Should You Ante Up For Season 2 Of Poker Face?

Dave: [0:12] This is the Extra Hawk Rate Podcast, episode 562 for the week of May 12, 2025. fun. I am fatty milk enjoyer David T. Cole, and I'm here with 90s icon Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [0:30] They always just call me the ugly guy. Dave: [0:32] Mortuary wife Tara Ariana. Tara: [0:34] No, you call the hop and stammers. Dave: [0:36] And my little panino, David J. Roth. Roth: [0:38] What am I, Hawaiian? Tara: [0:46] Welcome to extra hot great for another week before we get into this episode we want to talk about the patreon please don't fast forward once a month or so it's been a bit longer than that this time we remind you we have a patreon we're working our way up the ladder on a recruitment campaign unlocking perks as we go been a minute since we hit a new milestone but we've been hovering so tantalizingly close to the next one. I think this could be the month we just need to raise $85 in pledges, which is 17 of you to decide, I'll give it a shot. 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And as we get further into the campaign and unlock those new perks, those episodes keep getting even bigger. Tara: [2:16] And while we sometimes take off the Wednesday episode when we take a break, you get a whole new Friday episode every single week, including Christmas. We bring you a lot for just $5 a month. Take that, Jesus. Yeah, that's right. And Santa. Yeah. Tara: [2:31] It's a lot. It's just $5 a month. If that's something you can't justify in your budget, there are still ways for you to get in on the Patreon. If anyone wants to know what you want for your birthday, you can suggest they get you a gift subscription, which Patreon finally does. Or you can email Sarah at bunting at tomato nation.com and tell her you would like to join the Patreon via the mutual aid vault. There's no means testing. You just have to say you want it and you get it. That's it. So yep. Sarah: [2:55] Presto. Tara: [2:56] Extrahotgreat.com slash club is where you go for all this information. We hope you will consider it. I think we all want to hear from Drunk Dave sooner than later. And that's it on that. Dave: [3:05] I only have so many years left. Tara: [3:07] That is true. Our guest is a writer, editor, co-owner at Defector, another fantastic online media operation that could not exist without his paying subscribers, by the way. You've heard him with us many times before. It's David J. Rock. Dave: [3:20] Welcome back, David. Roth: [3:22] Hey, David. No number of appearances prepare you for screaming cheese sound effect dot wave. Dave: [3:30] I used to warn the guests before the show and remind them that it is coming. But I've stopped that just because it's fun to see people get scared. Roth: [3:37] I'm a listener to the podcast. Like, I have no excuse to be shocked by that. We're actually, our household is a Patreon subscriber household. Tara: [3:46] We love to hear it. Sarah: [3:47] We do. Roth: [3:48] Yeah, I get to hear that, the super terrible song that plays before Ask Extra Hot Grave. Sarah: [3:54] You should have stopped at super. Roth: [3:55] Sometimes I wake up to that. Like I can just hear it coming from the bathroom while my wife is brushing her teeth. Sarah: [4:01] That's just New York plumbing. Dave: [4:04] Another club perk. Roth: [4:05] Yeah, or it's got one of those eddies from the show Evil in the Pipes. We don't know which one it is. Tara: [4:14] We are not here to talk about the ASCII HG theme song that is either great or terrible, depending on your perspective. We are, in fact, here to talk about season two of Poker Face. Back in 2023, we all met Charlie Kale, Natasha Lyonne, a Reno cocktail server who happened to possess the gift of being able to tell without fail whenever someone speaking to her is lying. When her casino boss's attempt to take advantage of this gift backfired on him and ended in his death, said boss's dad announced his intention to avenge his son by killing Charlie, so she went on the road taking a series of under-the-table jobs that happened to place her in the middle of various other strangers' nefarious schemes. As season two opens, she is still trying to stay ahead of casino-affiliated goons, although after the season one finale changed things up, the new goons work for a different boss. The first few episodes find Charlie working at an apple orchard and on an indie movie set. Life like Charlie's can change on a dime and probably will. The series was created by Rian Johnson, who's back directing this season as well. Three episodes have dropped so far on Peacock. We got access to the first 10 of 12, but we will be careful about spoilers for the ones that have not aired yet. Let's do the Chen check-in. David J. Roth, should our listeners watch Poker Face? Roth: [5:29] Yeah, sure. I'll see why not. treat yourself. Tara: [5:33] Agree. Sarah? Sarah: [5:35] Absolutely. Tara: [5:36] Dave? Dave: [5:36] Watch it, but only if you've been good to others. Roth: [5:40] Yep. Yeah, I should have put a caveat in there. If you feel like you deserve it, you should watch. Dave: [5:44] Exactly. Yeah. I will say, just as a qualifier, I definitely have a favorite episode and a least favorite episode of the ones that are now public. So, same for that. Tara: [5:53] Yes. Well, we'll get into that. But something that struck me this season is Charlie's kind of a tracker figure. And Dave ross since you were last here to talk about what. Roth: [6:01] Is now cbs's. Tara: [6:02] Number one show i assume you've continued watching every episode at least once each do you agree charlie and tracker of tracker are basically doing the same kind of thing. Roth: [6:10] It's similar although of course i'm assuming i'm not telling the listeners anything that they don't know around episode nine of the first season of tracker things sort of start to split the show changes a bit we learn a little bit more about i'm not going to even finish that gag no uh it is that was a gag that we had in the household that This is basically like, what if Tracker shopped at very high-end secondhand stores and also sounded like a, I don't know, a Bowery Boy, however you want to say that Natasha Lyonne sounds. But yes, it's similar. I mean, it's like classic case of the week, moving around different locations. The difference being that, unlike Tracker, not every single one of those locations is instantly identifiable as Canadian. Tara: [6:53] Yes, that's true. I don't think they shoot there. All right. A couple of serious, overarching questions before we talk about the first three episodes in a little more detail. It might just be recency bias. I feel like the mysteries are a little more airtight this season. Did that strike anyone else or was I wrong? Let's start with our mystery expert, Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [7:10] Like it's so my shit this show that like even if it's a little like even things that are a little pat or a little like you know a little bit of an eye roll i don't care i'm just happy that it's back so i think that you're right and i don't think that's a bad thing i think it's just like kind of a normal evolution for this columboid kind of show. Roth: [7:31] Yeah i agree with that i also think we've been watching it's kind of our like a poker face methadone you know keeping the levels up so that we could get by between seasons we watched elzabeth which is i know you guys are not the most into it's kind of minor kings uh by my estimation as well high. Sarah: [7:50] Potential i would also put in that. Roth: [7:51] Absolutely don't yeah where there's kind of glamorous victims and perpetrators and a savant at the center of it and this is notably more carefully made than any of those which is not a surprise, I guess, given the timetable on which it's being made and the fact that it's made by a movie director instead of by whatever proprietary algorithms that CBS produce. Dave: [8:16] And there's a giant dump truck of dump trucks of money that got dumped on. It's so big, they used a dump truck for the dump trucks. Roth: [8:22] But I appreciate that. And I think that that's like the bit of it. I think it does have a little bit more like the storytelling is more complicated. And I think that reflects the fact that they don't have to tell as many stories and probably have more time and resources with which to tell them. But also, like, it's good. Like, I think it had been just long enough since the first season that I was kind of not apprehensive because, like, it's a fun hang. Even if it was like kind of slack and less good, I would just like enjoy watching good actors walk around on like a, you know, high quality production value set. But like it's still got it. Like I think that this is like the best moments of the three episodes that I've seen were like funnier and I think also a little bit more surprising than much of what I remember from the first season. Tara: [9:06] I'd agree with that. We watched the first few again when my parents were visiting in March because my mother had not seen this and it's extremely her shit. and I'm not sure how much she got out of it because she fell asleep in front of the TV a lot, but... Dave: [9:17] That's not the show's fault. Tara: [9:18] That's not the show's fault. But yeah, I was reminded of, like, guest stars I had forgotten about and stuff like that. All right, let's get into it. We're officially in the spoiler zone for at least the first three episodes, so we can say the season premiere features not one, not two, but five Cynthia's Erivo. And for me, it seemed like an odd choice to start with what was, and I've seen 10, the worst episode of the season. But Dave, I know you agree. So talk about that. Go off. Dave: [9:46] Yeah, okay. That was my least favorite of the first three that everybody can watch. Actually, I just like them in reverse order. I thought one was the worst, three was the best. Tara: [9:55] Yes, I agree. Dave: [9:56] I think you're right. I think you mentioned when we were talking about it offline that it was a little surprising that they take one of the major beats of Glass Onion and made the first episode of the second season show sort of the same premise that, you know, there is a murder victim and the murder victim has twin parentheses S running around as well. But I thought that one set, and this is not like this particular script's fault, Overall in season two, there's like a little bit of a goofier tone to the overarching situation that Charlie's in. Like in the first one, she is all season being menaced by Benjamin Bratt's character. And he's sort of a badass and he's like doesn't have a lot of morals. Tara: [10:37] Right. Dave: [10:37] He's the one that shot her friend and all that. Tara: [10:40] He's a henchman more so than a goon. Dave: [10:42] He's somebody you fear. Tara: [10:43] Yes, he's more competent. Yeah. Dave: [10:45] And then these other guys are like the B team from Home Alone, right? And they're like the damp bandits. and they're like chasing her around. It's cartoonish, which I didn't think the show really got into on that level on the first season. And so the first episode is where we get a lot of that because there's a montage of them almost catching up with her, almost getting that. So that was a little bit weird, I thought. But the mystery of this one didn't really grab me like the others do. I thought