Episode 240
Is The Baldwins the Most Tone Deaf Show of All Time?
Ian and Hannah review the biggest new films and bingeable shows on UK streaming services for the week beginning Friday 28th February 2025, including:
Award-winning comedian Dave Gorman takes a sideways look at modern life in a series of stand-up performances powered by his laptop. Series six of Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish is available on U and Dave.
Reformed party girl Kate Hudson must prove herself as a businesswoman when she's unexpectedly put in charge of her family's pro basketball team, in Netflix 10-part comedy series Running Point.
The Duttons face a new set of challenges in the early 20th century, including the rise of Western expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren star in season two of 1923 on Paramount Plus.
New reality series The Baldwins, on Discovery Plus, gives us unfiltered access into the highs and lows of one of the world's most famous and infamous families.
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Transcript
Well hello and welcome to Binge Watch, the podcast where we take a look at the hottest new TV
Speaker:and film releases on streaming television platforms. I'm Hannah Fernando, the group editor of Woman
Speaker:and Woman at Home magazine. And I'm Ian McEwan, writer on TV and Satellite Week, TV Times,
Speaker:What's on TV and What2Watch.com. And today we're looking at the new releases that will be available
Speaker:on Friday the 28th of February 2025, including Kate Hudson. in the Netflix sports comedy Running
Speaker:Point and Dave Gorman's new series of his stand-up show Modern Life is Goodish on You.
Speaker:And we'll also be checking out the return of Paramount's Yellowstone spin-off, 1923, starring
Speaker:Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, a new celebrity reality series, The Baldwin's, about actor
Speaker:Alec Baldwin and his family on Discovery Plus. I should say chaotic family at this point.
Speaker:But first in, what is in the news? Anna Maxwell Martin and Reese Ifans will star in a spin-off
Speaker:from Apple TV Plus' For All Mankind exploring an alternate version of the space race. What
Speaker:else is in the news, Hannah? Netflix drama The Whisper Man featuring Robert De Niro will centre
Speaker:on a crime writer whose young son is abducted. You can't get De Niro off the telly these days.
Speaker:He's everywhere. Well, three American series this week. and a homegrown offering as well,
Speaker:which is what we're going to start with because on You and Dave, it arrived on Monday the 24th
Speaker:of February, it's the return of Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish. And here's a clip.
Speaker:Dave Gorman here. Welcome to my desktop, where I obsessively stan all the absurdities of modern
Speaker:life. What is going on here? What is going on?
Speaker:bizarre rules of the alphabet. It's weird that letters can be spelled out as words using letters.
Speaker:Or how moving to the coast can make you immortal. Moving to Bournemouth gave me a hundred and
Speaker:eighteen percent chance of survival. It's a never-ending rabbit hole of ridiculousness.
Speaker:Well it's been seven years since we last saw Dave with this show on the telebox and um I've
Speaker:got to say I'm a fan. for the uninitiated he uses, it's done recorded in front of a live
Speaker:audience and he always wears a check shirt okay interesting fact but he does a PowerPoint presentation
Speaker:and it's really him looking at the sort of quirks of modern life all really well-observed stuff
Speaker:that is intriguing and funny and interesting so there's a little bit it's a bit TV burpish
Speaker:one element of it so he has Brian Connolly he looks back at Brian Connolly and the way he
Speaker:used to introduce celebrity guests so that the audience could kind of guess who was coming
Speaker:on from what he said. That's really good. There's a quite he looks at the use of those you know
Speaker:there's pods that are in public spaces that are kind of like meeting pods that you can
Speaker:hire by the hour. He does a very funny sequence about that. He does these things called found
Speaker:poems, which if you've seen him before, they're made up of comments that people have left under
Speaker:articles on the internet and they're very amusing and he has a live string quartet providing
Speaker:the music. So although ironically PowerPoint is a bit dated now, isn't it? It's still...
