Better Never Than Late on "Don't Worry Darling"

A while back I wrote about all the off screen drama involving the movie "Don't Worry Darling". The trailers and the cast and then all that nonsense had me pretty hype to watch the movie. I also loved "Booksmart", Olivia Wilde's first movie, so I figured she was due for another solid outing. I was on board to see this movie. And it is now streaming on HBO Max. My wife also wanted to see it, it was her turn to pick the date night movie and she picked "Don't Worry Darling". We sat down and were both excited.

The movie, for me, did not deliver. Now, my wife liked the movie. She enjoyed her viewing experience. And Florence Pugh and Chris Pine did a very good job with little material to work with. Those are the things I enjoyed about the movie. But everything else fell very flat for me. It was not worth all the hype. The story and most other performances just didn't work for me. The direction felt clunky and forced. Some of the acting was very blah. And the stuff that was left on the cutting room floor, according to internet research, probably would have helped. But I was not feeling it.

Pugh, as previously stated, was solid. She did a great job in fact. She is very good in these horror/psychological roles. She knows how to do that. But Harry Styles is not a great actor. He tried very hard in this movie, but I just didn't buy his performance. He has a scene where he has to cry and act upset and it looked like a first time actor trying way too hard. He did some things well, but most of it was very forced and not so good. At least he can sing. Nick Kroll was underused. He did not get a chance to shine in a role that is very different for him. I wanted more. I could say the same for Kate Bertlant, who I also like very much. She had moments where it looked like she was going to go through some stuff, but they cut her off or cut away from her character. I wanted to know so much more about her. Her husband, played by Asif Ali, only had a handful of lines. He was not fleshed out at all. Kiki Layne had a very juicy role, got to do some decent stuff, but she was the person who was cut the most. Her role was, seemingly, very important to the story, but she was more under utilized than Kroll. That was a bummer. Pine's wife, played by Gemma Chan, had this eeriness to her, but she never got fleshed out either. That seemed to happen a lot in this movie. Wilde gave herself a supporting role, and it felt like they wrote her character more than any other supporting actor. She had a backstory and stuff that happened to her, but I was not given enough time as a viewer to really care about her. What happened was sad and devastating, but they did not reveal any of it until the very end. There was no time.

Therein lies my biggest problem with the movie. They had a great idea, they had a solid cast, they had people game for this movie, the set pieces were dope, but they did not go far enough with this story and these people living in this world. The movie was a shade over two hours, but it felt unfinished. It felt rushed. It felt like they were all trying to not get COVID, this movie was filmed during a surge from what I read. It just did not tell this interesting story in an interesting way for me. The way they got to the twist was slow, but once they were there, they went too fast. Pugh tried her best to pull it off. Pine was a great villain, but the rest was just too bland. When they flashed back and forth, Styles looked like a bad guy from an early 2000's indie movie, and not in a good way.

I don't know. The movie had all this press and all this build up, but it just didn't hit home with me. And that bums me out. I really wanted to like this movie. Or, at the very least, I wanted this movie to give me a story. I wanted it to be memorable. But it was just a very bland and boring movie that did not deliver. Oh well, at least I have the off screen nonsense to look back on in the future. What a bummer.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Now I Really Want to See "Don't Worry Darling"

A while back I watched the preview for Olivia Wilde's new movie "Don't Worry Darling". I saw a ton of stuff online about how horny it was. It was an okay enough preview. It wasn't crazy or anything, but the premise of the movie caught my attention. I was intrigued. It felt and looked like an updated "Stepford Wives" type of movie.

Then I saw more previews and got even more interested in this movie. I still want to see it. It helps that I loved "Booksmart", I like the actors in this, I like the dystopian nature of the previews and it seems highly intriguing. Early reviews are out now and they are kind of tepid. That doesn't matter to me, if I want to see this movie I will, I just may not go watch it in a theater. I will wait for it to be on VOD.

This past month or so the intrigue involved with the making of this movie and now all the stuff at the Venice Film Festival has definitely ratcheted up my interest. For those that may not know, there have been a plethora of stories and "scandals" that have come out during the lead up to the movie's release. The first notice I got was the whole Shia Labeouf thing. This is an actor I used to like, but now I am over it. He is too much. He is an asshole. He is pretentious. He is out of his mind. He is a hurtful person. So when I saw that Wilde said she fired him from the movie to protect Florence Pugh it made sense. He is a volatile person. But then he came back and said he quit. Then there was this back and forth between him and Wilde all done over social media. It was nuts. I lean more towards Wilde's side in this whole story, but I will never truly know what happened. This is a classic he said she said scenario, but with the he being an insane person.