the quintuplet setup was kind of goofy. Didn't really delight me the way that the third episode with the mob catching up with her did with Richard Kind and John Mulaney being in the mix on that one. So yeah, definitely the worst of the first three. And I'm hearing, Tara, possibly the worst of the season. Tara: [11:32] It was for me. For me, it represented like a level of goofiness. That's the perfect word where I was like, I'm concerned this is what the season's going to be like. And it wasn't. I will say the idea of anyone making a network show about a kid cop, first of all. Secondly, that only works at night, which is like one of the devices of why quintuplets had to play this character in kid cop nights is very funny and stupid but anyway was what did what did anyone else think of of the first episode dave roth. Roth: [12:01] Uh i think i'm about there with you guys it was not my i think i liked the second episode less than the first but i i didn't really dislike either of them i i really liked the third uh and i think that if it is a tone setter i hadn't really thought about it but I think that that checks out that they're basically leaning into making this more of kind of like a ensemble comedy type thing, as opposed to it's not like any of them were, you know, edge of your seat. Like, you know, they show you the crime and all that. Like, it's, you know, that kind of classic columboid. Now I get to say it, a way of doing it. But it does. The Kid Cop Nights is like a 30 rock. Like, it is like a real big swing of a joke. And I was surprised that I didn't go back and watch stuff from the first season, but I didn't remember there being quite as many, like, textual gags. Like the jokes were basically like Natasha Lyonne saying something funny in the Natasha Lyonne voice or just generally seeming like a Muppet interacting with people, which she's still. Yeah, I'm happy to report. Absolutely does. Yeah. But is. Yeah. So there's I think if it is like hitting a sort of a sharper turn towards like ultra stylized procedural comedy stuff. And again, not having seen past the third episode. The third episode is a very like well constructed comedy. It's 40 minutes. I mean, the other ones are like 55 and 51 or something like that. And if it's seven more of those through, I mean, I'm assuming it's not exactly that, but if that's where they're going to hang out, then fucking sign me up. That sounds great. Dave: [13:29] That one felt like a very distilled 80s film concept as a columboid. And I really enjoyed that part of it. Tara: [13:37] Yep. Dave: [13:38] Only one of us has not said columboid on this episode. I'm just going to throw it out there, Tara. Tara: [13:43] Okay, good. I'm aware. Let's get Sarah's final thoughts because we keep dancing around this third episode, but at least three of us like the best. So Sarah, any more remarks about the premiere? Sarah: [13:53] It was fine, but it was also like, I think that there definitely has been, if not a tone shift, then a sort of, I don't know, suspension of disbelief shift. Whereas in the first season, like you did sort of feel that she could die. And in this season, you really don't like. So that element of danger has been subtracted. And on top of that, I think it is now definitely a known quantity for actors who either, you know, work a lot in prestige stuff or don't work a lot, period, or are 90s icons. And, you know, we can't get into the Katie Holmes of it all. like Cynthia Erivo was great but this definitely seemed like they wrote this showcase part and then worked backwards from that and that they're sort of like serve that you know it's like actor contract service on some level which like the actors that they get are almost always my favorites and can do right by it like I that episode from season one with Judith Light I could have watched like 17 hours of that. Like, I like these people a lot. It's not that it's bad, but it did have more of that feeling, especially in the first two episodes of like, these are the names and this is what we are doing for the names. And that was more in the foreground than in season one. Again, not really a complaint. It's just a little bit of a like priority shift, I would say. Roth: [15:22] If you get that sort of thing wrong, it's also poison to me. Like comedy without jokes, that kind of like goofy but not actually like trying to land a laugh like there's a great deal of that out there and you know i'd rather sit with that than sit with you know bad jokes maybe but i'm not even actually sure now that i say it that that's true like there's something about like just kind of stilted high production whimsy that can be bad uh first episode trips closest to that but i don't think goes over the line and then it gets more uh in command i think i think my. Dave: [15:55] Summary of the first episode would be like, this is the episode where you take one thing off. Like either have a goofy five twins set up. You have the mob suddenly being very inept and can't shoot somebody from two feet away. And you have the kid night cop thing and you get all these elements like it probably could have been grounded a little bit more. I don't think they crossed the line either, but I was a little surprised how much it swung that way, given that I think they start peeling it back in episode two and three so that's all. Sarah: [16:28] Yeah. Like a couple of the twins personalities were not personalities. It was like pretty stale. Let's make fun of the up talking DJ thing. It's like, that's not a joke. She's I mean, she's good and she doesn't have that much to do in that role. But it's like, oh, yeah, take take one quintuplet off. Maybe. Roth: [16:47] Yeah. Dave: [16:48] Yeah. Roth: [16:48] Too much actor service. Like just Cynthia Erivo coming in with like, I can do a thousand voices. And they're like a thousand sisters. It is. You got it. That's not you're not helping her there. Tara: [16:58] There's a much better Quebec joke in the new FX comedy coming later this month, Adults, and that's all I'll say about that. Moving on, though, to the third episode, this is the one where everything changes. So the recurring FBI agent from season one, Luca Clark, played by Simon Helberg, comes back, and it's because he's working to take down Beatrix Hasp, who is the Rhea Perlman character, who's the new mob boss, who's going after Charlie. But at the same time, Beatrix needs Charlie to go into her organization and find out which of the people that's closest to her is ratting on her to the feds because somebody is. This is also the episode with John Mulaney and Richard Kind, I think has been proven time and time again, an unbeatable comedy duo. They cannot stop working together. Roth: [17:46] The disgusting brothers reborn. Great to see them. Sarah: [17:50] So good. And like, I mean, a crime scene with whisks in it. Like, we're done here. Tara: [17:58] Yeah. Sarah: [17:58] You win, show. Tara: [18:00] They've got that. They've got Sondheim references, which takes us back to the co-op episode of Documentary Now. I had completely forgotten they play father and son in Big Mouth until I watched those screeners last week. It's like they just they can't quit each other. Dave: [18:15] The Sondheim thing. Gave us my favorite joke of this season, though, is John Mulaney's character has a lip reader in the car with him. Tara: [18:22] Yes. Dave: [18:23] And there's a certain point where the people that do lip reading start singing Sondheim, but he's just lip reading it back deadpan. It was such a stupid joke, but it really landed really well. Sarah: [18:33] Yeah, it was perfect. Perfectly timed. It was the perfect length. that impatience of the musical theater aficionado with this flat reading of it or the stumbling over syllables. And he was just like, ah. Roth: [18:52] Yeah, to Dave's point, none of it's surprising. And yet it is like all of the, yeah, the duffing a word and then Mulaney being like, he's the greatest lyricist of the 21st century. Or the 20th century. Why would he have the word bowl there? Tara: [19:04] Like there's it's all just. Roth: [19:07] Pissy enough and it's like whatever even if it's hitting exactly the beats that you want it to hit it is hitting exactly the beats that you would want it to hit. Tara: [19:13] Yes yeah yep including when we get a flashback of the mulaney character's name is danny because he turns out to be a mole in the hasp organization who's been like feeding information from the fbi to them and he's just like hanging out at their house complimenting um jeffrey the beatrix's husband, played by Richard Kind, on his beignets, saying they might be the best he's had, including in New Orleans. And he's like, oh, yeah. So anyway, there's this judge. She's got these problems. Good mark for you. Blah, blah, blah. It's really good. Roth: [19:43] Nice little bits of visual comedy there, because Mulaney's character has like an ulcer because he's all stressed out. So there's a lot of like close ups of him drinking full fat. Sarah: [19:52] As we've discussed. Half and half. Tara: [19:54] Half and half at one point. Roth: [19:56] Just pouring a frosty mug of half and half and taking it to the neck. We love to watch that. Tara: [20:01] Don't we? So depraved. Roth: [20:02] It's really horrible to see. Dave: [20:05] The most disgusting part of that storyline, though, is when he went into his car to get the milk he's been working on all day. And you know, that whole milk was quite warm. And I just like had a dash. Roth: [20:16] Where you put the little parking staff, parking sticker, so you didn't get a ticket. Dave: [20:20] I've never had a show Give Me Mouthfeel before, but that scene did it. Sarah: [20:25] Mm-hmm. Roth: [20:27] It coats. It definitely coats. Tara: [20:30] All right. Briefly, the second episode, we set at a morgue. This is also the one with Kevin Corrigan, as Sarah mentioned earlier, the ugly guy from Walking and Talking. He asks Charlie if she will basically rent them her cool car for an indie film production. And they're shooting at this mortuary and it's a family business. And the husband, Fred, is played by Giancarlo Esposito. And the wife, Greta, is played by Katie Holmes. not a pairing I ever expected to see. Sarah, these are two actors who've been very important to us in our lives in other shows. What did you think about them in this partnership? Sarah: [21:07] This is another one where it sort of started out as like it felt like actor service, maybe not so much Esposito, but definitely Katie Holmes. But then there are just these little touches. This is what I like about this product. Also, that there are certain things that are just like either happening in the background or sometimes in the foreground, like references to other things that are not really commented on and that it will just like let you notice it if you notice it and then not stand back from it. Like in the second episode, it's actually no, it's in the first episode where some parking lot attendant is reading Fear of Flying by Eric Chon. And the guy's name is Cookie. I felt seen. But there's like the end of this, of the second episode, where just like literally everything goes up in flames. I was like, there were a number of shot compositions that I thought someone has seen The Changeling starring George C. Scott as many times as I have. That's a value neutral statement, but finding stuff like that in these