Plot summary
Podcast
The On Cinema podcast was produced independently by Heidecker and Gregg. The podcast consists of Heidecker, along with Gregg as a "special guest" for almost every episode, covering movies poorly and with little insight, and often engaging in arguments. Gregg later developed a more pretentious "film buff" persona, and Tim took a turn to being obnoxiously political, sometimes devoting entire episodes to conspiracy theories, much to the chagrin of Gregg.
Seasons 1–6
On Cinema at the Cinema launches as a video series in 2012. The series is similar to the podcast, taking place on a set meant to look like a movie theater. Gregg is still never acknowledged as more than a guest, and begins his recurring segments "Popcorn Classics", where he brings in forgotten VHS movies to showcase, and "On Cinema On Location", where he travels to filming locations of obscure movies, respectively.
Heidecker reveals in season 2 that he has blood clotting in his brain but rejects surgery because of "side effects, the whole medical industry, and Obamacare", while Gregg pushes for him to get surgery. He eventually does in season 3, although his first wife, Stephanie, divorces him for doing so. Tim continues to have health problems in season 4, and introduces his personal doctor, Dr. San (Zac Holtzman), an alternative medical doctor treating Tim with "natural" remedies, including acupuncture. Tim's face becomes infected and he denounces Dr. San. Tim moves to Jackson Hole, Wyoming in season 5, and buys a motorcycle to commute back and forth to Hollywood for the On Cinema taping. He becomes a proponent of 'simple living' and state rights, embracing his Republican values.
Late in season 2, Heidecker introduces Ayaka Ohwaki, a foreign exchange student from Japan staying with Tim's family. They start to date in season 3, until Ayaka was deported back to Japan. Ayaka sends a letter to Heidecker announcing that she is pregnant in season 4. Tim tries to convince Ayaka to have an abortion in season 5, despite his pro-life stance. Ayaka keeps the child and names him Tom Cruise Heidecker Junior, after Tim's favorite actor, Tom Cruise. She moves back to America and into Gregg's apartment. Tim denies paternity and moves permanently to Jackson Hole, making Gregg the host of the show. This was short-lived, as Tim realizes his friends in Jackson Hole were white supremacists. He returns as host in the second episode of season 6, moving in with Gregg and Ayaka. He rekindles his relationship with Ayaka and ultimately proposes to her at the end of season 6.
In season 3, Gregg begins his goal of watching "500 movies in 500 days", hoping to make the Guinness Book of World Records . He also gets even more into VHS collecting, introducing a confusing new coding system for organizing his tapes. Gregg interviews actor Joe Estevez in season 2, with Joe later becoming a recurring guest. Gregg continues to stubbornly insist that San Francisco was the location of Star Trek II, briefly leading to him being ejected off the show in season 3.
Annual live "Oscar Specials" start in 2013, airing at the same time as the Academy Awards. Tim often gets belligerently drunk, disrupting the planned events, being verbally and physically abusive, and upsetting Gregg. Mark Proksch is introduced in the second special, doing impersonations of W. C. Fields and Charlie Chaplin. In the third special, Peyton Reed comes on to promote his new film Ant-Man and announces that Gregg has been cast as a minor character in the movie, which upsets Tim.
Tim premieres his new show Decker during season 5, with Gregg initially angered by the fact Tim used footage of him without asking, although he later warms up to his role after positive fan feedback. Decker: Port of Call: Hawaii premieres during season 6, with Tim and Gregg repeatedly traveling to Hawaii to shoot, exhausting them. Gregg accidentally spoils the planned ending, resulting in Tim shooting a new ending where he destroys all of Gregg's tapes. Gregg leaves the show and plans to start his own.
Seasons 7–9
Gregg moves to Victorville, California in season 7, and opens the Victorville Film Archives in a storage locker, where he also lives. He also shows pride in his role in Ant-Man, which Tim gives a rare one bag of popcorn. Tim praises Fantastic Four , which he has a minor role in, which Gregg claims he paid $15,000 to appear in. The show itself moves to Victorville in season 8 when Tim moves in with Gregg and they both buy an abandoned movie theater. The theater, Victorville Film Center, has nightly showings from Gregg's VHS collection. Mark is hired as a concessions cashier. Tim launches his own theater, Six Bags Cinema, in season 9, with recliner chairs and a waiter (also Mark) to serve food. The VFC burns down, with Gregg insinuating that Tim burned it down for the insurance money.
