Megan’s back from her communing with Stevie Nicks (who now has her very own Barbie). That means it’s finally time to make our first-round draft picks in the 2024 Fantasy Oscar Pool! Yes, we’re a little late this year. Traditionally, we try to do this before the festivals roll out with hits and misses, but due to scheduling issues, we just didn’t get around to it before Telluride / Venice. But we’re doing it now, and we hope you’ll play along at home. We’ll try to make scoring a bit more...

While Megan spins in a yellow shawl with Stevie Nicks, Joey and Clarence regroup at the Water Cooler to kick off Halloween 2023. With the spooky season here, Clarence preps Joey for his upcoming visit to Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights. Featuring TV-based haunted houses like Stranger Things, Chucky, and The Last of Us, Halloween Horror Nights is an extremely popular event. Clarence recently attended and gives reviews of his favorite houses. He also tells Joey a few scares to watch...

The 2023 Emmy Awards may have postponed their ceremony due to the ongoing WGA / SAG strike, but the Cooler Awards ceremony carries on. On this week’s podcast, we reveal the winners of the 2023 Cooler Awards as voted on by the staff and readers at Awards Daily TV. Who will take home top honors? Listen to find out first before we announce the winners on the site. As always we close with the flash forward to the media we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week. Thanks for listening and thank...

Two weeks ago, we gathered around the Water Cooler to dish on our most anticipated films of the 2023 fall season. Now, it’s TV’s turn, but with the strike interrupting many writers’ rooms across Hollywood, what does television have to offer in the fall? More than you’d think, it turns out. There are several very high-profile new series and limited series worth your attention that Joey and Clarence are very excited about (Megan could not join us this week). Returning series, however, look a...

The leaves are about to turn. The air will soon boast that seasonal chill. Targets everywhere will soon stock Halloween decor, and Starbucks just released the pumpkin spice latte. Yup, it’s time for fall, and with it comes a whole new crop of films. Some we’ll see at festivals. Some we’ll see opening weekend in movie theaters. Wherever it happens, we are all ready for fall films. This week at the Water Cooler, Joey, Megan, and Clarence reveal their most anticipated films of the 2023 fall...

This week, we’re pausing our Emmy analysis to talk about the latest updates in the 2023 Emmy race. How will the ceremony’s delay to next January impact the winners? How will new and acclaimed seasons of The Bear and Only Murders In the Building impact their current Emmy fortunes? We have a free-form chat about the Emmy race, the delays, and a few other random thoughts. Plus, we review the latest season of Only Murders In the Building, which features a fresh and entirely welcome performance...

We’re back with more 2023 Emmy analysis and predictions. This week, we’re staying in the music realm with thoughts across a handful of music-related categories. Last year, The White Lotus dominated the Main Title Theme race with its insanely catchy opening title theme. Even though Season Two is a huge Emmy contender, it’s not eligible this year as the new season’s opening music isn’t different enough from last year’s to qualify. So what stands to win in its absence? Also, we look at music and...

We return after an extended hiatus to review this year’s Emmy nominees for one of our favorite categories: Main Title Design. Plus, we lovingly recall a childhood (and adulthood) favorite that passed this week. As always we close with the flash forward to the media we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week. Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for subscribing and rating us on Apple Podcasts!     Music from https://filmmusic.io “Cheery Monday” by Kevin MacLeod...

The full roster of Team ADTV gathers ’round the Water Cooler to hash out the surprises (oh, all the surprises) in the 2023 Emmy Nominations. Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for subscribing and rating us on Apple Podcasts!     Music from https://filmmusic.io “Cheery Monday” by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Now that the 2023 Emmy Phase 1 cycle is complete, we anxiously await the revelation of the 2023 Emmy nominations on July 12. Until then, we’re pausing for a moment to take stock of the 2023 year in television at the halfway point. Awards Daily senior contributor Jalal Haddad joins the panel to reveal our top five television shows so far this year and a handful of honorable mentions. What will make our list? What makes yours? Sound off in the comments and let us know what you’ve loved so far...

With almost one week of 2023 Emmy voting behind us, the Water Cooler Podcast gang offers their annual Emmy wish list to the Television Academy in our “Dear Emmy, Hear Our Pleas!” These are performances, series, or crafts that we think voting members of the Television Academy should absolutely consider when marking their final ballots. As always, we close with the Flash Forward to the media we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week. Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for...

With 2023 Emmy voting starting on Thursday, we’re taking a look at some of the more challenging races to figure out — namely, the supporting races across drama, comedy, and particularly limited series. Some categories are mostly figured out with some exceptions here and there, but the limited series supporting races are truly a mystery. Aside from a single undeniable performance, the Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Anthology category feels truly a toss-up. Jalal Haddad joins us to...

With the 2023 Emmy season now closed, new series are starting to roll out, although being first out of the gate isn’t necessarily a big vote of confidence. Enter HBO’s The Idol, Sam Levinson’s (Euphoria) new pop music drama that stirred strong reactions at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Starring Lily-Rose Depp and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, the series offers a brutal, frank, and often overtly sexual look at a young pop icon (Depp) struggling to recover from the death of her mother and the...

