Going Backstage With The Muppet Show

Dave: [0:13] This is the Extra Hot Great Podcast, episode 600 for the week of February 2nd, 2026. I am guy who's not canon, David T. Cole, and I'm here with Armadillo and a tutu, Sarah D. Funting. Sarah: [0:32] I'm not canon either. Dave: [0:33] Chicken backup singer, Tara Arellano. And best supporting actress, Adam Grossworth. Adam: [0:40] Olympia Dukakis. Tara: [0:48] Welcome to ExtraHot. Great for another week. Joining us, he is a theater professional, a podcaster, and a semi-professional Muppetologist. You have heard him with us many times before. It's Adam Grossworth! Sarah: [1:01] Adam! Adam! Tara: [1:04] We are, of course, here to talk about The Muppet Show's new special. The Muppet Show, a variety show in which a human special guest star hosts amid a menagerie of Muppets, had a beloved run on primetime TV during your co-host's formative years. This September will mark the 50th anniversary of the show's series premiere. So to celebrate, Seth Rogen has executive produced a special reviving the show. It drops on Disney Plus early in the morning of the day of this podcast episode's release. It will also air tonight on ABC the old-fashioned way. Writers include Albertina Rizzo of American Auto, and I love that for you, and Gabe Liebman of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Pen15. We might talk about any part of the special. Let's do the Chen check-in. Adam, should our listeners watch the Muppet Show special? Adam: [1:51] Yes. Tara: [1:52] Sarah. Sarah: [1:53] Yes. Tara: [1:54] Dave. it's a yes for me as well let's get into it adam what qualities would you say make for a good muppet show guest star and does sabrina carpenter the host of this special have them. Adam: [2:11] Backwards yes she does um you know it's a little bit ephemeral having having been through steeped in five seasons of the original show for a long time i think the biggest thing is a willingness to be game and do anything and to understand that the Muppets are real, at least while you're there interacting with them and treat them as such and treat everything both seriously and with deep silliness. It helps to be a at least double threat. I mean, certainly non-acting singers and non-singing actors did well on the original show. But if you've got those skills, it helps to it's variety show, right? So you're going to make for a better show. And I think she killed it. Honestly, I was only somewhat familiar with her before this and only as a pop star, not as a as an actor at all. I thought she was great. She got the tone. She knew where she was. She knew the assignment. And I was really just happy to see her both not take herself seriously and to be like fully in it. Tara: [3:04] Yeah. Sarah, we had contact with her acting career when we used to edit content about Girl Meets World, which was her breakout vehicle, even though she was not the titular girl, she was that girl's friend. What did you think of her performance here? Sarah: [3:18] I was not surprised that she nailed it. I mean, I think Adam is right that you really do have to give yourself over to the reality that you're in at that moment. And I thought she really sold it. I believed that she was a Miss Piggy fangirl. I just believed all of her scenes. She's that perfect like amount of famous and kind of famous that it's like she can actually back up the fame with some pipes. But then there's that secondary aspect, like Adam said, of like, are her eye lines correct when she's in scenes with all Muppets? Tara: [3:56] And they are. Sarah: [3:57] I thought she did really well at that. And I think she sort of exemplifies what this version of the show does well that the original also did well, which is that it's for kids, but then there's enough stuff for the grownups, including like some wink wink jokes that will go over the kids heads, but also a star who is like known to the grownups, but is like very bright and shiny and attractive to children and magpies. So I thought that was a good choice. Tara: [4:27] Old Man Cole, had you heard of Sabrina Carpenter before we watched this? Dave: [4:31] I think maybe I've seen the name, but I couldn't tell you who she was. Tara: [4:34] You thought maybe she was one of the Carpenters? Dave: [4:35] Yeah, I just, that's right. Or a carpenter. What I was surprised about, just looking up right now, because I was going to compare her, I thought she had like Dolly Parton energy. And I was like, surely Dolly Parton was on The Muppet Show. She has been with Muppets, but not on The Muppet Show, which is very surprising to me. Sarah: [4:52] Adam, is that correct? Dave: [4:53] Is my information correct? Adam: [4:54] Yeah, I mean, she, you know, who knows why anything did or didn't happen on the original show, but, you know, who they wanted and couldn't get for scheduling. But yeah, she should have been. Yeah, she should be now if they take this to series. Sarah: [5:04] Yeah. Dave: [5:04] And you're right, Adam. I think it's very key that the person has to be up for whatever, sort of like Saturday Night Live. You have to give yourself up to it, but then also believe in everything that is happening on stage. And she did both those things really well. And even like her song at the start in the bar, I didn't know what it was, but that whole segment worked for me as its own thing. Tara: [5:25] New. Dave: [5:25] To me yeah i thought she was a great first pick i also saw at the end she was an executive producer so i guess that was the price for her to. Tara: [5:32] Come on for. Dave: [5:32] The episode and she got an ep. Tara: [5:34] Yes so that if this wins an emmy she gets one right. Dave: [5:37] And she probably gets money from here to eternity if it becomes a series. Tara: [5:41] That too yeah for me for the moment at the end of the cold open where we see her and miss piggy after they've just met in her dressing room like in matching outfits doing the same pose it's like okay yes this this makes sense to me sarah sort of touched on this a little bit. We've had contact with Latter-day Muppets TV projects that have not lasted so long. Does this special kind of prove that they just really got the format right for TV the first time? Adam? Adam: [6:07] I think so. I hope so. And I sort of need to issue a retraction because I think last time I was here was to talk about Mayhem, wasn't it? Tara: [6:13] Yes. Adam: [6:13] And I've certainly said before that I kind of wish that Disney would treat the Muppets as IP, but stop treating the characters as IP because the characters are so closely associated with original performers. And more to the point, these performers are super talented and are mostly, I feel hemmed in by having to do these impressions. And, you know, I would love to see them get to do new things. And I still feel that way. I also was really skeptical of, you know, bringing back the Variety Show in 2026. And I've just never been so happy to be wrong. I think the writing, I mean, Jerry Jewell was the head writer on the Muppet Show and worked with, you know, the Muppet Show. And I think that's the the Muppets for like 40 years. So I think the writing is a really important piece of it too. And they got the tone, both of who the characters are and who the characters might be now, because