paper, "creepy" paper. It was hilarious. He also lights a paper skeleton on fire with a snap of the finger because he finds it classless.

We then meet the married vampires, Nadja, played by Natasia Demetriou, and Laszlo, played by Matt Berry. Nadja is a riot. She clearly doesn't like Laszlo, but due to circumstance and situation, it is best for her. She also creepily stalks a guy that she thinks is a reincarnation of a former lover of hers. The way she laughs is also very awkward, but also very funny. Matt Berry is a treasure. I am a big time fan of his, and to see him, finally, on a main stream, network-ish type show is well overdue. He is funny. He is dry and he rules. He also is pretty unhappy with his arrangement, but he accepts it. He loves to go hunt for food at night. He doesn't care for the house meetings, and voices his opinions loudly. And he sure loves to turn into a bat because he can fly instead of walk, which he doesn't care for either. I'm so excited to see where they take his character from here.

We also meet Nandor's familiar, a human that works for the vampire, Guillermo, played by Harvey Guillen. He is so sad and lonely, but Guillen plays it hilariously. To see him talk about why he wants to become vampire, due to a role by Antonio Banderas, was great. To see him clean the house, riotous. And to see him get "food" for his leaders, just tremendous. He is so funny. He clearly just wants to be turned into a vampire, but it seems like it will never come.

We also meet an energy vampire, and this was, in my opinion, the funniest part of the whole pilot. The energy vampire is named Colin, played by Mark Proksch. He is hilarious. To see him explain why he is a vampire made me howl. He talks about being the guy in the office that either talks about nonsensical things until the person is so bored they fall asleep, or to enrage people. To enrage people in the office, they show him jam a pencil into an electronic pencil sharpener over and over again. It was great. The other vampires also despise him. When they have people over to feed one night, they hide him away. But, he ends up talking to the victims, and he has bored them so much that their blood has no nutritional value. Again, it was so funny.

I'm so excited the show is finally on, and that it lived up to my personal hype. I cannot wait to watch the rest of the season, and to see it get renewed, hopefully, for many, many seasons. It is a treat.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He likes to annoy people in his office with demands like eating vegetables and taking naps. It is a good thing his office is his house and the other tenants are his kids. Otherwise it would just be creepy.

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Ty Watches, and Loves, "Uncle Drew"

I finally saw the movie "Uncle Drew", and I absolutely loved it.

Now, before I get blasted for liking this movie so much I want to say that, I know it was not your traditional good movie. It was cheesy and hokey and crony and silly and a whole lot of fun. I read some reviews after I watched it, and for the writers saying it "lacked realism", or "was filled with non actors" or "clearly a kids movie", I have to say, shut the hell up. We all know that it wasn't real. I mean, the movie was based off a Pepsi commercial that first appeared like 5 years ago. It was all made as a joke. This was a vehicle for Kyrie Irving to dress up in old man makeup and school young basketball players on famous street ball courts.

As far as the kids movie thing, so what. A lot of great movies are "kid" movies. I had "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies" as one of my top movies of 2018. That is a kids movie. So are some classics like "Toys", "Wall-E", "The Mighty Ducks", "The Lion King", "Bambi", I could go on and on and on. But the difference, the critics all loved the childish nature of the other movies I just mentioned, yet they trash "Uncle Drew". It makes me so upset that this new age of movie critics, most of them are younger than me, have no imagination. Now I know that I have been called out for a lack of imagination because I don't like the TV show "PJ Masks", but that critique I wrote was in jest. I was just tired of watching that god damn show. I know my kids love it, and I know it is goofy, but it is also a cartoon. "Uncle Drew" is not a cartoon, so the younger critics feel like they need to knock it down a few pegs. What they really need to do is chill the hell out.

The thing that irked me the most was the whole, "there's no real actors in the movie". First off, Lil Rel Howery is a great comedic actor. I enjoyed every second of him in this movie. Tiffany Haddsih is also great, and she has become somewhat of a critical darling. Nick Kroll is funny as hell. But I think what the major critics were trying to do was call out Kyrie Irving, Chris Webber, Nate Robinson, Lisa Leslie, Reggie Miller, and to a lesser extent, Shaquille O'Neal. But my major blowback to the people that said "no real actors", no shit. These guys are former pros, or current pro basketball players, and now some of them do commentary. Like I said at the top, this whole movie was based around a commercial where Irving clowns other basketball players while dressed as an old man. "Uncle Drew" wasn't going to be awards bait. It wasn't made to teach a real lesson. It wasn't going to be a coming out party for anyone in it. It was made because it was fun. It was also made for people who truly love the game of basketball.