episodes is really enjoyable to me. And then seeing actors kind of going against pattern recognition grain is also really a delight. And I thought that that was true of this pairing. As well. And then randomly fucking Charmaine from The Sopranos is a biker matriarch. Tara: [22:30] Yeah. Sarah: [22:30] Okay. And she looked fucking great, by the way. Good for her. Very obvious stunt doubling, but I'll allow it. She was having a good time. Dave: [22:38] If you're out there listening to Sarah explain the George C. Scott bit and you also in your brain said, oh, my grind. Just let me know on social if there's anybody out there who might immediately go there every time you hear that actor's name. Okay. Tara: [22:53] Sorry. Dave: [22:53] Continue. Roth: [22:53] Great episode also just from a, if you're into spotting guys, there's obviously a lot of recognizable star quality in each of these. That one had, it was awesome to see Catherine Narducci. We do, we love Charmaine. We love her work at front of house at Vesuvio. Tara: [23:09] Yep. Roth: [23:10] And then also the actress in comics, Sherry Cola, who was in one of my wife's favorites, Good Trouble, also has some nice little moments in that. Episode two is stuffed to the gills with shit. like it's good and there's a lot of you know good stuff in it there's also a lot of you know someone has definitely seen the changeling a lot of times right like there's a lot of the dutch angles are popping everybody is doing their best to reference visually there's a lot i mean it basically has the uh the opening credits of like a 70s style horror movie um, Which is, again, one of those things where too much of that and I'm like, all right, good, everybody, everybody go to your room and calm down. And yet, like, I think the vibe did not curdle with it, despite how stylized it was. And again, that's a part of a tribute to the fact that even below the top level talent that like watching Catherine Narducci be like, say, we're going to hog up a posse or whatever. It's like, sure, man, whatever. I'm looking for that much more than that out of my television entertainment, really. Sarah: [24:09] And you do not see Corrigan's irises at all. Like, I knew he was in the episode and then it was like, oh, wait, him? Because he's like twice the size he was when I first became aware of him. Again, this is not a bad thing. He wears it well. That's an excellent mustache. I'm into it. But it's, I don't know, like everyone is just happy to be there and be a part of the project, which is definitely the vibe that you get from the Glass Onion verse, too, that it's like, maybe this isn't an A+, but everyone is having an A-plus time. and I get to hang out. Yeah. Great. Tara: [24:42] Well, I can tell you, the season, the third episode ends with us finding out that Charlie is no longer on the run from the mob. She can do whatever she wants, but I want to assure everybody that doesn't change things very much. She doesn't immediately find an apartment. And also want to tell everyone who enjoys seeing Natasha Lyonne act opposite her former Slums of Beverly Hills co-stars, David Krumholtz is in a later episode as well. This one is when she gets a job, Charlie gets a job at a kid's school working in the cafeteria, and this one went places I was not expecting, and that one is probably my favorite of the season so far. So there's still a ton of good stuff to look forward to. Really great guest stars still to come. Very fun season. Check it out on Peacock. Dave: [25:31] Well, well, well. It's time to go around the dial. First stop, Tara. Tara: [25:35] We talked about the first season of Conan O'Brien Must Go last year. It's one of the, to be frank, glut of travel shows hosted by comedy people. And at the time, I think we said how weird it was the whole season was only four episodes long. Here's what's weirder. The second season's only three. Tara: [25:52] Not to tell anyone their business, but when the first season took several years to come out after it was announced and the second was only about a year later, maybe just like wait and put out seven. I do wonder if there were plans for Conan to do at least a fourth and then he had to scrap it because they pirated to post the Oscars. But anyway, this season we see Conan in Spain, New Zealand and Austria. In Madrid, Javier Bardem is maybe trying to match Conan's sell every joke energy because his performance across multiple settings is very big. So it's why that they kind of pepper him through the episode instead of putting all of his segments together. Tara: [26:26] We also see Conan hang out with Taika Waititi and Maka Pohatu from Wellington Paranormal in the New Zealand episode. They don't try to wrestle up any celebrities for the Austria episode unless the yodeling teachers we meet are locally famous. But like the remotes on Conan's talk shows, the best parts are when he's just riffing with a civilian. The fan who invites him to New Zealand is named Riley. He lives off the grid and uses a bucket in a sort of in-house, outhouse situation as a toilet. and we get a tight three from Conan on how it's Tara: [26:54] not as bad as he thought, which is probably a highlight of the season. But it's a lot of Conan. That's either your thing or it's not. It's enough my thing that it made me check out his Mark Twain prize special on Netflix from last week. That was also a joy. And I started to watch it and then stopped because I thought Dave would like it. So we watched the rest of it together. The first speaker is Poker Face Season 2 guest star, John Mulaney. For our guest and my wife, Sarah, I cut this bit. The setup is Mulaney describing what it's like to be a fan of Conan when it seemed for years like he was perpetually under attack, like, as he says, the human form of a rec center in a gentrifying neighborhood. But he goes on to say this. Let's hear the clip. Tara: [27:29] You think maybe, did you have any primer for this? I was a Cubs fan, so I knew how to, there was a serious discussion as to whether or not the Cubs should be allowed to be a team anymore. You know, I enjoyed that. The Son of Sam also gets name checked more in the special than I probably would have thought. I won't go in on the stuff I didn't think worked perfectly because it's a bit surprising. But on the whole, I would say this is 90 minutes well and hilariously spent. I don't think it's a huge spoiler to say David Letterman's in the mix of speakers. I always love when he and Conan are on the same bill because they're about as opposite as two hosts of NBC's late night can be. But I love them both very much. Dave, you also watched this. What did you think? Dave: [28:27] Yeah, I was surprised how funny it was from stem to stern. You know, there's a few moments where people are almost getting choked up about something. I was a little like, wow, Tracy Morgan. If you just want like to watch it to laugh, you can do that, even though it's just like an award show, but it still works. Tara: [28:42] Yep. So for my plug, I reviewed Conan O'Brien Must Go Season 2 on Crack. And since it also just went up, I saw Friendship last night, the Tim Robinson movie, and I reviewed that as well. Short version is Friendship is great. Go see Friendship. You will like it if you like. I think you should leave. Dave: [29:01] All right, David J. Roth. What do you got? Roth: [29:04] All this Mulaney chat is making me think that I should have recommended his Netflix late night thing. I did not. Every bit of it that I've seen has been not just delightful, but like a show that was made to appeal entirely and only to me. There's a gag where Kevin Gage, the actor that played Wayne Grove from Heat, get up and do a stand up comedy while dressed as Wayne Grove and in character as Wayne Grove, which is the sort of thing that I would like think about posting at 1251 a.m. and then just go to bed instead. like it is just a wonderful gag the bit that i picked though is from i believe the tara ariano stacks uh during the periods of time when we are fallow on tv i. Roth: [29:43] Will dm tara and be like what should we be watching here is there anything funny on and this is how we learned about shows like primo uh which we loved dearly r.i.p and then in this case i think this one is probably also r.i.p but the name of the show is killing it it is also on peacock so if you are getting on to peacock to watch Poker Face. You can also watch Killing It, provided it's still there. Really good two short seasons. I wrote about it at Defector's best thing I watched in 2024, which is kind of a surprising choice because I watched a lot of movies I liked in 2024. I think we had just finished watching it, and I was wowed by the combination of how funny and how righteous Killing It is. Roth: [30:24] Truly a show that hates the way that capitalism is and what it does to people yet is also stuffed with jokes really funny performers really good guests uh like just a lot of guys where i was kind of clapping my hands with delight there's an episode that has jackie earl haley and zach grenier in it so shout out to david lee and then also yeah um the uh bad news bears so yeah interesting show um and you'll know right away if it's like funny enough for you it's all like the i think it's the people that did Brooklyn Nine-Nine, uh, I am not entirely sure. It's from that family of trusted comedy brands, and I thought it was delightful. So something else on Peacock. Tara: [31:03] I cannot take credit for that. We did talk about it on the podcast, though. Past guest Josh Gondelman, when he was here last year, pitched an episode for the Canon. So that was that was his contribution. But I think we let it in. Dave: [31:16] Yep. Season two, episode three, it follows. Tara: [31:18] That's correct. Roth: [31:19] That's the one with Jackie O'Haley and Zach Grenier in it. Great stuff. I don't know if I'm saying Zach's name right. I've only seen him in three different TV shows I enjoyed over the course of 10 years. I can't be expected to learn things like that. Tara: [31:32] No. Dave: [31:33] Unknowable. So, Dave, where can people find you online? They want to get more Davey J. Roth in their lives? Yeah, I know. Well, you said it before the show, and now I go. Roth: [31:42] I did. I came on, I introduced myself by saying, it's Davey. And I thought everybody would just ignore it like they always do. These guys are locked in. Sarah: [31:51] Nope. Roth: [31:51] These are pros. Defector.com is the website. The Distraction is one podcast. It's Christmastown is another podcast. The second one is about Hallmark movies. I do that with Jeb Lund, a friend of this program as well. Man, what else? I'm on Blue Sky, I guess. David J. Roth, one word. Dave: [32:10] All right, Sarah. Sarah: [32:12] So, Untold Shooting Guards. Yeah. The title of that episode is Real Groner But Untold, which is Netflix's 30 for 30, basically. Kind of had no choice but to go there, given that it's a story about two NBA players and all caps gun incident and the Washington Wizards locker room. And how things devolved for each of them, although much more so for Javaris Crittenton than for Gilbert Arenas. I would not say that this episode is a must-watch, but it's good. And it was compelling, at least for me, because I was trying to put my finger on how to categorize Untold in contrast to 30 for 30. And it wasn't until Netflix just rolled me over into the Johnny Manziel episode, no thanks, that I think I put it together, at least as far as those two episodes. 