Tim starts a rock band named Dekkar with another member, Axiom, in season 7, and releases their debut single "Empty Bottle" on the show. Tim's new interest in music annoys Gregg, who just wants the show to focus on movies. The fourth Oscar Special features periodic musical performances by Dekkar and introduces the third member of the band, Manuel Giusti.
Ayaka gets a job, working for Dr. San. When Tim finds out about this, he storms off set to confront Dr. San, only for them to forgive each other. Dr. San takes over as Tom Cruise Junior's new pediatric doctor. By the season 7 finale, Tim announces that his son has died. Ayaka becomes pregnant again in season 8. After Tim tries to get her to have an abortion again, she leaves him and returns to Japan.
Dr. San prescribes Tim a "nutritional vape system" in season 8, which replaces all meals and food with an electronic cigarette full of supposed nutrients. Tim's physical condition worsens as he keeps using the vape, as he comes to the set sweating, bruised, unfocused and hallucinating. Eventually, Tim goes to an actual doctor who informs him his blood is full of illegal drugs. Tim quits and swears off Dr. San once again, only to relapse. A fire is started in the storage unit one night after Tim's vape pen overheats, burning the entire facility down, including the VFA. Tim suffers third degree burns on all of his body, including his face and hands. He returns to the show in bandages so he can keep working to pay for the damages and lawsuits, which exceed $1,000,000. Tim returns to a surprise intervention from Gregg, Joe, John Aprea, Mark, Ayaka, Ayaka's father, and Axiom, encouraging Tim to live a healthier life, which does not work. Due to his injuries, he retools Dekkar into an electronic band, known as DKR. Tim's skin dies in season 9 after he stops using facial cream for his burns. Tim chooses Manuel to give him a skin transplant, with Axiom giving Tim his right hand.
To get Gregg to return for season 7, Tim promised to let him write, direct, produce the next season of Decker. This season, titled Gregg Turkington's Decker vs. Dracula, is cancelled after three episodes after Tim lambasted Gregg for making a "mockery" of the franchise, irritating Gregg. A fourth season, Decker: Unclassified, premieres on Adult Swim in 2016. While Tim is the main producer again, some of Gregg's ideas, including Dracula, are retained. A fifth and sixth season, Unsealed and Mindwipe respectively, premiered in 2017.
The Trial
In season 9, Tim hosts the Electric Sun Desert Music Festival in Apple Valley, California, where Dr. San gives out free samples of his vape system, resulting in 20 deaths and over 100 injuries. Tim and Dr. San are arrested and jailed on murder and manslaughter charges. Tim, with his lawyer, Doug Lyman, pins the 20 deaths on Dr. San and the Apple Valley authorities who did not respond in time. However, Dr. San commits suicide in jail, so the relatives of the 20 who died now primarily blame Tim for the deaths. [8]
Tim is put on trial for the death of the "Electric Sun 20". Frustrated with his attorney Mark Dwyer, Tim decides to represent himself and proceeds to threaten the prosecution led by Vincent Rosetti and its witnesses and falsify evidence. Tim is issued multiple contempt citations. Nicholas Meyer, director of Star Trek II and co-writer for Star Trek IV, appears as one of the witnesses in an attempt by Tim to settle the San Francisco Star Trek argument with Gregg. Ultimately, Tim is found not guilty for only one of the 20 deaths, as that victim died of a heroin overdose. A mistrial is called for the remaining 19, due to a hung jury with 11 guilty and 1 not guilty verdicts. [9]
Seasons 10–11
Tim revamps On Cinema in season 10, also known as "Season X", with a new intro and set, and filmed episodes 4 through 6 in 360-degree video. The revamp faces a snag after a civil suit from the Delgado family, a family of one of the Electric Sun victims, is filed. Tim's assets, including On Cinema and Decker, are seized, Rio Jenesis drops its sponsorship, and he faces potential bankruptcy. He manages to convince the family of one of the victims, the Delgados, to let him try to earn money for them with his various assets. The Delgado Media Holdings company is created and they hire Gregg as the managing editor, giving him creative control. Gregg's role quickly increases to that of host, while Tim's role was diminished to announcer. In the season finale, an irate Tim destroys the set, insults the Delgados, and announces his campaign for district attorney of San Bernardino County against the incumbent Vincent Rosetti. This campaign fails, and Tim is booted off the show.
