The One-Off Character Bracket

Tara: [0:04] Oh my goodness, I'll be right up. Homer, I gotta go upstairs, there's a problem. Somebody ate part of my lunch. Dave: [0:14] This is The Extra Hot Great Podcast, episode 553 for the week of March 10th, 2025. I am the Taste of a Man's Tonsils, David T. Cole, and I'm here with musical theater demon, Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [0:34] Thank you, Five. Dave: [0:36] BL, Beautiful Lineswoman, Tara Ariano. Tara: [0:38] Thank you. Dave: [0:39] And wrong baby, Jeff Drake. Jeff: [0:42] My condolences, Parson. Tara: [0:50] Welcome to a very special extra hot great joining us he is a writer and a friend you've heard with us many times it's jeff drake welcome back. Jeff: [1:00] Oh so fun to be back thank you for having me. Tara: [1:04] Jeff is here for an experiment we are doing something brand new which is the one-off character bracket now if you are supporting us on patreon if so thank you you know we've been doing tiny cannons and known acts as part of our friday bonus episodes for a few months this means my antenna is up whenever we're watching literally anything for tiny can or tunities that i might want to talk about in the future so when we were recently re-watching 30 rock and we got to the episode with jerem that's not that much cheese my first thought was one-off character tiny cannon And my second thought was one-off character bracket. So in the spirit of our Bob's Burgers Better Business Bracket last January, we each come to the table with four one-off characters from TV. The rules were no show or actor or character munch should be in here more than once. Please confirm on IMDb your picks were all one-offs. And that was a point of contention for at least three of us that I know. Jeff: [2:06] Oh, my God. Tara: [2:07] Oh, no, all of us. Yes, I just remembered Dave. Dave couldn't put in Bookman. I couldn't put in the Flying Man from Northern Exposure. Sarah couldn't put in the Russian from Sopranos. Jeff could not put in, who was it, Vic Hitler from Hill Street Blues? Jeff: [2:20] Vic Hitler from Hill Street Blues, the narcoleptic comedian. Tara: [2:24] And that was basically it. So we're going to face our characters off against each other until we winnow our list of 16 down to the one one-off character who towers above the rest this time. And if we do it 15 more times, then we can put them all against each other. Dave: [2:40] Yeah, whenever we do something like this, if we don't put in this disclaimer, this list is illustrative. It is not exhaustive. Yes. Tara: [2:49] All right, let's begin with our first matchup. Do you have some kind of sound cue for... To go in between? Dave: [2:55] Okay. No, that's fine. Tara: [2:56] I just wondered if you did. Sometimes you do. Jeff: [2:59] Boing. Tara: [3:04] Boing. Let's start with our first matchup. We're going to be pitting Jerram from 30 Rock against Lord Flashheart from Blackadder 2. So I'll go first. As I said up top, Jerram is the reason for the season. In the season four 30 Rock episode, Lee Marvin versus Derek Jeter. Liz is still getting over a breakup with Carol. She's trying more proactively to find love, which means signing up for every dorky singles activity in her neighborhood and reluctantly letting Jenna join her. One of these is singles line dancing. Let's hear that clip. Sorry, are we expecting more men? I'm Jerem. I collect posters. Dave: [3:41] Look at me, Jerem. I know all the steps. Kind of. Tara: [3:50] As we already heard earlier he comes to the singles wine and cheese as well jerem is played by steve healy he's a writer on the show he's not someone whose main job is acting he only has three lines in the episode he slays with every one of them that's not that much cheese is still getting memed online because jerem is very memorable he could have become part of 30 rocks stable of weirdos like Moonvest or the blue guy Rachel Dratch plays that Tracy hallucinates. But three lines in one episode was enough for Jerem to make a huge impact on culture, in my opinion. Dave, tell us about Lord Flashheart. Dave: [4:24] All right. So Lord Flashheart, his appearance is in the season two episode, Bells. This is a bit of a cheat, but technically I'm in the clear and I'll explain. Blackadder features two, possibly three Flashhearts. The first to air is the one I'm talking about Lord Flashheart. That is from the Elizabethan era of Blackadder. There is also a Commander Flashheart who acts a hell of a lot like Lord Flashheart, but in fact is his 20th century relative and therefore a different character. Rick Mayall also plays Robin Hood like a Flashheart character in the Black and Force special, but they never officially confirm any relation. So there may be three of them running around, but they're all their own character. And we only see each one once. So in this episode, Lord Flashheart literally appears in a flash to steal the heart of Blackadder's fiancée, Kate, a.k.a. Bob, which basically is needed to reset the stakes of the show for the next episode. He's obviously a court favorite. He is known to everybody. Everybody loves Flash, but none love Flash more than Flash loves himself. Dave: [5:26] He is a cad. He is self-aggrandizing playboy, but he controls the room. Any room he's in, he is the center of attention. There is no woman nor man immune to his crude charms, as we hear in this entrance clip where he illogically rappels down a rope in a hallway amongst explosions and debris and flashes, then makes his way through the court. Any grunts you'll hear in this clip are accompanied by some Flash pelvic thrusts and flourishes. Jeff: [6:08] Hooray! Where have you been? Where haven't I been? What? Well, I'm here now. Hooray! What is that? I, Last thing I heard, he started worshipping me! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Sarah: [6:41] Nurse-y! Jeff: [6:42] I like it firm and fruity! Am I pleased to see you, or did I just put a canoe in my pocket? Dave: [6:50] Down, boy! Down! So that clip is slightly edited for the podcast just for time, but you get the gist of what was going on. And he throws the guy that just happens to be standing at a place he used to stand in. He throws him through the court door, actually through the wood of the court door. And then as Stephen Fry's Lord Melchett, who is the minister of the church, if he still believes in God like a chump, he flirts with the queen, which was off the clip and gets fresh with the possibly insane childhood nurse of the queen, Nursie. He is so completely full of himself and over the top that the whole stick works, despite the reality that there is this weird creep either insulting you or hitting on you. His appearance suggests he's just arrived from a big adventure that he will spin over what I'm sure is going to be a free dinner for him. His hair is like platinum blonde equivalent of finding your Christmas lights in November 31st or whatever. And there is not one movement that this character makes that isn't a flourish. He does not walk normally, does not turn normally. Everything is grandiose. It's all star wipes. It's all turned up to 11. One more slip. I mentioned early that his function is to take Kate, Blackadder's fiancee, away from him, which he does. Within seconds of the meeting, those two are making out in front of the court, which ends with the following proclamation. Dave: [8:19] She's got a tongue like an electric eel and she likes the taste of a man's tonsils. So that's Flashheart. He's in and out in three minutes. He's one of the most memorable characters from a show full of great ones. He's going to be my first one-off character. Tara: [8:34] Okay, Sarah, why don't you start off the discussion between this very small character and this very big character? Sarah: [8:41] I mean, it's hard not to just automatically vote for the dude who's already on our soundboard. Like the delivery of sort of, or kind of, like very funny, but also the just like absolutely manic, ah-ha-ha-ha from Lord Flashheart. These are both excellent cases, but it is kind of chalk and cheese, one might say. But I am going to vote for Jerem because he is on the soundboard and because I have, I don't know, more of an existing relationship with this character, I would say, than I have with Lord Flashheart. But Dave's pitch definitely made me want to investigate this three-minute sequence of all flourish, no filler. Jeff? Jeff: [9:30] The funny thing I learned about this when looking at it is Rick Mayall, who I loved since The Young Ones, he's so hilarious in The Young Ones, He agreed to do this character only if he was guaranteed that he got more laughs than Rowan Atkinson, that he had more laugh lines. I think it kind of shows us in the later one, there's more of an equity, I think, between the two of them. But in this one, it's totally like, give him the floor and let him do his thing. Literally every person he talks to, he has a different way of being bizarre and offensive. Everyone has to react to him. He's like a heavy gravitational object in the universe that bends light towards him. Everything is adjusted. What is it? It's Darling, isn't it? Who gets headbutted out of the door. Tara: [10:20] Yeah, he has a different name. Jeff: [10:22] Yeah, right. He's Darling in the later ones, but it's the same actor. You know, he literally just headbutts him. And obviously he was supposed to break through the doors, but they don't break completely. Tara: [10:34] Shitty doors are a key part of the scene. Jeff: [10:37] Like it sort of brings out the best in everybody. And I mean, Jerem is so like funny, like two very different things. One where it's like you get three chances to score and you hit the bullseye each time. or like you're brought in to like change the course of an entire episode. It's like two totally different one-off type characters. But I think I'm leaning towards Flash Heart on this one just because volume wise, not just the sound volume, but also just volume of comedy. It's very close, but I'm going to go with Flash Heart. Tara: [11:15] Okay. I will vote. I mean, I love Jerem. I think we all do. But in this matchup, he's truly blown away by Flash Heart, in my opinion. It is a chock and cheese situation, which we're going to, this is one of many. This is going to keep coming up, so everyone be prepared. You don't have to necessarily make the best argument. It's just whatever your heart is telling you. And my heart is telling me, ah, ha, ha, ha, ha. So I'm going to go to Flash. Sarah: [11:40] There you go. Dave: [11:41] I'm also going to vote for my entry here, Lord Flashheart. And I think the one thing that I'll add to the pile of reasons is that this is pretty much one take, I think. Jeff: [11:50] Oh, yeah. Tara: [11:51] Probably. It was shot on, you know, multicam. Dave: [11:54] Yeah. And I would like to believe it was the first take because it's just like madness. Obviously, the door didn't quite break the way they were hoping. Like the actor hangs on for a second. Like, should I destroy the door more? No, it wouldn't be natural now. I've lost the moment. I feel like I was actually going through his brain. So it is very live to tape, and I kind of enjoyed that part of