Screen Babble: The rise of social games on TV, the best mockumentaries and the return of Wednesday
Your monthly dose of television and film discussion returns wherever you get your favourite podcasts
- The Screen Babble team return after their summer vacation for their latest episode.
- This month, the team talk about the popularity of social games TV, including who we’d like to see on shows like The Traitors.
- The trio also discuss music mockumentaries ahead of the release of Spinal Tap II, and talks about the return of the popular Wednesday to Netflix.
Screen Babble is back after a short summer break, and on this episode, Kelly, Benjii and Matt are talking about the rise of social games on TV.
The Traitors seems to have spawned many new versions of the genre, but Matt tells us about two in particular, Fortune Hotel and Destination X, with the team then revealing their wish list of future contestants - alive or dead.
As we anticipate the arrival of Spinal Tap 2 in September, Benjii takes us through some of the other great music/band mockumentaries, including one that predates This is Spinal Tap by a year, and a modern classic that still feels relevant in 2025.
And finally, the team discussed Wednesday, the current hit teen drama with substantial talent involved - is Jenna Ortega going to ascend into the upper echelons of Hollywood sooner rather than later?
You can check out the latest episode here, through DailyMotion or by subscribing to the podcast wherever you stream your favourite podcasts.
How to watch this month’s featured items
- The Traitors is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer
- Destination X is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer
- Fortune Hotel is available to stream now on ITVX
- This is Spinal Tap is available to stream on Prime Video
- Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues is released in cinemas on September 12
- Popstars: Never Stop Never Stopping is available to rent or buy through all leading digital retailers
- The Comic Strip Presents - Bad News Tour is available to stream on Channel 4
- Wednesday is available to stream now on Netflix
- South Park is currently streaming on Paramount+
- Happy Gilmore 2 is available to stream on Netflix
- Dept. Q is available to stream on Netflix
- Sinners is available to rent or buy through all leading digital retailers
- King of the Hill is available to stream on Disney+
- Trainwreck: Poop Cruise is available to stream on Netflix
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Notable shows: Homecoming, Fleabag, Jack Ryan, the Marvellous Miss Maisel - and all of the Bond films
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Amazon Prime Video continues to pose a threat to Netflix thanks to the sheer quantity of content it provides subscribers.
Prime Video is home to the largest library of TV and films with more than 21,066 titles available as part of the subscription, and an additional 40,000 available for a rental fee.
This is great if you are looking for the largest selection, but the streaming service falters at the quality of shows available.
The service has 117 million global subscribers.
Amazon Prime Video has a smaller selection of Amazon Original shows and movies (although this is increasing after a drive for more original content), compared to its rival Netflix.
That said, for sheer volume of content, it’s the leader of the pack, and we enjoy it particularly for it’s film library, if not the TV shows.
Alex’s verdict:
Amazon probably has the most difficult-to-navigate interface, which almost seems deliberately designed to obscure what’s actually on there as part of a Prime subscription – about half the time, it feels like, you’ll be expected to pay for something individually that was listed among their general content library.
It’s also difficult to think of any flagship Amazon shows that are essential and unmissable – there’s plenty of good ones, but really Amazon Prime Video is less of a necessity on its own terms, and more a nice addition to have as well if you’re already making use of Amazon Prime.
Our rating: 3/5