Charting A New Season Of The Pitt

Dave: [0:20] This is the Extra Hot Great Podcast, episode 597 for the week of January 12, 2026. I am giant balls of disrespect, David T. Cole, and I'm here with abandoned infant, Tara Ariano. Tara: [0:39] I'm baby. Dave: [0:39] And queen of conjunctivitis, Heather Cocks. Heather: [0:42] I don't know why I watch medical shows. Tara: [0:51] Welcome to Extra Hot. Great for another week. We are back in the studio, but we are down. One co-host, Sarah has taken this week off due to a family issue. Everyone is doing better, but she, you know, needed a little more time. And of course, we miss her terribly. We will miss her today. And we look forward to welcoming her back very soon. Tara: [1:10] But for now, our guest, she is the co-creator of GoFugYourself.com and the co-author of several novels, including The Air Affair. You have heard her with us many times before, including last year when we talked about season one of The Pit, it's Heather Cox. Welcome back, Heather. thank. Heather: [1:28] You for having me. Tara: [1:28] We're thrilled to have you to talk about the pit season two we are returning to pittsburgh trauma medical center on another pivotal day for senior emergency attending physician michael robbie rabinovich noah wiley, Whereas the first season took place on the anniversary of his beloved mentor's COVID death, the second takes place on the last day before Robbie takes a three-month sabbatical road trip to the Alberta Badlands. This also happens to be the day Dr. Frank Langdon, Patrick Ball, returns from his medical leave of absence to be treated for a pill addiction. And it's the day Dr. Mel King, Taylor Dearden, has to give a deposition in a malpractice suit brought by the parents of the unvaccinated measles patient we saw in the first season. And it's the 4th of July. What chaos can the staff expect? We're going to find out precisely one hour at a time. The show was created by our Scott Gamill. Only one episode of the new season has dropped on HBO Max. We got access to the first nine. You better fucking believe we watched them all, but we will be careful about spoilers. Let's do the Chun check-in. Heather, should our listeners watch the pit. Heather: [2:39] Yes especially if you have a finely honed radar for when you might need to cover your face yeah dave. Dave: [2:46] We can talk about it but i have a new system that's working out great for those moments but yes this is still at its peak powers i. Tara: [2:54] Agree as well still a great show what is the system now that we're in the spoilers. Dave: [2:57] Okay well what is your system heather is it just peekaboo fingers. Heather: [3:01] Yes basically like i have a pretty decent spidey sense for when something i don't like is going to happen sometimes i'm wrong but usually i've never i don't usually get surprised by something sometimes i go like this and then nothing happens like i cover my face and it's nothing but yeah for the most part i i i can just tell although in fairness in this episode, Um, Tara is very well acquainted with my phobia of anything happening to Oz from when I inherited the ER recaps from her and Sarah. And, um, she emailed me to say, when you see a nun, look away. And that was really helpful. And I did. And in fact, I saw her like coming in, in the background in certain scenes. Tara: [3:37] And I was like. Heather: [3:39] I don't think she's on yet. You can hold off for a second. What's your system, Dave? Because I'm, I probably need a more sophisticated one. Dave: [3:46] Well, season one, I was definitely doing the same thing you were, just trying to preemptively put those peekaboo fingers in front of my eyes. But in season two, we have a lightweight fleece blanket that is sort of light porous. So if I put it over my face, I can see shapes, but not detail. So I get to still see the scene. I can tell when the scene has broken away because the pinks turn into white and greens again. And we don't have to deal with the viscera or whatever. So that has been a real boon to my pit watching. Heather: [4:21] I might have some blankets in my house that would fit the bill. So I'm pretty excited. Dave: [4:25] I can highly recommend it for your pit viewing pleasure. Heather: [4:28] And I think it is a real testament to how good this show is that we are willing to do all of that instead of just not watch it. It's just so accomplished. And I think they're so good at making the other doctors, people that you want to follow around. Even if you don't like them, you still are sort of interested in what they're going to do and where they're going to go. And it's on a roll. Like they know what they know what they're doing and they do it really, really well. Tara: [4:51] Yeah, and they've really been on a tear through awards season. We're recording this just a couple of days after it won at both the Golden Glows and the AARP Movies for Grown Ups Awards, which now also cover TV. So congratulations to them. Heather: [5:06] Yeah. Dave: [5:07] Wow. That's a little hostile name, isn't it? Heather: [5:09] I know. Tara: [5:11] I think AARP members probably want to know which movies are for grown ups. Dave: [5:15] The Emmys for immature jerks. Tara: [5:18] They sometimes are. Heather: [5:20] I guess you could treat The Pit as a movie. It's a 16-hour movie. Not that different than The Brutalist. Tara: [5:26] No. Shots fired. Heather: [5:30] But yeah, I thought it was interesting. I went back and looked at the intro to last season for the pilot just out of curiosity, and it's the same. It's lovely B-roll of Pittsburgh. There's an ambulance screeching across the bridge. And the only thing that's different is that they clearly spent a little more money on their fonts this year because they had a new logo. But otherwise, they take you right into it. And then I think we'll probably be on that set in that sort of vaguely claustrophobic arena for the rest of the season. I was really restrained and did not watch past episode one. I don't care about being spoiled, really. But I know that I know we don't want to. I was like, I'm going to try to be really good and make myself wait. Tara: [6:02] I mean, as soon as we finish, I do regret it. Because I know now it's going to be probably seven weeks before there are any more screeners. And now we're just. Heather: [6:10] Yeah. Dave: [6:11] I mean, everybody listening is saying, shut up, all of you. Tara: [6:14] Totally. Dave: [6:14] It really is sort of an addict's dilemma where you're like, I kind of want to watch the rest of them now. And then like you're jonesing for your fix for the next month and a half. Heather: [6:23] Yeah, I did have a gripe right off the bat. And I'm also curious if it's going to lead to anything because the first the first shot is so that they've got this nice B-roll of Pittsburgh and an ambulance screeching across the bridge. And the only difference this season is that Noah Wiley is on his motorcycle chasing the ambulance without a helmet on. And he's an ER doctor. I don't understand. My cockamamie potentially theory for the season is that something's going to happen to him. Yeah. Because number one, he wasn't wearing a helmet and they made a point of showing it. Number two, Catherine Lanasa walks into the hospital for the first time and they make a point of having her glance at his motorcycle and like roll her eyes and kind of glare about it. There may have been other things, but the big one that I couldn't ignore is that for some reason, unless it's important, the place he is going on his sabbatical is named Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. Yeah. And so I'm super curious if these are all like massive alarm bells that he's about to get his face burned. Dave: [7:18] Oh, see, I thought he was about to be jumped by a buffalo, like mugged by a buffalo. Tara: [7:22] No, he's going to get jumped in buffalo. He's going to take a real wrong turn. Dave: [7:26] Give me all your long grasses. Well, the other thing they do, and I think it's the first episode, and I'll edit this out if it's not, but they have a bicycle accident. And there is a mention of wearing helmet there. and you know minor spoiler of course there are other allusions to helmet wearing or not as the season goes on so obviously it's building to something whether it is tragedy or revelation who's to say i don't know yet yeah. Heather: [7:55] I don't i don't know that many people who are like i can't wait to go to head smashed in buffalo jump. Dave: [8:00] For my. Heather: [8:00] Personal meditation no offense no disrespect to head smashed in. Dave: [8:04] Question i should have looked this up i wonder how close that is to medicine hat where maybe he'll go for treatment for not wearing a helmet. Tara: [8:13] Could be. It is a real place in Alberta. Heather: [8:16] It is. And he did say season three is maybe going to happen sooner than the eight-month time jump between seasons one and two. So I don't know. It's funny. My family used to live in Calgary, and we actually have a poster that's framed of head smashed in Buffalo Jump in my house, and I was going to hang it behind me for the podcast. But I've never actually been there, and I sort of thought I looked psychotic, so I didn't do it. But, yeah, so I'm wondering if that's our—because I think last year it was pretty clear from the beginning as well that there was going to be a mass shooting casualty incident. And so this felt like the one that had all the bells hung on it to me. Tara: [8:51] For sure. Heather: [8:52] Yeah. Dave: [8:53] Before we get off the helmet thing, the odd thing, because I rewatched the pilot just because we watched it, you know, quite a few days ago. So I wanted it to be fresh and he has his helmet on the back of his bike and you see him carry it in with his knapsack at the start of the pilot. So that just what gave me pause for the possible revelatory ending instead of the actual head smashed. And he does have his helmet. So, you know, after he learns the big lesson of season two, perhaps the parting shot is him putting on his helmet and driving away. Heather: [9:23] It would be bold to do something to him. I don't know. You know, he's obviously he's carrying he's