Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Paramount, Britbox, Acorn, Apple TV+ -- the list of streaming platforms goes on and on. How to choose? And, even when the list is winnowed, how to know what to watch? Where are Siskel and Ebert when you need them?
Enter "Binge or Bomb," a new podcast created by Gillian Gordon and Ellen Sherman, TV and film veterans from the South Fork who have produced, acted in, and created media content for the past 30 years. Available from Spotify, Apple, Google, and the "Binge or Bomb" website, the 14 episodes, each devoting roughly 20 minutes to three different programs, have a specific focus: global television.
"For me, it started because a random person was talking about the Spanish series 'Money Heist,' " said Ms. Sherman during a Zoom conversation. "It was during the pandemic, and I was astounded that this was one of the best things I’d ever seen and yet I’d never heard about it. The rest of the world seemed to be obsessed with it, but nobody in the States knew about it."
Ms. Sherman and Ms. Gordon first met in the late 1970s, when they worked on "No Regrets," a film produced by Ms. Gordon for PBS and made in East Hampton. When they reconnected recently, "It was like heaven," Ms. Sherman said. "There was finally somebody I could talk to about the latest South Korean or Scandinavian series."
"During Covid, people were wondering what to watch, and so many people were calling us for recommendations," said Ms. Gordon. "We both have very strong opinions, we’re television addicts, and streaming content is a minefield. So we thought, why not just do podcasts?"
"If you Google a podcast like ours, there really aren't very many," said Ms. Sherman. "Lots of people were doing HBO, Showtime, all the usual suspects. So we decided that the need was for international programming. We’re not turning our noses up at American programming. We just felt you didn’t need us to tell you about 'Yellowjackets.' "
Ms. Gordon also mentioned the theory that because so many people are accustomed to text messages, they're less resistant to reading subtitles. She also cited a genuine interest in narrative complexity. "Binge viewing brought the idea of the auteur back to television," where the single vision of a series creator can inform eight or 10 episodes.
At the same time, she said, there will be less money spent on television in this country. "Everybody's cutting back, people are losing jobs, it's not a great environment right now. We've got to get ready for what they call 'trough TV.' We're not interested in trough TV."
Having worked in film and television in Britain for 30 years, Ms. Gordon is hearing that industry talent is "running over to Europe, because such great quality work is being created there -- and in Latin America, and Asia."
After three decades abroad, Ms. Gordon moved back to the United States, settled in Springs, and became the first executive director of the Sag Harbor Cinema. She is currently an executive producer at Visionaire Media, and recently produced "Footsteps on the Wind," an award-winning animated short about child refugee migration. Palgrave Macmillan has commissioned her to write a book on "Creative Producing."
Ms. Sherman, who divides her time between New York City and Bridgehampton, had an acting career that included Broadway, television, "and the lead in a highly forgettable avant-garde Mexican horror film." Since then she has worked as a journalist, screenwriter, and documentarian, including nine years as a producer at NBC's "Dateline." She has finished a novel called "Chelsea Manor Street," and is working on a mystery, "which is certainly tougher than I thought."
Of "Binge or Bomb," Ms. Sherman said Zoom made its creation possible. Whether the women are together or on opposite coasts, they record everything on Zoom, and Ms. Sherman edits. "It's a simple process," she said, noting that she'd spent plenty of time in editing rooms at NBC. "It was a big learning curve at the beginning, but I think we are settling into it."
The "Binge or Bomb" website is informative and easily navigated. "We're trying to make it like a viewer's guide," said Ms. Sherman. The page for each podcast episode includes a synopsis of the three shows, a link to the recording, and an opportunity for viewers to weigh in with their own opinions.
The partners often approach a particular program with different expectations. For example, of "Derry Girls," the Netflix teen comedy set in Northern Ireland during the final years of the Troubles, Ms. Gordon said, "It's silly and wonderful and absolutely brilliant. The writing is incredible."
Ms. Sherman, who has brought up a teenager, doesn't like teen comedies and was reluctant to watch "Derry Girls," but "it was totally a surprise to me. I would never have chosen to watch it myself." In the end, both women voted "Binge."
Another podcast episode includes "The Tunnel," an English-French version of the popular Danish-Swedish series "The Bridge." There were many subsequent versions of the "The Bridge," but Ms. Gordon refused to watch them. "Then Ellen made me watch 'The Tunnel,' and it was absolutely brilliant. It reinvented the original. You never know what you're going to find."
While on a trip to Italy, Ms. Gordon heard about "this weird Italian series called 'The Miracle.' It was extraordinary. I haven't seen anything like it on television."
"While it's a fabulous piece of filmmaking," said Ms. Sherman, "it isn't something I'd tell people to go and binge-watch. But we agree more often than not. There are popular shows we both loathe. We've only got 20 minutes, so we're not going to devote it to something we both bomb."
One of their favorite series is "Wanted." "It's like 'Thelma and Louise' in Australia," said Ms. Gordon.
"Except better," said Ms. Sherman.
Ms. Gordon noted that Netflix was the first platform to recognize that people wanted to consume TV in "big chunks. It was more like watching cinema, and, through television, filmmakers all over the world are gaining access to an audience that was once the reserve of film festivals and art houses."
"A media consultant once advised that you should only create a podcast about a topic on which you could talk for an hour if you happened upon a friend in a parking lot," said Ms. Sherman. "So this is it for me. Just don't come across me in a parking lot. Unless you have an hour."
The podcasts are not only informed by the women's careers in film and television, but also by their easy interplay, enthusiasm, and wit. It's like eavesdropping on a lively conversation between two friends who happen to live and breathe cinema.