they're not exactly the same. They have changed, they have aged, and that makes sense, even though they're puppets. But just like the tone of what the show should be without doing like fan fiction of 1976, right? It felt like it just the vibe was right sort of the entire time. And that's a thing that I guess I didn't think was possible because no one had really pulled it off before. And they did for this. Dave: [7:13] I don't want to cast aspersions on this head writer that you're talking about but i always thought that the muppet show was sort of a smoky marijuana's writing room kind of situation a hundred percent and here we are 2026 and who is running the show now is seth rogan yeah it has that energy to it is all i'm saying i don't want to say they're actually smoking no i mean. Adam: [7:33] Obviously i don't know for sure but no if you listen to there's a lot we talk a lot about like oh so this was a coke day and this was a weed day and wow it I don't have to smell terrible in there. Sarah: [7:42] This was a bourbon day. Dave: [7:44] Like, it's not cloying the whole Muppet Show franchise now, I guess. For my money, the Muppet Show is the Muppets. Like, I liked the first movie as well, but everything else I can kind of leave on the table. Personally, the Muppet Show was, like, seriously my jam when I was a kid. Like, never miss an episode. Even as a kid that didn't appreciate music, I was never into music as a child. Like, I would sit through it as well. I would enjoy those things too because there was Muppets in them. So I think this one really nailed all the mixes. It was a little weird seeing it in higher production value, actual dolly cams and cranes and all this sort of stuff. And it being, of course, you know, widescreen and all that and not shot on a video camera. But that's just where we are. And it didn't really take anything away from it. I was just first at like, ah, I can see again. You know, it was like wearing glasses for the first time. But I thought they nailed the tone for the most part. Like there was a couple of segments where I was like, I don't understood the rat dance thing. I thought that was a little bit one note and seemed a little lazy to me. But like 95% of this really hit. And I was surprised at that rate because historically in the recent past, we haven't been hitting anywhere near that for my money anyways. And I thought it was great. Like Muppet Labs coming back. It like took me back to being like five or whatever I was when it started. And I was like, oh, damn, I love Muppet Labs. Like that was my all time favorite because it was all sciencey and weird. Dave: [9:08] And that really did it for me, except it was weird to see CGI. Like they didn't use a lot of CGI, at least not in the way that you can appreciate that as CGI in this episode, which I did appreciate. But Beaker's eyes were the exception. Adam: [9:19] They would do green screen, like they would composite. And I actually wasn't sure watching that scene. I don't want to spoil it, but like that gag. I was like, is this CGI? I mean, it's obviously not happening like in the same frame, but it sort of could be like, oh, yeah, I don't know. Dave: [9:31] I see what you're saying. It could be real eyeballs out of a cannon, but they composited it. Adam: [9:35] But in a different shot. Yeah, exactly. And the HD piece was a thing I really appreciated about it. Like as a fan, right, that they recreated everything, not exactly, but sort of beautifully, tonally correct. Like the set looks like the set, even though it's not an exact recreation. And there are so many, there's so many performers as A. Like the original show, at least credits wise, like had five or six puppeteers and that was it. And sometimes you could tell. And sometimes they would just grab people to be like, here, hold this penguin. And if you look at the credits on this, there's like two dozen performers. So they've filled the frame with puppets. And a lot of it is Easter eggs. A lot of it is there's characters in this who don't speak, but who are just in the background because they live there and they should be there. And as a fan, the widescreen and the HD was something I really appreciated that they were like using the medium. Dave: [10:18] Yeah to. Adam: [10:19] Do those little shout outs without being annoying about them. Dave: [10:22] There's a tracking shot i think just before they do the final number behind and there's just like a whisper of phenomena you hear as the uh. Tara: [10:29] Oh i missed that. Dave: [10:30] The snow is that what they're called snowis you see them like just behind there's like the third row back in this crowd and just as they pan by here's something called yeah there's. Adam: [10:40] A great gag that i actually i missed the first time i watched it where um big mean carl who's not an originally the later character but i just love that puppet just eats a snoth. There's a whole scene happening in front of him. And he just was like, whoa, and eats a snoth in the background. I was like, that's a good piece of business. It rewards repeat viewings. Dave: [10:55] Well, since we're talking about actual segments, just to follow up on the Beaker eyeball thing, the end of that is he's shooting out just dozens of eyeballs for reasons. And one of them goes into the crowd and Maya Rudolph is in the crowd having a meet cute with the deep, what's that character's name? I've never seen him before. Adam: [11:11] Beautiful Day monster. Dave: [11:13] Okay, great. Adam: [11:14] Yeah, because it's from a sketch called Beautiful Day. He never I got a real name. Dave: [11:16] Okay. So Beautiful Day Monster, you know, they're sort of like getting to know each other. And then this eyeball from Beaker goes right in her mouth and she looks like she's died. And then something happens backstage. But when she is finally revived, she like tells this story about going to hell, which I thought was like, that's sort of why I'm here. Like, I want that sort of like devious, dark energy in my Muppet productions. I don't necessarily want all family friendly Muppets. I sort of want that thing where it's like, yeah, kids will love it. But then there's some dark shit for adults to enjoy, too. Tara: [11:49] Yeah. I heard the head writer Albertina Rizzo on the Bananas podcast last week. But she was talking about the first time on set when she saw one of the Muppets and like burst into tears. It was just so emotional for her as someone around our age. She's probably younger. But she also talked about how when you're writing it, like tell you there are things that Muppets don't do, like they can't be overly cynical or pessimistic, like within reason, obviously Statler and Waldorf can. But generally, like she just said, it's it was such a optimistic writing room versus the kind of stuff that you normally get when you're with a bunch of other comedy writers where it like it has to be at a certain level like you said that it can be dark but it doesn't have to be down you're. Dave: [12:31] Right accessibly dark. Tara: [12:32] Exactly yeah i would say second to the studio this is one of the most inside showbiz projects we have seen from seth rogan of late and i know that is a nod back to the original show too with you know kermit overbooking it everybody knows