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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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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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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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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Ty Watches "Aquaman"

Last night my wife and I went on a movie date to see "Aquaman".

Going into this movie I had very, very little expectations. I'm a Marvel fan. I have made that abundantly clear many times. I am not a big fan of the DC series, with the exceptions being the Christopher Nolan "Batman" movies and the "Wonder Woman" movie that came out a few years back. Most other DC movies are not good. "Batman V Superman" was mad dull. "Justice League" was too dark and boring. The "Superman" movies with Henry Cavill are just flat out bad. So I wasn't too high on "Aquaman". But, my wife wanted to go to the movies, and she wanted to see "Aquaman". Also, I like Jason Momoa, so I was in.

Now, as I get deeper into my review, I am going to be as spoiler free as possible. So, first things first, this movie is visually stunning. It was a delight to look at for 2 and a half hours. It was bright and vibrant and just plain cool. Whoever concocted this universe with this color palette totally nailed it. Then we have the star of the movie, Jason Momoa. Honestly, I would watch this dude read a phone book and he'd make it enjoyable. He is also a very attractive guy. It's the truth. Part of where he got to where he is today is his looks. As we were watching the movie I told my wife that he is what Taylor Lautner wishes he could be. Momoa is charismatic and funny and I bought him as this half bred fish/human being. He seems like a genuinely cool dude, and that came across on the screen. I also enjoyed the jokey nature of the movie. It didn't take itself too seriously. Sure, the bad guys did their villainous things, and some of the dialogue was corny, more on that later, but all in all, it was a fast moving movie with some jokes sprinkled in and out. Also, as I just mentioned before, the movie did not feel like it was 2 and a half hours. The flow was nice and the battle scene after battle scene made its pace that much more fun. I was never bored, and I found myself enjoying the movie.

Now for the picky side of me to come out. I love Nicole Kidman. I think she is a wonderful actress, and I usually enjoy her in the many movies I have seen her in. That being said, she was not great in "Aquaman". She seemed almost tacked on. I think she took this part because she passed on "Wonder Woman", and her role felt hollow. Patrick Wilson, as King Orm, was too cliché of a villain. He yelled and stalked and did all the things that typical cartoon villains do. While I think he is a solid actor, he does not play a good bad guy. Amber Heard is the female Taylor Lautner. That's right, I have 2 Lautner references in this post. She is in movies because she is unfairly beautiful. But her performance was very meh, and she had no chemistry with Momoa. That was one of my wife's biggest criticisms. Heard felt out of place. Willem Dafoe was also pretty useless in the movie. He helped a young Aquaman learn his powers, but he was just kind of there. He didn't bring much of anything to this movie.

My biggest problem with this movie, and this goes for all DC movies for that matter, whenever the hero is getting ready for a big battle scene, there is some cheesy 80's guitar riffs played over and over again. It is so dumb and sometimes it totally takes me out of the moment. That music drives me nuts.

All this being said, I enjoyed "Aquaman". If it just had the battle scenes and the stuff with his dad, it would have easily gotten an A from me. But, the people writing the movie had to fill the time, and they added some stuff that wasn't necessary. That is the case with most super hero movies. All in all, I liked it. If I did have to give it a letter grade I would give it a solid B-. This is definitely the second best recent DC movie, far, far behind "Wonder Woman". But, I would recommend this to everyone. It is family friendly, not bloody, not too violent and fun. It is also visually stunning. "Aquaman" is a perfect popcorn movie. That's the best compliment I can give it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He thoguht Vinnie Chase was the only man that could play Aquaman. He is happy to be wrong in his ignorance of real life.

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Ty Watches The Hallmark Channel Christmas Movies

I know that I have been spending a good amount of my time talking about football this week, both college and the pros, but today I want to go in a totally different direction and talk about some movies my wife and I have been enjoying lately.