30 for 30s tend to have, I think, a stronger point of view of the filmmaker and stronger commentary drive, I guess. But Untold picks a story, gets access to the main people at the center of it, and then just lets them talk. And the viewer has to put together the capital I issues for herself. Like a 30 for 30 about the arenas Crittenton set to is going to be much more overt about stuff like. Sarah: [33:34] You know, the ways in which talented young pro athletes are mature past their years in some ways and at the same time kind of arrested in their development. I would be more explicit about how the coverage of this incident, two NBA players' gun possession, is going to differ from if it happened between two white O-line dudes in the commander's locker room. It's going to let the viewer know what we should think about Arenas' quote, prankster persona in the locker room. Untold is more just letting them talk. Let's let Arenas show you in his talking heads how much he is and how much he still kind of doesn't get that he was annoying. Right. Sarah: [34:16] Let's let Crittenden illustrate for himself the perils of getting hung up on respect before everything else. There's less pushback, then, on the subjects from the director in an untold. Johnny Mansell is allowed to give his version of life and the universe and everything with little, if any, interrogation of his attitude and entitlement. 30 for 30 would probably, he wouldn't agree to do it because they'd be like, really, dude? Sarah: [34:44] But it is for that reason effective it's just a different angle of coming into it maybe that's not actually the difference but when you watch as much non-fiction as i do it is pretty interesting to see how these sort of micro differences in the form change the function a little bit both of these are on netflix now and it occurs to me as i'm saying that that perhaps the primary difference between Untold and 30 for 30 is that you know where all the untolds fucking are. 30 for 30s are sprayed all over the streaming verse. Like, why? Just like pick, like literally pick a lane. So that is what I'm talking about today. And here is my plug. It is for a review of a book called Whack Job. Talk about amazing titles. It is written by Rachel McCarthy James, Bill James' daughter and true crime book collaborator. It's a history of axe murder, and it's not like a perfect cultural history of axe murder, but it's doing some really interesting stuff. I reviewed it. Find that at bestevidence.fyi. We'll link that in the show notes. And if you have also read it, please come and talk about it with me there. Dave: [35:54] All right, here's what's coming up on Extra Extra Hot Greater Club exclusive episode this Friday, going to be talking about the Max series Duster from J.J. Abrams and Company, starring Sawyer from Lost as a guy who drives a Duster around in the 70s. You've got some Arizona, you got some mob stuff, you got it all mixed up together. We'll talk about that, see what Sarah thinks, yet to watch it. That is available to club members. If you're not a club member yet, you can go to extrahotgreat.com slash club for more info and to sign up and then come back here next week, ESG Prime. We welcome back Catherine Von Arendonk to talk about Murderbot. Murderbot is here. Murderbot. Murderbot. Sarah: [36:38] Murdering. Tara: [36:38] The bot that murders. Dave: [36:39] That was me not being able to press the button to end it and just filling space with me saying Murderbot. Here we go. Murderbot. All right. More fun edits for me later. Dave: [36:55] It is time for the Extra Hot Great Canon. Presenting this week is listener Mike. Mike, take it away. The first season of The Terror was an adaptation of Dan Simmons' book of the same name. While. Tara: [44:51] Cruelties that people bestow upon each other. I hope you agree that it deserves a place in the canon. Thank you so much, Mike. David J. Roth, you chose us from our submissions. Please start off our discussion. Roth: [45:03] My reasoning there was entirely lazy, which is that I did watch this season of The Terror and I thought it was good. I did not remember which episode it was. It is a testament to, I thought the series was quite good. And I think it could have been any number of episodes to put in. This one for sure has a lot of stuff going on in it. I think my expectation in terms of if you had to submit one would have been one where Harris is cooking a little bit more because he does a lot of fucking acting in this show. Like good acting, but I mean, it is really like, He's carrying a lot of the stuff, especially once they get further from the ships. And this is not like the Jared Harris show relative to that. Like there's a lot of the ensemble. One bit that I was reminded of that I had forgotten in the time since I watched this series, great to turn on subtitles sometimes to understand British guys talking to each other in dialect. Dave: [45:54] The Peaky Blinders Law. Roth: [45:56] Yes. It always feels weird to me because I'm like, I do speak English. I have an accent myself. I've been around people. And yet at some point, it's like Ian Hart talking to a guy who is really committed to selling how Welsh his character is or whatever. And you're just like, I got just getting tones. What a dog hears when you talk. Overall, though, I think that this was maybe not the crowd pleasingest of the episodes in this series that it could have been. There's some that have big monster scares. There's some that have big acting moments. i did think it was very good i will sort of defer to you all on like where the uh, line of demarcation for getting into the classic. Dave: [46:38] Cowards way out. Roth: [46:39] That's right baby i'm your guest and i'm a coward but i don't think in this in this case i think it was extremely high quality i don't know what it would land like if you hadn't seen the show and i don't have any of you watched it. Dave: [46:54] Yeah i have dave. Tara: [46:55] And i saw the premiere and then that's we did. Dave: [46:57] Yeah i read the book a long long long long time ago and it didn't. Roth: [47:01] Stick with. Dave: [47:01] Me i couldn't tell you what happened in the book versus the show, if it was any different. First couple episodes of the series didn't grab me to make me want to watch the rest, even though this is extremely kind of my wheelhouse. Like, English dudes in weird facial hair talk to each other about the inventory of their ships. Tara: [47:20] Being repressed. Dave: [47:21] Like, that's not not my thing. But this is a slow burn of a series, so you have to sort of be in the right headspace to sort of hook into it. And I guess I just wasn't at the time for whatever reason. But like watching this episode, you know, there's a supernatural element to it. But there's also just the master and commander oceans and earth battlefields part of it, too, that I just enjoy watching. Is that canon worthy into itself? No. What does this episode do to bring you towards that? It's got to be the set piece for me that it alludes to where the mercy of a mercy is being enacted. The doctor decides that, you know, everybody's going to be better off. burning to death in the Arctic and the most ironic death that he can provide. Tara: [48:06] Mm-hmm. Dave: [48:08] Almost kind of there as the set piece puts it over. But there was like some things that then pulled me back the other way. And I will take umbrage with one of the things he said. I thought the actual scenes of them in the ice looked like something out of Star Trek, the original series. Tara: [48:24] Yeah, they look bad. Dave: [48:25] And those parts were supposed to be desolate and oh my God, we can never walk out of here because look, the Earth goes on forever. It was like watching, it was like the pre the volume volume effect. Like you could tell it was this little set, this little circle of plastic ice. Sarah: [48:44] It looked like an escape room. Tara: [48:46] Yeah. Dave: [48:47] That took away from the... Sarah: [48:49] Sometimes. Dave: [48:49] Yeah, did not add to the dread. It took the dread, because I can kind of see the craft services table right behind some of those icebergs there. Roth: [48:56] Did the bear hit for you? Dave: [48:58] The bear, seeing the bear this time, it really just looked like the bear was a relative of Michael Keaton's Jack Frost. Roth: [49:07] Yeah, 100%. It looked too much like a guy and not enough like a... The body looks like a bear and the face looks like one of three or four guys that served in the first Trump administration in a cabinet. Dave: [49:20] Absolutely. Sarah: [49:21] Or just Ted was about capybaras instead of... Tara: [49:26] I mean, to me, I think what they were trying to evoke was like, and I say this as someone whose parents collected a lot of indigenous art prints, it sort of looks like an indigenous, like a traditional ink print of a bear where you're like, oh, OK, I can kind of see it. Some things look more like the animals they're representing than others. I agree about the captions, because if you don't have them on, you won't see that when the depraved guy is poking the exposed brain of one of his colleagues that it says squelching in square bracket. Sarah: [49:58] I saw that too. That's upsetting. Tara: [50:01] That was rough. Sarah: [50:02] Yeah. Dave: [50:02] I don't know what that guy's deal was, but I enjoyed the camel he has at the carnival where they just have him in some costume, braced up, just checking it all out. Tara: [50:13] Feeding him something with a spoon. Yeah. This is interesting to me. As soon as they establish that one of the issues they want to address is as they're having this two years into being marooned conversation, still using bone china to drink their tea, which is a very funny detail. So but anyway, that morale is going to be an issue and you need to address it. And so that's when Fitz James gets the idea. I'm going to put on a carnival because and if you study literary theory, sorry, the carnivalesque in a story, in a piece of fiction is like this is the moment when everything can go topsy turvy in an exciting way or a scary way. And because it means that the what Mike referred to as like the social codes and bonds that have kept everybody in their lanes, whatever their lanes are, this is the opportunity for everything to go crazy because it's a carnival and all the rules get thrown out the window. Sarah: [51:06] And it's a liminal space. Tara: [51:07] Exactly. It's a liminal space. Sarah: [51:08] Had to do it. Sorry. Tara: [51:09] So that's what was interesting to me and why I thought that the submitter picked this episode once I saw that's where it was going. And it was like, oh, it went somewhere I was not expecting at all. That's not what I thought would happen. I just thought maybe some people would kiss. No, it's the opposite. Dave: [51:25] The one part of the carnival I think fits the bill there that I wasn't quite sure exactly what was going on. It was either carnival hot tub or two people were getting boiled Bugs Bunny stew style in the cauldron. I'm not sure which one of those was happening, but I enjoyed either one of those. Tara: [51:41] Yeah, my impression was hot tub and that that was the moment that Crozier, the Jared Harris character, was like, all right, that's enough. Shut it down. Now you're