the performance as well. Tara: [12:16] All right. Lord Flashheart moves ahead. Tara: [12:20] Boing. Our next matchup, we have Jeff's submission, New Joe from I Think You Should Leave, and Sarah's submission, Agent Miller from Justified. Jeff, tell us about New Joe. Jeff: [12:33] I Think You Should Leave if you are unaware, and if you're unaware of what it is, you're in for a treat. It's a sketch comedy, very short. Every episode is about 15 minutes. Most of the sketches feature in some way, Tim Robinson, the star and creator of it. This is one of the few sketches that he is not in at all. And it features in one of his last performances, Fred Willard. And the sketch is, is a funeral. Go ahead. It's a funeral and it just opens. You have no idea Fred Willard is there. They're talking about the father has passed away and what a great guy. And then so to play a bit of somber music. Oh, by the way, our regular organist couldn't be here. So we have new Joe and I see he's brought his own larger organ and it's Fred Willard and he has a crazy mustache and he decides to play his bit of somber music. And so let's play the clip. This one is somber, so it's all right to cry. It's called He. Dave: [13:39] Layeth on High and it's about a big baby duck who gets his head caught in the stewed tomato. So hold on to your hats. Sarah: [13:47] Two, three, four. Ha ha ha! Jeff: [13:59] New Joe! New Joe! He's going! No! No! No! Sarah: [14:05] No! No! Tara: [14:17] And then the corpse in the coffin smiles. Jeff: [14:21] The smashing you here is he has a stack of plates sitting next to him on the bench, and he throws them in the air to shatter. And it's an organ with a bunch of pulleys and levers and stuff, and that's what's making all the noise. And that's really all this sketch is. I brought it into this because the show is usually about Tim Robinson playing some sort of crazy character. He occasionally is the straight man but this is one of the few that it's like obviously a spotlight just for Fred Willard as it being like one of his final things that Fred Willard is so funny and I don't think anyone else would like nail it as new Joe even him just saying my condolences the couple times that he says it is hilarious so the preacher is like new joe he's like keep going no, god bless new joe he's who i brought to this to this fight thank. Tara: [15:20] You so much sarah. Sarah: [15:22] Agent miller played by eric roberts not the not the last roberts we'll be seeing here but possibly the last time we're going to see Agent Miller. He comes from a Justified season five, episode nine, Wrong Roads. This character is a Memphis DEA agent who invites himself along on Raylan's vacation manhunt for Hot Rod. Towards the end of season five, this character may seem better than he is because season five is just lousy with crappily frustrating characters and siloed storylines that I wanted to end on both counts. And he was a breath of relatively fresh air. I remember wishing that he would return for another episode. He is referred to in a subsequent episode and the outcome of the tow truck v. Agent Miller's pelvis moment. We do get an update on that, but he is not seen a second time, only the once. In retrospect, though, I think the show was right to keep him to one episode because his main use is as a cautionary tale of what awaits Raylan Givens in the future. Kids he never sees, a flask of cheap bourbon he's refilling from Boyd's stash at the bar, and not bothering to hide, a string of crapped-up sting operations that his own office didn't update him on. Sarah: [16:42] Swiss-cheese suspects that, quote, couldn't be helped. But if for no other reason, Agent Miller's an all-timer because he wanted any excuse to shoot fucking stupid goddamn Danny Crowe as much as the audience did. Clip four. Sarah: [17:00] Officer! How you doing? Is there a problem? Jeff: [17:36] I holster it. You're going to be the second asshole I shoot today. I'll make sure to put that on your tombstone. Here we go. Sarah: [17:58] And then both combatants get dewy crow hopes turned into gray spots. For what it's worth, the 21-foot rule is some deep internet concealed carry dot com type thing that's something along the lines of by the time an officer can draw and fire, an attacker with a sharp weapon can close 21 feet and prevail. It's also called the reactionary gap. In case anyone was wondering, I'm sure you weren't, but here's the point. Agent Miller functions on two levels like the fact that it's Eric Roberts who is like legitimately a southern person and also brings in all of this sort of like B movie energy to this one plot but is also that like cautionary tale but like what caution is being given here exactly. Exactly. And braiding into all the like father figure stuff that is going on in the show at large and brother stuff in the show at large and in this episode. In particular, I think that he is used effectively and used just enough. So a big part of my argument is like they could have pulled him back in as like a fan service thing, but they didn't. They used him wisely. he doesn't have a whole stack of plates to throw so I don't think he's getting out of this round I'm not sure I'm going to vote for the guy but that is my presentation in this first matchup with Nucho. Tara: [19:24] Dave. Dave: [19:25] Yeah, I think Sarah comes in this round with a higher level of difficulty because you have something very fun and consumable versus something that is more stayed and considerate into the show that it's being inserted in. And I think Eric Roberts is a great addition to Justified, and I really like the vibe of that character. And to extend his stay on Justified probably would have been tiring. Like that sort of character is like kind of grinding. But when he is used in and out and he is a catalyst for certain reflections and movements, that is used to good effect. On the other hand, there's this guy playing the craziest vaudevillian organ at a funeral. And it's Fred Willard in one of his last performances. I'd like to believe that I Think You'd Leave is such a comedian's comedian show. Tara: [20:14] Yeah. Dave: [20:14] That they had the juice to get Fred Willard in. Like, they wanted to work with Fred Willard, and this is the collaboration that happened. And the fact that it was one of his last performances is a fitting tribute to everybody involved in this endeavor. And I like the fact that it is just him, basically, and it's not, he's part of the sort of the regular ensemble of characters that you might see on I Think You Could Leave. So I'm going to go with New Joe here. Did they, didn't they, we saw the live, um, I think you could leave show and they had something about new Joe on that. They were talking about it, but I think it was a different. Tara: [20:51] It was the sketch, but it was like an extended or a slightly different cut. Dave: [20:55] Right. That's right. Jeff: [20:55] Oh yeah. Yeah. We saw it out here too. Yeah. Dave: [20:59] Um, so I'm going to vote for new Joe on this one, but I just want to acknowledge that, uh, Sarah just really kind of had to do a lot of work to get this one, uh, to be close. But she did. Tara: [21:11] Yeah, I agree. Hey, she didn't clip it, but the introduction of Agent Miller to Raelynn Givens, played by Timothy Off with his pants, is so horny. Sarah: [21:22] Yeah, I considered clipping that when they're talking about their guns. I was like, ooh. Tara: [21:27] Should we leave? They're talking about their guns. Yeah, they're in like a shooting range. Both of them just the foxiest silver foxes you ever did see. Eric Roberts, if that's not his real hair, it's the best wig I've ever seen. Like, they had to have had a hard time on that show casting people who were, like, going to meet Timothy Olyphant at his level. Not as an actor. Like, I think he's fine as an actor. But I just mean, like, in terms of his, like, charisma and sexiness. Yeah. Dave: [21:55] There's something very lived in about all the characters on Justified. Which you have to, like, establish that this person has existed before we see him on the show. And that's what Eric Roberts, his face, I feel like does so much work on that. Sarah: [22:08] Yeah. And the other guy he had shot in that episode was one of the brothers played by actual brothers Wood and Steve Harris. So it's like there's never any shortage of charisma on screen at any time. So that they go to Eric Roberts makes total sense. Because it's like even if he's not like a brilliant sub-tool thespian, your eye's going to stay on him, which is not easy in the show. Jeff: [22:33] I feel sorry for the other agent guy who like. Oh, yeah. The kind of doughy guy. It's like, Jesus, like, you got to share a scene with Timothy Oliphant and Eric Roberts. Good luck, buddy. Tara: [22:46] Yeah, totally. He's the lutz of that scene to bring it back to the way. But I agree with Dave. Like, Sarah makes a beautiful case for Agent Miller, but it's got to be fucking new Joe and his mustache and his organ and his plate. It's like there's something so winning because I think you should leave as such a chaotic show. But when you have an oblivious idiot who's like a sweetie, it's like it's such a nice palate cleanser in the show. And this that is exactly what New Joe is. So I'm going to vote New Joe. Dave: [23:17] OK, one last note that I forgot to mention. The fact that it is a baby duck who has his head stuck in a stewed tomato. Jeff: [23:24] Tomato. Sarah: [23:25] Yeah, it's perfect. And not a can of stewed tomatoes. Dave: [23:28] No, no, no. Sarah: [23:29] Actual tomato. Jeff: [23:29] And he kind of like brings his hands together. Tara: [23:33] Okay, back to Jeff. Jeff: [23:35] There was a time recently that our oldest son is now 14. We did a rewatch of the entire series of I Think You Should Leave. We ranked all of the sketches as we went through them. And this was one of the few S-tier sketches from all three of us watching it. So I think I'm sticking with New Joe. Sarah: [23:57] I'm going to make it unanimous. I mean, look, sometimes in these brackets, the rankings, like the seeding, just put you against a juggernaut. And what can you do? I would also like to quickly acknowledge that to pull in a one-off character from a sketch show is a bold move. So well done. It paid off. I love Agent Miller, and I think they used him absolutely correctly. But, you know, bottom seeds are sometimes cannon fodder, and that's what's happening right now. Tara: [24:29] Thank you. New Joe moves on. Tara: [24:33] Boing. Next up, we've got Jeff's submission, Hans Schmidt from Band of Brothers vs. Dave's. Dan Moody from I'm Alan Partridge. Jeff, please tell us about Hans. Jeff: [24:46] I came across Band of Brothers without looking through the IMDb. I remembered this scene. It's in the second episode, and they've landed in D-Day, and they still don't know where everybody is. There's a small group of like eight or so Nazis that have been captured and Malarkey and a couple of the other guys are walking by and Malarkey just kind of leans in and is like, where are you from soldier? Jeff: [25:14] As a joke. And the guy says, Eugene, Oregon. And he's like, what? Like I'm, I'm from Astoria. That's