Letting One Rip With Slow Horses

Clip: [00:00] If this is an on-a-spot performance review, I have to tell you I am absolutely killing him right now. Dave: [00:12] This is the Extra, Extra Hot Great Podcast, episode 374 for the September 26, 2025 weekend. I am Tesco Crisp's party David T. Cole, and I'm here with NAP Disrupting Conspiracy Theory, Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [00:34] Fuck off. Dave: [00:36] And definitely not a honey trap, Tar Ariano. Tara: [00:39] Why would you even say that? Welcome to Extra, Extra Hot, Great for Another Weekend. We're so glad you're here. We welcome new members. We've seen you joining us and we're thrilled to see you. We're here today to talk about season five of Slow Horses. As we rejoin the team, tensions at Slough House are running high. There are lots of construction materials around to fix what got broken in a siege on the place in season four, but no one actually seems to be building anything. Instead, everyone's tearing each other down. Standish, Saskia Reeves, is hassling Lamb, Gary Oldman, about his smoking and his diet. Louisa, Rosalind Eleazar, is getting weary listening to stories from River, Jack Loudon, about his demented grandfather, and because everyone thinks Shirley, Amy Fionn Edwards, is suffering from untreated PTSD over Marcus's death. No one believes her when she says she saw a white van deliberately try to run down Roddy, Christopher Chung, until she knocked him out of the road. That is, no one believes Shirley at first, but when she tails Roddy to a meet with a sexy lady who takes him to a club for some sexy dancing, it does seem like something might be going on. Could it be related to the shooter who just killed 11 people, including a volunteer tabling for the re-election of Mayor Zafar Jaffrey at a shopping center? Either way, it's no wonder Louisa wants to take a six-month mental health break. Most of the season was written by Will Smith, not that one. The first episode of season five dropped on Apple T V Plus September twenty fourth, with the remaining five dropping once a week, Wednesdays. We got access to all six episodes, but we'll be careful about spoilers for the rest of the season. Let's do the Chen check-in, Sarah, should our listeners watch Slow Horses. Sarah: [02:28] Absolutely. Tara: [02:29] Dave, me too. Dave: [02:30] Of course, Start us off by saying I enjoy that this season sort of starts off hinges on Roddy not being able to pull the caliber of person he's actually appearing to pull. Tara: [02:32] Let's drill down. Dave: [02:46] And that is like what gets everybody's heckles up. Sarah: [02:47] Yeah. Tara: [02:47] Mhm. Dave: [02:50] And it turns out to be true, is something I really enjoyed about the start of this. Tara: [02:50] Yeah. That and the fact that it was sort of the seeds for it were were planted in a in a whole sequence last season that didn't seem like like just seemed like it was comic relief and turns out maybe not. Dave: [03:06] Yeah. Well, that's the benefit of having now nine books ahead to work off and with four ahead of you still. Tara: [03:09] Mm-hmm. Dave: [03:12] So good on them. Tara: [03:13] Yep Sarah, you were the last of us to get on board Slow Horses. What have you loved most about the first four seasons? And are you seeing enough of those things so far in season five? Sarah: [03:23] We call for all mankind the space show, as longtime listeners know. We call Slow horse is the running show because there's like a sequence in every episode where someone is sprinting through alleys or downstairs or whatever. So minimal amounts of running in the premiere, but there's just something very lived in about these characters, and similar to what I said about Ethan Hawkes. Performance in low down, but sort of like the other side of that coin. On the low down, that character on paper is A lot, but Hawk finds a way to get you in touch with why people put up with his shit ever at all. And this is more like, I guess, the other side of that coin, that these people are not nearly as competent and unjustly put upon in the world of Spycraft as they think they are. And you are definitely signaled to as a viewer and possibly reader. I don't I'm not caught up on the books at all that these people are sort of deluded about their own aptitude. but you still sympathize with them because it's a solid puzzle and you want to see how they put it together, if that makes any sense. Dave: [04:41] Just to head off the letters people are writing right now, because God knows I've got a few in my time, it's tradecraft, not spycraft. Sarah: [04:49] Sorry Yeah. Tara: [04:50] Yeah, I always forget which is which. Dave: [04:51] It's like Kleenex. They get the original name. It's the one and only toilet paper we know of. And it's Tradecraft for killing your foes. Remember that jingle? Sarah: [05:04] Now I do. Dave: [05:05] Because it's British, and I do now subscribe to your notion that every British person is a spy. Tara: [05:09] Person is a spy. Dave: [05:11] So there's something a little, there's something a little joyfully Johnny Foreigner about Slow horses, right? Because it's over there. Tara: [05:18] Yeah. Dave: [05:19] It's slightly fancy because it's over there, but at the same time, it's slightly more bass than something we get here because also English and British people are disgusting. So there's that mix there. And there's also that mix of seeing tradecraft on screen that seems like a little heightened, but still feasible mixed in with Good comedy relief, like Jackson Lamb as your farting boss, fantastic. Sarah: [05:39] Right. Yep. Mhm. Mm-hmm. Dave: [05:45] These little touches, but also a lot of stuff that makes sense for character work in the real world, like people just burning out and saying, fuck it, I gotta get out of here. That stuff makes sense. So it's all those things. It's not to any of those. And the measures they're putting into that. Make a lot of sense and keep things moving. And then, when it comes to the actual crime of the season or intrigue of the season, those tend to be Moving a little towards the Luther side of things, which they're heightened and they move faster than they would. So they're picking and choosing their reality battles. And they're doing a really good job of that. Sarah, I know you haven't gone too far ahead yet in season five, but and I may have to bleat this out depending on what Tara says, there is a strategic Bart scene that is one of the best scenes in the show so far. Tara: [06:38] Yeah. Sarah: [06:39] Okay, looking forward to that. Dave: [06:39] And yeah, and in the context it really works. Me saying it like that sounds like it's a vaudevillian act. But for some reason, that scene made so much sense in this universe. And it mixed in a whole bunch of other elements I'm not telling you about. Tara: [06:55] Mm-hmm. Dave: [06:56] But that scene was like, yes, no other show is doing this. Tara: [06:59] Yeah, it's true. Sarah: [07:00] Yeah, they do have a good they strike a good balance, I would say, between This is a realistically paced depiction of Taradecraft and the sort of constraints of a television season that is six episodes long. And let's Keep things moving. I also like, and I liked this about the lowdown also that the basic, like the case or the Conspiracy at hand was not non-credibly florid and complex. It wasn't this like Rube Goldberg, like Oliver Stone's JFK thing. It was just what you would expect. to be happening at the highest executive levels in Tulsa. And these cases tend to be the same. Like it's not this like shadowy cabal thing that you're like Really, people have that kind of spare time? It's just like a case that MI5 would have, and you believe it. Tara: [07:56] I mean, I will say my early guess, and we've only watched to see if I can get a little bit of a picture of the material. To episode three, but my early guess is that the incumbent mayor whose re-election is underway and is considered a shoe-in because his opponent is like a right-wing wacko. I think that we're going to find out he's involved in some way behind this terror plot to make everyone scared enough to because all of the evidence is pointing to the other guy. To the shooter at the beginning of the season, being a supporter of that guy, because he has three of his books in his apartment that look like no one's ever read them. Just saying. Sarah: [08:30] Yeah, that's a definitely a setup because Dan was like, oh, well, all right, that's the red herring. And I said, yeah, and the fact is, like, his wife. Is played by Victoria Hamilton. Tara: [08:44] Thank you. I had that too. Sarah: [08:46] And so you don't just drop her in there for no reason and say that she's a journalist, so she's not allowed to be there. Tara: [08:49] Mm-hmm. Sarah: [08:54] Like she was just a murderer on Unforgotten. Played the queen mother, you don't put her in here and not have that payoff. So I'm assuming back half of the season, but yeah, for sure. Tara: [09:06] Yeah, that's another good guess. Sarah: [09:07] That's a Oh no, I think that she, her character, is going to uncover what's going on, and like surely will not be believed because she has an axe to grind from that political side of the aisle. Tara: [09:08] It's either the mayor or her is behind all of this to swing the election. Oh ah, sure, maybe. I think the viewer probably instantly feels a lot more anxious than the characters about the idea that Roddy was targeted intentionally, since we know the show will kill a lead character and like anyone is. possibly fair game. They made us think that River had been killed at the beginning of season four. I was like, I believed that it was certainly possible. And that's even before we see that Shirley finds the white van that we know definitely does Contain the kill squad that, you know, she sounds paranoid. She's right. I would not be that excited about an election storyline, except that the incumbent is played by someone I'm used to seeing dressed as a vampire at the Taskmaster house. So, Dave, what did you think of Nick Muhammad? Zafar Joffrey Pasty, yeah. Dave: [10:04] Yeah, I I was having trouble placing him only be not because of his face, because it's no different, except it's a little less chalky. But I did finally tweet to it. I'm like, yeah, fine. You know, we're all allowed to do comedies and dramas. And he was perfectly crombulent playing. Yeah, no problems with that. Tara: [10:24] Yeah, apparently he's his Ted Lasso character has turned evil, I gather. Dave: [10:28] Oh no. Tara: [10:29] I do love that they cast someone as Joffrey's chief of staff, who is approximately twice his height. So any shot of the two of them is immediately a psychic. Dave: [10:38] That one long shot after the incident at the convention hall or whatever that was, where they're walking So close to each other, and it looks like a CGI mistake. Tara: [10:41] Mm-hmm. Yeah. Dave: [10:50] Like they had to Harry Potter him into the bathroom scene fighting the troll, and they didn't quite have the cinematics right. Tara: [10:50] Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Dave: [10:57] He is so, so big, and he is so we. Tara: [10:59] Yes, yes, it's good. Dave: [11:00] Yeah, it's pretty funny. Tara: [11:01] I have written in the past about Apple TV Plus shows feeling frictionless in that conflicts always get resolved. No one feels bad. The ultimate example of this for me is loot. Having a whole season about a charitable foundation working on behalf of unhoused people without depicting one unhoused person in 10 episodes. Dave: [11:19] They all got housed. We won. Thanks, Lute. Tara: [11:23] Yes, they solved homelessness in Los Angeles. Dave: [11:25] They solved it. Yeah. Tara: [11:27] Great. Dave: [11:27] Let's all move to San Francisco now. Tara: [11:29] Is slow horses the exception that proves the rule? Dave: [11:32] Huh. Is Solo Horses strictly an Apple TV Plus show, or is it one of those? Tara: [11:38] Think it's a Co-Pro. Dave: [11:38] It's yeah, it's like Sky and or BBC or something. It's not BBC, but it's one of those. Tara: [11:43] Apparently not. According to Wikipedia, it's only Apple TV Plus. Dave: [11:45] Really? Tara: [11:47] I'm shocked too. Dave: [11:48] I smells it really smells like a Cobra. Tara: [11:48] I really thought that for that reason, actually. Sarah: [11:49] That's yeah. Tara: [11:52] Mm-hmm. Dave: [11:52] Wow. Okay. All right. Well, then kudos to Apple for breaking the bolt there. Sarah: [11:56] I mean, you're seeing, like, everybody is allowed to sort of look. Like shit and dress like shit and be greasy, and then they're shooting in areas that are not like You know, I watch enough masterpiece mysteries that you're usually seeing, like, even if there's not a ray of sunlight in the entire thing. you are seeing like, you know, Cotswold's manors and the fields of reeds and like occasionally that five minutes at the end of the day when the sun is setting and you can actually see it. Slow horses does not. Fuck with that. Like, you're in staircases with like water damage and rust showing. You're in the absolute crappiest, cheapest takeaways. Dave: [12:39] God. And not to harp on it, but once again, British apartment buildings, the most depressing structures on earth. Tara: [12:47] Oh, God. Sarah: [12:47] Oh, my God. Dave: [12:48] Roddy's front door, which seems like it was like a sheet of corrugated plastic in a In a aluminum frame aluminium frame that you could breathe on and would open or fall down and People are suspecting he might be on a hit list, and that door hasn't been replaced or reinforced or whatever. Tara: [12:57] Uh-huh. Mm-hmm. Dave: [13:08] That whole scene where we sort of get a fly-through, a walk-through of Roddy's apartment. Tara: [13:14] That's an episode too, but you know, that's not much of a spoiler. Dave: [13:16] Okay, well that happens. And okay, so I won't spoil it, but there are a lot of character notes as we discover the ins and outs of his apartment, which Feel depressingly true to where a certain type of male in 2025 is, including one prop that made me laugh out loud. Tara: [13:26] Mm-hmm. Yes. Sarah: [13:34] Yeah and And that I mean, that actor is so just sort of not vain at all about how He's written and how he's like continuing to be a butthole, and like the unspoken in the premiere episode, everyone sort of like You know, who would want to run Roddy over? Tara: [13:35] Yep. It's so funny. Dave: [13:37] I'm like, oh my God, it's so perfect. Tara: [13:39] Yep. Sarah: [13:59] But the unspoken part is like, who wouldn't? Tara: [14:01] Everyone who's met him. Sarah: [14:02] And yeah, which we were saying on the couch, and that sort of that unspoken thing is like. They will start to be like, Look, I know that anyone would want to, but seriously, I think they tried to take him out. And of course Course, his first concern is for his headphones, and she's like, Hello, I saved your life. Like, that character never gets the benefit of the doubt. So, as a result, it's perfectly positioned for this setup to kick off season five. It's really well done and textured. But yeah, everyone's. Front doors, like it's not even a council flat situation, but it's always like some it used to be a bright color when it was put in in nineteen eighty eight, but it immediately got a dent in it and looks like shit, and they will never replace it, basically. Tara: [14:41] No. Yeah. Sarah: [14:52] So. Tara: [14:52] Well, you know, when we um when we were watching Melrose plays for again with this, and any time they would show Amanda's sink, it was like that white PVC. Tap and fixtures that used to be so big in the 90s. Like, that's what his door handle is made out of. And, like, I would not trust this on a bathroom stall, this door. Sarah: [15:13] No, you could just melt it, yeah. Tara: [15:13] Like, it's too flimsy. Can I blow your minds by I looked up Christopher Chung to see what else I might have known him from. First of all, he's Australian. Second of all, his first TV credit. 