that sounds fun is a polite way of saying no and then fozzy fozzy having to tell seth rogan he's cut and you can tell yourself you're going in another direction yeah yeah that. Dave: [12:57] Was good yeah it was a dream for me to be on the muppet show you got any other dreams. Adam: [13:03] And that's kind of what i mean about the tone like i think a lot of those jokes like certainly my rudolph going to hell would not have been on the original show but. Tara: [13:09] But. Adam: [13:10] They feel like these characters in kermit especially like the return to frustrated kermit is a thing that i like because kermit has sort of evolved into this more i think saintly character over the years, but if you watch the original Muppet Show, he is the very upset center of the storm most of the time. And Scooter in his stage manager mode was great to see. There's a Gonzo running gag that I alluded to in my opener, but I won't spoil it otherwise because every time it came around, it made me laugh. And Dave Goels is the one original performer who is in this. He is 79. Tara: [13:41] Wow. Adam: [13:42] And Gonzo and Bunsen both sounded old to me. I found that sort of weirdly poignant. Tara: [13:48] Were we all satisfied with the mix of Muppets that we got to see here, or were there any whose absence or minimized screen time you felt shortchanged by? Sarah, you can go first. Sarah: [13:58] Not really. I mean, I was once again reminded that I don't really care for Miss Piggy. I get what she's supposed to be and do, but less Piggy is more to me. I thought this had a better balance than some projects, like some more recent projects that were sort of like, let's lean on the Muppets that everybody knows. And it's like, well, but she can be abrasive. Even as a kid, I didn't really care for her. But I felt like there was a good amount of chicken content that's always important to me. Camilla Forward is the sign of a sign of a good Muppets episode to me. What is the little shrimp? Adam: [14:39] Pepe. Sarah: [14:39] I mean, I love him. I thought he was used exactly. Tara: [14:42] That sketch was really funny. Adam: [14:44] Yeah. And I don't love him. And I thought he was perfectly deployed. Dave: [14:47] Yeah. Sarah: [14:47] That was exactly right. Yeah. I thought it was good. And I thought that speaks to sort of what we've been saying all along. this idea that they finally figured out the way to reboot this is to not reimagine it as like a podcast or like a vlog, like just do what you did. before, because that's who wants to watch this is people who watched it before. So just lean into the this won't hurt me at all. But like Catskills vibe, that's what works. Dave: [15:18] Yeah, it's a vaudeville show. So everybody is always running around at 11. And that's just the nature of the production. So out of that, you get what is the essence of The Muppet Show to me. Tara: [15:28] Dave, was there anyone you missed? Dave: [15:30] No, they put in my all time favorite Muppet guy, which was the newsman. Tara: [15:33] Oh, yeah. Dave: [15:34] I was happy to see the newsman because he was always my favorite. Is the newsman, is he also the newsman of Newsflash on Sesame Street? Is he the same character. Adam: [15:43] Canonical? No. Dave: [15:44] No. Adam: [15:44] That's a different dude. Dave: [15:45] That's a different thing. Adam: [15:46] I don't know his name. Dave: [15:47] But yeah, very happy to see the newsman. And the way he reports on the event that happens backstage, and it's a good joke, so I don't want to ruin it. But the way he described it actually made me laugh out loud. It was so stupid. In regards to Maya Rudolph. Tara: [16:01] Adam. Adam. Adam: [16:02] There are so many. And being the nerd that I am, I have weird, niche favorite characters. I was so delighted to see Hilda, the wardrobe lady, interacting with chickens. So good job all around. Actually, what was notable was who wasn't there complimentary. I actually don't mind Walter, but they were trying to make Walter happen in those new movies. Sarah: [16:19] Walter's not here. Adam: [16:20] They didn't try to shoehorn anybody in. It was just nice to see Uncle Deadly is in the background. He doesn't have any lines, but he's there. So if this goes to series, we know that our friends are all around. Dave: [16:30] I mean, it didn't seem sparse, right? It seemed packed. It seemed like they had a full house, yet they still have such a back bench to go to if it gets picked up to series. So they made the right choices, I think. Tara: [16:40] I think so, too. Speaking of it going to series, though, who would be on everyone's hosting wish list? And while you think about it, I'll give you mine. Dave: [16:48] I got a list, too. Tara: [16:49] Okay, good. John Early, Regina Hall, Manny Jacinto, Janelle James from Abbott Elementary plays Ava. And then I have any or all of the scars guards have them to have the most as a team or any individual one would be fine with me. And I'll just say this week, it's sad we won't get to see Catherine O'Hara do it. Adam: [17:08] Yeah. Tara: [17:10] Dave. Dave: [17:11] Well, I made this list before Adam came on and like really sold how well a double threat will work. So these are not double threats, I think, for the most part. But I think they would do well in sort of the Mark Hamill-y kind of guest starring role. either and or Greg Davies or Alex Horn sure my preference would be Greg Davies because he's like an angry man and I think that plays really well the Muppets Michelle Yeoh Paul F. Tompkins, of course, not big enough for this, but I would love to see him. Idris Elba. He's actually a very funny guy. Tara: [17:41] Ooh, I like that. Dave: [17:42] This is a bit off model, but I would love to see it. Hiroyuki Sanada from Shogun. Sarah: [17:49] Yes. Tara: [17:50] Sure. Dave: [17:51] Charlize Theron. Sarah: [17:52] Emma Stone. Dave: [17:54] Ben Kingsley, recently of Wonder Man. Jeffrey Wright would be great. Just because we need to help him never not be working, Jack Wade. Tara: [18:03] Sure. Sarah: [18:03] I was going to suggest him. Yep. Dave: [18:06] Sigourney Weaver. And even though he's not really in the public eye that much these days, I kind of want to see David Schwimmer on this show. Tara: [18:13] Okay. Dave: [18:14] Yeah. Tara: [18:15] Sarah. Sarah: [18:15] B.B. Neuwirth. Tara: [18:17] Oh, yeah. Adam: [18:18] She's on my list. Tara: [18:19] Great one. Sarah: [18:20] David Hyde Pierce. Tara: [18:21] Yep. Sarah: [18:21] And Emma Thompson. And they can all be a character from the Frasier-verse. Tara: [18:27] As far as I'm concerned. Adam: [18:28] Yep. Tara: [18:30] Adam. Sarah: [18:30] What's my list? Adam: [18:31] Cyndi Lauper. I had BB on my list as well. Sutton Foster. Donna Murphy. I mean, the whole cast of The Gilded Age, basically. Tara: [18:38] Yeah. Sarah: [18:38] Yes. Adam: [18:39] Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Cynthia Erivo, together or separately. Chaple Rhone. Lady Gaga needs to redeem herself from that terrible special that she did with them many years ago. I mean, it's not her fault. Sarah: [18:50] Yeah, she does. Adam: [18:51] It wasn't her fault. Therefore, I want to see her try again. David Cornswit. Ariana DeBose. I mean, I could keep doing this all day. Like, there's so many people. And there's