The Prestige TV Podcast - Exploring Hulu's '90s Week

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

With the culmination of Hulu's '90s week, Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins break down the vast selection of nostalgic offerings on the platform.Hosts: Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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corn salsa, 40 grams of protein, made to keep up with whatever comes next. New sweet green wraps hit different. Order now at order.com. Welcome to TV concierge, the ringer's guide to the vast streaming landscape. I'm Juliet Litman. I'm Amanda Dobbins. We are the co-host of Jam Session, and today we are discussing the streaming network Hulu, which I once pledged my allegiance to.

And, you know, we don't talk about it a lot on TV concierge, so we're talking about it today. Amanda, what's your relationship like with Hulu? So Hulu had a really amazing early quarantine moment. Like we're almost at like the one year anniversary of Hulu bringing us all through those first scary weeks of March 2020. I'm thinking about high fidelity, which I believe came out a bit earlier, but that was an early lockdown watch for me. They should have made a season two.

I don't know what's going on there. It's not too late, friends. Normal people, obviously. Incredible. And I also really enjoyed the great. which is, I believe, getting a season two. I got to be honest, I still have to finish it. So don't spoil it for me, though, you know,

I kind of do know what happens to Catherine the Great. And then also movie-wise, there was Palm Springs, which was a kind of early movie pandemic hit for them. And, of course, happiest season, which you and I never really talked about happiest season. I liked it. It was a good, good rom-com. We need more Christmas rom-coms.

It was great that it was a lesbian rom-com. Really enjoyed that. It was a nice change on the, genre and I liked it. I mean, I think we all love Kristen Stewart, right? I think she's a great actress. I completely agree. I thought Aubrey Plaza was fantastic in it. I was delighted by it and it was definitely a sensation as well. For sure. I mean,

without movie theaters, I feel like it was the biggest Christmas movie this year. Yes, absolutely. At least the busiest, right? For sure. And it's important to note that both Palm Springs and Happy Season were supposed to be released in theaters and then they they went to Hulu as a part of a, like, pandemic arrangement. And I think Hulu really benefited from that. I think it's sort of happiest season. I feel like happiest season in the theaters.

I would have been like, do I need to pay $16 for this if I'm lucky? But I already subscribed to Hulu, firing up with my family over Thanksgiving weekend. I had a great time. I feel the same way. And I feel like a little bit. That's the Hulu brand, right? Wow, this is available now? Sure.

I'll watch it. Yeah, seriously. And on that note, the reason we're doing this podcast, today is because this Friday today culminates 90s week on Hulu, which was basically a press release. And here's what the press release said was 90s week. And I will just say, we'll read the programming. Now it began with Blossom, the complete series being available. Then they added Felicity, followed by my so-called life.

And then a documentary from Slea Moonfry, who played Punky Brewster about her time with The Child Star, which I'm looking forward to watching. It's called Kid 90. And I've heard it's good and like fairly salacious, so I'm looking forward to it. I think that's pretty thin for a theme week. The ringer, we do a lot of theme weeks. And I think if we were programming this, we would really want to bolster our efforts. Yes. Now, you directed me to kind of like the 90s week banner and Hulu. And there are a few more options that you can stroll. You're right. They do have good 90s content. What were some other highlights that caught your eye? 902.1 is a really important one.

Huge. I think that's, you know, I'm not going to pretend to be the 901 or two expert that you are or that Bill Simmons is. Like when you're even in the universe of Bill Simmons, you just got to be like, I respected the show. It definitely inspired one talk with my mom about what I was allowed to watch on television. The prom night episode was like a real moment for me in terms of, am I going to be able to watch this? And am I going to be able to campaign to get my parents to say yes? So Bill and I have both been rewatching Nato 2-1 a little bit. It's also available on the newly branded Paramount Plus. It is like such a crazy artifact that does not hold up.

It's like, I still enjoy watching it, but there's so many things. You're just like, what the fuck? How do this make it onto mainstream network television for 30 weeks a year? But anyway, yes, Nato 210 is one of the 90s offerings. There's many more as well. Can I read you a few? Yes, please do. Freaks and Geeks, which is new and is a cult classic and I think kind of was like hard to watch for a while.

So, you know, I believe that like Vulture has been recapping it, like that being available again. I think Busy Phillips has been rewatching it like with her own daughter and having some of her own revelations of like what, how things were portrayed, which is cool. So then you have Allie McBeal, which talk about things that are very 90s and that we watched as children and then we reexamine as adults and are. like what is going on. But anyway. Question for you. Yes. The dancing baby. Yes. Do you, do you associate that? Ooh, yeah. You answered my question. Yes, it's an Allie McBeal thing for you.