2006, he was a contestant on Australian Idol. That's how we got started in the business. Dave: [15:31] Oh, that's pretty funny. Sarah: [15:31] Oh, amazing. Tara: [15:34] Yeah. Yeah. Sarah: [15:35] I love that for him. Tara: [15:36] So he's a singer. Dave: [15:37] He also another scene to look forward to is there is an incarceration scene where he is also showing off a lot of his characteristics, which was like, wow, that's a lot. Tara: [15:38] He was in Greece. Oh yes. Yeah, putting him at the center of the story, though, is potentially risky since usually he's on the sidelines, he's at the office, he's doing computer stuff, he's being irritating people. So far, this is more of him. Sarah: [16:00] He's being Flinkman. Tara: [16:02] Is this more of him than you want to see, or do you think he's rising to the occasion? Dave: [16:02] Yeah. Tara: [16:06] Sarah. Oh, Dave. Dave: [16:08] Yeah, I think he's okay. They're using him more, but he's still the incompetent outside of his very narrow competency. He's not in front of the computer. He's at home, and things are happening at home. He has to deal with, like, literally, he has to deal with something that's happening at his home right now. And He is not good at it. He is not good at any of the stuff that happens to him outside of the office. And they're just like little vignettes. Like, he's not a main Protagonist in the tradecraft that's going on, really. He's sort of like along for the ride for a lot of it. So I think he works in that context quite well, actually. Sarah: [16:47] If you just keep him as sort of like almost an NPC and all he does is like say shitty things about people's boobs and finally agree to break into a CCTV camera or whatever, like after four plus seasons, you have to maybe try something else. Dave: [16:50] Kinda, yeah. Mhm. Sarah: [17:05] But in line with his general, like, I can hack into stuff, but interpersonal anything is a big no for that guy. Tara: [17:13] Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sarah: [17:15] But this show would know what to do with that kind of character in that at the center of the story. Tara: [17:21] Yeah. I also think that Ko is kind of moving up. Ko is the guy in the hoodie with the headphones on in all the time that's sort of very laconic, but every few things he says is very important to end on point. Sarah: [17:34] We call him jump scare because we'll forget he's in a scene and then he'll be like, he said something at the party in the premiere, and we were like, huh. Dave: [17:36] Jump scare. Yeah. Tara: [17:42] Hmm. Yeah. Dave: [17:44] There's literally a scene where they do camera work so you don't realize he was in the scene the whole time. Tara: [17:50] Mm-hmm. Dave: [17:50] Like he's blocked in a certain way, and they shift the camera. Sarah: [17:51] Yeah. Tara: [17:52] Yeah. Dave: [17:53] It's like, oh, he was here the whole time. Tara: [17:55] Yeah. Dave: [17:55] I was like, oh, that was good. That was a good little piece of business. Tara: [17:56] Yeah, so to me, he feels like he's sort of replacing Roddy in terms of like the side character who's like intermittently important, but like a very different take on it, obviously. Sarah: [17:57] Mhm. Dave: [18:09] Right. But he is the guy that is like laying out exactly the sequence of events that he thinks is going to happen because he sees a pattern. Tara: [18:17] Yeah, seeming chaos, yes. Dave: [18:18] in the the evil doings, yes. And it turns out, of course, he's right because this is all very conspiracy minded. Tara: [18:26] Yeah, Diana Taverner played by Chris and Scott Thomas continuing to look perfect even when she's supposed to have been awake for 48 hours. Sarah: [18:35] Mm-hmm It is No Yeah. Tara: [18:35] Unfair, how stunning she is still. No disagreement. In the second episode, I'll close it here. We find out that, and that this is, I would say, not a spoiler. We find out Roddy's girlfriend is named Tara. I know you both have to live with hearing your name and call pop culture all the time, but it's really jarring for me. So this season might be tough for your Tara, but it's certainly worth watching. What a good show. Sarah: [19:03] Thoughts and prayers, truly. Like, I don't even hear it anymore. I'm sure Dave doesn't either. But yeah, I believe me, as someone who still perks up a little when they're talking about bunting on a Baseball broadcast. Yeah, you have to you just have to hope that they're like bunting. What a horrible idea. Like, you know. So fingers crossed for you. Tara: [19:25] Thank you. Dave: [19:32] What else is for you, Tara, and everybody? Tara: [19:34] What? Oh, yay! Dave: [19:36] This theme to a little segment we like to call Ask EHG. Hello Hello, hello, what's all this then? Sarah: [19:57] Fuck off. Dave: [20:00] It is ask EHG, which means Tara is the judge this week. Oh, no, I did it again. I used the silent wheel. What's wrong with me? I gotta just really just get the pegs back in this wheel. Anyways, Tara is the judge for last week's Ask, Ask, EHG question. Tara, what was it? Tara: [20:18] It was from Dix and Chance. What TV show reboot should be the first one filmed on the moon? Some runners up here, Squid Eye suggested, Xena, warrior, princess on the moon. In the vein of Rocket Robin Hood Blatant pandering to the Canadian panelists here. So they keep saying it's space Greece or whatnot and update none of the ideas. Space Hercules might show up, but if so, we can just leave Sorbo on the moon and tell him the cameras are hidden. Mandrake said, I think wayward pines should have taken place on the moon. You think you're just in a town, then it seems to be a town surrounded by nothingness. Sarah: [20:50] Hmm. Tara: [20:54] Then it seems like the rules of time and space don't apply. Then it turns out you're in the distant future, so you might as well also be on the moon. Might not have to change anything except add some aliens instead of just the feral people. I would say this also applies to severance. Catherine wrote, The biggest loser, or the biggest looner, if you will. At the first moon-based weigh-in, every contestant will have lost at least 83. 5% of their earthly body weight. But our winner this week is Lara, who wrote I would like to have Holy Moly back and want to see how they'd adapt the course and obstacles to a lunar environment. And also, I just want to see people get whacked by the giant windmill and go flying. Sarah: [21:29] Mm-hmm. Tara: [21:35] Excellent answer, Lara. Sarah: [21:35] Yeah, me too. Dave: [21:37] Like the regular show guy gets hit by a pillow and they just float into space. Tara: [21:40] Yes, there's nowhere out there. Sarah: [21:41] Wee! There's nowhere out here. So good. Dave: [21:45] Holy moly on the moon would just be like a 3D mini golf you would have to take into accordance the Z axis. Tara: [21:49] True Mm, so true. Dave: [21:51] You know who wouldn't be good at that? Khan. Yeah. That's one for you, Star Trek people. All right, let's get into your questions for us this week. Tara: [22:01] Wait, Laura knows the procedure, but DM Dave for your sticker. Dave: [22:01] First one Yes. First one comes from Suli rhymes with Julie. Somewhere early on in the run of Mark II, Utara said. I often ask myself, as society, are we doing enough for Merit Weaver? And the answer is generally no. Do you or the other panelists still think that is true? Tara, do you still think that society is not doing enough for Merit Weaver? Tara: [22:25] I think we are doing well by her these days, actually. I think she probably works as much as she wants to on the stage and screen. Playing a family member on the Gilded Age, she played Bertha's sister, Carrie Kuhn's sister, means she could be back, and her character was an absolute delight. She owned every scene she was in. She was hilarious. Dave: [22:43] Yeah, she was good. Tara: [22:45] And she won an Emmy for her guest role in Severance just this very month. So, yes, I think we are serving her correctly. But if I found out she wanted to do more, I would be heartbroken. Sarah. Sarah: [22:57] I'm with you. I think it's also possible that the culture kind of was getting its shit together weaver wise, like late in the before time. And then gave her the lead and run, and was like, if you couldn't make hay with that while that sun was shining, then it's none of our business, which is not totally fair because that show had a lot of problems and I can't prove any of that. But I see she gets one-offs and short arcs on prestigey enough stuff. She did get that Emmy as mentioned. My own opinion is that Unbelievable was so good and she and Collette were so good in it that that should have launched her into the upper echelon Permanently, and maybe it has for her purposes. So the real answer might be more like: we as a society may not really be able To do what we should for Merit Weaver just because of how time works, but within society's current capabilities, I think she's doing okay. Dave. Dave: [23:52] I feel like she's doing fine without what would be my considerable help. Jovial Gent, pick a detective show and change its decade or historical era. Sarah: [24:00] There. Dave: [24:05] Sarah, this one feels like it's for you. Sarah: [24:07] I am picking Perry Mason, either one, since the original was made and set in the 50s. The reboot, which I am still very mad, got canceled, and I will never not be mad. That was said in the 1930s. Let's revive that one, move it to the late Forties, cross it over with the LA Confidential Universe and sick it on the Black Dahlia case. Tara: [24:28] Hmm. Sarah: [24:28] I am not a crackpot. Tara: [24:30] Interesting. Sarah: [24:31] Dave I don't get it. Dave: [24:31] I got three for you to choose from. First of all, Sherlock, the reboot, but it's in the 1880s. Tara: [24:36] Uh-huh. Still with cinnamon toast and crunch. Dave: [24:41] Colombo caveman lawyer poker face in space colon pokerface three thousand it's just her in space yeah No, that's true. Sarah: [24:43] Uh-huh. Tara: [24:44] Uh-huh. Sarah: [24:44] Yep. Face shows. Tara: [24:50] Uh-huh. Well, between the look and feel of Ludwig and how much of a Luddite its titular character is, I think if you just Suddenly said it's nineteen sixty eight, nothing would change that much. In a good way. Dave: [25:03] I think it would have changed if all the publications he writes for finally turn over to digital only, and he has to submit his puzzles digitally, then he's in trouble. Dr. Calhoun, murder she wrote, is set in Maine. When I think of Maine in fiction, I think of Stephen King. How would Jessica Fletcher deal with some of King's creations? Here's what I think is going to happen. Not knowing anything about Stephen King books, but here we go. She falls in love with one of the Langoliers. They marry. The Langolier is elected mayor of Cabot Cove. Tara: [25:37] Mm-hmm. Sarah: [25:38] Mhm. Dave: [25:38] She is then able to retire, and they have four beautiful humongalier babies. Or, or, alternatively, Jessica Fletcher is the running man. Sarah: [25:51] Ooh, okay. Tara: [25:52] I mean, my initial answer was just poorly, and then that was all I was going to say. You know, it doesn't matter how good you are at reading clues in a murder when all of a sudden you're confronting by Cujo or Pennywise or a fucking Tommy Knocker. Sarah: [25:58] Love it. Tara: [26:08] Like, I don't think that she is up to this challenge. Dave: [26:10] What's a Tommy Knocker? Tara: [26:11] I don't even remember. I think they're aliens. Sarah: [26:13] They come in pairs. Sorry Well, part of what compelled me about Stephen King back when I was a huge fan is the ability to convey how ordinary people would be in extraordinary situations. Tara: [26:18] That's what uh that's what you call all of um Tommy Shelby's girlfriends from uh Peaky Blinders. They're all Tommy knockers. Sarah: [26:36] But I think what everyone kind of finds soothing about Jessica Fletcher And the Cabot Cove verse is that while she's not like a highly extraordinary person as written, she is pretty unflappable. Like, I don't agree with this decision, but they sent her to fucking Congress as a sub. So That's what you're dealing with. As a result, while seeing Jay Fletch contending with these supernatural circumstances in like Pat Cemetery or the road virus heads north every week. Would start to feel a little tiresome in that house MD, we get it, you know everything kind of way. I would love a limited anthology in which she quickly assesses the situation based on her knowledge of ghost stories and local folk tales. calls up one of her gazillion fucking nephews who's married to a psychic or whatever the hell, and breaks the spiritual back of the villain in like minute thirty nine. Why not? Dave: [27:29] It occurs to me we're halfway there with Castle Rock. If they just inserted her into that show, Castle Rock, then we probably could have had a lot of this. Sarah: [27:35] Uh-huh. Dave: [27:37] I don't know about the Langolier bit, but the rest of it seems like it's quite doable. Tara: [27:37] Yeah. Dave: [27:41] Another idea, she's the train track at the start of Stand By Me. Sarah: [27:46] Wow. You want to see a dead body? It's Jessica Fletcher. End of episode. Dave: [27:51] Elsbeth, my birthday is in a few weeks. This was a couple weeks ago, so it might even be this week. Tara: [27:56] Happy birthday to you. Dave: [27:56] So happy birthday, Elsbeth! Sarah: [27:58] Happy Birthday! Dave: [28:00] What to you is the ideal birthday celebration or observance, Tara? Ideal. Tara: [28:06] I would like to have a game night, and I would like to have chocolate wafer icebox cake. Dave: [28:12] Okay. Tara: [28:13] And my birthday is next of the three of us, so take a note. Dave: [28:16] Okay. Tara: [28:16] Dave. Dave: [28:17] I want to sleep in. Tara: [28:18] Yeah. Dave: [28:19] I want to order the meal that is the very, very worst for my body. I want to make plans like see a movie with no intention of following through on it or leaving the house. Tara: [28:30] Yeah. Dave: [28:30] I want to decide that dinner too is a thing today and get a pizza and then go to bed. Tara: [28:35] Yeah. Dave: [28:35] Sorry. Tara: [28:36] I considered adding nachos to mine as well. Dave: [28:37] Oh, yeah, nachos. Tara: [28:38] Sorry, Sarah. Dave: [28:39] Hmm. Sarah: [28:39] A candle in an apple pie at breakfast time. Candle is removed, fork is inserted, and I am handed pie. napkin, and a stack of books, and bundled off to the biggest nap magnet sofa