This week, the hosts of Taking It Down begin with thoughts on the death of Cormac McCarthy, his work as both a Southerner and a Southwesterner, and an adaptation request on one of his novels (2:07). The hosts then give brief expectations on the upcoming Marvel and Disney+ series Secret Invasion (9:18). After the break, everyone explains how the new season of Black Mirror , with its first episode, "Joan Is Awful," does not live up to the show's standard (13:41). To end the weekly analysis, they e...
Jun 20, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 161
Taking It Down begins with a fan review (1:49) before discussing how the HBO show Barry comes to an end: somehow it subverts expectations without veering from the story it was always telling (3:24). After a break, we answer how good the new season of the Netflix series I Think You Should Leave is as well as what makes it great comedy (25:25). The Alabama Take brings you an entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! But we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the sh...
Jun 13, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 160
What does the new documentary Bama Rush on Max -- formerly HBO Max -- have to say about Greek life, specifically rushing at the University of Alabama? And is the film a letdown? This week, we talk Bama Rush from director Rachel Fleit (2:10). The Alabama Take brings you an entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! But we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and Pay...
May 30, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 159
Ted Lasso is in its third and likely final season, and we answer if it is suffering without former show runner Bill Lawrence, and if so, how much (1:32). After that discussion, it's an analysis on how Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was awful (13:56). The Alabama Take brings you an entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our V...
May 23, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 158
The show begins with a movie recommendation since Ty is back on the show (1:37). After that, it's a breakdown of the fifth episode of the HBO show Barry and how many of its shots and scenes are worth a rewatch (2:23). We tell what to watch for and why. After the break, it's a discussion of the first two episodes of HBO's miniseries White House Plumbers and explain how it maintains its hilarity through its display of history (26:40). Find a transcript of the show on The Alabama Take website. The ...
May 16, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 157
We begin with a few brief thoughts on the writers' strike and what that may mean for television: just look at past strikes (1:36). Then, it's the fourth episode of the fourth and final season of Barry , which allows for a lot of its characters not only to carry the episode but also tell large parts of their story (6:36). A listener gets a shoutout and thanks (17:50) before we give the hosts their hellos (18:27). After a break: a discussion on what's working very well for Love & Death on HBO ...
May 09, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Does the new stand-up special Baby J from John Mulaney live up to his previous work (1:40)? We explain why Somebody Somewhere on HBO is well done normcore television (15:54). After the break, we have a quick audience question (28:26) before we dissect how Perry Mason does mystery right (28:56).
May 02, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 155
With so much TV, a lot of which is promising, we run down some ideas on what to watch (2:43). Then Natalie gives a few spoiler-free thoughts on The Challenge: World Championships (3:58). It's a lot of bemoaning when it comes to the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (5:07) as well as the planned series for Harry Potter (5:46) from HBO. From there, the crew dissect what a bust the entire season of The Mandalorian was (6:35) before talking about the hits and misses of this third season of Te...
Apr 25, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 154
Most of the crew are taking a break, but Blaine is joined by special guest and staff writer for The Alabama Take , Ty Edmondson, who is here to talk solely about why Beef is one of the better shows of the year. This week's show is broken into thoughts without spoilers (2:11) and then analysis with spoilers for all ten episodes (17:22). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop...
Apr 18, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 153
On Taking It Down this week, the gang starts with the noise online with boygenius (2:26) before moving on to discuss the joy of the Apple TV+ show Shrinking and why you should watch the first season (4:49). After a break, Blaine and Donovan continue the Perry Mason investigation and bring some clues together that fans may have missed with episode four of its second season (27:25). To end, it's the AMC series Lucky Hank and why it may have to walk back some ideas from that second episode (39:48)....
Apr 04, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 153
This week, it's Blaine and Donovan discussing the varied plot threads throughout the second season of Perry Mason as they break down the third episode, "Chapter Eleven" (2:42). After a short break, they talk about how The Mandalorian is good, but has big problems (22:48). Lastly, they dissect the pilot episode of Lucky Hank , which stars Bob Odenkirk and airs on AMC each Sunday (34:02). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still ha...