Yeah, of course. And I can like, I remember it's dancing. I can see the bathroom, but I actually don't really remember the plot of Allie McBeal be on that. I think she was like supposed to be like her biological clock ticking, which is so offensive. And it's, it's Robert Denny Jr., right? Who she wants. to have it. Okay. Again, the 90s really shaped our brains in upsetting ways. Yeah. The wonder years? Great. Melrose Place. Also great. Frazier, Seinfeld and Frazier, but Frazier really having a renaissance. I believe they're making some new Frazier again for Paramount Plus. Yes, they are. Seinfeld, they paid a shit ton of money for. And I just don't feel like

it's gotten the attention of, you know, friends, the office. And now Modern Family. I'm hearing whispers out in the streaming landscape that modern family is having a streaming resurgence. And I feel like if you're Hulu, you've got to be pissed that Seinfeld is not like this meme machine. I reference it all the time. But I just feel like I don't think the kids love it.

That's exactly what I was going to say. It's a different sense of humor that you and I were raised on. But it's not open-hearted. It's not positive. It's quite cruel. And it's not what the kids want to like rewatch over and over and over again while they're just going about their lives, which I guess I understand. Frankly, I like check out Seinfeld. It's pretty cruel,

but had some great moments. It's so fucking funny. It's like a very funny show. That's how I learned about Bobca and we had some Bobca this week and I'm going to have some as soon as we stop finishing as soon as we stop recording this podcast. The Marble Rye, the puffy shirt. I mean, let's go on and on. Carry on. Okay. Dawson's Creek. Yeah. just a formative work. A huge problem, though, is it does not have the original music. And that extends to... Have a... I don't want to wait?

No, does not. It has run like mad, the song by Janice Arden, I believe, is her name. There was a website called Dawson's Creek Music.com that was a fan site that, for the length of Dawson's Creek and several years after, listed every song by episode. So I, like, I basically, like, have a tattoo on my back, except it's in my brain of every song to ever be in Dawson's Creek. And so honestly, I fucking love that show. First of all, it doesn't hold up.

I loved as a kid. It's hard to rewatch that, the original music, if you're psychotic like me. All I think about, you say Dawson's Creek and I just hear, I don't want to wait. Exactly. Do, do, do, do. All right, I've been singing too much on podcasts,

but it's really essential in that one, especially they don't have the music. It's really rough. Really rough. Okay. There's, you know, there's some 80s movies here, 80s shows here in this 90s week, like Cheers, which was just 80s.

But, okay, that's fine. Is designing women 80s or 90s? I think that's not early 90s. Okay. I definitely watched it on reruns and like didn't totally understand it what I was watching because I was like a little young, but that's okay. Great stuff. Dharma and Greg is here, which is just a weird 90s network artifact, but we'll just keep going. Okay.

Stayed by the bell. When I look back on Save by the Bell and Full House, I like, it's hard for me to sink. It's hard for me to square out my memories with the fact that we were so young. for when those shows were on, because syndication of both them was so powerful. But, you know, both those shows were like really early 90s. An interesting thing here is that Saved by the Bell is available on Hulu because of the wild world of licensing and how various companies own various parts of things. But obviously, the Saved by the Bell reboot is on Peacock.

People seem to really like that reboot. I am only interested in the original because that's what I grew up on. But at the same time, I'm like, do I want to? to watch this and be reminded that they're 14 years old. Like, no, I really don't. But again, a formative experience. I was singing the other day, remember the episode where Kelly gets the Zit on her nose? Yeah. And she has the dream sequence where she's rolled out and she's wearing like a clown nose because that's what she thinks she looks like. But then we all learn it's not what she looks like. I think about that once a week whenever I have a Zit. I think about the sprain a lot.

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Yeah, I just think about the sprain episode a lot and the fact that Casey Kayson was on that. And yeah, I mean, like, I used to, like, stand in front of the mirror and talk to my boyfriend, Zach Morris when I was six. Right. Case in case, another thing that is our jet important to our generation, like the top 40 countdown huge to us. Even five years later, they're like, what are you talking about grandma? That's okay. Maybe you guys can learn on Save by the Bell on Hulu. All right, I'm going. Full houses on here. More of an 80s show to me, but it continues in the 90s, I guess. Hey, Arnold, which I guess people care about. What too old for? Yeah. Hang in with Mr. Cooper.

Huge. That introduced me to Oakland. Like, I didn't really... Oakland as like a concept was introduced to me by that show. Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Huge. Dynamite, yeah. Family Matters, essential. Moesha and sister sister. So it's like a big collection. Yeah. This is, this does represent the 90s.