in the house for the day. Don't have to walk the dog, don't have to put on a bra. Happy Equinox to me Thank you. Dave: [29:00] Jack is next. We haven't heard from Jack about the Australian pronunciations yet, so I don't even know if they deserve to have this question answered, but we're going to do it anyways. And by the way, nice try to get me to say the first word of this question. So here we go. This is just for Tara and Dave because it's about Canada. We, three Australians and a Brit, are hosting a Canadian Thanksgiving for our homesick Canadian friend next month. Very sweet. Can you give us some suggestions for food or traditions that would make it more authentic for her? Tara ideas here. Tara: [29:33] Well, first of all, I want to say, and this might just be because I'm slow horses pilled this week, but your friend is a spy because no real Canadians I know give shit one about Thanksgiving, to be completely honest. Sarah: [29:46] I actually answered this one and I was like, the I guess we're doing this attitude would strike me as an authentic addition to your celebration. Tara: [29:55] Yeah, it's just copy-paste what you would have for an American Thanksgiving. It's an even faker holiday in Canada. And I honest to God, I'm not exaggerating. I don't know anyone who cares about Thanksgiving dinner other than That it's in the middle of a long weekend in October. Dave: [30:10] Yep, before you get into the weeds, figure out a way to ask them if they do Thanksgiving at all, before you go to all that trouble. Tara: [30:16] Yeah. Yes. Dave: [30:19] because it is definitely not a big deal in Canada. Americans go fucking ape shit over Thanksgiving here, and it is a cultural juggernaut Here, like every year it surprises me how it feels like the walking dead outside because everybody's just gone. Tara: [30:24] Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sarah: [30:29] Yeah. Tara: [30:29] Yeah. Dave: [30:36] It's like They should plan the rapture news for our Thanksgiving because then I might believe it. Tara: [30:39] Yeah, yep. Sarah: [30:40] Yeah, they should. Dave: [30:40] Because it's like, well, there's tumblebees going down my street. Tara: [30:42] Mhm. Dave: [30:43] What the fuck? So before you go out to trouble, because they may say to you, You know what? I'd rather just go out for a dinner somewhere. Tara: [30:50] Yes. Dave: [30:50] Don't like make a turkey and all this sort of stuff because that's just not my jam, my cranberry jam. Tara: [30:53] Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Dave: [30:58] So that might be the case. And if it's not, I really can't help. If they're really into Thanksgiving, I can't help you because our family was always a let's just order pizza today sort of deal. Tara: [31:03] Yeah. Dave: [31:08] Yep. Tara: [31:08] A homesick Canadian might prefer to get like a box of different local Canadian candy. Sarah: [31:09] Yeah Mhm. Tara: [31:15] I would certainly. Dave: [31:15] Yeah, like there's a site called O Canada Snacks or something like that. It's probably highway robbery, but you can get Coffee, Chris. Tara: [31:20] Get em some O'Henry's. Dave: [31:22] I'll dress the bars. Tara: [31:23] Yeah. Mhm. Dave: [31:25] Nynamo bars. Nyamo bars. Tara: [31:26] Nanaimo bars. Dave: [31:27] Nynyamo bars. Thank you. Tara: [31:28] Yeah, make em some Nanaimo bars. They'd probably rather have that than a turkey. Dave: [31:32] Yeah. Okay. Still waiting on that pronunciation score though. Damon, Star Trek, the original series had the Mirror Universe. Seinfeld had Bizarro Jerry. What other shows should have doppelgangers and how would the characters interact? I'm just going to go with slow horses since it's top of mind, if only for the extremely active and put together Jackson Lamb. Sarah: [31:55] Yep. I don't know if this really counts as doppelgangers, but I kind of want to see an FBI split universe in which the Mindhunter team and the X-Files team are each other's doppelgangers in a parallel timeline iteration? Dave: [32:11] Like a freaky Friday kind of thing? Sarah: [32:13] Yeah, but more like but like freaky fringy and you threw counterpart into a script queasinart also. Dave: [32:18] Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Sarah: [32:20] As far as the characters interacting, I think Holden and Mulder initially hate each other, but soon develop an almost telepathic co-working style. Scully and Dr. Wendy Carr initially adore each other and continue to, and spend most of their time rolling their eyes at the first two, or trying to get the respective section chiefs to go out of town. So that they don't notice Mulden making a cigarette out of mashed potatoes in the calf. And Bill Tench just sits in the corner with an inch of whiskey, reading the sports section, and occasionally one of Mulder's ceiling pencils falls into his highball glass. Related, I miss Mindhunter. Still not a crackpot. Tara. Tara: [32:59] I think it would be fine if a particular closet at AP Bio's Whitlock High opened to a mirror universe so Jack could find out what it's like when someone with his face cares about teaching his class. Sarah: [33:08] Ooh. Tara: [33:12] And his students could see what it might be like if they were cool, other than Dan Decker, who is cool in our universe and would be a nerd in the other one. Sarah: [33:13] Hmm. Dave: [33:20] As soon as you said that, I was imagining a giant anthropomorphic apple throwing a tiny little jack into the garbage can each week. Seth asks, who would win in a fight? Star Trek's to Pring, as talked about last week, or our listener to Pickles. Tara, quick answer on this one? Tara: [33:40] I mean, based on what I've seen of Tippering in Strange New World, definitely her. Sorry to pickles, you're dead, Sarah. Sarah: [33:48] Yeah, we were just saying, watching Strange New Worlds, how we missed her. She seems Pretty tough. This is not a patch on topicles, but I think your neck pinched into oblivion pretty quickly. Dave? Dave: [34:00] I want a scenario in which Tipicle survives because they're a valuable supporter. Tara: [34:05] This isn't what we want to happen. It's just what will happen. Sarah: [34:08] It's not necessarily fatal either, just, you know, based on available evidence. Tara: [34:11] Truly Mm-hmm. Dave: [34:12] What's the maximum damage we could do the Tipicles where they can still contribute each month is the goal here. But this is what I think is going to happen. They fight, but as they're fighting, Veger crashes back on Earth after going around the solar system, whatever Veger is doing, and they merge, become pickle to Pringles. Sarah: [34:29] Ah, okay. Oh, okay. Dave: [34:36] And they double their contributions. I've gustered two people now. Sarah: [34:40] Well, delicious. Dave: [34:41] Win-win. Ambrose Chappell, binging the new Michelin web show, I have to ask, when is a British show just too British to be featured on the podcast? Sarah. Sarah: [34:55] I am not sure that we have found that Rubicon yet, to be honest, because of that Tomorrow People episode that I made everyone watch from the polyester age of cheap ass Beeb sci-fi, where you could see light bulbs like actively burning out during scenes, and nobody bothered to change them. Dave: [35:14] Yeah. Sarah: [35:14] If that wasn't too British for everyone, I'm not sure that such a property exists. Keeping up appearances, I would say, too unbearable overall, probably, but. like Britosity aside, I'm not sure this particular panel doesn't have an extremely high tolerance for Britishness. Dave. Dave: [35:36] Perhaps. I feel like we haven't watched something in which we were saying that's impenetrable. I can't do it. But also, we've left a lot on the table. I will direct you to Extra, Extra Hot Grade 361's top 11 list, the most British-sounding TV shows I have not heard of until now, which featured the titles, Oh no, Selwyn Frog it. In which there's just a doughy white guy smiling at the camera for all the key art, and he probably lives in a tiny little village, and he probably has a very thick accent, as a contender. And the other one, which I have no idea what it's about, is called Warzel Gummage. And just that name should be like, oh my God, is this Modruids? What's going on here? There might be some stuff out there that is just like. I don't know at all what is going on here. There are words people are saying, there are situations people are in that are just like too foreign to me. Also, for just talking about the Mitchell Webb of it all, and it's a hard sell these days. I don't know. Robert Webb's whole transphobic thing really makes that viewing just sort of like, eh, I'll pass. Tara: [36:41] Yeah, I'm not sure where he stands on that now. Dave: [36:44] I think he stands where he used to stand before, but now he's sorry about it because he would like to have a career again, is my take on whenever somebody does that. Tara: [36:50] Yeah. Sarah: [36:52] Mm-hmm. Tara: [36:53] I mean, that would be the answer to when is a show too British? Sarah: [36:53] Yep. Tara: [36:56] Like, well, when it's full of turf. Dave: [36:57] The very proud British tradition of being a turf. Sarah: [36:59] Yeah. Tara: [37:00] of transphobia. Dave: [37:01] Yeah. Uh-huh. Tara: [37:01] Keeping up appearance is a great example of like too British. The one I had in mind was Are You Being Served? Sarah: [37:08] Yes, that was on my short list of Neino. Dave: [37:12] And there's just some titles that you're like, I feel like I'm not qualified. Tara: [37:12] Yeah. Dave: [37:16] Yes, Prime Minister, it feels like that would be impenetrable. Like, watching the thick of it was tough at times. Like, I laughed a lot, but I'm going to say a quarter of it went over my head because I didn't know the structures they were explaining and the The politics involved were foreign enough that I wasn't getting all the jokes. Tara: [37:33] Mhm. Dave: [37:34] So, like, that one may be a little too British to enjoy it to its fullest. Tara: [37:37] Yeah. The other one I had in mind was, um, you know, in Kunk on Britain. You know, in the Kunk on Earth, the gag that they always throw to is, um, pump up the jam. Dave: [37:46] Mm-hmm. Tara: [37:46] This was X years before Pump Up the Jam, blah, blah, blah. Dave: [37:49] Yep. Tara: [37:50] On Kunk Un Britain, the example of that is a show called Brushstrokes. And all you see are the opening credits and not even the whole thing. Dave: [37:54] Yeah. Tara: [37:58] Like it cuts off mid, you know, note in the sequence. And it's apparently a sitcom about like a painter decorator, but whatever it is, that just looks, it's too much. I don't think we would understand it. Sarah: [38:11] Yeah. Tara: [38:13] And I would just say, broadly, like anything from the austerity period in the 20th century is just going to be like. Dave: [38:17] Yes. Sarah: [38:20] Yeah. Tara: [38:21] It's going to look like shit. Dave: [38:22] Yeah. Tara: [38:23] It's not going to be funny if it's supposed to be a comedy. And we will not get any of the references because we're too young. Dave: [38:28] Uh-huh. Yep, I agreed. Joelle from Virginia. Tara: [38:32] We know Joelle. Dave: [38:33] Yep. Tara: [38:33] Hi, Joelle. Dave: [38:33] Hold for giggles. Hi, Dave. You recently posted a photo of some very special chip flavors at your local grocery store. These are the HEB Limited Edition Potato Chip Flavors. Sarah: [38:41] Mm so good. Dave: [38:44] I think they do a new match every quarter or so, I'm going to guess. Tara: [38:47] That sounds right. Dave: [38:47] This quarter's new entries were smoked Gouda and pepper jelly and cream cheese. Sarah: [38:48] Love. Dave: [38:53] That's one thing, pepper jelly and cream cheese. Sarah: [38:53] Oh my god, it sounds so delicious. Dave: [38:55] Please help out an envious Canadian. I need Dave's chip chat. Okay, this is now Dave's chip chat. Can you please review these important innovations in snacking? All right. And they also say they would accept this as a regular feature. Can do. Tara: [39:09] You can say she, we know her. Dave: [39:11] I have good news and bad news. Good news is the smoke goudas were excellent. Tara: [39:16] Oh, God, they're so good. Dave: [39:17] Smoke gouda flavor was pretty accurate. Tara: [39:19] Yep. Dave: [39:20] And it's not a wavy chip, so you get lots of powder on them. Tara: [39:22] Mm-hmm. Dave: [39:23] So the flavor was strong. Tara: [39:24] Yeah, wavy, not ridged, is key. Dave: [39:26] Yes. The pepper jelly and cream cheese were pretty disappointing. Tara remarked, and I agree, that they were too sweet. And had a La Croix amount of flavor on them. So they're sweet, but also like, hello, flavor. Tara: [39:38] And not and cream cheese is not like a flavor that's going to translate to anything else other than itself. Dave: [39:41] No. Cream cheese is just for texture and to cut heat. That's what you use it for, right? Tara: [39:47] Yeah, yes, exactly. Dave: [39:48] Yeah. Tara: [39:49] Yeah. Dave: [39:49] But let's just work back. And then moving forward, we'll just deal with new chip flavors. But working backwards, standouts of recent quarters were the Korean barbecue chips. Those were good. I think you can get Korean barbecue chips in Lay's flavors. Maybe it was one of their limited editions. I haven't tried those, but these were also tasty. Sarah: [40:07] I think that's right. Dave: [40:09] Surprisingly, lime and cucumber chips were good. Sarah: [40:12] Hmm. Dave: [40:12] I know it sounds weird, but they were pretty tasty. A good compliment to them were their lemon pepper chips. I think those were also a wavy chip. And what else did they have that I enjoyed? I think there's one more. Oh, yes, bread and butter pickle chips. They were pretty good. A little different from your typical dill pickle chip. Sarah: [40:27] Ooh, okay. Tara: [40:30] If I may ask, if Dave Chip Chat can expand out to other salty snacks, are we going to allow it? What were the twisty the not dots but dots style pretzels that you had recently that I think you got them at Target and I think they were some kind of cheese? Dave: [40:46] Yeah, they were smoked gouda as well. Tara: [40:48] Oh, they were good too. Dave: [40:48] I don't remember the brand. I didn't like those as much as the chips. Tara: [40:51] I agree, but they were also good. Dave: [40:53] Dot's pretzels, which is no longer owned by Dot, I think it's owned by Hershey's, they're one of those companies. Tara: [40:56] I know. Yep. Dave: [40:58] They recently put in a buffalo flavor, and those are good. Tara: [41:01] Mhm. Yep. Dave: [41:02] Yeah, those are pretty tasty. The Parmesan garlic ones I don't recommend. Sarah: [41:04] Ooh. Dave: [41:06] Realius, honey, mustard are the best ones. I'm putting Buffalo up there too, but where is my dill pickle das pretzel? Tara: [41:13] Yeah, I'm shocked that they don't have them, but I bet if you looked around, you could find like a dot's knockoff. Dave: [41:18] Oh, there is. Rolled gold makes them, but they're not very good. Tara: [41:20] That's right. Dave: [41:21] Their pretzels are too they have too much armor on them. Pretzel armor is what I call it. Tara: [41:25] Yeah. Dave: [41:26] You know, the outer shell or whatever. Tara: [41:27] Shout out Carrie Race, who put us on to Dots. We will be hearing