like a hundred miles away. He's like, how'd you end up here? And it adds in this backstory that was a real thing in the war, which was the United States didn't get into this war until after Pearl Harbor. It had been going for a while and there were a lot of people in America who had German heritage who were called back to the fatherland. At this point, we just knew the Nazis were like aggressors. We didn't know how terrible they were. It's just like this weirdly human moment of like two guys that ended up much like in the civil war like on opposite sides of a conflict and so they have this little conversation where it's like how crazy is it that we ended up here and go ahead and play the clip for this part that's when i was at monarch tooling propeller shafts no kidding what. Tara: [26:21] I gotta run i'll see you around yeah see you around nope. Jeff: [26:28] So malarkey walks off and spears who is like this dark presence in this whole series asks for a pack of cigarettes and then walks off and so as malarkey is walking away after he says see you later spears comes walking by and he goes up and offers cigarettes to all of the Nazis. Then we go back to malarkey as he's walking and then there's machine gun fire. This becomes a huge revisited moment in the series of did Spears murder all of those guys? How many were there? What happened? And Spears uses it as like leverage of like, at one point, I believe in very late in the series, he basically says like, well, what's better, like knowing the truth about it or wondering essentially. If you look up this guy, like he doesn't act anymore. He's so good at just being like, just being there in the moment. He's just a dude, but he's wearing a Nazi uniform. And so he's the bad guy. But he was like roughly a neighbor. And so it's a very interesting, true facet to the war that is brought to life in such a memorable way that it like really adds color to like the whole experience of this thing. And so that's that's Hans Schmidt. Tara: [27:50] OK, Dave. Dave: [27:52] My one off character is Dan Moody, played by Stephen Mangan. Dan, this is from what I think is probably my favorite Alan Partridge series. I'm Alan Partridge. Series 2, Episode 3, Brave Alan. In this episode, Alan Partridge, just to situate you, minor radio personality, completely awkward narcissist, meets Dan Moody at a petrol station checkout. And they bond over the things that Alan loves. So it's a weird meeting of the minds. They love the Daily Mail newspaper, and they love Lexus cars, as we'll hear in this clip. It's amazing, this Lexus connection. Next you'll be telling me you drink Directors Bitter. Jeff: [28:34] I've got it coming out of my taps. Have you? I'm joking. Great. It's amazing. We both like the Daily Mail. We both drive Lexi. Tara: [28:42] Plural. Plural. And we both drink Directors Bitter. It's like the X-Files. Jeff: [28:47] But are pleasant X-Files. The Lex-Files. God, that's good. Can I shake your hand again? Take a card. Oh, you combine the card with the handshake? Yeah. I used to do that, but. Dave: [29:00] Gave a paper cut to a man from Nestle. Dan Moody and Alan Partridge appear at first blush to be two peas in a pod, and Alan develops an instant man crush on him as we hear him talk up Dan to his assistant, Lynn, in the car. Dan's a fantastic man. He really is. I was making him. Dave: [29:42] Me laugh. But my nostrils were clear. Kenko is instant coffee, by the way. So the episode is about what happens when Alan Partridge basically meets Alan Partridge. But there is a small difference here. Dan Moody is Alan Partridge if Alan Partridge was actually as successful as he thinks he deserves to be. Dan owns a kitchen outlet warehouse in Norfolk. He hangs out with other outlet owners talking their outlet friends talk. And he seems to be like a level above where Alan is in life. So Alan becomes more and more desperate to sort of win Dan's friendship and affection. So we're at a country club. Alan spies Dan across the parking lot arriving moments before him. and it sort of feeds Alan's growing paranoia that maybe we're not 50-50 in this relationship as we hear here. Please have a word with the builder because the other. Tara: [30:41] Day his jeans were so far off his backside you could more or less see his anus. There's Dan. Dan! Dan! Jeff: [31:10] No, he's not seeing me. I'll go in later. Dave: [31:23] So at this country club event that they're at, Alan Partridge does Alan Partridge's things, makes an ass out of himself, and then goes on a lonely man bender for the rest of the episode, including visiting the petrol station checkout guy at his flat in order to get a cup of beans and like a sausage stuck in it. Goes play his Dance Dance Revolution at an arcade, and then finally ends up going to Dan's house, late at night under the cover of wanting kitchen brochures for a new kitchen that Alan says he wants to buy from him. Dan pops in a kitchen video in the VCR while his wife starts grabbing at Alan's gland. Dave: [32:00] The kitchen video is, in fact, a kitchen sex tape and invitation to a threesome, which absolutely terrifies Alan and Lynn, who appears in the scene and declares she's not interested in your sex festival. And that pretty much is where the episode ends with them running out of there. I will say the one thing I feel that is in common with Hans Schmidt and Dan Moody is they're more catalyst characters than they are sort of fully fleshed out characters in their own right. They are there for a moment. They have a job, which is to make things happen. And they're very good at that. Dan Moody is the more successful, more confident, not neurotic version of Alan Partridge. And he gets Alan to do all these desperate things as the episode goes on and on. The 17 Dan's clip is an all-timer for Alan Partridge's stupidity, and it was what made me think of Dan Moody, but I feel like it's an interesting study of character as well. Dave: [32:59] Stephen Mangann is great here, being the version of Alan Partridge wishes he could be, and I love everything that bubbles up because of it. Tara: [33:08] I'll go first. This is so tough. Dave is right. They are both more plot device than character, kind of. I love this episode of I'm Alan Partridge. I think I pitched it for the canon, what either you or I did in Mark 1 of the show. And I think Joe voted it down. Dave: [33:25] Joe doesn't like British comedies. Tara: [33:27] Well, I don't know if that's true, but he had no context for this one. Dave: [33:31] He was angry. It wasn't Joe, not Dan. Tara: [33:32] Joe, Joe. Perhaps. but yeah i as funny as this episode is like this the han schmidt clip it just it got me it's so brutal it made me want to watch band of brothers again which is not something i ever thought i would say i mean it's it's really tough i mean talk about your talking cheese this but i think i have to vote for han's just because his impact is so much bigger i. Dave: [34:00] Gotta stick in here and do my vote real quick. I'm also going to vote for Hans Schmidt. And I think the reason is because it has so much impact with so little screen time that you have to acknowledge that. Like everything out of the Alan Partridge, Dan Moody relationship is great, but let's acknowledge that Band of Brothers did so much with like 40 seconds of screen time. I thought that was pretty impressive. And again, also for me, like a real gut punch of a scene. Tara: [34:25] Sarah. Sarah: [34:25] Yeah, he has a sort of, this is like the Agent Miller class of characters. It's like, it's not so much about the character themselves. It's about their impact on everything that's around them, even though they're only there for a short time. And as much as I loved the argument for Dan Moody and also will have to repurpose that clip to just play it directly into my husband's ear when he was snoring and will not roll the fuck over. It's 15 degrees counterclockwise. Just please move. I want someone to die. And that Dave's description really was very winning. But I had the same response to Jeff's presentation that Tara did about the rationale for picking it and about wanting to rewatch Band of Brothers, which like I revered it when I first watched it. But I really thought it was one of those that it's like, well, why would I revisit this? Well, that's part of why. Because of construction things like this. And I think that is worthwhile. So with all due respect to the 17 Dans and the 18th one who will be hearing that clip, I'm voting Hans Schmidt as well. Tara: [35:41] Okay, Hans Schmidt moves on. And since we're leaving I'm Alan Partridge behind, just a reminder, we're getting a new Alan Partridge series this year. So look out for that. Tara: [35:51] Boing. Next, Sarah has brought us Sweet from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I have brought us Reverend Chatfield from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Sarah, tell us about Sweet Energy. Sarah: [36:05] Don't mind if I do. Sweet is the demon who turns Sunnydale into a musical theater hellscape in season six's Once More With Feeling musical episode. Sweet was played by Hinton Battle, a three-time Tony winner who originated the Scarecrow role on Broadway in The Wiz. And coincidentally, you're hearing this in early March, but we are actually recording it on the one-year anniversary of his passing. Hinton Battle also choreographed the episode. Sweet kills people by letting them sing and dance themselves into self-combustion. He also believes that he was summoned by Dawn, Buffy's little sister, and therefore plans to take her to hell as his bride because that's his demon deal. But unsurprisingly, it was fucking Xander who summoned him by mistake. So Sweet is obliged to leave for his own shuffle ball dimension, son's spouse. He's caused plenty of accidental truth-telling mayhem in the interim, though. Let's hear his exit in clip two. Big smiles, everyone. Sarah: [37:11] You beat the bad guy. Sarah: [37:36] Say you're happy now once more with feeling now i gotta run. Sarah: [37:58] He doesn't get the really good songs, I don't think, but Sweet does move plots along. Now everyone knows that Buffy was pulled out of heaven when she was resurrected. Now Tara knows Willow literally put her under a love spell. Everyone continues to know that Xander is a waste, etc. And he is the catalyst for a truly great album. The last Top Notch Buffy episode. There were a number of little characters in here, like, you know, they got the mustard out guy, parking ticket lady. This episode has a lot in it, but this clip, this clip sort of reminds you of the glory days of not just the show and this, it's like last truly high watermark, but also those halcyon days when we didn't have to put that butt on there about Joss Whedon. And Sweet commands the spotlight when he is on screen, for sure. And I have often exited situations and rooms singing, I'll see you all in hell. So, you know, I think that this has a shot to move on. That's Sweet from Once More With Feeling on Buffy. Tara: [39:10] Well, I'm talking about Reverend Chatfield from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Season 6, Episode 9. Nice. At this point in the series run, Ted has