On Cinema
| On Cinema | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy, film |
| Created by | |
| Directed by | Eric Notarnicola |
| Starring |
Tim Heidecker Gregg Turkington |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 9 |
| No. of episodes | 74 (up to season 8) |
| Production company(s) | Abso Lutely Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network |
Adult Swim YouTube |
| Original release | 2012 |
On Cinema (later renamed On Cinema at the Cinema for the video series) is a comedic film review web series starring Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington as a pair of hapless movie reviewers (using their own names). The series, which currently airs online through the Adult Swim website, began in 2012 and is now in its ninth season.
The show started as an independently released, audio-only podcast from 2011 to 2013, before being picked up as a professionally produced web video series by Thing X in 2012-13 for its first two seasons, and Adult Swim starting in its third season in 2013.
Early audio episodes of On Cinema were quite short, frequently no more than one or two minutes long. Heidecker and Turkington would "review" films on these podcasts without actually providing any meaningful information or critical insight. Nearly every film that has been discussed or mentioned on On Cinema since the podcast's inception has received a "5 bags of popcorn" rating on a scale of five from the two reviewers, regardless of its reception elsewhere in the press or with the viewing public. Heidecker and Turkington began making the podcast as a "prank" and a mockery of the "self-indulgen[ce]" of the podcasting community.
With the series' growth into an online video series, episodes grew to an average length of eight to twelve minutes. Although reviewing films remains a central conceit, the focus of the series quickly shifted from a mockery of amateur podcasting to an extended character study of the two podcasters. Heidecker, in character on On Cinema, frequently uses his time on camera to discuss anything on his character's mind except film, especially his bizarre ailments, personal crises, and right-wing political views, or to simply berate and belittle Turkington. Turkington's character fancies himself a "film expert," his primary qualification being an enormous collection of forgotten and arguably forgettable mainstream films from the 1980s and 1990s on VHS. The series continues to provide reviews that purposely offer no real critical insight.
Several seasons of On Cinema have discernible multi-episode plot arcs as Heidecker and Turkington explore the dynamic and characters they have created both in the series' actual episodes and, simultaneously, on social media. Notably, Turkington's Twitter account under his own name is currently written entirely in character as his On Cinema alter ego.
...
Wikipedia