Speaker:I mean Gorman has done lots of really interesting stuff over the years. So he did an experiment
Speaker:where he tried to prove whether astrology really works by following his horoscope to the letter
Speaker:every day. He's tried to locate lots of Dave Gormans all over the world. So yeah, I am a
Speaker:Dave Gorman fan. He has a fascinating lens through which he views this
Speaker:It's highly recommended. Welcome back, Dave. Uh, are you a fan, Hannah? Do you know what?
Speaker:It's, it is quite funny, isn't it? But it's just really, really different. And you say
Speaker:PowerPoint is a bit sort of dated, but I, I actually wasn't looking at the audience too
Speaker:much, but perhaps, you know, it kind of appeals to the demographic, you know, that, that watch
Speaker:him and that like him. And as you say, he's always wearing that check shirt. And he says
Speaker:that if he wears a t-shirt, he kind of is almost like a disguise because no one recognizes him
Speaker:in half of the audience or 60% of the audience turn up in check shirts too. So he's sort of.
Speaker:become known as that. And it is just a kind of different take on the crazy world, the crazy
Speaker:modern world that we live in. And I think it's highly relatable to a lot of people, which
Speaker:is why it's so funny and it sort of strikes a chord. So yeah, I think it's a bit different,
Speaker:it's a bit fun, and it's a formula that works. We're going to move across to Netflix for our
Speaker:next offering. It arrived on Thursday, the 27th of Feb. It's a new 10-part sitcom called Running
Speaker:Point. And here's a clip. You are the president of the waves. This show came. But on behalf
Speaker:of all women, don't ever make a mistake. It looks bad for all of us.
Speaker:Yeah, so this is the latest outing for Kate Hudson. And there's a bit of a sell-a-cast
Speaker:actually because Justin Threw is also in this. And it struck a chord with me quite quickly
Speaker:because although it's, you know, arguably a bit sort of... It doesn't push necessarily
Speaker:many boundaries. I think its intention is right in that it addresses women in the workplace
Speaker:and the fact that it's still relatively male dominated, particularly in some areas, sports
Speaker:being one of them. Now it's called Running Point and she is appointed as the president of a
Speaker:world famous basketball team. Now. nepotism plays a big part in here because it's a family
Speaker:business. But she's massively ambitious and it sets the cat among the pigeons really, or
Speaker:sends the hairs racing because essentially all her brothers are all jostling for position,
Speaker:you know, she's a girl, why should she do it? You know, and you get this real kind of sense
Speaker:of a woman in a male dominated workplace, which I think you know, without sounding too feministic
Speaker:and kind of, you know, veering this down a different track. I think a lot of women do feel like
Speaker:that in a lot of situations. And I suppose it shines a bit of a light on that because she's
Speaker:ferociously ambitious. You know, she has talent in terms of, you know, what she's doing, her
Speaker:knowledge, and kind of this really is testing her metal and seeing her sort of steely side.
