Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington give us "Siskel & Ebert" at the gates of hell

Few works of pop culture have a greater barrier to entry than "On Cinema at the Cinema," but even fewer are as rewarding for new viewers willing to invest countless hours of their lives. Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington's long-running Adult Swim series is apparently a parody of syndicated movie review shows like "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies," with each episode's entirety taking place on a talk show set. chintzy. But over 12 seasons and countless spinoffs, it evolved into something much, much stranger.

Each episode features Heidecker and Turkington hosting their own public access show about movies, with the pair reviewing movies they obviously haven't seen (a running gag is that every movie gets a perfect rating of "five bags of popcorn"). But the real action begins when the reviews end, as they often spend the majority of their airtime discussing the gruesome lives of the two hosts and their coterie of misfit crew members.

At its core, "On Cinema" is a window into the lives of two of the most twisted and pathetic characters imaginable (Heidecker and Turkington use their real names, but that's where s stop the similarities). Heidecker plays a Trump-loving narcissist who thinks he can pull off anything, frequently hijacking the show to promote his failing music, business and political careers. Turkington is equally worthless, portraying a self-proclaimed "movie expert" who spends most of his life passively and aggressively shooting anyone in his vicinity. Through their conversations about the movies (and frequent tangents), viewers have become privy to the health issues, legal issues, financial troubles, and other misfortunes of the characters who often conjure up the image of Sophocles working in the "Fernwood Tonight" writers room. p>

And with a list of spinoffs growing by the minute, the series has gradually evolved into a sprawling and unnecessarily complex fictional universe. In addition to the flagship show, the "On Cinema" universe produced six seasons of "Decker," a deliberately terrible spy series written and directed by the fictionalized version of Heidecker; “The Trial of Tim Heidecker,” a four-hour extravaganza that sees Heidecker on trial for poisoning 19 teenagers with counterfeit vape pens at an ill-fated music festival; "Mr. America," a feature-length mockumentary about Heidecker running for political office after his trial; a dozen four-hour Oscar specials that frequently result in serious injury or death; and more content online. Abridged line about the various misfits and scoundrels hanging around Tim and Gregg.

For years, all of this content has been produced by Adult Swim, home of Heidecker's popular "Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job" and his many other side projects. But when network support dried up in 2020, Heidecker and Turkington struck out on their own and launched , a new streaming service designed exclusively to produce and distribute "On Cinema" content. They brilliantly combined art and commerce by having the fictional Tim Heidecker launch his own streaming service in the universe of the series, turning their distribution model into the subject of endless punchlines.

The elaborate meta joke is very brand-driven, but HEI Network is also a bold experiment that could have real implications for independent artists looking for new production and distribution models. By cutting out the middleman, Heidecker and Turkington can produce as much "On Cinema" content as fans are willing to pay.

"It's great because we don't have to hold our hats and beg anymore," Turkington said, speaking to IndieWire from Australia. "Whatever money comes in, that's what we can spend on doing shows. It's so much easier."

While they haven't released numbers, Heidecker and Turkington say the HEI Network has exceeded financial expectations since its launch last year. This success is a testament to "On Cinema's" passionate fanbase, who passionately divide themselves into "TimHeads" and "GreggHeads" and use their social media accounts to pour gas over various feuds between the two characters. Their direct financial support allows Heidecker and Turkington to continue producing the show without fear of Adult Swim's cancellation, and any additional money is used to produce spinoffs that flesh out the sprawling, screwed-up universe that is "On Cinema." at the Cinema".