Making Our Pitch For The Studio

Tara: [0:21] Wrong? How would you fuck him? I don't fuck him. What are we talking about? This has nothing to do with anything. Dave: [0:31] This is the Extra Extra Hot GreatPodcast, episode 346 for the March 29th, 2025 weekend. I am Worst Case Scenario David T. Cole, and I'm here with Flavor Aid Truther Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [0:52] Well, actually. Dave: [0:54] And just a D-girl Tara Ariano. Tara: [0:57] What did you call me? Tara: [1:06] Welcome to Extra, Extra Hot Great for another weekend. Thank you very much for being here. We're thrilled to have your support. We're thrilled to be able to make these episodes for you. And we're thrilled, question mark, I mean, some of us are, we'll see, to be talking about the studio in which Matt Remick, Seth Rogen, has been a development executive at Continental Studios for almost three decades. When his mentor Patty Lee, Catherine O'Hara, is pushed out, Matt gets promoted to studio head by assuring his CEO, Griffin Mill, Bryan Cranston, that yes, of course he can build a successful franchise out of the IP that is Kool-Aid. Over the season, Matt has to deal with a director he's scared to give notes to, a project that has lost a whole reel of film, a collaborator who won't commit to thank him in award speech and maybe worst of all a gala full of civilians who don't respect what he does for a living just because they happen to be medical doctors the show was created by rogan his producing partner evan goldberg and a bunch of other comedy writers the first two episodes dropped on apple tv plus march 26th with the remaining eight following each wednesday for the rest of the season let's do the chen check-in sarah should our listeners watch the studio. Sarah: [2:21] Yeah, I think they should. Tara: [2:23] Oh, I'm surprised. I'm pleasantly surprised. Yes. Dave: [2:28] Sarah hates everything. Tara: [2:29] No, I just... Sarah: [2:30] It's true. Dave: [2:31] Enemy of comedy, Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [2:33] That's me. Dave: [2:34] Finally, Relent's News at 11. Tara: [2:36] I feel like this is probably going to be a polarizing show, as I wrote in my review. And so I figured Sarah would be on the opposite pole of me, but I'm surprised. Dave? Dave: [2:46] I'm going to say yes, but there's a foundational issue you have to address. And perhaps after you do the Chen check-in, I can give that little treatise as a survival guide to watching this show. Tara: [2:58] Yeah, absolutely. I'm a yes as well. Okay, Dave, what's your caveat? Dave: [3:03] So there's a foundational issue with Seth Rogen's studio head character, Matt, that you have to dismiss in order to make the universe of the studio actually click. And that is, there's no way someone in the business at this level for that long is running around and acting like Dennis Leary from Dawson's Creek in regard to the sanctity of cinema and the hero worship of everybody within it. Tara: [3:31] Wait, Dennis Leary in Dawson's Creek? Sarah: [3:34] Leave it. I said, leave it. Tara: [3:36] Okay, fine. Dave: [3:37] Dawson Leary in Dawson's Creek. Sarah: [3:40] He's an asshole asshole. Dave: [3:42] Okay but you know what i'm talking about right he doesn't have that dawson leary wide eye yes yes cinephile in training yes yes mojo yes or he shouldn't rather so the trick is you need your brain to get there and this is this is how you do it take somebody that we know that's sort of in the cinephile-esque area. Let's take Taylor Cole. Tara: [4:10] Right? Dave: [4:10] Loves his movies. His dream when he wins the lottery is to open up an art house theater that loses money every year. Tara: [4:17] With a store attached that sells physical media. Dave: [4:20] That's right. Tara: [4:20] Yep. We love you, Taylor. We love you. Dave: [4:22] Let's rewind Taylor back, let's say 10 years or so, right? Because he's an old man now, but let's look at his late teens, early 20s, kind of, you know, we've all been there. Tara: [4:32] Mm-hmm. Dave: [4:33] He is walking on the boardwalk and there's this fortune teller machine there. It's called Zoltar, Z-O-L-T-A-R. And he puts a coin in it and he wishes that he could be a movie executive when he's big. And then Kazama Kablamo, 17-year-old Taylor Cole is now Matt in the studio. Tara: [4:57] Yeah. Dave: [4:58] And that is like kind of the dumb way I have to work around this because I don't think Seth Rogen's character would be like this stupid and naive about a lot of the things that need to happen in order to move the plots along for all the various episodes. It's a very stupid little nitpick, but like it is pretty foundational that Seth Rogen's character has been in the business this long and is still acting like that 17-year-old Taylor Cole. Tara: [5:23] Yes, this is a point that Richard Lawson made and he was much more negative on the show. Dave: [5:27] Well, I came up with it myself. Tara: [5:28] I know, I'm not saying that you ripped him off. Dave: [5:30] Sometimes I have my own ideas, Tara. Tara: [5:32] I know that. I'm just directing our listeners to the show notes because we linked to Richard's review as well. Dave: [5:38] You think sometimes Richard Lawson drinks coffee? You know who did it first? Me. Tara: [5:43] Well, only because you're much older. Dave: [5:44] That's right. Tara: [5:45] But yes, I agree. I mean, I was more positive in the show, like I said, but that is an issue. And not only that, that he would be that naive, but that he would be so hapless. I mean, I think the word that Richard uses is oaf, which like, you know, he's likable, but it's true. Like Like, someone who is in this position is very powerful. And, like, in almost every interaction we see him in, because, you know, he's the protagonist of the show. He's usually behind the eight ball. And, like, sometimes that makes sense, and sometimes it doesn't. Dave: [6:13] Right. I mean, the mitigating circumstance... in the premise of the show is that in the first episode, his boss, his mentor gets fired and then he's elevated to the position. So, you know, suddenly all eyes are on him. That's different, but still all the things that he does, like the whole premise of the first episode is that Bryan Cranston's studio executive, the guy who owns the whole thing, he has the Kool-Aid IP in his pocket and he wants to do something with it, you know, Barbie style. And he drops that in Matt's lap. He says, all right, do it. And Matt's still in, I need to make films, not movies mode. So he manages to take Martin Scorsese's Jonestown movie idea and put the Kool-Aid IP directly on top of that, despite the fact that it wasn't Kool-Aids, as Sarah D. Bundy said on top. But that is sort of the dumb things he's doing. And obviously I don't buy that from a people in the real world, But in order for the comedy of this show to work, I'm in for it because the show beyond all that is actually very funny. Tara: [7:16] Yeah. Well, since you brought it up, I'm going to throw this to Sarah to do a tight 10 on the flavor aid Kool-Aid thing. Because I truly, and I put this in my review, which will also link in the show notes. I was waiting for someone in the episode to say, you can't do that. It wasn't Kool-Aid. No one does. And that was the most shocking thing to me. Sarah: [7:33] No, they did. Tara: [7:34] Did they? Sarah: [7:34] They actually did. someone like off there was like a wild line from um quinn i think it was like wasn't it flavor aid yeah my um esteemed co-editor-in-chief at best evidence eve baity and i were like in slack like, flavor aid flavor a oh thank you i mean someone did do it because they knew that we assholes would be clocking it it. Dave: [7:57] Could it could have been an adr line if you were watching screeners i wonder if it was because i did watch the screeners yeah you watched it a while ago yeah okay but. Tara: [8:04] Anyway sarah Go ahead. Sarah: [8:05] Dave's point is taken and Richard Lawson's whomever might have made it first. But obviously it was Dave. But I think what I really what's really struck me about the show is the pacing of it and the way that even if certain things about it are not necessarily that credible or like they get stuck in a sort of like go down a side street of tone that you're like, I don't really want to be here, then you're not there for that long. Like the pacing of it is really confident and quick. And it understands like they have certain jokes that they want to make and things that they want to say about the industry, about the like, I mean, wheeling and dealing is such an exhausted, it's like tycoon. Nobody says that shit except Robin Leach and Dominic Dunn. May they rest? Tara: [9:01] Uh-huh. Sarah: [9:02] The idea that everyone is compromised and everyone is cynical about everything, but then sometimes there are these quiet little moments where there is this deep fondness for the industry and deep love of the process that come through, and it's confident about that too. So what I really liked about this, I think, is almost a meta thing, which is that it has certain things that it wants to do, and it's very confident about its pace and changing tone if it has to. so there are things about it that really aren't credible but it it keeps the shit moving so you don't like you're not you don't have the opportunity to be like would uh this guy who's you know sobbing and doing bumps around a corner after congratulating matt on getting promoted would would this person still be functional in hollywood like look we've all we've. Dave: [10:01] All done And cocaine, is that what you're about to say, Sarah? Sarah: [10:06] Yes, obviously. That's what I was about to say. But you did it first, is what I definitely wanted to stress. Dave: [10:15] A lot of what you say, a lot of the qualities of what you just said, remind me a lot of the first