In short
Pilot Plus reviews Apple TV+’s online thriller The Savant, about Jessica Chastain’s Jodie infiltrating alt-right hate groups via sock-puppet personas to prevent mass shootings and domestic terror before they happen. The hosts also discuss how the show feels timely and authentic, plus a long postbag segment about TV/film eligibility, TV schedule nostalgia, and streaming costs. Apple reportedly pulled The Savant from schedules until an undisclosed future date.
Guest backgrounds
Steph Seelan is editor of Boy Crime I Don’t Know, replacing Kay (who is on a digital detox). Other host voices discuss as regulars (Kay absent).
Key claims
The series passes a “five-minute test” for realism; it balances verisimilitude with light “savant-like” competence (memory/pattern recognition) without becoming a superhero. It’s compulsive but uncomfortable because it’s close to real events.
Notable examples
Episode 2 “mind palace” poster scene; Jodie’s hair-cutting tutorial video; recurring hornet/yellow-jacket subplot; hacking/typing depicted with plausible tech; depiction of extremist characters (including upskirting) and an abusive “alpha” villain.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroducing the Replacement Host
0:39 to 2:25
The hosts introduce Steph Seelan as a guest replacement and discuss Kay's digital detox.
“Welcome to Pilot Plus, your extended guide to every show that matters.”
Overview of The Savant
2:25 to 4:52
Discussion about Apple's The Savant and its premise involving alt-right hate groups.
“types conspiring to well commit terrorist acts in uh present day united states of america this is a very very interesting uh look at a phenomenon that is going on right now in the United States.”
Authenticity and Realism in The Savant
4:52 to 6:30
Exploration of the show's authenticity and its depiction of current societal issues.
“and they try and make it look like she's literally embodying someone at their screen.”
Jessica Chastain's Character Analysis
6:30 to 7:45
In-depth look at Jessica Chastain's character and her savant-like abilities.
Thematic Elements and Symbolism
7:45 to 9:13
Discussion on various thematic elements and symbolism in The Savant.
“Yeah, there's a hornet infestation in her daughter's bedroom.”
Viewer Reactions and Emotional Impact
9:13 to 11:44
Hosts share their emotional reactions to the show's intense themes and realism.
“or if it's just for the sake of showing you her world.”
Technical Realism and Narrative Devices
11:44 to 14:00
Discussion of the technical aspects and narrative devices used in The Savant.
“something like this is really, really difficult.”
Exploring Futuristic Themes in Media
14:00 to 15:50
Discussion of how futuristic themes in shows are portrayed and their authenticity.
“It has to have that kind of authenticity, otherwise it'd be completely stupid and pointless in a way.”
Character Analysis: The Villains
15:50 to 18:40
Analysis of the depiction of villains in the show and their characteristics.
“It feels a little bit like a cartoon character.”
Impact of Online Culture on Youth
18:40 to 19:50
Discussion on how online culture influences young men and leads to extremism.
“You know, sometimes they give her a nice little line.”
Show all 19 chapters
The Connection Between Anger and Online Influence
19:50 to 21:40
Exploration of how corrosive online influences impact anger in young men.
“Although we should say, as we speak now today on Tuesday, Jimmy Kimmel's back tonight.”
Jimmy Kimmel's Return
21:40 to 22:00
Discussion on Jimmy Kimmel's return and the implications of his absence.
“And we're going to begin here with Mike Reed, not that one.”
Debating Television Movies and Their Validity
22:00 to 28:00
A lively debate on the eligibility of television movies for review and their classification.
“So the Outstanding TV Television Movie nominations are, so this is interesting actually because it shows you that, so one of them is Bridget Jones' Mad About the Boy, which didn't get a theatrical release in the States.”
Episode Discussion
28:00 to 42:00
“flicking over from biker grove baker baker or grange hill and having all the star treks fresh Prince, Quantum Leap, or The Simpsons on BBC Two, or A Different World, and the other show we don't talk about anymore.”
Upcoming Shows and Casting News
42:00 to 43:31
Learn about new shows featuring Natasha Lyonne and casting updates.
“with him and someone really good, who I can't remember who it was.”
Streamers and Subscription Costs Discussion
43:31 to 45:57
Explore the challenges of managing multiple streaming subscriptions and their costs.
“But don't want to pay another£5.99 on top of Netflix and Apple.”
Navigating Streaming Services
45:57 to 48:39
Tips on finding the best content across various streaming platforms.
“There was the coupon king on this morning.”
The Future of HBO and Streaming Mergers
48:39 to 50:56
Insights into potential mergers and changes in HBO's streaming strategy.
“ordeal but you're not having to spend 15.99 on an apple i might spend 15 hours trying to get access Let's do it.”
Foundation Season Finale Discussion
50:56 to 53:38
Thoughts on the finale of Foundation and its narrative choices.
“So I'm not suggesting a full spoiler special.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:08Boyd Hilton:This is a quick public service announcement. What you're about to hear is the episode of Pilot Plus that we recorded earlier in the week, reviewing Apple's The Savant. Now, a lot's happened since then. Specifically, Apple have pulled The Savant from the schedules until an undisclosed future date. They've not explicitly stated why, but if you're familiar with the subject matter, it should be fairly self-explanatory given recent events in the US. So here is our episode of Pilot Plus, including a review of a show that you will hopefully get to see at some point. Probably. Enjoy! Welcome to Pilot Plus, your extended guide to every show that matters.
0:42Boyd Hilton:Now, as you will remember from the main podcast, Kay has joined some kind of cult and is in the midst of a long, sort of week-long digital detox where she meditates and wanders around in robes and plots the downfall of society and almost certainly this podcast. But that is okay. That is okay. Why? because Steph Seelan, the editor of Boy Crime I Don't Know, is here as her replacement. How are you, Steph? I'm very well, thank you. I don't know why I keep coming back. You just treat me with so little respect. I don't know why. I tell you why, actually, because my dear, dear friend Kay asked me, and I said, for you, anything.
1:15And here I am.
1:16Boyd Hilton:And here you are. You answered the call. Thank you, Steph. Well, as a complete counterpoint to Kay's unplugged vacation, we are looking at Apple's The Savant this week, which is a show that is entirely online because it stars Jessica Chastain as Jodie, a woman who infiltrates alt-right hate groups on the internet in a bid to stop mass shootings and general domestic terror attacks before they happen. It was created by Melissa James Gibson, and it was inspired by a Cosmo article, a True Life article, called Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens? which is based on a very similar person who tried to do exactly that.
1:47Boyd Hilton:Now, Boydie, you are, in many ways, savant-like. So what can you tell us about Apple's The Savant? god i wish i was savant like i'm not sure you are savant like am i oh my god you totally are yeah how would you not know that about yourself although i feel like yeah as one of the things about being a savant is you don't know you're a savant so actually yeah boidapedia that's you
2:08Jessica Chastain:okay i'm probably the only the savant in the world who forgets people's names after me for five minutes and can't remember you've got other things to think about yeah okay um well this is timely isn't it really a a series oh my god about far right extremist quasi fascist neo-nazi types conspiring to well commit terrorist acts in uh present day united states of america this is a very very interesting uh look at a phenomenon that is going on right now in the United States. And it passes, the first thing to say about it is that it passes my personal five-minute test. Would you know my five-minute test?