Take away the smaller stuff I really enjoyed about the movie, the preacher and church scene with Webber and Leslie is great, the stuff with Shaq was hilarious, as I said before, Lil Rel was excellent. But, the pure basketball, and the love for the game of basketball was front and center. I think that is why I love this movie so much. I feel like it was made specifically for someone like me. Someone that likes old school basketball mixed with new school. Someone that likes to hear actors say lines like, "that is why I still play, because I love the game", or, "you miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take", or when Shaq calls Irving "KOBE" at one point because he won't pass the ball, or when Lisa Leslie destroys people with her inside game. It was so much fun to see the best of the best show their stuff. The basketball in this movie was pure. It was akin to the football in a movie like "Friday Night Lights", or the baseball in "Major League". It looked and felt real. I assume they really were playing, and I love that.

"Uncle Drew" is a fun movie that is pure joy for big time basketball fans. I applaud Irving and Webber and Reggie Miller and Nate Robinson and Shaq and Lisa Leslie for going 110 percent and totally buying into their roles. I love this movie so much. My hat is off to "Uncle Drew".

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. When it comes to movies about basketball, Ty will also defend “Eddie”, and “Like Mike”. He will not defend “Juwanna Man”. Ty does have some limits to the basketball movies he likes.

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Ty Watches "Miracle Workers"

The new show "Miracle Workers" on TBS premiered last night. I just finished watching it, and I have to say, it ruled.

For those that don't know, the show is about God and the angels that work for him. That is the simple premise of the show at least. According to the "coming this season" at the end of the episode, there are going to be plenty more story lines. That aside, as I said, the premiere was excellent. It was magical. It was funny and absurd and goofy in all the right ways.

God is played by Steve Buscemi, and this has the potential to be one of his best. He is disillusioned. The world is going to hell around him, and he just seems fed up. He is over it. At points in the premiere you see him chugging beers, calling his lazy Susan the best thing that he has ever owned, he's watching TV just waiting to hear someone call him out and thank him. He is over it all. He wears sweats and sleeps pretty much all day long. His assistant, Sanjay(Karan Soni), clearly loves his job, but you can see the cracks starting to form. He is there to do whatever is asked of him, but the ideas coming from God now seem insignificant and, quite frankly, stupid. At one point, when God is pitching him a restaurant idea, you can see him and his anger starting to boil over. That being said, he is still by God's side when he decides that he is going to blow up Earth. I have a good feeling his story is only going to grow and grow throughout the season.

We also meet a few angels during the episode. Angela Kinsey plays what seems to be a human resource manager, and she is great. She is callous, but also caring. The main 2 angels we meet in the episode are Eliza(Geraldine Viswanathan) and Craig(Daniel Radcliffe). Eliza is an opened minded, go getting type of person. She wants to change the world, and asks for a new job. She wants to be moved from the dirt department, where she literally just messes with dirt, and Kinsey decides that she should be sent to the Prayers Answered department. She is pumped by this news. She now really feels that she can, and will, make a difference. When she finally gets to her new department, she finds that it isn't all it seems, and she only has one other co worker, Craig. Craig is good at his job, and likes what he does. He only answers small prayers, like helping people find lost keys and gloves because that is fulfilling to him. He has been doing this job for centuries, and he has gotten good at it. But, he is also in a rut, not going after big prayers, just the small ones. He just doesn't realize the rut. He has no friends, he has never had a cheeseburger, he doesn't know what a happy hour is and he barely goes outside. He and Eliza form a fast friendship, and when they make a bet with God that they can answer an impossible prayer, you can see that they genuinely enjoy one another's company. I love when shows take this route with religion. I myself am not a religious person, so when someone makes jokes about the afterlife, and really embellishes it, I am on board.

As I said before, Buscemi is so perfectly cast for this role. He is tremendous. But so are Soni, Viswananthan and Radcliffe. They really add a great deal of comedy to the show. I found myself laughing out loud watching the episode. I am so excited to see where it goes from here. Simon Rich, who also wrote for "SNL", "Inside Out" and the very, very underrated "Man Seeking Woman" has what seems to be, at least in my opinion, a great show with loads and loads of potential.

I cannot recommend "Miracle Workers" enough. It is awesome, and I assume it will continue to be.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He, like his idol Homer Simpson, practices his own kind of religion. Just the other day he took the day off for the Feast of Maximum Occupancy.