her first commentary, which your pledges unlocked in a couple of weeks. Sarah: [41:35] Woo! Dave: [41:35] All right. All right. Let's move on. Fairy Ruby has our next question. Sarah. Sarah, get ready. Please tell me you are going to the dun dun diner for all of us who are too far away. Sarah: [41:41] Yeah. Dave: [41:45] Also, what the hell is she talking about? Sarah: [41:47] Okay, yes. In case listeners are not familiar, the Dun Dun Diner is quote A pop-up experience coming in October that will allow Law and Order fans to unwind over classic diner food like members of an elite squad after closing a case. It is named after the Law and Order intro sound. It will open in New York City to celebrate the 25th season of Law and Order, and it will be at one Rockefeller Plaza over the weekend of October 3rd, reservation only, and they're all booked out. So that's one reason that I am not going. Another reason is that I am also too far away to go. Not everything in New York City is close to each other. I live out near the Verrazano. Going to Midtown is not something I really want to do. Even if it's walking distance and if it takes an hour on the R train, probably not. And if it's not called the Chung Chung diner, it is not canonical. Goodbye. Tara: [42:43] Yeah. Sarah: [42:45] And and and and and what? Like if you look at the photos, this is just like a really Johnny Rockets idea that has zero basis in any of the franchises. Tara: [42:53] Uh-huh. Yep. Sarah: [42:57] Like Are they at a corner bodega sometimes? Sure. Do they go to a greasy spoon sometimes? Does Briscoe take free food from a Chinese place? Sure. Tara: [43:06] Of course. Sarah: [43:07] They go to bars all the time, but like some overlit mall-ass Bo50s joint is not a thing. If anyone else within the sound of my voice is going, I don't judge you, but I am not going. Tara: [43:20] Mm-hmm. Sarah: [43:21] Mostly 'cause of the chunk chunk thing. Tara: [43:22] Yeah, if they wanted to be authentic. Sarah: [43:23] Mhm. Tara: [43:25] the pop-up should look exactly like three-star diner near our old apartment in New York. Dave: [43:29] Oh my God. Three star diner. That was the best. First time I saw that, I just fucking cracked up. Yeah, there was a really old school, shitty diner near us called the Three Star Diner. Unfortunately, I am going to guess is no longer there. I'm pretty sure. Tara: [43:43] Probably not. I'm sure it's I was going to say it's probably a Chase Bank now, but That was the branch where I saw Ron Leabin that time. Dave: [43:48] There was a Chase Bank next door to it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's one next to that one now, or like whatever the other one is next one, Bank of America. Sarah: [43:54] T D everywhere. Dave: [43:55] Yeah. The Dun Dun diner is located at West 313th Lane. Sarah: [43:58] Oh Mhm. Tara: [44:03] Uh-huh. Dave: [44:04] Here are some selections. Tell me which one you would like of these three Noth Eggs, Ben Stone Oven Pizza. Sarah: [44:09] Ew Pizza Oh, wow. Dave: [44:11] Lenny Brisket. Tara: [44:13] Pizza. Dave: [44:14] Okay. Excite Mike Exclamation Point. What instructional film from your school days has stuck with you for good or for ill? I don't remember actually watching a lot of instructional films in school. We watched a lot of educational films, which of course are different. The one that I feel like is spiritually close to this, our music teacher in, I'm going to guess, grade five, were showing us history of music videos. Like, there was one for every couple decades. And I remember the teacher having to stand in front of the TV with her coat open at certain scenes, like Batman with his cape, because there was a boob scene during the jazz segment. Tara: [44:56] Whoa, whoa, like naked boobs? Dave: [44:57] Yeah. So she had to and it happened twice. So she had to like run over and like do the Batman cowl thing in front of the T V for a while. Sarah: [45:04] Oh my God, amazing. Dave: [45:06] Yeah, it was like, you know, like a jazz club scene or something. I don't know. Tara: [45:10] Damn, yeah, yeah. Dave: [45:11] I didn't see it. All I saw was her coat. But, you know, it seemed to have jazzy, strippy music playing. Tara: [45:14] Okay. Wow, okay. Dave: [45:18] Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess the rest of it was very genuine and And well done as a documentary or an educational, you know, whatever it was. Tara: [45:26] Yeah. Dave: [45:26] Except, you know, there were, you know, you're gonna see boobs, guys, jazzy boobs. Tara: [45:29] I mean, I yeah, I guess burlesque is part of that era, so that makes sense. Dave: [45:33] Yeah, I'm sure that's what it was. Tara: [45:34] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dave: [45:35] Yeah, so uh not instructional but you know in the wheelhouse Well, it was instructional. Tara: [45:38] Mhm. Sarah: [45:39] Sort of instructional in a way about censorship. Tara: [45:42] It might have been Yes. Dave: [45:43] It was like how, I mean, I have grade five, I didn't give a shit, but it was a little older, I'd be like, well, how do I, you know, how do we set up mirrors so I can see what all that's about? Tara: [45:51] I'm sure excitement means educational, and if not, sorry, because this isn't instructional either. Dave: [45:51] Yeah. Well, I think he means like, you know, road road rash films and stuff like that. Tara: [46:00] Oh, yeah, no. Sarah: [46:02] Oh, like, yeah, social hygiene films. Tara: [46:04] Yeah, I think that's all. I think it's fine. But anyway, it it hasn't stuck with me per se. Sarah: [46:07] Yeah. Tara: [46:11] But I have vague memories of being in French immersion elementary school and we watch Sol. Did you ever have to watch Sol in school? Okay. Dave: [46:18] Solid cloud. Tara: [46:19] Saul was a tramp-style French clown. Sarah: [46:20] Oh God. Tara: [46:22] He would teach you French. This was for they were made for Radio Canada, which is Quebecois, CBC. Dave: [46:27] And he looks exactly like you think he looks. Tara: [46:29] Yes, he does. Dave: [46:30] He looks like a disheveled Colombo with a crushed hat and clown makeup, and I'm pretty sure he probably had a bindle. Tara: [46:32] Mm-hmm. Yes, it's very, very Quebecois. Dave: [46:37] Yep. Tara: [46:39] And trying to even confirm my memories of this, I now know he was. Played by Mark Favreau. We lost him. We miss him. Sarah: [46:45] Any relation? Tara: [46:45] And there's a library named after Monsieur Favreau in Quebec. So félicitation, asshole. Sarah: [46:53] Did you know he was in Mrs. Parker and the Circle Vicieuse? Tara: [46:58] I would love to know if they're related, even distantly. Sarah: [47:00] That was for two people. Tara: [47:00] But anyway, Sarah. Sarah: [47:02] They're both here. Sorry. Like, we were at the end of social hygiene film. Time. I did enjoy the occasional the difference between xylem and phloem bong film strip, but that's I don't think what excitement means. We had to watch My Mom's Having a Baby, which was a 1977 after-school special that featured film of an actual live birth and stinted on zero details. I will link to one of the prints that is available on YouTube because that version of the after school special credits is absolutely deranged in the best way. Dave: [47:38] W Were you watching the 2D or the 3D version with the glasses? Sarah: [47:43] 3D. Dave: [47:44] Wow, fancy. Tara: [47:45] Whoa. Sarah: [47:45] Yeah. Dave: [47:46] Ah, yeah, baby head. Sarah: [47:46] Yeah. Yeah. Newborn hit me right in the left eye. Never been the same. We had to watch this in health class in, like, I'm going to say fourth grade. During the birth sequence, you, like I said, really left nothing to the imagination. It was absolute nightmare fuel. The theme song was even worse. Like, occasionally, just an adult choir is crooning during a scene transition. My mom's having a baby. Like, why? Get away from me. Tara: [48:15] Oh my God. Sarah: [48:15] But at an all-girls school, all of this was 100% supposed to just fill your panties with concrete dread, and that's exactly what it did. Dave: [48:25] Concrete dread. Sarah: [48:27] I didn't really have to Google any of it. Like I did to confirm, but I was like, uh-huh, yep. And then I'm listening to it. I'm like, oh, God, I hate everything. I hate babies. I hate my school. Serenity now. Tara: [48:41] This was an after school special, you say? Sarah: [48:41] Yes, Tara. Yes. And there is a link in the I have heard the story, so either you did it here, or it was a sassy episode that I heard also. Tara: [48:44] Adding my mom's having a baby to the Tube Tunes draft list. Okay, stand by. Dave: [48:48] God did I Was it here or Sassy? I was explaining the one time I was watching the Canadian show The Nature of Things, where there was a stealth wham, bam, thank you, ma'am, birth scene as well, just like Sarah was. Tara: [49:05] Mm-hmm. Dave: [49:07] That happened, except nobody in the room saw it coming and then, like, oh, and my mother was like, Well, I guess you know what that looks like now. Tara: [49:11] Whoa. Sarah: [49:14] Yeah. Dave: [49:14] And it was probably great. It was probably around the time of Jazz Boobs, too. Tara: [49:18] Mm-hmm. Sarah: [49:18] Can you pick this placenta out of a lineup? Sadly, yes. Tara: [49:22] Oh my God, Dave, you forgot to play the food the food drop after Of course, this is our ask, ask EHG for this week. Sarah: [49:23] Yes, I can. Dave: [49:25] Oh, sorry. Let me just play it for now just so we do we can close the loop on it. Clip: [49:29] Enough! I'm so sick and tired of hearing you people talk about food, food, food. Dave: [49:34] Okay, gross. Bad time. All right. Tara, can you please read this next one? It's too much text for me to deal with right now. Tara: [49:46] Mara writes, Hi friends, I'm going to be spending a lot more time visiting with my elderly parents as they face increasing health challenges, including some cognitive ones. Sorry that you all three are dealing with that, Mara. I'm looking for good television to watch with them that isn't dumb, they have great taste, but also steers clear of upsetting, graphic, or crude content. They love British television, mysteries, and comedies, but even shows like What We Do in the Shadows, Fleabag, and Peep Show are a little too much for their sensibilities. On my list so far are Ludwig, great. Thursday Murder Club, yes. Kunk on Earth, mmm. I don't know about that. Sarah: [50:20] Hmm. Tara: [50:21] Dead lasso. Sarah: [50:22] See previous. Tara: [50:23] Yeah. And Shitt's Creek. They are very liberal and open minded and find the current world quite upsetting. Would love to add some shows that don't insult their intelligence, but also provide a pleasant escape. And I'm just going to get the jump on the 700 people who are going to suggest Julia from HBO Max, but Julia from HBO Max, of course. Sarah: [50:39] Mhm. Dave: [50:40] Yeah. All right, and I know we're going to answer this in more detail next week, but why not have them watch Warzil Gummage and report back and let us know what it's all about? Sarah: [50:49] Yep. True. And when we are answering, maybe don't have like twenty responses. Maybe just three or four. Tara: [50:59] Yes, I have a feeling our judge next week is going to be me, so keep that in mind. Dave: [51:04] Well, let's just limit it to one person. There we go. It was time for the time of time presenting this wheel of Sarah Doo. Sarah: [51:15] Yes, indeed. And we are entering the catchphrase division once again. I quickly became dispirited by the current season of Project Runway, which is a budget, half-ass version of a fantastic original. and for once just quit a show and did a weekend rewatch of some of the first few seasons. And it has been delightful to reacquaint myself with the show that we were all buzzing about two decades ago. Kill me. To remember that in the early going, host Heidi Klum, judges Michael Kors, and Nina Garcia, and the show itself really did seem to want to find the next great fashion designer. to marinate in the drama of the challenges and the models and the cruelty of the button bag, and to spend time with the sincere and wise Menshe version of Tim Gunn. before he got burned out and scoldy. This is not a hashtag Justice for Swap Nil Sidebar. I've done enough of those on this podcast. This is a pitch to include a catchphrase that is an icon not just within Project Runway or the greater magical elves of Burse, but across the entire subgenre of competition reality shows, I am speaking, of course, of Make It Work. This clip that we're about to hear comes from the very first episode of Project Runway, in which horror is slow dawning on the designers in the aisles of a Kipps Bay Gristides that they're going to have to use produce and disposable tableware to make evening glukes. What better time for Tim Gunn to debut his signature exhortation, albeit in a somewhat shaggier form? Clip I Make it work in its elemental form soon became a regular feature of Tim's workroom walkthroughs. Clip: [52:54] Welcome to Gristidi's, the site of your first challenge. In Heidi's words yesterday, this challenge is about creating a glamorous outfit for evening and these are your supplies. Everything that you will use to design and fabricate this challenge must be purchased here. We're not making any other stops. This is why we're calling this challenge innovation. You must innovate. So be as unconventional as you can be in your thinking. And make it work here. Sarah: [53:33] It became an adjectival phrase, morphing into make it work moment and it's make it work time. It was a key feature of second season finalist Santino Rice's Tim Gunn imitation, which has been memorialized in the famous original canon. But what makes Make It Work work is its combination of spare utility. It is, after all, the fundamental ethos of so much reality competition that you have to find a way to prevail over Garden items as shorts or processed food as haute cuisine, and the genuine desire of the phrases author to give practical advice and encouragement, but without interfering. A catchphrase this simple and elegant becoming a part of early Project Runway lore, along with Morganza and other highlights, helped put the show on the map. And I hope I have made this tiny catchphrase can and pitch work. because I have to go meet Andre at Red Lobster. So talk amongst yourselves. Thank you for your time. Tara: [54:33] Dave, why don't you go first? Dave: [54:34] All right. Clip: [54:35] Red Robin Don't Robin Don't Americans love a winner. Dave: [54:37] Remember Red Robin when they're sponsoring Project Runway. Tara: [54:40] Mm-hmm. Sarah: [54:41] Oh, God, poor Tim. Tara: [54:42] Yeah. Dave: [54:42] If we got some highs We got some blows in Project Runway History. Sarah: [54:45] Mm-hmm. Dave: [54:47] Project One Way History today. Anyways, I really hate Make It Work, but I cannot deny its power and its. His place in the pop culture. Tara: [54:56] Mm-hmm. Dave: [54:56] So, you know, this is a begrudging yes vote for me. I mean, it's one of those things as a TV historian, and we all know I am a TV historian, a TV truth storian, if you will. Tara: [55:04] Of course. Mhm. Sarah: [55:07] Oh I won't. Dave: [55:08] And if I were to vote against this just because it