I will say that is true. They did nail it. The funny thing is they had this stuff already. Like a lot of this isn't new, but like people just aren't really paying attention to it. And I feel like 90s week is a good idea. Like, yeah, people love the 90s right now. But I'm just like, why didn't they focus on some of this stuff? Well, it's interesting.

A lot of these shows are made for children or for like teenagers. And they were made for teenagers in 1995. And you can see the seams on it a little bit. And so, you know, 90210, even at the time was boundary pushing. And it was like, oh, my God, can you believe these teenagers are doing this? And is this appropriate? And is Amanda allowed to watch, you know, Brenda lose her virginity on primetime television.

She was ultimately. That's wonderful. I'm happy for you. Great. That's how I learned about that stuff. But a lot of these were like, quote, family entertainment. They were TGIF, you know, the black on ABC. And if you're like a grown woman, just turning on some of these shows now, I don't really

know if it's speaking to you. Yeah. So I did rewatch some big parts of Dawson's Creek. during this pandemic. And it was like, I still love it from the nostalgia and like it means a lot to me. But I was like, this really doesn't hold up. And I was just like, this is like kind of hard to watch. And I also, I've reached the point in life where watching teens like kind of makes me

uncomfortable. I'm just like, this is inappropriate to watch teens be sexual. No thanks. Same. And so I was like, I kind of like, I can't like contrumbly recommend this to my contemporaries. It's not really something I think that we should be doing. Same. And then on the flip side, if you're a young person, I mean, if you're a teenager,

you just have a whole different rubric of how entertainment works. Just like how it's structured. I don't even know what you're watching. But like a young person maybe trying to catch up, as you asked me before we start recording, do people care about Blossom? The answer is I don't really know. Like those bucket hats are back. It's true.

I can see Blossom being more of an ironic fixation with like a new generation than I came with the earnestness of Dawson's Creek. because Dawson's Creek ultimately is so earnest in a way that it does not square up with the tone of, I think, young people as I gather it from, like, YouTube and TikTok. May I ask you a question? Go ahead. What do you think about Felicity? I missed the vote on Felicity. I didn't watch it at the time.

And I couldn't tell you why. I remember that it was a big deal. I think it was when I was in high school and I was like a nerd in high school. a lot of homework. And there was, I, you don't care about this, but I just am having a very vivid memory. There's this one girl in school who like made liking Felicity her thing, you know, and she was like, I, she was going to move to New York and hopefully go to NYU and do theater. And then when the haircut happened, she did the haircut too. Oh my God, huge mistake. Did she learn that the hard way? And I was just like, I remember even then being like, this is a lot for it to you.

TV show. Oh my God. So I was a Felicity addict. I think you were a freshman in high school when Felicity started. And I feel like I feel like there's a lot of years like being a freshman in high school or freshman in college. You miss a lot of stuff because you're so overwhelmed what's going on what's going on around you. You like less of a capacity for pop culture, at least people like us. I was addicted to Felicity. I was just like, I love this show. Fuck Noel. I love Ben. Carrie Russell, amazing. I was just like, wow, college looked so good. I watched a couple episodes of season one last night in preparation for this. And I also like similarly memorize all the music, had all the DVDs. One time I saw Scott Speedman in New York, like, I think when I was in college,

and I went up to him and introduced myself and I was like, oh my, I'm such a huge fan. I'm Juliet. And he was like, hi, I'm Scott. And I was like, what? I was like, you're Ben. So it was very confusing. But then I saw him a lot, by the way. He lived in, he lives in the Silver Lake Los Phyllis area or he did and like is like a morning person. And I, too, a morning person. So I'd like see him on the street. I have a friend who, like, regularly ended up in yoga classes with him for a while before aging phenomenally. I, like, love Felicity. I think that show does hold up and I would recommend it, but it's not, like, a good college show. It's just sort of like, it should be interpreted like any JJ Abrams show where it's like world building.

And this is like Felicity's world that like is called New York and is about going to college, but really is just about like a quirky girl. But it's really actually a good show. At least season one is. Well, what's interesting to me is that you as someone, who grew up in New York City have like an interesting, a different relationship than most people to shows that like have like the myth of New York, right? And I think that was definitely an appeal for, you know, the aforementioned girl who cut her hair in my high school. But like for those of us who didn't grow up in New York City, I grew up in Atlanta, it was like the New York as a character,

sorry, sex in the city, was like a major part of it. And you usually are less charmed by that. Yeah, I usually am. But I think it's just because it didn't. similar to Friends in Seinfeld was obviously shot a lot, whereas like sex in the city really did turn New York into a character. And this again, like I just say like this is J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves world building. It is not actually New York.

