The Televerse (mp3)

It’s ’90s nostalgia time on The Televerse, as Noel and Kate dive in with Netflix’s new adaptation of the beloved book series The Baby-Sitters Club. Between discussions of whether we are Kristys, Mary Annes, Claudias, Staceys, or Dawns, or the Camp Moosehead director, we look at the highlights of the first season and whether it lives up to the buzz. Before that, though, we have another reality-heavy week in TV to discuss. We kick things off with the latest Jelle’s Marble Runs: Marble League 2020 bouts, the funnel endurance test and the new Newton’s Cradle event, then talk The Bachelor on Holey Moley II: The Sequel, and round out reality with the finale of Legendary and the latest Snatch Game of Love on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. Then we head over to genre, with looks at Stargirl and an ’80s-tastic Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. Tune in for our thoughts, then reach out with your own take on the ascension of Karen and any other Baby-Sitters Club reflections.Season Spotlight: The Baby-Sitters Club Season 1 (1:00:5

Noel, Allison, and Kate finish week 16 Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, episodes 19 and 20, “The Guru” and “The Crossroads of Destiny.” Toph’s metalbending, The Dragon of the West earning his name, Aang’s journey to discovering the Avatar state, and of course, Azula. Always. Lies! Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back next week as we look back on Book Two: Earth as a whole.Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Diego, Marcus, and Scottie. Thanks for joining us this week. We hope you’ll be able to join in for our listener reaction episode next week!

Allison, Noel, and Kate continue Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, episodes 17 and 18, “Lake Laogai” and “The Earth King.” Appa’s triumphant return to the team, some truly epic fight scenes, and Zuko’s allergy to good. Plus Kate’s dad channels his inner Iroh for a quick drop-by. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episodes 19 and 20, “The Guru” and “The Crossroads of Destiny.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Diego, Keenan, Marcus, and Scottie. Thanks for joining the chat and sharing your thoughts on these episodes.

Noel, Allison, and Kate continue Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, episode 16, “Appa’s Lost Days.” Appaaaaaa! At long last, we get an update on everyone’s favorite not-a-taxi, and man, it is a rough one. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episodes 17 and 18, “Lake Lagoai” and “The Earth King.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan, Marcus, and Scottie. Thanks for helping us process this episode and sharing your thoughts. Normally, we strive to keep Streaming In Place expletive free, but that is not the case here. If any younger viewers are listening, be warned. Videos referenced: Behind the Scenes featurette about the voices of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Here’s a Dee Bradley Baker excerpt); Great Big Story’s Meet the Voice Actor Behind Hollywood’s Monsters and Creatures, about Dee Bradley Baker

Allison, Noel, and Kate continue Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, episodes 14 and 15, “City of Walls and Secrets” and “The Tales of Ba Sing Se.” Creepy Joo Dee, creepier Joo Dee 2, Sokka’s slam poetry, and most importantly, where’s Appa!? Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episode 16, “Appa’s Lost Days.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Diego, Keenan, Marcus, and Scottie. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these episodes and your picks for the best Tale of Ba Sing Se.

Noel, Allison, and Kate kick off week 16 Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two’s two-parter, Secret of the Fire Nation: Episodes 12 and 13, “The Serpent’s Pass” and “The Drill.” Earth Kingdom politics, Katara and Toph bending together, and for goodness sake, someone protect Momo! Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episodes 14 and 15, “City of Walls and Secrets” and “The Tales of Ba Sing Se.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan, Marcus, and Scottie. Thanks for listening along and sharing your thoughts!

It’s another light TV week, courtesy of the holiday weekend, but that just gives us time to dive deep on a few of our quarantine favorites. Noel and Kate kick things off with Our Week in TV, starting with the reality offerings, including the premiere of HBO’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, another nail-biting Jelle’s Marble Runs: Marble League 2020 (go O’Rangers!), and the latest improv challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. Then we move to genre, with the first of a two-parter on Stargirl, another high-stakes time travel adventure on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and now that Kate’s caught up with it, last week’s Adventure Time: Distant Lands premiere. Then we head to the spotlight section and get some serious food envy watching Hulu’s Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi. Listen for our thoughts, then reach out with your favorite moments from the past week’s TV.Season Spotlight: Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi Season 1 (55:28)Our Week in TV I’ll Be Gone in the Dark premiere (2:56) Jelle’s Marble Runs: Marble

Allison, Noel, and Kate finish up week 15 Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two’s two-parter, The Fury of Aang: Episodes 10 and 11, “The Library” and “The Desert.” Appaaaaaaa! We process our trauma over mango beverages and cactus juice. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back next week as we talk episodes 12 and 13, “The Serpent’s Pass” and “The Drill,” a two-parter dubbed Secret of the Fire Nation.Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan and Marcus. 

Noel, Allison, and Kate continue Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, episodes eight and nine, “The Chase” and “Bitter Work.” Emo Fire Kid, that fantastic all-skate battle, and Foo Foo Cuddlypoops! Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episodes 10 and 11, “The Library” and “The Desert,” a two-parter dubbed The Fury of Aang.Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Marcus and new listener Diego. Thanks for joining in on the fun and sharing your thoughts about the episodes!

Allison, Noel, and Kate continue Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, episode seven, “Zuko Alone.” We head from a wrestling homage in “The Blind Bandit” to a full-on Western this episode. Zuko begins his journey alone and reflects on his childhood. Plus turtle ducks! Our hearts weren’t ready. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episodes eight and nine, “The Chase” and “Bitter Work.”Shout-out to our Zoom listener, Marcus. Thanks for joining us and sharing your thoughts on Zuko and more.

