The hoopleheads and Steve discuss the season one finale of The Last of Us. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded March 26, 2023. Released April 2, 2023. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Matt A, Steve, Matt H, and Mel discuss the premiere of The Last of Us. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded January 18, 2023. Released January 22, 2023. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

The distant future. The year 2052. Western-themed LARPing has inexplicably become a recreational pursuit for the world's wealthy elite. Willing to spend thousands, and risk almost certain personal injury and/or death, the degenerates of the upper crust indulge in their most depraved and violent delights at Westworld, an amusement park where nothing can possib-lie go wrong. Based on Michael Crichton's 1973 film of the same name, Westworld (2016) is an incoherent mess, but boasts a phenomenal cast and glossy production. (13:53 - 1:49:50) ... Somebody's dead in the premiere of Big Little Lies (2017), a pulpy mystery set in the community of Monterey, California. Before we learn the identity of the victim, we rewind to the first day of orientation at Otter Bay Elementary when Ziggy, son of Jane No Middle Name Chapman, is publicly accused of choking a little girl. Battle lines are drawn amongst rich, helicopter parents, and soon the hostilities and secrets buried within this affluent enclave will be brought to the surface. ... Also, The White Lotus, The Gilded Age, Six Feet Under, Michael Kenneth Williams, The Many Saints of Newark, and The Last of Us. (0 - 13:52) Special thanks to this episode's guest, Steven! | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded December 12, 2021. Released February 20, 2022. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

In The Night Of (2016) horny college student Nasir (Riz Ahmed) becomes ensnared by the criminal justice system after he gives a cipher a ride in his dad's timeshared taxicab and--flash forward past the steamy drug-induced knife play--she ends up murdered in the upstairs bedroom of her Bohemian hoarder house. His fingerprints and blood at the crime scene, the murder weapon in his pocket... could Naz BE any more guilty looking? Tattoo this message onto your brains, listeners: COPS ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. (6:49 - 1:34:24) ... We're not sure if The Young Pope (2016) is intentional farce or something else entirely, but there's no denying that Jude Law is entertaining as Lenny Belardo, the first American supreme pontiff and Italy's #1 Cherry Coke Zero fanboy. A sociopathic narcissist with bully tendencies, Lenny has somehow hoodwinked enough cardinals to get himself voted into high papal office, and not even his favorite nun/surrogate mother Diane Keaton may be able to control him. On the pod we discuss the Catholic Church's genocide against Canada's First Nations people, and Mother Teresa, hardly a saint. (1:34:25 - 3:36:56) ... Also, Hacks and Our Flag Means Death. (0 - 6:48) | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded June 27, 2021. Released August 14, 2021. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

It's the 1970's and New York City is a grungy, graffiti-tagged, drug-fueled, teetering-on-the-brink of economic collapse urban hellscape. But, holy fuck, what a time to be a music exec. Bobby Cannavale is Richie Finestra, the founder and president of American Century Records, successful enough to have a rotary phone in his car, but unhappy and unfulfilled in that male protagonist of a prestige drama kind of way. With the impending sale of his company, Richie is at a crossroads. Although he's about to offload his debts and responsibilities onto some unsuspecting Germans, Richie still has real passion for the biz, and a jonesing to discover new artists. It'll take the murder of Andrew Dice Clay and a structurally unsound performing arts venue for Richie to recalibrate his life. Vinyl has a plot as overstuffed as its characters' nostrils, but does it earn its feature-length running time and $30 million price tag? (20:38 - 2:19:44) ... Also, In Treatment, The Nevers, and Warrior. (0 - 20:37) | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded April 25, 2021. Released June 6, 2021. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

After two percent of the world's population inexplicably vanishes, the residents of Mapleton, New York are left to grapple with the "whys" and "hows" and "but Gary Buseys" of it all. Adapted from the novel by Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers (2014) is a series about loss and grief and cults and Justin Theroux being the messiah, maybe. Although the premiere (and first season) is a bit of a downer, the series as a whole is an absolutely riveting puzzle box of a mystery. (18:32 - 1:45:37) ... In the late 80's, federal judge Leonard Sand ordered the city of Yonkers, New York to build two hundred units of public housing in an attempt to desegregate the city. The first part of Show Me a Hero (2015) starts with nasally future mayor Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) campaigning for office, and later installments delve into the heated racial politics of the era. Things are about to get very bonkers... in Yonkers. (1:45:38 - 3:20:18) ... Also, The Nevers, Constantine, The Last of Us, and Lovecraft Country. (0 - 18:31) Q: Have you written a "thank you" note to your mayor, yet? | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded February 21, 2021. Released March 26, 2021. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Matt, Steve, and Will discuss the season (series?) of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 21, 2020. Released October 31, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes eight and nine of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 14, 2020. Released October 18, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes six and seven of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 1, 2020. Released October 18, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes four and five of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded September 16, 2020. Released September 27, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Episodes two and three of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded September 1, 2020. Released September 7, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Matt, Steve, and Will discuss the premiere of Lovecraft Country. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded August 19, 2020. Released August 24, 2020. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Nuchtchas, host of the Nutty Bites podcast joins us for our last recording of 2019. The Great War looms large for the characters of Parade's End (2013), a five-part mini-series based on the novels by Ford Madox Ford. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Christopher Tietjens, a real "mug" of the landed gentry, who wrestles with his obligations toward his rotter of a wife, Sylvia, and his affections for the far sweeter but nonetheless impassioned suffragette Valentine. It's a comedy, we were told. (14:34 - 1:22:00) ... The backwaters of Louisiana is the setting for True Detective (2014), HBO's crime anthology series that had one good season. When a deceased woman is found artfully posed way out in the sticks, surrounded by sticks, Matthew McConaughey's Rust and Woody Harrelson's Marty are tasked with finding the killer. But not before much ponderous pontificating on mankind's existence in this giant gutter in outer space we call Planet Earth. (1:22:01 - 2:36:10) ... Also, Run and House of the Dragon. (0 - 14:33). This episode is brought to you by The Encyclopædia Britannica. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded December 8, 2019. Released December 31, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Matt and Steven are back to chat about the season (series?) finale of Watchmen. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded December 18, 2019. Released December 26, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