Next some stuff came out about Pugh and Wilde. I guess they did not really get along, that Pugh was blowing off press meetings, that Wilde had some minor complaints. It was all very minimal stuff, but it still made the entertainment news. It was enough of a story to push it all ahead of the upcoming release of the movie.

I also saw, right after the Pugh thing, that Wilde said she wanted the previews to be even hornier. I guess she wanted to show more of the sex scene stuff that is in the movie. This is so pointless, but with the Labeouf and Pugh stuff, then the Pugh and Wilde stuff, this story was pushed to the front of most websites.

And now we have the whole Venice Film Festival stuff. This has been off the charts wild. Every story that is coming from the film fest just gets nuttier and nuttier. I guess Pugh didn't want to do press with some of the cast, so she did it on her own. She also wore a dress, this is according to Buzzfeed so take it as you will, to criticize some of the people who worked on the movie. Then we have all this Chris Pine stuff. He was seen zoning out during interviews. He has been walking around with a disposable camera and taking massive amounts of pictures that need to be developed. His choice of clothes is nuts. There was a whole story about if Harry Styles spit on him or not at a press thing, and if it was intentional or not. And then you got the tepid response at the festival and the early reviews are not great. The only person in this movie that I am seeing normal stuff from is Nick Kroll. And I am a fan of his and think he is absolutely hilarious.

All of this is to say that I still want to see this movie. I am still into the whole story and I want to know how the movie unfolds. But all this extra stuff that has been going on is making me question everything. I do not know who is wrong and who is right. I know who I side with, but that means nothing. I have been questioning if all of this drama is just being made up to get people talking about the movie again. Maybe they are all involved and they were told by managers and publicists to really blow it all out of proportion. That is a bit conspiracy theory of me, but anything is possible, right? Either way I will see this movie someday. I will probably not see it in theaters, but who knows. But what I do know is, when I eventually see it, I will think back to this past month and how nuts all the surrounding noise was at the time, because it has been pretty wild.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Big Mouth" Season Five

"Big Mouth" has done it yet again.

This show is one of the best things that has been on TV in quite some time. Each season deals with, or adds some new layer that just makes it better and better. I am a big time fan of this show. I have loved it from day one. I have said on this site, to anyone that will let me tell them, hell, to myself that "Big Mouth" is the best representation of going through puberty on any platform right now. I really, truly believe that kids in middle school should be watching the show. I think they should teach a class on it in school. It would have been so much better than the ridiculous sex education that I got when I was in middle school. It was too technical. It was too clinical. They used words that my 13 year old brain had not even heard. At least "Big Mouth" is compelling for kids. It is a cartoon. And it shows the horribleness, and sometimes wonderfulness, that is puberty. It is the truest version that I have ever seen.

Like I said above, they add something new each season that I will watch and think about all the times I had those exact same feelings. This season, their fifth, added hate worms. We have the hormone monsters, the shame wizard, the depression kitty, the anxiety mosquito and so many, many more already. Adding the hate worm was a cherry on top. Even though none of us want to admit it, we all went through this phase of hating a person for some reason only we knew at the time. They used it great in "Big Mouth" by showing Missy getting angry at Jessie for stealing her idea for an organized protest group, and for Nick being upset when Jessie did not like him back. We all had these feelings. It happened to us all. What "Big Mouth" did so well in this fifth season was have the characters say and act how I, and many, many others felt when we were that age, but did not say and act out of rage. It was funny and eye opening to see these cartoon characters act on their rage. They went over the top, but that works because when you are that young and angry, you probably want to go over the top, but you don't. "Big Mouth" gives us this outlet. I also like how they wrapped it up. How they showed Missy and Nick getting through their anger. I liked them showing how they apologized for being assholes. It was great. I also thought it was a great idea to have Nick Kroll, one of the creators of the show, show up as himself and talk to his teenage cartoon character. That was great.