a decent number of original guest stars who are still not only alive, but working. And it might be fun. Just Mark Hamill, you've already mentioned. Tara: [19:09] Bernadette Peters, right? Dave: [19:10] Steve Martin. Adam: [19:11] Bernadette Peters, Steve Martin, Julie Andrews, Carol Burnett. I mean, Liza probably can't anymore. But there's a decent list out there of people who could do it. Paul Simon might just be fun to do the throwback version. Tara: [19:25] Well, here's hoping we get to see it. Dave: [19:37] It is time for Around the Dial, talking about what we are watching lately on television. First stop, as always. Adam: [20:24] Can't shoot water up my asshole but uh it's it's pretty great. Tara: [20:28] If you're not using the feature that shoots water up your hole what is the point of a japanese toilet that's what regular toilets do that's what bidet means right anyway there's so. Adam: [20:43] Much worse than i imagined it would be. Tara: [20:44] There's 40 more minutes after that that is the cold open of the first episode of the pete davidson Show, a video podcast on Netflix with no RSS feed. So that's not a podcast. It's shot in what is either Davidson's actual garage on Staten Island or a set made to look like it is. There's a pair of recliners and cheap, shitty slip covers and a couple of paint cans stacked between them as a side table with the fullest ashtray in the universe on top. And I expected a couple of huge mics on booms like I see in clips of video podcasts, because that's the only way I see video podcasts. I only listen to actual podcasts, but they just have love mics gaffer taped to their shirts. Davidson's first guest is his dear friend, Machine Gun Kelly, with whom Davidson has gotten into all kinds of drunken or high shenanigans. They are both sober now or in recovery, but they recount these stories at length. And it's not for me to judge how people in recovery talk about the anti-social things they did when they were using. And I'm not, other than to say, those stories were a lot less delightful to me than they were to Davidson and Kelly. And also, considering storytelling is presumably part of Davidson's job as a comic, he is terrible at it. There just seems to be no sense that anyone's ever going to watch this conversation. So a story about hassling someone they know called Orly when they were all staying in the same hotel doesn't include an explanation of who that is. Tara: [22:13] We've already talked about the cynicism of Netflix classifying this show as a video podcast, presumably to get around what the various crew unions would require if it were correctly identified as a talk show on television. On top of that, it probably wouldn't be so off-putting if it were actually just an audio podcast in the sense that any one of us would think of it, because what we would not see would include both of their tooth choices. Davidson has huge veneers. Machine Gun Kelly has both semi-permanent vampire fangs and a tooth gem. We would not see Kelly's dumb JNCO-style jeans with what look like Iron Cross denim appliques all over them. Both of them chain-smoking constantly so much that my eyes convinced my brain I could smell it, which gave me a headache, and that's not a joke. It really happened. and just how generally unhealthy they both look. Like, I didn't want to see them smoke. I wanted to see them drinking water. If you are already a Davidson fan, I guess this is the kind of thing you want more of. And if he were doing anything that smacked of effort, it would feel like it was inauthentic to a fan. Or I imagine that's the sort of thing he told any Netflix executives who asked whether he planned to do a segment or research or anything. Dave: [23:31] But speaking to that, That set was the equivalent of going to one of those like country barbecue places where they buy everything they put on the walls from some manufacturer in Kansas. And it's just all new shit that made it look old. It was like that, like the set where they're in somebody's garage and for some reason all the windows are frosted. You can't see outside and the table between them is a paint bucket turned upside down. Like, oh, God, you're trying way too hard to sell this. Tara: [23:59] The closest that I got to an idea behind this thing is over the closing credits, Davidson tells Kelly that Netflix was letting him shoot from home so he could be close to his new baby daughter. Like. Cool. I would love to know if you're taking a shower before you get near her after this, Nicotino. But clearly, this is not for me. Davidson is not likable. He's not doing anything here to win over anyone who's not already on board. I shudder to think what the show is going to be like whenever he runs out of friends to talk to and they're booking like Henry Louis Gates or a John from the Pod Save universe. But anyway, maybe Davidson will quit before it comes to that. he does love to quit. This show is unsurprisingly very, very bad. Don't watch it. And anyone who tells you, no, it's actually pretty good, they're wrong. Adam: [24:44] What if he had Jenny and Tori on? Tara: [24:46] All right. Well, I would have to watch that. Sarah: [24:48] Yeah, exhibit A. Tara: [24:49] He doesn't know who they are. He's too young. Sarah: [24:51] No, no. Tara: [24:52] For my plug, I'm going to plug the Listen to Sassy Club. ListenToSassy.com slash club. We are getting into the August 91 issue. We're about to talk about a lot of really fun stuff. Dave: [25:05] Last episode went off the rails. Tara: [25:08] It really, really did. Dave: [25:10] Sometimes when it goes off the rails so much, I'm like, I'm not editing this anymore. It's just going up raw. Adam: [25:14] So that's what I do. As a listener, I can tell you, that's appreciated. Tara: [25:17] Well, the next episode will include the cover story on Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. They were the cover boys of the August 91 issue just in time for Bill and Ted's ex... Oh no, it would be Bogus Journey by then, I guess. Sarah: [25:31] Yeah, I think so. Tara: [25:32] So we'll be talking about that and a lot more. So listen to sassy.com slash club and that link is in the show notes. Dave: [25:40] All right, Mr. Grossworth, what do you have for us? Adam: [25:42] You guys have talked about everything good or quote unquote important that I watched. So I'm going to shine a light on a show called Ugliest House in America. You know, it's on HGTV and there is a glut. So I feel like people maybe don't know about it, but it's streaming on HBO Max. And I guess Discovery Plus is still a thing. In this show, host Retta travels the country to find the ugliest house in America. They are currently on season seven somehow. She does three houses per episode broken up into sort of loosely defined geographic regions. In the first season, it was actually like there was something sort of interesting about multiple people's story was, oh, we saw this house online, and we could afford it. And we've been trying to buy a house for years. So we just bought it. And we were sure we could fix it up. And oh, my God, help us. Adam: [26:25] The winner of The Ugliest House in America at the end of the season gets a makeover from Alice in Victoria. I think in the end, they are picking the house that they are most