being silly. Shut it down. But, yes, I also thought of Master and Commander 2, of course. This is, you know, the upsetting version of Master and Commander where you're not in the south of the equator being too cozy, if anything. Dave: [52:03] Mad bears are no battlefields. Tara: [52:05] Yes. Oceans are now carnivals. Yeah, exactly. Roth: [52:09] Yeah. Tara: [52:09] But I, you know, I think what Dave said, like, didn't grab us about the early episodes where it's like it was, you know, maybe a little slow, a little too ponderous. There wasn't enough happening to make it. Dave: [52:20] Wasn't enough terror. Tara: [52:21] There wasn't enough terror. And so this episode, there's maybe too much to where it's like, OK, is this where they should have started? Because now, like coming in at episode six of 10, it's like this feels like very they should have called it Johnny Deformed of the terror. Get right to the carnage, because this did make me interested in going back and watching it again. Dave, if you were interested in picking this up after we finish the next season. Dave: [52:48] I mean, we could just watch 6, 7, or 7, 8, and 9 and be done with it. Tara: [52:52] Well, I mean, I do kind of want to get to where I don't have to have IMDb open to know who everybody is. Dave: [52:56] Sure. Tara: [52:57] I get why Mike picked this episode to submit, and it, you know, it did feel dreadful in the positive way. Sarah. Sarah: [53:05] I think that this did a lot of things really well and in a way that made them look easier than they were. Like opening with this fairly dry-seeming accounting and then just talking about like, yeah, we have this much lemon juice left, but the anti-scurvy properties are probably gone. gone and uh you know the following tins of food are no good and now we understand why the that purveyor was the low bidder and then there's a bunch of like i'd like to run that guy through like i don't know it's just like a you know fucking monday morning meeting that we've all been in a thousand times just not in a ship that was like i stand for two years yep There's also like a lot of these conversations. It's sort of like in lesser hands, they would seem very stagey. But Blanky talking about this previous mission, the dialogue between Captain Crozier, who unfortunately that name just brings you back to any given Sunday and LL Cool J's character screaming like, you are a defensive coordinator, Crozier. Sarah: [54:10] Which for some reason is on the Mark and Sarah talk about songs soundboard. And like, so that's where I was at. So I'm like, it's Captain Harris. My word's law. But that dialogue about like getting his mother off of laudanum in lesser hands that would have been really ponderous, really showy, like this is the Emmy reel, but you bought it. It felt like a conversation that these people would have had. I liked that it was like credibly grimy and that everyone's beard looks sort of greasy, but it's not to these like floridly dripping with oil levels that you might see in like Vikings or like anything that's set in like the whole Game of Thrones verse where everyone has just been rolling around in soot for no reason. I'm like, I just don't think that people had time to do that before the internet was invented. But the most impressive part to me, I went through a period like two years ago where I was reading a lot of books like in the Kingdom of Ice. And then I read that it was like that, you know, whatever, a very brief oral history of the Daughter Party or it wasn't called that. But it was like this very sort of like... Sarah: [55:21] You know, this is what probably happened and this is why everything went awry. And that sense of claustrophobia, but also of 150, 200 years ago of just like how time was your enemy like so in such a different and more terrifying, so to say, way than we might think of it today. And like that you were stuck in ice for two years. Tara: [55:46] I know. Sarah: [55:47] Crazy. I think I would get to like day four and be like, all right, we're hiking. Yes, we're hiking. And this really evoked, especially the Hampton Sides book to me and this feeling of like things keep going wronger and wronger and they keep winding up at like a worse place, but it's set yourself on fire or start hiking. And those are the choices. And there were a couple of shots that really were knockouts. I thought like opening at rug level. So you see that they have like a Persian or like a Berber rug on this ship. And like Tara said, they're drinking out of bone china. I thought it was very evocative. It was process-y in a way that I like. And the acting was amazing. And it really made this story look much more seamless and easy to do than I think it actually was. So I was apprehensive about this canon entry, but this was an impressive hour of TV and a good presentation, so well done. Roth: [56:52] If you're the sort of person that's interested in how much salt pork a person should be eating over the course of two years in the fucking dark in the Arctic, they have absolutely got you on this. And I think I'm enough of that type of person that I was reminded again of like what I liked about that aspect of it. Dave: [57:09] There is a certain old man coffee table book quality to this show, you know, like it is. Roth: [57:15] Yeah, absolutely. 100 percent. Dave: [57:17] Survivors of the Arctic right next to Soviet tanks of World War Two. You're into them both equally. you'd watch the show about both of them. For me, honestly, the non-carnival stuff where they're talking about the inventory on the ship and how much stuff they have left was as interesting, maybe more interesting to me than the actual carnival stuff. And my problem with the carnival and the doctor's solution to all their issues is that I didn't really see the switch flip in the doctor. He's a very stoic character. The last thing he says is, leave it find is very ominous now that we know that's happened. But I didn't really get that progression where I was like feeling the dread come. I think they were playing it more like, oh, he just snapped and now he's burning everything. I think I would have liked the slower burn better where we kind of see him fall apart, you know, relatively quickly inside the timeline of the episode. But I think that would have hit stronger for me because while it was a, you know, WTF That moment, it felt a little empty, at least compared to what it could have been. So, the carnival scene. Tara: [58:25] You know what other show could have had fewer carnivals and more discussion of resources? Dave: [58:30] Carnival? Tara: [58:31] Paradise. Dave: [58:32] Oh. I'm interested how this is going to break down. Dave, do you want to go last so you can see how everybody else voted and then you can go? Roth: [58:38] Like a wimp? No, I'll go first. Whatever. Sarah: [58:41] Like a fundamentally uncourageous person. Set us all on fire, Davey. Roth: [58:47] I don't think. All right. Well, first of all, not everybody gets to call me Davey. We need to work out who gets to do that. Tara: [58:54] Guess what? I'm your dad. Surprise. Roth: [58:56] I guess you can only approach this from your own perspective. I think this is one of the really good episodes of a show that I thought was pretty good. I think the show was like more on the eight to eight and a half out of 10 than on the nine to nine and a half. So I will vote that it should get in because it's not my canon. And if you guys want to crowd like gatekeep it, I think that like I will. I think that'll be totally valid. I mean, like not in a judgmental sense, like these are your gates. So keep them as you deem fit. But I was reminded again of like all the stuff that I liked about this series is in this episode. Dave: [59:31] Sarah D. Bunting, where are you here? Sarah: [59:33] Yeah, this is a weird one. Like, and I don't, I didn't see any of the rest of the series, but I would keep going, which is one of my criteria. And I think that it's worth looking at, like, when something sort of out of context is obviously extremely well-made and appealing and evocative for its own reasons, then that's a pleasure to contemplate. And I think that's canon. So I'm voting yes as well. Dave: [59:58] All right. Tara? Tara: [59:58] Yeah, this episode showed me that it's doing the thing that I always want other shows like this. I mean, obviously, the terrible version of this sort of a story is under the dome, and we don't need to talk about that again, ever. But it's doing the stuff, like Dave said, the talk about resource management that's fascinating to me. And on top of that, it was super violent and scary, and it made me want to find out how they got there and where they go next. And so, you know, that's everything I could want out of this, honestly. So it's a yes for me. Dave: [1:00:28] All right. I think I'm going to go just on the slight no side of a canon just because I felt like I wasn't experienced as much dread as I was supposed to at the end. Even though nobody mentioned it, though, the one really good scene at the end is when there is a crowd rush and everybody's sort of like slammed up against one of the tent walls and they can't get out because this is like this thick ass canvas they got. and there was one guy outside and he has to cut the canvas open so that everybody can spill out. And wouldn't you know, he cuts because everybody slammed against it. He cuts through one of the doctors. Tara: [1:01:03] Yeah. Dave: [1:01:04] So that was good. I wanted like more of that sort of, oh fuck kind of stuff. And that's what I mean. With the doctor who is at the center of a mercy, I kind of wish I saw more of that energy from that. But not to say it was a bad episode. I just don't think, for me, it accomplished its primary mission. But it sounds like it doesn't matter because that's three against one. So... That means that the terror season one, episode six, A Mercy just won. You are hereby inducted into the extra hot gray cannon. We've now inspected everyone and tossed. Sarah: [1:01:47] Out the future. Sarah: [1:01:50] Americans love a winner. Yep. Dave: [1:01:53] And will not tolerate a loser. Nope. It's time to discover who is the winner and loser of the week. Sarah has this week's winner. Sarah: [1:02:01] I do. It's Mike, the Ms. Mizanin. He is hosting Prime Video's reboot of American Gladiators. I feel like we already heard this update or this headline like two years ago. Tara: [1:02:14] He hosted something else. Sarah: [1:02:15] Yeah. I mean, he like he's always in the mix for this kind of thing. And with good reason, he really is sort of like totally perfect for something like this. Pity that it's on Prime, but we all do what we have to do. So congrats to The Miz. Dave: [1:02:28] It's also because they reboot American Gladiators every few years, too. So you get it on the other end of that equation. Sarah: [1:02:34] Yeah, it's true. Dave: [1:02:36] Loser of the Week. Tara: [1:02:36] Loser of the Week is Tom Brady. First of all, he is continuing to express his regrets about the Netflix roast he did. And just to remind everyone, that was on May 5th, 2024. Buddy, get over it. You're rich. You're good looking. You're successful. You're fucking fine. I don't care if it upset your kids. The time to think about that was before you said yes, stupid. Speaking of stupid, he also was at the Fox up front and he was supposed to throw a ball to Rob Gronkowski and