carrying a lot of the show on his back. But also, like, you know, at a certain point, somebody, you know, someone's going to have something happen to them in the ER that we had Dana last season. And now it's going to be probably it would be interesting if it was him. I think, you know, sometimes I think he deserves to have his head knocked in a little bit. Tara: [9:43] Yeah. Heather: [9:43] They don't shy away from him being a jerk. sometimes I found him last season to be sort of sexist in his approach with some of the characters like particularly how protective he was of the young boy and I'm not saying that that boy didn't deserve protection but he seemed really unconcerned about the girls that if that kid was going to be a shooter he seemed super unconcerned with the people on that kid's potential hit list he was really like the way they handled that I couldn't really tell where the show came down on it but they certainly didn't stop, he didn't really learn a lesson from that. He kind of stuck to. And this season, I feel like his attitude toward the new ER doctor who's going to be taking over from him, he's very dismissive of her and very eye-rolly. And I feel like for a first day on the job, I can sort of, I think maybe I don't think we're supposed to think she's pushy maybe. And I think if I were her, I'd be like, dude, I'm taking over when you're gone. You're making it really hard for people to take me seriously because you just keep rejecting all my ideas immediately. Dave: [10:32] Right. One of the first things she does is that clip that i butchered just for a stupid joke but right in the part that i cut out she's like i think we should put a memo out that people will stop calling this place the pit because it's bad for morale and he says oh you've been talking to the money people upstairs haven't you and she says yes so i think like that immediately puts him as an adversary because he's just like that is a deal breaker i'm not justifying that but i think that's like a cue to exactly what relationship is going to be at the start. Heather: [11:06] Yes. I'm hoping it gets a little richer. Tara: [11:08] Yeah, it also seems like a contrivance that this is their only time meeting, especially since she's not coming from another ER. It's established that she's coming from the VA where they don't, like, they have people walk in, but there isn't a proper ER at that hospital. So it feels like, you know, maybe they should have her there for a couple of weeks overlapping with him instead of just on his last day when he's already got a foot and a head unhelmeted out the door. But yeah, they do like to seed these storylines in the first episode, obviously with the shooter last season or the possible shooter, the suspected shooter. But I also I wrote about the premiere for GQ, which we'll link in the show notes, which gave me reason to look up the script for the pilot. And there was a line in there where like Langdon, the character played by Patrick Ball, who's just come back from rehab in the season two premiere. He's really eager to get started at the top of the shift and Dr. Collins, who did not come back for reasons. is like you're so enthusiastic it makes me sometimes think you're on drugs, they cut that from air wisely but clearly it was like it was there obviously from from the beginning and they wanted they want to start planting these seeds early so i think that's what they're doing with robbie too quickly. Dave: [12:19] On collins and this is a very minor spoiler i'm not going to give any details but they take their sweet time explaining what happened to her and And when they do, it's really like you see the cellophane of Poochie lifting off the drawing board. It's really just like, bye-bye. Tara: [12:36] It's very perfunctory, indeed. Heather: [12:38] Oh, that's funny. I'm surprised they even bothered. Like, at a certain point, do you think people just, people leave? Like, I thought, I'm curious if they do spend more time explaining why some of these people are still in the ER. Because I remember at the end of last season, everyone thought, well, some of them would be on different rotations. You know, they're based on where they are in medical school. how are they going to explain everyone being back together? And in episode one, yeah, in the premiere, they did not really do that. And I think that's fine. Like I honestly, unless you're a doctor, not that many people are really going to think about I don't think are going to think about that. They'll just sort of accept it that that's how it worked out. And I think maybe she could have just left. Tara: [13:14] Yeah. Dave: [13:15] You have to make some allowances for the fact that you're a TV show and you want some characters to stick around. And while the pit is praised for how accurate it is for emergency health care, they do have to make allowances for the audience needs to follow some characters through in order to feel the things they're supposed to be feeling. Heather: [13:34] Exactly. And you also don't necessarily... It almost feels like a note or something that somebody was like, no, we've really got to explain where she went. Everyone's going to wonder. And I'm like, are they? Dave: [13:43] Yeah. Heather: [13:44] She left and I didn't miss her in the last couple episodes. And I think we were fine. Dave: [13:47] Yeah. Heather: [13:48] But all it really does is dredge that up again. Dave: [13:50] A lot of returning health care practitioners, but then also some new ones. Do we want to talk about the new additions? Tara: [13:57] Sure. There's Emma Nolan is the new nurse graduate. So she's sort of shadowing Dana today. and this is her first day in an ER and she's got a lot to learn and she's very eager and Dana is very brisk but I think the perfect person to bring someone onto that on-ramp on their first day who's just gonna not sugarcoat anything and make sure it's clear what you have to do and what you have to expect. Heather: [14:21] Yeah. Dave: [14:21] Yeah, I liked her. Heather: [14:23] Yeah, she was good. Dave: [14:24] She has an arc that progresses quite fast in the first little chunk of the show, not in the first episode necessarily so I won't mention it but she gets tested pretty quickly. Tara: [14:35] Yeah. Heather: [14:35] Yeah. I thought she was good. She was too. I thought that was a good pairing that those energies went well together. And obviously there's the new, there's Dr. All who is the new doctor who, you know, is trying to implement patient passports and efficiency and different ways of teaching and kind of coming in like a wrecking ball. Tara: [14:51] Yeah. Heather: [14:52] Which many people don't appreciate. Tara: [14:54] Yeah. Heather: [14:54] But you know, I'm hopeful that because, you know, it's nice to have a woman in charge of this ER. I'm hopeful she comes in and then actually gets some people to respect her. I can't imagine that the show won't have her win them over. Dave: [15:05] There are moments where some of the other doctors in front of Robbie, not like to him as in an angry gesture, but they're just talking about her and they're like, oh, she seems great. I really like her ex. And you could see like Robbie's like, what? So they're not shying away from that. So I think that's good. Tara: [15:23] I mean, in a sense that we talked about when we discussed it last year in season one, that this is ER, but it's not ER, but it's kind of ER. She's sort of, to me, kind of a Carrie Weaver type. Heather: [15:36] Yes. Tara: [15:36] Where she's coming in with a lot of ideas and she just wants to be more efficient and people are dismissing her out of hand because she is a woman. But they also give her the storyline of like, look at these generative AI tools that are so great for doctors. And so it's like, OK, well, boo-hiss to that. Dave: [15:53] And as Tara was saying, you know, anything as heavily written as the pit is what side of the AR, AI divide they're going to come down on. Heather: [16:02] Yeah, exactly. Dave: [16:03] Yeah. And then they end the episode with a hint of something that's happened. She seems to be having a reaction, a PTSD style reaction to something. I have to say by the end of the ones we've been watching, it's a slow burn. I still couldn't tell you if I wanted to spoil it. I can't. Heather: [16:20] I thought that was interesting because as a cliffhanger for the episode, we rewound it and watched it again because we were like, did we miss something? Like they had test results and someone handed her, but on an extremely small piece of paper, it looked like someone passing a note in class or like a post-it note. I was like, is this how test results get passed around in an ER? It was like a, you know, two by two little thing. Dave: [16:38] Baby sick. Uh-oh. Heather: [16:40] Yeah. And they hand it to her and she looks at it. And then her reaction is the end. And you're like, well, did she? What did she? So it was really, I mean, that was a moment where I was like, I kind of want to watch the next episode, but it was late. Interesting cliffhanger because it wasn't a super clear cliffhanger. And it wasn't necessarily, I guess it was a little bit hooky, but in a confusing way. Right. Tara: [17:03] And it wasn't a moment that was just for the audience either, because she freezes and then the other doctor and nurse that are in there with her are like, hello? She's just stuck with whatever it is. Dave: [17:13] And then we have two student doctors, are they at this point? New? Tara: [17:17] New student doctors, Joy Kwan and something Ogilvie. I only ever wrote down his last name. Dave: [17:24] Curly Joe Ogilvie. Tara: [17:26] Curly Joe Ogilvie. Dave: [17:27] Yeah yeah he is definitely the villain addition. Heather: [17:31] You're supposed. Dave: [17:33] To not like him and why would you. Heather: [17:34] Yes snooty. Dave: [17:36] He's a know-it-all know-it-all doesn't really know it all so good job writing that character mission accomplished uh but i love joy joy is one. Heather: [17:46] Of my favorite things yeah she's really funny i do think they kind of already had that base covered with trinity santos where sort of she came in and she was cocky and she knew everything and he