Sliders and Wings Valerie Temple and Rachel Cox

This week Val and Rachel welcome special guest Nita Pom-Pom discuss Parker Lewis Can't Lose, an American teen sitcom that originally aired on Fox from September 1990 to June 1993. It was produced by Clyde Phillips Productions in association with Columbia Pictures Television. During the last season, the series rebranded to Parker Lewis. The series depicts the tribulations of the title character Parker Lewis (played by Corin Nemec), a Santo Domingo High School student, for whom nothing is impossible. It was strongly influenced by the feature film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.


Hot Topics include:
1.) Immediate Flowers for Algernon digression 2.) Parker Lewis' Max Headroom/Memphis design/ "living-cartoon-like" aesthetic 3.) Memories of Parker Lewis and defying gender stereotypes 4.) Corky, Corin and Joseph Charles 5.) Nita's college journal and connection to Parker Lewis star 
Maia Brewton 6.) What IS a laserdisc? 7.) Unnecessary vests 8.) Parker's unique fashion style: Early John Fetterman? 9.) Quiz! 10.) What Ya Watchin': Berry, Better Call Saul, Outer Range, Killing It, Peggy Sue Got Married, Time After Time, Girls5Eva, Kids in the Hall  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Lewis_Can%27t_Lose

This week Val and Rachel discuss The Outer Limits,  a television series that originally aired on Showtime, Syfy and in syndication between 1995 and 2002. The series is a revival of the original The Outer Limits series that aired from 1963 to 1965.The Outer Limits is an science fiction anthology of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end. The revival series maintained an anthology format, but occasionally featured recurring story arcs that were then tied together during season-finale clip shows.

Hot Topics include:
1.) Rachel's soft core sci-fi shock! 2.) Episode reviews: "Valerie," "Lithia," "Family Values," "A Stitch in Time" 3.) Remembering our first experiences with science fiction 4.) Background on the 1990s revival 5.) What Sci-Fi Ya Reading? 6.) Adjacent TV: Twilight Zone, Tales from the Crypt, Black Mirror 7.) Rachel's Alexa achieves the singularity  8.) The State of Sci-Fi 9.) What Ya Watchin': The World, The Flesh, and The Devil (1959, Harry Belafonte, Criterion Channel), All My Friends Hate Me (Rent on Prime), horror movie Mikey  
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outer_Limits_(1995_TV_series)

This week Val and Rachel discuss Grace Under Fire, an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. The show starred Brett Butler as a single mother learning how to cope with raising her three children alone after finally divorcing her abusive husband. The series was created by Chuck Lorre and produced by Carsey-Werner Productions.

 
Hot Topics include:
1.) Feeling stupid is the worst 2.) Val gets involved in local politics 3.) Bret Butler's substance issues, cast changes, and drama on set 4.) This is a dark show! (Even darker than Roseanne) Many sensitive issues are explored. (Many such cases) 5.) Supporting characters and cameos: Vietnam vets, John Goodman, & Dave Thomas 6.) Rookie of the Year sidebar 7.) Hela Under Fire.. Grace takes Eastern Europe  8.) Rachel administers the Comedian Sitcom Quiz to Val 9.) Val's Fun Facts about Chuck Lorre 10.) What Ya Watchin': Death on the Nile, The Girl Before (Both on HBO Max), Old Enough and Dave Foley on the Joe Rogan Experience (Aliens, Phil Hartman and Dave's sad custody story) 11.) Early Edition reboot!  
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Under_Fire

 

This week Val and Rachel and Special Guests Aaron and Greg (their respective spouses) discuss Get a Life, a television sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network from September 23, 1990, to March 8, 1992. The show stars Chris Elliott as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage (Elliott's parents are played by Elinor Donahue and his real-life father, comedian Bob Elliott). The opening credits depict Chris Peterson delivering newspapers on his bike to the show's theme song, "Stand" by R.E.M.

Hot Topics include:
1.) Early FOX programming "The lunatics were running the asylum" 2.) How does Cabin Boy hold up? 3.) Adult Swim prototyping 4.) Chris Elliott's leading man appeal 5.) Greg and Aaron's celebrity lookalikes 6.) S.P.E.W.E.Y. 7.) Elliott's other projects: FDR biopic and Action Family 8.) Greg's superpower to annihilate conversations 9.) Rachel's obsolete Get a Life quiz
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Life_(American_TV_series)

This week Val and Rachel discuss two radio workplace sitcoms from different eras: Newsradio and WKRP in Cincinnati. 
NewsRadio is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from March 21, 1995 to May 4, 1999, focusing on the work lives of the staff of a New York City AM news radio station. It had an ensemble cast featuring Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, Vicki Lewis, Joe Rogan, Khandi Alexander, Jon Lovitz, and Phil Hartman in his final regular role before his death in 1998.
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom television series that features the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta. Many of the characters and even some of the stories (including that of the Season 1 episode "Turkeys Away") are based on people and events at WQXI. Wilson once told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he selected WKRP as the call sign to stand for C-R-A-P.
 
Hot Topics include:
1.) Gardening & landscaping updates 2.) Time slot shenanigans 3.) Contemporary criticism of Newsradio 4.) The final haunted season after Phil Hartman's death 5.) The kookiest co-workers we've ever had 6.) Bailey and Jennifer: The Ginger and Mary Ann of the 70s 7.) The WKRP very special concert episode 8.) Adjacent TV, MAD Magazine, The Most 90s 9.) Cute v. pretty, Katherine with a K 10.) Radio DJ Quiz!!! 11.) What Ya Watchin'  
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewsRadio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKRP_in_Cincinnati

This week Val and Rachel sit down with our friend Nicole Restaino for an innovative new format: we'll be contrasting and comparing 90s TV show My So-Called Life with current HBO show Euphoria. Both shows depict teenagers with complexity and have passionate fan bases.
We also finally break the one-hour mark, so hold onto your hats, dear listeners!
 
My So-Called Life is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. Set at the fictional Liberty High School in a fictional suburb near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania called Three Rivers, it follows the emotional travails of several teenagers in the social circle of main character Angela Chase, played by Claire Danes. The show was officially canceled on May 15, 1995, despite being critically praised for its portrayal of adolescence and the commentary of its central character, Angela, and for receiving several major awards nominations, including Danes winning the Golden Globe for her acting work on the series. Besides Danes, the show also launched the careers of several other major actors of her generation, including Jared Leto and Wilson Cruz.
Euphoria is an American teen drama television series created and written by Sam Levinson for HBO. It is based on the Israeli television miniseries of the same name created by Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. The series follows a group of high school students through their experiences of identity, trauma, drugs, family, friendships, love, and sex. The show is the second most watched show in HBO history, behind Game of Thrones, and it was just renewed for a 3rd season.


 
My So-Called Life is available on Hulu, Euphoria is on HBO Max. 
Hot Topics:1.) What is "America Online"? 2.) The Alicia Silverstone connection 3.) Unfair comparisons: prestige TV vs. network television, style vs. realism, dyeing your hair vs. doing fentanyl 4.) Overuse of music and the ensuing emotional manipulation 5.) Antiheros, moral ambiguity, and unreliable narrators 6.) Voiceovers and getting teenage dialogue right 7.) Focusing on the MSCL episode "Other People's Mothers": drugs, teenagers, and traditional vs. permissive parenting styles 8.) Very Special Episodes(TM) 9.) The crazy Rainbow-style fashion aesthetic of Euphoria 10.) Friend crushes and moral stances 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_So-Called_Life
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphoria_(American_TV_series)