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Ty Kinda Watches the AAF

On Saturday night we had my folks over to see the kids and my dad and I decided, during a game of kid's Monopoly, that we would check out the new "pro" football league, The American Alliance of Football. I had only recently remembered that the league was a thing because I follow a lot of Michigan football stuff on social media, and a few of their notable players, mainly Denard Robinson, are on some of the teams. Unfortunately for me, none of them played during the one quarter of the one game that I watched this past weekend. With that one quarter of play, I made a few observations.

Now, I have seen a few articles since Saturday saying that the viewership was very high, and that this is the "perfect cure for anyone that is already missing football". First off, I get that viewership was high. Football is now America's pastime. It is the most popular sport. It has surpassed baseball, and even though I may think it is a better, and more fun sport to watch, the NBA is not even close in popularity to pro football. That all makes sense. But, to call this the "cure" for football fans. I highly disagree. I don't get it. One, the Super Bowl just happened a week ago, and it was a trash game. It's not like we have been without football for a month or 2. We didn't miss any football in fact. There was zero break.

Secondly, as far as the "cure" for what ails football fans, this was a garbage product. This was not even high level college football fun. This wasn't even Pro Bowl fun, in that the Pro Bowl is just a stage for the NFL's all star's to dick around. In fact, I would rather watch the skills competition that the soon to be pro players do, or even watch something like the Senior Bowl, or any of those other college football all star games. I found the one quarter of the AAF game I watched to be very, very low level "pro" football. I'm sure it will be better than the return of the XFL, because the XFL is so dumb, but not by that much. I did not recognize a single name of either player on either team Saturday, and I do watch a ton of football, mostly college football. The AAF should have been right in my wheel house because I should have been able to recognize someone. I did not. And sure, I saw the highlight of the big hit on the QB in the very same game I watched, but that type of hit happens in every NFL game, and in pretty much every college football game.

The people that want this league to thrive were grasping at straws trying to make this opening weekend seem like this league will be legit. I mean, I don't even remember the teams that were playing. All I remember about the game was that it was played at the Alamaodome, so I would assume one of the teams is based in San Antonio, and that Mike Martz is either a head coach or coordinator of one of the teams that was playing Saturday night. That's it. And that is not a good thing, at least in my opinion.

As far as the on field stuff I saw, I, clearly, was not impressed. It was all shot gun. It was all read option football. It was like watching Oregon or any other Pac 12 team, except it wasn't as good or fun. The run games were non existent. The QB's were downright dreadful. I have no idea who the skill position players were. Save for that one big hit, the defenses were very, very vanilla. Needless to say, I was pretty underwhelmed by the AAF. I did watch because I am a football junkie, but the fact that I turned it off after a quarter, and my dad didn't gripe at me for this, should speak volumes. We were more than happy to watch the Thunder complete a 26 point comeback win over the Rockets. We also stuck closer to the Duke-Virginia game, and a few other college basketball games. We did not need low grade football.

Football is a great sport, and I love to watch it, especially college football. But, at least for me, the AAF, after one week, was a big time disappointment. It can always make a revival, but I doubt it. This was some low rent football. There is no questioning that.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty does not remember the USFL at all. As a matter of fact most of us only know about the USFL because it showed us that even in the 1980’s, Donald Trump was a terrible leader.

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Ty Watches "Fyre" and "Fyre Fraud"

Pretty much this

In the past week I have seen both of the Fyre Festival documentaries, “Fyre” on Netflix and “Fyre Fraud” on Hulu, and boy do I have some thoughts. 

Right off the bat, screw everyone that was involved with this monstrosity save for the people that actually live in the Bahamas. The Bahamian's are the only people that I felt anything for. They got screwed over by spoiled rotten rich white kids that are thieves. They also got screwed over by Ja Rule too. Man is he a real piece of shit.

Ja Rule’s actions pale in comparison to the monster that is Billy McFarland. This dude is such a compulsive liar. This dude screwed so many of his employees out of money. He simply did not care about anyone but himself. All he wanted to do was go to an island and party. He figured everyone else around him would solve all of his problems. And when they didn't, he just continued to dig himself a deeper and deeper hole. He was way, way in over his head. And his way to "solve" these problems was to launder money, commit fraud and lie to all the people that worked for him. He is a true piece of human garbage. He deserves all the jail time he is currently serving. He deserves to have all of his possessions taken away from him. No one should ever work with him again. I'm pretty sure no one will. He is a horrible example of too much too soon. He is also a horrible example of growing up with a silver spoon. I feel exactly zero sympathy for him, his girlfriend, his parents and his so called friends. They helped create this monster, and the fact that they still are trying to clear his name is absolutely appalling to me. I genuinely hate this guy.