2:56Jessica Chastain:Oh, tell us, Boyly. What's your five-minute test? If it doesn't go back in time within the first five minutes. Well, there's that. But no, no, no, it's not that. It's more, if it immediately feels real and authentic, you can tell after five minutes of a show like this. Especially a show like this, which is dealing, dramatising, essentially, something that is clearly going on right now, there is a group of people trying to infiltrate and stop right-wing violent extremism in America. And this is depicting that. And you can tell this kind of story, this kind of milieu, you can tell if it's going to be convincing or real within five minutes.
3:32Do you know what, Boyd, right? I unwittingly have that five-minute test because in the first five minutes, I said, oh, this is a bit too real for me.
3:40Jessica Chastain:Right, right, there you go. And so I have it. Yeah. But you're so right. It's so real. It is. And so I was very impressed by you do completely buy into the whole depiction of what Jessica Chastain's character is doing. And they don't – basically, she is a default in that she has a kind of incredible memory and incredible way of sort of sifting through all the different extremists she's encountering on the internet. and she's kind of like, you know, a fake, she's come up with a fake persona and she's dealing with all these - A sock puppet. A sock puppet, thank you, yeah. And she's dealing with all these extremist cretins and their various plots, which are in many cases all too real.
4:26Jessica Chastain:and so and the savant element of it is that she's the best one seemingly almost having like a not literally superpower but she's the one who can seemingly you know remember the people she's dealing with and kind of like work out if they're real or not etc but they play it quite lightly this her savant like powers well she can embody that's kind of essentially she can she can almost embody and they try and make it look like she's literally embodying someone at their screen. But also in episode two, there's a bit where her co-workers put up on the ward, I don't know if you watched episode two, where they put up kind of like posters of who they think potential violent extremists are that they're dealing with.
5:10Jessica Chastain:And she kind of looks at them and flicks through in her mind. She's got a bit like a mind palace like Sherlock does in the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock. But as I say, it wears that idea very lightly. Otherwise, it could be quite kind of hokey and kind of a bit tacky, you know, depicting almost as a superhero. But she's not. She's just kind of very highly attuned to what she's dealing with. Anyway, she's excellent. By the way, is Jessica Chastain to be more and more like Julia Roberts? Oh, my God. Boyd, she looks so much like Julia Roberts. Isn't it weird? I mean, it's unbelievable.
5:44And it's only when she kind of gets her a fringe cut, you know, at the end of the first season, the end of the first episode, sorry, that you think, okay, she's Julia-ed away. It's mad.
5:55Jessica Chastain:Otherwise, if someone's going to say, you look less like Julia Roberts now, is that why you've cut your hair? Now, it's good that you mentioned the hair-cutting scene because the other thing about this show is, like, there's various things happen to underline the fact that what she and her colleagues are dealing with here is really serious because people are being killed and targeted by these nutjobs, these extremist right-wing nutjobs in America. but at the same time there's some weird like detail that you're not quite sure what it means and so the hair cutting bit was one of them like so there's a whole scene where she cuts her hair looking at an online video telling her how to do it and i was like what yeah what is the point but i really like that do you know what i think the point was i think the point was that she is in this completely all-consuming world but at the same time she has an existence outside of that world which is a family and two children and it's that actually what I really enjoyed about that is that she's also just a person who has to deal with things like YouTube videos and how to cut their hair which is kind of a very sort of conventional modern day thing where people you know go like oh I watched this video about how to cut bangs and you know and I really enjoyed that because it it it kind of made you realize that she was sort of in a little bit of a battle with her with herself and she was locked in this world but also she still had to be because there's a scene in a restaurant and she's with a friend who doesn't know what she does for a living and they've got their children there and she has to leave because there's been an incident i don't want to pony spoilers but um and in that you know she's trying to be just normal mom go out for and
7:29Boyd Hilton:i think that that was why they had those things and isn't it also her daughter who suggests the side bang as it was her daughter yeah so i think a part of it is also just kind of trying to connect with her daughter a little bit.
7:41Jessica Chastain:Right, that's true. What about the fly scene? There's a bit where she chases a fly out of the house and opens the window. Do you remember that bit?
7:47Boyd Hilton:Yeah, it's a yellow jacket. Yeah, there's a hornet infestation in her daughter's bedroom.
7:51Jessica Chastain:Yeah, yeah. I mean, what's that about? It's funny. So I've watched five episodes of this and there is still no resolution to the hornet plot line. I was going to say. But it has come up a few times. Her daughter's moved out of her bedroom at this point because of the yellow jackets. I don't know if it's like an allegory for something. Yeah, I think it must be. I'm thinking, what is this an allegory for? She's chasing this hornet out of the hornet's bedroom. But it doesn't seem to be going away. And then it's full of bits like that where you're not quite sure if it's building up a sense of kind of creeping tension or whether it's just showing you her life, her home life, and that is it.
8:25Jessica Chastain:There's a bit where they're talking to the dad. He's constantly on the phone, right? Yeah, because he's in Iraq. Not because he's just constantly on the phone. Oh, he's constantly on the phone. What I mean is you don't see him in his world in Iraq. You just see him on the phone. Good point. Fair enough. But the first time they have an extended conversation with him, with her and the kids, he's constantly breaking up, right, on the thing. And I get the realism of that. But equally, they really made a point of saying, and you're thinking something horrible is going to happen here. Either he's going to be suddenly the victim of an IED or something, whatever they're called, or they're really building up.
9:03Jessica Chastain:And then nothing happened. He just was on a bad light. Do you know what I mean? It was like, there are certain bits of this series. You're not sure. I'm glad that James has watched five. I've only watched the first two. Well, you're not sure if something's being set up or if it's just for the sake of showing you her world. I think it's just for the sake of showing you her world. I like that. Yeah, no, I'm not. Because it's so extreme, her job, isn't it? Yeah, I don't dislike it at all. But as a, bottom line is, as a depiction of a specific team of people who you wouldn't necessarily know about, but that do exist, people fighting what's happening about that what I don't know it's just a very long explanation of if it's this kind of if it's this kind of show carry on carry on okay laughing in my face sorry it just sounded funny it's definitely hysterics that's one of the least funny things I've ever said in my life yep I thought you were going to go as a team of people as a depiction of these people doing this specific job I think it's good you know that's what's making me laugh that's exactly what I'm saying yeah I know I know I know you're amazed wow anyway it is really good from that point you totally believe in what's happening and it feels very authentic and real and so when the bad things happen right when there's a bit because sometimes it kind of poodles along with as i say with like flies being chased out of bedrooms haircuts happening with the help of the internet um etc etc etc which don't seem to be particularly important then suddenly there will be a thing that happens that is like all right okay this is this is this has to be dealt with and from that point of view i thought it was really good
10:39Boyd Hilton:okay i don't think it's i don't think it's necessarily slow i think it definitely has a kind of gradual build it has a real pace to it yeah the second episode has a lot going on so if you make it to the end of the second episode you won't be bored let me put it that way but um i yeah i i really i had a weird thing with this i'm like this is quite upsetting isn't the right word but it's it hits a nerve because i think it feels so current and so real and so indicative of the current level of divided politics can i can i make a point about exactly that okay so i when i watched the first episode i did not enjoy it because i think we're at such a strange time was like this is so close to the bone and obviously as we're referring to charlie Kirk's assassination.
