Stream It or Leave It

This week we swallow our pride and subject ourselves to a new dating show concept crossing species and time, made possible by prosthetics, Netflix, London, and Rob Delaney (Catastrophe).

"It's like ‘The Dating Game’ meets ‘The Masked Singer’ meets ‘The Purge’ ...  and ‘Wipeout,’" said Jeff.

"A kind of ‘Come Dine with Me’ (U.K. Channel Four) feel ... where narration ... is cheeky and makes fun of each contestant," compared Shindy.

"It’s [Netflix] going full circle to doing network television and trying for that audience, which might be the future. And it may be the beginning of the end of network television," opined Mat.

Press play to hear what happens after the crew unmasks their true feelings after the Spoiler Alert (08:53):

• Sexy Beasts Makeup (07:23)
• Everyone’s hot: How real are the connections? (08:58)
• Seriously, these people can't get dates in the age of dating apps? (09:47)
• Blind date success stories: Watch out, we get personal (14:39) (23:05)
• Where are they now? (24:40)
• Our favorite ‘beasts’ (26:05)

Stream it or Leave it? And our respective spirit animals (42:38)

What else we’re watching (44:48)

• Mat: A Glitch in the Matrix, a documentary on HULU
• Jeff: Road Runner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, in theatres and VOD, and Mandibles on VOD
• Shindy: The Hunt, a film on HBOMax, The White Lotus, a series on HBOMax

*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*

Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes. 

Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow the crew: 

Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTok

Mat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchez

Jeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker

*

This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks and financial brands.

*

Stream It or Leave It Podcast ©Pod Barn, LLC. For...

We back into lockdown for Bo Burnham’s latest Netflix special, shot during the pandemic and released just as the world was emerging from post-Covid cabin fever.

After a five-year break from the stage, American comedian Bo Burnham obsessively writes, performs, shoots, directs, and composes music for Inside, from one room during the pandemic — all while perhaps going slightly mad himself in lockdown. Or was he? 

Jeff was skeptical. Shindy wasn’t loving going back into the quarantine mindset. Mat felt cheated and thought the timing of the release was “shitty.” 

But should you ultimately Stream It or Leave It? Listen now and find out!

Press play to hear more after the Spoiler Alert (06:11):

Were we more impressed by Bo Burnham's fancy equipment or his talent?

"There are people who have been entertaining for years who can't produce and manage their way around equipment as well as he can," remarked Shindy.

"Man, there was so much to unpack in this special. It's so hard to describe. The guy is like Weird Al and Stanley Kubrick shoved together! I thought there was so much intelligence. It kind of blew me away," surmised Jeff.

Did Burnham want us to believe he living in this room the whole of lockdown?

"I believe he was exasperated...but he is trying to give the impression that he was living in this room? How much of this was performance and how much was genuine, " questioned Mat. 

"I don't think it's possible for us to know how depressed he got or his sort of internal thoughts. I'm sure that there's some of that in there. But if you look at the music, if you look at the lighting, if you look at his facility with editing, with directing, with writing songs and lyrics—the moment I realized that, I thought, ‘oh, the whole thing is put together,’" remarked Jeff.

And, how much was Burnham atoning for prior comedic criticism?

Our Verdict (35:25)

Bonus: What else we’re watching (35:38)

• Mat: Girlz5eva, a sitcom on Peacock
• Jeff: Spirit Untamed, an animated film on video-on-demand 
• Shindy: Basic vs. Baller: Travel at any Cost, a series on Hulu

*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*

Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes. 

Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow the crew: 

Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTok

Mat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchez

Jeff Kuns:...

This episode, we ambled around a New York docu-comedy series quickly becoming a cult favorite, which Shindy said “saved her during lockdown.” 

“It's one of my favorite shows of the last year. It brought me a lot of joy and I'm glad we're spreading the word,” applauded Mat.

Under the comedic guise of a ‘How To’ guide, each episode of How to with John Wilson starts from a simple yet slightly ridiculous premise, such as “How to Make Small Talk,” and morphs into a freewheeling adventure through New York and its characters.

Press play to hear more after the Spoiler Alert (05:55) about:

• How How To with John Wilson came to be (06:22)
• Why John Wilson is beyond relatable (02:37) (10:45)

"He's like a modern day, social anthropologist...he analyzes peoples’ behaviors. And luckily, he captures it all on film," said Shindy.

"It reminded me of Borat. You have this innocent-seeming character who, by his approach, people get comfortable with, and reveal themselves in ways which you wouldn’t normally get," said Mat.

• Favorite How To with John Wilson episodes of the series (09:29):

Stream It or Leave It? (26:15)

Bonus: What else we’re watching (26:52)

• Jeff: Joseph Campbell’s Mythos, Amazon Prime
• Mat: Line of Duty, Amazon Prime
• Shindy: Master of None, Season 3, Netflix

*Become a Stream It or Leave It Fan*

Newsletter: Subscribe to Stream It or Leave It on Substack to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes. 

Follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.

Follow the crew: 

Shindy Chen: @shindychen on Instagram and Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTok

Mat Sanchez: IG @matflixx, Twitter: @mrmatsanchez

Jeff Kuns: @spqanglemqker

*

This episode was brought to you by Scribe, a financial content agency. Scribe produces blogs, articles, website and product copywriting, ebooks, pitch decks, and whitepapers, for everyone from late-stage fintech startups to the world’s biggest banks and financial brands.

*

Stream It or Leave Itt Podcast ©Pod Barn, LLC. For questions or sponsorship inquiries, email [email protected].

We are three highly opinionated film and TV buffs, critics, writers, and journalists who spend every minute of our free time on all the streaming platforms. 

Each show, we watch each other’s film and tv picks, whether we like ‘em or not, and tell you whether they’re worth watching!

The show is in two parts:

Part 1 is a NO-SPOILER zone, where we’ll talk about our first impressions about that week’s pick. 

*Then, SPOILER ALERT!*

Part 2 is our deep dive, where we go into our faves, hangups and general wild card topics.

Finally, for that week’s show or movie, we tell you whether to Stream it or Leave it!

But that’s not all — before we end each show we also tell you what else we’re watching.

*BE A FAN*

Subscribe, share, and comment about this episode or podcast.

Newsletter: Find our full episode shownotes at Stream it or Leave it on Substack, and subscribe to be first to get alerts about our newest episodes. 

Follow us: For videos and more fun follow @StreamitLeaveit on Instagram and Twitter.

*MORE ABOUT YOUR HOSTS*

Shindy Chen

New York City and Miami-based former video store worker, Founder & CEO at Scribe, published author, former film critic and entertainment writer, speaker, and media contributor.

@shindychen on Instagram & Twitter, @realshindychen on TikTok 

Mat Sanchez

Journalist by day, film critic by night (and many matinees). A bit Brazilian, a bit British, a bit Florida Man — and all pop culture geek.

Instagram: @matflixx

Jeff Kuns

Los Angeles-based ghostwriter, painter, esoteric explorer, BizDev at Scribe.

Instagram: @spqanglemaker