been stringing Georgette along for years. So when the subject of their getting married comes up at a lunch at Mary's apartment, Georgette basically dares Ted to marry her right now before he changes his mind, and they throw together a wedding on an hour's notice. This means calling a minister and taking whoever is available, so Reverend Chatfield, played by a pre-famed John Ritter, comes straight from a tennis game still in his whites. He is a little surprised to hear what he's needed for. Let's hear the clip. I'm a little embarrassed at wearing this to perform a marriage and besides. Jeff: [39:50] I was just ordained. I've never done it. Well, then it's appropriate that you should wear white. Come here. Now this is you. Let's get these nuptials rolling. Move it! Uh, I... I don't have my book and I really don't know all the words. Oh, well, maybe Lou and I can help. We've both been. Tara: [40:13] Kind of you. Okay, bride on my backhand, groom on my forehand. They go on. This is the second pre-fame John Ritter appearance we have seen in our vintage sitcom rewatches. He also shows up on a Bob Newhart show episode as a manic waiter at a turn-of-the-century styled ice cream parlor. But it's fun to see him being the earnest figure in the middle of this show's particular kind of chaos. Plus, he is in real short shorts. They show off his meaty thighs. That's not nothing. That's my pitch for Reverend Chatfield. Dave. Dave: [40:51] All right. I'm going to go on with Sweet on this one. I think Sweet is a, well, obviously is the catalyst for the one musical episode in the history of television that I thought actually worked for everyone once more worth feeling. There are 20 bodies. You know, you will know this episode by the trail of the dead behind it. Sarah: [41:10] Yeah, that's such a good point. Right. Dave: [41:13] So I think despite, yes, the Josh Whedon of it all, you know, this episode really is fantastic. And it is like a Hall of Famer, like canon wise, but also just like TV history wise on like, you know, the ascendancy of the gimmick episode and the fall of the gimmick episode and his place in it. You're right. I mean, Sweet doesn't have the most memorable songs, but he has some good lines. I could bring whole cities to ruin and still have time to get a soft shoe in is, you know, that's not bad. I like that kind of repartee. Sarah: [41:44] No, it's pretty good. Dave: [41:45] But John Ritter in this is really fun to watch the Mary Tyler Moore episode, but it doesn't really play to, I feel like, the physical strengths of his later comedy on Three's Company. We don't see a lot of that, but it is fun to see him pre-fame and see his journey go through all these, you know, Mary Tyler Moore shows and all as a run up to playing Jack Tripper. No shade against this character in this, but I feel like Sweet puts in the bigger performance and the stronger one-off character. Sarah: [42:14] Yeah, it's interesting hearing this debate and seeing that this is where the matchups ended up, because for whatever reason, I didn't pick him. I think he had been in a Thunderdome before as Ted, but John Ritter's performance as Ted in the episode Ted of Buffy was some of his best work. And every time I think about that episode, I miss him because I think he did not get enough credit necessarily while he was alive. He was really creepy in that. And that was like, I think maybe my first choice for a Buffy one-off character. But for whatever reason, he was not eligible. So it's interesting that the actor shows up against the one that was. Jeff: [42:57] So this is a really interesting matchup for me because I do love John Ritter. I'm like one of nine people who remember Hooperman. I love John Ritter. He's funny. He's great in everything. They're made to be on screen. You're immediately like, I'm in good hands. He has a couple of just really simple jokes that he slays in the Mary Tyler Moore episode. It's so effortless. You don't realize not everybody could kill with those jokes like he did. I think I got to go with Sweet, though. Like, yeah, it's a catalyst character, but also it's like, like, I didn't realize like the history, sort of a new Joe kind of thing to me. It's like, here's this great guy. Let's really, let's give him a spotlight. And it's a really sort of terrific thing. And Dave's point is also very good. Like in a world of cop rocks, there is, you know, there's this that like, like actually made a positive impact. And that's so hard to do with musicals. I think Sweet is a really good choice for this bracket. Give this performer who doesn't often get a chance to shine in these ways to this larger audience, create something where they get to do that. And then that performer is so good that they actually do that. Definitely going with Sweet. Tara: [44:12] I'll go next because Sweet's going to take this one, spoiler alert. I had forgotten the whole ballet that was in the clip that you put in the doc, Sarah. And knowing that he also choreographed the episode just gives it a whole new dimension. Michelle Trachtenberg also really can dance, but he's such a standout. I do agree. He's really very special and unique, more so than Reverend Chatfield, where it's more like, it's kind of a curiosity, but there's really not much to him. So I'm going to vote Sweet, too. Sarah. Sarah: [44:42] I think I will also vote sweet just from a TV history standpoint. Bad luck to the Rev there for crossing paths with this demon so early in the competition, but that's how it goes sometimes. So that's a sweet sweep. Tara: [44:57] Okay, sweet moves on. Tara: [45:03] Boing. All right, next up, we've got Emily Hartley submitted by Jeff, but with an asterisk. not the Emily Hartley like you think. And Laura from Seinfeld by me. Jeff, tell us about your very special Emily Hartley submission. Jeff: [45:21] This is, of course, from the finale of New Heart. I think submitted primarily because I feel like this had sort of set the bar for series finales. It's sort of like a cheat, but hilarious because it's the well-known cheat of like, it was all a dream that New Heart was a dream that Bob Hartley from The Bob Newhart Show had is a hilarious thing to pull off. Honey. I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont. I'm happy for you. Sarah: [46:37] Good night. Nothing made sense in this place I mean, the maid was an. Jeff: [46:50] Things And then there were these three woodsmen But only one of them talked That settles. Tara: [47:28] You know, you really should wear more sweaters. Jeff: [47:37] It's so hard to pull what you can do in a single camera comedy in front of a live audience, which is like a true surprise. I think the main thing is it really like, it changed the way people thought about like what you could do at the end of a series and really kind of blew, blew possibilities wide open and, and they nailed it. Tara: [47:59] Okay. Laura from Seinfeld, probably the one that needs the least set up. Cause I think this is the show on this list that all of us have watched the most. Jerry meets Laura played by Marlee Matlin at a tennis tournament. Not sure why my picks ended up being so tennis forward, but here we are. After a misunderstanding where he thinks that she's just big timing him and yells, what are you deaf? So she can be like, yes. She agrees to go out with him. And out at dinner with Jerry and George, she tells them that a couple across the restaurant are breaking up because she can read their lips. George gets a very George idea. Laura can come to a party with them, watch George's girlfriend of the week and the guy he thinks she might be fooling around with and report to George on whether any funny business is going on. Let's hear the clip. She's not a novelty act. Jeff: [48:43] George, that you hire out for weddings and bar mitzvahs. Look, it's a skill, just like juggling. She probably enjoys showing it off. I don't know, George. Tara: [48:57] They're hiding their mouths while they have this conversation. Would you ask her? Just ask her. She says, George was wondering if... Sure, I'll do it. What you can't see is all the different ways they're hiding their mouths as they talk. They're holding the cups in front of their mouths, napkins, George, like, rubbing his eyes under his glasses, etc. So, Jerry turns out to be wrong. She does like to show off her skills, like juggling. Unfortunately for George, those skills aren't foolproof. She misreads, stick around after the party and we can sweep together as sleep together. and George makes a scene for no reason. Laura is the rare Seinfeld character who doesn't have beef with any of the core four cast members while one of them does sort of have beef with her, which may be why she wasn't brought back for the series finale to talk about how terrible they all are. But that's Laura. Dave? Dave: [49:58] I think much like Sweet, I'm probably going to gravitate towards Emily Hartley for this one. I mean, her performance was, in keeping with her performances on the Bob Newhart show, there is nothing extra loud or extra anything about it, except for the fact that it takes place in this piece of television history, much like Sweet in Once More for Feeling. I really like the character in Seinfeld as well. I think they're both funny performances, maybe even, you know, let's say equally funny. So I'm going to give this one to Emily for being a part of TV history and a really, really smart piece of TV history that we sort of take for granted now. You're like, we bend the rules so much on TV now, but they didn't as much back then. And here's one of the pioneers of like the elastic reality that we all enjoy in today's comedies. So I'm going to go for Emily on this one. Tara: [50:47] Sarah. Sarah: [50:47] Yeah, agreed. And for the same reasons. I mean, they it's weird. They could have gotten away with much more of this kind of thing because there was not the Internet waiting to spoil slash overanalyze next ons about every little thing. But at the same time, this really both set the bar for it. And then much like Sweet, leaving a trail of imitators in its wake, like I think a lot of shows tried to do something mind blowing in a series finale and should have just like had it be a slightly longer final episode. Also, credit to our guest, Jeff Drake, for always finding the outside lane on some of this stuff. It's like, all right, well, technically, I mean, yes, but also no, but also it's much bigger than that, which is really the most fun of doing these. It's not just like composing your own arguments, but then realizing how much of a thought experiment this always turns into. And what a wonderful gift TV who reads us books, gives us all the time. I like the inclusion of Laura, but it is, I think, not competition for Emily. And that is who gets my vote. Tara: [52:02] Well, I'll go next and continue my tradition of voting against my own submission. Emily is so great. And from the moment when she rolls over and the audience goes nuts, you can hear it in the clip. And then her first line, that voice, it's such a great smoky voice. I have to, at some point, revisit the episodes of Will and Grace where she comes on and plays Karen's mother, who's like a con artist