As I said at the top, everyone else is culpable. Everyone else is guilty. They could have hurt or killed someone, but all they cared about was their dumbass festival. The guys who run the company "Fuck Jerry" can go to hell. Those assholes are creeps and thieves and your prototypical frat boys that deserve a solid punch in the face. The guy that was going to perform a sex act to get water, he is as much to blame for Billy McFarland. I know he is supposed to be one of the "heroes" of the doc, one of the guys we should be rooting for. I do not root for him. Yes, the way he was treated was terrible, but he was willing to do stuff he didn't want to do so he could help out McFarland. That is rough stuff.

All the dip shits that worked at Fyre that thought all this nonsense was going to fixed are to blame. They may have tried to call him out, but none of them walked away. They stuck around even when they said they knew it was going to be a disaster. For example, we have the yoga guy. He comes off in the Netflix doc as someone that was hurt by this. He wasn't. He still went to the Bahamas and he still was willing to do what Billy told him to do. Grant, the guy that kind of ran everything is awful. He is a demanding little nerd that let the power go to his head. He thought he was a boss, and he thought he could get away with his bull shit. He can' t and won't. He will probably do some jail time, and he deserves it. For Ja Rule to come out and claim he had nothing to do with this after the fact is ridiculous. He was just as involved. He wanted this to happen. He was on board until it all blew up in his face. He is the epitome of a washed up former star.

And then we have the people that went to this festival. I'm sorry, but why should I feel anything for these spoiled rotten little brats that spent thousands and thousands of their parents money to go see Major Lazer and Blink 182? I don't feel a god damn thing for them except anger. They are little brats that didn't get exactly what they wanted, and they complained and complained. As Ron Funchess put it, "if you have thousands of dollars to spend to see Blink 182, and you end up in a Fyre situation, that is Darwinism at its best". Their attitude, and looting mentality once they got to the island was absurd. They are the worst of the worst. These kids and these "influencers" are awful people that only care about money and how many likes they get on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It is disgusting.

Both these movies painted a great picture of how poorly managed this whole thing was. They showed that, just because you have money, it doesn't get you out of real trouble. I'm upset that the Netflix one was produced by the "Fuck Jerry" guys because it made them look not so bad. They are bad guys. The Hulu one is better, and more damning of that shithead McFarland. They actually got him to do a one on one interview, and to see his punk ass squirm is just magical. Both docs are good, but Hulu's is much more eye opening.

I'm glad that the main culprits of all of this horribleness are getting what they deserve. This thing was going to be bad from the jump, and to see it all blow up in their face made me very happy. I know that may sound childish, or seem like the worst kind of schadenfreude, but I don't care. The Fyre people didn't care about anyone but themselves, and to see them get their comeuppance is grand. I recommend both docs, but I prefer the Hulu one. Either way, Billy McFarland sucks, Ja Rule is an ass and everyone else is to blame.

The people of the Bahamas did not deserve to have this happen to them.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was thinking if people paid this kind of money to see Blink 182, what could Ty get if he put a festival together with Prodigy and Smashmouth. Are you in?

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Ty Watches "Trigger Warning with Killer Mike"

Last week I finished one of the best shows that I have watched on Netflix. It only took me 2 days, which is very fast for me, but I finished all of "Trigger Warning with Killer Mike". It has been well established how much I like Killer Mike on the site and podcast. I love his music, his politics, and now, I love his new TV show. The show has a great premise, and with Killer Mike at the helm, it is pure perfection.

For those that may not know, the show is essentially about 6 problems that Killer Mike wants to fix. He takes this job very seriously too, but there is definite humor in the show. In episode one he talks about how to "live black. That is the title of the episode. Throughout the 25 minutes he tells the viewer that he will only buy from all black owned stores, restaurants, companies, doesn't matter, as long as it is black owned. He talks about how this used to be fairly easy, but it has become very hard as of late. He portrays this perfectly. I felt real bad for him at times because of how hard this exercise was. He found a lot of new problems and it was interesting to see him get through the three days.

In episode 2, entitled, "F*&k School", he talks about how public education is failing kids. He wants these kids to learn a vocation. He even goes to a first grade classroom, tells the kids that their dreams will most likely not come true, and brings in a buddy to show them how to fix household items. He soon realizes that he needs to go to older people, and see how smart they are. They are not very smart. But, he enlists his buddy from before and a "cam girl". He talks to them about making pornographic self help videos. They all get on board and do this. And you know what, it works. It was so hilarious, yet very eye opening. People nowadays are so attached to screens, and pornography is a big time industry. So Killer Mike uses this, and it is successful. It was great.