My wife has an unrequited love for Christmas movies. She loves them all, good or bad. She likes to sit down, escape into a snowy landscape and watch these movies unfold. She digs this stuff. I like Christmas movies myself, but I like more of the odd ball ones. I'm not so much into the corny ones. I do like classics like "Elf" and "Home Alone", but give me some weird, independent movie that happens during the holiday season, and I am usually on board. But this year I have decided to fully buy into the season. I love this time of year, I do truly believe it is the most wonderful time of the year, and I just want to take it all in. We went out and got new lights for the front yard, we added décor to the inside of the house, we are taking the kids to see Santa tomorrow, as opposed to our normal time of closer to the holiday. I'm going full bore.

What does this all mean? It means I have been joining my wife when she is watching any random Christmas movie that has been on since about 2pm on Thanksgiving day. I watched "A Christmas Prince" with her the other night, but I am saving my review of that until we watch the sequel. The particular movies I want to talk about today are the ones they show 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the Hallmark Movie Channel.

I saw a few moments of some of the Hallmark Christmas movies last year and was taken aback at how awful they were. But, in watching them with my wife lately, I have grown to enjoy how awful and corny and schmaltzy and laughably bad they truly are. I have also grown a newfound respect for the actors in these movies because a lot of the actors were once famous, and now, it seems like they are just sitting back, enjoying their time on these sets and making money for a short amount of work. I cannot imagine these actors have to spend more than 4-5 hours a day for maybe a week making these movies. Don't get it twisted either, I do not think these movies are good. Quite the contrary. But, they are bad in an enjoyable way. They are bad like "The Room" or "Birdemic" or "Troll 2" are bad. I watch these movies with my wife and we crack jokes the entire time. We make fun of the stories. They are so clichéd and hackneyed, but in a fun way.

I don't remember many names of the movies, but I can always get pretty close with a guess. For example, we watched one the other night that had Donald Faison, Christina Milian and, this year's Hallmark Movie star, Alicia Witt, called "A Snow Globe Christmas". I'm not one hundred percent certain that is the title but, Witt get hits in the head by a snow globe and is transformed into the snow globe world. While in there, she learns the meaning of the holiday, how important family is and that work is not the end all be all. Also, she realizes that the mean guy she is dating might not be right for her. She should maybe be with her high school boyfriend who still loves her, and knows her better than anyone else. This is basically the plot of every single Hallmark movie. Someone gets some form of amnesia, or goes back to their hometown and meets an old romance. Through this old flame, they learn about love, life, family, but most importantly, the true meaning of the holiday. It is hilarious.

I cannot get enough of these movies now. They are so ridiculous and poorly written and cliché and I love them. I highly recommend watching, at the very least, one of these movies. You will greatly enjoy it. It is a good time, and none of them run more than 80 minutes. It is not a big time commitment. I never thought I would enjoy one of the these movies. I now look forward to watching one a day. They are bad in all the right ways. Hallmark Channel has done it. They have made me buying into the holidays as hardcore as I have even easier by showing these movies constantly. They are great to laugh at with your whole family. Do it. You won't regret it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is currently writing a movie for SeedSing called “The Christmas Blogger”. it is about a blogger who gets hit in the head with their Macbook and gets amnesia. Hijinks will then ensue. Give us a call Hallmark.

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Ty Watches "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Season 13 Finale

So, I have had about 3 days to digest the season 13 finale of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and I am finally ready to talk about it.

It was, hands down, one of the best episodes of television that I have ever watched. It was incredible.

It started like any other "IASIP" episode, but it only grew from there. The episode is called, "Mac Finds his Pride". I have been excited to watch this since I saw the name of it about 3 episodes into this season. I have been a fan of this show from the start, and to see that as a title, I figured it would be filled with their odd, sometimes vulgar humor, and it is, for the first 15 minutes. The episode centers around Frank trying to get Mac to come on their Gay Pride Parade float. They need their, as they say on the show, "token gay guy to dance around". And Frank is as crass and mean and vulgar and homophobic as you'd expect, at first. He takes him to an underground S&M club. That scene is hilarious for the buffet alone. He takes him to a drag show, and that is funny. But, at both these places, Mac keeps telling him that the way they live their lives is fine, it is not for him. He is really struggling to find his identity as a gay man. Frank decides he needs to tell his dad that he is gay, to get it out to the scariest person they know.

