On Cinema

Premise

Tim and Gregg "review" films without actually providing any meaningful information or critical insight. Beginning with the video series, they each give a rating from one to five "bags of popcorn". Almost every film gets a score of "5 bags" or higher from both reviewers. Many episodes also include special segments, usually from Gregg.

Episodes of On Cinema are often interrupted by petty arguments. Tim tends to derail the show with issues from his personal life, especially his problematic romantic entanglements and bizarre medical problems, much to the chagrin of Gregg, who prefers to focus on the movies. Gregg produces low-quality segments like "On Cinema On Location" which provoke anger and harsh criticism from Tim.

Major characters

Tim Heidecker

Played by Tim Heidecker as a fictionalized version of himself, Tim is the creator and host of On Cinema. He appears to know very little about the films he is discussing, and in some episodes has clearly not bothered watching them, although he is a fan of Tom Cruise and Jack Reacher. Tim often uses his show to discuss his conservative views, his personal problems, and to promote his other projects, like his action series Decker, his band Dekkar, and his company HEI Inc.

Tim is an aggressive and egomaniacal alcoholic; he tends to drink heavily during the Oscar specials and begin ranting and berating his costars. He has an estranged teenage son from his first marriage, which ended after he underwent brain surgery against the wishes of his wife. He then married Ayaka, a foreign exchange student, and the two had a son, Tom Cruise Jr. Heidecker. Tom Cruise Jr. died after Tim refused to have him vaccinated, and the marriage soon ended. Tim then became involved with Toni Newman, his aide during his campaign for San Bernardino district attorney. They married twice, but following an affair and a trip to rehab, a newly sober Toni divorced Tim. Later, after Toni’s son Matt was shot and killed, they reconciled and married again. While attempting to get the marriage license certified, Tim accidentally changed his name to "Newman Heidecker".

Gregg Turkington

Played by Gregg Turkington as a fictionalized version of himself, Gregg acts as the cohost of On Cinema and appears in nearly every episode, although Tim almost always refers to him as a "guest". Gregg is a self-described film buff and movie expert, although his knowledge mostly consists of dull and obscure trivia. He is generally naive and ignorant about the movie industry; for example, he regularly predicted that the Hobbit movies would win Best Picture despite never being nominated, believing that the Academy has a "write-in section". Gregg is generally annoyed by Tim's distracting antics and believes that On Cinema should be devoted exclusively to "the movies".

Gregg has an extensive collection of VHS cassettes located in Victorville, California, which he refers to as the Victorville Film Archive. He frequently claims that it is one of the largest film archives in North America, though its exact size is unknown and Tim has destroyed it on multiple occasions. Gregg produces many of the show's recurring segments, including "Popcorn Classics", in which he showcases a VHS tape from his collection, and "On Cinema On Location", where he visits Hollywood "landmarks" (usually minor shooting locations from forgotten movies). Gregg also plays Special Agent Jonathan Kington on Decker. Gregg has contempt for and is visually annoyed with Tim's antics, openly antagonizing Tim when speaking on a topic not related to the films they're reviewing, often Tim's right-wing conspiracy theories or hypocrisy. He returns to On Cinema despite this, hoping to keep Tim focused on the movies and to be made an official co-host of the show.

Recurring characters

Joe Estevez (as himself): Joe is an actor, a frequent guest on On Cinema and a friend of both Tim and Gregg. He is friendly and forbearing and often supports the show's side projects. He portrays President Davidson/President Davidson Jr. on Decker and as the King of Hearts in Deck of Cards (2019)

Mark Proksch (as himself): Mark is a celebrity impersonator who was originally hired by Tim and Gregg for the second Oscar special. He specializes in impersonating classic comedians like W.C. Fields and the Three Stooges. He uses a very similar voice in all of his "impressions", which consist of Mark in amateurish costumes flatly reciting biographic information about the subject, often including the date of their death. Tim and Gregg often use him for various odd jobs, and he is the frequent object of verbal and physical abuse, especially from Tim. He played various minor characters in Decker.