11:28It's so close. It's not enjoyable because it's like you can watch the news and then you can turn on for some entertainment. And now the lines are so blurred. It's hard to enjoy. I think enjoy watching something like that is very, very, watching something like this is really, really difficult. So I didn't enjoy it. But then I watched the second episode and then I got into it. I think you're right. It is a bit of a slow burn, but I do think there is a something now where it's just when things are so well done and they're so real and it it feels like an uncomfortable watch it almost feels like i should don't know if i should be enjoying watching this because this is actually happening do you know what i mean no i know
12:10Boyd Hilton:exactly what you mean and i and i had the same i had the kind of same reaction to it it just made me feel a little bit i gave me the ick a little bit when i was watching the first episode but again like i found it compulsive viewing and and i i like its commitment to verisimilitude like it doesn't my personal bait de noir the uh the kind of misuse of computers like generally speaking the computer stuff in there is pretty spot on um you know i and i like the fact that they try to dramatize that you remember like michael mann's black hat we had chris hemsworth as a hacker and so to to dramatize the inherently tedious thing which is someone just typing code into a keyboard you have like lights following cables through walls showing his hack in real time you know it's just like and that was a little bit too much but with this because she's basically her job is to sit on chat rooms and talk to kind of slightly racist incels like that's her that's her thing and to make that interesting you sometimes hear her well she says it out loud as she's typing or you hear her in a monologue she's typing you hear their voices when she's reading their their text but also i like the fact that sometimes she appears as her her kind of avatar sock puppets you see like a kind of like a middle-aged white man at the keyboard because that's her avatar that's who she's pretending to be so you see her avatar interacting with the person and who they're imagining that person is initially you're like yeah who's this dude this trucker dude what's what's going on and then i felt really stupid after a while i was like oh no it's her yeah it's her it's just it's a little little narrative device there but yeah it's i quite like that i thought that was fun and the way she kind of works stuff out where she kind of tracks down these people online what i really like is even though there's an there's an amount of shall we say coincidence to how she finds them she's not using like magic like they used to do in csl and they'd be like look at that picture of someone three miles away let's zoom in to perfect 4k clarity out of absolutely nowhere yeah okay video doesn't work that way but a lot of it's it's just her noticing things in online avatars it all whenever they do things like you know there's a certain uh point where she zooms in on the bit of the background it's which is what you're talking about that always reminds me of that amazing scene in minority report you know that scene in minority report where he has the glass the shades on and every i can't ever watch things like that without thinking of that brilliant scene i love that you can get away with it i think in science fiction set in the future you cannot get away with it if it's in the present
14:30Jessica Chastain:yeah do you think remember there's a scene in there's a scene in blade runner right one of the one actually one of the best scenes of blade runners where harrison ford deckard is looking at a photo and he's homing in on the photo like a digital thing and it was like when that came out it was mind-blowing idea brilliantly and now it's like literally we all do this every single minute of the day constantly on a constant basis yeah but i remember how crazy it was in minority where you realized that it wasn't a man it was a poster it was a guy with the glasses and on the billboard and you're like oh that's so clever but it as per james's point your point about the accuracy, not kind of, considering she is half, but it's just been half the time at her computer screen, looking through stuff on the internet.
15:12Jessica Chastain:It has to be accurate, doesn't it? It has to have that kind of authenticity, otherwise it'd be completely stupid and pointless in a way.
15:18Boyd Hilton:I agree, but I think a lot of shows in the past have ejected verisimilitude for the sake of making it more sort of cinematic and entertaining. And I think they walk a really fine line here where it's believable, but it's also quite fun to watch. Yeah, I really actually enjoy the fact that they do that because exactly what you're saying is a lot of the time when they're dealing with FBI, they'll be in an office which is really sparse and everything's really clean. And actually here, they're just in a cubicle and they're eating their breakfast at a table and discussing really serious things, which no doubt is actually what really happens in real life.
15:50So yeah, I do think they've made that very authentic.
15:52Boyd Hilton:Enjoy it. There is one bit where, and I think it is quite early on, so you'll probably have seen it, is a bit where one of the creepy white supremacist kind of bosses is seen doing his job and they have to be oh by the way not only is he's a white supremacist like racist he's also into upskirting as well because they want to ladle on a little bit more negative stuff i was like okay we get it he's a bad guy we don't need to necessarily go down that route that's awful that bit yeah and
16:17Jessica Chastain:also there's the the guy played by pablo schreiber who yes is like a monster and is a little bit you You know, I don't know. It feels a little bit like a cartoon character. But, you know. He is a little bit cartoon villainy, I have to say. I did find him a little bit too much. But having said that, you know, I mean, there are these monsters around, aren't there? But I don't know.
16:37Boyd Hilton:So interesting with that character, I think what you're kind of keying into, the monster side, is that his kind of masculinity is dialed up so much. Like, he's so alpha male testosterone-y. And, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if that's a very common personality trait among these people. so it wouldn't shock me if he's like, and he's always, like he's got this right hand man who's always being a massive bellend to, he's basically abusive to this other racist, because he's always, because he has to be the big dog, he has to be dominant.
17:04Jessica Chastain:Well, I thought that was an interesting point, because the dweeby one in glasses, yeah, the one he's abusive to, that type of person does feel like, very commonly seems to get involved in these kind of incidents. You often see these kind of vaguely pathetic, kind of, you know, dweeby, techie guys who end up being incels. And that rang true for me, that character, the guy in glasses, yeah, as you say, the one who's kind of… It's the quiet ones. It's always the quiet ones. They're the ones you can watch, not the ones that are out there. Yeah.
17:35Boyd Hilton:Yeah. It's the ones that are like slowly doing something awful. And we can say also, like Jessica Chastain, obviously the lead in this, but Namdi Asamuga, who plays her husband, he of the bad connection, he has a bigger role as the series goes on as well oh does he? so yeah he comes home he's not in Iraq for the whole series oh he's not always on the phone as Boyd alleges he's not always on the phone we do get to see him in 4k full person video without a lag which is nice yeah I've only watched two of them but I'm interested to see what happens with the father-in-law because I don't really understand the idea behind it well that's another family dynamic thing isn't it his father who is kind of grumpy and is around all the time But also her deteriorating relationship with her children, I think, is part of it as well.