season of The Bear. Like a fondness for the industry, certainly a return to comedy first versus, not that I think The Bear season was like a comedy first, but it was definitely more a... more comedy than dramedy mixture than we got later on. And then episode two of the studio really reminded me of the bear episode where the door dash ticketing system goes crazy. Dave: [10:48] Episode two, which is like, as of right now, when we're recording, this is the second of the two available to the public is called the one-er. And it's about the set pieces. Sarah Pauly's directing a movie with Greta Lee and they are doing a big Goodfellas-esque one shot through a California home for the finale of this movie. And Matt is still very fresh to his new job and just sort of wants to be everybody's buddy studio head. You know, like he's really needs to demonstrate his love for cinema and he wants to be there for the shot, even though it's going to be just everybody knows it's going to be destructive to the scene and it is and is excruciating how many things they chain together that he does to fuck up this shoot and it was really well done i honestly give it a little breathing room i could come back circle back and and and make a pitch for that for the canon i really thought that was the best i think you know i watched a few episodes ahead i haven't gotten to the end yet just because of timing but to have watched some of these screeners and that one stands out to me as the best episode so far number two. Tara: [11:59] Having watched the whole season, it's definitely the best episode of the season. Not to say the rest are bad. I mean, the last two I'm not super wild about. But if you're trying to decide how to structure your season and you know the first two are going to drop together, that's an excellent second two-episode drop. Dave: [12:17] But the other thing about what they're doing is it's sort of somewhere in between something like The Bear, where it's like one big story, and something like, you know, studio vignettes. because like each episode has like a different hook. Like the second one called The One-er, you know, is about disruption to them trying to shoot this all in one scene. There is a sort of gumshoe mystery episode that they set up where the studio head and Ike, how do you say his last name? Tara: [12:46] Barinholtz. Dave: [12:47] Barinholtz are basically like noir detectives, even though they're like muckety-mucks high up at the studio. There's sort of like feet on the ground trying to figure out a movie-related mystery. like you could actually probably watch these in random order after the first one and you'd be fine so I thought that was nice like they're short they're sort of contained beyond sort of Matt's journey of getting his sea legs and I thought that was a nice little change of pace too mm-hmm. Tara: [13:13] To backtrack to the first episode, Sarah, are you a little mad now that you can't see a Jonestown movie directed by Martin Scorsese? Or do you hope that's still something he circles back to? Sarah: [13:24] I am. I feel like the rumor mill sort of mid-pandemic lockdown was talking about how there was going to be a Jonestown and it was going to be Leo. Yeah, I'm a little mad about that. I feel like even I definitely had a discussion about like where that Rolling Stones break that Scorsese loves would go in that Jonestown movie that it's like, do you use it in the opening credits this time? Tara: [13:52] Yeah. Sarah: [13:53] That is kind of a bummer. And this is how you can tell the whole project is coming from a place of deep knowledge and like fond exasperation is how many people they got to play themselves. and just that scene in the premiere where paul dano and peterberg are just like, we're all good on ideas yeah and then just like move on and they're talking about charlie's party and then charlie's later in the things like get the fuck out of my house i mean the number of people that they got to do this is impressive and i think speaks to people wanting to be a part of and responding to deep, fond exasperation that you have for family who ate paint when they were kids. Tara: [14:38] Yeah. It's clear that he called in every favor that he has, and some of them are people like his co-star from The Long Shot, Charlize Theron, and some of them are people from The Boys who we'll see later on in the season, which is fun. And before you say the idea of a prestige director like Martin Scorsese doing a Kool-Aid movie is outlandish, there's a story on Variety this morning sorry yesterday as we're recording this where Seth Rogen reveals that Ridley Scott had a pitch for a Monopoly movie so like that in the show notes too. Sarah: [15:11] Sure. And also, if you thought that this was based on John Gregory Dunn's The Studio, you should track that down and read it. And it's not not that. So we can link that in the show notes as well. Tara: [15:24] The other thing that makes this very distinctive is the costume and production design, which like are so, they all have the same sort of tone. Everyone's like in browns. It makes it look sort of culty, but it's also gives us like an uncanny feel like this is from the same universe where Pennyworth is set just a few years later or something. Dave, what did you think about the look and feel? Dave: [15:46] Yeah, it is. It's sort of like it's got one hand back in the 70s with its fashion design. the studio is also set in a frank lord wright design mayan temple skyscraper so that whole thing is like it's got a lot of weirdness to it it feels chinatown era hollywood but also like a lot of the beats of the episodes also feel like pre-code sort of storylines and sort of rhythms and things like that you know you know i hate to say love letter because yeah but like it uh it Does have that, but it's not so slavish that you're like, ugh, you know, like when it gets to the cinemaphile territory, like it just feels like I'm here to have a good time and I like movies and I like film as well. Yeah. And this is the product that I'm giving you. And I appreciate that. Dave: [16:39] No, what else I appreciate? Oh, it's the theme, the theme to Ask EHG, which is what you're listening to right now and is why you're so happy. All right, let's do this. E-H-G, comma, ask. Action. All right. We've got a whole bunch of judgments to catch up on, so let's do just that. Sarah D. Bunting is going to handle all of them. Sarah: [17:15] Yeah, I'm going to woman-handle all of them. All right. from episode 343, Seekent said, there are actors who no one thinks much about but are good in almost everything, get remarked for it, then are forgotten about until their next project. You know who's actually really good in this? James Marsden. Who, Seekent asks, is your James Marsden? Tara, who is your James Marsden? Tara: [17:39] My James Marsden is in a show right now. It's Michelle Monaghan, so good in The White Lotus, very naturalistic style. And she did the same sort of a thing in a very different role last year in Bad Monkey, where she just doesn't feel like she's acting. She's just being like that in a way that I haven't seen since, I'll say it, the late Anne Hayes, who I thought had that quality as well. So Michelle Monaghan is my pick for this. Sarah: [18:06] Excellent choice. Dave. Dave: [18:08] I'm going to go with David Strathairn. Strathairn. I always forget about him when he's not on my screen, but when he's on my screen, he's like, oh yeah, I like that guy. He's always in good stuff. Also, his sort of like career position doppelganger. I'm just doing this on the fly, so I don't have his name handy. He is the old confused grandpa from Slow Horses. Tara: [18:28] Oh. Dave: [18:29] He was also in Game of Thrones. Tara: [18:30] Shit, Jonathan Pryce. Dave: [18:31] Jonathan Pryce. Sarah: [18:32] Yes. Dave: [18:32] I think they're of the same ilk. I think like once he's, this is going to be something so both of those guys. Sarah: [18:37] Yeah good choice also. Dave: [18:40] Before you get into i just want to give thumbs up to c ken for after a couple days answering his own question with i think it's james marsden. Sarah: [18:47] I mean that is my answer which is why i don't really have an answer for this um so we had a couple of good ones here erica said jimmy simpson i just like watching that guy work and i totally agree yep uh sean mcp nominated rosemary dewitt totally agree always think she's great but obviously since c kent asked this question there can only be one winning answer and that is from k did or k did who answered michael raymond james of terriers so hey or k did Please, you know, accept our thanks for that gag. Dave: [19:31] Hey, Seekent, you like regurgitated apples? Sarah: [19:39] Okay, so moving on. In 344, To Pickles asked, thinking about the less common holiday traditions that we see on television, which would you never, ever adopt in your home? And our co-hosts also have answers to this one. Tara, start us off. Tara: [19:58] Off of the Katie Holmes Day episode of AP Bio, I'm going to say don't put blueberry muffins in shoes. Just don't do it. It's a good way to ruin your shoe and your muffin. Sarah: [20:07] Yeah, I think that's an excellent point. And I'm going to stitch it on a pillow. David T. Cole. Dave: [20:13] Well, this is an uncommon, but I just want to say I am very much in favor of issuing the part of the Christmas tradition where you go home to your hometown and revisit your family. I'm pretty much. Tara: [20:24] That's true. We don't do that anymore. Dave: [20:26] Yeah. Or like stay home. Nope. That involves money and days lost and travel and a lot of like, so, you know, Zoom it is. Tara: [20:36] Lazy Christmas. Sarah: [20:39] Yeah. I've adopted this for my birthdays and I have no regrets. Dave: [20:43] Nice. Sarah: [20:44] Bezoar Laura said, insanely good Halloween costumes