Boy oh boy is Mac's dad terrifying in this episode. When they try to tell him the first time, Mac's dad, and Frank has told him this earlier, that he "doesn't get him". But, Mac's dad takes the news they have to tell him that he is going to be a grandpa, that his son got a girl pregnant. And what he tells him to do if it isn't a boy was horrifying. Mac then decides that he cannot tell his dad that he is gay, so he tells him that the news is he is going to be a grandpa. He then retreats to his home and he seems even more despondent.

Oh, by the way, at the very beginning of this episode, Frank smashes his nose on Mac's door, and he is constantly trying to plug up the cut to no avail. It just keeps bleeding, and his face continues to balloon.

After Frank informs the rest of the gang that Mac won't be on the float, they get Cricket to do it in bondage. It was scary and hilarious. Mac keeps telling Frank about this dream he is having where he dances with a female God, and this God lets him tell the world how he feels, personally, as a gay man.

Frank, finally coming to his senses tells Mac he needs to let it out. He needs to tell his dad in his way. He gets the prison to put on a show so Mac can show his dad, and Frank, how he feels. Franks has also let his nose bleed go, telling Mac, "you cannot keep that shit plugged up forever or you are going to live in agony. Don't live in agony anymore" he tells him.

Mac then takes the stage, tells his dad that he needs to let him know that he is gay, and this is how he feels. He then proceeds to put on a modern dance show for 5 minutes. It was masterful. It was a thing of beauty. I don't know much about modern dance, or interpretive dance, but this made sense to me. Mac is tortured. Mac is struggling to find his place. He needs people to accept him for who he is. He needs his friends to stop antagonizing him. The lady that danced with him was delightful and sad all at once. When Mac's dad leaves, I was so sad I almost cried, at an episode of "Always Sunny". It was unlike anything that I have seen before. It was beautiful, sad, modern and cool. I could not take my eyes off the screen. I could have watched this for another 20 minutes. And what made it even better was, Frank says, after watching the dance, "I get it now". I feel like we do to as the audience. And, it just ended there. There was no funny button at the end like with their other musical episodes. It just ended with Mac crumpled into the woman's arms and Frank saying his beautifully eloquent words.

This was tremendous.

"Always Sunny" took a big swing, and they knocked it out of the park. I cannot wait to see how they use this in the upcoming season. This was a masterpiece and I am so glad that I watched it multiple times. I cannot recommend this episode enough. It is perfect on so many levels. I am still in awe almost a week later.

Again, this was tremendous. I loved it.

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 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 "Best F(r)iends: Part 1"

Getting caught up on some other pop culture stuff that I haven't yet written about, due to sports stuff that took priority, I did watch part one of the new Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero movie, "Best F(R) iends", and I have some thoughts.

First off, as I said, I have only seen part one. That's right, they shot enough footage to make their new movie 2 parts. The reason I haven't seen part 2 yet you ask, it hasn't been released via On Demand yet. In fact, it will not be out for me to see until June of next year. So my write up of the second part won't be for another 8 months. But, I did watch the first part. My wife was out of town on a business trip and I decided that I needed to watch this new movie.