During the fifth Oscar Special, Mark is locked tight into a standard diving dress while doing an impression of Matt Hooper from Jaws, but is knocked out from asphyxiation and enters a coma. Gregg takes care of comatose Mark and uses this to relaunch the VFA, which appears to now be several bins full of VHS tapes stocked in Mark's hospital room. Gregg also starts collecting and wearing movie promotional hats to Tim's vocal displeasure.
Delgado Media Holdings produces the sixth Oscar Special, hosted by Rafael Torres, with Gregg in charge of the show. Tim breaks into the studio with militant conspiracy theorist Michael "LaRue" Matthews, to wrest control and promote QAnon theories. Tim accidentally maces Torres, and manages to erase Gregg's tape collection with his magnetic vest. A comatose Mark is used by Gregg as a "living Oscar"; Tim accidentally resuscitates Mark by knocking him over. Delgado Media Holdings is sold back to Tim with the help of a suspicious money lending vendor called MoneyZap, which Tim uses to start season 11. LaRue becomes a member of Dekkar and raps about the deep state in a new remix of "Empty Bottle".
Gregg starts the Mobile VFA in season 11, which consists of him and Mark simply selling VHS tapes on the flea market. Later, he starts up a VFA Classic Movie program, where he sells public domain movies with commentary dubbed over the originals. Gregg bundles the original A Star Is Born with the 2018 adaptation, believing it to have entered the public domain along with the original, which gets Mark arrested for bootlegging. Mark gets put into a coma again while in prison and goes missing after being discharged from the hospital. Greg also launches a site known as Oscores.net, a site he created to grade each Oscar ceremony. [10]
Tim's failed campaign for district attorney is covered in Mister America, which was distributed by Magnolia Pictures and released on October 4, 2019, at Beyondfest, held at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre. [11] [12] [13] The film introduces Toni Newman, the lone juror who voted not guilty at Tim's trial, who becomes Tim's campaign manager. Tim calls the film a sham after its release during season 11, and doxxes the film's director, "Josh Lorton" (Eric Notarnicola), as retaliation. Toni becomes CFO of HEI Inc. and advises Tim to disband Dekkar and fire Joe Estevez. Tim and Toni marry at the end of the season.
Tim annuls his marriage in the seventh Oscar Special in order to stage a more elaborate second wedding with her. Gregg arrives at the wedding dressed as the Joker, driving his car housing the Mobile VFA onto the set. Gregg leaves his car running throughout the special, causing the entire production crew and wedding party to fall unconscious to carbon monoxide poisoning, leading to two deaths.
Season 12
The show moves to HEI Network, a subscription streaming service created by Tim, in early 2021. Tim and Gregg host separate Oscar specials in 2021. Tim and Toni host their special in a studio similar to that of a talk show, while Gregg hosts his special in the Mobile VFA. Tim reluctantly calls Gregg after being dissatisfied with Axiom's movie knowledge and invites him onto his show. Gregg later storms off set and back to his car after LaRue declares him guilty for the deaths from the last special, and runs over LaRue after he gets in the way, later leaving him in a wheelchair. Gregg sells off the VFA to Tim in exchange for no charges being pressed.
Season 12 starts with a new intro, theme, and set. Toni, drunk at her birthday party, has an affair with Axiom. Toni goes to rehab for her drinking problems while Axiom is kicked out of Dekkar. The band is renamed to D4, with Wendy Kerby, a singer from Tim and Toni's church introduced in the prior Oscar Special, joining. Toni is released from rehab and tells Tim she is leaving him, confessing she was a heavy alcoholic for the entire time she had known Tim and that she knew he was guilty. Mark is again spotted by a fan, this time performing as Spider-Man on a street in Hollywood. Tim convinces Mark to return. Gregg reveals that he is working with Joe on a new movie, Deck of Cards, focusing on "the original Joker", the playing card.