on broke characters. Tara: [20:49] Yeah. Sarah: [20:50] Are not something that she understands. Dave: [20:52] Yeah, but I love that tree. Sarah: [20:54] Our esteemed colleague, Andy Dennert, said TV characters who wait to decorate until Christmas Eve, like, what's the point? Are you just going to take it down in like three days? Why? But our winner is Erica, who no thanks mistletoe and said, quote, I like kissing just fine, but that's a great way to get sick and or uncomfortable and agree. And I've actually never seen it in life. So you are smart. And Erica, you are our winner. And finally, from episode 345, Anne with an E asked, you've gotten the opportunity to compete on America's Best Dance Crew with a crew of some of your favorite TV characters. What's the name of your crew? Who are you dancing with? And what is your gimmick? erica once again in the finals with our name is the 10 left feet our gimmick is that we're terrible and we consist of me angel elaine bennis michael scott and diane from cheers which chef's kiss. Sarah: [21:56] Cassandra wanted to clone jason mendoza from the good place agree but our winner is meredith the solid gold dancers of course and we're keeping the name and really can't really can't argue with that. So winners, here's the deal. Little twist. I have an extra copy of Alan Sepinwall's Better Call Saul book. So if any of you would like to contact me by a direct message on Discord to see about that, I will ship it anywhere in the world. And if you want the stickers, contact Dave on Discord and collect your prizes. And thank you everyone for contributing. Dave: [22:36] All right. Thank you, Sarah, for all those judgments. Let's get to your questions for us. Oh, and by the way, please give us lots of Ask EHG questions. We have need of a sort of surplus for episodes that we're taping in the near future. We have a lot in Hopper, but we would enjoy more. So check out the show notes. You don't need to be on the Discord to ask a question. There's also a Google form and there's a link to that in the show notes. All right, let's get to your questions. Elsbeth is first. All right. On Warehouse 13, the TV show, the premise is that the objects exposed to extreme emotions can be imbued with related properties. They range from mild on the show, Richard Nixon's shoes make you a compulsive liar, to the deadly, the binoculars on the Enola Gay, instantly emulate anyone observed through them. What is an item associated with a scripted TV character you'd propose as a Warehouse 13-style artifact, and what would its properties be? Elizabeth gives us a example. I suggest Norm's bar seal from Cheers, which gives you insatiable thirst and the inability to get drunk. All right. So Faustian bargains, I guess. Tara, what is your Warehouse 13 artifact? Tara: [23:48] It's the assistant's desk outside of Murphy Brown's office, which makes you incompetent to perform basic office support steps, just like all of her assistants. Sarah. Sarah: [24:00] Paige's cross necklace from the Americans makes you an annoying buzzkill and. Sarah: [24:05] Limits you to only two facial expressions. You will, however, have access to unlimited excellent mid-80s sweaters. Dave? Dave: [24:14] I'm going to go with Kevin's Sisyphusian pot of chili from The Office. It curses you to destroy the complicated project you've been working on only at the 11th hour, and then you have to start again. I have a question for you. It's not on the chart, but I'm going to throw it in here. Do you think our current hellscape is any way directly contributable to the lack of adorkable entertainment since the end of New Girl? Tara: [24:40] I mean, I can tell you that the next Elizabeth Merriweather show is very not adorkable. That is for sure. It's good, but it's not that. Sarah: [24:49] British cozy mysteries and also British nonfiction mysteries like Lucy Worsley investigates. They're pretty adorkable. So I'm going to say no. Dave: [25:01] All right. Bizarre Laura, which Nonac was the most painful to watch? Sarah, which Nonac hurt you the most? Sarah: [25:07] Moonlighting season five episode one that is in episode 453 our guest was Monty Ashley I'm not not still a little mad at Monty Dave. Dave: [25:19] Yeah, I mean, when you have to say, like, which is the one that sort of hurt your soul the most, like, there's known acts that are bad in a way that I can appreciate as entertainment to themselves. And that moodletting episode was definitely that, which was, it was so ill-conceived and so apart from everything else the show did that I sort of saw it as this, like, weird little oystery nugget. Tara: [25:43] You know it's like it's. Dave: [25:44] So bad it kind of goes around to being terribly. Tara: [25:47] Entertaining yeah i. Dave: [25:49] Appreciate the answer but i'm saying that's kind of why i'm not there. Tara: [25:52] Yeah i think that's an episode that definitely benefited from being watched with another person because dave and i usually watch stuff together for the podcast and there was many moments where we're just looking at each other like the fuck is this yeah that never ended. Dave: [26:07] So i kind of like went to something that was like painful. Like we're always dealing with a bad episode of a good show, but like ones that are particularly wounding because the show is much better than that. Tara: [26:20] Yeah. Dave: [26:21] They're definitely not as memorable as the Moonlighting one, but I'm going to go with the Geisha episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was really bad because that's like a really funny, solid show. You know, it was your 30 Rock after 30 Rock ended. But also I'm going to put in Empty Nests, the backdoor pilot episode of the Golden Girls that ended with, hey, Harold, do me a favor. What? Never die. Remember that? Remember that one? That was really bad. Sarah: [26:49] Too. Dave: [26:49] I mean, these are moments in No Nack episodes that I remember the most. There's a lot of ones on the list that are definitely contenders for this, but those were two that stuck out for me. Tara? Tara: [27:02] Yeah, I'm going to say the Golden Girls one was good. I forgot about that. But I'm going to say the series finale of How I Met Your Mother, which was unfunny and so, so, so, so long, which this wasn't the question, but I'm also going to apply this to the MASH finale for the canon. Sarah: [27:20] Oh, God. Tara: [27:22] Endless! Dave: [27:23] Not a chicken! Seth, now that we're way into the first season of The Pit, does the panel have a new favorite staff member or a favorite case? So it's going to be Dr. Mel. protect Dr. Mel at all costs and then if we're not talking about doctors, we're talking about Dana so protect Dana at all costs even though we failed to protect Dana at all costs as we already know so. Tara: [27:47] Yeah, ditto on Dana, of course, the best. In terms of doctors, I also love Mel, but since you said her, and I'm not going to change on Dana, but my second favorite doctor is McKay, Dr. Bangs. Dave: [27:58] Oh, sure. Tara: [27:59] I think she's great. And there's some casting coming up with her character that made me go, blah! I was very excited to see that person come through. It was very cute. Sarah? Sarah: [28:09] I am a basic, but Dr. Robbie is my favorite staff member. I like Dana, but she can be a little too awesome. sometimes. I love Mel also, but she makes me a little anxious as well. Favorite case? Favorite is not a word that you necessarily want when it comes to the show, but I was so impressed with how they ratcheted up the tension around the mass shooting, including the, are they over-preparing for this before the patients start coming in? I thought it was very effective. Dave: [28:43] I liked how they ratcheted up the suspense for the guy that was constipated and needed a fleet enema. Tara: [28:50] I love how they ratcheted up the tension around the rats that were in the ER as well. Dave: [28:55] The rats were pretty great. Tara: [28:57] That was good. Dave: [28:58] Yeah, and the rat catcher, of course. Tara: [28:59] I will say that although doctors are saying the show is extremely realistic, there apparently is someone who's like an ER doctor who's reviewing every episode on YouTube and saying like, yep, this feels like a shift. one of the co-hosts of What a Time to Be Alive, which past guest, and hopefully future guest, although he works days so it's hard, but Pat Monaghan is also a host over there. Anyway, Kat Barbadoro has said, the one thing that's not realistic about the pit is that all of the nurses are woke, which apparently is not the case if you go to a real hospital. There's a lot of conspiratorial thinking among nurses. Endemic in this timeline, I hear. I cannot speak to that, but I I believe her. Sarah: [29:41] Yep. Dave: [29:42] And with an E, can we get a Chen check-in on Dr. Fuckboat as we sit in its season now? Tara: [29:49] I mean, I can't recommend watching it alone. It's not a good show, but it has, we have kept up the watch party tradition and it's been a lot of fun to watch it again with a group, not just with one other person, with a bunch of other person, persons in captain's hats just yelling at the screen and screaming at ridiculous things that happen and that has been a joy. Dev. Dave: [30:11] Yeah, I don't know what a, I guess it's an autopsy. I was going to say, I don't know what a postmortem is when you're doing it in real time, but I guess that's an autopsy. So we're doing an autopsy on the show as we watch it with a whole bunch of other people, which makes it a lot more fun. I do feel like the show is in danger of lone starring itself, which is it was so great out of the gate and so bonkers and doing weird, fresh shit every week for a while. And then we're here and I feel like it's settling down. Like we had a shark attack episode that ended up just being