able to make over or most willing to make over versus the actual ugliest, because some of them have real structural issues that you're never going to fix on a HGTV show. But it's fun to gawk at these weirdo houses. There's also a spooky season spinoff called The Scariest House in America. A lot of folks now, I think, are just trying to promote their Airbnb at this point. But it's still fun to see them. And the makeovers are also fun. But up until the season finale, it's basically like an HGTV show that all reveals. The whole point is to look at these weirdos. But the real secret sauce for me is Retta, who I could take her leave on Parks and Rec, but she was born to do this. She is so good at this. And because she's interacting with real people in a largely unscripted way, she is exceptional at both putting them at ease and making fun of them at the same time. And her reactions to the things she is, the bathrooms she is forced to see, for example, feel extremely genuine. And maybe it's the 10th take. I don't know. I don't care. I could watch her do this forever. I want her to host literally every show like this for the rest of time. Dave: [27:34] Way back in episode 417, we talked about the start of the show. And yeah, I think we were all charmed by her hosting. And I remember there was one house. It was sort of like a ski house design, except all the owners that decided to add their own something or other to it. So it was like this Franken thing. It was like the Hick version of the Winchester house. It was just like, how do I get here? I don't know. You got to go through the path between the walls and then you will pop up in the basement somehow. It was like one of those. And she was just having the time for life like slagging on it. And yeah, it was it's a fun show. Tara: [28:11] Mm hmm. Adam: [28:12] I thought I'd brought you something you hadn't talked about. And that episode's probably why I started watching and I just forgot. So there you go. Dave: [28:19] What do you have to plug for us, Ed? Adam: [28:20] Well, I have a podcast called Muppetergy. So if you want to hear a much deeper, some might say too deep dive into the Muppet Show special, we have an episode also dropping today where we do just that. We recapped and analyzed and did historical research on every episode of The Muppet Show. We have finished that project, but we're still going with sort of adjacent variety show, 70s and 80s weirdness. We did an episode on the Star Wars Holiday Special. We have one coming up soon on the Bebe Beagle Show, a failed Hanna-Barbera pilot. Tara: [28:51] Whoa. Adam: [28:51] And we are sort of slotting various Muppety things in there, like our very special episode coming out today. Dave: [28:57] Muppeturgy.com. Adam: [28:58] Yes. Dave: [29:01] All right, Sarah, what do you have for us? Sarah: [29:03] I have conspiracy theories. Or do I? Yes, I do. That extremely vague title is a podcast turned show on Netflix. Speaking of possibly maybe allegedly trying to get around union mandates for pay and crew, I did not get through an entire episode of conspiracy theories. Again, it's on Netflix. It addresses various conspiracies. I went with the JFK one, namely Ben Bradley's sister-in-law and JFK's lover, Mary Meyer, who was murdered in 1964. I didn't know as much about that part of the case as I wanted to. I had never heard of the host of this, Carter Roy. He's apparently a UCB vet and hosts a bunch of these podcasts. But Netflix sent me a push notification, and I was like, all right, well, they know me, So maybe this is the pod to vid conversion that can justify its existence. Sarah: [30:01] No. Strike one was that Carter Roy is fine, but you really see a lot of him. It's like him talking and he like, again, he's good and engaging, but then every minute or minute and a half, there's a photo. Is this better or worse than the usual using the same five to seven photos and pan and scanning them or flipping them and like the repetition that I usually will gig an oxygen true crime show for? I don't know. It's just different, but it's also kind of bad and suggests that this didn't need to be a TV show. Strike one and a half was the rebranding of this podcast or sort of re-containerizing of it as a video show. Sarah: [30:45] Strike two was that there's a neighborhood play nature of certain assets that they use that I know for a fact came from one time. The writing is saying that it came from another time, like same months, different year. That made me wonder who this was for. And then strike three was like the tiniest little thing, but it was referring to LBJ as the acting new president. And it's like, that's, I mean, currently, that's not how constitutional succession works. He was the president. Sarah: [31:22] And by that time, 1964, he'd been the president for a year. There was just something about that that was like, if you don't care about the accuracy of these little things, what else didn't you care enough to edit or research? Sarah: [31:38] And this is just the larger problem with this product is that it's product. I think Carter Roy, the host, actually cares about it and is interested in his topic and cares about the story and bringing it to people. But I think at the executive streamer C-suite level, it's a thing to have on. It's like background plus is what I called it in my review. A second screen, if it's lucky, it's not really for case heads. It's not really for researchers. It's white noise or whatever the true crime equivalent is. Red noise. I mean... it's the difference between telling a story and extruding some content. And I feel kind of bad for the host and the writers, because I think they probably wanted more from this and wanted more literal eyeballs on what they were doing. And that's not what Netflix thinks it's for at all. Netflix doesn't actually care what it's for. It's just clickbait, package, seal it with a hairdryer out the door goes. So yeah, conspiracy theories, at least the Mary Pinchot Meyer episode, not worth your time. I got into it a little bit more on bestevidence.fyi in my review, and you can read that review and all the other ones that we've done of true crime properties that are and are not worth your time right there. Bestevidence.fyi. Dave: [33:07] All right, here's what's coming up on Extra Extra Hot Great this Friday. It is Celebrity Bowling. That's right. It is the February four sitting pool selection in which we go back to, I'm going to guess, the 1970s or early 80s and talk about celebrity bowling. That is available to all club members. You can go to extrahotgreat.com slash club to join and then come back here next week. EHG Prime will be talking about The Burbs. That is a new Peacock series based on the movie, I assume. Tara: [33:37] Yes. Dave: [33:37] And we welcome new guest, Matt Monigle. Tara: [33:41] Woo! Dave: [33:48] It is time for the Extra Hot Great Cannon. Presenting this week is our guest, Adam Grosworth. Take it away. Adam: [33:55] Staying in the mid-80s after my last Cannon submission, I bring you L.A. Law, Season 1, Episode 17, or 16, depending on where you look, entitled Beef Jerky, which originally aired on February 5th, 1987. For listeners who may not know, L.A. Law was created by Stephen Bochco, who broke ground in the 80s with shows like