David Milch's intention to transform his interests/vices vis-à-vis horse racing into a narrative fit for television leads to mixed results in Luck (2012). Dustin Hoffman is out of prison and looking for revenge against those who done him wrong, and his machinations appear to manifest in the form of a constipated race horse. (Don't ask how; we're not sure.) Meanwhile, the greasy degenerates at the track win big in their Pick Six, which will no doubt lead to much drama in subsequent episodes. The hoopleheads know next to nothing about The (Blood)Sport of Kings, so this was mostly an impenetrable affair. (12:35 - 1:15:59) ... In The Newsroom (2012) showrunner Aaron Sorkin interprets real world news stories through the convenient lens of hindsight. Whereas the lamestream media lazily covers the easy stories, the virtuous team at Atlantis Cable News are doing real journalism, mixing dogged determination with zany pratfalls. Jeff Daniels is lead anchor Will McAvoy and Emily Mortimer is MacKenzie McHale, his executive producer who is fresh from a Middle East warzone (if you say so) and eager to Do Better. Their first assignment: the environment disaster caused by BP's Deepwater Horizon. (1:16:00 - 2:21:03) ... Also, Watchmen, His Dark Materials, Dune: The Sisterhood, Station 11, and The Gilded Age. (0 - 12:34) | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 20, 2019. Released December 7, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Matt (Watchmen newbie) and Steve (Watchmen expert) discuss the first two episodes of Damon Lindelof's new (limited run?) HBO series. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded October 29, 2019. Released November 2, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

Happy Halloween from HoopleCast! Claire and Brad, on loan from the podcast Sassy Sewer-Lion Boutique, join Matt for our final commentary of the year. Our friend Timmy O. stars in the horror sequel Scream 2: Secret of the Ooze (1997) as a pretentious film student (redundant) who is out to terrorize Canadian Neve Campbell and her circle of forty-year old college friends. And if you're upset that I just spoiled who the killer was, admit that you were never going to watch this anyway because if you were you would have done so by now. Also be grateful that I spared you the sight of David Arquette's mustache. | Tags: Halloween Horror Nights, Here Comes the PC Police, Always a Stall, What Tipper Gore World Is This, Back to Neutral, America's Sweetheart Jerry O'Connell, Murderer Coming Through Excuse Me, Red Apple Versus Green Apple Fight, This Is Not Fun This Is Upsetting, Diane Sawyer Boner, Increase Mather, Floor Pizza, She's a Local Woman She's Got Local Strength, What Do Theater Students Know About Anything (Absolutely Fucking Nothing), All This Happened Because of Her Whore Mother | VIDEO VERSION: http://bit.ly/2Wuiuvg | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded: October 12, 2019. Released: October 31, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

We're scraping the bottom of the Olyphant barrel with Hitman (2007) for our seventh (!) unnecessary commentary. This is the movie that our friend Tim routinely cites as an embarrassing low in his career, and aside from some impressive fight choreography, we're inclined to agree. More like, Shitman, amiright? | Tags: Have You Painted Me Thanos Stone Yet, Guvner?, The Man Who Would Be Wolverine, No Woman Looks at a Bald Man Like That, What a Terrible Line Delivery, What a Terrible Line, What a Terrible Scene, Brolly Jenkins, Scottish Jim Caviezel, Clone Drone, I Brought You Breakfast, You Ungrateful Trunk Person, Would You Like To Meet My Little Hitman? (He's Bald, Too), Dummies Everywhere Will Be Blown Away, Shooty Shoot Bang Bang The End | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded: August 3, 2019. Released: September 2, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

This is it, folks. The fucking end. There is no more Deadwood. (Unless those cocksuckers at HBO release those deleted scenes, hmmm?) We conclude our coverage of the film with listener feedback, favorite quotes, characters of the episode, and our all-important ratings. We discussed the plot in depth in part one, but did we actually like the fucking thing? Listen and be enlightened. ... Also, Jonathon, Nutty, Mark, Anthony, Chris, Steve, and Robin debate the merits of prohibition in South Dakota. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded July 7, 2019. Released July 30, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]

1889. That bald-pated cunt George Hearst has returned to Deadwood to celebrate South Dakota's transition from territory to state. Upon being mother-fucked from a balcony by a pregnant Trixie, Hearst leverages his newly found awareness of Al Swearengen's deception (vis-à-vis the prostitute Jen) against our heroes in a campaign to secure Charlie Utter's land. Trains, telephones, and electric lights may suggest steps toward civilization, but Deadwood remains a hell of a place to make your fortune. Welcome the fuck back. ... Also, Moira and Russell tell us about the catastrophic events of 1879 and 1883, which profoundly impacted our town. | Send feedback to hooplecast@gmail.com. Find our recording schedule, show notes, discussion threads, and more at hooplecast.com. | Recorded June 23, 2019. Released June 29, 2019. [Warning: Explicit Language.]