Mar 28, 2023•47 min
To help us do a complete wrap on The Last of Us , we bring in host of This Song Sucks Josh Kavanaugh to talk about the show, the game, and if it all worked (2:57). Josh sticks around to help analyze the first three episodes of The Mandalorian and is surprised by The Book of Boba Fett in the process (31:26). At the end of the show, Donovan and Blaine praise the first two episodes of the HBO show Perry Mason for taking it slow and casting Matthew Rhys (46:51). The Alabama Take brings you all the e...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 150
With even more laughs than usual, Taking It Down starts with ads that aren't ads at all as well as music announcements (1:30). From there, the group discusses a goodbye of sorts for Arrested Development , which turns into a lesson on digital versus physical copies (3:51). It all leads to a hilarious set of listener questions that involve spoilers and spoiler hatred (6:02), Point Break (11:23), albums that never get old (13:15), Cocaine Bear (17:05), doing our homework (18:02), an Ant-Man query (...
Mar 07, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 149
We begin this week's episode with some spoiler-free thoughts for those considering watching the new Amazon Prime Video series The Consultant , which stars Christoph Waltz (2:58). From there, we have different ideas on the film Tár , which is now streaming on Peacock and in the running for a few Academy Awards (6:23). After the break, some of us more than others are excited for the new season of the HBO show Perry Mason (25:42). To wrap, we give brief thoughts on the sixth episode, "Kin," from th...
Feb 28, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 148
This week, we respond to the reviews of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2:38) before some thoughts on what James Gunn taking over the DC Universe means for those franchises (9:01). After the break, we discuss something that's been very funny: the BBC2 and Netflix series Cunk on Earth (13:44). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a don...
Feb 21, 2023•29 min
In the crew's goofiest show to date, this episode of Taking It Down easily has more Patrick Mahomes than ever offered in the show's catalog thus far. To begin, the Taking It Down group shares some recommendations and possible ideas for upcoming episodes of the podcast, including: the 1963 unreliable narrator novel It Happened in Boston? ; the WWII film Narvik on Netflix; new television from Apple TV+ Shrinking and Servant ; and the strange South American novel Tender Is The Flesh (1:19). No spoi...
Feb 14, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 146
The gang is divided on two topics of recent interest: that third episode of The Last of Us (2:51) and the newly streaming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (19:47). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: venture to Buy Me A Coffee or visit our Venmo and PayPal to help to keep the site, the writings, and podcasts going. Find the ot...
Feb 07, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 145
The folks at Taking It Down morn the loss of Tom Verlaine and reflect on his music to begin the podcast (1:02). From there, it's a discussion on what makes Everything Everywhere All At Once worthy of its eleven nominations but a sign of modern culture (4:23). After the break, everyone gives some quick thoughts on Bob Dylan's seventeenth Bootleg Series release, Fragments , which came out last Friday (29:42) before getting into what The Last of Us may need to do to change things up from its second...
Jan 31, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 144
We get right into the fine dining of the HBO Max movie The Menu , which we all liked but only to a point and it doesn't hurt us to try to cram in as many food puns as we possibly can (2:43). After the break, we talk about video games and the first episode of the HBO show The Last of Us (23:26). It's a series that could be tailor made for at least one of our hosts. The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. I...
Jan 24, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 143
To start, we talk the joy of local libraries before we get into White Noise on Netflix and why it reminds us of both Steven Spielberg and David Lynch (3:42). After the break, it's all about the Netflix film Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths and why two of us found it mesmerizing and one of us did not (26:41). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest yo...
Jan 17, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 142
Thoughts on 2023 makes us question if it is the year of A.I. (2:07) which leads to a quick takedown of the movie Moonfall and Natalie's draw to disaster movies (3:15). After that, Blaine makes some revisions to the top television of the previous year as Fleishman Is In Trouble deserves some praise (5:28). The gang then analyze the lovable Glass Onion , which is now on Netflix (8:15), and the drama on recent episodes of this season of The Challenge (26:43). The Alabama Take brings you all the ent...