In episode three, "White Gang Privilege", he talks about how unfair it is that the Hell's Angels get a free pass, but the Crips and Bloods are looked upon as killers and criminals. He shows us that you can even buy Hell's Angel's stuff online. He enlists some Crips, and they start a soda company. He also gets the Bloods involved, who start another soda company. But he shows us that they can coexist, bringing them to a farmers market to sell their sodas. Nothing bad happens, and they even have some success. It was, my favorite word this blog, eye opening. To see how people changed their perception of the soda once they realized it came from Crips was wild. We also meet Mario in this episode. He is a key player in the series from here on out.

In episode 4, "New Jesus", we meet Sleep, Killer Mike's buddy. Mike decides that he is going to start a religion, the Church of Sleep, based on this dude's life. He is cool, calm and collected. He likes strip clubs, weed and sleep. And you know what, he gets a congregation. It is a wonderful episode. It might be one of my favorites.

Episode 5, "Outside the Box" was CRAZY. Mike decides he is going to use music to get to everyone. He uses it himself to get his word out, so he decides he is going to make a "super group" to open a RTJ show. This "super group" is filled with all different kinds of people. There is the previously mentioned Mario representing Latinas and gays, we have another albino that is a black lives matter leader, a Jewish lady that is into renaissance fairs, a horrific white nationalist, an African American that is a Jesus freak, and so on and so forth. It is wild. They fight and bicker the whole time. They wrote their own verses to a song, and they are rough. And to see them open for RTJ, and to get the fans point of view, it was something else.

The final episode of the first season, I hope he does more of this, is called "Kill Your Masters". Killer Mike kind of takes pieces from each episode he has done before and starts a new country, "New Africa". He is the leader and buys the land and sets everything up, but again, we have people bickering everywhere. They even have an election, one Mike doesn't win, or did he set it up that way? This was such a great way to close out the first season. It was a perfect summation of, what I hope is the first season of many. I hope he makes more of this. I love this show. It was tremendous, and Killer Mike is the voice I follow most in the music industry.

So, as Killer Mike says, I will go out and purchase something from a black owned company. If Crip A Cola comes to Saint Louis, you better believe I will buy it. One day maybe my son will watch one of the videos he made to learn a trade. And I would love to visit New Africa one day. My hat goes off to Killer Mike and everyone involved with "Trigger Warning". It is one of the best shows of the year so far. Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He once tried to start his own religion that centered around Skittles, Michigan Football, and Gatorade. Want to join?

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "The Other Two" Series Premier

Last Thursday another show I was looking forward to in 2019, "The Other Two". had its series premiere. I was pretty excited about the show when I heard that Drew Tarver was cast as one of the leads. I'm a fan of his, especially whenever he is on "Comedy Bang! Bang!". He is a funny improviser, and I just enjoy him. When I found out that Chris Kelley and Sarah Schneider, former "SNL" head writers, were the creators, I was even more excited. I then saw some of the little previews and snippets that Comedy Central was releasing, and they all made me laugh. This just furthered my excitement. So, after I recorded the premiere, I watched it the next day.

It did not disappoint.

For those that may not know, "The Other Two" is about a family of three, who's father has passed away, and the youngest brother becomes ultra famous over night. He is a pop singer, and his song, "I Want to Marry You at Recess", becomes an enormous viral hit. He has 2 older siblings, one played by Tarver, the other played by Helene Yorke. They are not so successful. Tarver is a waiter and wannabe actor. The first scene with him, where he is at an audition for a commercial as "guy who smells fart", is wonderful. Yorke is, I think, a realtor, and when we first see her, she is squatting in an apartment building and eating day old pizza and splashing her armpits with soap and water. These 2 introductions are great. What makes them even better is the fact that their young brother is on "The Today Show", with their mom, the excellent Molly Shannon, and he is just being fawned over by everyone. They love him so much we even hear Hoda Kotb say that they had to bump Jennifer Lawrence because they went so long with Chase. That is the young kid's name, Chase Dreams he calls himself.

What made the premiere so good was how they kept showing the other 2 siblings lives, all the while they were watching their brother on TV. Tarver is a little jealous and is taken aback by how quickly his little brother is becoming famous. Yorke is a bit more angry, but she is constantly listening to her brother's song, and keeps saying that this year, she is "going to chase dreams". The episode was funny, but also very sweet.