Hill Street Blues and, well, Cop Rock and Doogie Hauser, M.D. The man contained multitudes. Hill Street Blues was particularly influential, taking the police procedural and adding multiple interconnected storylines to each episode, as well as ongoing arcs and soapier elements about the characters' lives. Bochka applied that formula to the legal drama to create L.A. Law. This episode was co-written by David E. Kelly, who would go on to create Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Picket Fences, and more, taking Bochka's formula and adding more comedy and absurdity. This episode is a perfect blend of their two styles and the moment when, for me, L.A. Law really becomes L.A. Law in its first season. But before we get into all that, let's set the mood. Clip one, please. Dave: [35:14] Why aren't we a video podcast i asked. Adam: [35:16] I don't know i wish i wish we were because dave dave just did a little dance everybody it was amazing so yeah we're not doing a theme songs tiny canon here but come on yep in the a plot which content warning i guess is bleak as hell victor safuentes with junior associate abby perkins as second chair is representing a family who lost a child in a car accident clip two. Tara: [36:03] What about the emotional distress claim for the boy's sister? Well, they offer $10,000. I'm looking for. Adam: [36:15] She has to live with that for the rest of her life. And they think the tax code doesn't make sense. After some especially brutal testimony from the teenage daughter, the defense offers a settlement and the family has to decide if they want to take it. It does not go well. Clip 3. and maybe if you could have forgiven then this family could have gotten past it how can. Adam: [37:12] And I can't come to breakfast in the morning unless I'm smiling? Like I said, that's rough. But it's important. It tells the audience a lot about the fucked up legal system and how our main characters are doing their best to work within it for good, or at least not terrible outcomes. Wildly shifting gears, any show like this is going to give us character actors and hey, it's that guys galore. The C-plot gives us our two most recognizable ones as divorce attorney Arnold Becker represents 30-something's Patricia Weddick in what seems like a fairly straightforward breakup. Arnie's cases tended to be a good place for some comic relief, with Arnie himself not being seen as a terribly serious person. But we're also a source of emotion and sometimes melodrama due to the nature of divorce. This one is both as Arnie is approached by a private investigator looking for clients played by the great Cheryl Lee Ralph. Clip four. The husband turns out to be a real piece of shit. Clip five. Tara: [38:25] If I take what little consolation life has to offer me in the arms of a woman. Adam: [38:44] It. Oh, you malignant bastard. I hate you! This escalates so quickly to the point where she pulls a gun from her purse and shoots her ex. It's over the top, but Arnie is rattled, realizing that he, like Victor, pushed his client too far and someone could easily have died. But the main event of this episode for me involves ADA Grace Van Owen, who is viewed by her colleagues as a humorless bitch. The writing and acting do a good job of conveying that this is misogyny, but also that she kind of is a humorless bitch. She's assigned a case as a sort of hazing upon her return to the day shift from a brief exile in Night Court, a theft of property worth $100,000. Clip six. it's a bit unusual what this guy stole but we figured if it's up anybody's. Tara: [39:39] Hilarious about a hundred thousand dollars theft bull semen oh yeah the guy knocked over a sperm bank, 15 grand a pint. Go get him, Gracie. Bull semen. Adam: [39:56] That was actually the cold open, so that goes right into the saxophone, which, perfect. Grace does, in fact, treat the case with total seriousness in the courtroom. A law was broken, the breeder's livelihood was threatened, but no one involved here is made of stone. Clip 7. Adam: [40:49] I don't know if counsel in my chambers was yet the cliche that it would become, but I love that LA law is twisting it a little bit halfway through its first season. So after some more semen shenanigans, Grace gives her closing argument and sums up her philosophy and maybe the show's clip eight. Adam: [42:02] These storylines could feel like they're from different shows, but they work well together. Cutting from the scene with the family to closing arguments in the bull case could cause tonal whiplash, but somehow it doesn't. This is life, and these are different parts of the legal system. Victor and Grace could switch cases, and they'd each take them just as seriously. All three cases also show character development on this still young show. Each lawyer is unique in how they work, and each learns something from their case. Abby appears naive when Victor tells her he needs to use their client's pain on the stand, but in the end, he feels bad for pushing them, but that's also probably what got them the settlement. Grace is serious, and that's what makes her such a good lawyer, but we also get to see a side of her we haven't seen yet. Even the non-legal deplot that I didn't bother to clip about Abby looking for a date to a wedding lets us see the characters who don't have cases this week interacting as friends and shows us more about their lies. Looking at it historically, the series created the mold not just for Bochko and Kelly's future shows, but for nearly every workplace set primetime drama since, and this episode is a prime example of what it did best. In closing, why do I think this episode should be in the canon? Clip 9. Tara: [42:59] Yeah. Thank you, Adam. Sarah, why don't you start us off? Sarah: [43:07] Sure. Why not? It was a real pleasure to go back to this show in its first season. I don't think I'd seen a first season episode in a while. Sarah: [43:17] My mom was super into it and I wasn't probably supposed to be watching it, but I definitely was watching that and 30 something in high school. Uh, this is, I think it's a good example of peak LA law and how it grabbed the country. You had a guy who was in Clash of the Titans and a gal who was in the Partridge family and a bunch of other like sort of working actors. You had new hotties like Sifuentes. and then you had these honestly very david e kelly outre storylines that were like right up to the edge of what standards and practices was gonna let you do like this is the show that said bitch for the first time in primetime i believe so this is what it was doing it was like getting you in the door with the escandal storylines and kind of like wah wah bull semen cases but then it was doing a really good job sort of as a nuts and bolts legal procedural and unpacking the capital I issues of the cases in a way that wasn't making you feel like all the characters were basically the same and kind of one and a half dimensional and reciting whatever the writers thought were sort of like the, you know, point counterpoint sides of the case. Like that was sort of like the leader. Sarah: [44:42] And then behind that, LA Law had pretty good writing and characterizations and. Sarah: [44:48] Knew how to build this world that I guess primetime really felt we were