there were followed by whales. Like, like just remark, like good on the marketing team for selling it. But like once your ass is in the seat and you watch it, you're like, oh. Tara: [30:54] The patients were attacked by sharks. Dave: [30:56] Yeah, I know. But it was it sounded like it was going to be, you know, Jaws or Piranha. And somehow a giant cruise ship was involved. How's that going to play out? You know, like, is there catapults? Is there, you know, trebuchets with sharks on them involved? Like this was, you know, and frankly, you know. Sarah: [31:12] That I would tune back in for. Dave: [31:13] Right. Shark, trebuchets, shark. Shark-a-pult. Yeah, shark-a-pult. Sarah: [31:18] I think that actually is a movie. Dave: [31:19] Anyway, so I feel like they need to ramp it up again and, or like just like spread out the budget or whatever is the reason why we have these sort of like weeks where it's very much not bonkers and therefore does not compare well. Tara: [31:34] No, but this is my point with 9-1-1 as well. It's cousin show, which is like, you know, everything doesn't have to be a bombastic super special effects extravaganza. Like, I mean, we talked about the tiny cannon with the harmonica mouth a few weeks ago. Like, that was probably cheap to do. And it was hilarious. Like, just have someone's nose fall off again, which already happened this season on Dr. Odyssey. Dave: [31:56] All right, Sarah, thoughts? Sarah: [31:57] Yeah, it's not for me, but I would go to the watch party if I were in town. Dave: [32:01] Yeah. Sarah: [32:02] Also, Trebuchark, Dave, that's for you. Dave: [32:05] Okay, great. That's what they, if you go on Shark Tank and you do something really stupid, they put you on that and they play you off the show. Sarah: [32:11] And then you're just like flying over the studio in Seacaucus. Love it. Seacaucus. Tara: [32:17] Nice. Dave: [32:18] All right, Tara, you want to handle this next one since it's from you? Tara: [32:20] Sure. My question is, which human food that you currently eat is most like the human version of a dog training treat, you know, for when the aliens come and they need to teach us their ways? Sarah. Sarah: [32:34] Frosted animal crackers, Dara. Tara: [32:37] Mine is goldfish crackers, Dave. Dave: [32:40] Well, I recently actually ate a dog biscuit. My answer is a dog biscuit. Tara: [32:46] Wait, on purpose? Dave: [32:47] Yeah. So H-E-B has a brand called like Natural Instinct or something like that. And they have a typical dog treat size biscuit line. And one of them is maple bacon or something like that. And on the box, big letters, it says human grade. Every time I open this box, it smells like a bag of maple cream cookies. Tara: [33:10] It smells so good. Dave: [33:11] And I don't know how many Americans are familiar with maple cream cookies. They are sort of slowly making its way to more stores here. But, you know, the maple leaf shaped cookies and they smell like incredibly fake maple syrup. And they are delicious and terrible for you. Tara: [33:25] Yes. Dave: [33:25] They smell just like fucking that. Every time I give one to the dogs, I'm like, and there's a little dust on your hand. You smell your fingers and it smells like a maple cream cookie. It says human. It won't kill me. So I took a bite. It's just like a, it's like a maple cream cookie with a lot less sugar in it. That's what it tastes like. Tara: [33:43] Yeah. Dave: [33:44] So my answer is actual dog. Tara: [33:46] So it's the seltzer of dog, of a cookie. Dave: [33:49] Yeah, it is. Sarah: [33:50] Exactly. Tara: [33:51] Okay. Dave: [33:52] Yeah. Hit me up if you want your own box, you know, to nibble on. Tara: [33:55] I can hook you up. Dave: [33:57] L triple B. Hello. Do you know what season you're on for game time? Nope. And how many seasons has each person won? Nope. And hope that was helpful. Sarah: [34:07] Okay. I've won one. Dave: [34:09] All right. I think value guests have won two or three. Sarah: [34:13] And Tara's won the rest. Dave: [34:16] Erica. I think I'm wig blind. I almost never see the truly bad pieces until wig cop blessedly points them out to me. What are the hallmarks, Tara, of a bad wig? Tara: [34:27] I mean, the really bad wigs, you can see the lace front along the hairline, which is like slightly discolored and supposed to be folded back or trimmed so that you don't see it. But if they're in a hurry or they, you know, don't care, then that's the easiest way. But basically, a bad wig, the hairline is too uniform and it sort of like fluffs back on itself in a way hair, real hair doesn't do. Or it has bangs to conceal where the seam is, like just so it's easier to plop on top of your head without really styling it too much. The color is too flat, doesn't have any variegation in it. There's no flyaways because synthetic hair doesn't do that as much. The strands are too stiff. But basically to sum it all up, like if it looks like doll hair, it's doll hair. It's like that's a wig. Sarah: [35:13] Yeah. Especially for men's, if it's like jutting off of the nape. But that's basically what Tara said about the way it falls. Like, you know, it's not like it's doll hair. It's not like there's some plugs same way you could tell with those. Dave: [35:30] David J. Snyder's next. You may remember him as our draft coordinator for Star Trek when we did that many moons ago. He has a question for us. How do you think Grandpa Simpson feels about the new Matlock? He doesn't recognize Missouri, so I don't think he's going to recognize the new Matlock. Sarah, thoughts? Sarah: [35:50] Yeah. Still stuck on the fact that women are wearing trousers, never mind that they could pose as lawyers and not be Andy Griffith. Dave: [35:58] Yeah. Tara: [35:59] He does not know it exists. And if you tried to tell him about it, he would get mad. Dave: [36:03] Yep. I have your next question, inspired by dropping Tara's parents off in Houston and my travels there. What are two different things that trouble you separately, but are much... This is not about your parents. Tara: [36:17] Thank you for that clarification. Sarah: [36:19] Isn't it? Dave: [36:21] What are two different things that trouble you separately, but much more so when they are together? Although, to be honest with you, your parents do actually qualify for an answer. Tara: [36:34] Stop it. They might hear this. Dave: [36:36] They're joking. Tara: [36:37] My answer is not my parents. It's fish and sex offenders. So the boys can sometimes be tough on me. Sarah. Sarah: [36:45] Pineapple on pizza and outie belly buttons. Dave. Dave: [36:51] Huh. As seen in Bucky's halfway between my return from Houston and Austin. Tara: [36:57] Yes. Dave: [36:58] Is religious pamphlets and comic sans. Sarah: [37:03] Oh, yeah. Dave: [37:04] You see those together, you know you're in for a bad time. Do not go to whatever that pamphlet is promoting. You will not return. You will be enjoying Flavor Aid. All right, Seekent. Sarah: [37:15] Thank you. Dave: [37:16] Would Zach Morris and Dennis Leary have been friends if they went to the same high school? Yeah, he said Dawson Leary. He got it right. I got it wrong. Tara: [37:26] Well, I mean, I think now we can look forward to next week getting the Zach Morris, Dennis Leary question for real. Anyway. Dave: [37:34] Who is Dennis Leary? Tara: [37:35] Dennis Leary from Going Dutch. My favorite show. Dave: [37:38] Oh, Dennis Leary. Of course. In my mind, it was two N's and it didn't click until you said that. And then one of the N's disappeared. And I'm like, oh, of course. Tara: [37:44] Of course. Sarah: [37:46] Yeah. And there's a pea-colored hair Venn happening. Dave: [37:49] Remember when he had that song? Tara: [37:51] Of course. Dave: [37:52] That it charted? Tara: [37:53] Yeah. Dave: [37:54] Yeah. Sarah: [37:54] I was just singing it earlier. Dave: [37:56] So would Zach Morris and Dawson Leary have been friends if they went to the same high school, Sarah? Sarah: [38:02] I'm not as up on Morrisiana, but I'm going to say no. I think Morris is much more of a basic middle-of-the-fairway high school keener. And whatever his other, quote, qualities, Dawson is not that. So I don't think they'd be antagonists, but I don't think they'd be friends either. Dave: [38:23] Isn't zach morris on saved by the bell like uh the dude version of a queen bee yeah. Tara: [38:29] I think that's what she means not that he's like academically a keener but he's like the the peaked in high school guy. Dave: [38:35] Yeah like joiner you know okay i think high. Sarah: [38:39] School is fun because he's doing well at it whereas dawson is you know dawson. Dave: [38:44] Yeah because to me they are almost at different ends of the spectrum of cool right because zach morris is apex predator yes and then dawson leary is the film nerd and like if you have anything nerd in your defining personality qualities then you are at the other end of the cool spectrum so i just don't think they ever will really unless there's like a buddy project that somehow somehow has to do with making a film you know in which case Dawson ends up doing all the work, of course, because that's the way that dynamic works. Yeah. I don't think they have actually ever even talked. Tara: [39:23] No, it's the film version of this bra bomb better work nerdlinger. That's a Zach Morris vibe. So, yeah, Dawson would be rightly intimidated by Zach, and Zach would rightly think Dawson was appeal, so definitely not. Sarah: [39:38] Okay. Dave: [39:39] Rightwood, would you rather only streaming or only traditional cable? Streaming. Tara. Tara: [39:45] Yeah, streaming. Dave: [39:46] Yeah, Sarah. Sarah: [39:48] Yeah, streaming. Dave: [39:48] Yeah, that's a terrible question, Rightwood. All right. Well, with streaming, you get all the cable shows as well. Tara: [39:54] Right. And you can watch them whenever you want. I