Premise: Reboot is about the dysfunctional cast of an early 2000s hit sitcom, Step Right Up, who must face their unresolved issues and navigate social media cancel culture when a young writer pitches a reboot of their show.
Cast: Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, Rachel Bloom, Calum Worthy, Krista Marie Yu, Judy Greer, Paul Reiser.
What it reminds me of: The show reminds me of 30 Rock, Great News,Unreal, and Episodes. I am a big fan of behind-the-scenes shows.
Why I like it: The show is created by Steve Levitan who created Modern Family, so that is a start. The cast should also be enough to get you interested in this show. You will recognize the cast from many things, but if Calum Worthy is a newer name to you, he was fantastic in Hulu’s The Act and Netflix’s American Vandal. I can’t believe it took so long for a show like this to come out. This show gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like be the cast and crew of a reboot of a 90s sitcom.
Last year was the year of television shows and documentaries on scam artists and shady company founders. You probably saw one or two, I happened to watch all. Or so I believe. Here is a little bit about each other, in case you haven’t seen it!
WeCrashed
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: AppleTV+
Premise: WeCrashed is an American drama streaming television miniseries that premiered on Apple TV+ on March 18, 2022. The series stars Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the real-life married couple at the heart of WeWork, a coworking space company whose valuation reached $47 billion in 2019 before crashing as a result of financial revelations. The series is based on the podcast WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork by Wondery.
Cast: Jared Leto, Anne Hathaway.
Trailer:
Inventing Anna
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Netflix
Premise: Inventing Anna is an American drama television miniseries created and produced by Shonda Rhimes, inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin and the article in New York titled “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People”[1] by Jessica Pressler. The series was released on Netflix on February 11, 2022.[2][3]Julia Garner starred as Anna Sorokin, the title character. The series received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances (particularly Garner) but criticized the inconsistent tone.
Under the assumed name Anna Delvey, Russian-born Anna Sorokin is able to con members of New York City’s upper crust into believing she is a German heiress with access to a substantial fortune. She uses this persona to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, goods and services while working towards her goal of opening an exclusive art-themed club.
Cast: Anna Chlumsky, Julia Garner, Arian Moayed, Katie Lowes, Alexis Floyd, Anders Holm, Anna Deavere Smith, Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney, Laverne Cox
Trailer:
The Dropout
TV show of Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Hulu
Premise: The Dropout, based on the ABC Audio podcast of the same name, is a series about the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos. The show touches on experiences that likely motivated Holmes’s deceptions and lies in a linear fashion, starting from her preteens and all the way to her exposure as a fraud.
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Naveen Andrews.
Trailer:
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: HBO
Premise: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is a 2019 American documentary film, directed and produced by Alex Gibney. The film revolves around Elizabeth Holmes and her former company Theranos. It is considered a companion piece to the book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.
Cast:
Trailer:
The Tinder Swindler
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Netflix
Premise: The Tinder Swindler is a British true crime documentary film directed by Felicity Morris and released on Netflix on 2 February 2022.[1] The documentary tells the story of the Israeli conman Simon Leviev (born Shimon Hayut) who used the dating application Tinder to connect with individuals who he then emotionally manipulated into financially supporting his lavish lifestyle on the pretext he needed the money to escape his “enemies.”
Premise: Former “Saturday Night Live” head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider are the creative forces behind “The Other Two,” a scripted series centered around two siblings desperately seeking their lot in life. Aspiring actor Cary is struggling to land better auditions than “Man at Party Who Smells Fart,” while his sister Brooke is simply struggling in general. As they work toward self-improvement, their lives are turned upside-down when their teenage brother Chase becomes an internet sensation overnight.
Cast: Heléne Yorke, Drew Tarver, Ken Marino, Case Walker, Molly Shannon, Josh Segarra, Wanda Sykes, Brandon Scott Jones
What it reminds me of: The show and the plot are both very original. What I like in a television show or movie is a cast that always wants to make it and be successful and never does. And that is this show.
Why I like it: Ken Marino and Molly Shannon. Need I say more? This show is super funny. The premise is essentially: what if Justin Bieber had two siblings that were absolute messes and lived in his shadow. Also, their mother loved all three of them equally and saw them all successful in her eyes.
The second season just started and is out on Hulu now!
TV show or Movie: TV show
Where to watch: Hulu/FXX
Premise: Following the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who steal, rob and save in order to get to the exotic, mysterious and faraway land of California. To succeed, they will have to save enough money, outmaneuver the methheads at the junkyard on the edge of town and survive a turf war against a much tougher rival gang. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences — and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.
Why I like it: Taika Waititi co-created this show, so you know it’s going to be good. Although the title is similar to the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film, Reservoir Dogs, it doesn’t have the same feel at all. The show is about four best friends getting over a tragedy while also trying to stay entertained in their small hometown. I have been there before as have so many other people. The show is a comedy-drama, but definitely has more laughs than sad moments. The cast is great together, the characters in town, like Kenny Boy played by Kirk Fox, and the rapping twins played by LilMike (AKA Mike) and FunnyBone (AKA Bone) are hilarious and I always get excited when I see them on screen.
Premise: The film follows a young black telemarketer who adopts a white accent to succeed at his job. Swept into a corporate conspiracy, he must choose between profit and joining his activist friends to organize labor.
Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, and Armie Hammer
What it reminds me of: Nothing, absolutely nothing . And that is why you should watch it.
Why I like it: Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson are some of the best actors around these days. And the supporting cast is very strong. This movie may look like a straight comedy from the trailer, but the movie goes down so many different paths filled with twists and turns. If I spoiled the movie for you right now, you wouldn’t believe it. This movie is a mix of black comedy, satire, sci-fi, body horror, and more.