who trained her in all her ways when she was a kid. She's wonderful. This is an absolutely untouchable series finale tag and great pick, as Sarah said. Great out of the out of the lane pick. I love it so much. So Emily Hartley goes on. Tara: [52:45] Next, we have Katrina Ludlow, played by Julia Roberts in Law and Order and 80s guy, voiced by David Herman from Futurama. Sarah, tell us about Katrina. Sarah: [52:57] Oh, boy. Ms. Julia Roberts, who then was dating Mr. Benjamin Bratt, appeared on Law & Order Season 9, Episode 20, Empire. She played Katrina Ludlow. A lot of the characters memorably bitchy, and they were, moments, as Ludlow, a professional charity fundraiser or fundraising coordinator on the Upper East Side, who was a little more actively involved in the accidental Viagra death of a real estate poobah than she initially wants to admit, they don't really translate to this notoriously visual medium of podcasting. For instance, when she's being called on her BS by Lenny Briscoe or by Edward Herman as a defense attorney, her gaze of flat loathing is Brandon Walsh-esque, drops the temperature in any given scene by 30 degrees. You will not get to see that in this clip or in the, all right, looks she's getting from Angie Harmon in return, but you can hear just how much character and actor are enjoying themselves as they make it clear that they're basically extorting law enforcement to get away with doing a murder and then taking a payoff for it in clip three. How about this? Sarah: [54:15] I take a complete stroll. Tara: [55:00] At least he didn't need to take them oh. Sarah: [55:07] Yeah all this ends up being total character assassination of ray curtis one does wonder what the negotiations were that allowed this character to be a huge see you next tuesday but also get away with everything and have the snotty kiss offline at the end because this is what it what occurred one also suspects that this was perhaps not a huge leap acting wise and that below the line talent may frequently have felt that chilly stare over the years allegedly but here's the thing julia roberts is a fucking perfect katrina ludlow is both a pitiable striver and a smug dick and even though she does get away with it roberts's performance is so brilliantly bitchy and jellily upper east side that you almost don't mind i hated putting her in here against her brother and trivia alert their other sibling lisa roberts galan was in the previous episode of law and order like i don't know the law and order wikia always wants you to know that so i thought i I would help them at it and mention it. Hey, Lisa, hope you're well. Katrina Ludlow, there are a gazillion performances from Law and Order that I could have used. But if this was the first one, I decided to obey my instincts. Tara: [56:28] Dave. Dave: [56:28] All right. Mine is that guy, AKA 80s guy, AKA real name Steve Castle, which I don't enjoy knowing his real name. Tara: [56:37] I don't know where that came from. Dave: [56:38] Not in the show. Jeff: [56:39] Yeah. Dave: [56:39] So I think we should just dispense with that being canon at all. 80s guy is from season four, episode nine, future stock. 80s guy meets fry at a support group for a like chirogenic defrost ease meet where he learns 80s guy is basically Gordon Gekko from wall street. He's frozen himself with orders to be defrosted when science had a cure for bonitis, which Fry mentions is a funny name for a horrible disease. Jeff: [57:07] I'm from the same time as you. Remember that song, Safety Dance? Sure do. We can dance. Dave: [57:16] You know, that dance wasn't as safe as they said it was. Soon, 80s guy being a go-go 80s Reaganot becomes the CEO of Planet Express, the company at the center of Futurama, and promptly calls a company meeting. Let's cut to the chase. There are two kinds of people, sheep and sharks. Anyone fired. Tara: [57:40] Who's a sheep? Uh, excuse me, which is the one people like to hug? Gutsy question. You're a shark. Sharks are winners, and they don't look back because. Sarah: [57:49] They don't have necks. Necks are for sheep. I am proud to be. Tara: [57:55] The shepherd of this herd of sharks and i am gonna lead you to the top in this industry of of package delivery. Jeff: [58:02] Package delivery oh god fantastic now the first order of business is to blame everything on the guy before me professor i'll ruin you like i ruin this company terrific he. Dave: [58:17] Goes on to try to sell the company to mom the big corporation of the futurama world to dismantle but forgets one important thing so i ask you as a friend won't you stop this deal fry i'm an. Jeff: [58:30] 80s guy friendship to me means that for two bucks i beat you with a pool cue till you got detached retinas the deal will go ahead as, 80s guy, I forgot to cure it. My only regret is that I have... Dave: [59:07] And that is a wrap on the story of 80s guy, a one-off character so pure to form, he had to be killed off, lest his power overwhelm Futurama. Tara: [59:16] That's so true. I mean, honestly, like Hedonism, I'll go. Obviously, I'm already going. Hedonism would have been so much stronger if he'd only been in like a one-off line character, honestly. Like every time they brought him back, it was diminishing returns. I love the Katrina pick of all of the truly thousands, probably, of one-off Law & Order characters that one could choose. You're so right that, like, her bitchiness is deep and pure. And the amount that Julia Roberts' public image does to establish the character in the early going, so that the twist, the shift that she undergoes at the end is so much more shocking. This is very much in her America's Sweetheart era. We think she's a Julia Roberts character, and then she turns out to just be maybe allegedly Julia Roberts based on what we hear. You know, the clip that you picked is so perfect, too, where she's like, I read where they can do that. Like the red where is such a perfect choice that she's trying to sound folksy and, you know, fake folksy, really. Also, how much the Angie Harmon character hates her when she's, you know, I hate to sell out the sisterhood, but no, you don't. You love it, by the way. Sarah: [1:00:33] Yeah. Tara: [1:00:33] She's great, but like 80s guy, we say lines from 80s guy around our house all the time. Like he's part of the firmament of TV characters for me. Like he's almost untouchable, truly. So I got to go 80s guy for 80s guy, Jeff. Jeff: [1:00:52] Well, you can't touch him because of the bonitis. Tara: [1:00:55] That's true. Also, the bonitis is what Dave's been going through the past two months. So seeing that probably was very triggering. Sarah: [1:01:01] It's true. Dave: [1:01:01] I've had my own form of bonitis. Yeah. Jeff: [1:01:04] Listening to that clip again i mean literally it it's like a high wire act of comedy writing like that the scene about sheeps and sharks is just like every line is just like builds in such a surprising way each time it's so funny and like the example of like we're friends which means it will be with a pool cue until your retinas are detached it's like so fucking crazy that to come up with that line. This is a really hard one for me because 80s guy is hilarious and Dave Herman does such a great, he's such a talented voice actor. He's so funny in this that Package delivery. Oh, God. Fantastic. Like, that turn is so amazing. Jeff: [1:01:52] But I think I'm leaning towards Julia Roberts on this one. It's such a crazy, surprising swing. Like, I don't remember seeing this episode before. And, like, watching her actually act, because I feel like a lot of movies and stuff I see her in, it's just like, aren't I charming? Yeah. Like everything is basically the laugh when the clamshell, Richard Gere snaps the clamshell on her hands from Pretty Woman. Every moment I see her in a film, I feel like it's just that moment writ large where I'm just like, I don't fucking buy it. But like this was so, it was like she was just like, I'm just chewing it up. Like every moment, that's a perfect place to do that. Like they give you that kind of role and they're like, fucking, here's all the scenery. We've sugarcoated it so you can eat as much as you like. And the creepy thing is like how still she is through the whole thing. That there's no overt physicality of it. It's so close. It's really close, but I'm going with Julia Roberts. Tara: [1:02:59] Oh boy, we have a tie. Sarah, what are your thoughts? Sarah: [1:03:03] I mean, I have been willing to vote against my own shit before. And this is closer than you would think. We have some distance from this Law & Order episode now, but this was like a huge fucking deal in the late 90s that she did this, that they were together, that, you know, da-da-da. And this I think is before Erin Brockovich and probably did not nothing to help America start seeing her as more than just like giant smile clamshell runaway bride lady. So I'm sticking on my own. I'm sticking with Katrina. But I mean, 80s guy is brilliant. And if it weren't If it weren't the other Roberts, I would change my own vote, but I'm not doing it. Dave: [1:03:51] So I can give this one to Katrina Ludlow for this reason. I think we need to represent the celebrity one-off character appearance that this is the only exemplar of, really, in this bracket. You know, I mean, we have famous people. We don't have, like, a movie star type of person here, and I think that might be what elevates it. I'm not a Law and Order person. All my Law and Order fun is through Lenny Briscoe quip-offs. That's sort of what I come into the show for and then exit. But I cannot deny the star power, people magazine of it all. You know, this, this appearance and everything that sort of ties in with like things. Oh, Cylon or like she was dating Benjamin Brad at the time. And, you know, they got her on the show for this reason. And she's playing against type and she's like a real creepy character. And I love 80s guy. And, you know, in my heart of hearts, if I was by myself and I was told I can either eat the 80s guy meal or the Julia Roberts meal. I'm eating the 80s guy meal, but I can't deny, like, in this setup under a bracket for one-off characters that I can give this one to Katrina Ludlow. Tara: [1:04:55] And 80s guy is already in the canon, so he's got that. Okay, Katrina Ludlow moves on. Tara: [1:05:03] Boing. Next, we have Mr. Peters, a submission by Jeff Drake from The Dick Van Dyke Show, and And Anne Beresford from Beverly Hills 90210 from Sarah. Jeff. Please tell us about Mr. Peters. Jeff: [1:05:17] Mr. Peters is a character played by Greg Morris on the original, on the Dick Van Dyke show. Interesting history of it. This was a point where Carl Reiner was like, I can't, I can no longer write all of the episodes. He had basically written almost all of the episodes previous. And so he gave it to these two guys who weren't even on staff, Persky and Denoff, who ended up writing a ton more of the episodes. Anyway, it's the conceit of the episode is Rob, with the help of Jerry, his friend, is convinced that they got the wrong baby at the hospital because flowers were mixed up and the names are closed, Peters and Petrie, and they think that it's the