mean, you know, I have my reasons to still want cable and I stand by them and I always will. Dave: [40:02] If you're the kind of person that hates making a decision, then yeah, maybe cable's right for you because you have to watch. Tara: [40:08] And sometimes I am. Sometimes I do want to just like let the universe decide. Dave: [40:12] Serendipity TV sometimes works, but as a 24-7 thing, no. Tara: [40:16] Right. Dave: [40:16] You can't live that way. Tara: [40:18] No. Dave: [40:18] The suitcase has our last question. It's not really a question. They simply ask nothing because it's not a question. I would love an ER fantasy draft is suitcase's statement. And we're not doing the draft right now. I just wanted to bring it to the table if that's something people are interested in. Tara: [40:37] Well, first, I'd like to use part of my time answering this question to back up to the streaming or cable question, which is cable was great when that was all there was. But if you live in a in a reality where streaming exists, you can't say you would only choose cable over it. Dave: [40:52] OK, if that was your 10, right, what they needed to, you know, put more qualifiers in your question. Tara: [40:56] Right. Dave: [40:57] Yeah. Tara: [40:57] OK. Dave: [40:57] I'll stand by it. Terrible question. Tara: [41:01] My answer to the ER fantasy draft, or rather, my answer to I would love an ER fantasy draft is I bet you would. I'm not against it. Dave: [41:12] I... I might want to have a sub for that episode. I'm not really ER-conversing to the point where I feel comfortable doing draft stuff. Tara: [41:20] I agree. I mean, I've watched enough of it to a point. And then when you start talking about the John Stamos character whose name I don't even know. I was out by then. So I have been pitching Dave on an ER rewatch for, I mean, you people have heard me do it. It's been for months. Dave: [41:37] I like the pit so much that I feel like the ER would be a letdown. Tara: [41:41] Well, but it's going to be months before there's more of the pit. Dave: [41:45] I really enjoy the pits format. And the pit is less soap opera-y than the ER. Tara: [41:52] But it's not as soapy as you remember, I'm sure. I'm sure it's not. Dave: [41:56] What about the time they all ate soap and sang? All right. Sarah, ER draft, thoughts? Sarah: [42:04] I mean, yeah, I think it is doable. But I think that the suitcase should suggest some prospective guests for that episode, because I think we need somebody who really watched it soup to nuts and has a better grounding in what was going on in the Linda Cardellini era. Like, I don't even remember her character's name and don't care. Dave: [42:25] Well, you can do the early years draft or something like that. Tara: [42:27] I mean, or just like put everyone in. That doesn't mean we have to take them. Right. If the point is, we're picking one resident, three, or however it works, one of each category. Sarah: [42:37] Right. The point is the best team. Yes. Tara: [42:41] And I'm sure we all remember enough of them to fill out a roster. Dave: [42:45] There's a bunch of people re-watching ER on the Discord. So maybe one of them could come in and sort of David J. Snyder us through it and be the coordinator, the character keepers. Sarah: [42:59] The commissioner of ER craft. Yeah. Dave: [43:01] All right. Well, if that's you and you're interested, shoot me a line on Discord, DM me. Let me know. Maybe we'll set it up. All right. That is it for us. Now we turn the tables for the Ask Ask EHD question. It comes from Elspeth, bookending our segment. Please pitch a Real Housewives series set in a historical context. So that is your Ask Ask EHD task for this week. Go to that channel under Discord. Plop down your answer. pitch a Real Housewives in historical context. Real Housewives of Watergate? Sure, go have at it. Tara: [43:36] Isn't that gaslit? Sarah: [43:37] Oh, man. Martha Mitchell. Fuck them up, girl. Dave: [43:40] Ancient Egypt? Sure. Tara: [43:42] I'll tell the listeners, your judge next week is Dave, so keep that in mind right to your judge. Dave: [43:49] Cat, cat, bird. That's the ancient Egypt. Sarah: [43:51] I can hear Dan Casino cracking his knuckles right now. Dave: [43:57] It is time for the tiny cannon presenting this week is me it is me i have a tiny sketch cannon pitch for you two it is from monty python's flying circus series two episode two the spanish inquisition now the spanish inquisition by general consensus is probably a top five monty python sketch this episode of monty python's flying circus has that sketch right after the credits But for my money, for my Monty Python money, the best Monty Python sketch happens later in this episode, which contains the Spanish Inquisition. So this is better than the Spanish Inquisition. Tara: [44:36] Yep. Dave: [44:37] This segment that I'm going to pitch you is, in fact, one quarter of a larger sketch about books and movies told via some unorthodox method. There is the semaphore version of Wuthering Heights. there's the morris code tale of the shootout at the okay corral and there's the smoke signal version of gentlemen prefer blondes but the best of these clocking in at under 30 seconds and for my buddy the very best monty python has ever been is julius caesar on an aldous lamp julius caesar of course we know that guy the historical play by billy shakespeare something whale had to do at some point in our lives yep. Tara: [45:19] Ides of march we just passed it. Dave: [45:21] And the oldest lamps are those ship to ship light signals with the shades that go clickety-clock on and off so they can basically do sort of a version of morse code ship to ship while they're on the sea the whole thing has just two beats in the first one there's a crazed soothsayer and rags he runs up to a deadpan and non-plus Graham Chapman as Caesar, pulls out a sizable Aldous lamp, plugged into what? I don't know. And clickety-clacks the blinds through Beware the Eyes of March. There's not a word spoken in this whole sketch. And then in the second beat, we just smash cut to all the senators having a stab at Caesar. As Chapman slowly loses the ability to stand up, he pulls an Aldous Lamp from inside his purple toga and clacks out a du Brute before he succumbs to his wounds and dies. And that is the sketch. Tara: [46:14] Yep. Dave: [46:15] That is it. What's the premise? It's a wordless version of Shakespeare via Aldous Lamps. What's the rundown? Eyes of March, a du Brute. In and out, 30 seconds. Tara: [46:23] Yep. Dave: [46:24] Perfect bit of comedy. I would also like to point out as my final piece of my argument that despite being a sketch comedy show and debuting like six years before I, Claudius, in an event miniseries, it looks exactly as good as I, Claudius. sarah d bunting has in the past i think rightly said that monte python is one of those shows that if it didn't hit you at a certain part in your life then you you can be immune to its charms that everybody else seems to have work on them so uh let's save sarah and go to tara first. Tara: [46:59] Oh yeah this is it's it's it's a truly top tier because it's so forgotten like that's part of what makes it so funny to me it's like it's not part of the lexicon the way that spam or argument or spanish inquisition has been like just run into the ground partly because this is something you can't really do you know on stage or in any other context or whatever can't quote it yeah you can't quote it exactly but and it's it's funny as it's funny as part of the run that you described i mean whether i would make a case if i were doing this i would probably do all of it but i I respect you just zeroing in on Julius Caesar on an Aldous Lamp. Dave: [47:38] I mean, the Wuthering Heights one sets it off. That's the premise setter. But it goes on for a while. Tara: [47:43] Yes. Dave: [47:43] It's too long. And the brevity of this one, I feel, elevates it. Tara: [47:48] Totally. I'll also say this, the, the Weathering Heights by Semaphore is basically apparently the, the premise of the Apple TV plus movie, The Gorge with Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller from what I hear on a podcast. Dave: [48:04] They're on two different towers and they have to signal to each other their love affair. Tara: [48:07] Yes. Dave: [48:08] Yes. Tara: [48:09] So stupid. Anyway, one of the many things that I have learned from Monty Python's Flying Circus and watching it at the aforementioned formative age is what an Aldous Lamp is. I would not have known what it was except for this sketch. And I really recommend that everyone just go to the clip and watch it. It's so funny and stupid, and more people should know about it so we can make it a reference. Your dog is trying to tell you something. Go get your all to slap. Whatever. It should be more in the cultural lexicon. More people should know about it. It's hilarious. Dave: [48:43] Before we just off to Sarah, I just want to say one thing I didn't mention is that Graham Chapman is so good at making faces in just the right amount like when he's stabbed he's just got this sort of like what is happening exactly to me at this moment in my life face and it's all just like contorted in just the perfect way so yeah that really made it great too all right sarah de bontang famous monty python non-enjoyer where are you on this one. Sarah: [49:09] Well, it was short. I mean, 28 seconds. And you have to respect that it's like, this is part of something larger, but also like extremely dumb and surreal. And the joke is done in 28 seconds. So, so was the sketch. Like that can be an issue with Monty Python that with any sketch show, like it just like they did all this setup for it. And now it's just like here and they're putting in all the jokes that they have. This is like perfectly self-contained. watching it on youtube