This week Val and Rachel discuss Boston Common, an American sitcom television series created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick (from Will and Grace), and aired on NBC from March 21, 1996, to April 27, 1997. The series was one of the 10 highest rated shows in its first season as it ranked 8th in the yearly ratings with a 15.6 household rating, but with a move to Sundays in its second season, the show dropped from 8th to 52nd place. 

Boyd Pritchett is a genial, easy-going twenty-something from Virginia who delivers his sister Wyleen to college in Boston. Then Boyd falls in love with Joy and decides to stay, much to Wyleen's dismay. Boyd eventually gets a job at the college to help pay his sister's tuition and shares an apartment with Wyleen.Hot Topics Include:1.) Full-on trash-talking Boston 2.) Foxfire/Angelina Jolie, Shelley Long, Margot Kidder, Zach Galifinakis, Fun Bobby, and more! 3.) Tuna.com 4.) The reality of working at a university 5.) What Ya Watchin': Curb Your Enthusiasm, Jim Gaffigan's new comedy special, Search Party, Pen15 6.) What Ya Readin': Mystery on the Mount 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Common_(TV_series)

This week Val and Rachel discuss The Commish, an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC in the United States from September 28, 1991, to January 11, 1996. The series focuses on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in Eastbridge, New York. The series stars Michael Chiklis as Anthony J. "Tony" Scali, a former NYPD detective who is now the police commissioner in the small fictional suburban New York town of Eastbridge, and tends to work through problems with humor and creativity more often than with violence or force. The show focused on family situations as well as police drama. The series deals with a wide range of topical social issues such as police corruption, racism, homophobia, drug addiction, disabilities, child abuse, illegal immigration, and sexual harassment.

Hot Topics Include:1.) THE PEN, MY GOD THE PEN!!!! 2.) Michael Chiklis' age, or lack thereof!!! (What?) 2.) Just what is a Commish? And how does it relate to judgey legal ladies? 3.) Val dives deep into the crazy plots of multiple Commishes 4.) What Ya Watchin': Olivia Newton-John in A Mom for Christmas, The Witcher v. Lost in Space: Which is less terrible? 5.) It's not easy to be a completist these days!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Commish

This week Val and Rachel discuss an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. The series stars Roma Downey as an angel named Monica, and Della Reese as her supervisor Tess. Throughout the series, Monica is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives. 

Hot Topics Include:1.) Our thirsty Instagram account: @slidersandwingspod2.) Roma Downey trivia: too tiny for tv costumes, marriage to Mark Burnett, not sounding Irish enough 3.) Is this show forgotten? 4.) Low-stakes angel case managers 5.) Val's detailed explanation of the Nordstrom return policy 6.) James Marsden, Jack Black, and Melissa Joan Hart star in Season 2, Episode 5, featuring a classic CD black market plot and it's fabulous! 7.) What Ya Watchin': The OG Spider-man, Sex and the City/And Just Like That...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touched_by_an_Angel

This week Val and Rachel discuss Profiler, an American crime drama that aired on NBC as part of its Thrillogy block and CNBC Europe from 1996 to 2000. The series follows the exploits of a criminal profiler working with the fictional FBI Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF) based in Atlanta, Georgia.Ally Walker starred as profiler Dr. Samantha Waters during the first three seasons (1996–99), and was later replaced by Jamie Luner as prosecutor-turned-profiler Dr. Rachel Burke during the show's final season. Robert Davi, Roma Maffia, Peter Frechette, Erica Gimpel and Julian McMahon co-starred throughout the show's run. Caitlin Wachs played Dr. Waters' daughter for the first two seasons, a role taken over by Evan Rachel Wood in 1998.Profiler shares a similar lead character and premise with the Fox Network series Millennium, created by Chris Carter. Both shows premiered at the beginning of the 1996–97 television season.

Hot Topics Include:1.) Christmas decorating stress 2.) The demented Santa Clause 3.) Profiler Pilot Plot confusion 4.) Goonies, Nip/Tuck, Twin Peaks, While You Were Sleeping, and Just the Ten of Us connections! 5.) Profiler vs. The Pretender 6.) Serial Killers, the plot device that never disappoints! 7.) What Ya Watchin': Southside, Succession, Lost in Space 8.) Christmas Shopping Strategy 9.) 90s book sensation Griffin and Sabine 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiler_(TV_series)

This week Val and Rachel discuss Early Edition, an American fantasy comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from September 28, 1996, to May 27, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, it follows the adventures of a man who mysteriously receives each Chicago Sun-Times newspaper the day before it is actually published, and who uses this knowledge to prevent terrible events every day. Created by Ian Abrams, Patrick Q. Page, and Vik Rubenfeld, the series starred actor Kyle Chandler as Gary Hobson, and featured many real Chicago locations over the course of the series' run.