he fucked it up. So fuck this guy. What a loser. Dave: [1:03:14] Speaking of stupid, do you know what time it is? Sarah: [1:03:16] Oh, good time. Good time. Dave: [1:03:30] Welcome, everybody, to a brand new spanking season of Game Time. The scores have been reset. Today, we are going to play a follow-up to a game we played about a year ago, I think. That was called the Great American TV Road Trip. This one is the Great American Fictional TV Road Trip and comes from Miles, who earns himself an extra credit. Topic of their choosing, plus a free shirt from our store at throughmethods.com. Miles, who's doing car games, so way to be on brand, Miles, writes, Let's go on a road trip. Oh, wait a sec. Let's go on a road trip to visit shows located in fictional cities around the United States of America. In this game, you will be given a general direction, number of miles, and number of state lines crossed to get to the next show locale in our road trip. I will also give you the debut network and year of the program in question. For three points from all that information, you have to name the show. So we're going from destination A to B to C. I'm giving you all the connecting information. You have to kind of figure out where we're talking about and what show. The answer is the show. You don't have to give me the fictional town. Tara: [1:04:45] Okay. Roth: [1:04:46] Yeah, that's a relief. I thought I had really fucked us there. Dave: [1:04:49] Well, here's some more relief for you, Dave. If you need a hint, I will give you one of the top four characters from the show, according to IMDB. After that, the answer is worth two. Still don't have it. I'm going to give you the other three characters in that top four. You guessed it each part, so have at it. If you don't get it on the last one, that's when it's open for a steel mill for just for that one point. All right. Just note locations because these are fictional or are usually based on information that the series sort of drips out here and there. These are all pretty confident guesses, but, you know, we may be off by a mile or two. Okay. I have provided the players with an unlabeled map of the United States, which we will also link in the show notes if you want to have it to play along. Let's get the steel mill situation, please, Tara. Tara: [1:05:36] Thank you, Dave. Sarah and I each have three valued guests has Eric's meal, so just the one. Dave: [1:05:42] All right. Let's throw it a picky to see who's going first. We will start with Sarah. All right. We're going to go Sarah, then Dave, then Tara is going to be your order today. We're going to have 27 questions to go through. We're going to have one gross work equalized or challenged zone right in the middle of things. Are we ready to play the Great American Fictional? TV road trip. Tara: [1:06:04] Yes. Dave: [1:06:04] Here we go. We are starting in San Diego is our origin, Sarah D. Bunting. From there, we are traveling north-northwest, 67 miles, crossing no state lines, for a show that debuted on UPN in 2004. What's that show? Sarah: [1:06:27] Well, thank you, Picky. I am pretty sure that that is Veronica Mars. Dave: [1:06:32] Veronica Mars is the correct three-point answer there. Neptune, California. Dave, from Neptune, California, we are traveling northwest. 154 miles, once again crossing no state lines, for a show they debuted on the WB in 1997. Roth: [1:06:55] Hmm. It's a big state. Overshot Los Angeles pretty much entirely. W.B. 1997. Dave: [1:07:05] Yes. Get a guess here, and if you don't get it, we'll start giving you character names. Roth: [1:07:09] Okay. I have not seen the show. Let's say Supernatural. Dave: [1:07:16] Supernatural. Roth: [1:07:16] I don't think that was on W.B. Yeah, so. Dave: [1:07:18] That's not correct. Your first character is Rupert. Rupert. Roth: [1:07:25] Keep going. Dave: [1:07:26] All right. In addition to Rupert, for one point, guess it after giving you these other three character names. Xander, Willow, and Buffy. Roth: [1:07:36] All right, good. Thank you. The last one, really appreciate that. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dave: [1:07:42] Yes, there'll be a few of those hints in this game. That is correct for one point. That's Sunnydale, California, for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So Tara, that's where you're starting for your first one. We are traveling north-northwest, 337 miles, once again crossing no state lines. for a show that debuted on FX in 2008. Tara: [1:08:05] Terriers? Dave: [1:08:05] Terriers. Tara: [1:08:06] Incorrect. Dave: [1:08:07] Your first character is Gemma. Tara: [1:08:10] Nope. Dave: [1:08:12] All right. Your other three characters are Jackson Jacks, Robert Bobby Elvis, and Alexander Tig. Tara: [1:08:19] Sons of Anarchy. Dave: [1:08:20] Sons of Anarchy is correct. That takes place in Charming, California. Back to Sarah. From Charming, California, We are heading east, 1,179 miles crossing three state lines for this Comedy Central show that debuted in 1997. Sarah: [1:08:43] I mean, it's not three state lines, but Reno 911. I don't know. Dave: [1:08:47] Your first character for all that is Sheila. Sarah: [1:08:52] Sheila. Dave: [1:08:53] Yes. Sarah: [1:08:54] Nope. Dave: [1:08:55] Your other three characters are Kyle, Chef, and Stan. Sarah: [1:09:00] Oh, okay. South Park. Dave: [1:09:05] South Park, Colorado. All right. Building from there, Dave, we are heading northeast 80 miles. No state lines have been crossed for this NBC show that debuted in 2009. What were we doing in 2009? Tara: [1:09:23] What weren't we doing? Roth: [1:09:24] What were we doing with ourselves? Unbelievable. Didn't even have a smartphone yet. We were probably like, I don't know. I guess I'll just read a book. Tara: [1:09:35] Some good columboid stalling there. Roth: [1:09:37] The single guy. Is it Jonathan Silverman in The Single Guy? Dave: [1:09:41] It's not, but congratulations on Tara. Finally bringing Columboid into the mix. Your first character name is Jeff. Roth: [1:09:51] Keep going. Dave: [1:09:52] All right. In addition to Jeff, we got Abed, Troy, and Pierce. Roth: [1:09:56] Oh, all right. I had forgotten that that was set in Colorado. Community. All right. Dave: [1:10:02] That is Greendale, Colorado. Building from there, Tara. Tara: [1:10:06] Yes. Dave: [1:10:06] We are heading east. Tara: [1:10:07] Okay. Dave: [1:10:09] 564 miles crossing one state line for this WB show that debuted in 2001. Remember, these are all fictional settings. Tara: [1:10:20] Yeah, 2001... On the WB. Dave: [1:10:25] Buh, buh, buh. Tara: [1:10:26] Whatever it was. Dave: [1:10:27] Right in the television with pity era. Tara: [1:10:29] We definitely covered it. Dave: [1:10:30] Probably. Tara: [1:10:33] Unfortunately, I need it. Sarah: [1:10:34] Probably. Dave: [1:10:34] All right. Your first character named Chloe. Tara: [1:10:37] No, they were all fucking named Chloe. Dave: [1:10:38] They all were named Chloe. Tara: [1:10:40] Oh, Roswell? No, that was earlier. Well, I have to commit to it now. Roswell? Dave: [1:10:45] Your other characters, Lana. Tara: [1:10:48] Yeah. Dave: [1:10:49] Lex. Tara: [1:10:50] Sure. Dave: [1:10:50] And Clark. Tara: [1:10:52] Smallville. Dave: [1:10:52] Smallville. Good for one point. Smallville, Kansas. Sarah D. Bunting, we are moving on from Smallville, Kansas. We're heading south-southwest, 741 miles, crossing two state lines. For this NBC show that debuted in 2006. Sarah: [1:11:12] Friday Night Lights? Dave: [1:11:13] You are correct. Friday Night Lights, Dillon, Texas, is another three-point answer for Sarah. All right, Dave, you are in Dillon, Texas. You are heading east-northeast, 364 miles, crossing no state lines, Texas, a big state. Tara: [1:11:32] So big. Dave: [1:11:33] For this Fox show that debuted in 1997. Roth: [1:11:38] There's a lot of Foxy-type stuff that would have been set there. I'm thinking that this is... I feel like I have a sense of what city this would be near, but I don't know that I know as much about the show. 1997, they got a lot of shows. It's a great time for shows. I love to fill the air. Dave: [1:12:02] Note to self, cut that for soundboard. Roth: [1:12:06] Is it a reboot of Dallas? Dave: [1:12:11] It is not. Your first character name is Bobby. Roth: [1:12:15] Oh, is it King of the Hill? Dave: [1:12:17] It is King of the Hill. Good for two points. Peggy, Hank, and Dale were your other clues there. Arlen, Texas is the town. Back to Tara. Tara: [1:12:25] Yes. Dave: [1:12:26] From Arlen, Texas, we are heading east, 296 miles crossing one state line for this HBO show that debuted in 2008. Tara: [1:12:39] Treme? That's a real place. Dave: [1:12:41] Incorrect. Roth: [1:12:43] Okay. Dave: [1:12:43] Bill is your first character name. Bill. Tara: [1:12:47] Oh, True Blood. Dave: [1:12:49] True Blood is correct. Two points. Bon Tem, Louisiana. Tara: [1:12:53] Bon Tem. Dave: [1:12:53] Bon Tem. My children need bourbon. Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:13:00] Yeah. Dave: [1:13:01] We are now heading east-southeast, 871 miles. Keep in mind, this is Google directions, not as the crow flies, so don't get mixed up on that. East-Southeast, 871 miles, crossing three state lines for this ABC show that debuted in 2009. Sarah: [1:13:21] ABC show. Good morning, Miami. Dave: [1:13:27] Good guess. Your first character, Lori. Tara: [1:13:31] Your favorite. Sarah: [1:13:35] Good morning, Lori. I don't know. Dave: [1:13:38] Your other characters. Jules, Ellie, and Travis. Tara: [1:13:43] Oh, maybe it's not what I was thinking of. What I was thinking of. Sarah: [1:13:47] Jules, Ellie, and Travis. Dave: [1:13:50] Yeah. ABC 2009. Sarah: [1:13:55] I got nothing. Dave: [1:13:56] All right. Anybody know it? Steel mill? No. All right. By the way, Dave, you have a steel mill that if you don't use. Tara: [1:14:02] It just evaporates. Dave: [1:14:04] If you ever do have a one-point steel mill, it is worth your time to take it. Roth: [1:14:07] The good news is that I have to know what I'm talking about. That is a good strategy. Dave: [1:14:12] Tara, what's the show? Tara: [1:14:13] It's Cougar Town. Dave: [1:14:14] Cougar Town is the correct answer. Sarah: [1:14:16] I'm thinking of a different glory. Dave: [1:14:17] That takes place in Gulf Haven, Florida. All right. Dave, you're next. Before I give you the information, I will tell you it's not the same town name. just by quirk of circumstance, okay? We are heading in no direction. We are traveling zero miles, crossing no state lines for this Fox show that debuted in 2014. We're in the same geographic location, but I will let you know that the name of the town is different in this second show. Roth: [1:14:48] You got your Bill Lawrence, wonderful Bill Larry. Billy Larry we call him but what was he doing on Fox he did. Dave: [1:15:00] This is a podcast favorite show that is sort of not talked about too much anymore so it's not an easy one but we do have character names here waiting for you yeah let's do a character name is that alright your first one is Sergeant Pete. Tara: [1:15:15] Oh of course oh wait this wasn't a Bill Lawrence show. Dave: [1:15:19] But it seemed the same. Roth: [1:15:20] No you didn't oh alright Well. Tara: [1:15:22] There's a free end. It's not. Roth: [1:15:23] I said it was. All right. Sergeant Pete, they're in Florida. Let's get the rest of the characters. If I'm going to get it, I'll need