Tim and Wendy Kerby host a Valentine's Day special in 2022. After an awkward staged sketch where Tim tries to instigate a kiss between Wendy and Manuel, she becomes uncomfortable and abruptly leaves, leaving D4 unable to perform. Manuel convinces Tim to patch things up with Axiom, and the three give an impromptu Dekkar reunion.
Season 13 (On Cinema! and More in the Morning)
The ninth Oscar Special takes place at the planned site of the HEI Ranch, Tim's proposed business and media center, located on a remote stretch of land near Apple Valley, California. Little work has been done, with construction vehicles everywhere and the water brown and dirty. Gregg unveils the VFA Tour Bus, made from a hastily remodeled van. G. Amato, a financial backer with more HEI Points than anyone else, is introduced. The cast and crew are harassed by locals who drive dirt bikes on set, point rifle lasers, sabotage the power from the generator, and ultimately fire upon the crew at the end of the special. Gregg evacuates everyone in his tour bus except for Tim, who confronts the locals and gets injured.
Deck of Cards released on September 2, 2022, albeit heavily edited by Tim, making a program similar to Decker. Season 13 debuted October 26, with the program being retooled into a morning show titled On Cinema! and More in the Morning. [14] Kaili Amato now co-hosts, with The Amato Group providing funding and the new venue. Kaili and Tim expand the focus from films to social media and Hollywood in general, with Gregg included for movie discussion. A Dekkar reunion tour goes awry when their tour bus, the VFA Tour Bus, rolls into a ditch late at night, injuring Tim, temporarily blinding Axiom, and leaving Manuel unconscious for weeks. When Manuel gains consciousness again, he is unable to understand English.
After the crash, Tim starts drinking the brown grain water at the HEI Ranch, which contains lithium and other materials, claiming the water is healing him, despite it frequently making him throw up. Tim has a doctor lethally inject him in order to prove the grain water unlocks immortality; although it did not kill him, he remained unconscious and had to be hospitalized. After two weeks, Tim is released only to find out that his trailer at the HEI Ranch, with all of his personal belongings, was removed. Attempts to contact Axiom, Manuel, and G. Amato fail. Gregg offers to let Tim stay at his house, with Tim accepting and thanking him for being a friend.
Season 14 (On Cinema On Demand)
The tenth Oscar Special celebrates 10 years of Gregg's movie expertise, complete with musical numbers and a Gregg-themed set. Tributes to Gregg are provided by Tim, Joe, the Queen of Hearts from Deck of Cards, Dudley Moore, and Corwin Allard, who portrayed a young Decker in Decker: Unsealed. Tim's initial support and praise of Gregg turns sour once G. Amato reaffirms his support for Tim and calls him a second son. Gregg launches the VFN, a streaming network for classic films. The service, consisting of a Dropbox folder full of public domain movies, unintentionally includes dashcam footage of the VFA Tour Bus crash, which appears to show Tim intentionally swerving the car into traffic in a suicide attempt, before turning into a ditch. The footage spreads to Twitter and eventually to the people on set. Tim, fully dressed as Pinocchio for a planned scene, plays the footage live. Axiom and Manuel swiftly leave afterward, leaving Tim to have a violent, emotional breakdown with only G. Amato, dressed as Geppetto, consoling him.
On Cinema is retooled once more, as a video podcast titled On Cinema On Demand. Tim refers to himself as T. Amato, calling G. Amato "dad". Tim no longer reviews movies as he claims to have a disorder that makes him confuse films with reality, which disorients and horrifies him. Gregg continues to review films, as does Joey Patrocelli, the show's new co-host, who uses a four-star system and decries wokeness in Hollywood. Tim announces AmatoCon, a 3-day business convention hosted by The Amato Group, with the final night's events (March 10, coincidentally the same night as the Oscars) being streamed online. Axiom and Manuel cut ties with Tim, continuing Dekkar with a new band member, Corwin. They release a new single called "Ride with the Devil", subtly comparing Tim to the devil. Tim blasts the new song as awful, calls Corwin a Judas, and suggests that Axiom and Manuel should be deported. Tim later challenges the band to perform at AmatoCon against "T. Amato and the Empty Bottle Players" to determine which band is the real Dekkar. Gregg starts trying to bond with Kaili after finding out she is a fan of Harry Potter , giving her presents and tickets to see the movies with him, which she doesn't follow through on.