Some of the best scenes in the premier include Tarver's boss at the restaurant telling him and the other gay waiter about all the gay movies he has been watching with his wife lately, namely "Brokeback Mountain", which he mentions twice. The stuff between Tarver an his "straight" roommate is going to make for some compelling stuff. I already mentioned the audition, but Tarver also has a job as an actor for a tour bus, where he dances. It was great. Yorke, in her mission to "chase dreams", says that her big plan is to "see 50 dicks" this year. She also is fervently working out while listening to her little brother's song and talking to her co worker about all her plans. She also talks about how she just broke up with her long time boyfriend because he still dabs and says, "damn Daniel". It was great. 

The sweetness comes from Shannon and the little brother. Chase isn't really ready for this life. He can't believe he is famous, and he just wants to hang out with his brother and sister. He also talks about how much he misses their dad. Shannon clearly loves all her kids the same. She doesn't care that Chase is famous, and the other 2 are struggling, she just wants them all to be happy. She is doing every thing she can to make sure her kids are happy, and okay. She seems to be a great mom, and not a "momager". The final scene in the premiere, where Chase sleeps in the hotel bed with his siblings because he doesn't feel well was so heartfelt. I loved it.

“The Other Two” has serious potential. I cannot wait to see where it goes from here. I also appreciate that they didn't make Tarver and Yorke out to be villain like. They love their little brother, they just can't believe how fast he has become famous, as I imagine happens in a lot of families where one of the children gain sudden fame. They just want what is best for their brother. I'm glad this show got the greenlight and I'm happy to watch it. I suggest you all check it out too. It is great.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is the youngest of four siblings, and understands how hard it is for his older brothers to have to deal with their little brother’s fame. Suck it up guys. You can crash on Ty’s coach if need be.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Black Monday" Series Premier

Yesterday I watched the premiere of one of the shows I was looking forward to in 2019, “Black Monday”. I’m a David Caspe fan, so when he has his name attached to a show, especially one he’s co created and written, I’m in. “Black Monday” was no exception. I have been looking forward to this show since I first heard about it, almost a year ago.

And it did not disappoint. When I heard the names being cast, and that it was going to be on a premium cable channel, Showtime, I just assumed it would be good. Not only did we have Caspe on board, the actors are great. Don Cheadle, Regina Hall and Andrew Rannells are the three main characters, and they’re wonderful. Hall is a total badass, that can more than hold her own in the male dominated world of the 80’s stock market. That’s when the show takes place, right before a humongous market crash in 87. Back to Hall. Not only is she a badass, but she does have a heart. She cares about her job, and some of the people she works with. She also is clearly the smartest person in the room. She knows better than everyone else, and has a good head on her shoulders. She’s terrific. Rannells is the fish out of water, trying to impress his girlfriend. He plays a genius trader that created this “perfect” algorithm. But, the scene in the premiere when he tries to double 50k in 4 hours, shows he is in way over his head. The way Rannells portrays his character is so good. He’s too nice. He’s too smart. He’s too gullible. He lets others control what he does. But, when he needs to, he can stand up for himself. When he storms into the office to demand a job, that scene was pretty wonderful. I am also a big fan of his, because of “Book of Mormon”, the only thing I’ve seen him in. So to see him play a totally different character is always fun for me as a viewer.

Then we have Don Cheadle. He can do no wrong. He is one of the best living actors. His character is slimy, mean, does copious amounts of cocaine, spends money just to spend it and acts like he’s the greatest dude ever. And you know what, I found myself openly rooting for him by the end of the episode. Cheadle exudes confidence, and he does that tenfold on “Black Monday”. When he berates his team for being the 11th ranked firm in New York I found myself agreeing with him. When I saw the painting of him doing coke I thought, that’s pretty dope. When he tries to hit on Hall, only to be rebuked by her boyfriend, I wanted Hall to go with him. When he brags about his Lamborghini Limbo, and Rannells says to him,”so you have a slow uncomfortable car?”, and he responds, “ I got it because it was the most expensive!”, I thought, hell yeah you did. Even when he first bumps his robot butler, you read that right, after doing more cocaine, I just found myself rooting for him more. Cheadle is so awesome.

Outside those three, the rest of the major cast is filled with improv actors. Paul Scheer, who I praised yesterday, is on this show. So is Eugene Cordero. Kurt Braunholer plays a dude named Ty, so I’m in on him. Yassir Lester wears a full head garb, and calls himself Yassir X. Ken Marino plays twin brothers, who may or may not be romantically involved. And Casey Wilson plays Rannells girlfriend. And when she slaps him twice in a row in the episode, it was hilarious.

I’m pumped to see where “Black Monday” goes from here. It has a tremendous amount of promise and intrigue. I highly recommend everyone check it out. It’s so good.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He remembers the high energy time of 1987 not because of the cocaine but because of the joy any 5 year old would have getting ready for new episodes of the original “Duck Tales”.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Those Who Can't" Season 3

I promised I would do three reviews of new seasons of three shows on Tru TV and today I come to you with the third.