kind of wanted to scream occasionally so i'm not sure why they're going there again especially because she's still a little bit like that. Tara: [18:00] Kind of yeah. Heather: [18:01] It's a little better sensitive when she needs to be i guess as she was with the with the young girl who comes in and has clearly has bruises all over her body that are suspicious and is peeing blood in rivers i i'm not like expecting a ton of character growth in in eight months of time um but i was like okay we're back here with her and i don't know that we need another version of her, but perhaps there are only so many archetypes they can come up with. Tara: [18:26] She takes a journey. I'll say that. They do also basically confirm that she and Dr. Garcia, the surgeon, are hooking up because there's a reference to. Dave: [18:37] Toothbrush. Tara: [18:38] To Whitaker, who's living with Santos, that he uses other people's toothbrushes. Heather: [18:42] Oh, with the toothbrush. Yes. Okay. See, and that's the thing about the show is it's fast enough paced. I do wish I'd watched it twice. It's fast enough paced that sometimes you forget who you're looking at or who's talking. And then I was like, I was trying to figure out. I'm like, why? What is the toothbrush thing? And I was like, oh, it must be in like the doctor's locker room or something. No, no. That's good. I like that. Dave: [19:01] I really like Whitaker in season two so far. Tara: [19:04] He's he's made some leaps. Dave: [19:05] He is. Yeah, they're sort of like taking the good parts of the Robbie character and imbuing Whitaker with them. I think it's in the first episode where somebody does die on the table and he sort of takes over that tradition of, you know, here at the hospital. We like to take a moment and to think about, you know, the person that just died and Robbie is there sort of just like he just sort of sidles in and watches the whole thing. It was a very sweet moment, but I really enjoy it because like he is becoming an actual, you know, he's earning his doctor badge. Heather: [19:38] Yeah, I struggled with him a little last season. He was a little mousy throughout for my taste, although no pun intended. I think he was also the one who caught the rat. And I did like that. But I really liked how they, I thought that was a really good job of him. He's still the same person, but you can just see he's got his sea legs under him a little bit better. Yeah. And obviously I still want to love and protect Dr. Mel King with all of my being. I just please bubble wrap that child. I love her. I, the scene where she's treating a guy and he's cute and I think he's kind of flirting with her and she does not pick up on it. And then I can't remember what it is that he says that she finally just absolutely turns to him and her face just explodes. Dave: [20:17] I love Boba. Tara: [20:18] Yeah. Heather: [20:18] That's what it was. I love Boba. And she just like, I don't know. I was like, I want her to have a thing so badly. Dave: [20:26] The moment I really liked for her in the first episode where she realizes that Dr. Langdon's back and she gets really excited. And there's this excess of energy. She does this little dance before completely shutting down again. It was very sweet. Heather: [20:41] She is outstanding at the nuances of that neurodivergent character. and I just love her. I think she's great. I mean, obviously, she's got the acting DNA, but she is tremendous. So more of her plays and I know they will do it. Obviously, she's got this medical malpractice thing coming up and I'm very concerned about how emotionally challenging that's going to be for her when she has to. Tara: [21:03] Need to. Heather: [21:04] Pose and whatnot. Tara: [21:05] Yeah we also when it comes up all the other doctors are you know trying to calm her down and are like we've all been sued you're not a doctor till you've been sued the hospital will protect you this is i mean that was the line that was my alarm bell where it's like oh no she's gonna get thrown under some kind of a bus but all of them are reassuring her and then dr al-hashimi and i think this is a tiny spoiler but just says i've never been sued actually and everyone's like yeah okay thanks i think i do. Heather: [21:34] Think this show is enough of a show still to understand that like if they're going to bring langdon back after he stole drugs. Tara: [21:40] They're going to. Heather: [21:41] Protect this girl like they know they have something with this actress and this character so they're so i don't feel like i have to worry so much but i am so attached to her emotional journey that i think i will be very worried about her being sad. Tara: [21:52] Yeah multiple. Heather: [21:53] Episodes And even if I know it's going to turn out, okay, I'm going to be dying inside a little bit. I am curious how you guys feel about Langdon coming back. I thought that was an interesting story in season one. And I have to be totally honest that I don't think I would have cared if he had come back at all in season two. It might turn out great and maybe they might do great things with it. But it feels like a weird thing to me that he was allowed to come back after eight months after being on drugs and stealing drugs from that hospital. Dave: [22:18] Yeah, it does seem not plausible. And I will say they need to give that character something else. He just can't be the guy who did drugs. And I got to say, like, so far, I'm not seeing that in season two. So I think if Langdon is going to evolve into a doctor again or re-evolve back to a doctor again, they got to get on the stick on that because it's a little one up. Heather: [22:39] It was a little too after school special in this episode for me. Like when he sits down and with our favorite resident alcoholic, is it Louis? Is that his name? Louis is so upfront about, oh, I stole drugs from you and I stole and I did this. And he's like trying so hard to be. And I just, I just was kind of like, I'm not that interested in your redemptive arc yet. So it's interesting to note, but in fact, there is not really an interesting one coming yet. Um, I, that to me is a case of them wanting to keep that actor. And I don't know that we needed to do that. Tara: [23:07] I will be interested because, you know, obviously a lot of the coverage around season one was about the accuracy. We've already talked about that, but I, I assume there will be a blog post or an article coming about like, this is actually what happens when, because I don't think they fudge that stuff. And I think especially in a healthcare environment, a, it's probably pretty common that addicts are you know just trying to get through the day and steal drugs i you know i mean not common but i bet it's not unheard of and that you probably want if you're the pit to give the message of like there is a it's not necessarily going to end your career if you seek help wasn't. Dave: [23:42] That what nurse jackie was all about. Tara: [23:44] Yes okay. Heather: [23:45] Okay i think it would be interesting if they sort of show the process of a little bit more even if it's in retrospect i I don't know, I think. But you're right. I can't imagine them totally. Like, it's not like they're suddenly going to turn into a crazy soap opera. So they must have figured out that there was a loophole. I almost think you could get around it by having a character say, listen, since COVID, we've got a massive shortage of health care providers and nobody wants to do this anymore. So, like, we can't turn down qualified people. And that's a thing that he can be up against is that people are like, he's only, you know, he's only here because we can't get anybody else. Yeah. Tara: [24:18] Well, I mean, I think it is established maybe in a slightly later episode that he wasn't supposed to be on today, but Dana called him in because they were short because of the holiday. Heather: [24:26] Okay. Yeah. Tara: [24:27] So, you know. Heather: [24:28] Yeah. Dave: [24:29] Just a couple of things about the cases in the first episode. Tara: [24:32] Is this about the time you ate 12 weed cookies in a day? Dave: [24:35] No, but you know, there's like six or seven cases, at least in the first episode, some big, some small. But it seems the one that causes the most consternation to the whole ER is the homeless guy that comes in. Mr. Digby. Reeking. Yeah, Digby. Absolutely just smells like he's in triage and the whole triage eyes are watering and they're like, He can take my place. Please just do whatever you need to do for this guy. I would like to believe that is the American relation to Sir Digby Chicken Caesar from that Michelin Web show. That is my hope. That's somehow who he was named for. In an episode where all these disgusting things are happening, there's something called a lung flip at a certain part in the episode where they're actually turning somebody's like, it sounds like a Tony Hawk movie, like Tony Hawk presents a lung flip. but that was like the one where everybody was like oh my god that was the one that actually affected the people in er they're seeing all this other stuff every day but even that character in that arc was very sweet because he becomes he enters dana's sphere of influence and she's the most humanizing character probably on the show so that was very nice yeah. Heather: [25:47] I was just trying to imagine the casting process for that guy to be like we need to see you naked from behind and like how punchy can you be? How flappy are your cheeks? It was a very specific... And there's a very specific physicality for that part. And I was like, oh, I'm curious how they did that. Dave: [26:04] I think they probably opened up the book for people that were on Deadwood in the background. And that was because he looked like a kid to come right out of the thoroughfare. Heather: [26:13] Yeah, that was a good one. And then obviously the little girl with all the bruises, I knew she was going to be an ongoing character because I've seen her in a bunch of other stuff. Tara: [26:21] Oh, OK. Heather: [26:21] So I was like, oh, OK. She's like the child actor du jour. So she's obviously, I don't know how long that'll go, but we've got the concerns and