Noel, Allison, and Kate continue Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, episodes five and six, “Avatar Day” and “The Blind Bandit.” Toph has arrived! We’re already massive fans so we give plenty of time to our new earthbender, plus more time with Kyoshi and a love letter to wrestling. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episode seven, “Zuko Alone.”Shout-out to our Zoom listener, Marcus. Thanks for joining us and sharing your thoughts on these episodes.

Allison, Noel, and Kate start week 15, and continue their journey with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, with episodes three and four, “Return to Omashu” and “The Swamp.” Death-tiny’s Child teams up, Bumi’s delightful/maniacal cackle, and our intro to swamp bending. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we talk episodes five and six, “Avatar Day” and “The Blind Bandit.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan and Scottie!

The beginning of the COVID-19 TV drought has officially hit here at the podcast. There’s still plenty of TV to discuss, but once again, reality is picking up the slack. We kick things off with Our Week in TV, starting with our sole drama and comedy offerings, the premiere of Perry Mason and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. There’s plenty of reality to discuss, though, including the kickoff of Jelle’s Marble Runs: Marble League 2020, Netflix and Channel 4’s Crazy Delicious season one, more thoughts on Floor is Lava season one, and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. Then we wrap up the week with a quick look at Adventure Time: Distant Lands, and longer looks at Stargirl and Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. Afterward, it’s time for the spotlight section, and we dive in with season two of Netflix’s Top Boy: Summerhouse. Listen for our thoughts, then reach out with your take on the week’s TV and what you’re watching during these lighter weeks.Season Spotlight: Top Boy: Summerhouse Season 2 (1:09:40)Our Week in TVPerry Mason p

Noel, Allison, and Kate finish out week 14, and start their journey with Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, with episodes one and two, “The Avatar State” and “The Cave of Two Lovers.” Badgermoles, more Avatar State, and of course, “Secret tunnel!”. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back next week as we talk episodes three and four, “Return to Omashu” and “The Swamp.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan, Marcus, and Scottie!

Allison, Noel, and Kate look back on season one of Avatar: The Last Airbender, then turn the mic over to the listeners. Appa’s the best, lots of love for “The Blue Spirit,” and too many visuals to choose from. Tune in for our thoughts on the season and come back tomorrow as we start our journey through season two with episodes one and two, “The Avatar State” and “The Cave of Two Lovers.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan, Marcus, Scottie, and Tom. Thanks for coming on and sharing your experience watching season one!

Noel, Allison, and Kate finish their journey with Avatar: The Last Airbender season one, episodes 19 and 20, “The Siege of the North.” Those gorgeous visuals, the terrifying Ko, and of course, Coyzilla. And yes, his girlfriend did indeed turn into the moon. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow as we look back at the season as a whole.Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Marcus and Scottie! We’re looking forward to hearing your takes on the season tomorrow.

Allison, Noel, and Kate continue Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season one, episodes 17 and 18, “The Northern Air Temple” and “The Waterbending Master.” The horror of war, the prevalence of misogynistic a-holes, and Sokka the Science Guy! Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow for our takes on the big season one finale, “The Siege of the North.”Shout-out to our Zoom listener Marcus for chatting along and sharing your thoughts. Thanks!

Noel, Allison, and Kate kick off week 14 Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season one, episodes 15 and 16, “Bato of the Water Tribe” and “The Deserter.” Aang’s occasional less-than-heroics, Sokka’s leadership skills and rookie spicy food habits, and Katara’s cool new abilities. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back tomorrow for our takes on episodes 17 and 18, “The Northern Air Temple” and “The Waterbending Master.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan and Marcus!

The TV offerings are starting to dry up, but this week on the podcast, reality more than picked up the slack. We kick off the episode with our week in TV, starting with the comedy, drama, and genre shows: One Day at a Time’s animated special, the Quiz finale, and Stargirl and Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. Then we move to reality, including the Don’t premiere, The Floor is Lava season one, Holey Moley II: The Sequel, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Legendary, and the Top Chef: All-Stars L.A. finale. Afterward, we head to the spotlight section and dive in with season one of Channel 4’s Top Boy, which has been retitled on Netflix as Top Boy: Summerhouse. Reach out with your thoughts on Top Boy and the week’s TV, particularly any reality that we somehow missed.Season Spotlight: Top Boy: Summerhouse Season 1 (1:41:56)Our Week in Comedy, Drama, and Genre One Day at a Time animated special (25:02) Quiz finale (37:14) Stargirl (43:02) Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (49:16)Our Week in Reality Don’t premiere (1:01:12) The Floor

Allison, Noel, and Kate finish up week 13 Streaming In Place with Avatar: The Last Airbender season one, episodes 13 and 14, “The Blue Spirit” and “The Fortuneteller.” Badass archers, the Avatar state, and science! Plus some generational warfare talk and guys, Allison really needs a nap. Tune in for our thoughts on these episodes and come back next week for our takes on episodes 15 and 16, “Bato of the Water Tribe” and “The Deserter.”Shout-out to our Zoom listeners, Keenan, Marcus, and Scottie! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for helping us welcome our eventual Zoomer overlords.Twitter Thread Referenced: Black-owned candle companiesSuperman short Referenced: Volcano