Outside the hate in season five, the other characters involved had some solid storylines. Jay finally finds his true love. Nick's sister gets a real boyfriend. Nick's parents have their first real fight, and then makeup. Jay's dog has a great, small story this season. The Christmas episode was cool as hell. The main hormone monsters have a solid backstory. Lola, Devon and Devin, Ali, they each grow a bit this season.

"Big Mouth" is such a great show. I hope they keep making it. I am pretty sure they have a pretty solid contract with Netflix to keep making it. I love it, I think it is super relatable and totally based in reality, even though it is a cartoon. I think everyone should watch it. I think each person will find something they can relate to while watching. "Big Mouth" is awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Big Mouth" Season 3

Last Friday I finished season 3 of "Big Mouth", and it continues to be the best show about puberty that I have ever watched.

I love this show, and I love what the writers do to show kids how tough and embarrassing and crazy and messed up puberty can be. I wish they showed this show in middle schools, they won't because it is so very dirty and uses bad language, because I feel like it would make the students feel okay. It would let them know that puberty is tough for every single person out there. I also think it is the perfect show for people my age because it is so easy to relate to. I remember going through puberty, how tough it was, and I was just your average run of the mill kid in middle school. There was nothing spectacular or terrible about me. I was the definition of average in middle school, and puberty sucked for me too.

The third season of "Big Mouth" touched on some really great concepts, and added a few new characters that were really funny. The subjects that they touched on in season 3 were things I went through, stuff I did and was/am still embarrassed by, and it all really hit home. They talked about school uniforms in the season premiere, and it was a great discussion on how differently boys and girls are treated at that time in their life. Another episode, it crossed about 2 episodes in fact, Nick and his family are obsessed with their phones. None of them can live without them, and when the phones get taken away, they freak out. I live that daily with my son and his Switch. He is crazily obsessed with that thing, and it is getting tough. also, that episode makes me happy that cell phones weren't a thing when I was a kid. The Florida episode is a perfect encapsulation of what the rest of America thinks Florida is. Also, the secondary storyline of Andrew and his cousin was absolutely hilarious. There is one episode that is entirely dedicated to the story of a young Duke Ellington. Jordan Peele is great as Duke, and to hear him tell the story of how he became to be a great jazz pianist was funny and enlightening. There's another episode where the boys rank the girls on looks. I did this same thing, I am embarrassed that I did it, and this episode flooded me with memories. It shows how gross and mean middle school boys can be, and I was once the exact same way. This was probably my favorite episode of the season. There's another one that is pretty much about the SAT, or any standardized test, and that portrayed the anxiety those tests give 12 and 13 year old, and it is unnecessary anxiety. The "Disclosure" musical episode was so niche, and so god damn hilarious. We were also introduced to Thandie Newton's character Mona, another hormone monstress. The secondary story too, where the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" guys come in and fix Coach Steve was dynamite. And the season finale, where all the kids get "super powers" was so good. This is where Andrew and Nick get in their first real fight, and that was, dare I say, emotional to watch because, again, I went through that exact thing in middle school.

There is a ton of side stuff that was perfect this season too. Jay coming out as bi sexual was awesome. Also, Jay being taken in by Nick's parents when he is abandoned by his family was great. The addition of Ali Wong's character, Ali, was perfect. The stuff with Jessi's power, making people tell the truth, really gave us some insight into what her character may be doing next season. Andrew Rannels character finally getting a boyfriend was a long time coming. And anything that featured Coach Steve was ridiculous and hilarious.

"Big Mouth" is one of the best shows currently on TV. I was stoked that Netflix gave it such a long term deal. Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg have struck lightening in a bottle, and I cannot wait to consume more and more of the show. It is fantastic. And season 3 keeps showing that the show is only getting better and better.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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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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"My Furry Valentine" is an Instant Holiday Classic

I just finished watching the “Big Mouth” special “My Furry Valentine”, and just like the show itself, this was a perfect representation of this holiday at that time of life. The writers portrayed Valentines Day when you’re a pre teen or newly teenager so well.

This show, as I’ve said many times, is the best show about puberty. So, I expected nothing less, and of course, they nailed it. Valentines Day is rough stuff when you’re in middle school. All the hormones and new feelings and puberty and just overall awfulness that is that time of life is doubled on Valentines Day. “My Furry Valentine” showed it perfectly.