And I think for some reason that resonated with me. Also, Scott Speedman's so hot. Sure. We'll get to Scott Speedman and the hardthrobs in a second. Can I just do a follow up there on East Middle School Juliet being like this is shot on a set? Were your production values that, finely attuned even in like seventh grade? It annoyed me.

So the street that I grew up on, the facade of Will & Grace's building is on my block. And the facade of Liz Lemon's building is on my block. And so I think like because of like those things I did kind of care about it. And also they filmed like law and order outside all the time. And then also the restaurant, Tom's restaurant in Seinfeld is like across the street from my elementary school. So I was like very aware of these locations. And I do think I then like thought of.

about, like, are they shooting inside? And I was like, it's not what Tom restaurant looks like. I just, I think Felicity Season 1 is actually very good television. It's kind of been lost to time. It's, it's always mentioned as like part of the JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves's respective stories, but it's not really given the credit deserves. Alias seems to get that credit. And I do think season one of Felicity is like genuinely great.

And I want people to check it out. What ease groups would you recommend? Watch that show. Mm-hmm. I think our age for nostalgia. And I think like teenagers. for like a kind of different take on a coming of age story. It's different.

It's like Felicity is like finding out about boys and finding out of like her interest outside of her parents. And she like makes so many dumb mistakes. I don't know. I think it's a good show. I really do. I think it weirdly holds up better than Dawson's Creek. I go more girls for that matter.

Yeah. The Dawson's Creek of it all doesn't surprise me. That was a very specific moment in time. Before you guys go check out Hulu. Amanda, who is your who are your top three 90s heart throads? Like, who captures your heart? So Dylan from 90210. That was Luke Perry in 90210.

Was, I think, the first time that I realized, like, that the bad boy archetype was a thing. And, you know, I understand that there is a deep history in film, television, music, literature, and like pretty much anywhere else you learn things. But for some reason, I was exposed to Dylan first, and it really moved me. So I think that's number one. Pacey on Dawson's Creek was a really important lesson in not picking the main guy just because the show wants you to. Right? You got to honor charisma. You got to.

And if you honor it enough, the show will go there with you. That was another really formative scene when Joey and Pacey finally get together. And then, God, who would? are yours. I'll think on number three, but you show yours. I'm a Brandon girl. Brain Walsh, always and forever. I like that Brandon is like more, he's just like very confident and assertive. And he's also supposed to be smart, but he also is like a dick. He's just also like still like a fuck boy. Love. I think it's very realistic. Love Brandon. Love Pacey. Like just I, you know, it's like, Pacey is like the defining heart throb of that era. I do not go for Dorexie.

in Catalano, his, like, quiet type really, like, resonated for others. He's from my so-called life also on Hulu, but I just feel like I want to acknowledge, I get that's a type and I respect people who loved him. For me, the third is Ben. I just love Ben Covington. I continue to love Ben Covington. He Ben Covington has a construct. It's just like, Scott's been slayed me.

At the time, I loved Ben more than I love Pacey. I think looking back on it, the, like, absolute fakeness of Pacey, like, that's just as far from a teenage male as possible is funny to me. and so I kind of like appreciate it, but at the time, definitely Ben, Brandon and Pacey. It's funny that you're a Ben person, but a Brandon person. I know. You know?

I know. Are you an Aiden person or a big person on Saxon the City? Big. Okay, good. I mean, thank God. Can't do much of Aden. He's a nice guy. And that's it.

I agree. So you brought up Jordan Catalano and played by Jared Leto on my so-called life. Like a generationally defining character for a lot of people. In fact, I think, you know, there's kind of that, that those people on the edge of Gen X and millennials. Older millennials, yeah. Right. And someone once, like, self-designated them as the Catalano generation. I agree with you that it was like a little too chill, like, you know, Seattle for, that was just not my taste.

I like a more aggressive asshole, I guess. Like, I just, you know, it's like I get nervous that I'm talking to. much and that just doesn't feel good. That happened to Angela Chase. She had the same problem. Right. But really important. So we honored Jordan Catalano.

I guess my third has to be Zach Morris, saved by the bell. Speaking of like really confident guys who just talk too much. Yeah. I mean, preppy was just an incredible character. I think that's like one of the reasons why I saved by the bell reboot seems so confusing. She's like,

you can't reboot Zach Morris. He's like once in a generation. Yeah. He's Zach Morris. He's a fact of life. Total charisma. It's so wild. It's almost like, you know who I think are like the two charismatic characters in my lifetime?

Who? These two have probably never been in the same sentence before. This is good. I'm holding my breath right now. Zach Morris and Don Draper. Okay. That's the list. That's the list.

Thank you so much for listening to TV concierge. Check out Hulu. A lot of good 90s programming. We'll be back on Monday.