Jen and Doug reveal their all-time favorite basic cable shows, decade by decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>

Jon Stewart: Part 1

Before binging, there was cable. Welcome to Basic!, the official podcast bringing you the unofficial history of cable TV. Go behind the scenes of a glorious time in pop culture, when shows like MTV’s ‘The Real World,’ ESPN’s ‘SportsCenter’ and AMC’s ‘Breaking Bad’ made basic cable a must-have for every American home. With the help of guests like Jimmy Kimmel, Cindy Crawford and Amy Schumer, hosts Doug Herzog (former network executive at MTV, Comedy Central, Fox) and Jen Chaney (TV critic at New York Magazine/Vulture) explore basic cable history through the experimental shows, ground-breaking creators, and Zeitgeist-shifting trends that defined the medium. 2023 Signal Arts & Culture Listener’s Choice Award Winner. Part of Pantheon Podcasts.