In the holiday special, we have Jay who just gets overwhelmed because his pillows, which are his lovers, want too much out of him. He’s worn out. Jesse is frustrated because her parents split, and she has no one and is just angry at her mom all the day. She pairs up with Matthew, who is, as he says in the episode, “the only out kid in middle school”, because he’s alone too. Their friendship and song in the episode is great. The stuff with Nick and his hormone monstress and his feelings are perfect. He’s the nice kid who is just now starting to go through the rough stuff. Connie, the Hormone Monstress, keeps pushing him, telling him he’s in love with his mom, and he pushes back. He’s upset and going through puberty a totally different way than all his friends. But the story I enjoyed most was between Andrew and Missy. Andrew found out last season that Missy likes him. He’s trying to play it cool, but he can’t. It’s not in his nature. Missy, on the other hand, is the level headed one on the show, and the way Andrew treats her in this episode makes her start to dislike him. He’s mean and yells at her, and when she told him she didn’t like him anymore, I said, out loud, “Hell Yeah”. Then go see Andrew freak out, it was hilarious. Even the side characters had some crazy stuff go on, but again, it made me think about how I acted, or wanted to act when I was that age. I also really enjoyed the one on one interview stuff they did, making it almost documentary style.

“My Furry Valentine” was funny, real and heartfelt. Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg have something really special with this show. I know this special came out about a week ago, but I’m glad I waited until it was actually Valentines Day to watch it. It’s great and I recommend checking it out. “Big Mouth” rules and “My Furry Valentine” is just another feather, of many, in their hat.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is looking for his own special valentine this year. Could it be you?

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Millennial Nostalgia: "The League" was Great Television Anchored By Three Great Actors

I have been re watching "The League" on Hulu for the past couple months. I was a fan of the show when it was on, I watched it on Netflix, and when I saw it was on Hulu, I decided to give it another viewing. The show is very good. It is well written, well acted and it seems like the people involved had a lot of fun making it. It was also pretty cool to see a show centered around fantasy football.

In this third viewing of the show I have realized 3 of the performances stand above all else. The other actors are still great, I enjoyed them all, but Paul Scheer, Nick Kroll and Jason Mantzoukas are, far and away, the best part of the series. Paul Scheer plays Andre, the put upon friend that everyone else makes fun of, even though he may be the most successful. Andre is the number one plastic surgeon in Chicago, he has a humongous apartment and seems generally happy. He even won the league twice in the series run. But, everyone makes fun of him. He is the butt of all the jokes. He has to do the worst punishments. And he takes it all in stride. The way Scheer portrays this character is so perfect. We all know people like this. We all had or have that friend that we keep around to bag on. Sometimes it may be you that is that friend. But the way Scheer does it is so good. He is funny. His outfits that he wears are so bad, and when he tries to rationalize how great they are, you almost believe that he truly believes it. His unlucky love life is hilarious. Be it the girl he blinded or his crazy Uber driver or Meegan, he plays them all perfectly. And to be the type of guy that buys into whatever fad is the thing at the time, I loved it. When he was an urban forager I loved it. When he was wearing a daishiki, hilarious. When got into vlogging and internet culture, it was tremendous. Scheer was so, so good on this show. It is the best thing I have seen him in to date, and that includes "The Disaster Artist" or "The Good Place". He was phenomenal on "The League".

Nick Kroll, as the smug and arrogant Ruxin, was equally as great. He played the insecure and over confident lawyer so well. He was the shit talker of the group, yet he still believed that everyone was colluding against him whenever his team got beat. He was never really secure with much of anything going on in his life. Every time Taco, Jon Lajoie, was at his house, hanging with his wife, you could see the jealousy. When his friends would convince him to do something stupid in fantasy football, he would just do it against his own will. He was the one fantasy player that constantly second guessed himself. Even when he lost his wife, a very weird turn in the final season, he still tried to get easy fantasy football wins. His own wife's death didn't stop him from trying to win a stupid trophy. His smugness, his shit talking, his tinkering, it was all so perfect. This is clearly one of his best roles.