Spoiler Alert! As the 2023 Emmy eligibility window closes, several high-profile series wrap either their season or their whole series. On this week’s Water Cooler Podcast, Joey, Megan, and Clarence review the season or series finale for Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Yellowjackets, and of course Succession. Do these series close out on a high-quality note? Or do they leave a sour taste in our, and potentially the Television Academy, mouths? We group on these titles and update our Emmy...

This week, Joey leads the Water Cooler in a conversation about the Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series 2023 Emmy race. The list of contenders may not be extraordinarily deep, but those in contention give raw, varied, and truly accomplished performances in a less high-profile limited series race that in previous years. Who do we think are the front runners? Who are the potential spoilers? Have a listen as we break it down for you! But first, it’s Succession Watch! We briefly chat...

This week, Joey, Megan, and Clarence gather ’round the Water Cooler to reveal their most anticipated films of the 2023 Summer movie season! What are some of yours? Have a listen and leave yours in the comments below! As always, we close with the Flash Forward to the media we’re most anticipating in the upcoming week. Thanks for listening and thank you, in advance, for subscribing and rating us on Apple Podcasts!     Music from https://filmmusic.io “Cheery Monday” by Kevin MacLeod...

Love is in the air at the Water Cooler this week. No, it’s not the decades-spanning platonic love between Megan and Joey. It’s the Elizabeth Olsen take on the infamous Candy Montgomery Texas murder in Love & Death. Written by David E. Kelley and directed by Lesli Linka Glotter, the Max limited series features a strong ensemble and expands the story over last year’s Hulu limited series Candy. But is bigger necessarily better? We each give our take on the series, its strengths, its...

This week, we look at two new streaming series and their critical reactions. First up, the fantastic Betty Gilpin (Glow) stars in Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez’s new Peacock series Mrs. Davis. The series features Gilpin as a nun tasked by an artificial intelligence entity named Mrs. Davis to find the Holy Grail. There’s a lot going on here, so we parse through what we understand, what we’re confused about, and whether or not Mrs. Davis works beyond the power of Gilpin’s fully committed...

Last week, Clarence weighed in on the latest shift in the 2023 Emmy race when Netflix moved Beef into the limited or anthology series category. Here, in this week’s Water Cooler Podcast, he leads a conversation with Megan, Joey, and guest Jalal Haddad to get their take on the limited series Emmy race. What are the real contenders at play? Will Netflix successfully campaign Beef in its new category or will it be sidelined by a hot controversy? What about the upcoming now-screening limited...

Last podcast, we covered the final season premiere of HBO’s celebrated Succession. Yet, we had no idea what was to come. Well, sort of… We get into that a bit, but this weekend’s Episode 3 rocked the television world, delivering series-best writing, direction, and performances. We talk about the episode, our reactions to it, and how it changes the Emmy race moving forward. Or does it change it? Does it really just solidify what was already established? Then, we dive into Netflix’s Beef,...

HBO’s Emmy-winning Succession returned this weekend to kick off its final season. The debut episode of season four received record ratings and unanimous acclaim for its performances, direction, and storytelling. We dive into the episode, what it says about the characters, and hypothesize on where the series could end. Plus, we spitball a scenario where HBO could maneuver Succession to four acting wins in the main performance categories. But first, we catch up on Clarence’s recent trip to the...

We’re back after a week off following the Academy Awards, and we’re diving into one of our most feverishly anticipated 2023 premieres. Showtime’s Yellowjackets dropped in the fall of 2021, eventually receiving a 2022 Emmy nomination for Drama Series. We held our breath for season two. Would it surpass the dizzying heights of the first season? Or would it fall prey to the dreaded sophomore slump? You’ve already heard from Megan, but how do Joey and Clarence weigh in on Yellowjackets season...

We’re gearing up for the 2023 Academy Awards this week by looking back at its most infamous ceremony. We’ve all heard about the 1989 Academy Awards, but how many have actually sat down to watch the entire 11-minute opening sequence? After reading about its construction and backlash in Michael Schulman’s Oscar Wars, Clarence queues up a review of the elaborate, extravagant, and incredibly campy opening number, featuring Rob Lowe and Snow White singing Proud Mary. We talk about what works, what...

You may think we’re still in the heat of Oscar season (and we still are), but eyes are starting to turn toward the 2023 Emmys. Awards Daily’s own Jalal Haddad joins Clarence, Megan, and Joey to take a pulse on the Emmy season. The winter craft guilds are starting to weigh in, but their ability to gauge Emmy dominance will be mixed at best. We’ll talk about why. Plus, we have three months left in the 2023 Emmy eligibility window. Those three months appear packed with major contenders. We break...

We’re in the mood for love. With Valentine’s Day happening this week, we talk about the state of the rom-com or romantic comedy film. With Netflix releasing the Reese Witherspoon-produced Your Place or Mine, we review the Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher-starring film. We also look at why Hollywood can’t seem to create truly great rom-coms anymore. We also chat about a few topics including the Super Bowl, its commercials, and Rihanna’s halftime performance. Plus, Joey gives us an update on the...