As you all know by now, I love the cult of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero. I'm a big, big time fan of "The Room". That movie is a national treasure for how bad it is. It is a total mess of a movie, and I have seen it at least a dozen times, and I like it more and more each time for how truly, truly awful it is. I love the book that Sestero wrote about his experience on the movie, "The Disaster Artist". It was a nice look inside all the madness and how insane the making of that movie was. Sure, we only got Sestero's side of the story, but he told it very well. The book led to one of my favorite movies of last year, "The Disaster Artist". James Franco got the go ahead from Sestero, got the help of his brother and friends and made something truly remarkable. Franco became Wiseau. Dave Franco was great as Sestero. Seth Rogen and Paul Scheer were awesome in their roles, as script supervisor and a stage hand. Nathan Fielder was hilarious. So was Zac Efron. The actress that played Lisa was wonderful. Alison Brie was great as Sestero's girlfriend. Everything about that movie was perfect to me. So, when I heard that Wiseau and Sestero were teaming up to make another movie, I was intrigued. I am at a part in my life where I will find time to watch anything the 2 of them work on, fully knowing that it may be, most likely, terrible. I don't care, I want them to keep doing stuff together. They need to continue to capitalize on the massive momentum they have right now. Hell, I even truly liked the two of them recreating the famous interrogation scene from "The Dark Knight". I wrote a whole blog on how great I thought it was. Seeing "Best F(R) iends" was something I felt I needed to do. It also helped that the reviews on it, while not great, weren't awful.

So, I rented it and watched it 2 times in the 24 hours I had it on my TV. It needs to be said right up front, "Best F(R) iends" isn't great, but it is not awful. It was, for the most part, kind of forgettable for me, which was a bit of a bummer. But, I still found myself glued to the screen on my 2 viewings. And, I was drawn to the TV especially whenever Wiseau was on screen. The movie has a very basic story. Apparently, according to the internet, so who knows if it is really true, Wiseau wrote this movie about a time in his life when he thought Sestero might be out to kill him. I'm not bull shitting you, according to the trivia on IMdb, that is what it said. The story of "Best F(R) iends", real quick, Sestero plays a drifter who comes to meet Wiseau, who plays a mortician, in a perfectly cast role for him, and they start to work together. Sestero's character sees that Wiseau's mortician keeps fillings from the deceased, and he decides that he needs to sell them for money. He then gets Wiseau involved, and as one would expect, they start to fight one another, they stab each other in the back and hi-jinks ensue. Like I said, it wasn't great, but it was fine. You can tell that the 2 of them have taken advice from people on their acting. Sestero barely speaks in the movie, which is perfect for him. He is a lesser Keanu Reeves. When he does talk, it is short and to the point. Wiseau goes for it, as he always does, and I think he nails it. He is so creepy but funny. He is so weird, but I found myself rooting for him. When he and Sestero play basketball together outside the morgue, it was some of the funniest shit I have veer seen in what is supposed to be a "serious" movie. And while there are other actors in the movie, some who feel like they come from the pornography world, and then a dude like Paul Scheer shows up, don't really matter much to the plot. This movie is Sestero and Wiseau's vehicle. They are the stars and they are full front in the movie. Sestero did fine, but Wiseau blew him out of the water. He was a charm to watch.

The reason I am excited for part 2 is to see what he does. The way part one ended was so bizarre, no spoilers, and it was all due to Wiseau's performance at the very end. Look, I'm pretty sure that Wiseau and Sestero did not think they were going to make an Oscar level movie. Hell, I'm sure they didn't even think that they are making another cult hit. But, you can see that they've grown. You can see that they are both trying. You can see that they've learned from past mistakes, and they kind of make up for it in "Best F(R) iends Part 1". I appreciate that they are striking while the iron is hot. Like I said before, they are taking their chance and they are rolling with it. All kinds of props to them for doing that.

I recommend this movie, with a caveat. Don't watch this if you have never experienced "The Room", "The Disaster Artist", or know little to nothing about either Wiseau or Sestero. You will hate it. But, if you are like me and you know the lore and you've seen a midnight screening of "The Room" and you've watched "The Room" more than half a dozen times and you know the book and the movie made about the book, I think you will enjoy "Best F(R) iends". You have to have some familiarity with the 2 stars of the movie. You have to know a good amount of their back story to appreciate what they are doing now. So, while I feel like part 1 was a bit forgettable, that has not swayed me from wanting to see part 2, and wanting to see what Wiseau does next. Check this movie out if you know their story and then get prepared to see part 2 next year. I know I am.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty is game for a cameo in any film Wiseau and Sestero make. Need a pick-up basketball guy to ball in the background? Ty is your man.