But, the best of the best, and this may be a hot take, was Jason Mantzoukas as Rafi. He is so gross, weird, scary and absolutely hilarious. My favorite episodes are the ones that feature him and Dirty Randy, Seth Rogen. A lot of people hate these, but I adore them. The episode entitled "When Rafi Met Randy" is my favorite of all time. To see them in a mental institution, and turn into the characters they became there was so amazing. Outside of the episodes featuring him and Randy, whenever he showed up with the main cast, I always got pumped up. I knew it was going to be great. When he first shows up, and he, Pete and Andre go to a party, and he agrees to be the designated driver, then gets hammered, awesome. When he starts to date Ruxin's au pair, played by Brie Larson, tremendous. When he "meets" up with sex addict Russell, Rob Huebel, it was disturbing and hilarious. When he helps film a porno in Andre's loft, I was cracking up the whole time. But, outside of the Dirty Randy episodes, again, was after Sofia died, he stays to help Ruxin grieve. It is so weird and gross and disturbing, yet I found myself enjoying his performance more and more.

"The League" was a great show, but Scheer, Kroll and Mantzoukas were far and away the best part of the 7 seasons. If you are considering watching the show, or revisiting it, watch these three a little closer. They really stand out. I'm glad I watched it again, and I'm glad that I paid more attention this time to all the actors. These three really shined.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is next thinking of going into the way back machine and find out just what is “Blue’s Clues”

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Ty Watches "Big Mouth: Season 2"

Last week I finished up season 2 of "Big Mouth". This show is, by far, the best representation of going through puberty that I have ever watched on TV.

Now, I can only speak from a male point of view, but the way they portray the horribleness that is puberty, it is truly perfect. They have all the awkwardness and weird feelings and shame and just all around awful, awful things that happen when you are a teenager going through this time. I will say too, from the few ladies I know that watch the show, they say it is pretty on point from a female perspective.

What Nick Kroll and Gil Ozeri have done, with Netflix giving them a long, long leash, is pure perfection. First off, to make it an animated show, was the exact right way to give their message. With animation they can do things like a Hormone Monster and Hormone Monstress. This season they added a Shame Wizard, voiced by David Thewlis, and it was so real I had flash backs to all the shame I felt while I was going through puberty. The way they talk about how teens go through this at all different times was great. I was a slower developer, so I could relate with Nick. But, I had friends that were more like Andrew(John Mulaney), who were just frustrated and angry and growing faster than I was.

There was an episode this season, the premiere, when one of the girls developed faster than any other female student, and that brought me back. That was gut wrenching and hilarious to watch. There was a through line this season, it happened at the end of the first season, so it isn't a spoiler, where one of the kid's parents are going through a divorce, and we get to see her act out, like so many of my friends who had divorced parents did. It was perfect. All the stuff with her and the Hormone Monstress, be it yelling at her mom or stealing from a convenience store, I watched these friends of mine going through that do the same.

I also liked another episode where 2 of the kids try edibles for the first time and we see their journey. One handles it very well, taking it all in with glee and the other kid freaks the hell out, just like I would have had I done something like that as a 13 year old. All the stuff with the other families, like Nick's parents being overbearingly loving, or Josh's folks being loud and arguing with each other, but still deeply in love, or Jay's(Jason Mantzoukas) parents, who despise one another, but are so despicable they deserve one another is just excellent. Jay is another standout character as the crazed horned up lunatic friend that we all had in middle school. I also really like Miss(Jenny Slate), who has hippy parents, is a total nerd and is also dealing with puberty in all its awfulness. The show is simply perfection in every single way. From the writing to the voice acting to the way each kid deals with puberty it is all so well done. I can also tell how much I enjoy a show when I think about it all the time and it both, makes me laugh and cringe. That is exactly what "Big Mouth" does for me.

This show is a homerun for Netflix. It further proves that Nick Kroll makes great comedic TV. It also proves that more and more people need, and should, know who Gil Ozeri is because he is a comedic genius. I have loved both seasons of the show. I cannot wait to see where they go with season 3. "Big Mouth" is the best show ever made about puberty and I will fight anyone that says otherwise. Go watch it and tell me why it isn't. I bet you cannot find one show, or reason, why I'm wrong. "Big Mouth" is a triumph.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Watching “Big Mouth” may bring back some memories for Ty, but it also brings nightmares. Ty does have two kids that will one day enjoy the journey.

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Ty Watches "Big Mouth"

Last week I finally got around to watching "Big Mouth" on Netflix. I was waiting until I caught up on other shows to watch, and when I finally sat down and binged the show, and I was very happy with what I saw. I was pretty sure I was going to like it when I saw Nick Kroll was the co creator. I'm a big Nick Kroll fan. Then I saw some of the other people involved, and I was on board. Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Seth Morris, Kristen Bell, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Richard Kind, I could go on and on with the people I am a fan of on this show.

