FPM Play

FPM Play is a pop culture show run by a kid. Jacob Echevarria calls himself the host, and he acts like it: he announces the segments and keeps things moving. Beside him is his father, Andres, whom Jacob calls Poppy. The dad plays support. He reminds Jacob to do introductions, prompts him on the plan for the day and explains the history behind whatever his son is excited about. That history is where the pairing earns its keep. When Jacob describes leveling up in Crackdown until he can pick up cars, his dad remembers playing the original on the 360. When a new Mortal Kombat comes up, he notes that he played Mortal Kombat 2 on his Super Nintendo in college, and the two of them marvel at how long the series has lasted. Movies lead several episodes. Alita Battle Angel, Glass and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part each get a review, and the Glass episode closes on a wry line about waiting for the next good M. Night Shyamalan movie. Named segments give each episode its shape. Check It Out is for recommendations, Can't Wait is for whatever someone is looking forward to, and FPM Play News has the dad searching the internet for recent pop culture headlines to react to. Other episodes add a Review of the Week, FPM Play Trivia or a round of summer favorites. The guests change from episode to episode, and many of them are kids. Jacob's eight-year-old brother Alex, friend Noah and her sister Sydney, and siblings Logan and Kira all join at different points, while a year-end episode with Kieran and Mr. Wood covers games like Cuphead and Forza Horizon 3 with its Hot Wheels add-on. The Can't Wait picks go beyond screens: Sydney looks ahead to a Disney show arriving with the Broadway series in Charlotte, and Alex is counting down to Ugly Dolls. Two episodes break from the usual pattern. One includes an interview with Joey Weiser, author of the Merman books, as part of a back-to-school episode. Another brings together kids from a Jack and Jill group, which the episode describes as a mothers' organization preparing the next generation of African American leaders, with two guests from a local radio station, to learn about careers in broadcasting. In that episode the kids argue openly about a movie: one calls its plot unbelievable, and another says the details were explained if you were paying attention. The energy is loose. Siblings tease each other, guests come and go partway through, and one sign-off includes a joke that Jacob needs a business card. For a family that wants to hear a kid and a parent talk through movies and games together, it works as a model as much as a show.