I have been on the "Those Who Can't" bandwagon since season 1. I think this show is hilarious, I love the actors, the writing is superb and the show is just super enjoyable. This Monday they had their season three premiere, and it did not disappoint. This show is good. It is also underrated too. It doesn't get talked about nearly as much as it should. The three creators of the show, Adam Cayton-Holland, Ben Roy and Andrew Overdahl, clearly have some spent some kind of time as a teacher in high school, be it as a full time or sub, and on "Those Who Can't", they tell those stories hilariously. Adam Cayton-Holland, as Spanish teacher Loren Payton, is hilarious as the laid back, doesn't give a damn high school teacher we all had. He would rather be battle rapping, proposing to a stripper or pulling pranks than teaching a class. He is great. Ben Roy, as Billy Shoemaker, is the wannabe badass who is really just a wimp at heart. This season he also has a pony tail, which made for a ton of great pun work in the season three premiere. And Andrew Overdahl, as Coach Principal Fairbell, is the dumb dumb. He is gullible, wants to please his friends and loves to coach volleyball. He also was hilarious in the premiere. When he has to fire someone, it is just a wonderful scene. And the other regulars on the show, be it Maria Thayer as Abbey or Sonya Eddy as Tammy or Susie Essman as art teacher Leslie Bronn or Rich Fulcher as Trebin, they are all great. They are all funny. They all play their roles to perfection. Thayer is a total pushover that doesn't know it. She is a great comedic actress. Eddy is so so so good as the principal's assistant. She is the true badass on the show. Essman is conniving and mean, but also just wants to help some people out. Fulcher is hilarious as the teacher that just wants to be part of the gang. They also added Jerry Minor as the guidance counselor this season, and if the premiere is any indication of his role, he is going to be a great addition. I'm curious to see if Kyle Kinane, the Sklar Brothers and Rory Scovel come back this season. I'm sure they will, but time will tell.

"Those Who Can't" is a great comedic representation of life in high school for the teachers. The show might be the best representation of how teachers really feel about their jobs and their lives. It is a great show, and I want more people to watch it so it gets another season. I'm glad it is back, and I'm stoked to see how season three unfolds. Tru TV has done it again.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is happy the “noble” profession of teaching is getting the take down it deserves. Can we do doctors and lawyers next?

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Jon Glaser Loves Gear" Season 2

Another day, another review of a Tru TV show.

I'm a big time Jon Glaser fan. I pretty much adore everything he is in. He has this very odd sense of humor that's just my style. He is, hot take here, the best thing about one of my all time favorite shows, "Parks and Rec". So, when I heard that Tru TV was giving his show, "Jon Glaser Loves Gear" a second season, needless to say I was stoked.

The first season of the show, which I have written about, was weird, funny, informative and so perfectly Jon Glaser. I did not think they would do a second season due to many different reasons. The first season kind of put a pin on everything. I knew no one else that watched the show. My wife watched one episode with me and thought it was bizarre. I even had the thought of, how could they do more.

Well, they figured it out. The season 2 premiere, which was on right after "I'm Sorry", Wednesday night is fast becoming one of my favorite nights for TV, was incredible. And it brought all the oddity and weirdness and hilarity from season one. The premiere started like most episodes, where Glaser says he is going to talk about volleyball equipment. We never hear about volleyball equipment again after the very first scene. Instead, the show decides to go in a different direction, taking more of a darker comedic tone. The executives behind the show decide they want Glaser's sidekick, Steve, to be the host. They tell Glaser that viewers like him more, he is more informative, personable and just seems a better fit. Glaser does not take this news well at all. He wants to be the star. They tell him he can still be in the show, but he is now the sidekick. We then cut to Glaser talking to Steve in his office, and he tells him a complete lie. He says that the people don't want him on the show, but he fought for him. All he has to do is take on a seemingly undoable outdoor task in the frigid cold. Glaser makes it all up, but Steve, being the perfect sidekick, says he will do it because Jon fought so hard for him. From here on out, we get scenes of Glaser hanging out with his hired family, that are paid to only give him compliments. We see Glaser try to take on Steve's persona, including wearing a bald cap, fake tattoos and joining a cross fit gym. We also get Glaser saying his final good bye to Steve when they trudge out to the forest.