Hot Topics Include:1.) Nintendo 2.) Dead or Alive Quiz: Classic TV Stars 3.) Fisher Stevens history of brown face and other facts about this fascinating character 4.) Chockablock guest stars 5.) This show is boring 6.) Panther the Cat 7.) Rachel's community theater audition story 8.) What Ya Watchin': Ma(re/yor) of (East/Kings)town (Paramount Plus), Dune (HBO Max), Palm Springs (Hulu), 20/20 Turpin House of Horrors episode (Hulu), Tea and Sympathy

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Edition

This week Val and Rachel discuss Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, an American Western drama television series starring Jane Seymour, who plays Dr. Michaela Quinn, a physician who leaves Boston in search of adventure in the Old American West and settles in Colorado Springs, Colorado.The television series ran on CBS for six seasons, from January 1, 1993, to May 16, 1998. In total, 150 episodes were produced, plus two television movies which were made after the series was cancelled.

 

Hot Topics Include:1.) America's love of prairie TV 2.) French and Saunders' parody and what a "quim" is 3.) Sully has big soft lips but can't ride a horse 4.) Funny or Die's Dr. Quinn-Breaking Bad mashup 5.) What Ya Watchin': Wes Anderson's latest film The French Dispatch and the first half of the new Dune (which is the first half of the first book) 6.) CBT, Bradley Cooper, Alias, Haley Joel Osment, and the mental effects of hyperstimulation 7.) Look out for "wet signing"!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Quinn,_Medicine_Woman

This week Val and Rachel discuss The Ben Stiller Show, an American sketch comedy series that aired on MTV from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox from September 27, 1992 to January 17, 1993. The Fox program starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. The program featured numerous filmed comedy segments, many of which parodied middle of the 1980s to beginning of the 1990s pop culture. Despite mostly positive reviews, Fox canceled the series after only 13 episodes, due to low ratings. Unlike most sketch comedy programs, The Ben Stiller Show did not use a studio audience, and was the first ever Fox sketch comedy program not to use a laugh track. After cancellation, the series won the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

Hot Topics Include:1.) Judd Apatow and BSS's place in the history of comedy 2.) Gen X's lasting legacy of self-deprecation 3.) Our favorite sketches, in detail 4.) Remember when cybersex was considered raunchy? 5.) What Ya Watchin': You (Netflix), American Horror Story (Hulu), Stanning  Cody Fern and Sarah Paulson 6.) Community Theater Acting 101 7.) Underwhelming announcements for our new Instagram (@slidersandwingspod) and Youtube (just called Sliders and Wings, good luck with your search) accounts

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ben_Stiller_Show

This week Val and Rachel discuss The Heights, an American musical drama series that aired Thursday at 9:00 pm on the Fox network from August to November 1992. The Heights centered on a fictional band (also called The Heights) made up of mostly working-class young adults. Episodes regularly featured one of their songs.

 

The eventual theme song for the show, "How Do You Talk to an Angel" (sung by cast member Jamie Walters), went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was the first song from a television show to top the Hot 100 since 1985, as well as the first song by a fictional band to top the Hot 100 since 1969. The Heights premiered on August 27, 1992, to low ratings, and never gained a substantial audience. Fox canceled the series less than a week after the theme song fell from the number one spot.

Hot Topics Include:

1.) Holiday Birthdays 2.) Halloween Date Drama 3.) Val and Rachel disagree! 4.) Tom Shales' scathing TV review of The Heights 5.) Offscreen Suburb Drama at Rachel's House 6.) Song clip from "Natalie O, She's Pretty" 7.) Comparisons to Melrose Place and Thirtysomething 8.) Jamie Walters post-Hollywood career pivots 

 

WARNING: Rachel sings a LOT in this one.

 

Most episodes available on YouTube.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heights_(American_TV_series)

This week Val and Rachel discuss Eerie, Indiana, an American horror science fiction television series that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1991, to April 12, 1992. The series was created by José Rivera and Karl Schaefer, with Joe Dante serving as creative consultant.

 

Hot Topics Include:1.) Comparisons to X-Files, Pete and Pete, Encyclopedia Brown, 3-2-1 Contact and Odd Squad 2.) Connections to Hocus Pocus and Picket Fences 3.) Halloween favorites Roseanne and Garfield 4.) Halloween What Ya Watchin': I Know What You Did Last Summer, Dune (Not Yet Watchin'), You (Only Val Watchin') 5.) Halloween costume planning   

 

Correction: The Garfield Halloween Special theme song was sung by Lou Rawls, not Dr. John. Wah-wah!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eerie,_Indiana

This week Val and Rachel discuss Northern Exposure, an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 award nominations during its five-year run and won 27, including the 1992 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, two additional Primetime Emmy Awards, four Creative Arts Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globes. Critic John Leonard called Northern Exposure "the best of the best television in the past 10 years".

Hot Topics Include:1.) Is Northern Exposure more like a boring Twin Peaks or a boring Picket Fences (or a boring Schitt's Creek?)? 2) What would get this show "canceled" first-- poor representation or sexual power imbalances? 3) We dabble into strange waters.. "What Ya Listening To?" 4.) Celebrity Baby Names 5.) Rachel says "titillate" more than she should 6.) Dropping shows in their last season 7.) What Ya Watchin': Younger, Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell, Neon Joe: Werewolf Hunter, Cruella

8.) (Or a boring Doc Hollywood?)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Exposure