18:18Boyd Hilton:Because I think part of this is the whole Nietzschean aspect of, you know, how long can you stare into the abyss before it stares back into you? And the idea that by being online and being around these people, it is starting to affect her and her ability to parent. And it's starting to bleed into her personal life as well. Especially because she's got people like you judging it. Exactly. Leave her alone. I enjoy the bit where she talks about having to double screen, though. You know, sometimes they give her a nice little line. Yeah.
18:45Jessica Chastain:Well, I think, because I've only seen the first two episodes, but I get the sense that with the little boy who she catches kind of doing his rapping with a lulled boy in the neighbour kind of thing with a dodgy dad, that whole bit felt like it was also wanting to explore how these things start, right? How the incels become incels and why. And that's interesting, you know, that it's attempting to ambitiously kind of get into that world.
19:12Boyd Hilton:But not just, I don't think it's just incel culture, because it's worth noting that this, you know, while the manosphere definitely, you know, intersects with this story, it is quite focused on, you know, white nationalism as a kind of subject matter. But again, I think really what it's focusing on is the kind of disenfranchisement of young men, you know, generally. So I guess the two things are quite connected, because these young men are very, very angry, and they're finding somewhere to put this anger, and they're choosing to put it on women, they're choosing to put it on immigrants, ethnic minorities.
19:43Boyd Hilton:and it's how exactly you say but it's showing how how corrosive online influences can be whether it be tiktok you know they're looking at one bit where they're looking at like basically dodgy almost like snuff videos on youtube of people getting seriously hurt and it shows how quickly people can become desensitized to that kind of imagery and how that can kind of spiral and the algorithm kind of the more you look at that stuff the more the algorithm feeds it and how that you know builds momentum and ultimately corrupts people yeah you can't move for angry men at the moment. It's so true. Two of them on this podcast.
20:13I know, geez.
20:15Jessica Chastain:Don't get us started on breeders. Although we should say, as we speak now today on Tuesday, Jimmy Kimmel's back tonight. He is. He is back, yes. Yes, he is. It's amazing what losing three billion on your stock price will do. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he is an angry man with reason to be angry. He's not an angry... Oh yeah, no, no, no, no. I wasn't using him as an angry man. I was using him as his whole story. I'm sure it would be... In fact, I'm sure someone's working on a dramatization of this story right now. If I had more time and skill, I would work on that because it is absolutely incredible. It is incredible, that whole story.
20:51Unbelievable.
20:52Boyd Hilton:The savant then. Apple TV Plus, when, Boydie?
20:56Jessica Chastain:I think it's Friday, 26th of September, 2025. Friday is 26th, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There we go.
Read the full transcript
21:05Boyd Hilton:Right. Right. Now, this is the point where I would normally tee up Kay for a Miss Kay versus the post bag. Unfortunately, we do not have Kay. She is horizontal and unplugged. Steady. Yes. We have the return of the triage system. I'm so sorry about this. Oh, God. For those of you who aren't familiar with this, the triage system essentially means I have done no preparation of any kind, any kind of pre-screening, licks, anything. I think what I'm going to do is I'm just going to fire up the post bag mailbox and randomly jump into things without any kind of vetting. So this could end extremely badly.
21:40Boyd Hilton:And we're going to begin here with Mike Reed, not that one. And the email is simply called... He's sadly passed. The email is simply called Films. Let's see what it says. Oh, this sounds promising. You're ready. With the Emmys having a category for television movies, would the nominees have been considered eligible for review?
22:02brilliant oh mike you unapologetic troll you no i think the i think the i i get what you say they're television movies television movies oh god where do you start but they're films mike i don't know what to tell you mike mike reed tv
22:18Jessica Chastain:movies yeah you're amazing what were the nominations by the way um i didn't read them because they were filmed. Let's have a look. So the Outstanding TV Television Movie nominations are, so this is interesting actually because it shows you that, so one of them is Bridget Jones' Mad About the Boy, which didn't get a theatrical release in the States. So really - See, this is what I said the other day. If it doesn't happen in the cinema, it doesn't happen.
22:44Boyd Hilton:This is an interesting point because it used to be back in the day that you would have straight to video movies. So stuff that didn't get a theatrical release, which would be bottom shelf of blockbuster. and they were a very specific type of movie and they all starred eric roberts now if you and you used to get kind of tv movies but then it would be like you know like movie of the week type things you get sort of like these sort of very sort of lifetime movies very they had a very distinct vibe and feel to them again not having stars in them at the point now like nowadays just because something doesn't get a theatrical release i don't think you can you can like cast any aspersions on its quality whatnot do you know i mean and some of them will get limited theatrical releases but mainly for awards reasons, but so many things now go straight to streaming.
23:25Boyd Hilton:But that doesn't stop them being films.
23:27Jessica Chastain:No, I agree with you on that point. What's interesting is, so you've got Bridget Jones, The Gorge, The Gorge, which is the Apple TV Plus. Which I liked. Yeah, I liked it sort of. Mountain Head, Jesse Armstrong. Yeah, that was depressing. A film which I liked. Nonna's, which was a film about Nonna's. And the winner was Rebel Ridge, which is also excellent. I really like Rebel Ridge.
23:47Boyd Hilton:That's interesting. I wouldn't have thought Rebel Ridge would have won actually. I liked Rebel Ridge. I reviewed it for the magazine. But yeah, it's good. But what my point generally is
23:57Jessica Chastain:about going back to this torturous argument we've had, Steph, ongoing argument about whether we should consider something. Yeah, which I've been involved in at various points, which I fully enjoy. Right. That load of nominations is by the by. When I'm talking about feature-length dramas that are never intended to go into cinemas, whereas actually, I would say the majority of those films, well, not the majority, but certainly Bridget Jones, you know, potentially Rebel Ridge may not have decided whether or not to put them out in cinemas or not, right? Whereas actually there are loads of made-for-TV feature-length dramas that are never intended to go anywhere near a cinema, and they are.
24:33Jessica Chastain:Hang on, hang on. I'm calling absolute bullshit on that. Like, loads of films made direct... We've called absolute bullshit on it before, but it doesn't mean you're wrong. We're getting back to the running time argument, so it's like... I don't think we are. Yeah, you are, because we're saying, yeah. That's not what Boyd's saying.
24:48Boyd Hilton:he's talking about intent but i would argue no dramas like netflix makes films obviously designed for streaming you know they're not intended for cinema but they're still films well weirdly i do kind of even though i'm i'm quite hard-lined about this i do kind of get what you're saying that there is there is a type of whether it's an hour or 90 minutes or whatever there is a type of television drama that almost just doesn't even feel like it has the grammar of cinematic film to it where it does almost feel like a like a play like it feels right distinctly So I do, even though I'm incredibly annoying about this stuff, I do kind of know where you're getting at.