wrong kid. And so he goes through the whole episode. They go through all kinds of crazy stuff until finally he calls the Peters and says that I think we have your child and I think you have our child. And the whole thing is built up to this one moment at the end where Rob is 100% convinced that they do not have the right child. And so he invites him over. The doorbell rings. He opens the door. And I believe that's where the clip starts. Thank you. Thank you. I'm still a little wobbly. Me. Jeff: [1:06:34] Couldn't miss the fun. Well, I'm glad you're here. Mr. Peters and Mrs. Peters are African-American. Why didn't you tell me on the phone? Missed the expression on your face? Did I give you a. Tara: [1:07:03] Myself lately. We just had a baby. That's right, we both had babies Oh, you want to see the one The one that we almost pawned off on you? Jeff: [1:07:14] It's ours Hey That is a beautiful baby looks exactly like you You really think so? No, but why start him off again? Jeff: [1:07:29] This is 1963. I think this is even before I Spy, where Bill Cosby had a starring role. And Greg Morris was one of the, in the first three African-American males to have a starring role in a TV show, because he, after this, went on to star in Mission Impossible, the original Mission Impossible. The moment when Rob opens the door and then they come walking through the audience totally loses it and it's an amazing moment it was such a swing at the time to make light of this in such a way it's such a huge moment and Greg Morris is so great and and so is that I don't know the name of the actress who plays his wife but she's also really terrific the funniest part is at the end of the episode, this has all been a flashback. And at the end, the last joke in the episode is Rob saying, oh, well, you know, the Peters kid, he's in the same school as Richie. Straight A's. Richie? He's like, I still think we got the wrong kid. It seems like such a nothing line now, but like in 1963, it's really a crazy bold statement that like, oh yeah, my white kid is doing terrible. This black kid is doing so much better. And that it's done so effortlessly in the show, I think, is really notable. So that's why Mr. Peters. Tara: [1:08:48] Mrs. Peters played by Mimi Dillard. That's the actress. Jeff: [1:08:51] Oh, thank you. Tara: [1:08:52] Sarah, tell us about Anne. Sarah: [1:08:55] Okay. Well, this is really here to amuse two people, me and Tara. But let's proceed. Anne Beresford appears in Beverly Hills 90210 Season 3, Episode 14, Wild Horses, and is played by Alice Kriega. A lot of other shit goes down in this episode, David Silver debuting his only bearable track, switch it up. David Arquette's abusive Diesel comes to town to crank Brandon's braying into the red zone, and Dylan, outraged that ETS thinks he cheated on his SATs, storms out of Los Angeles entirely to clear his head. Unfortunately, we're not rid of him. His Porsche breaks down and the ranch-owning lady on horseback, who comes to his aid, that's Anne, played by Borg Queen Alice Kriega, as noted, Anne is only less annoying about her performatively cynical poor little rich kid bullshit than Dylan is because she's only around for one episode. But please understand Anne sucks and any of the absolutely ludicrous indecent proposal she makes to Dylan regarding her champion showjumper Shadowcaster has made her a legend in the field of euphemisms for fucking clip one. Jeff: [1:10:14] What do you want to know about me? What do you want to tell me? Tara: [1:11:09] It can work, Shadowcaster. Sarah: [1:11:12] Oh, is that what he could do? It's really no surprise that Anne's condescension, Reagan Democrat friends, and Ren Fair hair send Dylan scurrying back into the angsty thruple he is enduring with Brenda and Kelly. But his experience working Shadowcaster has endured with me and Tara for 30-plus years. I don't really think it can compete with most of the other things in this round. And I still think that Anne's parents need to be brought up on charges because everything in that clip was some really dark VC Andrew shit. I am not a crackpot. But yeah, that's Anne and the you could work shadowcaster, which I just reread our chapter on this in the book and started laughing all over again at my own jokes. Because work shadow castor, fuck out of here. Anyway, that's my presentation. Tara: [1:12:13] I mean, I have to go first because, you know, that was clearly, as Sarah said, for me. It's hard to choose between these two figures from TV history because it's true. Work shadow castor is definitely another one that's in the lexicon. But what's amazing about the clip that Jeff pulled for Mr. Peters is it's like a minute and a half, not even. It's so short, but it carries in it like the whole microcosm of the episode before you even said what the context was like i got it and the joke that they pull on him on um rob is so funny he gets so flustered and mr peters is so cool being able to pull it off like i gotta go mr peters that's such a likable scene it makes me want to perhaps make that our next uh vintage watch when we finish with mary tyler moore show which we will be doing soon dave. Dave: [1:13:03] Yeah, sometimes you just got to go with your personal favorite, and I get it. And I must not have been paying attention the first time around when that was a subject of your recaps on Again With This, because I don't remember that clip. Sarah: [1:13:14] What? Dave: [1:13:14] I always kind of wondered why you were always talking about Shadowcaster, and I thought maybe it was from a movie or inserting the joke into this or something. Tara: [1:13:21] Mm-mm. Sarah: [1:13:22] Oh, no. Dave: [1:13:23] Okay, I get it. Nice to know the origin of it, but yeah, I'm going to have to go with Mr. Peters for this for all the reasons said by Tara. Tara: [1:13:29] All right, Jeff. Jeff: [1:13:30] You clipped a show that I never watched and I could not have enjoyed watching this more. I mean, every time she said bored, I heard Borg and that made it even more fun. Like horses get Borg when they're ridden by the same rider. Sarah: [1:13:47] I don't get it. Oh God, that fucking clip. Jeff: [1:13:50] To me, that's bigger than like the Shadowcaster thing. I was like, oh Jesus. I loved it. I loved every moment of it, but I'm going to stick with Mr. Peters. Tara: [1:14:00] All right, Sarah. Sarah: [1:14:01] Look, working shadowcaster will be with us always. But Mr. Peters is the better choice and is my vote as well. Tara: [1:14:12] Boing. Our final matchup of our Sweet 16. I'm going with Roger from a season one episode of Friends, the one with the boobies. And. I am here to welcome you on behalf. Tara: [1:14:37] Popeye-in. See? Same thing. Same thing. Forget it. How are you? I'm Hank Scorpio. Okay. So, Roger, many one-time love interests came through friends, particularly for Phoebe. And in season one, episode 13, The One with the Boobies, her new boyfriend is a psychiatrist named Roger, played by Fisher Stevens. when he is present for a fight between Rachel and Chandler over the issue in the episode title, Boobies Were Glimpsed by Mistake. Chandler makes a joke and Roger comments that Chandler's so funny and quietly adds that he would hate to be there when the laughter stops. Roger goes on to correctly diagnose Chandler's an only child whose parents divorced when he was very young, saying it's textbook, and then offers unsolicited advice about what made Ross marry a lesbian and why Monica has had compulsive eating behaviors in the past. Phoebe's friends all turn on Roger, and she has to tell him they think he's intense and creepy. Let's hear the clip. Well, I'm not at all surprised they feel that way. You're not, see, that's why you're so great. Jeff: [1:15:52] Big cups, which, I'm sorry, might as well have nipples on them. And you're all like, oh, define me. Tara: [1:16:02] Define me. Love me. I need love. In retrospect, we can say Roger is right. These are six needy people getting way too much emotional affirmation from each other. But Roger's got to go telling the truth like that. And he does, never to return. Dave. Dave: [1:16:20] Hank Scorpio, played by Albert Brooks. He is the joyful villain, CEO of Globex, a company that recruits Homer Simpson to work in the company town of Cypress Creek to lend his nuclear know-how to the corporation's mysterious new project. Hank Scorpio has two goals in life. One, to take over the world. Two, to foster a creative and progressive work environment for his employees. He's hands-on when it comes to employee satisfaction, including making sure they have everything they need. Tara: [1:16:52] Hey, look at my feet. Okay. You like those moccasins? Look in your closet. There's a pair for you. Don't like them? Then neither do I. Dave: [1:16:59] Get the hell out of here. Ever see a guy say goodbye to a shoe? Yes, once. And everything they thought they needed. Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks. Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why. Tara: [1:17:24] Chariot. Right. Matter of fact, they're all in the same complex. It's the Hammock Complex down on third. Oh, the Hammock District. That's right. Dave: [1:17:31] And everything they don't need. I keep expecting to get the bums rush. We don't have bums in our town. Jeff: [1:17:36] Marge, and if we did, they wouldn't rush. They'd be allowed to go at their own pace. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of a fun run. Tara: [1:17:41] See you at work tomorrow. Dave: [1:17:43] Although I don't really like to call it work. He's a really, really fun character. He's born in the era of like crazy business types, you know, that would wear sneakers with suits. And he was probably the first person in the state to drink iced coffee. You know, that kind of guy. I credit Albert Brooks with making Hank Scorpio so likable and also weirdly bubbly. Tara: [1:18:04] Yep. Dave: [1:18:04] The germ of this episode comes from Greg Daniels. He wrote down that the Simpsons were moving, Homer was getting a new job, and that his boss ends up being this Bond villain. That was the germ of the episode. Now I'm going to quote from Wikipedia here because this is great information. The show's writers did not worry too much about perfecting Scorpio's lines because they knew Albert Brooks would rewrite or ad-lib both of them. Entire sections of Scorpio's dialogue, such as his hammock speech, are Brooks' lines and not the writer's. Dan Castellanello described how after he prepared something for Homer to say in response to Brooks' new Scorpio lines, Brooks would then deliver all new lines. Showrunner Josh Weinstein said Homer's reactions are exactly like those of someone talking to Albert Brooks in real life. In all, Albert Brooks recorded two hours of dialogue for this one episode. Tara: [1:18:55] Oh my God, wow. Dave: [1:18:56] So I think a lot of this is Albert Brooks for making such a memorable character. One last point, he's very collaborative with his employees and the company's direction. By the way, Homer. Tara: [1:19:06] What's your least favorite country? Italy or France? France. Dave: [1:19:11] Nobody ever says Italy. Jeff: [1:19:15] Okay. Dave: [1:19:15] So he's my