personally irks me, I would be thrown out of the guild. So It's also like the delivery of it, right? It's also like that 15% Britishness that gets thrown into the way he says it that sort of like turns it into like Some sort of like multi-layered thing. Like, it's yes, it's a directive and it's like a catchphrase, but it's also like annoying because it's 15% British. So there's a lot of things that. Go into making it work. You got my vote. You know, choke on it. Tara. Sarah: [55:44] You magnificent bastard. Yeah, okay. Tara: [55:46] Yeah. Sarah: [55:47] I'll take it. Tara: [55:48] First of all, I love that true story. It is already Coming around to like, we say it as a joke, and then it's the thing that we just accidentally say for real. Sarah: [55:53] Now it's real, yeah. Tara: [55:57] I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, but I've been listening back to the Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast, and there's a lot of instances where the Lonely Island guys would like they would just adopt, you know, Taco Bell taglines from commercials as a bit and then realize they're sincerely saying they love to live moss about this or that. Hat. That's just like anyway, very good podcast. Recommend. That's a sidebar. Dave, I believe you produced an I Make It Work tea shirt. Dave: [56:21] I did. Yeah, but that wasn't a fan shirt. That was I like money shirt. Tara: [56:27] And it worked because I bet you sold some. Dave: [56:28] It wasn't a great seller, actually. It wasn't one of the good ones. Tara: [56:32] Well, in the run-up to our broad our deal at Bravo, you did wear it to the Project Runaway final show, whichever season it was. Dave: [56:39] That's right. When we got invited to the runway bit, I had no idea what was going on, but I was just happy to be there. Tara: [56:42] Yes. Yep. Sarah: [56:46] Uh-huh. Tara: [56:47] Anywho, yeah, everything Dave said was right except positive. But I mean, I get, I take your point. It did, it sort of became like the Hollywood handshake has become on Bake Off, where it's like it's gotten bigger than it needed to be. Dave: [56:57] Yeah. Sarah: [56:58] Mhm. Dave: [57:00] Yeah, Bart Simpson said, I didn't do it. Tara: [57:02] Yeah, it's it's it became a branding i element of the show in kind of a distasteful way. Sarah: [57:03] Yeah. Dave: [57:09] If they had more spin-offs, eventually one of them would have been called Project Runway colon, make it work. Tara: [57:15] Make it for sure, or if that was like the backstage show or something. Dave: [57:16] Yeah. Yep. Tara: [57:18] But but that said. It does also work in context. Like Sarah was saying, like, you, this is what you have to do when you're a contestant on one of these shows. You have to use your limited time and your limited resources to make it work. So. For how iconic it became, if anyone hears that, they know what it's from, probably. And it can't be denied, even as Dave said, even grudgingly, it's part of the TV canon. So I ha absolutely, it's a yes for me. Dave: [57:47] All right. I'm going to vote yes. Tara Ariano, make your official yes or no. All right. So Make it work from Project Runway. You are hereby inducted into the extra hot great tiny catchphrase cannon. Tara: [58:04] It's also wild, sorry. Dave: [58:07] No, we're over. Clip: [58:07] Yup. And will not tolerate a loser. Nope. Dave: [58:11] All right, say your peace. Tara: [58:12] All I was going to add is, considering what it turned into, it's so crazy watching it in that first episode, how he just like throws it away. Like, there's no, he has, there's no sense that he's like starting a thing. It's just like, make it work here, just, and then, you know, absolutely. Sarah: [58:27] Which is why it worked, is that he really was very genuine. Tara: [58:31] Yep. Sarah: [58:31] And before he turned into this sort of bitter pill in the late going. Tara: [58:34] Yes. Sarah: [58:36] That's where it came from a it came from a non-branding place. Dave: [58:39] Yeah. Tara: [58:40] For sure. Dave: [58:41] And then later on in the episode, he's like, Did I do that? And I was like, oh, yeah, right. That's where I come from. Sarah: [58:45] Oh, no. Dave: [58:47] It's time for the not quite winners and losers of the week. Tara: [58:47] Lady Hmm. Dave: [58:50] I will go first. I am going to flip the way that Tara put these in the Doc, so her winner is my loser, and her loser is my winner. So let's deal with the winner first, and we'll read it just as she put it in there. Tara: [59:04] Uh-huh. Dave: [59:04] Winner of the week, relations between the levies, apparently, as Eugene says he hasn't heard Dan's idea for a Schitt's Creek sequel because he doesn't have Instagram, is the actual quote said in jest. You know, they, I think everybody said that there's a good idea and it makes sense from where they left off in the series. They might explore it. So I think that's good that they're being careful with a beloved property. So, I think that's probably good news for fans of the show. You know, a fan of the show that just wants more consequences to be damned is not a good fan. Tara: [59:36] Yeah. Dave: [59:36] You want a choosy fan that knows what a show should be. Tara: [59:40] Come on. Dave: [59:41] And then my loser of the week is veteran Star Trek producer Brendan Braga. Correctly, this is Tara speaking again, likening short TV seasons to Tinder relationships. And saying we need a return to longer, more sustained seasons. Tara: [59:56] He's right and he should say it. Dave: [59:58] Maybe, like, when you get down to like six episodes, that is trying people's patience because you feel like you're just starting and then it's over. Tara: [1:00:06] Yes. Dave: [1:00:06] But If you have like eight or ten, you are in theory getting less fat on your TV show. Tara: [1:00:13] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:00:13] Yeah, you forget. How flabby TV shows could get when they were like doing dozens of episodes instead of like less than a dozen. And I realize a lot of this is studio economics and it works well for them, but TV was a different place. There was a lot less good shows on TV when they were pumping out fucking 32 episodes a year or whatever. So I would just say. Be careful what you wish for. I'm sure there's exceptions to this rule that a certain show would do better, but a blanket, everything should be more, more, more. Like, I remember what TV used to be looked like. Sarah: [1:00:51] Well, but for gen for a genre Producer like him, I think it does make more sense. I think you can churn out a 22-episode or like a 16-episode season of a procedural or genre stuff like sci-fi. But, you know, it's not like we don't know. Like we're sort of wading through Dawson's Creek. We got through Beverly Hills and Melrose Place, which had 32 episodes a season, sometimes like we are well aware of like those March episodes where they're like, we have to put something. Does anyone want to do a flashback episode? Tara: [1:01:26] What if Brenda found a dog again? Dave: [1:01:26] Right. Sarah: [1:01:26] How about time travel? Dave: [1:01:29] Yeah, okay. Sarah: [1:01:30] You know, a six episode season that you waited two and a half years for, for instance, is like, that's dumb. Dave: [1:01:36] Yes, I grant you that. Certainly the space in between these short seasons, if they could shorten that, I think it would help a lot. A lot of it is The wait is too long in between what are now considered shorter seasons. But speaking to the genre stuff, people love Star Trek the next generation. But if you take a sober look at it, about half of them are shit. Or just not great. I mean, okay, shit is too strong of a word, but it's an uneven show. When it hits, it hits really well. When it doesn't, we forget what time. You know, the sort of like middling ones. And there's a lot of them because they did a lot of episodes this season. Sarah: [1:02:11] Like it gets different skill sets too. Like if you know you have 22 episodes, you're setting your shit up differently. I don't know. I mean, I could see it both ways. Tara: [1:02:19] It's bad for workers too. It's bad for everyone who works on these shows. The economics are much worse. This is a lot of why like writers struck a couple of years ago is because The reason networks are doing it is not because they want the tightest, best seasons. Like you said, it's studio economics. They want it cheap. They want to only hire four writers instead of, you know, 10. Dave: [1:02:40] Well, this is what I remember pretty much. Everything getting shortened. How many times on this podcast? Probably once every couple of months, we would say, Boy, I wish more American shows would follow the British model of doing shorter seasons. So So here we are, and we got them. I disagree with you guys. So we'll just leave it at that and podcast over. Tara: [1:02:58] All right. Dave: [1:02:59] All right, Sarah DeBunting, who is your not quite winner of the week. Sarah: [1:02:59] All right. Well, my not quite loser is the worker of whom Dave is an enemy. Just kidding. Saying in the Star Trek verse, my winner, not quite, is wealthy Star Trek fans because Kirk and Spock's original uniforms are up for auction with a starting price of $10,000 to $15,000, which panel That seems low. Tara: [1:03:21] Yeah, well, that's the starting price. I mean, I'm sure they'll sell for more. Sarah: [1:03:26] Right, but that still seems low to me to start at, don't you think? Dave: [1:03:31] Well, you get more bidders, I guess, if you start low. Sarah: [1:03:32] No? Dave: [1:03:34] It's like a house. Starting price, you know, get people interested. And then their brain is like, Well, I put in one bid, maybe I'll put in another one. Oh no, my house is gone. I mortgaged my house. Tara: [1:03:43] Yeah, I mean, when we come back to this in three weeks and it's like, and the original costume sold for $1. 3 million, it's going to be like, well, that sounds about right. Dave: [1:03:50] But I remember seeing the last time we had a Star Trek auction and there were I think it was phasers and communicators and stuff like that, a lot of physical props. They didn't really at the final price didn't really seem that high to me either. So, like, Star Trek isn't that popular of a franchise compared to what it once was. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of Trekkies out there that would love to land a piece of merchandise like that, but I don't think it's like the hot commodity it once was in those circles. Also, because those fans are dying out. Tara: [1:04:21] Well, yeah. Sarah: [1:04:21] Yeah, it's well, there's that. Speaking of dying, my not quite loser is Catfish, which was canceled at MTV after nine seasons. You might be saying to yourself. Self, they had to have had more than nine seasons. Tara: [1:04:34] I thought that too. Sarah: [1:04:35] It was on for like a zillion years. Tara: [1:04:37] Yeah. Sarah: [1:04:38] Do not ask too many questions about why I know this so authoritatively, but season eight Was literally over 80 episodes. Tara: [1:04:45] Whoa, that's crazy. Sarah: [1:04:45] I don't know what their reasons were for classifying it that way. It just sort of like, it's like, as long as we're in lockdown, we're not ending the season. Like, good one. Tara: [1:04:55] Mm. Sarah: [1:04:55] Charlemagne the God, or whoever was hosting at that point, I completely lost track of it. Tara: [1:04:59] Right. Mm-hmm. Sarah: [1:05:00] Ancillary, not quite loser, real estate clients because Now, Neve Shulman, as reported a couple of weeks ago now, I think, has gotten his real estate license and signed up with Coldwell Banker Warburg. We'll have a link to his Broker page in the show notes. If this is not a play to get on billion-dollar selling Sunset or similar, I will eat a hat. Tara: [1:05:22] For sure. Yep. Sarah: [1:05:25] I will do it on video. Tara: [1:05:26] That is 100% what he's trying to do. Sarah: [1:05:29] Yeah. Tara: [1:05:29] There's no doubt in my mind. Sarah: [1:05:31] But he absolutely has that. Those pants are a little too short, and you shouldn't wear them with brand shoes. Tara: [1:05:35] Yep. Sarah: [1:05:37] Look of the Brooklyn Realteur. Present company in this household accepted. Obviously, my husband dresses like a normal person and acts like a normal person, but um Yeah, I sent him that and he was, I was like, oh, someone's coming for your boy Sirhan's lunch. Tara: [1:05:48] And wears socks. Yeah. Sarah: [1:05:55] And he was like, I don't know who this is. And I was like, I'm not going to tell you who it is because, yeah, live in peace. Tara: [1:05:57] Good. I love you. Dave: [1:06:01] Do you guys think 80 episodes into season is too much or too little? Tara: [1:06:04] Yes, I think that's too much. Dave: [1:06:06] Okay. Sarah: [1:06:06] Of catfish, eight is too many, honestly. Dave: [1:06:10] You guys are all over the map. Tara. Tara: [1:06:12] My not quite winner of the week is the paper, The Peacock Show, we talked about on the main podcast. A couple of weeks ago. It is also going to get a broadcast run on NBC this fall because NBC has one sitcom that is trying to launch in the fall, and I don't even think it's this month. I think it's in like November. They made a cheerleading comedy called Stumble with Jen Lyon from Claws. And I think that one of the ladies from Cheer is behind it as well, perhaps. Sarah: [1:06:42] Yeah, I think Adama, Monica Adama, the embattled Monica Adama is an exec prod. Tara: [1:06:49] Yeah, so they're going to launch it with the paper airing on TV, which like I'm Still always surprised this doesn't happen more, especially considering, you know, with the pit, it was an HBO Max original. Now they're airing it on HBO. There've been a couple of other instances as well where something has jumped from the streaming name cousin to broadcast. But like, I yeah, I don't know why it doesn't happen more, honestly. Sarah: [1:07:09] Gen pop. Yeah. Dave: [1:07:12] I think because if you do it consistently, there's an excuse for a certain segment not to subscribe to your streaming platform, but where it is Mysterious, their methodology is clouded, then you are like, maybe I should have and don't know if the paper is ever going to make it to NBC, but also I also feel like they're mainly different markets. Sarah: [1:07:13] Yeah. Tara: [1:07:18] Sure. Mhm. Yeah. Mhm. Dave: [1:07:32] Like I feel like the broadcast stuff is going to capture older viewers, not to be too disdirect about it, but you know, Jerry Actrix, get ready for the paper. Tara: [1:07:35] Right. Mm-hmm. Sarah: [1:07:41] Again, have to pay creators of streaming only properties if there's a jump to broadcast and they're able to sell ads on it. That the creators have it in their contracts, like you have to pay us more as well. Tara: [1:07:54] Right. Sarah: [1:07:55] So, no one ever wants to pay the creative, so that's how that works. Tara: [1:08:00] Not quite loser of the week. Apple, which is Removing the Jessica Chastain vehicle, the Savant, from its upcoming release schedule. This was supposed to launch literally this week. And then. Sarah: [1:08:12] Yeah, like today, as you're listening to this, what the fuck? Tara: [1:08:14] Yes, right. And then after the Charlie Kirk murder, they're like, oh, this