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Teen Mom Has Jumped a Palin Sized Shark

Get the Palin’s off my television already

I've been talking about sports a lot the past couple of weeks. And, I still have a good amount of sports stuff in the hopper, but I'm going to take a bit of a break from it for a minute. Today I want to talk about a show that I have talked about a few times on this website.

So, I have written a few things about the show "Teen Mom". My wife loves it, I have grown to like it, I have watched it from the start, I have watched the spin offs and other iterations of it, and I have even given it some praise. I do appreciate that, at first, MTV showed how un glamorous life can get when you have a baby, and you are a teenager. They did that really well in the beginning.

Then, as the show grew bigger and bigger, and the kids became more "famous", I started to kind of get annoyed. I have vocalized as much to my wife. A good group of the teens, who are now in their 20's, act like they are important and, as I said before, "famous". Most of them have even started their own businesses, the majority of them, and this is just insane to me. Just because you are on TV does not mean that you will be able to sell children's clothes, or clothes for grown ups or food or treats. Starting a business is hard, hard work, but I feel as if these kids feel entitled to this. I feel like they think they can do no wrong now just because they are on TV. Some have even taken the "acting"/podcasting route. Basically, these kids are trying to do anything and everything they can to stay in the public eye. To stay "famous" if you will. 

It got so bad, one of the original girls, Farrah Abraham, did some adult movies. After these "movies" blew up, she started to act like she was the most famous of all the famous people. Now, Farrah Abraham is not famous. Not at all. She is as far away from it as I am. But, when you saw her on the show in the last season, by the way she carried herself and talked about herself, you would have thought she was a star. It got so bad that MTV fired her. She said she was going to continue to make adult movies and they said they didn't want to be in business with her. They went their separate ways and I thought that might be the end of the original "Teen Mom".

I was wrong.

This is where we get to my main point of my blog today. My wife told me, maybe around 6 months ago, that the show was coming back, and that they were adding 2 new moms. I was a little stunned by this news. Then, I wanted to know who the new moms were. She told me that one of them was a person that was on some other MTV show, and the other was Bristol Palin.

This news was upsetting. The show was already starting to go down hill, and I thought that the firing of Abraham was a good way to end the first run. Well, I guess MTV and I had a different idea. I feel like they thought adding someone like Bristol Palin would re energize the show.

They were so, so wrong.

Yes, my wife and I still watch the show, maybe we are gluttons for punishment, but this new season has been really, really bad. It has been boring too. First off, they are still calling the show "Teen Mom O.G.". The "O.G." stands for "Original Girls". This is a smack in the face to what O.G. really stands for, original gangster. The title was off from the jump, and it has always bothered me. But, now it doesn't make any sense. Sure, they still have 3 of the 4 moms when the show started, but now there are 2 new moms. The whole "original girls" is simply not true anymore.

And, before I shred Bristol Palin, I do not mind the other new mom. Her name is Cheyenne, and she seems fun and I like her, her baby and her baby's father, who is from multiple other MTV shows. And for the "original mom's" still on the show, they are just dull now. Their stories are either super depressing or, I just don't care about them anymore. Maci is the most stable, but I'm bored with the stuff with her first son's father, Ryan. Ryan needs to get real help and not constantly have his name dragged through the mud by MTV. He has a serious drug problem, but MTV just seems to keep showing it because it is the most "interesting" thing about Maci's life now. She has also started some kind of business, and anytime her, her husband or any of their friends are on TV, they all have to wear a shirt with the company logo on it. It is the lowest level of product placement. Amber is just flat out boring now too. I feel like she is trying to drum up her past anxiety stuff just to stay relevant. The stuff with her new son, and his dad, is very blah. Gary and his family are just a normal family. His story is played out. I tune out completely whenever she is on screen. And Catelynn and Tyler need to get real help too, just like Ryan. Unlike Ryan, they don't have a drug problem, they have a relationship problem. Their marriage seems to be on very thin ice, and instead of MTV trying to really help them, I feel like they are pushing the problems for ratings. Their story, when it started, was the best, but now, it is just depressing and rough to watch. They are the only couple that I "feel" for, and I just feel horrible for both of them.