like the laugh track is abusive in my opinion but that's not anyone's fault and it is very funny but i just love that it's like this perfect tiny egg of surreal comedy and at tatara's point it hasn't been quoted to death because unless you carry an all to slam around with you you can't not that i would put that past certain monty python i. Tara: [50:08] Mean you could mime it like boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. I mean, you know. Dave: [50:12] Cosplay people, if you're listening. We got a winner here. Sarah: [50:16] Yeah. Just like a bed sheet and an Aldous Lamp and you're done. Dave: [50:19] Yeah. Sarah: [50:20] I enjoyed this and I also enjoyed that this is like Monty Python for people who are Monty Python strain resistant. So well played. Dave: [50:30] All right. Fantastic. All right. So let's make this official Tara Ariano. What say you? Tara: [50:35] Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Yes, of course. Dave: [50:37] All right. Sarah D. Bunting? Sarah: [50:39] Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank, clank. Dave: [50:42] Great. All right. So Julius Caesar and Aldous Lamb from Monty Python's Flying Circus, you are hereby inducted into the extra hot, great, tiny sketch cannon. Dave: [50:55] Americans love a winner. Yeah. And will not tolerate a loser. Nope. It is time to discover who is not quite our winner and losers of the week. I will go first with my not quite winner. It is Steve Coogan and Tom Burke, and they are going to be starring in a Netflix heist series called Legend. And sure, fine, that all sounds sort of interesting, but it comes from the people that did the gold, which I very much enjoyed from a year and a half ago, about the big airport-ish gold robbery. Yeah. Yeah, what was it called? What was that one called? Tara: [51:30] It's called The Cold. No, the... Oh, the ice. Dave: [51:32] The event had some name. Anyways, doesn't matter. Interested to see Steve Coogan in a role like that after watching so much Alan Partridge. He's a good actor. We all seen him in the trips and all that kind of stuff, but in something a little more errat-a-tatty would be nice. So looking forward to that. See where they go there. And then the not-quite-loser of the week is Handmaid's Tale crew member, who requested at the end of the run, at the end of shooting for the show, a custom-made underwear set Elizabeth Moss wore as her character June and was rewarded it as a memento of their time on the show. Tara: [52:08] Not okay. Dave: [52:09] That is so creepy. And then Elizabeth Moss was like I think being diplomatic with her answers basically was like, what the fuck? And she's like, yeah, that was that might have been something I would have liked to take home and then somebody else got it, but that was something that was on my body. So that is interesting. Is it interesting? Or is it like maybe a lawsuit or something? Sarah: [52:36] Yeah, I feel like that's an SRO. Dave: [52:40] Yeah, at least an HR discussion. Tara: [52:42] I just want to call out that the link that we have, the URL is decider.com, blah, blah, blah, the date. Elizabeth Moss, underwear, handmaid's tale, taken crew member, horrified Jimmy Kimmel creep. Yeah. Dave: [52:56] That sums it up. Wait, is Jimmy Kimmel the guy who stole the underwear? Tara: [53:00] Is that what we can... Well, I don't know what he does in his off time. Dave: [53:03] Interesting, if true. Concerning. Sarah: [53:04] Yeah, seriously. Dave: [53:05] Sarah D. Bunting, what do you got? Sarah: [53:06] Well, it is the all New York area island theme. My not quite winner is William Joel of the Island of Long, soon to be the subject of a documentary at HBO. I am a little apprehensive, but also kind of excited. Tara: [53:23] Do you know why this is happening? Sarah: [53:27] Why? Tara: [53:27] Because he had to be a big shot, did ya? Dave: [53:31] I hope they finish it before he has a heart attack. Sarah: [53:35] That's a lot of pressure. All right, we're going to stop right now because I will probably win. Tara: [53:42] We could go on. We won't, but we could. Sarah: [53:44] No, we could. Dave: [53:45] Let's dial in Dan Rogge. Five hours later. Sarah: [53:50] Dan Rogge is going on in his car right now. Hey, buddy. Oh, lower. yeah my not quite loser I mean he's actually a massive white loser and that is former Impractical Jokers star Joe Gatto crazy Joe Gatto accused of sexual assault he has denied this but then a few days later he cancelled his comedy tour quote comedy and checked into a treatment facility, I mean I don't know like the other not quite loser is me i guess or like american culture because that show started in 2011 yeah and we're still we're still doing it no offense sell volcano but yikes move on things. Dave: [54:40] Are okay with me these days got a good job got a good office. Sarah: [54:45] Got a new wife. Dave: [54:47] Got a new life family's fine lost hearts a long time ago all right let's go well. Tara: [54:55] Everybody loves you now. Dave: [54:56] So anyway. Sarah: [54:57] My Tara: [54:58] Not quite winner of the week is severance star trammell tillman he peered at paley fest recently and was backed in a reference to the severance season two finale by usc's marching band and i'm you know famously down on the show but i can't get mad at doing that if you have an opportunity to get marched in anywhere by the USC. Sarah: [55:21] Band. Yeah, for real. Tara: [55:22] You fucking do it! Regardless of my feelings about the band in the show, which I will spare everyone, because you know how I feel. But that's rad. My not-quite-loser of the week is After Midnight. The show you didn't know is on CBS every night after Colbert and is produced by Stephen Colbert. It was not only cancelled after two seasons at the network. Dave: [55:44] But he killed everybody involved. Tara: [55:47] Sort of. there it's the last show the network is going to try to program in that time slot so you know they they tried it with the late late show through several different hosts and then that sort of went fallow and then they did this after james corden was gone and now they're like uh actually forget it never mind it will be infomercials burn it down salty earth yes or bones reruns or something so just more of the ongoing slow motion death throes of late night television sucks we're moving out. Dave: [56:29] Hi, this is Kim Reid, and welcome to The Most Awesome Thing I Saw on TV Last Month. Last month, I watched Little House on the Prairie, Season 4, Episode 9, The High Cost of Being Right. So we start on the Garvey Farm, and while I appreciate centering someone other than the Ingalls family, also, don't we watch this show to see the Ingalls family anyway? Jonathan is saying grace before dinner, but getting super emo about it, and he talks about how he has trouble talking to God, and he thanks God for his great crop, and talks about how much money they're going to have, so you know something bad is going to happen to that crop, because you've watched television before and especially this show. So then they show 10 minutes of the fire in the fireplace. And at first I was like, what are we even doing here? But then we see sparks flying out of the chimney and the barn starts burning. I guess all the crops are in the barn. But honestly, the barn is like the size of a one car garage. Plus there are two horses in there. So how much money were they going to get from their one storage tote full of straw anyway? Jonathan runs out and saves the horses while Alice and Andy wet down the house. And then Jonathan runs out aflame and he stops, drops and rolls. and Alice has to beat him with her apron to put the fire out. So in the morning, we see the barn is dunzo along with all their crops. Jonathan goes into town. He runs into Pa, who's buying everything in the mercantile because of his bumper crop. I get that the families have immediate needs, but might I suggest holding off on restocking the larder until you have cash in hand? I feel like that would solve a lot of these problems. Anyway, Jonathan brings down the mood with the news about the fire. Back at home, Jonathan's having a real pity party because they're poor again or still or forever. Dave: [57:55] Alice tries to cheer him up, but Jonathan refuses to clear another field to plant because he can't afford seed. He considers a loan to be charity. Dave: [58:02] Pay a loan back with interest? That's not what charity is. Pa comes to visit, and while I have complaints about the Ingalls family in general at times, and Pa in particular, you can't say they don't show up for their neighbors during hard time. Alice is putting a salve or something on Jonathan's burns, and Jonathan won't go see Doc Baker because it costs money or possibly chickens, and instead Jonathan plans to use his mercantile credit to buy nails to fix the barn. Alice thinks they should save the credit for food later on in case they don't find a way to earn money before the winter or whatever, and Jonathan is pissed and calls her woman, which he does a lot in this episode, and it feels like a red flag. Pi asks Jonathan for help hauling corn and offers to pay him, but Jonathan thinks that's charity. I mean, he's doing work for the money, so it's technically a job, but in this case, I actually understand what he's saying, because it's make work at best. The next day, question mark, Alice announces that she can get a job at the post office, but Jonathan refuses to let her support the family. Red flag's all over the place with this guy. So then Caroline and Laura show up to the Garbys with what they pretend is leftover food, but Alice knows the score. Unlike Jonathan, she'll allow her friends to help her out. So then Jonathan shows up with tons of food and supplies, and he admits he sold his horses to buy everything. What a dumb idea. First of all, he