Podcast

Episode 115: The Water Cooler Gang talks about the DGA winners, Saturday Night Live, and a flesh-eating Drew Barrymore.

Drew Barrymore may be the most magical zombie ever to grace the small screen, but Melissa McCarthy is a golden goddess. This week at the Water Cooler, we again broach the subject of the politics of comedy in our TV Tidbit segment. First, since the inauguration of Donald Trump, NBC’s veteran sketch show Saturday Night Live already feels more vital than it did during all of the Obama era. Is there an unfair advantage in portraying a president unpopular to the liberal-leaning show? And how amazing was Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer? Then, we’ll talk about a recent interview in The Huffington Post where South Park creators Matt Parker and Trey Stone reveal they’re backing off Trump and why. Then, we’ll close TV Tidbits with a chat about HBO’s awards season track with The Young Pope. Where does this critically acclaimed series fall in the 2017 Emmy race?

After that, we discuss this weekend’s DGA Award winners in both film and TV (spoiler alert: Stranger Things didn’t win). We also take a look at Netflix’s gross-out zombie comedy Santa Clarita Diet starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. Finally, we close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

Next week, the Water Cooler Podcast kicks off our 2-week coverage of Big Little Lies. First up, our Water Cooler Podcast Book Club dives into the pulpy novel by Liane Moriarity. Then, on our February 20 episode, we’re planning a long, slow, luxuriating soak in the HBO limited series’s first four episodes.

Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

10:31 – TV Tidbits
35:29 – DGA Award winners, plus Oscar and Emmy
51:03 – Santa Clarita Diet
01:05:14 – Flash Forward

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Episode 114: The Water Cooler Gang goes into reaction mode with the bevy of awards announcements coming out this week including Oscar noms, PGA and SAG awards.

We’re reacting to a slew of major awards announcements around this week’s Water Cooler. We start with a few passing comments about Tuesday’s Oscar nominations. This includes our personal reactions to the nominations and thoughts on La La Land’s historic haul. Plus, we start considering what exactly will La La Land win on Oscar night? Then, we take a look at the recent PGA and SAG winners. Who were the big winners (Stranger Things), and what do they say about the upcoming Oscar and Emmy races? But first, we dive into a few random TV-related topics in our TV Tidbits segment including Megan’s personal thoughts on the legacy of the recently departed Mary Tyler Moore. Finally, we close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

In addition, the Water Cooler Podcast book club kicks off on the February 13 edition with Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, which will become a major HBO limited series starting February 19.

Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

06:10 – TV Tidbits
15:13 – 2017 Oscar Nominations
22:24 – Producers Guild Awards
28:58 – Screen Actors Guild Awards
01:01:40 – Flash Forward

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Episode 113: The Cooler Gang flashes back to all three seasons of Netflix’s Black Mirror, predicts the 2017 Oscar noms, and gushes over SNL’s Kate McKinnon.

This week at the Water Cooler, we’re trying on a new hat. No, it’s not a pussy power hat (although Megan wore one of those this weekend). Instead, we put on our Oscar prognostication hats, predicting the major races in advance of tomorrow’s 2017 Oscar nominations. Then, with our latest Water Cooler Flashback segment, we dive into all three seasons of the highly addictive and often terrifying Netflix British import Black Mirror. Which episodes worked best? Which episodes felt repetitive? What are our very favorite Black Mirror episodes over all three seasons? Sit back, relax, and try not to focus on how we’re watching you listen to this right now…

And how about Emmy-winner Kate McKinnon’s fantastic Chicago-inspired “Conway” number from the uniformly great Aziz Ansari-led Saturday Night Live? Is she headed for another Emmy?

As always, we close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week. As a reminder, the Water Cooler Podcast book club kicks off on the February 13 edition with Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, which will become a major HBO limited series starting February 19.

Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

03:20 – TV Tidbits
19:30 – 2017 Oscar Predictions
38:20 – Black Mirror – ***Some spoilers***
01:42:11 – Flash Forward

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Episode 112: The Cooler Gang discusses three great diverse Oscar-worthy films and a slew of hot winter TV shows.

This week at the Water Cooler, we kick things off by recapping last week’s DGA nominations in film and TV categories. We then celebrate three excellent and shining examples of diversity in film. First, we revisit our conversation around Denzel Washington’s Fences (now that Megan has seen it) and discuss this great film in a deeper context. Then, we look at two other Oscar-buzzed films: Hidden Figures and Moonlight. On the TV side of the house, we have an onslaught of new hot winter TV shows including the highly anticipated Emmy bait series from HBO The Young Pope, starring Jude Law. We also look at FX’s Taboo starring Tom Hardy, Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events starring Neil Patrick Harris, and the return of our favorite little TV show Pop’s Schitt’s Creek.

Finally, we’ll close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

03:20 – DGA nominations
19:30 – Fences
38:20 – Hidden Figures
49:15 – Moonlight
01:03:25 – The Young Pope
01:14:48 – Taboo
01:21:31 – A Series of Unfortunate Events
01:35:35 – Schitt’s Creek, Season 3
01:42:11 – Flash Forward

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Episode 111: The Cooler Gang looks at last night’s Golden Globes ceremony, winners and losers.

