Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer is a big fan of shows on MeTV

Spencer was recently on a podcast where she talked about her favorite MeTV shows and more!

Image credit: The Everett Collection

The award-winning actress Octavia Spencer has had a sucessful career in film so far. She is best known for her roles in feature films which include The Help, Hidden FiguresMa and more. 

Spencer is currently working on the Apple TV+ series, Truth Be Told. She plays the role of Poppy, a true-crime podcaster who tries to solve the mystery surrounding a family patriarch's death.

To kick off season three of Truth Be Told, Spencer was a guest on the January 19th episode of WTF with Marc Maron. Spencer talked about all things show business, the pandemic and more during the podcast, which is hosted by comedian and actor Marc Maron.

"The pandemic really made me think about things and prioritize things," she said. "The entertainment business isn't a frivolous business because what did we turn to when we were in lockdown and couldn't go anywhere? You turn to your books, your music, your film... and television. People needed that."

On the podcast, Maron and Spencer went on to talk about family, going back home and taking a break from their hectic lifestyles. According to the podcast, Spencer bought a house near her hometown. She would spend weeks there during the pandemic and between shoots.

Spencer started having an interest in acting around the age of seven. 

"I've always been a nerdy kid," she started. "I would be up at night watching old cop shows while my family was asleep. I would be up watching the cop shows, the procedurals." 

"Well, you're kind of in one now," Maron responded. 

"What's funny is that's what I went back to during Covid," she said. "I went back to Barnaby Jones...I'm talking old, old stuff from childhood."

And where does Spencer watch all of these classic TV shows? MeTV! According to the podcast, MeTV is Spencer's usual place for childhood nostalgia. We are honored.

"All of those shows actually pre-dated me," she said. "So when you think about it and you're up at night and they were in syndication, watching them... Cannon, Mannix... Kojak. I watched all of them."

"So that's where you got your comfort? Nerding out when you were a little kid, watching Barnaby Jones," Maron said.

"I think that we really spent a lot of time consuming, more time than we actually would if there hadn't been a pandemic," she said. "We had to be still and you had to fill that time with something."

Watch Cannon, Mannix and more of Spencer's favorite TV shows each week on MeTV. Check out the full MeTV schedule here. To listen to Spencer's full podcast episode, click here!

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32 Comments

Coldnorth 18 months ago
I loved her character on Mom and in the movie The Help
Charlotte 20 months ago
I with her, love those old crime shows, so retro!
frances3agape 20 months ago
She is GREAT !
I loved her in the Big Bang episode at the DMV when Sheldon "took" this driving license written test.
(Season 2, Episode 5 "The Euclid Alternative")
kkvegas frances3agape 20 months ago
“Don’t make me climb over this counter!”
frances3agape kkvegas 20 months ago
I am grinning like the Cheshire Cat remembering that. Would like to have that segment on a video loop to see/hear when I need cheering up.
SusanWilkinson 20 months ago
9, that last one. My family always enjoyed watching Godzilla movies.
JHP 20 months ago
don't know her from Adam:)
MaryMitch JHP 20 months ago
That's too bad - she's an Oscar winning actress, producer, and director.
JHP MaryMitch 20 months ago
and I don't watch the Oscars - orwell - my last movie I went to see in the cin was Nacho Libre - don't care about explosions and Uzi's triggered and people being blown up and flying in the air someplace _

I can see that on the news for free
epickett JHP 18 months ago
You must be REAL fun at parties...
JHP epickett 18 months ago
at Oscar parties - you bet (snicker snicker)

just keep picking
tootsieg 20 months ago
I read in People magazine that Dionne Warwick is a big fan of MeTV as well. She even mentioned all the shows she watches. I love it!!!
LoveMETV22 tootsieg 20 months ago
She also did an interview that was posted about a month ago.

https://www.vulture.com/2022/12/dionne-warwick-dont-make-me-over.html

Where the interviewer asks: " I’m wondering what you do now when you do have downtime. What do you watch or listen to?"
To which Dionne replied:
"I watch MeTV. MeTV has taken me back to my childhood television." (and a few other comments).

So there are celebrities and or note worthies that if the Network wished they could ask for an endorsement. It would certainly boost interest if viewers saw them in a promo/commercial. We've all probably seen Betty White, Jamie Farr, Dawn Wells promos. Maybe time for some new faces.
JHP LoveMETV22 20 months ago
am sure Jamie Farr does pimp M*A*S*H on Me-Tv - anyhoo in Se Wis
LoveMETV22 JHP 20 months ago
LOL, as far as Jamie Farr, we're all seeing him. However if there going to do a story on a celebrity endorsing the Network go further with it. As tootsieg discovered an article in "People" and I found an interview ( in written format) there are probably other celebrities that have mentioned the network as well.
JHP LoveMETV22 20 months ago
agreed - almost every ad for Me-Tv is cut to make it appear to endorse the network
MrsPhilHarris 20 months ago
I wonder if she does the quizzes and leaves comments? 🤔
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MrsPhilHarris Mblack 20 months ago
What? Elizabeth Walton comments on this site? 😃
MrsPhilHarris LoveMETV22 20 months ago
I have not, in fact I have not heard of it. 🤔 Love Sheldon lol.
Mblack MrsPhilHarris 20 months ago
No, I've never seen fictional characters here. Just actors who play them.
jd4862 20 months ago
Only thing I've seen her in is the sitcom "Mom".
MaryMitch jd4862 20 months ago
Check out the great movie "Hidden Figures".
Coldnorth jd4862 20 months ago
I loved her in Mom. Her role very funny
cperrynaples 20 months ago
Well if Octavia had played Alice you wouldn't eat her pies...LOL!
LoveMETV22 20 months ago
That's great that Octavia Spencer is a fan of MeTV. "Hidden Figures" is a great movie, about
African- American women and their struggles @ NASA during the Great Space Race. Not 100% sure but believe celebrities such as Judy Norton (The Walton's) and some other celebrities have made mention of the network, either on their social media pages or in interviews or videos. Sure Betty White, Jamie Farr and a few others have appeared in promo's or commercials, but maybe an article or promo with surviving celebrities mentioning MeTV, would be interesting in the future.
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