fascinated with Los Angeles Richie's at the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s, viz Beverly Hills 90210. That whomp in the credits is the, you know, it's a Mercedes, right? Closing. So yeah, this was a pleasure to revisit and to realize that I think in later seasons, it was like people started leaving and Roxanne and Arnie get together. And it's like, what, like, really, what are we doing? But this really did have the juice. It wasn't just gimmicky stories about bulges. It could back that play up. So yeah, great presentation. And Cheryl Lee Ralph, oh my gosh, every scene that she was in, I was like, shouldn't Arnie be pregnant? Like, she's amazing. Fantastic character and very big hair i approve. Tara: [45:44] Oh my god yes everyone's hair is so tall she is great she's only in that one scene right yeah but she you feel her through the episode because she does come up with a videotape like she promises yeah. Adam: [45:55] And as at least so far in my watching she has not come back and i. Tara: [45:59] Hope she does. Sarah: [45:59] Because i don't think she does though what happened with the arm wrestling. Adam: [46:03] Oh, she won. She had to have beat him because that was the deal. Sarah: [46:06] Yeah, I guess. Okay. Tara: [46:08] Yeah. Yeah, this is an excellent pick. At the end of it, I was like, yes, that is a perfect L.A. Law episode because it has such high highs and low lows. Like the melodrama of the family in the wrongful death case, like you can see, like you said, Victor feels like he's pushed the daughter too far and feels bad and stuff. But there's also a moment where, like, the family members are screaming at each other and they cut to the lawyers looking like, oh, I wish I wasn't here. Sarah: [46:37] Too late to leave. And now we can't. Adam: [46:39] They also establish that the little rooms, like they're in this little meeting cubicle in the courthouse, is not soundproof. Tara: [46:44] Oh, no. You see the extras behind them all reacting totally, like way bigger than the lawyers even. Dave: [46:50] But I did appreciate that throughout the episode that they're showing the lawyers as professionals who have to separate themselves from the work a lot of the times as much as they can. Yeah. You know, a storyline in Pitt as well. But they did a good job of that. Tara: [47:05] Totally. I think the mix of cases is perfect. The bull semen thing is hilarious. The moment where they all go out in the hall and crack up because they just cannot keep it in anymore. It's so good. I laughed when I watched it, and I laughed again just hearing the clip and all of the euphemisms for the clip. they are allowed to say because of standards and practices cleared them a bull's heritage i mean come on and they sexual expression yeah it's. Sarah: [47:35] Not pronouns guys. Tara: [47:37] You know they're the defense lawyer is saying you can't you can't make this person describe exactly how the product is extracted and she's like well they don't put the bull behind a haystack with a magazine it's like wow okay Yeah. So that was all really funny, I thought. And you didn't even mention the part where the owner of the now dead bull or impotent or whatever the bull's problem is, he picks up his hat when he finishes his testimony because, of course, he has a big cowboy hat. And he knocks off the last vial of Black Barney's heritage and it, like, flies across the room. Grace tries to catch it, goes in slow motion and then, like, breaks on the defense counsel's table. Dave: [48:20] I guess that is the ending. Adam: [48:22] They had to. Dave: [48:22] Do but I was really wondering her to be like snap catch it with. Adam: [48:25] One arm I did say semen shenanigans trying to keep to my time limit, but it's you know you mentioned set in the practices and like it's a clear vial there is something in it and you see it break and it's implied that everyone at that table is covered in it but they can't show that and it's like so beautifully done to like we all understand what just happened here even though that prop is clearly not But also. Dave: [48:50] If that did happen in-universe, I'm just saying, if it's worth that much, You're getting a spoon. You're scraping it off. Sarah: [48:57] Well, also, see my notes being like, why wasn't Black Barney's jizz insured? Tara: [49:03] Mm-hmm. Dave: [49:03] Yeah. Sarah: [49:04] Like, is that valuable? Isn't this a matter for State Farm, as it were? Tara: [49:10] Yeah. Sarah: [49:11] Sorry. Dave: [49:12] Yeah. Adam: [49:12] Like a good neighbor. Tara: [49:14] The show is very, like, this is why people hate lawyers, but it also does make you feel their humanity and, like, they know some of what they have to do is kind of shitty, but it's part of the process. And it's so, like Sarah said, it's so scandalous when it gets scandalous that it's so addictive. Like, just watching this episode made me want to start it over again because I watched it when it was on. Unlike Sarah's parents, mine didn't care what I watched. And also, in Regina, this was on at like 8 o'clock at night. So there was no keeping me from it. And they didn't. So excellent presentation, excellent choice of episode. I loved it. Dave. Dave: [49:53] Yeah, I think if it wasn't for the fashions and you showed me this show and asked me what year it was, I don't think I would have placed it in the 80s. I think I would have bumped it up to like the mid 90s or so from the subject matter and the way that they talk about it and the way that they sort of bounce between very stupid storyline and a very sobering storyline just felt more recent than it actually was. What did you say? 87? Adam: [50:18] Yeah. Dave: [50:18] Yeah, I would have put it at like 94 or 95. Before I get into just little bits that nobody's talked about that I wanted to mention, I just wanted to give a shout out to whoever put this on the web for the worst compression I've seen on a streaming service in a long time for this. I guess it's because the original had a lot of grain in it. And when you introduce grain, like pronounced grain into a compression system, it gets really fucked up. And it was, it was some of the worst I've seen in a long time. Yeah. Memory unlocked as Adam was talking about it. I don't know if anybody else experienced this and now thinking back on it, I'm like, what the fuck? But does anybody remember in grade school getting sent home with a student? Tara: [51:00] Bile of bill semen? Oh. Dave: [51:03] Yes. But also a student life insurance form that your parents could buy. And it had that list of ways you can get maimed and what they pay out. and boy was that a fun day just going through that and like planning like because when you look at it as a kid and you see lose a finger and that's like five hundred dollars and lose a hand's like two thousand dollars and you're like hmm do i it's gonna hurt either way and five hundred dollars is more money than i'll ever see in my lifetime when you're seven or whatever it really was a really, extracting body parts, but it was that list. And it ended with death. And you're like, wow, look at all that. Oh, wait, I'll be dead. You didn't have that in the States, I assume, right? This is some weird Canadian thing. Adam: [51:57] No, we just had the day after on the Challenger