Then there is Bristol Palin. Why does anyone anywhere still care about her, or her family? Didn't the Palin's stop being relevant around a decade ago? You know, when her mother made an ass of herself on national TV over and over and over and over again. I had forgotten about them, and did not remember, at all, that Bristol was once a teen mom. Then she shows up on MTV. That was a real kick in the teeth. In the season premier she was at some kind of pre wedding party, or some kind of nonsense, and I heard her mother's grating voice. I then heard Bristol's whiny voice. It was ridiculous. It made me mad. I was so disappointed in a MTV show that I actually used to like. The addition of Palin to "Teen Mom" really feels like a nail in the coffin. She, like much of the cast, is boring. She makes shit up just to seem interesting. She is always fighting with her now ex husband, who is clearly suffering from horrific PTSD that MTV uses for ratings, as opposed to getting him the real help he needs. Her fits and complaints and whining to the producers is so stupid and seems acted. I don't really think that she is as upset as she portrays herself. I don't think she is as good a mother as she thinks she is. There was one scene where she is basically pimping her son out to be on a dancing competition show just so she can stay in the limelight. The scene made her seem like a stage mom. And I do not like the way she talks to her kids and her ex husband. She acts like she is so much more important than all of them. She has this air of superiority that is so off putting. Bristol Palin was a horrible, stupid and far reaching choice to try and stay relevant from MTV.

"Teen Mom O.G." is bad, and it is getting worse. Even my wife, who LOVES shows like this, has bounced around the idea of us stopping the show. She is getting fed up. This was a bad addition, and it should be the final thing needed to cancel this show. MTV is no longer trying to help these kids. They are no longer trying to show how hard it is to raise kids. They are using these kids. They have given these kids an air of entitlement that they have not even come close to deserving. "Teen Mom" is just bad now. It is not even fun bad, like "The Room", it is just bad. Bristol Palin has made this show bad. And MTV has not tried to change it at all. They had lightening in a bottle, but the time has passed. They need to rid themselves of this mess. It is rough.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Once again MTV, Ty is up for a mid thirties mom show. He has a great opportunity right in the middle of the country.

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Ty Watches "American Vandal" Season 2

Last night I finished season 2 of "American Vandal". It totally blew me away. I was late to season one of the show. A friend of mine suggested it, told me what it was like and about, and I decided to watch it. I raved about the first season. It was one of the most inventive, and funniest things, I have ever seen on TV. I was so invested in that first season, I had to know, "who drew the dicks". I was just as invested, if not more so, in finding out, "who is the turd burglar".

That was the whole premise of season 2. For those of you that may not know, and I am going to do this review 100 percent spoiler free, the first season of the show was shot like a true crime show. Think, "Making a Murderer", also from Netflix. But, the whole thing in the first season was, someone spray painted penises on teachers cars at a high school in California on an off day. The 2 kids that decided to do this documentary, treated the spray painted penises as a real crime. Peter(Tyler Alvarez) and Sam(Griffin Gluck) are students at the school, and they just want to know, "who drew the dicks". The first season was so great, and felt so real, that it was nominated for a ton of awards. And, it won a Peabody. That is a real, big time award, and show about penises spray painted on a car, won it. If that isn't enough for you to watch, I don't know what else will convince you. The show became such a big hit, Netflix decided to do a second season. I didn't know how they could follow up something so well done as the first season, but Tony Yacenda and Sam Perrault did it. They achieved something great. They struck lightening in a bottle twice.