is too hot, because it's about white supremacist domestic terrorism. Sarah: [1:08:15] Yeah. Tara: [1:08:24] Which to me says that maybe is the perfect time to launch a show like this. But this goes back to my whole frictionless thing with Apple, where it's like they don't want to piss anyone off and make them throw their phones in a ditch or whatever. Dave: [1:08:35] Yes. The political eunuchs of the United States. Tara: [1:08:37] Completely. Yeah. I mean, this is the same thing with the morning show, where it's like, okay, we're going to have big stakes, but not about things that actually happened or are real in any way. Dave: [1:08:44] Yes, the year is twenty twenty four and our president is Okay. Tara: [1:08:50] Yeah. Sarah: [1:08:50] Says some French John Cock toasted. Tara: [1:08:52] But Jessica Chastain, at least, I'll give her credit because she has said she's not aligned with the decision. Sarah: [1:08:57] Mm-hmm. Tara: [1:08:57] And is sort of saying, like, I hope you get to see it someday. And it's like, well, this is what you should do with your power as an Oscar winner. Talk some shit. Sarah: [1:09:04] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:09:04] I don't disagree, but let's not use the phrase not aligned to say I don't agree or it's bullshit or something like that. Sarah: [1:09:05] Yeah. Tara: [1:09:10] Yeah, yes. Dave: [1:09:11] That is some horse shit. Sarah: [1:09:12] My values don't align with this complete horseshit. Dave: [1:09:17] Coming up next, here we go is Kim Reed's The Most Awesome Thing I Watched on TV last month. Kim: [1:09:25] 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 14 entitled Rivals. This is the episode where, as a child, I experienced secondhand embarrassment for the first time, or what the kids call cringe. So, buckle up. So Pa and Jonathan have a whole storyline this week, but it's so boring, except for one part. So I'm going to deal with it in one go instead of trying to go in order. So it starts with them greasing their wagon wheels, which is not a you And they're getting ready to participate in a hauling contest where the winner will get a hauling contract. And has Pot ever been in the hauling business before or since this episode? Probably not. Anyway, Jonathan has grease all over himself, and Caroline is worried about Alice Garvey having to do his laundry, and it's a whole thing. But then that night Pa's too nervous to sleep, but Ma doesn't want him to be disappointed if they lose, which he's an Ingalls on this show, so there's no way he'll lose. And my next note for the storyline asked if anyone in the world cares about the hauling contest, so I'm guessing there were multiple shots of Pond Jonathan driving their wagon over the mountains of Minnesota like snooze fast. And then they get to Mankato and they think they won, but their opponents took a shortcut over some rough roads and won instead. But it turns out that the opponents broke all the china that they were hauling, so they get disqualified or whatever. And is there a lot of call for hauling China from Walnut Grove to Mankato on the reg, but whatever. So Pa goes home where his family's missing him a lot, and he's psyched to tell everyone that they won the contract. Mom pretends to be happy, but really she's sad because who would want to live in the prairie alone for weeks at a time? Not Caroline Ingalls. She might have to almost cut off her leg again. So then some weeks later Pa and Jonathan are doing so awesome that the freight guy wants them to do even more hauling and pay them more money. And Pa and Jonathan celebrate by going to a fancy restaurant, but they don't know what anything is because some of the items are in French. So they tell the waiter to bring them whatever the best is and also some local wine. And I was going to make fun of the Minnesota wine industry, but it turns out they do have a huge wine industry. And as someone who lives near the Finger Lakes in New York, I salute them. But the wine they get is the 1878 Sleepy Eye Red, which sounds terrible. As they drink their wine, Pa sees a family eating nearby, and he gets sad, and so does Jonathan. And the waiter brings out their food, and it's Escargo, and Jonathan says, Them snails and they both decide to cancel their dinners and head home. Also, they grabbed a bottle of wine to take with them and they don't pay for it. So then Pa arrives home and he tells Ma they're done freighting because they want to be husbands and fathers and not rich bigwigs. Caroline calls him a great big galoot. Which seems inaccurate because I always got the vibe that Michael Landon was a short Kang, but they hug, and that's the end of that dumb storyline. Now on to the main event. The school where most of the kids are playing baseball. I'm like, what a crappy baseball field they've chosen because, first of all, it's the road where all the wagons pull up for church on Sunday. And second of all, it's just dirt, and while dirt can make for a good infield if it's groomed, this isn't. And imagine the hops that ball must make. I bet more than one Walnut Grove child has taken a ball to the face while trying to field a grounder thanks to a bad hop. And if that wasn't bad enough, they're using rocks for bases. Like, how would you not turn an ankle while rounding second or whatever? Laura's up next, and of course, she hits a home run because she's in angles, and they only face adversity to show us how easy it is to overcome. But I note that while rounding the bases, Laura touches Nary a rock, so she could be ruled out on a technicality, but who's gonna check her? I guess that home run was a walk off, because then Laura and some boy immediately head to the pump to get some water, and the boy asked to walk her home. So later they're all walking home and three boys are walking merry home, which I'm surprised. Pa doesn't make a bigger deal about that because you know how he is. And Laura's walking with her baseball buddy and Carrie's traipsing along behind. Like, I'm surprised she hasn't fallen in a well or the creek yet. And anyway, Laura agrees to go frogging at the pond later. At the pond, yada yada yada frogs, and then Laura and the anonymous boy fall into the pond, and then Laura hits puberty all of a sudden and puts her face inches from the boy's face, and then she runs off. So later Mary's helping Laura bathe and he teaches her about nagging by advising her to ignore the boys she likes so that they will like her even more. Laura wants to know about kissing too, and Mary changes the subject. So that night Laura dreams about running through a field with this boy, and then he dips her and they fall. Like where did people even get these ideas before T V and movies? I guess it could come from a book, but I highly doubt Ma's letting Laura read any prairie romance novels. The next morning Laura decides to wear her hair down to school and has to wear her good dress in ribbons, and somehow Ma's not one bit suspicious or maybe she is, I don't know. And my advice to Laura is that boys do not notice your hair or what you're wearing. Or maybe they did back then because most people only had like three outfits total. Laura hangs out in the loft and brushes her hair and practices kissing the mirror and somehow doesn't hear Mary coming up the ladder, of course. So she has to pretend she was polishing the mirror, which she does by breathing on it and then wiping it with her hand, which would just get more finger prints on it, so what was the point? We finally find out the boy's name is Jimmy when Laura runs into him on the way to school. Laura asks if he notices anything different and he says she should cut her hair it'll get in the way. Then this girl Samantha Higgins rolls up in overalls and braids and steals Jimmy away. I hope you weren't looking for character development on Samantha even though she seems pretty rad for wearing overalls back then, because her entire character is basically overalls and baseball. Laura sees Jimmy sharing an apple with Samantha and she gets jealous, so she asks Nellie of all people to help her. But Laura sensibly doesn't want to tell Nellie about her crush, so she lies and says she's writing a paper on great lovers through the ages, and since Nellie was married and all, she can contribute. At least for one episode they aren't pretending like that marriage never happened, although wouldn't Luke still be going to their school, and wouldn't that be weird for Nellie? Or are they still dating even though their marriage was annulled? And imagine the ruckus on the internet if a show aired nowadays with this lack of even an effort at continuity. Anyway, Laura wants to know how Nellie snagged Luke, and Nellie says it was her natural attributes, like her naturally curly hair, and her sweet, unspoiled disposition. and it doesn't hurt to have a good figure, which Nellie pronounces figure, and Laura somehow doesn't laugh in her face, but it's good to see Nellie's back to her old self after her annulment. Jimmy invites Laura to play baseball, but she can't because she's wearing fancy clothes, and Nellie thinks that was smart of Laura to avoid baseball, because playing makes her smell like sweat or fish. Which is oddly specific, and has Nellie just been sniffing Laura? Are there Laura Nelly shippers out there? I'm sure there are, and honestly, I could see it. Anyway, Nelly thinks Laura needs perfume, but Laura says it's expensive, and I can't believe no one is going to mention lemon verbena, which I only ever knew about from this show. The next morning, Laura sneaks off so she can apply some of Ma's perfume before school. And when I say some of, I mean most of, because she really splashes it on. Like I used to with my mom's Jean de Tay after bath splash, although I couldn't have used much of it because I'm pretty sure we had the same bottle of it for my entire childhood. Laura runs into Jimmy on the way to school and he notices the stink and he thinks it's a skunk or a dead rat, which honestly doesn't speak highly for Ma's scent choice. Ugh, we're rolling up on the most embarrassing part. As if Laura throwing herself at this uninterested boy hasn't been enough, Laura catches up to Mary and asks when she's going to get bumps. Bumps I get that they couldn't say boobs or breasts on this show, but maybe bosom or something up top, bumps, is the most embarrassing way to say it. Mary doesn't have a good answer. And now here we are at the worst part. Before she goes into school, Laura sticks apples in her dress to simulate the chest she doesn't have, and it's so awful. I guess Laura thought everyone would think she just grew them overnight or something, so she walks proudly into school and everyone just dies laughing right in her face. I guess Miss Beetle didn't notice because she calls Laura up to the board and everyone's still giggling. And then when Laura raises her arm to write on the chalkboard, one of the apples falls on the floor. It's funny now, but I remember being so embarrassed that I almost couldn't watch when I was a kid. Also, I feel like stuffing your bra has gone the way of quicksand and soufflés as things that were really big deals on seventies T V shows, but no one talks about anymore. Anyway, Laura runs out of the school. So this is the point where Pa has come home and said he's not gonna haul freight any more, but he notices that Laura's up crying in her bed and Ma says she'll handle it. And then Ma gives a patented Caroline Ingalls lecture about how anyone who pretends to be someone else is silly. Ma says Laura has to like herself first before anyone else will. So the next day, Laura runs to school and not one person mentions what happened, which is wildly improbable. Pre-internet, you have to imagine the news cycle on such an amazing event would last for a week at least. Like, I'm shocked everyone isn't still talking about how Nellie ran off and got married. But anyway. Sam overalls pitches Laura a ball, and of course she hits yet another home run, and then Jimmy walks Laura home and carries her books, and then he drops them by accident, and when they both go for them, Jimmy gets the love bug. and he kisses Laura so she runs off, but before she can get too far he asks her to go fishing. And then he says he didn't think it was yucky, and Laura agrees, and we never saw Sam Overalls or Jimmy Kissy Face again. And that was the most awesome thing I saw on T V last month. Dave: [1:18:01] All right, so guys, what is the most embarrassing thing, fruit object, that you have stuffed up your shirt or in your bra? Tara: [1:18:10] Other than my phone, which I do all the time. Dave: [1:18:11] Well, that's not embarrassing. Tara: [1:18:13] Okay. Dave: [1:18:13] That's just handy. Tara: [1:18:14] It's just an extra pocket on my chest. Dave: [1:18:15] Yeah. Yeah. Tara: [1:18:17] I mean, I regret to say I was always bosom-y, so I never had to stuff anything in my bras except Kleenex is the classic, right? Dave: [1:18:20] Yeah. But if you wanted to make them even bigger, what would you put there? Mm yeah, I guess. What about basketballs with monkeys in them? Tara: [1:18:33] Sticker. Dave: [1:18:35] Sarah, yeah. Sarah: [1:18:37] Same. I had it brought. 