Speaker:And you also have this really nice dynamic with her best friend who's always there supporting
Speaker:her, which, you know, again, We talk about female empowerment and kind of having friends that
Speaker:kind of pick you up and carry you to the top rather than pushing each other down, which
Speaker:is, you know, a real true sign of friendship. And it's a, as I say, it's not sort of breaking
Speaker:any real barriers in terms of a storyline, but I think it does shine a bit of a light on women
Speaker:in the workplace. And you know, she... It's nepotism, isn't it? She's Goldie Horne's daughter,
Speaker:you know, she's been in a lot of things. But actually with this, I don't know, I think she
Speaker:does it really well. And I also, I watched something else, aside from what I've watched of this,
Speaker:I also watched kind of like some interviews with her and some of the cast and the directors
Speaker:as well. And it's really interesting listening to them and everyone kind of raves about working
Speaker:with Kate Hudson and kind of how fun she is. And you see some of the outtakes. and kind
Speaker:of the, the laugh that they're having with each other. And I think they had a really good time
Speaker:and actually that sort of, that kind of shines through. So it's looking at, you know, a serious
Speaker:side of things. It's got a message. It doesn't really break any huge boundaries. Did I enjoy
Speaker:it? Yes. What do you think Ian? I enjoyed it. And I first saw Kate Hudson in the brilliant
Speaker:film, Almost Famous, which is about a rock and roll band on tour. And she played the groupie
Speaker:Penny Lane. She was fantastic in that. And of course, as Goldie Horn's daughter, she should
Speaker:have funny bones. And she does have funny bones. I think always with the new sitcom, you're
Speaker:slightly worried when you start watching. Is it going to be funny? And very quickly, I bought
Speaker:into this. She's got a real kind of presence. She's got great comedic timing. And I mean,
Speaker:it is you're right, it's sort of a well worn plot line of fish out of water, taking over
Speaker:a sports team. But it really works. It's got a really snappy script as well. It's quite
Speaker:rude. I think it's quite in your face. And she, yeah, she's terrific in the lead role. So,
Speaker:yeah, pleasantly surprised. I liked it. Over on Paramount Plus, arriving on Sunday the 23rd
Speaker:of Feb, we have season two of The Western, 1923. And here's a clip. What's his name? Spencer
Speaker:is a warrior, the stone killer. Today, we begin making Montana a playground for the elite.
Speaker:I'll destroy everything that's in its way. I'm trying to prevent a war here. It ain't preventable.
Speaker:He wants to take this place from us. So this is a spin-off. Yellowstone which was sort of
Speaker:the modern-day Western which starred Kevin Costner as a Montana rancher called Jack Dutton and
Speaker:anyway Costner parted ways with that series and his character was buried at the Yellowstone
Speaker:ranch but it spawned a number of spin-offs one of which is 1923 which yes as the title suggests
Speaker:is set in the past. And it stars, well, let's talk about star power. Harrison Ford, Helen
Speaker:Mirren, they play Jacob and Cara Dutton, who are his ancestors. It's also got Timothy Dalton
Speaker:in it. They certainly pack a lot in. I'll give you that. So in episode one, well, someone
Speaker:gets attacked by a mountain lion. Someone else has a sex slave locked up in a cupboard. A
Speaker:sailor gets raped on a ship. There's some bare knuckle boxing. I mean, it's all going on.
Speaker:So it's kind of, it's a bit of a pot boiler in some ways, but come on with Ford and Mirren,
Speaker:two veterans who are still just highly watchable. There's this great character in it called Spencer,
Speaker:who is Jacob's nephew. He's played by Brandon Scleaner. He's got a terrific mustache, one
Speaker:of the great mustaches on TV. So he's a big game hunter. And I mean, his backstory, I'm
Speaker:not gonna ruin it. Go back and watch season one if you've not seen it, because you kind
Speaker:of need to know what's going on, because he's been on quite the journey, but he's sort of
Speaker:trying to get home to save the family ranch, and also somehow to be reunited with his bride,
Speaker:Julia Schlepfer. Yeah, sometimes it slightly stretches credulacy, but it's got plenty going
Speaker:for it. I mean, I grew up watching Westerns like the High Chaparral, so I love this kind
Speaker:of stuff. What about you, Hannah, do you like this one? Do you know what, it's hard not to
Speaker:like, isn't it? Like you say, because just because of the cast, but take them out of it. And in
Speaker:all honesty, I don't think it's for me. I'm not a massive Western fan. I've watched a few,
Speaker:but I don't absolutely love it. The- as I say, I think the names are what sort of, you know,
Speaker:appeals to me. And I think the fact that they want to be a part of it means it has to be
Speaker:good, right? That's just kind of how you feel about it. But to your point you made earlier,
Speaker:it's just a bit too much. I think there's just too much ground covered. I'm not sure that
Speaker:you need every single one of these massive storylines in many ways. It just feels a little bit overpacked,
Speaker:a bit of a sensory overload in places. And so for me, yeah, I didn't love it as much as I
Speaker:wanted to love it. As I say, you know, this is not a genre that I love in the same way
Speaker:as you do. So I'm not expecting me to, you know, kind of, um, fangirl it as such, but I kind
Speaker:of thought with them, I would, I would like it more than I did, but I felt there was a
Speaker:bit of a sensory overload. Well, we're going to finish on Discovery Plus with a new reality
Speaker:show that arrived on Monday, the 24th of February. It's called The Bald Winds. And here's a clip.