she's been brought in by her dad's girlfriend, right? Not stepmother, but girlfriend. Tara: [26:33] Girlfriend of six or so months. Yeah. Heather: [26:35] Trying to explain where all of these injuries have come from is going to be clearly a multi-episode situation. Tara: [26:42] Sure is. Heather: [26:43] No spoilers. And then the abandoned infant, Tara Arellano. Tara: [26:48] I'm baby. Yeah. Heather: [26:49] That baby's real cute. Tara: [26:51] Baby's real cute. Heather: [26:52] It's not a robo baby. Tara: [26:54] It seems like a cute real baby but i did think it was funny when they're like the issue is whether this baby is over or under 28 days because that's the line for a non-criminal safe haven you know abandonment of a child and you just look at this kid and it's like this baby is five months old yeah on tv like you're not yes you don't have cheeks like that when you're anywhere near a month old i. Heather: [27:17] Don't you don't even have to cut the leg and count the rings. Tara: [27:20] Inside like that baby is not. Heather: [27:22] But I guess maybe because they don't know. Tara: [27:25] Right, right, right. Heather: [27:26] Pretend which i assume was the implication is that they were trying to pretend like well we have no way of knowing yeah we can't carbon date a baby no but yeah so so obviously yes obviously they're going right for the heartstrings with the uh the young the youngins in peril um see i know people hate when people use this phrase but it's competency porn like it really is you know in a in a and i say this a lot about other shows i watch too i'm like in a world where everything sucks and nobody knows what they're doing it is nice to watch a show made by people who are so good at what they're doing about people who are good at what they're doing and trying to do the right thing. So I think for as stressful as it can be, I highly recommend it as like it's a soothing experience in a way I didn't expect. Tara: [28:07] That and just to piggyback on that, in a time when medical information is getting harder and harder to trust from formerly reliable official sources, this is a show where every episode you will learn something about medicine. Heather: [28:22] Yes, and they're all good. Did you see the last thing? They interviewed, oh my God, what is her name? Shabana Aziz. She plays Dr. Javadi. They interviewed her on, I think, a local L.A. morning show. She went on this whole rant because they talked about how good everybody is and stuff. And she was like, okay, I hear this all the time and I need to tell you guys, no, Noah Wiley cannot intubate you. None of us can perform medical procedures. We are actors. No. It was really funny. Tara: [28:50] I mean, I'd let him try. Heather: [28:52] I mean, I'll say it. Dave: [28:59] Newfangled stories on my electric story box. All right, it's time to go around the dial. First one of the new year. We will start, as always, with Tara. Tara, what have you been watching? Tara: [29:10] Well, we're going to be talking on Friday's bonus episode, which is only for paid subscribers. XRHotGreat.com slash club to get in there. In that episode, we're going to be talking about some of what we watched on TV over the past seven weeks. But here I wanted to touch on a few of the comedy specials I watched because there were a few. First, Frankie Quinone's Damn, That's Crazy on Hulu. He played the cousin on This Fool, R.I.P. And if you liked him there, you will probably like this. It closed on kind of a down note. The special did, which in a comedy special I feel leaves me at least with the feeling that the whole thing was more emotional than it actually was. It is still mostly funny, but just sort of like, you know, I won't say maudlin, but like it was it was a dark way to close it. That said, still worth watching. Tara: [29:57] Then I also watched Kumail Nanjiani Night Thoughts on Hulu as well. there is funny stuff here but a a five-point refutation of mean things people said about him online after he said in an interview that the bad reviews for eternals not that he names it but that's what he means, is unbecoming for a performer of his statue, and B, reading off your phone to an audience larger than people at your restaurant table is one of the ugliest things a human being can do. When you see a photo of, like, people reading their wedding vows off their phone, it's, like, disgusting. Like, print it out, copy it into a notebook. Gross. Then I watched George Severus' A Sense of Urgency. George is one of the co-hosts of the podcast Stradio Lab, and I'm emphasizing the because when I've mentioned it before, people thought I was talking about Radiolab, which is also a show. It's not bad. Tara: [30:51] Stratiolab. It is one of my absolute top favorite podcasts since I started listening to it. I was primed to like this, and I did. He has a toffed off a side at one point about everyone in the audience having perfect politics that he punctuates with a wink. That's the kind of physical bit you don't get on the audio podcast. And having listened to George talk to me for hundreds of hours, I was very proud of him. This one is just for rent or purchase in the usual places. Definitely worth your $4. And finally, Sarah Squirm Live Plus in the Flash. This is on HBO Max. It premiered on actual HBO. I'm going to say is the weirdest thing they've ever put on the air. Sarah Squirm is also known as Sarah Sherman. She has been on several seasons of Saturday Night Live at this point, but obviously that show is not the right platform for her to unleash her comic persona, which is explicitly meant not to be just grosser than most women tend to be, but grosser than most people could ever think to be. She spends the whole hour being extremely off-putting, including with pre-taped makeup effects, including, well, I was going to say one, but I won't. I don't want to spoil it. Dave: [32:01] What's grosser, this or it, Welcome to Derry? Tara: [32:06] This. Dave: [32:06] Wow. Okay. Tara: [32:08] It's impossible to describe, but like horror movie level, tough to look at. It's not going to be for everyone. This special, it's not, it's also not the one I laughed at the most. That was George's, but I did laugh a lot. I really admired how literally unique and completely uncompromising it is. So, you know, watch the first few minutes. If you can't stand it, that's a good instinct. You can turn it off. Dave: [32:30] Break out your porous fleece blanket. Tara: [32:34] Yes there's a profile of her though at the new yorker that i will link in the show notes because it's very interesting it's by naomi fry and for my plug i'm just going to link to my author page at gq because i have a couple more posts coming this week but they are not up as of this recording so keep refreshing that page don't stop until you see new stuff you see call your parents call work you're taking some days off something about uh justin theroux and fallout and then something about the game of thrones prequel a night of the seven kingdoms those will both be up this week. Dave: [33:08] All right heather what have you been watching recently people need to know about. Heather: [33:11] I mean mainstream stuff i've been watching the new season of the traitors but you know i feel like everybody knows that if they need to see alan coming dressed like big bird they can go and watch. Tara: [33:19] That and it's magnificent. Heather: [33:20] And highly recommend but obviously like like 99 of the globe i've also been watching heated rivalry which is sexy hockey on HBO. And I've heard people, you know, the showrunner's name is Jacob Tierney, and he's Canadian. And he is also well known for doing two other Canadian comedy shows that I'd heard about, but had not actually watched. And so I was just curious, because there are so many wonderful things in Heated Rivalry that have nothing to do with the sexy hockey. And I was like, oh, I'm really curious what his other body of work is. One of them is called Letter Kenny, which is the name of it's named after the small town, I don't know if it's a real town, but it's meant to be a small Ontario. I didn't think it was a small Ontario community. It's a rural Canadian. Um, and it's about the, the people, the people who live in that town. And there's a spinoff called Shorzy, which is about hockey. Um, and it's a character who was trying to save his small town hockey team from being closed, closed down. And so I've been kind of sampling both of them. Um, I got further in Shorzy than I did in Letterkenny, I think. And it's fascinating because if you are also somebody who has watched Heated Rivalry and you admire Jacob Tierney's work. These are so different. Heather: [34:25] It is not like heated rivalry is universal feelings of like yearning and love. And I can't have that, or I can't publicly have that. I'm hiding who I really am and all of that, like things we all understand. And I think Shorzy and Letter Kenny are so specific, so specifically to specific to that slice of Canadiana in a way that I think is great. Like I think right for your, like, I think that's awesome. I think culturally, like they should, that that should be a canadian tv show it should be something that that people up there can see it is harder to watch if you don't. Heather: [34:57] Understand it or haven't been of it i think but it was fascinating i just everything from the rhythms of the dialogue to um the ways they joke around i think at the moment i prefer shorzy because i do i am a sports fan so like the the hockey of it all and the saving your team and like is very well done um they also have a lot of you know first nations actors in that show which i appreciate and it feels very realistic it's funny it's occasionally a little like crude or lewd for me, but sometimes just surprisingly quietly witty. And one thing Jacob Tierney does well across all those shows is music. I think there's a couple really good music cues. And at the end, the last episode of Shorzy that I watched in season one, he really nailed a music moment when the season is ending and it really got me in the feels. You know, it was interesting to watch him use the skills that I'd seen him own on one show very differently. But