Decoding TV

Latest Episodes:

This Week In Streaming: One Piece Eps 1-3 Sep 13, 2023

Show notes

Support this podcast by becoming a paid member at DecodingTV.com.

This Week In Streaming is a show on the Decoding TV podcast feed that covers the most interesting shows available on streaming each week. On this episode, David Chen and Patrick Klepek discuss the first three episodes of One Piece streaming right now on Netflix:

Episode 1 - Romance Dawn
Episode 2 - The Man in the Straw Hat
Episode 3 - Tell No Tales

How well did One Piece build its fantastical world? Is it doing enough to satisfy existing fans while drawing in folks not familiar with its source material? Does the main character of Luffy work for us? What filmmaking choices make One Piece feel different than a normal TV show? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more!

Next week, Patrick and David will discuss The Continental on Peacock. We’ll also be continuing our coverage of Ahsoka. When possible, we will broadcast the episode live on YouTube, so be sure to follow us there. Thanks for being a paid subscriber!

Links:

Email us and let us know what you think at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Follow this podcast on Instagram
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Follow David on Instagram
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Ep: The Problem with RottenTomatoes Sep 11, 2023

Show notes

Here at Decoding TV, we’re planning to do a series of bonus episodes where Patrick Klepek and David Chen discuss a topic that’s in the news or just something that’s caught our attention recently. The first few of these will be free but eventually they will be exclusive to paid Decoding TV subscribers. (Check out our first episode about MovieTok and film criticism.)

Today we discuss this Vulture piece detailing some of the issues that RottenTomatoes faces. What does it say about our society that a single numerical value holds so much importance? How do the lessons of Rottentomatoes apply to the videogame world? And what is a consumer to do given the fact that RottenTomatoes scores may be unreliable? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more!

Whenever possible we broadcast our episodes live on YouTube. You can watch the episode here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahsoka Eps 3-4 Minisode - Time to Fly and Fallen Jedi Sep 08, 2023

Show notes

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider becoming a paid member at decodingtv.com.

We’re trying something new this week! Patrick and David are experimenting with a shorter episode format for a show that we still want to check in with but maybe don’t want to do full blown recaps for. In this podcast episode, David and Patrick discuss the latest two episodes of Ahsoka:

Episode 3 - Time To Fly
Episode 4 - Fallen Jedi

Are we still enjoying the show? How well does it handle its “Star Wars moments” vs. everything else? Is the dialogue still glacially paced? What do we think about the character of Ahsoka as opposed to Sabine? And how satisfying is the sound that’s made when the spherical map is placed in someone’s gloved hand? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more!

Links:

Email us and let us know what you think at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Week In Streaming: How To with John Wilson Season 3 Sep 07, 2023

Show notes

This Week In Streaming is a show on the Decoding TV podcast feed that covers the most interesting shows available on streaming each week. This week, David Chen and Patrick Klepek discuss the docuseries How To with John Wilson, which is streaming right now on Max.

In each episode of How To, documentarian John Wilson ostensibly sets out to answer a basic question: how to find a public restroom, how to clean your ears, how to watch the game, etc. But in reality, the show is an intimate portrait of life's beautiful mundanity, with Wilson taking the episode's original premise and frequently pivoting in new, unexpected, and always interesting directions.

What did we think of the show’s third and final season? What did we feel about the various ways in which John Wilson played around with his formula? What were some of the most memorable moments from this season and beyond? And what do we think this show is ultimately trying to say? Listen to hear us discuss all this and more!

Next week, Patrick and David will discuss the first few episodes of One Piece streaming right now on Netflix. When possible, we will broadcast the episode live on YouTube, so be sure to follow us there.

Links:

Email us and let us know what you think at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justified: City Primeval Post-Mortem Sep 06, 2023

Show notes

In this Decoding TV bonus episode about Justified: City Primeval, Sarah Marrs and David Chen discuss all the things we didn’t get to in our season final recap. This includes topics such as:

Did the finale drop the ball this season?
Listener reactions to the season as a whole
Was it really a big mistake to bring back [REDACTED]?
The biggest differences between the book and the show
What happened during the time jump in the finale?
And much more!

Thanks for a great season of TV recapping. Decoding TV will be back in the near future to cover How To with John Wilson, The Continental, and much much more, so be sure to keep subscribed to get all our latest episodes.