Joe starts giving legal advice on the show as "Judge" Joe Estevez. In his first segment, he mentions that the district attorney is looking into reopening the Electric Sun case, with Toni assisting. Tim states that "we can't allow that" and briefly leaves the set. A couple of weeks later, Toni's son, Matt, was injured in a shooting. Toni appears on the show to ask for support. Security cam footage of the shooting is played, showing a heavily disguised man ringing the doorbell, asking if Toni is there, and getting shot by Matt and firing back Toni stresses that she has refused to participate in the reopening of the case, wanting to move on from her mistakes. Joey is notably absent for three episodes. It is revealed in the following episode that Matt has died from his injuries. At the end of the season, G. Amato promises Tim that he will receive a 2018 Dodge Charger if AmatoCon is a success.
This season was accompanied by an audio edition across multiple streaming platforms. The first few episodes feature loudly blaring advertisements placed mid-sentence during the show and subsequent episodes feature all manner of audio problems to the point where ads are broadcast on top of the episode's audio and multiple ads will play simultaneously, making unintelligible noise. The final episode just features a spot for AmatonCon that runs on repeat for 21 minutes.
On the last day of AmatoCon, Tim gives a confusing and ultimately aborted keynote address on the “gift” of his disorder, in front of a sparse and indifferent audience. He teases and antagonises Joey throughout the night, and holds an in memoriam segment for Matt, alongside Toni, who relapses into alcoholism again with Tim. Gregg, relegated to a VFA booth to the side of the main stage, uses a new “Movie Links” segment to propose to Kaili, gifting her VHS tapes linked in their titles by the theme of a wedding. Upon gifting her a copy of Marry Me! , Kaili escapes backstage, leaving a visibly upset Gregg crouched behind his stall. Based on the decision of judges Richie Onori and Stevie Stewart and "America's Favorite Judge" Joe Estevez, Tim emerges victorious in his battle of the bands against Dekkar, after which Axiom and Manuel make peace with Tim, while casting out Corwin. At the finale, G. Amato performs the “quality of mercy” speech from The Merchant of Venice , and sings a hymn. He judges Tim’s involvement in the convention to be disappointing, and so punishes him by not relinquishing the Charger. In a fit of rage Tim, followed by Joey and Gregg, steals the keys and tries to enter the vehicle outside the convention center. Joey temporarily stuns Gregg and attacks Tim, who staggers back into the convention center with his face covered in blood, tells Toni that the Amatos are responsible for Matt’s death, and collapses to the ground.
Season 15 (On Cinema at the Cinema at Movie House)
Between seasons, Joaquin Gabriel Neville was arrested for the murder of Matt Newman, who had been extorting a relative of Joaquin's for explicit photography. He was reported to have acted alone. The Amato Group cuts ties with Tim and the HEI Network, while also reaching a cash settlement relating to Gregg's assault. G. Amato retires as president, with the real estate company now focusing primarily on event planning. Gregg uses the cash settlement to acquire a majority stake into the HEI Network and buy the house seen in The People Under the Stairs , now dubbed the "Movie House", which becomes the setting of season 15. Gregg intends to make the place a tourist attraction, while Tim, now known as Newman Heidecker, moves in with Toni following financial difficulties. Gregg hires Mark to renovate the house, including scraping off old paint and mold without a mask.
Newman soon begins reconnecting with G. Amato, trying to discuss the rebuilding of their relationship, with Gregg adamant that doing so would be considered a violation of his settlement's NDA. Gregg also announces plans to make a sequel to Zombie 2 , titled Zombie 2 2. Problems increase with the house having no water, and Tim insisting there is a rat infestation caused by Gregg's massive bags of popcorn all around the house, while Tim also begins a massage service at Movie House. Things come to a head after a burst pipe floods the house and the police raid the house accusing Tim of running a brothel from his "massage service", leading to the leaseholder to announce plans on evicting Movie House before the Oscar Special.