At its core, "Big Mouth" is about teenagers going through puberty. "Big Mouth" hits all the important moments, both male and female, that make puberty such a drag. We get zits, wet dreams, periods, awkwardness with the opposite sex, weird feelings that go through your body, getting hair where there was no hair before, hormones, virtually everything that makes this such a tough time in young people's lives. After watching the first episode I told my wife that this was, by far, the best representation of going through puberty, at least from a male perspective. Puberty stinks. It is the worst. It is so awkward and challenging and there is so much change and new things that do not make sense. And "Big Mouth" captures that perfectly.

Andrew, voiced by John Mulaney, is one of the main characters, and we see a lot of the bad sides of going through puberty through his eyes. He even has a hormone monster that is always at his side telling him the wrong thing to do because, as we all know, our hormones are way out of whack when we are teenagers. We see the wet dreams, the constant urges, the will to fight when told something he didn't like, the yelling at parents, the horribly awkward encounter of asking a girl to be your girlfriend at 13. It is all there, and Mulaney, and the writers, completely nail it. Nick Kroll is his buddy that is a bit behind, as far as growing up goes, but he is just as good. You see the jealousy, the fighting, the wanting to be involved, trying to get girls himself, even drinking at his sister's high school party. Kroll's character also wants the hormone monster to get him, but he is not ready. In fact, that is a very good through line for the first season. Jessi Klein represents the female lead, and as far as I can tell, she is great at showing how rough this time of life can be for girls. She has a bad experience with white shorts, her mom and dad are always fighting and she has crushes on 3 of her different friends that happen to be boys. Klein is great. Jason Mantzoukas is cast perfectly as the crazed 13 year old that cannot control his urges. He also has a crazy home life, and he loves magic. The relationship between him and his pillow, voiced by Kristen Bell, is gold. Nick Kroll and Maya Rudolph play the voices of the male and female hormone monsters, and they are my favorite parts of the show. The hormone monsters tell these kids to give into their urges, and they also have a very odd relationship with each other. But, their lines always made me laugh, and also reflect on how true that situation was at age 13. Richard Kind is great as Andrew's dad, who has a big problem with scallops, and also constantly complains. Rudolph and Fred Armisen play Nick Kroll's folks, and they are almost too loving and caring. They are always eager to give advice that their kids may not want to hear. There is a great few scenes in an episode where Nick doesn't want to be babied anymore, so his mom starts to take care of Jay(Jason Mantzoukas), who is hard pressed for the love of a mom.

I have nothing but good things to say about "Big Mouth". It is perfect in every way. It gets across its message so well, and I am so pumped to see what they do with season 2. The only warning I will give, the show is animated, but it is not a kid's show. My son walked in one day while I was watching it, and I had to turn it off immediately. It is filled with curse words. Anyway, I highly recommend "Big Mouth" for anyone and everyone that went through puberty. There is no show that better represents that time in your life.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He still waiting for the hormone monster to get him. Being a bald prepubescent boy is one of strangest things ever. Something only Charlie Brown knows about.

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After a strong episode, Ty is optimistic about the end of "The League"

One more episode, then I can turn the TV off

Spoiler alert, in fact this whole blog will be a spoiler alert for the whole season, so watch the episode before reading this.

Last nights episode of "The League" on FXX, "The 13 Stages of Grief" has been, hands down, the best episode of this, their final season. 

We found out in the last episode, , Ruxin's(Nick Kroll) wife, Sofia(Nadine Velazquez) was killed during a plastic surgery blunder. They had a funeral and everything, but there is still some question as to whether she's really dead. I say this because last nights episode opened with all the actors hanging around at a lunch table and asking Ruxin if he's grieved enough so they can get back to keeping regular score in their fantasy football league. Ruxin still seems pretty shook up, but he relents and says it's okay for them to go back to keeping real score. Ruxin leaves the lunch and heads to his empty home. When he walks in the door, he sees two table setting with pasta and bread and some lit candles. He thinks it's Sofia, but when he turns around, Rafi(Jason Mantzoukas) is standing right behind him. Any episode that is Rafi heavy are my favorites. So, when I saw him, I was immediately into the episode. Rafi was Sofia's younger brother, so he tells Ruxin that he is there to help him grieve the loss of Sofia and that he was putting him through his 13 stages of grief.