10 years old. I didn't have to do that. The most embarrassing thing, though, that happened with regard to Brazier storage. Talk about not aligned. I used to use my sock as a budge, but I also would use my bra, and it was like a really, really new twenty dollar bill. And I got a paper cut on my boob, and then I Hooked up that night, and my hookup partner was like, What happened to Lefty? Tara: [1:19:00] Oh no, oh no, no, no. Sarah: [1:19:07] And I was like, Oh, Andrew Jackson took a bite. Tara: [1:19:12] Wow. Sarah: [1:19:12] It's a good story. I could tell it again if you want. Dave: [1:19:14] I asked these same questions offline, and back then Sarah said they were tomatoes, but they were weirdly diced tomatoes. Welcome in, Grandpa's, for this week's extra credit. If you want to hear Oh boy, about an hour and 10 minutes or so before this, please go to extrahotgreat. com/slash club and get your pledge up to the current $5 level, and then you can experience all of the show, all of the weeks, plus a whole bunch of stuff in the back catalog. For you to enjoy. But we're glad you're here now. For this week's extra credit, we are doing the power ranking of the cast of Walking Deads. First season asterisks selections by Dave. Because there's a lot of people in The Walking Dead, and a lot of them, you know, who cares? So. These are selections. Some were in a lot of episodes. Some are familiar faces only in a couple episodes that I wanted to put in the mix. We will start with the lead of The Walking Dead. It is Andrew Lincoln. He played Rick, the sheriff. He's clipping and clopping down the highway in Atlanta, and he goes into the hospital. Don't dead open inside door, and it's all having bad days. He wakes up from his coma, all that jazz from the pilot. So, Andrew Lincoln, let's start with him. We'll start with Tara. Where are you ranking him and why? Tara: [1:20:48] Well, I'm sad that we're starting with him because I ranked him last. I have him last with one point. He did a shitload of this franchise. I don't remember the last time I saw him. I looked at what he has coming up. He's a blank to me. I mean, I would recognize him if I saw him in anything, but whatever he's doing. It has, it's none of my business, it seems. So, one point for Andrew Lincoln. Dave: [1:21:10] None of my business. Okay, Sarah, where are you putting Lincoln here? Sarah: [1:21:14] I'd like to preface all of my remarks by saying there is a significant divide within this list. Between the this is the lead and the obit people and the have careers outside of it people. Tara: [1:21:27] Yep, mm-hmm. Dave: [1:21:27] With a real oil and vinegar situation. Sarah: [1:21:30] Yeah. You know, above that line, everyone's kind of a two, and below it, everyone's kind of an eight. So this ranker was weird. Dave: [1:21:38] It was challenging. Sarah: [1:21:39] Was weird. Dave: [1:21:40] Yeah. Sarah: [1:21:41] In terms of Andrew Lincoln, he's like British. Dave: [1:21:42] Yeah. Sarah: [1:21:43] If Joel Kinneman and Sam Roberts had a British kid who was boring, it would be Andrew Lincoln. Tara: [1:21:48] Wow, you fucking nailed it. Sarah: [1:21:51] Yes, I did. I retire. But before I do, he was kind of in the top of that second echelon. So I had him in sixth place with four points. I think he works, but he's not in anything that I would watch. And again, boring as fuck. So there he is. Dave: [1:22:08] Well, more bad news for Andrew Lincoln. I also put him last. Sarah: [1:22:12] Oh, wow. Dave: [1:22:13] Well, I mean, he's a big deal inside of the Walking Dead microfame silo. Tara: [1:22:19] I mean, yeah, sure. Sarah: [1:22:19] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:22:20] He is the lead. A lot of characters revolve around his star. Tara: [1:22:25] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:22:26] But since he's left the show, and like, I think he was pretty much like, it's time for me to leave. He was like one of those guys. Tara: [1:22:33] Yeah, cut to 800 more episodes of Across the Franchise that happened after he left. Dave: [1:22:38] Right. And he's done nothing since leaving the core show except VO work, including a podcast on his credits. Tara: [1:22:45] Hmm Oh dear. No Mm-hmm, it was hard. Dave: [1:22:49] And then he came back to The Walking Dead for another go. So, I mean, I think that tells you a lot about how much juice he has, which is not a lot. Sarah: [1:22:57] Well, but that's part of why I had him above others. It was like at least he figured out that this was his only path to juiceness and returned. Dave: [1:23:06] Yeah, no, I get that, but I think a lot of them know that this is as good as it's going to Get for them and have stuck with it. Sarah: [1:23:11] Mhm. Yep, agree. Dave: [1:23:13] But I think Andrew Lincoln has the biggest fall from where he was at the start of Walking Dead. Sarah: [1:23:21] I see. Dave: [1:23:21] As far as power goes, as far as juice goes, because he was the lead of the show, he was the face of the show. Sarah: [1:23:22] Okay. Yeah, no, I gotcha. Dave: [1:23:28] I mean, granted, it's an ensemble show, but like, you know, he was the poster guy. And now he's doing nothing. So, speaking to the oil and vinegar thing, I think there's going to be a lot of close calls for me in the lower echelon and a lot of the upper echelon, which made this an interesting exercise. Sarah: [1:23:41] Yeah, no, for sure. Dave: [1:23:45] But I think For me, the disparity between where he started and where he ended up puts him at ninth. Sarah: [1:23:46] Yeah. No, I'm not arguing. Dave: [1:23:53] Yeah. Sarah: [1:23:53] I just think below Stephen Yoon, it was like everybody's an eight, so we're just going to pick up sticks at fugit. Dave: [1:23:57] Yeah. Yep. Next up, Noah Emmerich or Emmerich. Not quite sure exactly how you pronounce his name, but you definitely know his face. Character actor. He was just in two episodes of season one as the last man standing at the C D C, which is very funny, but not in a haha funny way to think about here in 2025. Tara: [1:24:18] Yeah, yeah. Dave: [1:24:20] So, Tara, we know him from the Americans. Tara: [1:24:23] Yep. Dave: [1:24:23] We know him from dozens of other things. Tara: [1:24:25] Mhm. Dave: [1:24:26] He's got that face. Tara: [1:24:27] He does. Dave: [1:24:28] Where did you put him and why? Tara: [1:24:29] Smack in the middle. I do think he still has a glow from the Americans he does with me at least. That he only did one more episode of Dark Winds than he did Space Force, I would say, is not exactly a credit to his taste. He is about to be in the Murdaw, a Death in the Family miniseries, but not in the lead. So he's around. He's not a star. Five points. Dave: [1:24:53] All right, sir. Sarah: [1:24:54] Third place, seven points. Probably in American's Glow Up. The whole Murdaw thing is weird to me. First of all, Toby is also in that and is credited as a Murdaugh. Noah is credited, but not as any particular character. And, like, that's a Ginger family. Why aren't they actual, like, name Murdaws? Anyway, doesn't matter to like true crime nitpicking. He, I think, is just tough to cast. Like, he does have that look, but for that reason, I feel like he was on the verge for like 15 years. Like he was in the Truman show, and it's like, oh, well, now it's going to be a big, that's going to be his breakthrough. And it wasn't the Americans. He sort of. Return to being at a Noah Emmerich level after that. He's sort of a tough one to cast, and he's probably always going to play a colonel for the rest of his career, which I think is fine. Tara: [1:25:45] Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sarah: [1:25:47] But that's only in this group good enough for third seven points. Dave. Dave: [1:25:52] I think this is a guy who's going to have steady character, actor, work until the heat, death of the sun. Tara: [1:25:56] Yes, for sure. Dave: [1:25:57] You know, he's just like, he's got a good face. Sarah: [1:25:57] Yeah, probably. Dave: [1:25:58] Yes, he's going to play generals when he gets a little bit older still. He's going to be playing senators who. Sarah: [1:26:04] Mhm. Dave: [1:26:04] Don't want the best for everybody. He's got that kind of face. Sarah: [1:26:07] Mm-hmm. Tara: [1:26:08] Kinda. Dave: [1:26:08] And when he gets roles, he's not getting like a lot of one and two episode roles. Sarah: [1:26:08] Yep. Dave: [1:26:13] He's getting like, I'm in half the episodes of the season. and he's getting those relatively frequently you know, the Americans, Darkwinds. Sarah: [1:26:16] Yeah. Dave: [1:26:21] I think he's getting paid well for his work because he's a sought after character actor for a certain type of role. So I'm going to put him fourth. Next up, Norman Ritas. He plays Daryl Dixon. He's got a crossbow and he's a hick from the sticks. And he's killing zombies like nobody's business. Tara, where are you putting this guy? Tara: [1:26:42] Well, he's definitely clinging to this franchise with all ten fingernails and several teeth, but he's also the star. Of one of the current spin-offs. AMC even thought enough of him to give him one of those motorcycle shows where you drive around on your motorcycle and talk about how great it is. Dave: [1:27:01] And then halfway through, he crashes into Ewan McGregor doing the same show from the other direction. Tara: [1:27:05] Exactly. He's recognizable enough to have spoofed his Walking Dead character in TV ads, so that speaks to his Q level, I guess. I also just saw him in both The Bike Riders last year and then Ballerina this year. Not great, but I completely forgot he was in them until I pulled up his IMDb, but I guess He is perhaps taking a lesson from the Andrew Lincoln example and trying to diversify and get his face into other places while he has this. Level of fame. And he's looking ahead to a post-Daryl future that may come someday. He's not for me, but he's for someone. So I have him ranked third with seven points. Sarah. Sarah: [1:27:43] Ritus has a look that means he's always going to get cast and task or justified or Like rural crime shit. Like, if you like, I need Dale Dickey, but an actual dude, that's your, that's your guy. Dave: [1:27:57] Dale Dick. Sarah: [1:27:58] I think, yeah, even bigger Dickey. Tara: [1:28:01] Dick Daly. Sarah: [1:28:02] I think that he has smartly leveraged The Walking Dead into this like Bourdain of motorcycles. Situation, but also is still in the Walking Dead verse and just making all the money that he can from that, which is wise. He, I believe, is doing what he wants and how. I don't care about any of it, but he's getting paid, so he's right in the middle for me, fifth with five points. Dave: [1:28:29] I also put him fifth at five points. I'm a little less charitable about what he's doing. I think he's just a guy. He is scraping by before The Walking Dead on smaller roles, playing hicks and bikers until he landed The Walking Dead, playing a hick and probably a biker, and is wisely riding it as long as he can in every part of The Walking Dead frame. Sarah: [1:28:51] As it were, as it were. Dave: [1:28:51] Franchise that will have him, including his own spin-off, which is as high as you can get, probably in that universe. Sarah: [1:28:53] Yep, agree. Dave: [1:28:59] You know, his character is right in the title. He is now the reigning king of the Walking Dead. So that's about it. I think he's going to be there for as long as they will have him. We've got nine actors in this list. I'm putting him right in the middle, number five. Next up, Tara, is Laurie Holden playing Andrea. Tara: [1:29:19] Yeah, she probably hoped there would be more for her to do in The Boys. She played an a former soup. Dave: [1:29:26] Crimson Countess When I started this list, I thought she was going to be nine until I started like digging in and thinking about it. Tara: [1:29:27] Crimson Countess, thank you. There there wasn't more for her to do on that show so far, but she looked great. It's nice to see her. She doesn't have anything coming up per IMDb. Two points, eighth place for me. Sarah: [1:29:42] Yeah, that was kind of my rationale for putting her in seventh with three points. She was also Renee on the Americans. Tara: [1:29:48] Right. Sarah: [1:29:49] I always like her. And once I'm reminded that something is her, I'm like, oh yeah, she's good. But she's the poor man's three different people. She's like the poor man's Renee Zellwiger. Tara: [1:29:59] Yep. Mhm. Sarah: [1:30:01] She's the poor man. She's like your fif For a part like this, which is probably not fair to her, but her last credit is also dated 2022. Tara: [1:30:03] Yep. Sarah: [1:30:10] So there's only so much I can do for you, Renee. Dave. Dave: [1:30:21] She gets a small role like the boys playing Crimson Countess or the Americans playing opposite Noah. But I would say, power-wise, as I stated before, the distance between Andrew Lincoln's Zetith and Nader is greater than her steady, low drum every year and a half kind of role. So, marginal victory here for her. I'm putting her eighth. Next up, Lenny James. He played Morgan. He, I think, lended the pilot the gravitas it needed. Without him, I don't know if the pilot. Would have hit as well as it did. Tara, where what are you thinking for Lenny James? Tara: [1:30:59] This fucking guy loves the apocalypse. One of his recent credits was last year in Joshua Oppenheim's weird bunker movie, The End, which is very prestige. He was in it with like Tilda Swinton. He was also in a British show called Mr. Loverman that I didn't hear about, but he was the star. So he's still doing okay. Dave: [1:31:18] That, by the way, is my new online gamer handle, Mr. Tara: [1:31:21] Very good. Dave: [1:31:21] Loverman. Yeah, so look for me on Apex Legends, everybody. Sarah: [1:31:24] Finally I have him eighth with two points, and I don't dislike him or his work, but ever since low winter sun, I have like Come to see him in a project and think, okay, this series or whatever it is is going to be Capital G, trying to capital G get talked about or be something. Dave: [1:31:25] Yeah. Tara: [1:31:25] I have him sixth with four points. Sarah. Sarah: [1:31:49] and what it's gonna be is an annoying B minus. And like he just has a track record with that. This is probably an unfair indictment, but I do tend to see him and think This is who they cast to give it that British actor playing American shot in the arm of a show that I'm not going to like. There's just not a lot that I've See on his IMDb entry that I've heard of. So, yeah, eighth place, two points. Sorry, buddy. Dave: [1:32:18] I think there is not a lot of space between Holden McBride, who we haven't talked about yet. And Lincoln and this guy, Lenny James. I am going to put him in sixth, partly because he does have his own series in the UK. But I think beyond that, he is another Walking Dead series skipper who likes a steady paycheck and is being offered a steady paycheck. Sarah: [1:32:41] A hundred percent. Dave: [1:32:44] So I am putting him six, like Tara. All right. Melissa McBride is next. Fan favorite, Carol. She left and now she's back in the Daryl Dixon spinoff, which I believe is for her season. They subtitled it even further. It was The Walking Dead, colon Daryl Dixon, colon, the book of Carol. Tara: [1:33:03] Yep. Dave: [1:33:05] So put that in your craw and smoke it. Tara: [1:33:05] Dash. Dave: [1:33:07] Dash. Tara: [1:33:09] Yeah, I don't know. Dave: [1:33:09] Yeah, and there was Morse code after that. It was, yeah. Tara: [1:33:13] She has not played a non-carol character on screen in nearly a decade. Like, I'm glad she's making money. I think she's a good actor, but let's see some range, Diva. I have her seventh with three points. Sarah. Sarah: [1:33:26] Ninth with one point, same reason. I Like her fine, but this is her career now. And if they stop spinning off this IP, she better have a solid IRA. That's all I'm going to say about that. I wish her luck. I like her, but I mean, zero range outside of this. Tara: [1:33:43] She could get her her real estate license like Niamh. Sarah: [1:33:46] Oh, yeah. Well, that is acting of a sort. Tara: [1:33:48] That's true, Dave. Dave: [1:33:50] Me and Tara are giving same points to the yeah, to the uh The oil or vinegar. Tara: [1:33:51] We really are. We did not confer, by the way. Dave: [1:33:56] I don't know. What is the bottom half? Oil or vinegar? Oil, vinegar. I forget. Tara: [1:34:00] Oil, right? Dave: [1:34:00] Oil. All right. So for the oil half, we are in sync. I am also giving her three points. For exactly the same reason, Carol Dixon is now the king of Walking Dead. They are the queen's Carol fan favorite. Sarah: [1:34:11] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:34:12] That's why she's back. But this is all she does. So. Power wise within the Walking Dead franchise, very high. Outside, very low. Tara: [1:34:20] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:34:20] So, all right. Now we're going to move into some of the heavy hitters here with our last three. Tara: [1:34:24] Yeah. Dave: [1:34:25] Next up. Bernthal. John Bernthal is our next, Tara. Tara: [1:34:30] Yeah, he is. Sarah: [1:34:30] John Bertal Mhm. Tara: [1:34:32] He was I mean, I guess I'll spoil it. He was so close to being in the top spot, he did not quite get