Ayaka Ohtani (portrayed by Ayaka Ohwaki): Ayaka was a foreign exchange student who stayed with Tim's family. She had a brief relationship with Tim before she was deported back to Japan, where she gave birth to their son, Tom Cruise Jr. She briefly returned to live with Tim and their son at Gregg's apartment, forcing Gregg to live in a storage unit. After their son's death, Ayaka moved back to Japan. She returned to testify at Tim's trial, stating she'd remarried and started a family in Japan, much to Tim's dismay.

Dr. San (portrayed by Zac Holtzman): Luther Sanchez, more commonly referred to as "Dr. San", was a con-man and practitioner of alternative medicine, serving first as Tim's acupuncturist and later as his family physician after Tom Cruise Jr. was born. Dr. San tricked Tim out of large sums of money for dangerous medical treatments, convinced him not to vaccinate his child, and provided him with toxic vape pens that poisoned him and killed 19 people at Tim's music festival. He was arrested along with Tim and committed suicide while in custody.

Tom Cruise Jr. Heidecker: Tim and Ayaka's son, named by Ayaka after Tim's favorite actor Tom Cruise. He died of an unknown illness as an infant, likely due to Dr San's poor medical treatments.

Alessandro "Axiom" Serradimigni (as himself): Axiom is an Italian guitar player who became the second member of Dekkar after meeting Tim at Guitar Center. Axiom is very loyal to Tim and even donated his hand after Tim lost his. He has a sister, Julianna, who Tim was briefly married to. During the tenth annual Oscar Special, it is revealed by Gregg that Tim attempted to murder Axiom and Manuel by wrecking their tour bus.

Series overview

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.

Production

Heidecker has stated that On Cinema was started out of a desire to mock the podcasting community. The first episode was recorded on the set of The Comedy, where Heidecker and Turkington were working together, after Heidecker proposed the idea between takes. In April 2017, On Cinema initiated a Patreon page for funding, most of it going to the Oscar specials, with some of the higher options including receiving producer credits, walk-on roles for the Oscar specials, or live custom Skype reviews from Gregg Turkington.

In 2013, the On Cinema Film Guide app was released, featuring the voices of Turkington and Heidecker reviewing over 17,000 films.

The series moved premieres to Adult Swim's online live streams in 2017, with the series continuing to be posted on YouTube on a delay. The Adult Swim streams later picked up a fan-show series, Big Unhappy Family, in 2019, as a companion to season 11 and Mister America. However, in late 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic and layoffs that shuttered the Adult Swim streams, it was announced that the show would move from Adult Swim's platforms to HEI Network, an independent streaming service created for the series.

Reception

The show has a dedicated cult following of fans who interact with the storylines via social media, often taking sides as "GreggHeads" or "TimHeads" in the frequent personal conflicts between the hosts which are often only tangentially, if at all, related to films or cinema. During the annual live Oscar special, Tim and Gregg both frequently provide interactive elements via online polls for fans to vote on. This cult following is especially found on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, the latter through Gregg and Tim's respective profiles, of which Gregg has completely devoted to the persona of his alter-ego. Heidecker and Turkington have also appeared in character on the podcasts Kreative Kontrol with Vish Khanna and The Best Show in 2015 and 2017.

Heidecker and Turkington also started Decker-Con, where new episodes of Decker are shown to fans and the cast appears as their On Cinema characters to field questions.

For "The Trial", Heidecker and Turkington upended the traditional review aspect of the series, and staged a mock event where Tim's character was on trial for murder, which lasted over a week. It received acclaim from observers, some of whom called it "brilliant" and "ambitious."

Touring

In 2018 and 2019, Heidecker and Turkington initiated a nationwide On Cinema Live! tour with special guests from the On Cinema/Decker universe such as Joe Estevez and John C. Reilly, the band Dekkar and special content created only for the tour, such as live reviewing various major release films, including Superfly, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Ant Man & The Wasp. In 2026, Heidecker and Turkington again toured On Cinema Live! nationwide, starting March 21 in Chicago and making stops in Toronto, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and other cities. The tour ended in Los Angeles on April 17.