Links:

Email us at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Read more of Sarah’s work at Lainey Gossip
Follow Sarah on Twitter
Follow David Chen on Threads
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Week In Streaming: Telemarketers Sep 01, 2023

Show notes

Support this podcast by becoming a paid member at DecodingTV.com.

This Week In Streaming is a show on the Decoding TV podcast feed that covers the most interesting shows available on streaming each week. This week, David Chen and Patrick Klepek discuss the three-part HBO docuseries Telemarketers, which is streaming right now on Max.

Telemarketers is about two former telemarketers who witness the corruption and exploitation of one telemarketing firm in particular, Civic Development Group (CDG), and make it their life’s mission to try and take the company—and the industry—down. Its sprawling narrative eventually becomes about the making of the documentary itself. Its appeal is largely driven by the two personalities at its center. But did this format work for us? What does Telemarketers have to say about the telemarketing industry and about our society’s ability to change it? And how does it fit in with the current documentary environment overall? Listen to us discuss all this and more!

Next week, Patrick and David will discuss How To With John Wilson Season 3. When possible, we will broadcast the episode live on YouTube, so be sure to follow us there. Thanks for being a paid subscriber!

Links:

Email us and let us know what you think at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justified: City Primeval Ep 8 - The Question Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

In this edition of Decoding TV, David Chen and Sarah Marrs discuss the eighth and final episode of Justified: City Primeval, “The Question.”

In the season (series?) finale, characters make baffling decisions left and right. What happened to the deadly Albanians? How did we feel about the ultimate fate of Clement Mansell? Did Raylan’s arc prove to be a worthwhile one? And what did we make of the shocking cameo at the end of the episode? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more!

Thanks to Sarah Marrs for joining us for this season of coverage! We’ll be doing one additional bonus episode to discuss City Primeval so send us your questions/thoughts/responses at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Thanks for listening!

Links:

Email us at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Read more of Sarah’s work at Lainey Gossip
Follow Sarah on Twitter
Follow David Chen on Threads
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Week in Streaming: Ahsoka Eps 1-2 Aug 25, 2023

Show notes

If you enjoy this podcast, consider supporting us by becoming a paid subscriber at DecodingTV.com

Episode 1 - Master and Apprentice
Episode 2 - Toil and Trouble

We begin by discussing our relationship to Star Wars at this point, plus our overall thoughts on Ahsoka. Then we dive into full spoilers starting at around 25:50 into the podcast. How did the show manage the task of catching people up with the history of the animated shows while also welcoming in new viewers? Does Ahsoka do a good job of capturing the “feeling” of Star Wars? Shouldn’t catching a light saber through the torso be enough to kill someone? And is it just David, or does everyone in this show talk extremely slowly? Listen to us discuss all this and more!

Next week, Patrick and David will discuss Telemarketers, the docuseries streaming on Max. When possible, we will broadcast the episode live on YouTube, so be sure to follow us there.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Justified: City Primeval Ep 7 - The Smoking Gun Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider becoming a paid subscriber at DecodingTV.com. Thanks!

In this edition of Decoding TV, David Chen and Sarah Marrs discuss the seventh episode of Justified: City Primeval, “The Smoking Gun”

In the penultimate episode of the season, plotlines start colliding left and right and a major character is revealed to have ulterior motives. How did we feel about that reveal? Will we ever see Willa again? Taking into account the original Justified, what is the grand arc of Raylan Givens character? What are our predictions for how this season will wrap up? And why are sex scenes important for storytelling? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more!

Links:

Email us at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Read more of Sarah’s work at Lainey Gossip
Follow Sarah on Twitter
Follow David Chen on Threads
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Ep. - MovieTok and the Future of Criticism (feat. Myles McNutt) Aug 19, 2023

Show notes

Today we're launching a new series of bonus episodes where Patrick Klepek and I talk about a topic that’s in the news or something that’s caught our attention recently. Assuming folks enjoy these (if you do, let us know via email at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com!), we’ll keep doing them. The first few of these will be free but eventually they will be exclusive to paid Decoding TV subscribers. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to get the best Decoding TV experience.

Today we welcome Myles McNutt from the Episodic Medium Substack who joins me and Patrick Klepek to discuss this article in The New York Times about MovieTok (and David Chen’s Tiktok response). What are the differences between traditional critics and MovieTok content creators? How have these differences informed each of our career paths? And what did The New York Times get right and wrong about how it framed this issue? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more!Links:

Email us and let us know what you think at decodingtv(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Subscribe to Myles McNutt’s newsletter, Episodic Medium
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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