Speaker:Seven children, six animals, two parents. A wild family. Why are we eating chocolate? Get
Speaker:out your phone! Okay. Don't pee in that pool. Gross. What's the matter? Happy face. A son
Speaker:lost his mom in the most unthinkable tragedy. This is never something to forget. And we're
Speaker:trying to parent through it. Oh. Ian, where do I start with this one? Because this is just
Speaker:the most tone deaf thing I think I've probably ever watched. It's come up, I mean, it's been
Speaker:highly criticized, as you well know, generally, for the timing of this. So this was, this was
Speaker:filmed two weeks ahead of the trial. So of course, Alec Baldwin
Speaker:was being questioned and had been arrested. He was up for, I think, manslaughter. for the
Speaker:shooting on set where he fired a gun that he didn't think was loaded. So this was done two
Speaker:weeks prior to that. So the question I suppose is why did they do it? They don't need the
Speaker:money. You'll clearly see that when you watch this, they live in an amazing New York apartment,
Speaker:which is absolutely fabulous. And then they've got the Hamptons home. So this is not a financial
Speaker:thing, but presumably as a reputational thing and trying to come over in a way that you kind
Speaker:of restores. arguably a dented reputation. Now there's no, for me, there's no discussion over
Speaker:the fact that it must have been absolutely harrowing for all of them, all concerned. But this just
Speaker:felt very, very tone deaf to me because actually it's a reality show. It's a fly on the wall
Speaker:documentary about a very chaotic family. They have seven children, eight pets. They do have
Speaker:two nannies, although you only see a glimpse of one of them at one stage. And I think that's
Speaker:because they're trying to corral not only the children, but the cats. and dogs into the car
Speaker:and there was a main road and I think they were just trying to stop the children from running
Speaker:into the road. But you know, that's the only time you saw that nanny. And it felt very shoehorned,
Speaker:the whole shooting situation just felt shoehorned in and uncomfortable and this sort of moody
Speaker:music comes on and suddenly it changes from hilarious. being all gushing about Alec and
Speaker:him talking about their children mostly and their life, to suddenly talking about something
Speaker:that's incredibly sensitive. You know, a woman's lost her life, a son has lost their mother,
Speaker:a husband has lost his wife, etc. So for me, it just didn't hit right. Don't get me wrong,
Speaker:as a reality show, it kept me watching. I was interested in their life apart from anything,
Speaker:just wondering how an Earth... They, they cope, but I suppose they just have a load of help
Speaker:is the reality of that. Although again, as I said, you don't see it that much, but I just
Speaker:felt that it hit a really low point, if I'm honest with you, because there was one stage
Speaker:where, I mean, Alec talks about having PTSD after it all, which he may well have done,
Speaker:of course, and Hilaria saying, you know, I'm not saying we, you know, people should feel
Speaker:sorry for us. you know, because obviously there's much worse and obviously, you know, someone's
Speaker:lost their life, et cetera, et cetera. But it was a bit, why are you talking about it then?