The film just hit Hulu, so if you have an account you can watch it for free on there.
Premise:A young chef from the world of fine dining comes home to Chicago to run his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop after the suicide of his older brother, who left behind debts, a rundown kitchen, and an unruly staff.
Cast: Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Abby Elliott.
What it reminds me of: Imagine that Lip from Shameless moved to Chicago and became a chef. Kidding. JAW (Jeremy Allen White, as I am now calling him) will not be type cast! I love seeing all of the characters from Shameless in their new endevors.
This show reminds me of those shows and films where someone comes back to their hometown and tries to put the pieces together. Because that’s what this show is.
Why I like it: This show is wild. Part comedy, part drama, part anxiety-inducing entertainment. So a dramedy panic attack? I dont know what I would call it.
If you have worked in a kitchen before, or just a restaurant in general, some of this will connect for sure. The acting is so, so, so good in this show. Jeremy Allen White took culinary classes and worked in a kitchen to prepare for the role. And it shows.
The show is fast-paced, tense, everyone hits their beat. It’s truly one of the best shows of 2022. Just like Yellowjackets, we are all just sitting here waiting for season two.
Premise: The show stars Bayer as Joanna Gold, an aspiring host for shopping channel SVN, who lies that her childhood cancer has returned in order to keep her job; the story is inspired by Bayer’s personal experience with childhood leukemia.
Cast: Vanessa Bayer; Molly Shannon; Jenifer Lewis; Paul James; Ayden Mayeri; Matt Rogers; Punam Patel
What it reminds me of: 30 Rock, Great News.
Why I like it: When two SNL alums get together to make a show about the behind-the-scenes craziness of a home shopping network channel, how can you not want to watch it? I absolutely love Molly Shannon and I will watch anything that she does. This show is also semi-autobiographical as Bayers did have childhood leukemia and co-created this show. Jennifer Lewis plays the head of the network and is a no-nonsense character who’s character development was very well written and done. The supporting cast is very comical, filling the roles of the other hosts at the network.
A lot of the episodes are directed by comic genius Michael Showalter who recently directed the Oscar-nominated The Eyes of Tammy Faye and the hopefully Emmy-nominated The Dropout. Showalter is becoming the new Jay Chandrasekhar or Fred Savage, directed a bunch of episodes of television comedies.
What is the name of your favorite television show or movie? Sixth Sense – Thriller | Fire in the Sky or Signs – SciFi | basically anything paranormal or alien-related
What is your first name and City you live in? Christy, Austin
Suggestion? I have been an M. Night fan for as long as I can remember. If you are a fan of The Sixth Sense, I recommend Unbreakable, Split, Glass, The Village. Now, most people saw these movies and then might have given up. Devil is a cool film about people being trapped in an elevator and one of them is the devil. The Visit is a hilarious and terrifying film about kids who stay with their grandparents, but something isn’t right. And Wayward Pines might be one of my favorite television shows of all time. No need to watch past the first season, though.
As far as paranormal movies go – The Others. Such an original film. The Paranormal Activity movies are great. They keep getting scarier and more innovative as they go. The Haunting is a fun 1999 film starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson. I am a big fan of 13 Ghosts. That movie is fun as shit and creepy as it, too. The Sinister films are terrifying, the first was actually just voted the scariest movie of all time. Let’s see what else – Quarantine and Rec( the original), Shutter. I recently saw Frality for the first time. Super twisted and a good cast.
For alien movies – Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Prometheus, The Fourth Kind, Super 8 (A JJ Abrams and Stephen Speilberg film that combined Cloverfield with ET and also Dude, Where’s my Car?), Arrival, Mars Attacks. Contact is such a classic. Edge of Tomorrow is a fun Groundhog’s Day alien Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt film. Evolution Is a good comedy. They Live is a super fun classic movie and really puts the advertising industry into perspective. Both John Carpenter’s The Thing and the one from the 2010 are awesome and you should watch the newer one first. Starship Troopers is a crazy alien movie with Neil Patrick Harris playing a psychic or something. Pitch Black is like The Descent with Vin Diesel, I don’t know if that’s a selling point or not. District 9 is a political alien film by Neil Blomkamp and his film Elysium has a cool storyline. Life is a newer alien sci-fi film that introduces a new kind of alien. Lastly, Annihlation. Watch this movie first if you haven’t seen it already.
Premise:Barry is a dark comedy starring Bill Hader as a depressed, low-rent hitman from the Midwest. Lonely and dissatisfied in his life, he reluctantly travels to Los Angeles to execute a hit on an aspiring actor. Barry follows his “mark” into an acting class and ends up finding an accepting community in a group of eager hopefuls within the LA theater scene. He wants to start a new life as an actor, but his criminal past won’t let him walk away —can he find a way to balance both worlds?
Cast: Bill Hader, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Glenn Fleshler, Anthony Carrigan, and Henry Winkler.
What it reminds me of: Not much.
Why I like it: The plot is literally that Bill Hader plays a hitman who goes to Los Angels to kill someone but falls in love with improv and tries to leave his life as an assassin to break into the acting scene. What is not to love? Why do you need to read on right now? This should have been enough information for you to want to watch it.
This show is super dark, super funny, and explores a lot of interesting themes such as PTSD, the struggle to make it in Hollywood, the mob, and so much more.
Henry Winkler plays an adorable failed actor turned coach. Anthony Carrigan is a newer actor but plays quite possibly one of the funniest characters of all time.
Once you have watched the first two seasons, check out the bloopers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpXGjrwBo6k
Also, check out the scene that broke Bill Hader here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv-GRK7ODVQ