heavyweight. He is the first person I thought of when this came to my attention. The concept of this episode is Hank Scorpio, CEO of Globex from The Simpsons. Tara: [1:19:24] Oh my God. So it's going to be your love of Hank Scorpio versus your hate of France, everyone but me. Sarah, what are your thoughts? Sarah: [1:19:33] Yeah. I mean, this is a consensus number one seed, I'd feel. And And the background information, Dave, that you just shared, put one of my favorite Albert Brooks properties, Lost in America, and specifically the scene where he's talking to Gary Marshall's casino boss and, like, the Desert Inn has heart. And he's like, it's gambling. Las Vegas gambling. And that whole rant he goes on about the Hoover Dam, or they're by the Hoover Dam. And he's like, you don't even get to say the word nest egg. It's a round stick. I mean, you have to wonder like how many of these scenes were his co-stars just like, okay, second take is going to be completely different dialogue. But it worked for me, whatever it was. This is, it's Roger's bad luck that he ran into Hank. But yeah, I got to vote Hank. I know those lines of dialogue and I'm not a big Simpsons guy. So, yeah, I mean, love Albert Brooks. And look, Roger, Dr. Roger made a lot of good points. And they probably should have listened to him, but they didn't. And they were probably right. Turned out okay for them. So Hank Scorpio for me. Tara: [1:20:45] Jeff. Jeff: [1:20:46] Look, do yourself a favor and watch the Albert Brooks documentary where he's interviewed by Rob Reiner. It's such a treat and ends with one of the greatest things ever, which is somebody saying to Albert Brooks, like, why do you always choose the hardest road? And he says, oh, you think there are two roads, which to me is like the best way to describe being a creative person. It's so great. This episode is like uncut, not street legal, Albert Brooks. This is so pure and great. And every moment is a joy. And Roger is hilarious and very fun and necessary in the world of friends. But Scorpio is a juggernaut. I don't know who's stopping Scorpio. Tara: [1:21:31] Okay, look, Jeff has succeeded in every one of his pitches, and that's because somebody has not succeeded in any of theirs, and that person is me, because I'm not voting against Hank Scorpio. Come on, what am I saying? Hank is one of the greatest characters of all time, one-off or not. Like, he's so, so, so, so, so funny. Dave put a supercut in our doc, and I watched the whole thing, even though I've watched this episode dozens of times. Every one of his lines hits, Hank Scorpio, duh, obviously. Dave. Dave: [1:22:00] Yeah, I'm going to vote for Hank Scorpio. He is obviously my first choice for this whole program. I will say this episode, You Only Move Twice, also features my favorite visual joke, which is when they're watching the promotional tape for Cypress Creek and why you should move there and all their gentrification efforts. They show the dilapidated theater turning into a modern theater. This turns into your local bar. And then there's like an unhomed person there and he turns into a U.S. mailbox. Tara: [1:22:27] It's a U.S. mailbox. Jeff: [1:22:27] It just fucking kills me every time. Dave: [1:22:29] I kind of forget about it until the moment creeps up on me because you just remember Hank Scorpio from this episode, but a great visual joke as well. So Hank Scorpio for me. Tara: [1:22:37] Yeah, shout out to Dan Rogge. That's one of his favorites too. So Hank moves on and we proceed to our Elite Eight. Tara: [1:22:47] All right let's do our elite eight matchups first up we've got lord flashheart versus new joe sarah what are you feeling. Sarah: [1:22:57] These are a lot sort of closer these are like two different kinds of cheese versus chuck and cheese but as is i think mostly the case with these drake submissions, there's something about New Joe that there's like, there's a second order of conversation. There's like, this one-off character does this and how funny and memorable is it? And then there's the sort of ancillary information that you also get about Fred Willard. And I think I thought New Joe was a little funnier. So I am going to vote for New Joe, even though no doors were incorrectly broken in the making of the skit, but I'm interested to hear everyone else's process. Tara: [1:23:43] I'm going to vote Lord Flashart because as much as I love New Joe's sketch that he appears in, I feel like Lord Flashart is more of a character. New Joe, you know, you certainly know who he is based on what he does, but it's more about what he does than that. And Lord Flashart, I think, is just, he takes up more space for me. So Lord Flashheart is my pick. Dave. Dave: [1:24:08] Yeah, they're both forces of nature, for sure, in their respective appearances. But I am also going to go for Lord Flashheart. And I know he's my own guy. And, you know, Dave, come on, man. But I feel like inside of their respective shows, Lord Flashheart has a much bigger footprint than New Joe. Even though I fucking love New Joe and is one of the best skits of that season. I'm going to give the slight edge here personally to Lord Flashheart. Tara: [1:24:36] Okay, Jeff. Jeff: [1:24:38] Lord Flashheart. Tara: [1:24:39] Oh! Jeff: [1:24:40] I love New Joe, obviously. Brought him to the party. There is something about, like, because it's a show and not a sketch show, I think he gets the nod because of that. Tara: [1:24:51] Okay, Lord Flashheart moves ahead. Tara: [1:24:56] Boing. Next up, wow, Hans Schmidt from Band of Brothers versus Sweet from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dave: [1:25:04] Two characters currently in hell. Tara: [1:25:11] Wow. Dave: [1:25:12] Okay. So previous arguments for these two characters were the catalyst impact they have on the series and Band of Brothers and a representative of the episode's place in history with Sweet and once more with feeling, oh boy, I feel like TV has a lot of characters that have bubbled up for scary moments and have been that to whatever show they were in. The whole scene where everybody gets shot off camera is harrowing. But I think I'm going to give this one to Sweet because that episode is up there in, you know, milestones of television history. And the musical episode Scourge of the aughts, teens and twenties can, you know, be laid at the feet of this episode for good and ill. But this one did it right. So I'm going to give that to Sweet for making all that happen. Tara: [1:26:05] I'm going to go Sweet as well. I just think he gets so many beautiful moments in this very weird episode. I'm always happy to see Incredible Dancing on screen, and he brings that, but also just imbues this one-off demon character who could have been so one note with so much, I think. So yeah, it's Sweet for me as well. Jeff? Jeff: [1:26:28] I'm just going to tee this up for Sweet. In the context of Band of Brothers, the Hans Schmidt moment doesn't make the top 10 in the series. I think Sweet, for the reasons Dave brought up, historically, I think you've got to give the nod to that. Tara: [1:26:43] Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:26:44] With a hat tip, of course, to our guests' creativity and sort of outside-the-box thinking in using this character who got like two lines and then perished off screen. And all the thinking that it allowed us to do on this side of the, in this region of the bracket. Sweet, I think, is also the number one seed. And I will be voting for my own shit as a result. Tara: [1:27:09] Okay, Sweet moves ahead. Tara: [1:27:14] Next, we've got Emily Hartley from the series finale of New Heart versus Katrina Ludlow from Law and Order. Sarah: [1:27:23] Oh, God. Jeff: [1:27:24] Wow. Dave: [1:27:25] Okay, so Emily Hartley, again, another character that got the nod for being a piece of television history and a really smart piece of television history. I do want to reiterate again, I think we take this finale for granted now, but I think at the time it was huge and a really fantastic undertaking. And then we got Julia Roberts playing against type. Personally, I know we lost 80s Guide to Katrina, and this is not because of that, but I'm going to give this one to Emily Hartley for the fantastic ending of Newhart and folding in the Bob Newhart show into that. No shade at Julia Roberts for her performance here, but I just feel overall that bringing this character back and just like the technical argument that this therefore could be folded into this particular bracket, I also enjoy. So I'm going to go with Emily here. Tara: [1:28:15] I'm going Emily as well. I do think Katrina's a great character, and that's a great moment in the history of the series and her career even. But Emily Hartley in that moment, I mean, we've already said it so many ways. It's indelible. So Emily Hartley for me, Sarah. Sarah: [1:28:33] Look, Katrina is an icon in Law & Order. And if you're talking about like Law & Order high wattage movie star guest stars, then maybe this looks like a different bracket. But that's not quite the metric that we're looking at. Despite Dave's good argument from the last time we were talking about her that like this was a huge fucking movie star on network TV, which was not standard. Things are a little different now. But Emily Hartley is like a top 10 iconic moment in the finales, in sitcoms, in like gotcha moments. Tara: [1:29:10] Yeah, surprises. Sarah: [1:29:10] I mean, it's in so many different conversations. And in a way that, how much was Julia Roberts really acting. Jeff: [1:29:19] Allegedly? Sarah: [1:29:20] So I also will be throwing my weight behind Miss Hartley. Tara: [1:29:24] Emily it is. Tara: [1:29:27] Boing. Next, we've got Mr. Peters versus Hank Scorpio. I'll go first. This is so tough because I really loved the Mr. Peters scene. But Hank Scorpio is like my guy. I feel like if I ever got a tattoo, it would be in the conversation. Possibly it would be Hank Scorpio with his flamethrower. Dave: [1:29:51] No, no, no, no, no, no. It's Hank Scorpio with the backwards jacket. Tara: [1:29:55] With the jacket. Well, you can get that and I'll do the flamethrower. It'll be fun. Dave: [1:30:01] I'm never getting a tattoo, but okay. Tara: [1:30:02] No, me neither. I have to go Hank. He's like one of my tops of all time. Sarah. Sarah: [1:30:08] Yeah. I mean, it's unfortunate because as we've been saying all episode, there are some real thinkers in here from Jeff Drake, but like sometimes there's an upset like this in the actual like March Madness bracket, sometimes involving a school named St. Peter's, but that's not going to work. Yeah. This time. And Hank Scorpio is number one consensus, number one seed for a reason. But I mean, I'm glad we got to talk about Mr. Peters and that he defeated the Borg Queen because, you know, something's right in the universe. Tara: [1:30:41] Fantastic, Jeff. Jeff: [1:30:42] Hank Scorpio, this is the ultimate of one-off characters. In the same way that Emily Hartley sets the bar for, can you top this as a finale of a TV show? It's like, can you top this performance? It'll be really interesting if he goes up against Flashheart, because those are two of the same type of things, where it's