Speaker:Are you feeling you're having to talk about this right now and justify your position? And
Speaker:they, you know, they talked about how the children were they having to say a special goodbye to
Speaker:daddy before he went to the court hearing. You know, and They talked about the age, they talked
Speaker:about that she's come under a lot of fire for her Spanish accent, you know, is she really
Speaker:Spanish? Is she not? Why is it a weird accent? I thought that was a bit silly really. I mean,
Speaker:she speaks quite competently in Spanish and clearly speaks to the children so that they're
Speaker:bilingual. But, you know, it kept me watching Ian and I like reality shows, but for me, I
Speaker:just thought this is not great timing, if I'm honest with you. And if you're going to do
Speaker:something as serious as that, then at least... give it a little bit more airtime than perhaps
Speaker:the maximum of five minutes it was given throughout this whole thing. I think it was about that
Speaker:anyway. What did you think? Yeah, I agree with you. The timing is inappropriate and the discussion
Speaker:of the shooting seems very kind of shoehorned in, which makes you wonder, as you say, what
Speaker:was the agenda behind this series? I mean, I do like Alec Baldwin and there's certainly
Speaker:a curiosity value there because, well, obviously he's a massive star, he's rich, there's a big
Speaker:age gap between him and Hilaria who, you know, a lot of people are accused of being a gold
Speaker:digger, didn't they? He's an older dad because the seven kids are pretty young, but it's relatively
Speaker:thin, gruel really. I mean, episode one, the kids go for a haircut and then they... try
Speaker:and get all the kids in the car to go for their holiday in the Hamptons. Very nice, nice work
Speaker:if you can get it. Um, and you know, a lot is made of the fact he's got OCD. So having all
Speaker:those kids and all those pets is difficult for him because he likes everything to be ordered,
Speaker:but you know, they have got two nannies. Come on. So, yeah, I mean, I certainly didn't feel
Speaker:the need to watch anymore and it just, there's something about it that just doesn't feel quite
Speaker:right. to be fair. Now we've got to that time, Hannah, will we find out what you've been binge
Speaker:watching this week? Well, you reminded me of this, the great pottery throwdown, which I
Speaker:absolutely adore. So yeah, I got binge watching that. It's just so great. And I just love it
Speaker:when he cries. It doesn't take much, does it? It's so funny. It makes me laugh when he cries.
Speaker:Just think it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And you know what? I'm in awe of those people
Speaker:because... They're so artistic and brilliant and nothing really gets them down. They just
Speaker:pick themselves up and go again. I can only imagine me doing it and the clay being on the
Speaker:ceiling, you know, is great. It is one of my favorites. I watched one, one episode of a
Speaker:three-part documentary series on the iPlayer called Israel and the Palestinians, the road
Speaker:to the 7th of October, which does give you some interesting backgrounds to the Hamas attack
Speaker:and then. the conflict in Gaza, learned a lot of stuff going back to kind of the days of
Speaker:Sharon and the fact that there were kind of attempts to set up a two state situation that
Speaker:just failed. So yeah, obviously that's so much in the news that it's quite interesting to
Speaker:watch that and get a bit of the backstory. Now, before I talk about next week's offerings Hannah,
Speaker:we should just flag up. I should have done this in the news really, shouldn't I? We were lucky
Speaker:enough this week to have a chat with Kyren Thrax, the Drag Queen and winner of RuPaul's Drag
Speaker:Race, who presents his own spin-off show, Hello, and is currently on tour. So, yes, watch this
Speaker:space. That will be coming as a BingeWatch special episode very soon. Can I just say you want
Speaker:to be listening to that current interview? I really enjoyed that. So much fun. Absolutely
Speaker:brilliant. They are absolutely delightful and so grateful. Totally unentitled and just yeah,
Speaker:absolutely love the interview. But going back to next week, we have got crime drama, Get
Speaker:Milly Black, which lands on Channel 4 streaming. Yes, looking forward to that. And ITVX period
Speaker:drama. Cruel Love tells the tragic story of Ruth Ellis who was the last woman to be executed
Speaker:in the UK. So we look forward to those and much more. But in the meantime listeners, keep watching.
