Welcome to the latest issue of Stream On, the weekly newsletter from Consequence that answers the eternally confounding question: What films and TV shows should you be watching? (Subscribe here!) We’re looking at all the new and recent releases from Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, HBO Max, and more for ideas — not to mention a Blast From the Past and streaming recommendations from a special guest!
This Week’s Picks
Scrubs (TV)
Scrubs (ABC)
Created by: Bill Lawrence
Cast: Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, Judy Reyes, Robert Maschio, Phill Lewis, Vanessa Bayer, Joel Kim Booster
Streaming on: Hulu
If shows must be revived, let them be revived like this: As continuations of what came before, matching the original series’ tone and capitalizing on that pre-established cast chemistry, all while updating the action just enough to fit with modern times. I really enjoyed the first four episodes of the new Scrubs, equally for the old stuff (J.D. and Turk’s friendship is a lovely and pure thing) and the new (Vanessa Bayer’s chaos energy fits so well here). Yes, it’d be nice to see more original series getting made, but sometimes a revival is like a cover of a great song: The cover highlights just how good the initial bones of the tune were.
Jackie Kashian: Alter-Kashian (Comedy Special)
Jackie Kashian: Alter-Kashian, screenshot via YouTube
Directed by: Jacob Rupp & Nick Holmby
Featuring: Jackie Kashian
Streaming on: YouTube
There are some other exciting comedy specials premiering this week, including new hours from Taylor Tomlinson and Chris Fleming on Netflix and HBO Max, respectively. Jackie Kashian, though, has delivered an hour of stand-up that really captures the buried rage so many of us are feeling at this exact moment. Filmed simply, keeping the focus purely on Kashian’s top tier jokes, it’s a fresh, topical, lively, and often cathartic look at modern times — a primal scream in comedy form.
The Bluff (Film)
The Bluff (Prime Video)
Directed by: Frank E. Flowers
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Karl Urban, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Safia Oakley-Green, Temuera Morrison
Streaming on: Prime Video
I was so excited about the idea of a pirate movie starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Karl Urban… until, that is, I found out that it wasn’t a romance but a thriller. Still, I enjoyed watching Chopra Jonas play the infamous Bloody Mary, who thought she left that life behind until Urban’s Captain Connor manages to track her down. Basically think revenge thriller, with decent action and some fun performances (always excited to see Temuera Morrison!). “Hey Liz,” you ask, “I know you said it isn’t a romance, but does the intense climactic swordfight on a cliffside also maybe get just a lil sexy?” The answer is yes, yes it does. You’re welcome.
Ponies (TV)
Ponies (Peacock)
Created by: Susanna Fogel, David Iserson
Cast: Emilia Clarke, Haley Lu Richardson, Adrian Lester, Artjom Gilz, Nicholas Podany, Petro Ninovskyi, Vic Michaelis
Streaming on: Peacock
This one’s been out for a minute, and I confess I still haven’t finished the season. But for those who enjoy a spy thriller where the spies might be just a lil incompetent (looking at you, Slow Horses nerds), Ponies has a lot to recommend it. The biggest selling point might be the fantastic lead performances of Haley Lu Richardson and Emilia Clarke, as two new widows who quickly get in over their heads while trying to find out what happened to their intelligence agent husbands. However, I also sparked to the fun dialogue, great needle drops, and detail-rich look at life in 1977 Soviet Union.
Blast From the Past
The home screens of streaming services are always packed with the latest new releases, but we don’t spend enough time appreciating how much good library content is streaming across all of these platforms. Each week, Stream On will spotlight one less-than-new favorite (must pre-date the founding of Consequence, so 15 years or older) that deserves attention from modern-day eyes.