like a performance that dominates the show. It just takes over, yeah. Tara: [1:31:07] Right. Well, he's not going up against him in this round, but he does proceed. Tara: [1:31:13] Our final four. First up, we've got Lord Flashheart versus Sweet. Jeff: [1:31:20] Jeff. Oh, God. Me? Tara: [1:31:23] Yeah. Jeff: [1:31:24] Okay. Okay. This is tough. This is a really interesting thing for me because it's like a show that I loved and watched. Like Blackadder, like I love so deeply. And a show, this is all I've watched of it. Is like the clips for this. Uh, I'm going to have to lean into the historical aspect of it and go with sweet. I think it's, it's a watershed moment in TV and it was, uh, an amazing choice and an amazing, like get to give a spotlight for this character. And so I'm going with sweet. Tara: [1:32:01] I'm going to go Sweet, too, only on the technicality that Lord Flashheart is the less one-off of the two, because there are versions of him in other seasons of the show. Dave: [1:32:11] Oh, no, the technicality has come back to bite him on the bum. Tara: [1:32:14] Well, only for that reason. I mean, Sweet is great, obviously. I voted for him every round. But yes, that's my rationale at this stage. Dave? Dave: [1:32:25] Yeah, so Lord Flashheart has a much bigger footprint in the episode. Sweet has a much bigger footprint on the show, I believe. I think that's how my brain is working for these one-off characters and how to like weigh them. So, you know, if it was episode versus episode, I would say like Lord Flashheart is obviously the louder and the crazier and the funnier of the two, if those are metrics you're going by. But Sweet is the more important character, I would say, and he is a one-off character. So again, this is probably just aping what Tara said, but like My metric for this matchup is Sweet, even though he is not as out there as Lord Flashheart. Although as a character concept, a demon that makes people dance and sing is out there. Tara: [1:33:12] Yeah. Dave: [1:33:12] But he himself is sort of a smooth, cold character. But I feel like he is a more capital I important character. So I'm going to throw my weight on this one behind Sweet. Tara: [1:33:23] Sarah. Sarah: [1:33:24] I'm going to vote sweet. Lord Flashheart is great, but I think now we're talking about what are one-off characters that were bigger than their shows or episodes to Gen Pop who might not have necessarily engaged with anything but that, like in the top five episodes that civilians have heard of in this show. Dave: [1:33:47] Right. Hush. Sarah: [1:33:48] Is he in the conversation about that? I don't think that's true of Lord Flashheart, so I will also be voting for Sweet. Tara: [1:33:55] Sweet moves forward. Tara: [1:34:00] So next we've got to consider Emily Hartley versus Hank Scorpio. Sarah: [1:34:07] Do we? Jeff: [1:34:08] Wow. Why did we do this to ourselves? Sarah: [1:34:11] I know. Tara: [1:34:11] I know. Okay. I'll fall on my sword first with this one. I'm going to say Hank over Emily just because she is certainly playing a character in the episode. But in that case, it's like it's more of like it's more of a gag than a character. Obviously, she's one we know well, but it's not like she's delivering a full fledged performance in that matchup. Whereas, like, I mean, even if we didn't know all of the stuff that Dave just said about how Albert Brooks built the character, like it's clear he's more he's the the episode doesn't exist without him. So I'm going to say it's Hank Scorpio for this one for me, but this is one of the tougher ones. Sarah, what are your thoughts? Sarah: [1:34:53] I don't know. It's tempting to be contrarian and be like, well, you know, it shouldn't be like, why did the Simpsons always win these things? But first of all, I don't think they do. And second of all, I just think that this particular part of TV culture and memory has fallen further below the horizon than peak Simpsons. I think Hank Scorpio also satisfies that brief that I was talking about in the last round with Sweet. That is, if someone who has no television and is recently embarked on Rumspringa is here to, oh, I need to name three Simpsons characters that weren't credits cast, him and the Krusty the Clown family, and various sideshows, Bob and Mel. So that's I mean, I think that qualifies. Emily Hartley was such a good pick and so fun to think about in this context. But Hank is fucking, you know, big boss level in this game. And it's Hank for me. Tara: [1:35:57] Okay. Dave, it's going Hank's way. Dave: [1:36:01] Yeah, I'm also going to say Hank. I feel like Hank's power as a character unto himself sort of outshines Emily's place in TV history. And I do agree with Tara that, you know, she is there to complete the circuit. And she is a good character, even though she once had a Hitler joke that ended the Bob Newhart show episode, which was weird. Tara: [1:36:22] That was weird. Dave: [1:36:23] But I got to say, like Hank Scorpio, one of my like all time favorite characters. Full stop gotta take this one for me. Tara: [1:36:31] Okay well hank is moving on regardless but jeff you can throw emily a vote if you wish. Jeff: [1:36:35] I think you have to look at this in terms of if i take these two episodes that these come from and i give them to somebody who has seen neither show which one holds up and i think you have to know other things to get the joke of the emily hartley of it and you have to have context and it's like dave said like it was your it was actually you bringing up a rum Springer that brought it to mind. So thanks, Sarah. Sarah: [1:37:01] Finally, that joke has a use. Jeff: [1:37:03] And then it's like completing the circuit. Whereas you can just come to this episode with Hank Scorpio and it does not, if you don't know the Simpsons, it does not dampen your enjoyment of Hank Scorpio one iota. And he's just like, I mean, he's just a bright star. So like, absolutely, Scorpio. Tara: [1:37:26] The championship comes down to Sweet versus Hank Scorpio. Two. Sarah: [1:37:37] Thanks. I hate it. Tara: [1:37:39] Two Titans. Fuck. Jeff: [1:37:41] Wild. Tara: [1:37:41] Jeff. Great. Jeff: [1:37:43] Look, I'm not bitter at all that I brought four really great choices and all of them fell by the wayside. Part of that is that Tara's all fell first. So there you go. Certainly, certainly she had it worse than me. I will say this. I think I think I have to go with coming unbidden to these two episodes. What's my takeaway? And I think the historical impact of the Buffy episode and Hinton Battle, I think giving it to him is amazing and he delivers on it. I got to go with Hank Scorpio. He's too much of a juggernaut. I can't stop him. I can't even contain him. Two hours he recorded. I want to hear all of them. Tara: [1:38:27] I do too. I think Sweet is great. I love Once More with Feeling. I probably listen to a song from it several times a week whenever I have my best mix going on my phone. But I mean, Hank, like I said, he might be on my Mount Rushmore TV characters. I love him so much. So I got to go Oh, Hank, too. Sarah. Sarah: [1:38:54] Well, look, Jeff, who has been bringing up excellent points, which I have been defending throughout, bitter guy, his most recent excellent point is if you pull these out of line and watch them knowing nothing else about anything, like as units of television, how do these characters stack up against each other in terms of what they do for the episode and how memorable they are for someone who doesn't have that context. And I think it's pretty close, actually. Tara: [1:39:29] Yeah. Sarah: [1:39:30] But I think Hank performs better. I think this was, again, you know, sometimes this happens in the actual tournament. You've got like a clear number one seed and then like 58 number twos and a bunch of 11s. Like, this is just how it goes sometimes when you got to rank these things. and I vote for Hank. Excellent pick. And I think Sweet should be proud of ascending to the final game. But this is Hank's, I think. Tara: [1:39:58] Dave. Dave: [1:40:06] We once upon a time did an episode that was a thunderdome of tv's greatest mustaches and we doomed that thunderdome to have the tom sellick winner from the very start when somebody put tom sellick magnify mustache in here and i feel like i did the same here by putting hank scorpio into the mix for this bracket again this is illustrative it's not exhaustive but if there was a every single one-off character in television bracket with 5,000 things to start off with, I still think Hank Scorpio would have made the finals. Dave: [1:40:40] So I feel like maybe I did a disservice to the end debate who was going to be in the finals with Hank Scorpio. But I had to go with my heart and put him in here because he's like one of my all-time favorite characters, period. And I think when it comes down to he is a character on one episode of a show, who do you gravitate more towards? It is Scorpio over Sweet. But I still think like Sweet as a representative of that particular type of episode of television is like an important thing to have in the bracket. But when it comes down to like which one is going to take the trophy home, my heart absolutely goes to Hank Scorpio. I have like six other clips I cut that I was trying to figure out where to put in that, you know, we're not going to play today. But like there's so much more. And one other little tidbit, we almost didn't have Hank Scorpio in this because they were going to make him part of the Simpsons movie, which I think might have invalidated him in my eyes to being like, you know, a true see once, never again type of phenomenon. But then they replaced him with the forgettable U.S. President character or whatever that was that Albert Brooks played in that instead. So we almost didn't have this, but we did. And Hank Scorpio is my choice too. Tara: [1:41:55] Oh. Jeff: [1:41:55] I didn't think it would be as each of the entries would be so crazily different. Dave: [1:42:00] Yeah. Tara: [1:42:01] Mm-hmm. Jeff: [1:42:04] Hearing it, I was thinking more along the lines of like, it would be a bunch of Hank Scorpios. But I really like that we came at it with like so many different approaches that obviously show like our TV watching tendencies and how different all four of our TV watching tendencies are. Tara: [1:42:21] Yep. Jeff: [1:42:21] Like each one of them were worth being in this field. It wasn't until like the second round where it's like in my head, I was like, oh, it's Hank Scorpio. Dave: [1:42:29] Yeah. We're great. Jeff: [1:42:32] Yeah. Dave: [1:42:34] That is it for this episode, this XL episode of Extra Hot Great. We started off with 16 one-off characters. One by one, they fell out of the bracket. Until the end, Hank Scorpio stood alone. Remember... We're listening. I am David T. Cole, and on behalf of Tari Ariano... Tara: [1:42:59] I don't really like the color work. Dave: [1:43:00] Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:43:03] In hell, And Mr. Jeff: [1:43:07] Jeff Drake Have you ever seen a guy say goodbye to a shoe? Tara: [1:43:11] Yes, once. Dave: [1:43:13] Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time, right here on Extra. Hot. Great.