so it's hard to know if I would recommend it exactly, but it was really interesting. And I'm going to keep watching it just to see how it changes because as we all know from people like I'm sure, you know, shows tend to get better in season two and beyond once they really know the ensemble of what they can do. So I'm going to stick with them. Dave: [36:03] Our audience member often try to get us to watch Letterkenny and Shorazi. They absolutely love it. And every time it's put up for the canon or it's like a force inning, watch this, you must sort of scenario. We watch it and we're like, yeah. And then like everybody comes in like, that was the wrong episode. That's the wrong one. How dare they? So like, it's out there that perhaps we've been just watching the wrong episodes of these shows, but I could not get into one was like about fart book. And the other one. Heather: [36:32] That's the one I quit letter Kenny on was fart book. I was like, I don't love farts. And I don't think this is that clever. But I love farts. Dave: [36:38] But I still couldn't get it. Heather: [36:40] I recognize that like every episode, I think, had something in it where I was like, this is where I'm going to I'm going to get into the show. And then I wouldn't get there. They have one early on where they were talking about, because it's all these people who I think you're supposed to assume are rubes, and then they're sitting on their porch talking, and they're telling a story about someone getting his nuts torn open or something, but then it all becomes this dialogue about, well, if I'm... what my concern if my nuts were torn open would be. And it becomes them all dropping all these insane physiological facts about like what's in nuts and like what they do and like parts of the body. And it's just this very deadpan, super scientific conversation. And I was like, okay, that's surprising and interesting. And then they kind of got away from that again. So I, like I said, I don't know that I could recommend it to anybody except as a curiosity. And then maybe if you're me and you work at your computer all the time and you like to have a one eye show where something's happening next to you, it would be something you could play out. But I think you were right not to put it maybe in the canon. Dave: [37:34] You explaining the guys talking about nut carnage really just sounds like an. Dave: [37:40] Ultra universe king of the hill. Heather: [37:42] In fact, that's not a bad analogy, honestly. Tara: [37:48] Yeah. Dave: [37:49] So Heather, you've got your fingers in a lot of pots. Where can people pot you up? Heather: [37:54] You can pot me up at gofugyourself.com, which is our ancient now website where we talk about celebrity fashion so if you want to bitch about something somebody wore we are your people jessica morgan my co-author and i have uh we do the website together we've written some books together one one's called the royal we one of them the sequel is called the air affair there's some ya books we've done really lazy about writing another one because we also jumped onto sub stack and there's only so much writing i could do before i have to get up from my desk we have a sub stack called drinks with broads which is more of a wider pop culture net where we talk about a little bit of everything we've talked about obviously award season is going to be a big deal we do live chats for all the award shows we're going to do live chats for every day of the winter olympics the super bowl we also cover i've been watching a bunch of the oscar movies we cover auctions of crazy celebrity stuff jessica is going to be talking about the terrible emily in paris fashion soon we have a lot of fun on that and we have a really good commentary so you can subscribe for free or for a fee and there's going to be something in there for you. So that's at drinkswithbroad.substack.com. Tara: [38:55] All right. Dave: [38:55] Check all that in the show notes as well. Dave: [39:00] All right, let's talk about Bookish. This is a show that's been out in the UK for a bit, but just hit stateside. So Bookish is a very, I want to be Sherlock Holmes type of show. Usually the type of show I would describe as cozy and British, even though the show isn't really all that cozy. It's a bit flat and moody and dark. Have you heard about this, Heather? Bookish? Okay, great. Because I would love to explain this to you. All right. So the lead is Mark Gaddis. He played Sherlock's brother in Sherlock, et al. And he is a character. Guess this character's name. His last name. Heather: [39:36] Bookish? Dave: [39:36] Close. His name is Book. And guess what he does for a living? Heather: [39:41] He either writes or reads books. Dave: [39:43] He sells books at a used bookstore in the 50s, post-war London. Heather: [39:49] Fair. Dave: [39:49] Yes. Okay. So we've established that the show is called Bookish. The character has a last named Book. He owns a bookstore. What is the name of the bookstore? Heather: [39:58] Bookish. Dave: [39:59] Close. Books. Possessive instead of plural. Heather: [40:02] All right. Kept really wanting the title of the show to come back. Dave: [40:04] Okay. Now that all that nonsense is out of the way. Heather: [40:07] All right. I don't feel like they've done a very good job being clear about what's happening here, but okay. Dave: [40:12] I mean, really, the show should have been called Books! at this point. Tara: [40:18] Yeah. Dave: [40:18] So he is a used bookstore owner, proprietor, but most of his spare time is being Sherlock Holmes. He's a consultant detective to the London police. And there's always something happening in his neighborhood. I thought it was going to be much better than it was. It's very flat. Mark Gattis's hair is outrageously red in this. There's so much red dye number five sitting on the top of his head. Tara: [40:45] And his beard. I mean, his wig. Dave: [40:47] You're not fooling anybody. We know how old you are. The mysteries are split over two episodes, but they're not two episodes worth of mystery. I don't know why they made that decision except to be a little bit different, I guess. Maybe originally the idea of this was to be three movies a la Columbo instead of six episodes where they're doing more of a TV movie thing. But for whatever reason, this is where it's at. And it felt very padded. The most interesting thing in this first episode was the hint at a lavender marriage between him and the Polly Walker character. And they don't really dwell on it too much right now. Now, obviously, they're building up that backstory through flashbacks and whatnot. But Bookish, I think you can probably skip unless you're just totally out of the type of shows where vicars spend their time in between saving souls, solving mysteries. That's your jam. Then you might find pieces in Bookish that are worth your while. But overall, I was pretty disappointed. Tara: [41:47] Yeah, especially we had a house guest, Mark Blankenship of The Blankenship Chair, was here this weekend, and we showed him the first episode of Ludwig. And it really, bookish, I think, suffers by comparison. They're quite different other than both being cozy mysteries, but it's no Ludwig. Dave: [42:04] They do have this in common, which is something that I've grown to hate, which is the over thought out, computer generated, way too thematic credits to your show. In Ludwig, it's like this 3D semi Escher-esque world where Ludwig's silhouette is like running through crossword puzzles and Sudokus and there's like a bullet hole. And like bookish is almost the same. Like all these elements come out of the books, sort of like origami, but not really. They just like, it's so lazy. Like ever since Game of Thrones did their big The Living Map credit sequence, which I don't like that show, but that's a really good credit sequence. It's really smart the way they did it. I like the style. They've been chasing that ever since. And it's so lazy. It's like, okay, it's bookish. The guy's named Book. Open books. Things come out of the pages. Here's a hand. Here's a gun. Here's a bomb. Like what? What? Like, we've gone full circle now. I want a show that has the courage to do a credit sequence that's just scenes from the first few episodes they shot and they had to put together a credit sequence. I'm back there now. Heather: [43:12] So well, someone turns toward camera and freezes and they put the name on the camera. Yeah. Or they like surprise and then they smile. Dave: [43:20] Gimme, gimme, gimme. Heather: [43:21] Yeah. Dave: [43:21] I'm there now. All right. Heather: [43:23] That would be great. I also think we're at a, we are at maximum. We've been over served shows about average people helping the police solve crimes better than the police solve crimes. Dave: [43:30] Yeah. Tara: [43:31] True. Heather: [43:31] We need to back off, back away. Dave: [43:33] Here's a premise. Cops doing bad investigations for people that don't deserve it. The lead character is going in and fucking up those investigations. They are the monkey, you know, the monkey wrench. Heather: [43:45] Or the cop goes in and is like, I'm going to teach you how to sell books at your bookstore, Mr. Book. Better than you can do it. Dave: [43:53] Excellent. All right. Here's what's coming up on Extra Extra Great this Friday, as Tara was mentioning. It's what we watch on our winter vacation. So tons and tons of shows to recommend or not recommend between Tara, me, and our guest this week, Curie Race. That is available to all club members, of course. Tara: [44:09] And if you've been on our Discord, you know that Heated Rivalry, as just mentioned by Heather, is a show that Carrie is very passionate about. Heather: [44:17] Yay. We are recapping that on Drinks with Broads as well. People really want to talk about it. Dave: [44:23] Yeah. Tara: [44:24] They surely do. So we will be talking about that then. Dave: [44:26] Yeah. And then come back here next week. EHG Prime. Andrew Cunningham is back to talk about Star Trek Starfleet Academy. Dave: [44:42] Whee! And it's time for the Extra Hot Great Canon presenting this week. It is Seth. Seth, please take it away. Howdy. For your consideration, Series 1, Episode 