25:24But I don't know that it's necessarily about intent.
25:26Boyd Hilton:Because I do think you get very cinematic films that are only ever intended for streaming. Like The Gorge. The Gorge is an extremely cinematic film that could easily be in the cinema, but was never intended for cinemas. So are you wrong, James? Is that what we're saying? No, definitely, definitely not established that.
25:40Jessica Chastain:Anyway, what we established in the live show is that the vast majority of people agree with me, I think, James. We did, in fact, we established that. Yes. everyone agrees with you B thanks okay so right sorry let's go back to Mike's question so Mike's question was what was Mike's direct question do you know what it's hard to remember sorry Mike I think it was just Mike having a dig at James oh welcome Mike the nominees have been considered eligible for review on pilot I mean no oh yes we would not have reviewed the Gorge Mountainhead or Rebel Ridge because James is a fascist we didn't okay Mike if I had any power on this I would have said yes because they were on TV and they weren't in the cinema.
26:18So there you go. I have no power though, sadly. Of those films, underline films. Of those things that you could see on TV.
26:28Boyd Hilton:Right. I would have said the closest one of those to what Boyd is discussing is probably Mountainhead.
26:34Jessica Chastain:Yeah, 100%. Yeah, which almost feels like it could have been like a one-off episode of something. Mountainhead is such an interesting example because it was actually shown on Sky Atlantic. yeah right i mean as you know that means nothing well no no no but no it does it does it does mean something it wasn't on sky cinema no it does mean something i swear to god whenever they get in a new show they roll a fucking six-sided dice and whatever channel comes up they just whack it on there how dare you i love sky atlantic all the best stuff goes on sky atlantic okay that really does make a difference okay i'm glad i've impacted on steps Yeah, you have.
27:14But, you know, genuinely, if you swapped out those characters, you could definitely get away with saying, this is a Christmas special of succession. Do you know what I mean? Like, it has that. Wow. Well, that's a different matter. That's, yeah. I mean, that's fair enough. Okay, so, Mike, to go back to your question, Mountainhead probably would have got reviewed on here if James was off for the week. Or if there was nothing else on for TV. That's genuinely something that we possibly could have discussed. But that was on TV. That was on for TV, so it could have been reviewed. That was absolutely on TV yeah okay hmm interesting anyway anyway i do so enjoy this conversation every time it comes up
27:48Boyd Hilton:this one comes from martin bushby and martin says just to jump into the what to watch with your family discussion it may seem redundant now in the world of streaming but what's missing in the tv schedule is the old bbc 2 and channel 4 6 p.m slot there was nothing better as a kid or teen flicking over from biker grove baker baker or grange hill and having all the star treks fresh Prince, Quantum Leap, or The Simpsons on BBC Two, or A Different World, and the other show we don't talk about anymore. Boy Meets World, or My So-Called Life on Channel 4. These were all huge shows from my youth and have great memories just watching them with all the family.
28:23Boyd Hilton:Sadly, it's all just quiz shows now. Is he talking about the sea show that we don't talk about anymore? Is that what he means? Is that what you mean? Do you know what? I don't know. He says I'm a different world, and that other show that we don't talk about anymore. Yeah, that's exactly what he's talking about yeah i don't know what he's referring to you know you know that man who's yeah okay i don't know what you're talking about you don't know what i'm talking about the show that everyone used to watch when you got the team time family show it's not voldemort you can say his name he's not gonna appear okay the cosby show oh jesus oh my god oh my god i'm taking it back If no one hears the savant, you're all useless.
29:06How can you not think that was a major, major show? No, no, no. Jesus.
29:11Boyd Hilton:I have never in my life seen an episode of The Cosby Show. You've never watched The Cosby Show? I don't even know when it was on.
29:20Jessica Chastain:Like, genuinely. Wow. Do you think it was in that slot? I'm not sure. 100 % it was in that slot because I watched it with my family every single time. The Cosby Show was a massive show in my house. No, it was a huge phenomenon, yeah. But I remember Fresh Prince of Bel-Air being in that slot. Absolutely. Right? Six o 'clock, BBC Two, for sure. In West Philadelphia, born and raised. That's a really good point by that correspondent. Yes. Whose name is? James, can you say the name? Martin Bushbeak. Martin Bushbeak. Oh, it's a great surname. That is a really interesting point, because I think every now and then they revive it, that slot.
29:53Jessica Chastain:Even though he's right, most of it is like Richard Osmond's House of Games, which we've talked about before. James doesn't know what that is. I don't know what it is. I will never know what it is. But that is in the BBC Two Six O 'Clock slot, right? But he's talking about like where there's like a nice, soft sitcom type. Oh, no, I know. Absolutely. What I'm saying is - 2.4 Children or something like that. Oh, I don't know if that was - Is that what's not? No, no, no. That was a British average sitcom. That was on Ata Park probably, yeah. Average? That was great. I love 2.4 Children. Often the American shows were put in those sorts.
30:23Jessica Chastain:Star Trek, was it? You know, the OG Star Trek, I believe, was in a Six O 'Clock slot. Murder She Wrote. Murder She Wrote, yeah. Actually, Emergency Room, I think, was more kind of four o 'clock. Right, right. Yeah. Every now and then, Channel 4 and I think Hollyoaks is probably on in that slot. Anyway, every now and then, one of BBC2 or Channel 4 will run something at six o 'clock in terms of BBC2 when Richard Osman is off air. But it is increasingly rare, and that probably has had an impact on family viewing. That's a really good point, yeah. That is such a good point. Is there a show now that you think could fit into that slot?
30:57because what is there now that you can watch as a family although I have to say I do enjoy Simon Reeves I always like to watch his shows but that's not you know that's not that kind of show no I know but they're very good to watch as a family because you know there's no swearing and stuff like that you know
31:13Jessica Chastain:yeah it'd be weird if you suddenly started effing and jeffing about the equator or something I don't think Simon Reeves yeah that's fucking equator I don't think Simon Reeves as a swear he's too pretty no but yeah you know what I can't think actually I can't think a very newish show that would fit in that slot. Yeah, I can't. Which is interesting in and of itself. Yeah, there isn't, is there? What else is... James looks slightly bored. I'm not sure how to just speak. No, no.
31:38Boyd Hilton:I think I agree with you. Absolutely. I think there was a very contained sort of like children-friendly slot and you knew everyone was watching that because there was literally nothing else to watch Slash do. So it's like, you know... Even weird shows,
31:51Jessica Chastain:like the Mighty Boosh was in that slot, right? Which was on Google. Oh, I love the Mighty Boosh. Absolutely not. You know, like, would you say, So I used to love watching Home Improvement, Tim Allen, like Home Improvement. And I thought that was on at kind of that time. Yeah, I think you're probably on Channel 4. Yeah, I think you're right. We reviewed the most recent Tim Allen. Were you on that? You weren't on that one, were you? That was bad. His disastrous, appalling sitcom on Netflix is a complete horror show. It involves mechanics. Yeah, it's terrible. Absolutely terrible, yeah. Poor Tim Allen.