Cracker UK (TV)
Cracker (ITV)
Created by: Jimmy McGovern
Cast: Robbie Coltrane, Geraldine Somerville, Christopher Eccleston, Ricky Tomlinson, Lorcan Cranitch, Barbara Flynn, Kieran O’Brien
Streaming on: Britbox, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV
If you like your crime dramas loosely paced and built around one of British TV’s most captivating performances, then the 1990s Cracker might be your vibe. Robbie Coltrane (yes, Hagrid from the Harry Potter films, and dearly missed) stars as a criminal psychologist with a real talent for yelling at suspects and also behaving badly in his personal life. Somehow, his magnetism is impossible to oversell. Early seasons of Cracker also feature a young Christopher Eccleston as the DCI overseeing the police department, with great supporting work from Ricky Tomlinson and Geraldine Somerville as well. Like I said, this show doesn’t move through its mysteries speedily (most episodes are an hour long, and the cases are solved in two or three-parters). But sometimes, it’s nice to just luxuriate with some great characters and drama.
A Special Guest Recommends!
Liz isn’t the only person in the world capable of suggesting stuff for people to watch… So each week, Stream On will now feature picks from a special guest! Said special guest could be literally anyone from the world of entertainment — actors, writers, directors, musicians, or anyone else Liz thinks might be watching something interesting.
This Week: David Moscow!
David Moscow (photo courtesy of David Moscow) and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO)
Who Are They? David Moscow began his career as an actor at a young age, playing the child version of Tom Hanks’ character in 1988’s Big, and also starring opposite Christian Bale in the original film version of Newsies (a pro-labor classic!). He’s kept acting since then, but his most recent project features him as himself: The Peacock unscripted series From Scratch features Moscow recreating a signature dish from a specific region (wait for it) from scratch. “From scratch,” in this case, includes doing all the fishing, foraging, and farming needed to assemble the necessary ingredients so that, per the show’s logline, we can understand “how food really gets to your plate.”
What Do They Recommend? David has a trio of picks for us today!
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO Max) is awesome. I’m supposed to be waiting for my wife to watch it but she is busy; SHHH don’t tell her!
Bluey (Disney+) is some of the most emotional storytelling on streaming. The kids traveling to space and the sadness of leaving their friend alone there, or a grumpy parent learning how to play in the rain with her kid… I think I just got something in my eye.
Catching up on the last season of Succession (HBO Max). Was too stressful to watch the first time around so I had to turn it off. But it’s all amusing now — pain + time equals funny.
Thank you so much to David for these picks! From Scratch premieres March 2nd on Peacock.
One Last One Before Bed
Finally, let’s spotlight a movie or TV show that’s not only great, but won’t take up too much of your time: Think of this section as the answer to the question “What’s something I can watch before hitting the hay, that won’t keep me up too late?” The only rule is that it has to be less than 95 minutes if it’s a movie, or less than 30 minutes an episode if it’s a TV show. Otherwise, sky’s the limit!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 — Lost in New Jersey (Short Film)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 — Lost in New Jersey (Paramount)
Directed by: Kent Seki
Cast: Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Beck Bennett, Zach Woods
Streaming on: Paramount+
First, some instructions: This short film was originally released in theaters in front of The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, and because nothing in this world can be simple or good, it’s a little complicated to track it down on Paramount+. To locate it, go to the Paramount+ page for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (the charrrrming 2023 animated adventure) and go to the bonus features — Chrome Alone 2 should be the first available video listed.
Once you have made it this far, you’ll get to remember all over again why Mutant Mayhem was so dang fun. This joke-packed short, featuring the new cast of amphibian martial arts amphibians as well as the reliably hilarious Zach Woods, is a Christmas story that plays year-round thanks to its meta commentary on AI and the toy industry. It’s a tight seven minutes, each of them delightful. (And worth the extra effort to find it.)
We’ll be back next week with more picks — in the meantime, stay safe out there, or better yet stay inside, where it’s definitely safe, and there’s so much film and TV to watch. We’ll update this post every Friday morning with the best to consider, and also be sure to subscribe to the newsletter as well!
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