6 of Guy Montgomery's. Tara: [46:47] I feel like everyone else in the room understood that joke. Can I please have the other fact? From the year 1922. Tara: [47:16] K-A-Z-A-K-H-A-S-T-A-N That is not how you spell Russia. USSR! They invaded the Ukraine, they're very mean. Are we not on their side? the next round is feelings wherein the comedians blindly feel objects like taxidermy chickens or. Dave: [48:24] As Melanie Bracewell experiences firsthand in clip two. All right, and it's going to set up this clip. The previous contestant chose from the audience a guy named Mark Twiddle and totally biffed the spelling of the last name. So Mel, who we're about to hear, picks a woman sitting next to that guy, hoping that that person is Mark's wife. Okay, what is your name? Linda. Linda? Twiral. Tara: [49:29] T-W-I-D-L-E, Linda Twiddle. Twiddle was right. Oh! Old Harold and Nancy! How do you spell your name? Dave: [49:47] With a Y, L-Y. Tara: [49:50] Thank you for that, Linda Twiddle! Oh, man, inducted into the canon, basically a gremlin from the movie gremlins in human form coreus perpetually vibrates with childlike glee even when unexpectedly slathering. Dave: [50:58] Condiments which honestly probably isn't all that rare for him clip three all right i'm gonna explain this one too the contestants have to blindly stick their hands in a box from the side and feel what's in there and then spell what they think they are feeling. So, so far, up to David, we've had a pumice stone, a taxidermy chicken, and a Monstera plan. And then David, at the end, as we're about to hear, gets a jar of mayonnaise, which he opens up and starts scooping out all over his fingers. If I keep moving it. Tara: [51:59] That is correct! Dave: [52:05] Careful, careful, careful. The guy just plunged his hand in a jar of. Tara: [52:10] Mayonnaise for one point. You felt I'm a chicken. In subsequent episodes and seasons, Guy Montgomery's Guymon Spelling Bee continues, Man, if I had a clip of guys saying sorry but we were looking for the artillery that fires iron balls, that'd be great. Thank you, Seth. Heather, you chose this from our list and I got the sense from your email that this was not a show you had ever watched before or knew existed. Heather: [52:55] Correct. And I was so charmed by the name of it. I didn't know what it was. I was like, I feel like I just, I need to know and if nobody else knows it exists, I want others to be aware. Tara: [53:03] That's great. Dave: [53:04] I wish more people would pick Canons based on that, frankly. This is great. Heather: [53:07] Yeah, I was super into it. And I think it's going to be interesting for me. I don't know how familiar you guys were with it before. Tara, obviously, you had heard of it because you told me you were like, oh yeah, it's charming. Dave: [53:16] Yeah, yeah. Tara: [53:17] We've watched it. We've watched the Australian version. we watched that season of we've watched every season of Taskmaster NZ so we saw the season that David Correos was on that Seth refers to Guy was also a contestant that year as well. Heather: [53:28] Okay and I I'm not familiar with that I would I'd never seen any of these people before so for me it was interesting because I'm like it's hard when you don't know all the episodes of a show or you don't know many of them it becomes a rough random on the show a little bit more it's almost like what you were saying with letter kenny where you're like is it the right but isn't the right episode maybe we just it's a really charming show it's really funny I it's funny to hear him, to hear Seth call it or explain that it was born of being a Zoom party game because the first thing I wrote down was that it's like, whose line is it anyway meets Jackbox games? And we all played, I think, Jackbox during COVID. And everything from the music and the way they do the slides that take you from game to game is very Jackbox. And so is the spirit of it. And I watched one other episode from, I think, the Australian version just to sort of give myself a grounding in it. Those were well-chosen clips by Seth. I think those were really funny. I thought that the moment with the twidles was of the spelling audience names i thought that was really a clever twist on that that she sort of was trying to go for the wife and what he what the clip we didn't hear was um that i think it was david went back to that row and picked someone sitting next to them who he thought was maybe a twidal son and was not. Tara: [54:36] No but that guy's name was david daniel armstrong. Heather: [54:39] Yes the celebration at. Tara: [54:41] That it's like yeah. Dave: [54:42] And then david does this like high energy octane run around the podiums because he just has so much happiness inside of him he cannot stay still. Heather: [54:50] It was like an orangutan gym like he was he was hunched down and like galloping along i don't think everything maybe works about the show in general and so it's hard to know if i'm holding that against the episode or the show um neither version of the show i saw i thought did i think the sidekick worked i find it sort of i don't think sanjay patel was the sidekick in this episode, I did not think that was a value add. And the sidekick in the second season that I saw, I just I didn't get that and I felt like it made it makes the show as a whole drag when you're sort of watching someone who is trying to play awkward or stilted or whatever and they kind of make fun of them and it's it feels like a very hangover like a very British TV thing like the like yeah Dave. Dave: [55:32] I agree that I think there's two weak points in the show, generally speaking, the format of it. One is what you're saying, the sidekick, because the rest of it seems like it's, I mean, it is unscripted, obviously. It's a panel show for the most part, but also that these people all know each other, right? I mean, it's a small pool of New Zealand stand-up comics. They obviously all know each other as friends, and it comes across in the show, like the way they're laughing. You can tell this is just a hang kind of session for them, right? The other part that I think is the weak part is that they end the game on just straight spelling. Like it's this buzz round. It's just a whole bunch of words on a theme and they just go through it. And it's sort of like is low-key denouement of the whole thing. So I do agree with your quibbles about the format. Heather: [56:22] And I thought flippity jibbit was a really good opening word to spell because I'm a pretty good speller. And I don't know that I would have gotten that one right. And so I think it's always nice when you see people get kind of their knees knocked out from under them. So it's a lot of good examples of what I think makes the show work. Am I sure it's Hall of Fame worthy? Not yet. Dave: [56:41] Okay. Well, will you ponder that? Tara, why don't you go next? Tara: [56:44] Yeah, I thought this was a great episode. When it started, I remembered which one it was. Not only because David Correa, who I love, was the returning contestant. But because there were so many moments that, you know, when you watch a bunch of these panel shows in a row, especially when you, as we often do, like three or four or five at a time, they sort of the details wash over you. But I did remember Guy pretending that David might get kicked off the show if he didn't have the big novelty ticket that he had won from the previous episode that gave him the right to return. Because they're not made out to anyone. It's just obviously the one prop that they keep passing through for the season. And the panic on David Correa's face when he thinks he might be kicked off is like very real and very hilarious, which you might not know if you didn't, if you hadn't watched him on Taskmaster NZ because he is hyper competitive, but also insane. Heather: [57:39] It was great. He was like, I don't know what's real. Dave: [57:43] And I genuinely can't tell if that was real or not. Like if it was real, that's really funny. But if it wasn't real, boys, he's selling it. Tara: [57:52] Yeah. Heather: [57:52] Yeah. Tara: [57:53] No, I think it was real. Dave: [57:54] I saw. I mean, I just can't believe that would be real that he would think that they're going to stop the TV show because he didn't bring the novelty giant ticket with him. Tara: [58:02] Yeah. There's also the Mel being very confident spelling embarrassed because she misheard embarrassed. It's a good one. Dave: [58:10] I got a clip from that chunk of it. So why don't I just play that here? Tara: [58:14] Sure. Okay. Mel, your word is, lined up that you're waiting to say. It's good. It's good when you reveal the magic. Sort of improves the trick. Dave: [58:39] And then she goes on to add letters to the word. Tara: [58:42] Yes. And then is horrified. And rightly so. And then the twidal bit is great. And the capper that the last person chosen is Daniel Armstrong. Two extremely easy names to spell. Is great. I agree. I don't think Sanjay adds a lot. But I like Aaron a lot better in the Australian version. I think he's pretty funny. I enjoyed this very much. The math round and the buzz at the end and the quickfire buzz round when one of the words they're supposed to spell is just X. I thought that was cute. And that one of them was like Guy's actual math teacher from when he was a kid is one of the things I had to spell. Dave: [59:21] Yeah, sometimes there's funny jokes in that spelling round, but I still think it's the weakest round. Tara: [59:25] Well, I like that it's fast. Dave: [59:27] Well, you also like the spelling part of the show, and I cannot spell worth fucking damn, so that part of it is just like, I need the comedy to go with it at all times. Tara: [59:37] I mean, I like the comedy too, but I also like the pleasure of being like, no. Great me, great me. Dave: [59:41] I'm ever so good. Tara: [59:42] Shaking my head when he got Fliberty Jibbert wrong, because, not to brag, I would have gotten it right. Dave: [59:47] The other part about that phenomenon that one of the contestants remarks on is like whenever somebody's in the middle of spelling a word and the letter that is the mistake, he says, I can always