32:21Jessica Chastain:But yeah, Home Improvement was amazing. I don't think poor Tim Allen at all. I think probably really quite rich Tim Allen, but there you go. Yeah, I think he's doing fine.
32:27Boyd Hilton:Anyway, yes, very, very good point, Martin. Thank you for sharing that. Message now from Angel. I can only assume the vampire from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And Angel says, Dear K and the Piloteers, brackets, you should start a band. Good to know. I have just finished the paper. Whilst admittedly I struggled with one flamboyant character, I think we are on the same page there, and I felt there was a slight dip in the middle at the exact point I'd heard it had been renewed for a second season. I cannot recommend it enough and can't wait for it to return. Why the switch? Well, I'll tell you. Episode 10, the Dundies episode, more than makes up for many misgivings I might have had.
33:03Boyd Hilton:It will appeal to James as it carefully balances friend Shyman with Richard Curtis-esque romantic angst. Not a Boyd-y like spyler. We all knew it was coming from the first episode. You and Boyd will love it as it's a well-scripted comedy that I feel inevitably, similar to the US office and Schitt's Creek, will get stronger in its second and hopefully future seasons. Keep up the amazing work. Listening to you makes Mondays and Tuesdays the best mornings of the week. Mondays and Thursdays, God. He wrote Thursdays, I said Tuesdays, because clearly I have no idea when the podcast comes out. Mondays and Thursdays.
33:32I'm sorry that Kay's not here, but the spirit of Kay would say thank you for that email.
33:37Jessica Chastain:I've watched more of the paper, and I really like it. Really, really like it. It's got a really good, consistent, funny vibe going on.
33:46Boyd Hilton:Chris Hewitt was watching it on his recent holiday and was not impressed, but I think ultimately got turned around on it. Oh, did he? Yeah. Oh, he's not for turning, Chris. So I'm very surprised about that. Or for television, generally.
33:58Jessica Chastain:No. Except he does really like the US office. And I think his devotion to that is slightly, if I may say, affecting his opinion on the spin-off. He is like a character from the US office. That's why. That is literally what he's like. He really, really is. Did you watch John Oliver last night? John Oliver did a really funny bit about how one of these, I think the head of the... Yes, yes. Why didn't you? Tell me, tell me. He sent an American office gif of the characters laughing. And he was talking about, is the person who sends an office gif actually the worst person in your life kind of thing?
34:34Jessica Chastain:And they made us know it. There was literally a line where he said, imagine for a second, he goes, think about the one friend you have that sends you office gifs. I literally said out loud, Chris. Yeah, it was brilliant. Oh, we love Chris Hewitt, though. We have a lot of love Chris Hewitt. But if Chris Hewitt wandered into the office, the US office, when it was filming, he would just be like another actor. Oh, yeah. Do you know what I mean? He fit in seamlessly. Yeah, he fit in really well. Sorry, James. Carry on.
35:00Boyd Hilton:Okay. Question here from Jonathan. And Jonathan says, given all the film chat on the Pilot TV pod, which I love, what's your favourite spin-off from a film? This year alone, we've had the likes of Penguin, Dune Prophecy, and Alien Earth. And welcome to Derry still to come. conversely what's your favorite tv show that's been spun off into a film be that a film of a currently running show aka the x-files or a tv show made into a film like the fugitive that's difficult especially since i've given no one any chance to even remotely think about this the fugitive is a very very good example though because that's a fantastic film which vastly you know i would say supersedes the tv show uh but that's very good but yeah dune prophecy i really really enjoyed penguin is actually not quite next but it's only about two down on my sofa list so i am going to revisit the penguin um because people still talk about that obviously christina milioti won an emmy for it recently uh and i really enjoyed the batman and we got the sequel to that in production so i am yeah i want to watch it has been fantastic i think alien it has and funny you mentioned alien earth body because the spoiler special for the finale including my interview with noah hawley that will be appearing some point this week i don't know exactly when but it will appear some point this it might be out for this podcast is to be honest with you i don't imagine it will be but it will be up this week so we're going to record it tomorrow oh you know what james i meant to say to you um i saw um on my i think it was my apple tv a picture of a show which i thought oh that'll be right up james's street looks awful um but it's going to be the next thing i watch um you know how i watch foundation it's called wheel of time the wheel of time wheel of time i don't believe for one second you're going to watch the wheel of time no i'm gonna watch it is that what's the wheel yeah the wheel of time okay i'm going to watch i'm going to watch one oh this is amazing although some caveats for you steph okay go the wheel of time is fabulous but you're gonna have to watch a few to find the fabulosity it takes a while because the first episode is not good it it looks really kind of low rent and and they do they find their feet and it's really good it obviously got cancelled after three seasons but it's uh it's good it is good lots of good shows get cancelled after they do they do get cancelled an awful lot and it's very upsetting um sorry back to the question you know what i mean this is a very this is it will tell you where i am in my home life um high school musical the movie then got turned into a series and the series is excellent wasn't there a period where there was
37:22Jessica Chastain:high school musical the movie the tv show oh and then the movie spin-off of the tv show of the movie of high school there was like they were like yeah so they've got there's high school musical one two and three and then um there's high school musical the series the high school musical the series which is excellent and then there's Sharpay has her own spin-off so Ashley Tisdale's character has her own spin-off as well of the movie and it's a whole world so that's really good what's the best the best TV series that's been a movie yeah that's an interesting one isn't it because we've got Peaky Blinders coming soon the film of the TV show oh I know Downton Abbey yes Downton Abbey absolutely Downton Abbey yes are you joking Downton Abbey the series to the film is amazing first of all first of all i think even boydy will can even
38:13Boyd Hilton:boydy will concede the first dance nabby film is good but it's not great the second one is a massive step up and is a lot better and i really enjoyed the third one as well but i think the first film is i mean if you love the show you'll enjoy it but it's not it's yeah no the second and third are great yeah yeah yeah great three-star films love them great four-star films okay Okay. MASH, I would have thought, is a good answer to this particular question. Oh, MASH is a great... The original, probably one of the first ones ever. Yeah, and MASH, obviously, absolutely massive, isn't it? Like, the finale of MASH, still record-breaking in terms of ratings.
38:46Boyd Hilton:Really, really great show based on the Robert Altman film. Buffy the Vampire Stayer, of course, based on the TV show. Obviously, another person that we can't mention, but the creator of that particular show spun it off of his film. I've mentioned this before several times, but I'm just going to say it again. when two series end up as a film, Murder, She Wrote, Magnum P.I., a feature-length TV film, Magnum on Ice. Yes, they both feature. Yes, they solve a crime together. That probably is one of the greatest.
39:16Jessica Chastain:Oh, my God. Were they licking Magnum Ice knowledge as they were going around on ice? That was an oversight, definitely. They weren't doing that, but it's an incredible episode to see Angela Lansbury and Magnum together.