that. Dave: [1:15:32] All right. We've got Corporal Derek, Private Randy, and Sergeant Jill. So I'm going to lay in a little clue about the Army. Roth: [1:15:39] Yeah. No, I was starting to put that together. I do appreciate you turning the hand forward a bit for me on that. Dave: [1:15:46] Corporal Town. Roth: [1:15:47] Yeah. I don't know what... Army show would have been on Fox in 2014. Dave: [1:15:53] It didn't last long. Roth: [1:15:56] Yeah, hit that buzzer sound. Dave: [1:15:58] All right. Tara, what's that show? Sarah: [1:15:59] I am going to steal Mildes. Tara: [1:16:00] Oh! Dave: [1:16:02] Is there anybody? Roth: [1:16:03] Okay. Tara: [1:16:05] Enlisted. Dave: [1:16:05] Enlisted is correct. Yes, nice deal. Thank you for barging in there before I made it. Roth: [1:16:10] It was good? Okay. Sarah: [1:16:12] It was really good. Dave: [1:16:13] All right. So from Secord, Florida, where that show took place, geographically in the same spot as Gulf Haven. Tara: [1:16:20] Sure. Dave: [1:16:21] Tara, we are heading north-northeast, 730 miles crossing three state lines for this CBS show that debuted in 1960. Tara: [1:16:29] Oh, come on. I guess I will guess the Andy Griffith show. Dave: [1:16:37] You are correct. Tara: [1:16:38] Oh my God. I can't blame it was right on my face. Roth: [1:16:40] I felt weirdly confident about that too. Dave: [1:16:43] Mayberry, North Carolina is your answer there. We had Bea and then Andy and Opie and Barney. Tara: [1:16:49] Sure. Dave: [1:16:50] All right, Sarah, from Mayberry, we are going southeast, 265 miles, crossing no state lines, for this WB show that debuted in 2003. Sarah: [1:17:03] If it's not One Tree Hill, I don't know anything anymore. Dave: [1:17:07] You know things still. That is One Tree Hill. Tree Hill, North Carolina. Tara: [1:17:12] Indeed. Dave: [1:17:13] How many of them are? Just one. Sarah: [1:17:16] Just the one. Tara: [1:17:17] Who can know? Dave: [1:17:17] Dave, you're in Tree Hill, North Carolina. You're heading northeast 308 miles. You're going to cross one state line for this CW 2009 show. Roth: [1:17:29] This is where I really start to suffer from not knowing how long ago 2009 was. I'm aware. Tara: [1:17:37] Here, this will help you. Community was taking the nation by storm. Roth: [1:17:41] Yes, from their home base in Greendale, Colorado. A lot of people don't remember that it was in Colorado. David T. Cole, may I have a character name, please? Dave: [1:17:48] All right, let's give you Stefan. Roth: [1:17:53] One of you. Saturday Night Live weekend update. Keep going, please. Dave: [1:17:58] In addition to Stefan. Sarah: [1:17:59] That's literally what I would have guessed as well. Dave: [1:18:00] Bonnie, Elena, and Damon. Roth: [1:18:03] Wow. I'm totally drawn dead, but the two TV experts will surely fare better than me. Dave: [1:18:08] I wouldn't have got this one either, Dave. It's definitely outside my wheelhouse. Tara: [1:18:12] I mean, I get it. I know it now, but yeah, I wouldn't have gotten it. Sarah: [1:18:14] Yeah, same. Dave: [1:18:15] All right. Anybody want to steal me all that? Sarah: [1:18:16] No. Dave: [1:18:17] All right. This is The Vampire Diaries. Vampire Diaries. It takes place in Mystic Falls, Virginia. All right, Tara, this will take us into our score break. Tara: [1:18:27] Okay. Dave: [1:18:27] Northeast from Mystic Falls, 285 miles crossing three state lines for this show that debuted on ABC Family in 2010. Tara: [1:18:39] Okay. Which state lines is the question? Dave: [1:18:44] Northeast. Tara: [1:18:45] Yeah. Dave: [1:18:46] Just shy of 300 miles crossing three state lines. Tara: [1:18:49] 2010, ABC Family. Dave: [1:18:52] Yes. Before they were freeform. Tara: [1:18:56] I don't think this is right, because I'm pretty sure they were in California, but I'll just say switched at birth. Dave: [1:19:02] Your first character name is Spencer. Tara: [1:19:07] We love his gifts, don't we? Give me their ass. Sarah: [1:19:10] Please. Dave: [1:19:11] Hannah or Hannah. Arya and Emily. Tara: [1:19:16] Well, if Arya is in the mix, of course, it's Game of Thrones. Dave: [1:19:20] We were looking for from Rosewood. Roth: [1:19:22] Wait, wait, wait. Dave: [1:19:26] Steel mill. Roth: [1:19:26] Am I allowed to use it? Dave: [1:19:28] Yep. Sarah: [1:19:28] Yeah. Roth: [1:19:29] This is only because I so respect my wife who did watch this show. I know it's only one point. Is this Pretty Little Liars? Tara: [1:19:36] Yay! Oh! Dave: [1:19:38] Nice. Roth: [1:19:39] We love to respect our wives, don't we folks? Sarah: [1:19:42] Mrs. Dave? Roth: [1:19:43] Yeah. Dave: [1:19:43] Nice. Steel mill. Alright. That's a great way to bring us into our score break. Please need them scores. Tara: [1:19:48] Okay. Sarah DeBunting has 11. I have 7. David J. Roth has five. Dave: [1:19:55] All right, David J. Roth. That means we are in the Grossworth Equalizer Challenge Zone. Tara: [1:19:59] Oh, hell yeah. Dave: [1:20:06] I need a number between one and seven, and there's some real bad sets in the mix now. Tara: [1:20:10] Yeah, we'd love to tell you which ones are the bad ones, but he moves them around. Sarah: [1:20:15] Yeah, he shuffles them every week. Dave: [1:20:18] It's just so that if you get a really bad question box, you're the instrument of your own destruction, and I can't be blamed for it. So pick a number two and one and seven. Roth: [1:20:26] That's going to happen no matter what number I pick. Dave: [1:20:28] Just to let you know, there is an original series Star Trek card set in the mix, and they're really tough. Roth: [1:20:34] Basically, you're just making sounds at me and then me saying, I don't know. That'll be great. Is it number four? I sure hope it is. Sarah: [1:20:43] I don't believe him. Do you? Dave: [1:20:45] Well, I'm pleased to report on, for your sake, it is not the Star Trek set. Number four was the totally 80s Trivial Pursuit set. Tara: [1:20:53] Okay. Roth: [1:20:53] Okay. Dave: [1:20:54] These are going to be TV questions about the 80s from Trivial Pursuit. Are you ready? Tara: [1:20:58] What are his scores? Dave: [1:21:00] So three, let's do three and six. Tara: [1:21:02] Okay. Dave: [1:21:03] All right. Sarah: [1:21:03] Sure. Dave: [1:21:04] Three and six. Tara: [1:21:04] Could change everything. Good luck. Dave: [1:21:06] David J. Roth. What song did David Letterman convince Sonny and Cher to sing one last time in 1987? Roth: [1:21:14] I mean, this is kind of a chalky pick, but is it I Got You, Babe? Dave: [1:21:17] It is. Yes. Roth: [1:21:18] Oh, all right. Dave: [1:21:20] What surname did the Growing Pains family get to honor a Mets pitching ace? Roth: [1:21:27] This is a little bit unfair to everyone else. It's equally unfair to Sarah. I guess, but it's the Seavers. Dave: [1:21:35] You are correct. Sarah: [1:21:37] Literally the only thing about Growing Pains I would have gotten. Roth: [1:21:40] Yeah, it's the thing I remember about it. Sarah: [1:21:41] Too. Roth: [1:21:42] Enjoy it. I feel like I should like this more. Sarah: [1:21:44] Yeah. Dave: [1:21:45] All right, you're two for two. Who quit his successful daytime talk show after 13 years to focus on his game show empire? Roth: [1:21:53] All right, quit daytime talk show to focus on game show empire. Dave: [1:21:57] Goodbye, talk show. Hello, game show empire. Chuck Woolard, Big plot point on Seinfeld Merv Griffin That's right. Roth: [1:22:12] Because of the set. Dave: [1:22:13] Alright so now you're just planning to get one more Out of these next three to get three points I believe in you Which member of the Rack Pack served as a guest host Of the Tonight Show A record 177 times Uh. Roth: [1:22:31] Of the Rat Pack, not like Judd Nelson, but like. Dave: [1:22:35] Rat, as in a big rat is in my attic. Tara: [1:22:39] I was about to say, it's in the thing that's in our attic right now. Roth: [1:22:42] In your walls is Sammy Davis Jr.? Dave: [1:22:47] No. Tara: [1:22:48] Oh, that's what I would have said too. Dave: [1:22:49] Joey Bishop. Sarah: [1:22:50] Bishop? Oh, right. Dave: [1:22:52] All right. Roth: [1:22:52] Forgotten Rat Packer. Dave: [1:22:53] Two questions left. You got to get one of them. Roth: [1:22:55] All right. Dave: [1:22:56] What lyricist whined, I could find the cure for cancer, but what people will always remember me for is writing the theme for The Love Boat. Roth: [1:23:07] Oh my gosh. Burt Bacharach? Nope. Dave: [1:23:11] Paul Williams. Roth: [1:23:13] Oh, see, this is... I'm blowing it here. Dave: [1:23:16] This feels bad. It all comes down to this last question. Sarah: [1:23:18] You got this. Dave: [1:23:18] Here we go. Roth: [1:23:18] You can do it. Dave: [1:23:19] You can do it. You can also maybe not do it. Roth: [1:23:21] I know. It's hard to say. It's one or the other. Dave: [1:23:24] What short-lived sequel series opened with Lorne Green declaring we have, at last, Found Earth. What's the name of that sequel series? Roth: [1:23:35] Alright, Lorne Green. Oh, I have to know the sequel series. Dave: [1:23:39] That's right. It has a different name from the original series. Roth: [1:23:41] Alright, so the original series, I'm assuming, is Battlestar Galactica. And then the... Dave: [1:23:49] Confirm nor deny, but you're right. Roth: [1:23:50] Right. So let's say... Ah, damn it. This is... Dave: [1:23:56] Can I give you another hint? Roth: [1:23:58] Would you please? Dave: [1:24:00] The television show debuted in 1980. Roth: [1:24:05] Um, all right. Oh, is it like Battlestar 80? Dave: [1:24:09] You're very close, but I can't give you that one. For Galactica 1980 was the name of the show. So you started out strong out of the gate. Roth: [1:24:17] I did. Then what happened, Dave? Dave: [1:24:19] Then somebody like hit your horse with a club or something. I don't know if this was a metaphor. Sarah: [1:24:23] Yeah, the curse of flushing. Roth: [1:24:24] Got my own head. Dave: [1:24:26] You got HBO lucked. Roth: [1:24:28] Once the Seaver thing happened, I was like, this is great. The answer to the next question is going to be like Lance Johnson. How many homers did Bernard Gilkey hit in 1997? Dave: [1:24:40] Sarah D. Bunting, to remind you, you're in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, home of Pretty Little Liars. From there, you are heading southeast 76 miles, crossing one state line for this Fox 2011 show. Sarah: [1:24:53] Crossing one state line. Fox 2011? Dave: [1:24:58] Yeah. Fox 2011. Sarah: [1:24:59] I don't think this is correct, but Racing Hope. Fuck it. Dave: [1:25:03] Your first character name is Tina. Sarah: [1:25:07] The Sopranos 2025? I don't know. Dave: [1:25:10] In addition to Tina, we have Bob, Gene, and Linda. Sarah: [1:25:14] Oh, Bob's Burgers. Dave: [1:25:15] Bob's Burgers, yes, somewhere in the Jersey Shore. Sarah: [1:25:17] I always get those in Scrubs questions. Don't know what I'm doing. Dave: [1:25:21] All right. Best guess where that takes place is a place called Seymour's Bay, New Jersey. So from there, David J. Roth, we are heading north-northeast. We are going 213 miles, crossing two state lines for this WB show that debuted in the year 2000. Roth: [1:25:39] All right. So this is question 17. Dave: [1:25:42] By the way. Roth: [1:25:43] Yes. Sarah: [1:25:43] Oh, it's bird eagle. Roth: [1:25:45] It gives me a sense of the state. It's a WB 2000. Dave: [1:25:50] Yeah. WB 2000. We're heading north, northeast from New Jersey, 213 miles. We're crossing two state lines in the process. Roth: [1:26:00] All right. We're in New England, but that's all I've got. Let me get some names. Dave: [1:26:05] Okay. Your first character name is Lane. Lane. Roth: [1:26:10] Classic 2000 character name, if I've ever heard one. More, please. Dave: [1:26:15] All right. We got Luke. We got Lorelai. And we got Rory. Roth: [1:26:20] Oh, yeah, because it's Stars Hollow. So that's... Dave: [1:26:24] What's the show? Roth: [1:26:26] Gilme Girls. Dave: [1:26:27] Gilme Girls, yes. Roth: [1:26:28] That's what we're doing. They're my friends. Dave: [1:26:30] That's the one where they're fish. Tara: [1:26:31] Yes. Sarah: [1:26:33] All right. Dave: [1:26:34] From Stars Hollow, home of Gilme Girls, we are heading east, Tara. 135 miles. We're crossing one state line for this Fox show from 1991. Tara: [1:26:46] Okay. I need more information, please. Dave: [1:26:49] All right. One of your characters' names is Chris. Tara: [1:26:53] Oh, God. Not a Chris in Massachusetts, question mark? I need more information than that. Dave: [1:27:00] We've also got Peter, Lois, and Meg. Tara: [1:27:02] Oh, it's not Massachusetts at all. It's Family Guy. Dave: [1:27:06] Family Guy and Cahog. Is that how you say it? Tara: [1:27:09] Cahog. Dave: [1:27:10] Cahog. Cahog. Cahog. Cahog, Rhode Island. So from there, Sarah D. Bunting, we are heading east again. 