hear this very low key sigh from somebody in the audience telling me that they fucked up. I was like, yeah. Heather: [1:00:03] I also did like when David at one point started spelling something and then he was, he made a mistake and realized it. And he was like, control Z, Z, control Z, control Z to like undo. And they deleted the letters from the chiron on the screen. Tara: [1:00:15] That was good. But my favorite thing about this show in general, and we got a lot of moments of that in this episode, is what we heard in the twiddle round, which is like the huge ovation from the comics and the crowd at something as stupid as spelling the name Linda wrong when you're fully just guessing. The huge reactions to the most, you know, in any other context, completely inconsequential shit is what makes these panel shows so fun. So I think this is a great choice by Seth. Dave: [1:00:44] Yeah. All right. I used up all my points interjecting with everybody. The only thing I have left is one of these audience member in between all the ones that are supposed to be twidles she's like all right where are you from he's like i'm from new zealand to know where are your people from she says wales and there's like this two second silence where i'd be like oh fuck here comes all the l's and w's i thought was pretty funny so yeah i think this show as i said early on the best part of this show the best thing for making a canon case for it is that it genuinely feels like these are people hanging out. These are people that knew each other as friends. And you can tell sometimes, Especially when they move the proceedings to Australia, you can tell they're getting more general sort of B-list celebrities and the energy isn't quite the same. But here in this episode especially, you can tell all these people are doing the circuit together. They know each other. And they're not scared of making fun of each other. And they're just laughing their asses off. Like some of the laughter there you could hear is very genuine. And I like that about it. Tara: [1:01:53] Before we vote, I'll also say I'll put in a couple of the Zoom parties in the show notes if people haven't watched them. Dave: [1:02:00] Paula Tompkins is in one else. Tara: [1:02:01] He is in the one that we watched, which unfortunately had Blair Saki, who is like not my favorite. But I found another one when I was looking for that one, which is the guests are Lali Adafope, Aaron Chen, Rose Mattafeo and Paula Tompkins. So I feel like we should watch that one because that's a good that's a good lineup. Dave: [1:02:17] All right. Let's make this official with the vote. But Heather, you're a hemming and a hawing, not sure. What do you think now? Speak your truth. Heather: [1:02:26] I wasn't going to do it because I don't think they fix things that I find that don't work about it. So as a fulcrum for the show's growth, I don't know if I think it's that effective, but I'm going to give it to Seth that he chose really good clips and that the more that we've sat here talking about it, the more I've giggled at every little bit that we've remembered. In the name of getting people to seek out the show and try and treat themselves, I'm going to say yes. Dave: [1:02:50] Okay. Tara: [1:02:51] Yes, for me as well. Dave: [1:02:52] Yeah, I think it's pretty strong, but obviously not perfect. And as Heather said, room to grow. So... Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee, Series 1, Episode 6, The Patriarchy Hasn't Let Me Down. You are hereby inducted into the Extra Hot Great Kennedys. Dave: [1:03:24] Okay, it is time for Winner and Loser of the Week. Tara has this week's winner. Tara: [1:03:28] I do. It is The Lowdown, the FX show starring Ethan Hawke from Sterling Harjo, who created Reservation Dogs previously, has been renewed for season two. Very exciting. I thought season one was great. The Southwest version of a cozy mystery, except, you know, with white supremacists and stuff. I thought, I really enjoyed the show a lot. What do you think? Dave: [1:03:51] Yeah, no, I'm here for more season two. I don't think I would explain it that way. Tara: [1:03:56] Well, you know. Dave: [1:03:58] It's got like noir influences. Tara: [1:04:00] That's true. It is more noir than cozy. Dave: [1:04:02] Yeah. All right. I got the loser. It is the executives on Charmed, the original Charmed, who, according to Rose McGowan, would check her weight each season. Tara: [1:04:10] Cool. Dave: [1:04:10] Before they started, which. Tara: [1:04:12] Speaking of the patriarchy hasn't let me down. Dave: [1:04:15] Quote, they would circle around me to check my weight when I came back from season to season. I think it was just really inspecting their product. Tara: [1:04:23] Ugh. Dave: [1:04:24] And that's terrible. And I'm sorry she had to endure that. But checking a woman's weight against a duck is a common way to check for real witches, which is something to keep in mind. Tara: [1:04:34] Speaking of terrible things you have to endure. Dave: [1:04:37] Do you know what time it is? Tara: [1:04:38] It's game time! Dave: [1:04:38] It's game time! Welcome back to Game Time. Since Sarah is not here this week, it will be a non-regulation Game Time. Today we are playing Knock Three Times. It comes from David Ellis Dickerson, who earns himself an extra credit. The topic of their choosing, plus a free shirt or mug or whatever they want from the EHG store. If you want to produce that, get yourself to throughmethods.com. The questions in this Game Time are all knock-knock jokes, who answers lead to a TV show catchphrase that has been rewritten to sound as much like real names as possible. All the answers are written as three-part names and guessing is free. Sarah says the note, Sarah isn't here, but thank you for looking out for Sarah. If you can guess a related show after the first name is four points, after the middle name, three points, after the last name, two points, at that point you will have the full name to sound out. And if you still can't get it, I'm going to give you the name of the TV show. Your answer is the catchphrase that we're looking for. All right. We're not going to do steel mills. We're not going to do gross worth equalizer challenge zones. This is non-regulation today. 24 questions. Are we ready to play knock three times? Tara: [1:06:03] Yes. Heather: [1:06:03] All right. Dave: [1:06:05] We're going to start by going to picky. Oh, no, it's on a loop. Oh, we can't have that. My goodness, no. All right, that was just for Sarah. She's listening since she can't be here today. All right, we'll start with Tara. Here you go, Tara. First name, Dawn. You can guess at every level. We're looking for a TV catchphrase. All pretty well known, if you ask me. Dawn, we're going to ask for a quick guess or a pass, please. Tara: [1:06:37] Pass. Dave: [1:06:38] Dawn Ava. Tara: [1:06:42] Hmm don't ever something but i don't know pass. Dave: [1:06:45] Don ava cowman. Tara: [1:06:48] Don't have a cow man. Dave: [1:06:50] Don't have a cow man is good for two points from the simpsons all right that's how you play maybe i'll. Heather: [1:06:56] Get it now we'll see. Dave: [1:06:57] All right let's see heather your first name is winter winter like the vogue oh okay winter well that's just how you know you have to figure out what it means is. Heather: [1:07:09] It uh do i have to guess the show or the catchphrase. Dave: [1:07:11] Catchphrase uh. Heather: [1:07:13] Winter is coming. Dave: [1:07:13] Winter is coming is correct for four points winter s cummings thank you game of thrones tara yes a wanda a wanda pass a wanda b middle initial b, pass a wanda b leaf oh. Tara: [1:07:34] I want to believe. Dave: [1:07:35] I want to believe from the x files good for another two points we are tied up back to heather sasha is your first name sasha okay. Heather: [1:07:46] Um i'm gonna pass. Dave: [1:07:48] Middle name fine pass last name lancer, Sound it out. Heather: [1:07:56] Wow. Dave: [1:07:57] Speak out loud. It'll help. Heather: [1:07:58] Sasha, final answer. Is that your final answer? Tara: [1:08:02] Yay! Dave: [1:08:02] Correct for two points from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Tara: [1:08:06] I was like, sashay away is too short. Dave: [1:08:10] Tara. Tara: [1:08:11] Yep. Dave: [1:08:11] Clea. Clea is your first name. Tara: [1:08:15] Pass. Dave: [1:08:16] Clea Rice. Clea, middle name, Rice. Tara: [1:08:20] Clea Rice. Pass. Dave: [1:08:22] Last name, Fullerts. Tara: [1:08:26] Clear rights fullers. Clear rice fullers. Dave: [1:08:30] Fullerts. Got some T action at the end. Tara: [1:08:32] Clear rice fullerts. Sorry. Dave: [1:08:36] Heather just got it. All right. The show is Friday Night Lights. Tara: [1:08:41] Oh, clear eyes full hearts. Dave: [1:08:43] Yeah. Tara: [1:08:43] Can't lose. Dave: [1:08:44] Not part of the clue, but that's the end of that. That is good for one point. All right, Heather. Heather: [1:08:51] Yep. Dave: [1:08:52] First name is just the initial M. M. Heather: [1:08:56] Okay. Dave: [1:08:58] If you get it here, we're going to give you a million points. Heather: [1:09:00] Oh, that's so tempting just to say anything, but I'm going to pass. Dave: [1:09:03] Okay. M, middle name, coming, our second coming of the game. Heather: [1:09:08] M coming. Yeah. Oh, that could go in a lot of different directions. I'm going to pass. Dave: [1:09:14] Last name, Elizabeth. Heather: [1:09:15] Oh, I'm coming, Elizabeth. I'm coming, Elizabeth? I don't know. Tara: [1:09:21] Isn't that it? Dave: [1:09:22] You are correct. Heather: [1:09:23] Is it? I don't know what that is. What is that? Tara: [1:09:25] Sanford and Son. Dave: [1:09:26] Sanford and Son, Red Fox, having a heart attack, having one of his fake heart attacks. I'm coming, Elizabeth. All right. Good for two points. Back to Tara. Tara: [1:09:35] Yep. Dave: [1:09:36] Howie. Tara: [1:09:38] Howie. Pass. Dave: [1:09:41] Second name, Hugh. Tara: [1:09:43] How you doing? Dave: [1:09:45] That's good from friends. Three points. Last name, Doohan. Tara: [1:09:48] Sure. Dave: [1:09:49] Doohan. Yeah, good old Scotty. Tara: [1:09:51] Yeah, like James Doohan. Dave: [1:09:52] Yeah, James Doohan. All right, Heather, your first