Here we meet Steve's answer to Geari, for those that may not know, Geari is Glaser's gear version of Siri, Droney. Droney is a female drone that will document Steve's journey. Geari immediately falls in love. Some things happen from here on out that spell doom for Steve. I will not go into too much, but there is a funeral for someone who may not be dead. Glaser also goes on a mission to find a newer, seemingly weaker sidekick. He picks his real life son's camp counselor, who clearly wants no part of it. All the while he is still wearing the bald cap and trying to be like Steve.

This premiere is what I love about this show, and the fact that Tru TV gave Glaser this second season. The show is nonsensical in all the right ways. Every time he yells "GEEEEAAAARRRRR!" into the megaphone, I laugh. I know it's coming, and I still laugh. All the little side notes, saying what kind of coat, or knife or tattooing device or hair clippers that get used in the show were so unimportant, yet I found myself thinking, man I'd like to get some of that stuff. And it is all helmed by the genius that is Glaser. While "JGLG" may not be as good as "Delocated" or "Neon Joe Werewolf Hunter", I still really find myself enjoying this show. It is fun and weird and a great way to spend a half an hour. I'm excited to see where they go with the new Steve story line, and I know there will be some new, even funnier stuff in the second season. Tru TV,

I said it yesterday, and I will say it again today, is picking some great, under the radar people to helm their shows, and for people like me, it is working. This is another homerun from the network. Keep it up Tru TV.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has just recently gotten into volleyball, and really could have used some pointers on good volleyball gear. Oh well, maybe next time

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches "Bird Box"

So my wife and I sat down and finally watched "Bird Box". We wanted to see what all the fuss was about. She said people were talking about it at work, and she felt a bit left out. I have heard some of my buddies talk about it, so I also felt a bit left out. I have also seen all the memes and gifs and stuff on social media mentioning this movie. A lot of the social media stuff had to do with sports, so I was getting even more frustrated because I just didn't get it. So we put the kids to bed on Saturday night a little early, and we put the movie on.

First things first, this review will be spoiler free. It is going to be spoiler free because I feel like people should really check this movie out. But even before I get into it, I do need to yell at everyone on social media for not informing me how sad this movie is. I expected it to be scary, which it is. But, this movie is depressing as hell. I mean, my wife was sobbing at points. I was holding back all of my tears. I had to cover my face several times because I do not like to cry in front of her. We were both emotionally drained at the end of the movie. So this is my way of letting anyone know that hasn't seen the movie yet, and only expect it to be a horror movie, and they want to watch it, it is also super sad and super depressing. You will cry, and you will be upset. Just a warning.

Getting to the review now. "Bird Box" is excellent. I didn't really know what to expect, stayed away from all the stuff, with the exception of the memes and what not. But what I saw, I really, really liked. It was suspenseful and scary and well told and greatly acted and brilliantly directed. I have no real problems with the movie at all. Sandra Bullock is wonderful in this movie. She acted the hell out of this role. I totally bought pretty much everything about her role. She was awesome. The other people in the movies, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, Trevante Rhodes, Jackie Weaver and Lil Rel Howery, among others, were great as well. Paulson as Bullock's sister was perfect in her minimal role. Malkovich is a total dickhead, and he has every right to be. Rhodes, who was so awesome in "Moonlight" as well, was great as the love interest/badass with a heart of gold. Weaver is good as the house mom after the apocalyptic event takes place. And Lil Rel, in a not so comedic role, just keeps winning me over with performances like this and his character in "Get Out".

What I really loved about "Bird Box" was how the people all reacted to the event. Something crazy happens, again I do not want to spoil anything and it causes people to do unthinkable stuff against their will. The people who end up in the house, not yet effected, each have different ways of dealing with it. It was pretty well done to see how each one dealt. Some were strong, others were scared, others were mad, others were ready to let it go. It was great. It also made me think of how I would react in a similar scenario.(I would not last long, which my wife and dad agreed with) Aside from that, pretty much anything else I tell you would be a spoiler.

This movie needs to be seen. I have now, and I will never, ever watch it again, but I am glad I did. This is a cultural phenomena, and I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to be able to talk about it. Also, Sandra Bullock, like I said before, was outstanding. The only person, and my wife disagrees with me here, that I thought did a better job in a similar movie was Emily Blunt in "A Quiet Place". But, they both crushed it. I would hope that Bullock would get some kind of awards consideration for this role. She is that good.

"Bird Box" is great, you should see it, you should be prepared to be scared and sad, and prepare yourself to be thinking about it for days. It is the type of movie that stays with you for days, in a good way. "Bird Box" is a must see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is back on the Netflix bandwagon now that he has seen a good movie. The last one he saw did not make him hopeful for future films from the streaming giant.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.