39:29Boyd Hilton:On ice. On ice. there's definitely one we're missing oh there are many many ones we're missing like a really good one though and i kind of i have a certain reluctance to say it because i think it lost the plot a little bit towards the end but cobra kai i loved when that's when that first started obviously spun off of the karate kid films but yeah i i enjoyed that a lot but i i would say uh my guilty pleasure in this particular grab might be stargate sg1 which is one that was spun off of the stargate movie the ron and emmerich movie uh and it is it is campus christmas and it ran for like 10 years and i love every second of it oh oh oh sex in the city
40:10Jessica Chastain:oh yeah but the films are famously terrible yeah hold on the first film is really good no no the second film should just be burned the second the second film is just awful absolutely awful the second film is an atrocity it is an atrocity I agree it really is an atrocity but that's just like everybody thinks that now even they think that okay so yeah Sex and the City to film and then back to and just like that would you say that's gone full kind of circle yeah yeah series to film film to series yeah be honest neither of you will have watched Highland of the Series from the mid 80s with Adrian Paul in the kind of I was going to say the Christoph Lambeau role but he's not because he plays a completely separate character He's not Connor McLeod.
40:52He's Duncan McLeod of the Clan McLeod. Because they've realised they wanted to do a show about immortals. But he's literally called Highlander. So if he's not Scottish, it doesn't make any sense. Oh my God. But yeah, I thought that was genuinely funny.
41:03Boyd Hilton:But yeah, I loved that. There was a spin-off series of that called The Raven as well. Oh, Jesus. Did either of you watch... No, no, no. It's not. I was just... Do you know what I was going to say? What's that zombie thing that everybody watches? Walking Dead. Why can't I think of that? Yeah. That's got so many spin-offs. It's ridiculous. But has it ever been a film? No. It's... So it came from a comic by Robert Kirkman. Of course it did. That's the origin of that one. But however, like Westworld, obviously that's based on a film. Oh yeah, yeah. And although I know people lost the love for Westworld once it got into kind of like season three, I still think it's great.
41:39Boyd Hilton:I really, really enjoyed Westworld. What We Do in the Shadows, which is a show we don't talk about a lot on this podcast. I think any of us watch it particularly regularly, but that's massively popular. and the stuff I've seen of it is genuinely very, very funny. So, you know, fair play to them.
41:53Jessica Chastain:Yeah, you can't be a bit of Matt Berry. I haven't seen him for ages. What is he doing? They announced a new project last week, actually, with him and someone really good, who I can't remember who it was. That makes it sound like he's not really good. Him and someone really good. Him and someone else as well, who's really good. Who's equally as good. Natasha Lyonne. He's doing a show. This wrote after we recorded. Yes, where they solve crimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No! Oh, my God. It's a Sky. it's called Force and Majeure and it stars Natasha Lyonne and Matt Berry how good a duo is that? that is a great duo that's going to be brilliant it was announced literally after we did the record of last week's pilot yeah it's true two more which I would say are almost the correct answer to this question but I will throw up Andor of course don't throw up in the middle of a podcast I will not throw up Andor but I will throw out Andor and also Friday Night Lights which obviously Beth will watch the Mandalorian film is coming out right we had the trailer of the mandalorian film spun off from the tv show spun off from the film star wars film so it's also getting very complicated clueless you don't care about clueless do you but some people clueless great film and then they recast for the series some of the cast that were in the film because obviously elissa Simpson didn't want to do the film but that's also an interesting thing when they do a series and they completely like they change the cast completely because they can't get the proper people because obviously they can't afford them yeah i went to see the um musical clues the musical on the western stage and it was frankly disappointing yeah yeah unlike mean girls the musical which is quite good yeah yeah perhaps so i hear yeah
43:27Boyd Hilton:okie dokie i hope jonathan that has given you some uh some some answers in there if you dig very deeply you can probably find some uh we have a question here from amar dasani and amar says so the rumor is i've said this is this is interesting because i've heard this exact same rumor thank you am off for bringing this up because i was actually going to bring it up on the main show and i may still bring it up on the main show uh but amos says the rumor is that the pit won't show on uk tv until hbo's new streaming service launches in january 2026 and this will be one of its flagship shows yes i have heard the same thing uh that would be another streamer for people to potentially have to subscribe to do you think that there is a tipping point coming due to people being unable to afford all of these for example i managed to watch the institute once it all dropped because of the seven-day free subscription on MGM.
44:13Boyd Hilton:But don't want to pay another£5.99 on top of Netflix and Apple. Disney I had for free for a few months due to a promo, but I won't be renewing that as it's not been great. The waters are getting even more muddied, where you are seeing shows from Paramount, like Yellowstone and its spinoffs, Lioness, etc., end up on Netflix and other streamers. What are your thoughts on how it's going with the amount of streamers and cost? And is there something in the media that you notice? That's such a good question that is a great question can i just say i feel like all these different streaming services now it's a bit like you know when someone goes oh credit cards are really good you just gotta know how to work them to get all that you know what i mean when they're like you get that free money saving expert um yeah yeah do you know what i mean and i think i think because because they've alluded to that that if you get sometimes you can get like three months free on apple if you do this do that three months really when you know something's coming out that you want to watch and then cancel it then i think you've just got to dip around when they have offers i think that's the only way to manage it because you're totally otherwise you're going to end up spending what 80 quid on streaming services and also you've got multi-room because not everyone's going to want to watch the same thing on netflix or whatever which is another like 10 pound on whatever on top of it then also if you've got sky and you've got your sky's prescription which is now like a million pounds it's just it is though isn't it it's ridiculous so i i think i think the way around that i agree main point i totally agree but i think the way around that is shop around be a bit martin lewis about it and shop around and get you know because i think there's certain banks you get like free amount free months for and stuff like that i'm not saying it's gonna be easy guys i'm just saying there is possibly a way around it so what we're saying is everyone should just contact martin lewis and ask him to guide them through the streaming labyrinth you are right though like it has got to the point where unless you are absolutely flush with cash you can't subscribe to half these channels because there are just too many of them but i think ultimately that's partly what we do right but the point is is that we try and help people curate their own little sofa list of the shows they want to see and where to find them and i think for most people and you can definitely do this with apple because while they do have the best stuff they have the least stuff you think okay i really want to watch the savant i really want to watch foundation you wait until those shows finish and then you sign up for a month and you binge the shit out of it and then next month you think okay all stranger things is dropping right this is going to be a netflix month and you do that and that's the only way and and you know what as as an aside every we should also tell people what's on offer like if there's an offer i'm just saying you should do that at the
46:44Jessica Chastain:end just be like this month you can get if you're volunteering to be yeah i'll just come in for like three minutes at the end of every episode and go, this month you can. There was the coupon king on this morning. You could be the coupon queen. You could be the coupon king. I'll do it.