it. Dave: [1:34:37] And I should say he played Shane Walsh. He was the best friend to Rick, but then, like, later on, he's like, I don't like Rick. Tara: [1:34:43] Yeah. Dave: [1:34:43] Yeah. Tara: [1:34:48] His fault. So many people watched it wrong. He also played a scumbag cop, and We Own This City. We love a consistent ACAP King. Being in Christopher Nolan's adaptation of The Odyssey, probably, I mean, I won't say probably, it could vault him to another level, but that's not out yet. Dave: [1:35:04] I know you don't usually watch trailers, so you haven't seen the there was like a I don't know if it was a trailer or just a scene. But it really just seemed like he walked into the set and played a character. I think he's Menelaus. Tara: [1:35:15] Uh-huh. Dave: [1:35:15] And he just basically played a character like he was playing on his HBO show. Tara: [1:35:19] Like he was in the accountant, too. Dave: [1:35:20] Yeah, it was so weird and like not bad like My one, two, and three was very fluid as I was trying to figure them out. Tara: [1:35:21] Yeah. Sarah: [1:35:24] Where's the love for redheads? Tara: [1:35:25] Yeah. Sarah: [1:35:26] That is a redhead. Read the original, Dix. Tara: [1:35:27] Anyway, I'm always happy to see him. I actually do think he has more range than you think if you look back over his whole career. So I have him in just a whisper. Below first place. He is second for me with eight points. Sarah. Sarah: [1:35:42] Bernthal hung on to the top spot for a while while I was going through this list. He was Johnny Boy in the Many Saints Sopranos prequel. You know, he was, I didn't care for a McAmerican Gigolo, but he was the lead in that and he was good. He's Mikey and the Bear. Like, he's good. And especially when he's cast correctly, which finally he is consistently being cast correctly after, I would say, a little bit of like tussling with Frank Grillo maybe for parts, and then getting them when Frank Grillo should have gotten them. For the third time today, I'm not a crackpot. There's another dude on this list that I just think is an all-timer, will always get cast without having to read. And for that reason, Bernthal is my number two: eight points. Dave: [1:36:30] And I went back and forth, and I was like, well, I like this actor more, but it's not exactly who you like. It's about how much power they have. And I thought I had it all settled, and then two and three flipped, and I was like, oh man. But at the end of it, I'm putting him number one. Tara: [1:36:45] Well, He surely did. Dave: [1:36:47] Well, because he's doing Marvel blockbusters and he's still doing them. He had his own TV show. Sarah: [1:36:51] Yeah. Dave: [1:36:52] And I read that the next Spider-Man is kind of a team-up movie. Sarah: [1:36:52] Yeah. Dave: [1:36:55] Like the last one was Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, and this one is Punisher. Sarah: [1:36:58] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:36:59] In Spider-Man. That may not be true, but that's what came through my feed. So that's good for him. But he's also diversifying his portfolio, doing hilarious snooty comedies like The Bear. So there is a lot of things going right for him. And when it comes to like a bankable star right now I think he's number one. So I think he's getting more first calls than anybody else on this list. Not a lot of space between my one, two, and three, but I am going to put him up top. Next up, Stephen Young. Tara, he played Glenn until he got batted. Tara: [1:37:38] Well, if John Bernthal is not my number one, obviously it's it's Stephen Young. I'm always happy to see him as well. What he is most known for, I think, is very prestige, including Minari, which was nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, one for Best Supporting Actress. He was also in the multiple Emmy winning beef, and he produced both of those as well. So That speaks to his taste, I think. And the reason I ended up having to give him the edge here over John Pernthal, speaking of taste, he's in the series premiere of I Think You Should Leave, and that gave him the edge for me. Dave: [1:38:10] That's right. Tara: [1:38:11] With nine points, Stephen Young is my number one, Sarah. Sarah: [1:38:15] I feel like I maybe ranked him too low, but I have him at four with six points. He does a ton of voice work, well-regarded anime, he narrated an American experience. Episode, he was in Mickey 17. I don't tend to interact with his shit, but beef was Great, and I like him a lot. And more to the point, I think he does exactly what he wants to do. And when you can't beat that power-wise, but a couple people did, obviously. So, good luck to him. But, number four. Dave: [1:38:46] Yeah, I'm more excited to see him in something than anyone else on this list. And originally, he was my number one, but then I had to take a sobering look at his CBV versus Bernthal's. Sarah: [1:38:57] The birds. Dave: [1:38:58] Bernthal had an early exit from the series, so he's had more opportunity to get out there and do more things. But Jun was there for six seasons or five full seasons, I think. No, six full seasons, and then he was in like one episode of the next season. He's doing great work outside of that. All the things that Tara mentioned, he's also an invincible, so he's keeping a foot in the genre shows for that fan base. So he's got a lot of stuff going for him, working with great directors. Peel, Junho, powerful people in their own right. So it feels like people want to work with him. And this was a surprise to me because, again, I looked at some CVs and we got one more to go, but I put Young third. Yeah, so and I'll have to explain myself in the next one. Sarah: [1:39:41] Oh, wow. All right. I thought maybe I was going to be on this skinny, controversial branch on my own, but maybe not. Dave: [1:39:47] No, he is my personal favorite of this list. I also remember him having a I didn't like the Twilight Zone reboot, but that weird Alien Christmas one that he was in, the black and white one, his performance was Was really good, even though that show was sort of like DOA for me. Sarah: [1:39:59] Yeah. Mhm. Dave: [1:40:02] Michael Rooker is our last actor, he was Merle Dixon, brother of Daryl. He didn't last very long, he was chained up to that roof for a while. And then I think he sawed or bit his hand off or something like that, and he's walking around with the stump for a while. Tara: [1:40:19] That'll happen. Dave: [1:40:20] Sotara, Michael Rooker, where are you putting him? Tara: [1:40:25] Season of the Righteous Gemstones this year as the kind of guy Michael Rooker plays all up capped. Sarah: [1:40:30] Yeah. Ha ha ha. Tara: [1:40:32] Ditto, the new season of Peacemaker. It seems like if James Gunn left the industry tomorrow, Rooker's career would probably end immediately, but it still has a tiny bit more stature, I think, than my number five, Noah Emmerich. So I'm giving him fourth place, six points. Sarah. Sarah: [1:40:49] Number one, nine points. He can always get a psycho Shitty lieutenant part if he wants, and he apparently does 'cause he works a ton. His IMDB page is like 140 entries, and then upcoming is like 10. If he needs to build a garage, he can call James Gunn, like you said. Does he have a ton of range as an actor? Not really, but his C V does have a pretty good range of like prestige stuff. Franchise stuff, network guest shots, and he was in an absolute stone true crime classic playing Henry Lee Lucas. This is Whatever this will be the lead in the opit. And I just think between longevity and that a lot of times I think you roll into a Dystopian post-apocalypse show pitch, and you're like, and we got Rooker as some shithead who's holed up outside of Gary, Indiana. And they're like, sold to the room. Like, if you can get Rooker to agree to be in the pilot, you're probably good for shit like this. That's power, number one. Dave: [1:41:53] Yeah, I had a similar train of thought. Originally, Michael Rucker was my third, but then as I started going through his CV, I had all the same thoughts as you, Sarah. He's at the front of everyone's Rolodex for playing those menacing weirdos. Sarah: [1:42:04] Mm-hmm. We need a guy with no lips. Get Mike. Dave: [1:42:07] Yeah, your insane alligator theme park owner, the weird tracker guy, all those sort of things. Tara: [1:42:11] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:42:12] Like he is right now very hot. He is doing a lot of work, and he is somebody that the kids love. The kids love seeing him because he's in all these comic book stuff. He's in Gardens of the Galaxy. He's now in all the DC stuff thanks to James Gunn. So it was a tough call between Brooker and Junn, but I think Brooker is more bankable at the moment. But Jan has a lot more career ahead of him than Rickert does. So, you know, let's revisit this in three years and maybe that'll change. Sarah: [1:42:39] So, where is he for you, too? Dave: [1:42:41] He is number two. Tara: [1:42:42] With eight points, yep. Sarah: [1:42:42] Gotcha. Dave: [1:42:43] So, all right. So, here are our final rankings from worst to first. At number nine, it is Andrew Lincoln, star of The Walking Dead. Sarah: [1:42:56] Sam Canaman. Dave: [1:42:57] Tied for seventh, Holden, Laurie Holden, and Melissa McBride. Tara: [1:43:01] Uh-huh. Sarah: [1:43:02] Oh, sorry, ladies. Tara: [1:43:02] That feels right. Dave: [1:43:03] Yeah. And six, Lenny James. I think we're all agree that there was a whole bunch of people here in our lower half of the oil vinegar that were packed together. Norman Ritas, he is your number five. Noah Emmerich, he is your number four. Your number three, very close up top with 22 points. Stephen Young. Michael Rooker, second with twenty three. Tara: [1:43:27] So close. Dave: [1:43:28] And up top, John Bernthal, your number one with twenty five points. Tara: [1:43:35] I think we can all feel good about that. Dave: [1:43:36] I think that's a pretty good ranking. Sarah: [1:43:37] Yeah, I I think that's correct. Dave: [1:43:38] Congratulations to all our zombie fighters. And that is it for another episode of Extra, Extra Hawk Great. We clippity clop through slow horses. Tara: [1:43:53] Yeah, we did. Dave: [1:43:54] Yep. Before answering your burning-ass EAC questions like what happens when Fletcher meets King and what that chip tastes like. He says, as his notes are missing a word. I'm Ron Burgundy. Sarah made her tiny cannon work. We celebrated those who worked quite the best and worst. Of the week and wrap it all up with the power ranking of the stars of season one of The Walking Dead. Next up on EHG Prime, it's Chad Powers. Remember. Clip: [1:44:23] We're listening. Ah. Dave: [1:44:26] I am David T. Cole, and on behalf of Tara Ariana and Sarah Debunting. Tara: [1:44:30] If you get out of the hot dog business, it's like you're killing a unicorn. Sarah: [1:44:36] My co-host is a chip cup. Dave: [1:44:40] Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time, right here, on extra, extra. All great? Clip: [1:44:57] Open or closed. Fuck off. This is Extra Hot Great Minis. Today's topic is better living through television. Today's topic comes to us from Twitter user at swimmy underscore fish, who writes, what home making tip from a show do you actually use? For example, Swimmy Fish uses the hotel fold for her towels, as described by Playinghouse's Bird Bones. I do too. That's the correct way to fold towels. If there were anything. It is a hotel fold. Well, you put two ends together. And they fold it up. Yeah. The hotel fold. You have to do it that way. In half and then in thirds. Yes, exactly. That's a good explanation. Well, the hotel fold is. Yeah, you put the two ends together. It is a whole toe fold. Okay, here we go. The two ends together. So that like the seam is going down the left side, then you fold that in half and then you fold that in thirds, and then you stack them very nicely. In your bathroom. Like a human being. That sounds familiar. Because that's, you know, that's how they get folded in your house. Except mine is slightly different because the towels in Dave's office, in Dave's office, in Dave's bathroom. I sweat a lot. The towels in Dave's bathroom have a crest on them, and so I fold them so the crest is in the top right corner. Crest crust. Crest, not crust. A crest. A little wreath. Anyway, I'll go first. Ruined all his socks. Mine actually comes from an improbable place, which is the Dr. Phil show a million years ago, which for some reason had a segment where he learned how to fold a fitted sheet, and I still do. It exactly the way they did it in that segment on the show. Oh, yeah. Just folding a fitted sheet. Ever seen that magic t-shirt folding way where you like pinch the corners and then you just do some origami thing, and it suddenly is The perfect fold for retail. Yeah, that's kind of amazing. Yeah. My sister worked at the Gap and she, after learning the gap fold, she bought a t-shirt fold, like a folding board and actually used it. Which is funny because the rest of her room was always a fucking sty. But her clothes were very neat. Rob. Is that I I just have to ask, is that Doctor Phil fitted sheet? Is that like where you put your hands in the corners like Ghost mittens or that sort of thing. Yeah, it's crazy. Exactly. Yeah, you start with it inside out, go in the corners like ghost mittens. I'm now miming it as if anyone's in this room to look at me, do it. Yes. Ghostman to describe it. So I have like one and a half. So when I used to be at my Grandmother's house and she'd be watching soap operas, I got obsessed with wrapping gifts where you wrap the lid of the box separately, you know, so that which they always have to do on T V so that you know they can pull the top off and go Oh, Palmer, you shouldn't have, you know, that kind of thing. So I, you know, would do that, you know, although it's just weird to do. But the thing that actually And I'm surprised I didn't know before seeing this on TV, but of course, from Monica Geller of Friends, who of course teaches us all about life. Uh the during the storyline with Tom Selleck, she was passing on all her various ways of doing things and the um When you have a roll of tape, like duct tape, like folding over the end, like the simplest thing. But, you know, it was an enlightening moment. That's a big one. That's good. That's a real quality of life fix for sure. Absolutely. Dave. All right. Well, first of all, I misread it the first time around, and my answer was never follow a hippie to a second location. That's more like a staying alive thing. It's not really homemaking. But for my homemaking one, I have to follow the wisdom of Kent Brock. Always use fresh macaroni. If the box rattles, throw it away. That's a very good one. I recently moved, as we were saying before, and I actually thought of when we moved into this house, When I came into it, I liked it because of the layout of Randall's kitchen on This Is Us. It is similar to that, and I know that it influenced my my choice when when we chose this house. It's not as big as a TV kitchen, but it is. I mean make you cry every time you go into a just thinking about it right now. I don't think I can go in there today because I'll be crying.