Husbands Talking on X is for Show

Cooking shows now require some life-or-death element. Hulu’s Secret Chef (which likes you remind the viewer it is “from executive producer David Chang”) is the latest entry, mixing the best of Cutthroat Kitchen, The Mole, Top Chef, maybe kind of the Saw movies, and hosted by a passive-aggressive Miss-Minutes-from-Loki. How much is H’s SC about the cooking? How much is it about the gameplay? All in all, it provides a complex look at the nature and evolution of culinary programming in media. Plus – Strikes! Emmys! Project Runway! Drag Race! Great Food Truck Race! And more!

As one of Nintendo’s best-selling yet somehow still underrated properties, Splatoon offers up a world with its own unique cultural aesthetic, beautiful music, and a unique spin on shooter gamplay. With online casual and competitive, as well as fantastic single-player platforming, even a digital card game, Splatoon offers so much gameplay. As one of Nintendo’s few esport-viable properties, Splatoon’s reach is expanding all the time.

Who’s got the cakes: Mikey Day, Tyler Florence, or Paul Wesley? JOIN US TO FIND OUT! It’s Sunday night, and that means it’s time for an X Is For Show Weekly TV Roundup! First up in our Spotlight, the Action Pack will cut our way right through the entire new season drop of IS IT CAKE? The highs, the lows, the cakes, and the oops-it’s-not-cakes. Then we’ll discuss some SHOCKING eliminations from our favorite weekly reality treats: Drag Race All Stars, Project Runway All Stars, and Great Food Truck Race: David vs Goliath. Closing out, we’ll hit a few Highlights discussing the latest from Secret Invasion, Strange New Worlds, and more!

The Action Pack were lucky enough to see several Tori Amos shows, and now we’re totally teed up to talk Tori Amos. Tori’s discography and characters transcend the expectations of most musicians, outlasting contemporaries and countless “copycats” – so who is she and what are the characters, stories, places, and elements that run through her music? Amos’s songs transform across tours, releases, and even the “version” of Tori that performs the tracks. Tori’s songs have become award-winning comics, she’s written a book (Resistance) detailing her time in the DC political piano bar scene, and has played in films (and Cornflake commercials). With more than a combined 40 Tori concerts between them, Nico, TK, & Kevo weigh in on the musician often celebrated by her fans as “the goddess” – Tori Amos.

It’s time for X Is For Show’s roundup of TV spotlights and highlights – and this week it’s full of crime and criminals. From this week’s Secret Invasion debut (who can you trust?!) to Based On A True Story’s finale (Tennis: 0, Death: 1) and Crime Scene Kitchen’s new season (where the only true crime is the bakers’ hubris), it seems as if every other show is trying to be either Serial or Only Murders In The Building. (Which will also probably cover.) Then the Action Pack take a quick look at highlights like Nintendo Direct, The Great Food Truck Road Race, Drag Race, Project Runway, & more!

While Nico and Kevo have been loving their whirlwind introduction to all things RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2023, there is another love that they have had going way back, so far back that it’s celebrating its 20th season with a bang. This week saw the premiere of Project Runway – which has been TK’s big whirlwind – and also happens to be yet another summer season comprised of all stars! Join us for the laughs and the tears as we attempt to determine who’s the bigger drama divas: the designers or the drag queens. Plus, a lil Food Truck Road Race and a lil Crime Scene Kitchen makes this a can’t-miss, don’t-skip, must-like, sub-worthy super-goop legend-sode!

Star Trek ventured to the Final Frontier – and here on X Is For Show, we’re Trekking hard and getting amped the Fed(eration) up! We’ve seen the end of the Picard and said goodbye to the Next Generation for now, but our exploration of the Trek cosmos seems to have just begun! After spinning out from Star Trek Discovery, STRANGE NEW WORLDS is a fascinating look at the Original Series era that’s about to break even more ground with its landmark crossover with animated series LOWER DECKS. In this episode, the guys come through and in on everything StarFleet, ship class, sexy aliens, and more. Beam up, assimilate, and steal an Enterprise, cuz we’re going in on Strange New Worlds Premiere, Lower Decks Preview, & More Hot Trek Talk!

The Action Pack talk about a lot of TV -- and a crazy amount of it is technically game shows. "Game show" covers a lot of ground -- from Jeopardy to Drag Race to Don't. And game shows themselves are so much more than silly fun -- the Quiz Show scandal or Press Your Luck scandals; Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's first $1,000,000 winner creating a touching moment between father and son or Rodney Alcala, the Dating Game Serial Killer; or even Snatch Game on Drag Race taking game shows DEEP META -- the XI4S guys have a lot to say on the topic, and it coincides so well with the Weakest Link (now featuring Jane Lynch -- the new age of celeb hosts is ANOTHER TOPIC) and the first ever Weakest Link Drag Queen episode. Don't miss talk about more shows like Crime Scene Kitchen (and the food subgenere), Is It Cake (and the viral-hit genre), The Price Is Right (oh, the classics), and more so tune in, join up, and play along!

The Disney Afternoon ran from 1990 to 1997 and it’s the gift that keeps on giving. From the beloved cartoons it showed came a number of exciting spin-off materials, and two of our favorite titles here at X Is For Show have always been Gargoyles and Darkwing Duck. With these series recently being given new life by Dynamite Comics, we’re taking a moment to reflect on our own fond memories of the Disney Afternoon. Join us as we discuss Manhattan versus Saint Canard, the recipe for Gummi Berry Juice, and whatever the hell Shnookums and Meat are, including a rousing rendition of our favorite game, BRACKETEERING.

When Nico and Kevo first agreed to join this week’s SPECIAL GUESTS Joey Lewandowski (@soulpopped) & Joe Two (@JoeyDe_) on their 2 Fast 2 Forever (@2Fast2Forever) series, they weren’t quite sure what they were getting themselves into. The combined total of the Fast & Furious franchise, including all of the films AND the Dreamworks animated series, certainly inspires a lot of conversation - which can be found over on the 2f2f channel! And it’s why the Action Pack wanted to invite the Joes over to our show this time as we once again get behind the wheel with Fast X, aka Fast & Furious 10, the tenth narrative installment and eleventh overall film in the seriously speedy franchise. We’ll discuss the highs of Brie Larson’s heel spikes and Rita Moreno’s sheer existence, we’ll discuss the lows of child recasting and mismanaged music cues, but in the end - it’s all about family.