The premise for season 2 is similar to the first. There is a series of pranks at a different high school, this time in Washington state. The crimes are committed by someone that goes by the handle of "turd burglar". And yet again I was fully invested on finding out who the turd burglar was, and why they did what they did. The second season is definitely grosser, due to the crime, but that doesn't take away from how well the show is acted and written and directed. It is just as intense and involved and funny and ridiculous, in all the right ways. And the way they went about showing how modern technology can be bad, it was as well put across as any episode of "Black Mirror" that I have watched, and I adore that show too. Social media can be evil, and to portray that with high school kids, and the cyber bullying and getting likes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, season 2 of "American Vandal" handled it absolutely perfectly.

I cannot recommend this show enough. It is one of the best things on TV right now. You can also fly through the 2 seasons. Each has 8 episodes, and none of them exceed 45 minutes. I love this show, and I hope they continue to make more. Yacenda, Perrault and Funny or Die have something special going with "American Vandal", and I do not want it to end any time soon. What an exceptional TV show.

Seriously, go watch all of it right now, you will not be disappointed, and you will get invested heavily.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is known around the SeedSing virtual cubicle farm as the “Hot Blogger”. Want to know more? Go watch '“American Vandal”.

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Ty Watches "Last Chance U" Season 3

I just finished up season 3 of “Last Chance U”. They did the right thing, changing which school they highlighted, and I have to say, it is still totally worth a watch. Now, I will say, it definitely helps to be a football fan, but it’s not completely necessary. There are human stories outside of the sport that are told this season. They get into anxiety, pressures of being high profiled athletes, depression, anger, struggles growing up and academic problems, just to name a few things outside of football. But, football is the primary source material, as it was in the first 2 seasons. It was no secret that I personally soured on East Mississippi Community College, and mainly their coach, Buddy Stephens. That dude is a piece of work. I felt like 2 seasons there was plenty.

In the third season they chose Independence Community College in Kansas. ICC was notorious for how bad they were. Up until 2 years ago, they had not won a game in almost three full seasons. Not only had they not won, they were the worst team in their conference. They were the team that everyone else beat, and beat bad.

Two years ago ICC went out and hired a guy named Jason Brown. This dude is wild. He is a white dude that was raised in Compton. He grew up tough, and he acts tough. He is a no nonsense, take no prisoners type of guy. He’s big, loud and knows he’s in charge. He also has a reputation of turning programs around. He did it for a few high schools in California. He then became a coordinator for some JUCO’s in Long Beach. He also became a notorious hot head, and could never keep a job for more than one year. But, he has managed to stick around at ICC. The people of the town like him, and he has turned that team around. In his first season they had a .500 record. This past season, they won the conference for the first time since 1987, and won their first bowl game ever.

The recent success ICC has as much to do with the players as it does with Jason Brown. There was a new rule that was also introduced where any team in the Jayhawk Conference could recruit as many players as they want from any state. That is Brown’s specialty. That dude can recruit. He signed 30 plus players, a bunch of which were former 4 and 5 star recruits. He got this kid Malik Henry who was the top QB in his class and was dismissed from Florida State. He had 2 running backs, Kingston Davis and Rakeem Boyd, both who either left or were dismissed from Michigan and Texas A&M. He had a receiver, Calvin Thompson, who was a return specialist and slot receiver at Texas Tech before getting dismissed for a violation of team rules. He then had a bunch of kids that were good enough to go division one, but due to many different circumstances, had to settle for JUCO.

So, we have the same plot as the first 2 seasons, but with newer, more fun people. Brown is way more fun than Buddy Stephens. The running backs, especially Boyd, were more committed to the sport. Thompson was the star of this season. I’m actively rooting for that kid to make it. Some of the lesser known players, namely Emmit Gooden and Jamal Scott, just had better stories. Bobby Bruce is another kid that has a way better story than any player from the first 2 seasons. The only real similarities were at QB. The QB’s at both schools had big heads, complained too much and were super, super talented. That was it.

