Sammy Younan

#SetTheVCR: June 14-20, 2020

Sammy Younan

Girth Radio Presents…

This week we look back so we can look ahead. Sweet: a little zen philosophy with your tv recommendations.

Sunday, June 14

Sammy Suggestion: 30 for 30: Long Gone Summer (9 p.m. / ESPN & TSN)
Like Jason Voorhees live sports initially thought to be dead are slowly coming back to life. While we wait ESPN has been running documentaries on Sunday nights: Volume IV of ESPN’s freshtastic 30 for 30 series. The latest 30 for 30 is a baseball saga: “It was one of the most memorable and significant seasons in the history of baseball. In the summer of 1998, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa embarked on a chase of one of the game’s most hallowed records, igniting the passion and imagination of fans and non-fans everywhere. The drama, excitement, and results would be remembered for generations. If we only knew then just how complex our feelings about it all would eventually become.” “America’s pastime” has taken on new meanings over the past 20…30 years.

Monday, June 15

Sammy Suggestion: Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (10 p.m. / PBS)
Effective activism is the result of employing simple solutions. Terry Fox saying I’m going to jog across Canada: incredibly straightforward yet it ignited a shift in our conversations and work around cancer. Marion Stokes, a civil rights-era fighter armed with a VCR and an impressive heap of blank VHS tapes (kids…ask your parents…) begins to record the 24 hour news cycle because she realized: the truth was worth protecting. Starting with the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979 and concluding with her death on December 14, 2012, which was the Sandy Hook massacre Marion filled 70,000 VHS tapes. This is…far more than just a Retrontario sendup.

Tuesday, June 16

The Marshes (Anytime / Shudder)

Sammy Suggestion: Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 (8 p.m. / ABC, Netflix)
John Ridley was a writer on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Justice League, and most notably 12 Years a Slave. However this time he is directing a film that was ABC News’ first theatrical production and release. (CNN is doing the same thing really well with CNN Films.) Let It Fall is a feature documentary that examines pivotal events leading up to the April 1992 riots after the Rodney King verdict. (Not to be confused with Nat Geo’s LA 92 documentary also about the Rodney King verdict riots.) If lately, you have a sense of Déjà vu watching the news: it’s because we’ve sadly been here before.

Wednesday, June 17

Mr. Iglesias: Season 2 (Anytime / Netflix)
Love, Victor: Season 1 (Anytime / Hulu)

Sammy Suggestion: Ghostbusters (Anytime / Prime, iTunes)
Tomorrow Crackle’s Ghostbuster documentary debuts. Why not take the 1984 classic comedy out for a spin today? Besides nostalgia is sweet fun especially since most of us are still on lockdown and we gotta Stay Puft!

Thursday, June 18

Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn (8 p.m. / HBO)
Scare Package (Shudder / Hulu)
The Order: Season 2 (Anytime / Netflix)

Sammy Suggestion: Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (Anytime / Crackle)
You’ll hafta cross the “tv streams” to watch this Ghostbusters documentary on Crackle! Ghostbusters was released on June 8, 1984 (I know…we’re all old!) and quietly launched a fantastic franchise. The Ghostbusters logo, Ectomobile, and Proton pack are hallmarks that have appeared in Ghostbusters II (1989), The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991), and Extreme Ghostbusters (1997). Whew. I mean there’s no way any of that should have happened right? This Crackle documentary features interviews with Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and Sigourney Weaver and director Ivan Reitman. Thankfully not Slimer. That dude sucks. Not a fan.

Friday, June 19

Lost Bullet (Anytime / Netflix)
Wasp Network (Anytime / Netflix)

Sammy Suggestion: 7500 (Anytime / Amazon Prime)
Remember Harrison Ford’s Air Force One? Well, now it’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s “Get Off My Plane!” turn in 7500. (Why is a plane hijacking movie a rite of passage for Hollywood stars: Flight Plan, Wes Craven’s Red Eye, Executive Decision, Non-Stop, Con Air and the ever classic: Passenger 57! (Does Snakes on Plane count?) This genre is wonderfully straightforward; though airplane hijacking movies are especially satisfying on streaming services. That’s partly what you want from a handy streaming service. At the cinema paying for this eh…50-50. At home no pants: perfect. Mash that pilot up real good.

Saturday, June 20

Ford v Ferrari (8:00 p.m. / HBO Max)

Sammy Suggestion: Gemini Man (8:00 p.m. / EPIX)
It’s Will Smith vs. Will Smith in Ang Lee’s sci-fi action thriller. Ummm yeah that’s the hook. It is what it is. I’m sad this movie isn’t called Double Trouble or Double Team…something on the nose like that. Seems like a missed opportunity. Double Cross?! Oh I got it: Double Take! Yessss…