For those of you that don't know about the show or Rafi, he's a disgusting, dirty and downright nasty person. He has a drinking and drug problem. He shoots pornography with his buddy Dirty Randy(Seth Rogen). His sex life doesn't just include people, he has relations with animals and food. He is a garbage person to a t. He's so gross.

Back to the episode.

While telling Ruxin that he's going to help him grieve, he says that he prepared the dinner in his "toilet-kitchen". This is so foul, especially to Ruxin, he's a HUGE germaphobe. In Kevin's(Steve Ranizzissi) house, the rest of the crew is talking fantasy football. Pete(Mark Duplass) walks in and starts to talk about his daily fantasy team. This is off limits to the rest of the crew. They say, and I agree, that daily fantasy football is a useless, non strategic form of fantasy football. They will not allow Pete to talk about it. Jenny(Katie Aselton) goes as far as calling it "cheating on your fantasy wife and bragging about it". They, and I, hate daily fantasy leagues.

Later on we see Andre(Paul Scheer) talking to Ruxin at Ruxin's house, asking how he's doing, how's he dealing with his loss. But, the main reason he's there is to see if Ruxin is still keeping his reservation at the Michelin star restaurant that the whole crew is going to the week before fantasy playoffs. After Ruxin kind of hints that he doesn't know if he still wants to go, Rafi shows up with a bloodied bag that we come to find that there's a dead raccoon in. Rafi says this is stage 3, the episode doesn't give us every stage, facing death. He wants Ruxin to look the dead raccoon in the face, Rafi is calling it Sofia now, and drink it's blood. He swears it will help him get over Sofia and that he's already drank some of the raccoon's blood. This is where Andre leaves. He cannot stand Rafi. The whole crew doesn't like Rafi in fact.

Later on, the whole crew is hanging out and all of the sudden their league is shut down due to graphic material on their fantasy message board. They have always had very cruel, hurtful and hateful speak on the boards, so they can't figure out why, now, they were being shut down. Rafi emerges and asks if they have seen the video he just posted on the board of him and Dirty Randy having relations with a chicken in Mexico. So, that's why they were shut down. They now have to do all their fantasy stuff offline, like the old days they say. This leaves Kevin, he's the commissioner, with a ton of work. He has to track add/drop players, scores, trades, pretty much anything that you can do with a click of a button now in fantasy sports, he has to do by hand. It's very hard to keep track of it all.

While Kevin is doing all this work, Andre goes to the restaurant to try and put the reservation under his name, but it doesn't work. At another point, Kevin goes to Ruxin's house to try and figure out all the players he wants to add and drop and we get an excellent scene between Ruxin and Rafi arguing while Kevin watches. Rafi shows up with a tank top and an apron, giving them chips and salsa and says that this is part of the grieving. Ruxin has always had someone around to feed him and his friends during games, so that's what Rafi is doing now. They fight and nag, much to the chagrin of Kevin. The fight ends when Rafi throws a pregnancy test at Ruxin and says, "by the way, I' pregnant. I shit on it this morning and it's positive". I was crying laughing. Ruxin even sniffs the test and is immediately repulsed exclaiming, "why would I sniff it!?". So funny.

Near the end of the episode, Rafi tells Ruxin that the last step in the grieving process is for the two of them to sleep together. Did I mention he was wearing Sofia's underwear? No, well he was. He tells Ruxin that he never got one last time to be intimate with his wife, so he would give him that since he and Sofia are blood related. Ruxin wants no part of this, so he lights a vanilla scented candle. The scent of vanilla makes Rafi gag and while he's getting sick, Ruxin actually says that he is through grieving. The process is over and it worked.

The rest of the crew is at the restaurant with Taco(Jon Lajoie) posing as Ruxin. Their plan isn't working, but Ruxin comes in and saves the table and the dinner. At said dinner, they all want to know who made the playoffs. Kevin presents them with scores, but the math is all wrong and nobody is pleased. They decide to let everyone on the playoffs and make it a one week, winner take all for the Shiva. High score wins, low score gets the Sacko, the last place trophy. They all go to the Shiva and give praise one last time and proceed to leave the restaurant. When leaving, Meegan(Leslie Bibb) is there. Meegan was married to Pete in season one, they got divorced and it was revealed this season that her and Andre were dating. They eventually broke up and this is the first they're seeing each other since ending it. Meegan takes off her coat to reveal that she's pregnant and the episode ends there.