bought a bunch of stuff they don't really need, like a new hat for Alice. And second, now what's his plan for planting next year's crops? They're really going out of their way to make Jonathan look like an idiot in this episode. And then in the wildest sudden twist? Suddenly Pa's going to Mankato and Jonathan's going with him to stay for good because they're getting a divorce? Dave: [59:31] What the hell? Caroline says she needs to meddle. I like that she's acknowledging that what the Ingalls family does is meddling. So let the meddle begin. Ma counsels Alice to tell Jonathan she wants him to stay, which seems obvious, but Alice gets real mad and says she couldn't. Ma susses out that Alice needs to be right because of pride. But Ma must have had some impact, because in the next scene, Alice asks Jonathan to stay, and he says he wants to, but only if she'll give up her job. And Alice says she won't, and then she runs away, like she leaves the house and just takes off down the road, which made me laugh. Meanwhile, Pa was there, and he saw the whole thing. How embarrassing. So in Mankato, Pa sells his crops, and Jonathan decides to play poker in the saloon, but then of course he gets in a fight. Pa gets to grab someone by the shirt front, which is his favorite thing to do. Once the fight ends, Jonathan dunks his head in a horse trough, which is a real Mr. Edwards move. And then he decides he should go clear the upper field back at his farm to make the property worth more in case Ailes wants to sell it. Another red flag is that he can't admit he made a mistake coming to the big city, but instead he has to pretend like he's suddenly needed on the farm. Back home, Alice and Andy are eating something green and leafy in a bowl. And I called two additional members of my family into the room to ask them what in the hell was in those bowls. And I got some guesses, which were salad, snap peas, celery leaves, wild onions, or maybe grass. But we could not come to a conclusion. Dave: [1:00:52] Anyway, Jonathan comes home and everyone's happy. But then he says he's just there to clear the field. And Alice is mad that he's toying with Andy's emotions. And says when the circuit judge shows up in Walnut Grove that weekend, they're going through with the divorce. So that night, Ma's making a shirt for Pa, and he objects to the, quote, sissy-looking material. Dave: [1:01:09] It's literally just blue fabric. And Laura thinks they're getting a divorce and freaks out. I guess they had to put this scene in there, so kids watching this family show about divorce and the breakup of a family didn't feel the same as Laura. So now that he's around the homestead all day, Jonathan has an awakening about how hard Alice works at home. And then he fishes for a compliment about how hard he's working and how only a man could do the work clearing the field. And Alice points out she could do it with the horses he sold for no reason. That's cold, but accurate. So Jonathan's almost done clearing the field, and Alice tells him the judge is coming tomorrow, and she asks Ma and Pa to come and be their witnesses. The vibes are not too bad. Like, these two are getting along, even if neither of them understands compromise. So now it's divorce day. So we head into town where some guy is sitting in front of the mercantile, just wailing away on the harmonica. Like, did this guy just whip out his harp on the set? And so they just put him in the show for no reason? Is he related to John Popper? Anyway, the judge shows up and the actor looked familiar to me, so I looked it up. It turns out he has played seven different characters on this show, including one just two episodes ago that I don't remember at all. Anyway, once the judge calls court to order or whatever happened on the frontier, the judge says the Garvey's need to figure out how they'll split their money today or they'll have to hire attorneys and go to Minneapolis to do it. Elle says she'll do whatever Jonathan says, but adds that Andy wants to live with Jonathan. Elle's okay with that as long as Jonathan stays in town. And Andy says his dad needs someone to look after him, and he still loves both his parents. Way to parentify your kids, although that was pretty popular in the 70s from what I recall. Dave: [1:02:38] Jonathan doesn't hate Alice, so Andy asks why they're even getting a divorce, and Jonathan says it's because he's a failure and he can't provide. Alice disagrees, and they start arguing and bickering, and it comes down to Jonathan claiming that Alice said he was crazy, even though she never said that, and then Pa just bursts out laughing because they're so ridiculous, and then everyone is laughing, and the divorce is off. This all could have been prevented if these two had done that therapy thing where one person talks and then the other person repeats it back in their own words to ensure everyone is hearing what's actually being said. Dave: [1:03:09] Anyway, the judge says they're all crazy and he stomps out. And seriously, Pa cannot stop laughing. Like, is he high? As the Garbys head out together, Jonathan invites the Ingalls to dinner and says Ailes will use her post office money to buy the food. So I guess Jonathan's suddenly okay with her working, lol. And that was the most awesome thing I saw on TV last month. Tara: [1:03:42] I'm sorry. I forgot I was supposed to read this. Dave: [1:03:47] That was great. I'm leaving that in. Tara: [1:03:48] Okay. Dave: [1:03:49] I wish we were a video podcast right there. Sarah: [1:03:50] Are you singing your Billy Joel lyric? Dave: [1:03:52] Everybody's just staring off into space. Is this my turn? Tara: [1:03:56] Sorry. Dave: [1:03:56] Nope. Sarah: [1:03:57] I knew it wasn't my turn, but there was a cat farting in my lap. I was just trying to maintain. Tara: [1:04:02] It's not really my turn. Anyway, today's extra credit topic comes from Sean J. It is called Rolling the Dice on Game Night. And, Grandpas, we welcome you in for this. But just a reminder, in case you forgot, there's so much more show that you've missed. You missed a bunch of really choice Billy Joel references. You missed a discussion. Dave: [1:04:25] And you guys are just sitting at home masturbating. Tara: [1:04:31] I'm not going to touch that. Nope. I would suggest you don't. But anyway. Dave: [1:04:37] I'm an innocent man. Tara: [1:04:39] Extrahotgreat.com slash club to kick up that pledge. It's only three more dollars a month to get the full episode and also all of the archives that you've missed. And that's like, at this point, years, years of episodes. Dave: [1:04:51] What's the terrible Billy Joel song that's about like soldiers being buddies? You know, Paris Island and all that stuff. Sarah: [1:05:00] Goodnight Saigon? Dave: [1:05:01] Yeah. No, not Goodnight Saigon. Okay. If you don't join, you have to listen to Goodnight Saigon on a loop for three days. Tara: [1:05:08] We don't ask how we're going to enforce that. Just trust that we're going. Dave: [1:05:11] We have our ways. Sarah: [1:05:13] Just get on the down Easter Alexa and go to international waters. Yes. Dave: [1:05:17] I wish Dan was here. Dan would enjoy this. Sarah: [1:05:21] Dan's like, I don't. Tara: [1:05:23] Dan's hanging with Davey. Sean J has nothing to do with Billy Joel. Sean J writes, take any show, preferably with a close-knit family or friend group. Bring them to someone's house for a night of board games. What gets played? Is it old standbys like Clue, Monopoly, or Trivial Pursuit? Or is someone branching up to newer stuff like Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, or Carcassonne? How do the characters compare to each other and do any rivalries rise up or get settled from the competition? Or maybe if you're feeling limber, perhaps the gang tries out some of that fancy Dungeons and Dragons stuff. Does this end up a regular thing with the group, or is this just a disaster waiting to happen? Guess what, guys? I went with game night, and I forgot the part where it was supposed to be board games. We're not playing board games. That's not what we do at game night. It's 2025. Dave: [1:06:12] If you're invited to one of our game nights, please do not show up with your own game. Don't bring Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne. Yeah. It's got the word carcass in it. No, thank you. Sarah: [1:06:26] I mean, Carcassonne people, bless. I don't have the patience. Tara: [1:06:31] Yeah. Sarah: [1:06:31] But there's whole leagues. Not that I have a family member in one or anything. More like Dork-a-son. Tara: [1:06:38] Whoa! Dave: [1:06:38] Is that one of those games where you have to manage how much wheat you have and stuff like that? Tara: [1:06:43] You were certainly asking the wrong two people about that. Dave: [1:06:46] If your game involves wheat management, I'm just going to say it's probably not fun. Tara: [1:06:50] You might be a redneck. Sarah: [1:06:52] But it's like there are leagues and championships with in-person play. Dave: [1:06:58] Yeah, but also Excel has that too. So, you know, like... Sarah: [1:07:01] Yeah, I learned that this week. Tara: [1:07:04] It is a tile placement game in which the players draw and place a tile with a piece of Southern French landscape represented on it. Sounds fun? Question mark. Anyway, sorry. Dave: [1:07:14] My children need wine and wheat. Tara: [1:07:16] We're alienating all of the grandpas who were like, well, I was about to join. And then they started talking shit about my favorite game. Anyway. Dave: [1:07:23] Sorry. Tara: [1:07:24] Dave and I, I assume picked the same game. But in case we didn't, Sarah, why don't you go first? Sarah: [1:07:31] Okay. We haven't quite finished our American series watch here at Fort Rad, so I don't know if this actually happens in the Americans. I do know Trivial Pursuit is mentioned, at least in passing, but