name for this catchphrase is Meta. Two Ts, of course. Heather: [1:10:00] Meta. Meta. Okay, pass. Dave: [1:10:04] Middle name is Link, like the guy from Zelda. Heather: [1:10:07] Uh i love that game metal link metal pass last. Dave: [1:10:15] Name is kids. Heather: [1:10:16] Uh-oh metal link kids metal link kids i love this game because when you guys are. Dave: [1:10:24] Saying all the words together there's so many people screaming at you right now. Heather: [1:10:28] I know i know that's what i hate about game times i know there's somebody at home who's like you dumbass this game especially kids um say oh i just say Meddling Kids? Meddling Kids? I don't think I'm going to get it, so just give me the show. Dave: [1:10:42] Okay, the show is Any Scooby-Doo Show. Heather: [1:10:45] Oh, if it wasn't being Meddling Kids. Dave: [1:10:47] Meddling Kids. Yes, correct. Back to Tara. Your first name for this catchphrase is Mo. Tara: [1:10:55] Okay. Pass. Dave: [1:10:57] Middle name is Menta. Tara: [1:11:00] Momenta. Pass. Dave: [1:11:03] Last name is Zen. Tara: [1:11:04] Oh, Moment of Zen. Dave: [1:11:06] Moment of Zen from Daily Show. Good for two. Back to Heather. You've got Avery. Heather: [1:11:13] Avery. Okay. Avery. Avery. Okay. Pass. Dave: [1:11:20] Middle name, Buddy. Oh, I wish my middle name was Buddy. Heather: [1:11:23] Uh-oh. Avery Buddy. Pass. Dave: [1:11:28] Last name, Lies. Heather: [1:11:30] Oh, God. Avery Buddy Lies. Everybody Lies. Dave: [1:11:34] You are correct. From what? From what? Do you know? Heather: [1:11:37] It's The Traders. I don't know. Dave: [1:11:40] No, it's from House MD or House. Heather: [1:11:42] I didn't watch that either, so that's good. All right. Dave: [1:11:43] I wish we could get an official declaration and just like choose one or the other for all references. Is it House or is it House MD? Tara: [1:11:51] On IMDb, it's just House. Dave: [1:11:53] I know. But on a lot of other things, it says House MD. Tara: [1:11:56] You're right. Dave: [1:11:56] I'm just saying. Heather: [1:11:57] It's important to note that he was a licensed doctor. Dave: [1:12:01] Justin, Tara. Justin. Tara: [1:12:04] Justin the Nick of Time. Dave: [1:12:06] Justin Moore. Tara: [1:12:09] Justin Moore. Pass. Dave: [1:12:11] Last name, of course. very famous last name thing just. Tara: [1:12:16] One more thing. Dave: [1:12:16] From just one more thing from colombo worth two back to heather first name key as in open the door with yeah. Heather: [1:12:25] Key all right well whatever pass. Dave: [1:12:29] Middle initial s keys pass last name mcgritz. Heather: [1:12:41] Oh, God. Kiss my grits. Dave: [1:12:44] Kiss my grits from Alice. Good for two. Tara. Tara: [1:12:48] Yep. Dave: [1:12:48] Leaf. Leaf, as in Scandinavian explorer type. Tara: [1:12:54] Leaf. Dave: [1:12:55] Leaf. Tara: [1:12:56] Yeah. Dave: [1:12:57] Pronouncing it leaf. Tara: [1:12:57] Okay. Leave no trace. Dave: [1:13:01] Longin. Longin. Tara: [1:13:04] Leaf Longin. Leaf Longin. Bass. Dave: [1:13:07] Last name, Prosper. Tara: [1:13:10] Live long and prosper. Dave: [1:13:11] Live long and prosper. Star Trek, the original series. All right. This one is for Heather. We'll take us into our score break. Your first name is Watt. W-A-T-T. Watt. Heather: [1:13:21] Is what I'm saying. What's happening? I don't know. I don't know. Dave: [1:13:28] Middle name, Utah. Trending state name, Utah. Heather: [1:13:32] That's it. What you talking about, Willis? Dave: [1:13:34] What you talking about, Willis, is correct from different strokes. Tara: [1:13:38] Different strokes. Dave: [1:13:39] All right. We need scores, please. Tara: [1:13:41] Okay. I have 14. Heather in the lead with 16. Dave: [1:13:44] Yes, that four-point answer early in the game is making a difference here. Everybody has five questions left. Here we go. Tara. Willie. Willie is your first name, leading to a catchphrase. What's that catchphrase? Tara: [1:13:59] Pass. Dave: [1:14:00] Willie. And we're getting a little Roman Empire here. Septus. Tara: [1:14:04] Pass. Dave: [1:14:06] Last name simply Rose. Tara: [1:14:09] Will you accept this rose? Dave: [1:14:10] You are correct from the Bachelor Universe. Two points. Back to Heather. Huey. Huey. Heather: [1:14:19] Huey. Dave: [1:14:20] Yeah. Heather: [1:14:21] Okay. Huey. Pass. Dave: [1:14:24] Middle initial D. Pass. Heather: [1:14:26] Oh huey d pass last name yut oh why u tt huey d yet yeah she oh my god huey d yet i star got it i just got it say fast you idiot you idiot ren. Dave: [1:14:50] And stimpy nicely done Thank. Heather: [1:14:52] You. Dave: [1:14:53] Back to Tara for question 17. Tara: [1:14:54] Spread it. Dave: [1:14:55] Dane is your first name. Dane. Tara: [1:14:59] Dane. Pass. Dave: [1:15:02] Middle name, Jervil. Tara: [1:15:05] Dane Jervil. Pass. Dave: [1:15:10] Last name, Robinson. Tara: [1:15:12] Danger Will Robinson. Dave: [1:15:14] Danger Will Robinson from Lost in Space. Back to Heather with Dawn. Heather: [1:15:21] Dawn. Okay. We already had a Dawn. All right. Dave: [1:15:23] We had a Dawn. Although technically the first one was D-A-W-N. This is D-O-N. Not that it makes a difference. Heather: [1:15:30] You know, it makes a difference on Guy Montgomery's Guymon spelling. Tara: [1:15:33] True. Dave: [1:15:34] That's right. Heather: [1:15:35] Dawn. Okay. Pass. Dave: [1:15:39] Mamie is your middle name. Heather: [1:15:43] Don't make me come over there. Dave: [1:15:47] Last name is Angry. Heather: [1:15:51] Oh, don't make me angry. Dave: [1:15:53] Don't make me angry from what though? Do you know what? Heather: [1:15:56] Absolutely. No, I don't. Dave: [1:15:57] You wouldn't like him when he's angry. That's the Incredible Hulk. Heather: [1:16:00] Oh. Dave: [1:16:01] All right. This is question 19. 19. You only have an initial for your first name. Tara: [1:16:08] Tara. Dave: [1:16:08] It is I. I. Tara: [1:16:12] I want to go to there. What if that was right? Dave: [1:16:15] That would have been really impressive. Middle name, Melissa. Tara: [1:16:19] I'm Melissa. Pass. Dave: [1:16:22] Last name, Ning. Tara: [1:16:24] I'm listening. Dave: [1:16:25] I'm listening. Two points from Frazier. All right. Heather. May. M-A-E. May. Heather: [1:16:33] May. Okay. May. I mean, pass. I don't want to make you listen to me think. Dave: [1:16:39] Middle name and maybe they're related to the car is kit k-i-t-t um. Heather: [1:16:45] Make it work. Dave: [1:16:46] Make it work from project runway three-point pickup nicely done tara yep nan n-a-n not a number nan, pass nan una nanu. Tara: [1:17:03] Nanu nanu from mark and mindy. Dave: [1:17:05] Nanu nanu nanu good three-point pickup up right in the heels of that other one. Nicely done. Nan Nuna Nu, Mark and Mindy. All right. This is for Heather. Eula. Eula is your first name. Heather: [1:17:19] Okay. Dave: [1:17:19] End user license agreement. Eula. By the way, if anybody listening is about to have a baby, if you name your baby after one of these names, you will get a free year of extra hot great plus. Tara: [1:17:34] Nan Nuna Nu. I want to see it on the birth certificate. Dave: [1:17:37] That's right yes you have to provide proof. Heather: [1:17:38] I'm waiting for sasha fine lancer i thought that was pretty good eula pass all right eula. Dave: [1:17:46] Kim kim middle name. Heather: [1:17:48] You you'll like him you look him um you like him pass tipping. Dave: [1:17:56] Back into our roman history. Heather: [1:17:58] Uh arvalis yeah, You like him. Dave: [1:18:03] Say it out. I'm not accepting an answer until you start saying it a few times. Heather: [1:18:06] I know. You look him marvelous. You're looking marvelous. You look marvelous. Dave: [1:18:12] You look marvelous. From Saturday Night Live, Billy Crystal. All right. Everybody has one question left. So I would like to hear the scores. Tara: [1:18:20] I bet you would. I have 23. Heather's still holding on to that lead with 25. Dave: [1:18:26] Okay. Heather: [1:18:27] That's tight. Dave: [1:18:28] Mathematically, anybody can win here. Let's see how it plays out. Tara. First name, first honorific, Sir. Tara: [1:18:35] Sir. Pass. Dave: [1:18:38] Middle names are N-T, just initials. Tara: [1:18:42] Serenity Now. Dave: [1:18:43] Serenity Now, three-point pickup for Seinfeld's cash raise. All right, Heather, your first name is Ida. Heather: [1:18:53] Ida. Ida. Okay, pass. To get it on this one. Dave: [1:19:00] Wanda. Heather: [1:19:02] Ida Wanda. Tara: [1:19:04] Now, you'll still win if you get it on the, when you hear all three names. Heather: [1:19:08] Ida Wanda. I'll pass then. I'll see if I can get it on the third one. Dave: [1:19:12] For the win, the last name is Knox, like the fort and the theme of the game. Heather: [1:19:19] Ida Wanda Knox. I'm the one who knocks. Dave: [1:19:22] I'm the one who knocks. Yes. That is from Breaking Bad. It is worth two points. Tara: [1:19:27] Woo! Dave: [1:19:28] Let's get the final scores. Tara: [1:19:29] Okay. It was very close. I had 26, but Heather never lost that lead. 27 points. She is our winner today. Dave: [1:19:37] Nicely done, Heather. Heather: [1:19:40] That was trippy. Tara: [1:19:42] Valued guest. Heather: [1:19:44] Valued guest. During that game, at times, I felt like the David from Guy Montgomery being like, I don't know what's real. Dave: [1:19:51] Heather's running around now. It's got excess energy. She can't help it. Well, guys, that is it for this episode of Extra Hot Great. We return for our booster shot of the pit with its second season opener before going around the dial with stops at Tara's comedy special roundup, Shorzy and Bookish. Seth's cannon pitch for Guy Montgomery's Guy Mod Spelling Bee spelled out S-U-C-C-E-S-S. We crowned winners and losers of the week, and Heather was the winner of this week's Game Time from David. Next up, it's what we watched on our winter vacation with Carrie Race. Remember. We're listening. I am David T. Cole. And on behalf of Tara Ariano. Tara: [1:20:37] If I keep moving it around, I think I can get a whiff of it. Dave: [1:20:40] The absent Sarah D. Bunting and Heather Cox. Heather: [1:20:44] T-H-A-N-K. New word. Y-O-U. Dave: [1:20:48] Thanks for listening. And we'll see you next time right here on Extra Hot Great.