Jan 03, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 141
For the final show of the year, we recap the year that was (2:47). We give thoughts on such pop culture b.s. as Twitter, crypto, and NFTs (3:56) before getting into what we liked about the year (7:58). After the break, host Blaine previews his top ten television shows of the year (25:55). The Alabama Take brings you all the entire family of podcasts and writings -- all with no ads! Yet we still have some bills to pay. If there's nothing in the shop to interest you, feel free to make a donation: ...
Dec 27, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 140
Donovan gets excited when Liberty loses, which is what happened in some recent bowl game action (2:06). This week's podcast primarily focuses on the connection to Showtime's miniseries George and Tammy (2:40); the overview of Michael McDonagh's works (7:21); and some thoughts, analysis, and spoilers for The Banshees of Inisherin (15:24).
Dec 22, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 139
No Natalie this week as she's off working for the joy of the holiday season (3:58). Blaine and Adam are itching to talk about Bono's autobiographical writing Surrender as well as U2 as a whole (4:36). Somehow, we can't avoid Avatar talk (20:51), which leads into not one but two stories about Dances With Wolves (22:36)! Come for the Avatar bashing, stay for the Dances With Wolves childhood tales! From there, it's the bulk of the episode as the gang dissects the enjoyment of the Netflix movie Emil...
Dec 13, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 138
The whole gang of Taking It Down is back to talk about the latest from legendary rock group Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with their recent release of Live at the Fillmore , a twenty-night stand recorded perfectly (2:30). After the discussion, what's with the hoopla around the new Netflix series Wednesday , an extension in the classic story of The Addams Family (10:31)? After a break, Blaine and Donovan revel in the beauty and fascination of The English on Amazon Prime Video (16:29). To fini...
Dec 06, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 137
It's only Blaine and Donovan this week, and they sort through where everyone else is as well as the sincere intricacies of why Taking It Down didn't return for a weekly format until five weeks later (2:00). If you have mental health issues, do what you can do to ensure that you're okay. Speaking of mental health, we also talk about Twitter and its possible demise and its possible replacements if the social media giant does go under (5:18). Then Netflix could very well have a great movie on its h...
Nov 29, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 136
After a two-week hiatus due to vacationing, resting, and traveling, Taking It Down , the pop culture podcast from The Alabama Take network, is back to first briefly discuss Halloween and Halloween songs (3:43). Then it's an equally brief and broad talk about the new Taylor Swift album (5:02). It's important that we discuss our disdain for the botched She-Hulk ending, which was good with merely one aspect, but horrible with much more (6:28). After that, the hosts discuss plenty of news from the f...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 135
Welcome back, Taking It Downers! This week, it's some brief banter about sports, namely college football (2:47) before some heady and serious discussions begin centered around the film Blonde , which was recently released on Netflix (6:27). Keeping with the Netflix motif, the hosts briefly discuss what watching Dahmer says about us as a culture (21:23). After a break, it's a quick check-in with the Disney+ show Andor (28:06) and it's just too fun not to talk about House of the Dragon , which has...
Oct 04, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 134
It's autumn music from listeners' suggestions (2:24). House of the Dragon and its stellar "We Light The Way" fifth episode (13:24). We don't talk She-Hulk and it is easy not to do (30:21). There is a plethora of television shows now, and we can't decide what could be next (31:12). We do talk about the premiere of Andor and its three episodes (33:41). There's enough for everyone to come eat at the show that is The Patient (42:56) Listen on the this site with the player above or in any podcast app...
Sep 27, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 133
On Taking It Down this Tuesday, we start with a check-in on the FX/Hulu series Welcome to Wrexham (4:03) before revealing how Twitter can get it done after some college football (8:02). Then it's talk on large swaths of entertainment news: corrections about our episode; the return of The Handmaid's Tale and why it's hard to care; the b.s. online about The Little Mermaid ; and a gauge on our interest of the AMC series Interview with the Vampire (12:10). After that, everyone gives a temperature ch...
Sep 20, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 132