This week at the Water Cooler, we close the door on last night’s Golden Globes ceremony by taking a look at the film and television winners (Tracee Ellis Ross!!!), losers (sad HBO), and the important speeches we’ll commit to history (Meryl.). We also take a look at what impact the awards have on the upcoming Oscar nominations and the 2017 Emmy season. Finally, we consider the Golden Globes hosting performance of Jimmy Fallon. Was he a breath of fresh air? Or were we longing for the glory days of Tina Fey, Amy Poehler or even Ricky Gervais? But before that, we talk about some of the Oscar-buzzy films we took in over the holiday season, including Passengers (admittedly not “Oscar-buzzy” but Joey and Megan love trash), Jackie, Fences, and a pervasive beating (but, really, we liked it!) of La La Land. Meaning, we literally could not stop talking about it. Or criticizing it.

Anyway, we close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

05:31 – Passengers
13:39 – Jackie
22:40 – La La Land
41:29 – Fences
52:06 – Golden Globes ceremony
01:51:54 – Flash Forward

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Episode 110: The Cooler Gang looks forward t0 2017 TV and reveals their most anticipated new and returning series.

This week at the Water Cooler, the Cooler Gang looks forward into 2017 with the dawn of a newer, hopefully less noxious year. Megan, Joey, and Clarence each list the 2017  TV they currently see on the horizon that they’re most excited about. What shiny new things will HBO rain down upon us? How will FX top its Emmy-blessed 2016? What on their lists will Ryan Murphy give that they’ll hate watch? Have a listen and see what if any of these 2017 TV show themes fall on their collective lists.

The Flash Forward will return with the second 2017 podcast.

Happy New Year to all of our listeners and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

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Episode 109: The Cooler Gang looks back on 2016 TV and reveal their Best of 2016 TV lists.

This week at the Water Cooler, the Cooler gang unveils the results of their blood, sweat and tears. They’ve maybe lost a little hair and a little sleep over it. Yes, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for the Best of 2016 TV lists. How many Emmy winners, critics favorites, or personal obsessions will pop up across Joey, Megan, and Clarence’s lists? How many crossover shows will there be? What series missed the top ten by a hair and fell on the Honorable Mention lists? Plus, they take a look at favorite 2016 performances and single out their most hated 2016 television show.

The Flash Forward will return with the second 2017 podcast.

Happy Holidays to all of our listeners and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

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Episode 108: The Cooler Gang visits HBO’s Westworld with their critical hats and chaps on.

This week at the Water Cooler, we kick things off with a special announcement related to the on-going evolution of the Water Cooler Podcast. We then get to business with an overview of the Screen Actors Guild awards. Who benefitted from the nominations? Who missed out? What momentum will carry forward into future awards shows? Next, our main topic for the week is a detailed overview of HBO’s fall series Westworld. We look at the themes running through the futuristic Western series, and we highlight specific moments in the series that excelled for us. Then, we close with a conversation around Westworld‘s Emmy chances. FYI, spoilers abound!

As always, we’ll close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

Thanks to all of our listeners and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

09:52 – SAG Awards
50:14 – Westworld ***SPOILERS***
01:35:22- Flash Forward

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Episode 107: The Cooler Gang is joined by Jalal Haddad as they review the latest television awards.

This week at the Water Cooler, we take a deeper look at Sunday’s Critics’ Choice awards and see who emerges with a boost from the first major award show of the new Emmy season. Then, Monday brought the 2017 Golden Globe nominations. We’ll look at who received the most television nominations and what, if any, narratives can be constructed for future Emmy glory. But before that, we’ll briefly talk about last week’s Hairspray Live! and see how its awards prospects compare to previous live events.

As always, we’ll close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

Thanks to all of our listeners and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

02:52 – Hairspray Live!
12:21 – Critics’ Choice TV Awards
30:15 – 2017 TV Golden Globe Nominations
1:17:49 – Flash Forward

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Episode 106: The Cooler Gang puts on their predicting hats and capes and attempts to forecast the most finicky awards group of them all with our 2017 Golden Globe predictions.

This week at the Water Cooler, we’re girding our loins for next Monday’s 74th Annual Golden Globes nominations announcement. Clearly, we’re focusing on the most important categories of all – the Television categories. So, on this week’s podcast, we give our 2017 Golden Globe predictions on who will make it, who will surprise us, and who misses out of the Golden Globes television categories. Plus, we speculate on what to expect from those crazy, one-performance-fits-all supporting categories. It becomes a fool’s errand to try and predict the Hollywood Foreign Press, but who said we weren’t fools?

As always, we close with the Flash Forward to the television we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week.

Thanks to all of our listeners and thank you, in advance, for remembering to rate us on iTunes!

04:47 – 2017 Golden Globes Predictions
44:17 – Flash Forward

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