I was so happy at how good this episode was. This season has been kind of so so, but "The 13 Stages of Grief" hearkened back to the best of "The League". They have one episode left and if it's half as good as this one, I will be very happy. This was a great first step towards ending the show and let's hope the series finale follows in the same foot steps. I'm more happy and prepared for the series finale today than I have been all season with "The League".

Now end it strong.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. The daily fantasy he participates in is the one about all of his kids sleeping through the night. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Comedy is thriving with podcasts. Get the best with the new app Howl.

Where do I turn the dial to hear this great comedy?

As all of you know, I'm a big, big fan of podcasts. 

I listen to podcast ranging from sports to comedy. Comedic podcasts are where my bread is buttered. I love listening to funny people being funny. There's something great about podcasting that allows these comedians and comedy writers to be funny in a free flowing environment. There's no real structure. Sure, you have an intro and an outro, but what happens in the middle is the best part. You get to hear these people use improv. That's so cool, because a lot of these people are great improvisors. People like Doug Benson, Scott Aukerman, Mike Mitchell, Nick Wiger, The Sklar Brothers, Paul F Tompkins and Matt Gourley are all great comics and actors, but on podcasts, they shine. Podcasting gives them the ability to do whatever they want. No notes from network executives, or people telling them to wrap something up. They have free rein. 

Podcasts have also introduced me to very funny up and coming actors and comedians like Lauren Lapkus, Jon Gabrus, Hayes Davenport, Sean Clements and even an old timer like Brendon Walsh. Ben Schwartz is so hilarious whenever he and Scott Aukerman do their "solo bolos" on Comedy Bang! Bang!. Actor Adam Scott is very, very funny during his appearances on multiple podcasts. Nick Kroll is a comedy powerhouse, especially with his many different characters on Comedy Bang! Bang!.  How Did This Get Made introduced me to Paul Scheer, June Diane Rapheal and the extremely funny, Jason Mantzoukas. I had barely ever seen or heard from Andy Daly until he started to pop up on different podcasts and now he has one of the best shows on TV, "Review". I could go on and on and on.

The main reason I'm writing today is to tell you about the great new podcast app called Howl. Howl gives you unlimited access to every single Earwolf, Wolfpop and WTF With Marc Maron that's ever been recorded. That means every episode of Comedy Bang! Bang!, How Did This Get Made, U Talkin U2 To Me, Analyze Phish, what I'm trying to say is, you get every single episode of every single Earwolf show. On most podcast apps, you get the last six months. On Howl, you get every episode ever, and the old ones are remastered with no commercial interruption. Same thing goes for the fairly new sister network of Earwolf, Wolfpop. You get Maltin on Movies with Baron Vaughn, I Was There Too, The Canon and so on and so forth. Every episode ever and the old ones are commercial free.

That would be enough for me, but they also give you every single WTF with Marc Maron. On his free app, he only gives the last sixty episodes for free. Howl gives you every episode ever. That's right, you can go back and listen to the two part Louis CK episode, voted best podcast ever, commercial free as many times as you want. You can hear Marc Maron interview Robin Williams. You can hear him from his start, interviewing his comedy buddies all the way to his high point of interviewing President Barack Obama.

Now, this app does cost money, but it's only 5 dollars a month. That's not much at all considering what you're getting. There is also shows that are only part of the premium Howl app. New shows from the Sklar Brothers, Lauren Lapkus and Jermaine Clement just to name a few will be on the premium app soon. There's also a TON of comedy albums available. You can hear albums from comics like Jen Kirkman, Doug Benson, Jim Gaffigan, Nick Kroll, Aziz Ansari and many, many more. I know, this sounds like an add, but it's not, I really just love this app and I think comedy podcast listeners will too. This is the holy grail for comedy podcasts. All these hours upon hours of uninterrupted shows is, in a word, phenomenal. It's a nice way to give back to these people that give us all this free content. Five dollars a month is nothing, and it's totally worth it. I love the Howl app and I'm really happy to have it. This is the first movement in the future of podcasting and I couldn't be happier about having all this content. Keep up the great work people of Earwolf, Wolfpop and WTF.

You guys have a fan for life.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He did not get paid by any advertisers for writing this, . Follow Ty on twitter .