I had a lot more fun with season 3. I’m sure it’s due to a ton of different things. It was a fresh school. There were fresh faces. This season felt more real. The people seemed more genuine. The stories were just better. There was a particular episode that chronicled a bunch of players and coaches personal upbringings. This was the best season yet.

I’m glad “Last Chance U” came back. I’m glad they changed the scenery. I like the new people a lot. Maybe that will all change after the fourth season, but for now, this show is great. I highly recommend checking it out. It is well worth your time.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He went to a small trade school in St. Louis, and they had a few guys play pick up football on the weekends. What we are saying is that there is a chance to film next season in Ty’s hometown.

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Ty Watches "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Season 13 Premiere

Last night the 13th season of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" premiered. Now, I am going to go about this as spoiler free as possible, but I apologize if one or two things get in here that seem like a spoiler.

I was very much looking forward/skeptical of the premiere last night. I was excited because I love "IASIP". It is one of the best shows that has ever been on TV. It is my generation's "Seinfeld", except "The Gang" is filled with people that are much more monstrous than anyone on "Seinfeld". It is a classic. But, I was skeptical because of how the 12th season ended. This may be a minor spoiler, but Dennis left the gang at the end of last season. He found out he was a dad and he moved to one of the Dakota's to help take care of the kid. So, it was up in the air if Dennis would be back for the 13th season. No one really knew, and the writers and actors tried their best to misdirect fans and viewers, which I appreciate. Also, Glenn Howerton has another show that he is starring on right now, the very underrated "A.P. Bio", and he didn't really let anyone know if he was coming back.

Another thing that didn't get near the attention that is should have, the waitress and Charlie became a couple at the end of the last season as well. I wasn't thrilled about this either because I loved the back and forth between the 2 actors, especially since they are married in real life. Their interactions were some of the funniest parts of the show. The whole musical episode, "The Nightman Cometh", was such a great representation of their character's relationship on the show. So, I didn't know if I would like how they handled that news.

In typical "IASIP" fashion, they handled everything with ease, and it was hilarious. The whole Charlie and the waitress new relationship totally turned. The waitress was now nagging Charlie. She constantly called him. He felt bothered by her. He took it upon himself to find a "companion" for her so she had someone to talk to while he was at work. This, of course, backfired on Charlie, and it all worked to perfection. The break up scene between them was wonderful. I was howling.

As far as the Dennis departure, once again, they handled it great. When the episode opened, we hear a woman's voice, and she is giving a speech. The voice is revealed to be Mindy Kaling's. She is basically Dennis' replacement. She seems nice on the surface, but she does some shady stuff in the episode. She is a smarter, more updated version of Dennis. She knows how to manipulate people, but she tries to get the gang involved, instead of demeaning and degrading them. While having a meeting, it is revealed, and this is not a spoiler, it was all over the commercials, Mac gets a package, and it turns out to be a sex doll that look EXACTLY like Dennis. He got it, he tells the gang, because Mindy Kaling's character, Cindy, tells him, in his words, "he needs to fill the Dennis shaped hole in his life". She didn't say that exactly, but with Mac finally coming out of the closet last season, it was a perfect response from him. The stuff with the Dennis sex doll that happens throughout the episode is all gold. The stuff with Mac is great. The fact that they start to hear it talk to them all, except Cindy, is even better. Seeing a Dennis sex doll at a strip club with everyone else, hilarious. It was amazing.

When the gang finally fully buys into the fact that Dennis is gone, and they need to accept Cindy, a big twist comes at the end. I'm not going to say what happens, but it is a very obvious twist. After watching the premiere, I am very excited to see where they go from here.

This premiere more than exceeded my expectations. I don't know why I doubted it. These people that work on this show are awesome. I should have expected greatness. I'm so glad "IASIP" is back, and I hope the rest of this season is just as good as the premiere. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" rules.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is with Mac and Charlie in not understanding why conservatives would want to drink something that liberals tear. That makes no damn sense.

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