77 miles crossing one state line for this WB 1998 show. Sarah: [1:27:24] Why are you yelling? Dave: [1:27:25] I don't know. It's just the way I go. Sarah: [1:27:27] What? Dave: [1:27:28] I was expecting a big answer there. Sarah: [1:27:30] For no particular reason. Listen, Sully. How far again? Dave: [1:27:36] 77 puny miles. One state line. Sounds like it's next door. Sarah: [1:27:43] Yeah, it sure does. Oh. 98. 98. Yeah, no, I just got there. I associate that show with North Carolina, but I'm pretty sure it's Dawson's Creek. Dave: [1:27:57] Dawson's Creek, Capeside, Mass, yes. Roth: [1:28:00] It's set in Massachusetts? Tara: [1:28:02] It's set on, like, fake Cape Cod. Sarah: [1:28:05] Yeah. Roth: [1:28:05] They filmed it in North Carolina. Yeah, I also had that association. Sarah: [1:28:09] By the way, that was a question. Dave: [1:28:10] Born Stobel County. But this is question 20. Don't get confused. Cape Side. Dave, we are heading north-northeast. 315 miles crossing two state lines. For this CBS show that debuted in 1984 with a fictional town setting. Roth: [1:28:29] I feel like it has to be Murder, She Wrote. Is it Cabot Cove, Maine? Dave: [1:28:33] You are correct. Murder, She Wrote. Cabot Cove, Maine is the correct answer. Three-point get. Roth: [1:28:38] More wife-respecting over here. Unbelievable work by me. I'm playing for an audience of one. Tara: [1:28:43] If you had missed a main question, I would have been disgusted with you. Roth: [1:28:47] Absolutely. Even worse than the 80s thing where I just absolutely duffed it. Yeah, that feels better now. Dave: [1:28:53] All right, Tara. Tara: [1:28:54] Yeah. Dave: [1:28:54] From Cabot Cove, we are heading west-southwest, 150 miles, crossing zero state lines. Tara: [1:29:01] Okay. Dave: [1:29:02] For this CBS show that debuted in 2013. Tara: [1:29:08] Is this under the dome? What you've just. Sarah: [1:29:12] Said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent. Tara: [1:29:25] Be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now domer for. Sarah: [1:29:31] Having listened to it. Roth: [1:29:32] I award you no points. Sarah: [1:29:34] And may God have. Dave: [1:29:36] Mercy on your soul. That is correct. That takes place, do you remember the name of the town? Tara: [1:29:40] No. Dave: [1:29:41] Chester's Mill. Tara: [1:29:42] Oh, sure. I turned the TV on and whatever channel was on, it was about to be that in like 30 seconds, and I yelled Domer over Jim Downey. Dave: [1:29:52] I was in the other room when that happened. Tara: [1:29:53] Yeah, you were. Dave: [1:29:54] I did not understand what was going on. Good to have some context. Tara: [1:29:57] Yeah. Roth: [1:29:58] Jim Downey, the Polarizing Podcast guest? I think I'd know if it was. I'm just a little Conan O'Brien. Tara: [1:30:02] Oh, I see. Okay. Dave: [1:30:05] All right. Sarah D. Bunting, you are in Chester's Mill. You are under the dome. You are now traveling west. That's not trick question. You can travel through the dome. Nobody else can. You are traveling west, 465 miles, crossing three state lines for this ABC show that debuted in 1963. I yelled because this is another show that you should get. There's a good hint for you. Sarah: [1:30:30] ABC, you said? Dave: [1:30:32] ABC, 1963. Sarah: [1:30:34] Well, let's hope that we are in the Port of Charles on General Hospital. Dave: [1:30:40] You are correct for a three-point answer. Yes, Port Charles, New York. Tara: [1:30:44] I didn't know it was even in New York. Dave: [1:30:46] From there, David J. Roth, we are heading south-southwest. 284 miles. We're crossing one state line for this ABC show that debuted in 1994. Roth: [1:31:00] All right, so this is a... Pennsylvania core experience. Dave: [1:31:05] Yes, Pennsylvania core. Penn core. Roth: [1:31:10] And in that direction, we're in Metro Pittsburgh. I'm just not feeling confident about it based on that and based on the 1994 thing. May I have a character name? Dave: [1:31:21] The first character is Patty. Roth: [1:31:24] This is just me being annoying. It's Springfield from The Simpsons. Tara: [1:31:30] Yeah, she's the fourth character. Roth: [1:31:33] She's one of the most, yeah. So it's basically Patty, Selma, Skinner, and Maggie. Tara: [1:31:38] And Maggie, yeah. Dave: [1:31:39] Your other three characters there for you, Dave, are Ricky, with IE, Angela, and Brian. Tara: [1:31:45] Oh, sure. Dave: [1:31:46] Now, just remember you're married to Sarah. Roth: [1:31:48] Oh, oh, it's my so-called life. I'm sorry. That's unfair. I didn't even mean to make you wait. Dave: [1:31:53] Very good. One point answer there. Are we getting towards the end of it here, Tara? Yes. Northwest from Three Rivers, Pennsylvania. Tara: [1:32:01] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:32:01] Home of my so-called life. We're heading northwest 312 miles, crossing two state lines for this NBC 1999 television program. Tara: [1:32:14] Hint. Dave: [1:32:14] We have a character for you named Daniel. Tara: [1:32:21] 99 NBC. I still need more information, unfortunately. Dave: [1:32:26] All right. For one point, name the show after I give you Lindsay, Sam, and Neil. Sarah: [1:32:31] Oh, yeah. Tara: [1:32:34] Yes. Freaks and Geeks. Dave: [1:32:35] Freaks and Geeks. Chippewa, Michigan. Tara: [1:32:38] Yep. Dave: [1:32:38] Is where that takes place. All right. I need to score us. Everybody has one question left. Tara: [1:32:42] Okay. David J. Roth has 10. I have 12. Sarah D. Bunting is destroying us both with 18. Dave: [1:32:50] Okay. Wow. All right. Sarah: [1:32:51] Thanks, Vicki. Dave: [1:32:51] I think it's all mathematically locked up, but let's do our last ones here. Sarah D. Bunting, here's yours. From Chippewa, Michigan, we are heading southwest. 415 miles crossing two state lines for this NBC 2009 television show. Tara: [1:33:10] And it's not community. Sarah: [1:33:14] I think this is the wrong state, but Parks and Rec? Dave: [1:33:18] You are correct. Tara: [1:33:18] Parks and Rec, three-point answer, Pawnee, Indiana. Dave: [1:33:22] Yes. All right, Dave, from Pawnee, you travel north 28 miles, crossing no state lines, very close, for this Netflix 2016 television show. Roth: [1:33:34] This is two shows set within Indiana. I would not have guessed that there was a second one. Netflix 2016. What? Hmm. Let's get some characters, please. Tara: [1:33:45] It's the show that every time it comes back, you're like, that's still on? And it is. Roth: [1:33:49] That's true. Sarah: [1:33:49] Really. Dave: [1:33:50] It seems to be still with us. It's sort of the long burn supernatural. Your first character name is Mike. Tara: [1:33:59] Does that help? There's a man on the show. Roth: [1:34:01] Yeah, that's cool. All right, good. So who's the boss? Tara: [1:34:05] Or a boy. Roth: [1:34:07] Or a boy. What could be, I guess, oh, is it fucking Stranger Things? Dave: [1:34:12] Stranger Things is for two points. Tara: [1:34:14] It is, in fact, fucking Stranger Things. Roth: [1:34:16] Sorry, I'm cursing a lot in this episode. It's the end of the day. Tara: [1:34:20] It's very warranted. Dave: [1:34:22] That takes place in Hawkins, Indiana. So from there, Tara, rounding us out, north-northwest, 291 miles. We're crossing one state line for this ABC show that debuted in 1988. That's where we're going to end our road trip. What show are we talking about? Tara: [1:34:42] I need more. I need more information. Dave: [1:34:44] All right. Your first character name is Dan. Tara: [1:34:48] Oh, it's the, uh, Roseanne. Dave: [1:34:50] Roseanne. Good for two points, Jackie. DJ Roseanne of Roseanne. Where are your other clues? Lanford, Illinois. And that is regulation. Let's hear the scores. Tara: [1:35:01] Okay. David J. Roth finished with 12. I had 14. Sarah D. Munting, 21. Dave: [1:35:07] Wow, nicely done, Sarah D. Bunting. Thanks, Vicky. Tara: [1:35:13] Sarah. Sarah: [1:35:14] Sarah. All right. Dave: [1:35:15] Starting the new game time season with a Bunty victory. Sarah: [1:35:20] Nice to know. Tara: [1:35:21] Thank you, Miles. I think you mean Buncy. You said it in a very rude way. Roth: [1:35:25] Did I? Dave: [1:35:26] Did I really? Tara: [1:35:27] You said Bunty, which sounds like something else. Dave: [1:35:31] Sometimes it's Buncy. Sometimes you get Bunty. Sarah: [1:35:33] It was like an Australian magazine for girls. That's true. Dave: [1:35:38] Anyways, what a cunt. Well, that is it for another episode. It's extra hot great. We anteed up for the second season of Poker Face before going around the dial with stops at Conan O'Brien Must Go, Conan O'Brien D. Kennedy Center, Mark Twain Prize for American humor, Killing It, and Untold Shooting Guards. We put on our best brown pants to discuss Mike's successful cannon pitch for The Terrors of Mercy. We crowned Winners and Losers of the Week. And Buncee was the winner of this week's Game Time from Miles. Next up, it's something I've already forgotten. I didn't put it in my notes. On this Friday, it's Duster. White wine Duster. Remember. We're listening. You know, when I actually go insane later in life and I'm at a home, I'll just be talking in Simpsons catchphrases and none of the gen pre-alphas are going to know what the fuck I'm talking about. Tara: [1:36:38] That's right. Dave: [1:36:38] Anyways, I am David T. Cole on behalf of Tari Arrieta. Tara: [1:36:41] Squelching. Dave: [1:36:41] Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:36:43] Holy butt munch. Dave: [1:36:44] And David J. Roth. Roth: [1:36:46] Oh, gosh, I forgot my quip. Sorry, my bad. That was my last quip. Blew it. Dave: [1:36:51] Simpsons home. Roth: [1:36:52] Yep. You should get out. Out? Tara: [1:36:56] Yeah. Tara: [1:36:59] The first speaker is Poker Face Season 2 guest star John Mulaney. Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Dave: [1:37:04] No! Tara: [1:37:05] It's ahoy. Roth: [1:37:06] Sorry. Dave: [1:37:07] I'm sorry. I was trying to type something in chat, and it just did all the keyboard stuff. I was trying to type sorry in chat okay alright sorry just pick that up sure. Tara: [1:37:16] You think um.