47:02Boyd Hilton:That was amazing. Okay. Do it. Yeah, sold. But yeah, I don't know what the future of all of the streaming stuff looks like because genuinely there are points, Poitie, where we review shows. Oh, it's on this show. And I'm like, what the fuck is that? What is an A-call? Genuinely, I've never even heard of it. It's absolutely wild.
47:17Jessica Chastain:I made an error recently, actually, about a show being on, I think I said it was on Paramount Plus and it was on something else or vice versa. Someone picked me up. So yeah, it is, it gets, you can get bogged. You crazy fool. I know, I know. I was disappointed I made that error. Yeah. I mean, I have all of the streaming services. I have all of them, but I do not leave my house. Do you know what I mean? Like if you don't go out, and I don't drink, so I don't spend money on drink. I don't go anywhere. I do anything. So the only thing I do is like stay in my house and watch TV. but if you're like a normal human being who likes to socialize and do things outside of your house then of course you can't have to afford to have like 25 streaming services and not only that the other thing that's really bloody annoying is you've got passwords full of those it's really really hard to remember all those passwords uh yeah don't get me started on that i mean
48:06Boyd Hilton:boydy and i are very lucky in that we have access to a number of screening sites where we'll get like you can browse around for the series the apple one in particular is like it's like a christmas stocking every time you open it up the stuff they have on there because literally every show and every film they've ever produced and yes admittedly that doesn't mean that there's many but they're all just there in their entirety all the time in this little interface which i very much enjoy okay well you're just showing off now don't because the people who are listening don't have that that's no i know actually but the other side of that particular coin is that the signing into any of these services is an incredible ordeal i can't even begin to tell you it is an ordeal but you're not having to spend 15.99 on an apple i might spend 15 hours trying to get access Let's do it.
48:47But I don't have to spend$15.99. That is true. Okay. I don't know that it's$15.99, by the way. Just saying. And when I start as Steph's coupon corner, I will have the correct prices. Yeah. But at the moment, you do not.
48:59Jessica Chastain:At the moment, Sky's got this deal where you can subscribe to all their channels and Netflix in a bundle. See, this is the other thing. Bundles are so confusing. Yeah, yeah. Well, you're on top of it. You can be a correspondent. Yeah. It is complicated, though. It is. For sure. Guys, we're here to help you navigate. What started this whole thing, the HBO Max situation, is true that HBO Max will be launching in the UK next year at some point. We think hopefully early next year. And we're all presuming that the pits will be part of that thing. But then you get the really – but all Sky Atlantic is saying, they will carry on having their shows, their HBO shows, regardless anyway.
49:40Jessica Chastain:So what's going to be on HBO Max? so anyway HBO Max is going to have The Pit shows like The Pit which are HBO produced show Max shows exactly which have not been acquired by Sky in a separate deal it's so complicated it's so complicated I feel a big merger coming on HBO content will be split across at least two channels I feel a merger I feel a merger coming on I feel a big merger coming on a succession type big merger where everyone's going to feel better John Oliver did a really funny bit about how they're trying to buy Paramount Warner Brothers Discovery. Paramount Skydance is now considering buying Warner Discovery, which would make them huge.
50:20Jessica Chastain:And Paramount Skydance is owned by, shall we say, right wing LSU. Oh, Jesus Christ. But interestingly,
50:28Boyd Hilton:there was also rumblings that Netflix might put in a bid for Warner Brothers as well, which would be a very interesting turn. That would be interesting. Okay, well. We've got time for one more. Philip Yellen has a message. Let's see what it says. You're going to love this. Hi, all. Wondering if we might get James' thoughts on the end season finale for Foundation. Oh, my God. Okay, I'm going to tap out. You cheated. You cheated. I'm tapping out. This isn't real.
50:54Jessica Chastain:Yeah. James, stop. I'm going to point in Kay's eyes will glaze over slightly. So I'm not suggesting a full spoiler special. I don't know. Have you got 45 minutes? But some end of episode post-claxon thoughts would be fascinating given so much happened to what's revealed at the end of the season. I'm not going to do that, partly because I really would like to do a spoiler special. I'm just bumping up against logistics for doing a Foundation spoiler special, which is getting people to do it, but also having the budget to pay them. So I'm struggling. And unless Kay and Steph and Boyd want to watch all of Foundation and jump on, that might be a challenge.
51:25As you know, I've already watched Foundation, the best episode. And then somebody wrote in and said, and it made a really great point about the fact that I was saying that you had to have a lot of time to watch it. but I just hadn't done all the background research because I hadn't been reading all those 75 ,000 books that a foundation was based on and all that kind of shit, which was a very good point. But I would like to be in that spoiler special anyway, just for the lols. Just for the lols.
51:53Boyd Hilton:But to answer your question, I liked... Okay, I'm going to do this really obliquely. Oh God, he said he wasn't going to do it and he's doing it, boy. Just one sentence. I really liked a lot of the developments. the big shall we say uh hard left turn absolutely floored me i don't know quite where that goes there is a bit of deliberately opaque storytelling in the final episode where they deliberately don't show you a thing that happened and that irritated me because it hadn't been renewed at that point and i was like that's you're fucking playing with fire there uh but it has been renewed so i'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt okay was it maybe it was a saving on the budget
52:30Jessica Chastain:if they didn't show something, you know.
52:32Boyd Hilton:I mean, perhaps it was, because that's, you know, by all accounts, one of the reasons that David S. Goyer is no longer, you know, show running the series is because they had wranglings over budget. So, yeah. All comes down to the money, guys, at the end of the day, doesn't it? All comes down to the money. All about the money. Right, that's it for this episode of Pilot Plus. Steph will be back when we do the regular show, which we're actually recording tomorrow in the studio. And what will we be doing on said show? Let's check the calendar. We will have Jessica Chastain and Namdi Asamuga on the show to talk about The Savant.
53:01Boyd Hilton:That is very exciting. Tom Blythe is going to be on talking about Billy the Kid in an interview that I knew nothing about because no one talked to tell me. I did tell you about that. I did tell you about that. We will be reviewing Chad Powers, hopefully, if I can actually get the screeners in my account. We will also be reviewing Frauds on ITV and Alan Partridge on BBC One. The title of that show is something along the lines of Are You Alright? It's Me, Alan Brackets Partridge. Correct. Something like that.
53:28Jessica Chastain:Yep, no, that is it. You got it. That is exactly right.
53:30Boyd Hilton:I look forward to going full Partridge on next week's show. You're so Partridge, you don't even know you're Partridge. Pilot out. Aha!
From the publisher
On this week’s plus we head online with Jessica Chastain as she attempts to root out extremist hate groups before they can commit acts of terrorism. Kay is off on some kind of de-techs wellness retreat, so Steph joins James and Boyd as they not only review this but bust open the postbag (James’ dreaded triage system rears its ugly head once again) to discuss more kids’ TV, the woes of so many streamers, and films based on shows that don’t make you want to cry.
Want your messages read out as part of The Postbag? Email us at pilottv@empiremagazine.com