here's what's going to happen if the Jennings's come along to game night. We are totally not playing Trivial Pursuit for very long because Henry, despite seeming oblivious and like he might need a helmet to go outdoors, is going to get all six wedges in like 15 minutes. And it's not that fun, especially when Elizabeth is editorializing about every single yellow question about anything that happened before like 1961. Tara: [1:08:08] Sure. Sarah: [1:08:08] So then it'll be time to try Celebrity. Philip and Henry are naturals at it, of course. and when it's her turn to give team clues elizabeth is pretty good too but and page who i understand she's catching a lot of strays in this episode of extra extra hot great i don't care i don't like her page of course stocked the bowl with a bunch of obscure and impossible to convey figures like leo buscaglia and amy simple mcpherson the game grinds to a complete halt because that's what page does so although nobody really wants to play it except elizabeth and elizabeth really really really wants to play it the whole group ends up settling for risk of course and then everyone else like starts yawning and checking their watches and saying they have early meetings and then cut to elizabeth at a stranger's home with a single table lamp on at 3 31 in the morning staring at the board and scheming and then philip has to come back like in his pajamas to the host house and firemen carry her out to the camaro because she will not stop trying to take belgium In risk, that's what happens So maybe we don't Attempt that. Tara: [1:09:17] In my framing, the cast of Girls5eva is going over for game night at the new girl loft. And I'm not going to make Gloria play running charades on her two brand new knees. So they're going to be playing Celebrity. And Sarah touched on it already. But for those who don't know, Celebrity, the way we play it, is a three-round game. You play the same names for all three rounds. It's any fictional. Any famous name can be a real person or fictional. like snoopy is fine or pac-man or what have you first round you get to say whatever you want except the person's name so they slap someone at the oscars will smith and then you go through all the names that way in round one round two it's the same names as i said but then you only get to say one word whatever you pick that's your word and if you pick the wrong word and you can't clue it tough slap exactly and in round three it's the same names again yes again and then you're doing charades and we have we have alternate we have um other rounds for extreme players but you know that's not for that's not for mixed company we've. Dave: [1:10:24] Done pictionary on an easel before. Tara: [1:10:26] We have. Dave: [1:10:26] Aussie rules celebrity if you're interested we can tell you about that on the discord. Tara: [1:10:29] So here's how it goes dawn from girls five ever as a mom girls five ever as a mom doesn't know any contemporary pop culture figures she's reduced to triangulating people's identities through word association with their names for example his first name is like the boy in the pearl jam song his middle name is the same as the dad from growing pains and it's jeremy allen white don oh my god wiki gets derailed in round one telling impressionistic name dropping stories about her interactions with the people whose names she draws um as a dentist gloria's round one clues are all teeth based which actually helps when she pulls tom cruise's name summer unintentionally screws over all her fellow players by only putting in the names of people from the early aughts Christian pop world. But spending a whole tour together in a van means they all have common references and good communication. So they are solid in round two. And years of stage experience means they're good at round three with the charades. So as for the new girl people, Winston is so competitive, everyone else just has to tune him out. Schmidt's turns take longer than they should because everyone gets hung up on his quirky pronunciations, for example. Tara: [1:11:36] He was an original SNL star who was famously addicted to cocaine like don nick doesn't know who anyone is but unlike don doesn't have the excuse of having given up part of his brain power for child rearing purposes and jess doesn't take the game seriously enough which irritates everybody until round three when she turns out to be a very good mime is this a regular event definitely not these two groups do not mesh dave. Dave: [1:12:03] All right. I actually didn't go with celebrity. I went with the other one we like to play at our big game nights, which is running charades. Now, if you're unfamiliar with running charades, it is charades when you have a lot of people. So let's just say you have 12 or 13 people or so, which is a good number for running charades. Imagine a triangle somewhere in your house or maybe in your backyard. There is one person at the center of the triangle and then each of the three teams are at the points of the triangle, equidistance to the center. The person in the center has a piece of paper with their charade items on it. You know, we usually would do something pop culture-y or something like that. You know, titles of books, movies, people. Tara: [1:12:45] Yeah, they're usually all the same category. Dave: [1:12:46] Yeah. So they're in the middle. Each team of three or four people are on the points. You start the game. The number one person from each of the three teams runs to the center of the triangle. And then they are whispered by the person in the middle, the first items. So you'd be like, all right, it's Tom Cruise. And then those three people snap back, run back to their point and start charading Tom Cruise for their team. As soon as somebody says Tom Cruise and their team, you point at them. And then that person has to run to the middle. And they whisper to the guy in the middle, I just got Tom Cruise. And the guy looks at Tom Cruise. All right, well, the next one is Max Rebo. You know, everybody's favorite blue elephant from Return of the Jedi. And then they have to go back and do that. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Everybody's running around, getting whispered things, doing stuff. It's very kinetic. Very crazy. And then the first team to get through the list, to get through like whatever 10 things that the person in the middle has in their list, they win. That's running charades. It's charades with the high probability of somebody hurting themselves. I suggest you actually play fast shuffling charades, you know, because somebody could, especially when you're unfamiliar environment. You know, you don't know exactly how much clearance you have around that sofa, etc. Tara: [1:13:57] That's right. Dave: [1:13:57] So that's what they're playing. They're playing running charades. Who's playing it? it's star trek lower decks people so you need at least three teams so i'm gonna have the lower deckers boimler mariner tendy and rutherford that's one team i'm gonna have the command crew captain freeman random shacks and tana to anna and then they're gonna have a collection of villains as the 13 that's gonna be badgie peanut hamper and moopsie the bone eater cutie pie, So the fallout is, this is how the game operates. We start. Rutherford immediately sets up a teleporter between the lower decks area and the game master in the center, giving them the early edge. Badgie and Peanut and Hamper start fighting when Peanut and Hamper can't charade through What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson. Dave: [1:14:43] Moopsie attacks the command crew for their delicious command bones, and it's gleefully met by Lieutenant Shaxx, the Bajoran security chief on the ship. But he does not catch Moopsie in time, and Moopsie has already eaten half of Random's left arm by the time he gets to her. The Doctor slowly works through Syriana to Captain Freeman, as Boiler successfully charades the Trek-inside Trek film Star Voyage 2 Wrath of Sharma, freeing Mariner to teleport to the center, where she realizes the Game Master is actually Jennifer, the Andorian Ensign, with whom she has an off-again, on-again relationship. They immediately start arguing about her choice of charade topics. That lets the command crew catch up to the lower deckers. So we got both the lower deckers and the command crew nearing the end of Jennifer's list. We're almost at the end of the game. Moopsie is up to random shoulder before Shaq rips it off and starts beating it with what's left of his arm. Badgie and Peanut Hamper merge V'ger style, but the result is so dysfunctional. They can't even solve Frankenstein when given the opportunity. Although in their defense, Moopsie was really miming Frankenstein's monster. In the end, the Lower Deckers win when Tendi recites the whole I'm the Captain Now scene verbatim from Captain Phillips, a movie she calls touching and inspirational. Tara: [1:16:04] Perfect. Dave: [1:16:08] And that is it for this episode of Extra, Extra Hot Great. We screen the Apple TV series The Studio before answering your burning Ask EHG questions like What's your Warehouse 13 artifact? And what's Grandpa Simpson's take on the new Metlock? The panel signaled their intentions to put Julius Caesar and Aldous Lamp into the tiny sketch canon. We celebrated those who weren't quite the best and worst of the week and wrapped it all up with a look at Game Night on television. Next up, it's Mid-Century Modern on EHG Prime. I am David T. Cole, and on behalf of Tara Ariano. Tara: [1:16:51] See, Griffin Mill is also the name of Tim Robbins' character in The Player. Dave: [1:16:55] And Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:16:57] Rest in penis, King. Dave: [1:16:58] Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time, right here on Extra Extra Hot Great.