explosion. Dave: [52:00] We didn't get life insurance. Sarah: [52:01] And also getting fingerprinted because someone convinced your parents' association that stranger danger van abductions were a problem in Mayberry, New Jersey. Tara: [52:12] Yeah. Dave: [52:12] I think the worst we had were the day the police came to stamp a serial number on your bicycle. That was our version of it. Oh, cool. Yeah, they record it in case it got stolen. They have a record of it. What else we got here? Nobody's mentioned the Colonel Sanders getup that the bullseaman guy also had on with his weird tie, whatever that is called. He was the human hyper chicken from Futurama. Tara: [52:36] Yes, he was. Dave: [52:37] The girl who is very upset that her brother died in the car next to her has the face to be on Little House on the Prairie if she wasn't missed opportunity there. Sarah: [52:47] Yep. Adam: [52:47] I don't think she, I looked her up and the thing I recognized her from is Nightmare on Elm Street 2. Dave: [52:52] Oh, okay. Adam: [52:53] Which, you know, sort of speaks to her level of ability maybe. Dave: [52:56] Yeah. Adam: [52:56] But yeah. Dave: [52:57] I agree. There was a bullseaman plotline, I think on the pilot episode of 9-1-1 Lone Star. Yes. Yes. They are standing on the shoulders of giants and this is the giant. Sarah: [53:20] Although in one way, I feel like it was maybe a little bit behind in its presentation in that acting like Abby's divorce, like that they'd had the entire decree tattooed on her face, like the whole Hester Prynne reaction to or like coming from her first and foremost. But she's like, well, you know, I like I'm radioactive because of my divorce, like in Los Angeles, California in the 80s. All right, Joe, you're crazy for this one. Dave: [53:52] And the other thing that was dated, I thought, was the 12 hours of B-roll that starts the whole episode. Tara: [53:58] And then they do it again in the middle of the episode, too. Sarah: [54:00] And it's just like the middle 15 floors of a building. Tara: [54:05] Right. Dave: [54:06] They start the establishing shot in like Colorado. By the time they get to LA, it's like, oh my God, I get it. All right, let's put this to the vote. Tari Ariano, what say you? Tara: [54:17] Yay. Dave: [54:18] Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [54:19] Yes. Dave: [54:20] And I'm going to say yes, too. So. Tara: [54:22] Woo. Sarah: [54:52] Yes, I do. It's Dan Rogge and my old friend, Sal, and the rest of the Impractical Jokers. It scored its top rated episode ever in adults 25 to 54 because the series, I guess, has moved permanently to TBS from true TV and it's doing land office business over there. So I'm not sure how many more Impractical Jokes there could be in the Isle of Staten and Environs, but they're making it work over there, and good for them. Dave: [55:22] And Loser of the Week, Tara? Tara: [55:24] Well, sometimes the winner is really a loser, not in this case, and sometimes the loser is really a winner, and that is the case here. Our loser, in quotation marks, of the week is Grant Show, because Noah Wiley has told Show's wife, Catherine Lanaza, who plays Nurse Dana on The Pit, that Grant Show is too handsome to guest star with them on the show. Sarah: [55:46] I mean, you could try it. Geez. Tara: [55:50] I've seen some of the guest stars from later in this season. They got some hotties. Adam: [55:54] Can't some people get sick or injured or become doctors? Tara: [55:57] Of course. Dave: [55:58] What if he comes in as a burn victim? Tara: [56:02] That's true. Adam: [56:03] There you go. Tara: [56:03] Yeah. Dave: [56:04] Well, speaking about coming into a place and going, and getting burned. It is game time, guys. This is the fifth game time of the season. The score is Tara with four. Everybody else was zero. Tara wins today. She wins. So let's try to beat Tara. Today we are playing the Muppet Shows from moi with the help of EHG Assist on Blue Sky and the Discord folks. Thank you for your help. There are some really great questions coming your way today. In The Muppet Shows, everyone from The Muppet Show is getting TV spinoffs based on other existing properties. I will read you a short description of the TV show, and you tell me the thirsty mashup title of a Muppet character and a TV show that I am describing. A little information for you. There are six characters that each appear three times, and each of you will have one of those questions. So you will not get a Muppet repeated in your set, but Muppets repeat for the whole game. Tara: [57:20] Gotcha. Dave: [57:21] No hints. You know it or you don't. We're going to have one Adam Grossworth equalizer zone in the middle of this. It is a special one. You do not get to choose, but we will allow steel meals. So can I please get the steel meal count? Tara: [57:35] Sure you can. Sarah D. Bunting has five. I have three. Valued Guest has three plus Eric's meal for a total of four. Dave: [57:42] All right. And just to remind you, you have to stay steel mill after an incorrect answer. But before I give away the answer, of course, and this could be the last game. So I'm going to encourage you to use those steel mills. All right. Let's throw it to picky to see who is going first. All right, Sarah, Adam, Tara is our order today. 42 questions, guys. We've got a lot. Are we ready to play The Muppet Shows Up? Tara: [58:11] Yes. Dave: [58:11] All right, here we go. Sarah D. Bunting. I think I did about half of these. I will mention who did the questions as they come up for our contributors. Sarah D. Bunting. Chairman Kaga invites a new contender to Kitchen Stadium, but he is quickly disqualified for throwing the food everywhere. This involves a Muppets character and an existing TV show. You have to give me the mashup title I am describing. Chairman Kaga invites a new contender to Kitchen Stadium, but he is quickly disqualified for throwing the food everywhere. Sarah: [58:43] Iron Swedish Chef. Dave: [58:44] Yes, the Swedish Iron Chef. Good enough. I will definitely be marking on a curve for the construction of your answers. Adam Grosworth, here is your first. A Hirsute Rachel Bloom tries to explode all her former bows. Adam: [58:59] Crazy Harry Ex-Girlfriend. Dave: [59:01] Crazy Harry Ex-Girlfriend is correct. Tara. Tara: [59:04] Yes. Dave: [59:05] Why are there so many songs about ass-eating if we're the baddies? Tara: [59:09] Can you read that again? Dave: [59:10] Why are there so many songs about asking if we're the baddies? Tara: [59:15] Okay, asking. I heard ass-eating the first time. Dave: [59:19] Oh, yeah. Adam: [59:21] You're out of two stinks. Sarah: [59:22] Man. Tara: [59:23] Look. Okay. Is that Mitchell and... Okay, that Kerr Mitchell and Webb look. Dave: [59:29] You are correct. Yes, everybody's on the board. One point, we are back to Sarah. He is the nervous one who knocks, mostly because he can't really talk. Sarah: [59:42] Okay, I hate this for all of us beaking bad. Dave: [59:53] Beakering bad I'll take it very good another point for Sarah alright this one comes from Steel Meal Eric on which one of Adam's steel meals comes from a pair of rambunctious twins living in a hotel try to hide their hijinks from the manager a seven foot tall fuzzy monster okay. Adam: [1:00:15] Oh i hate it here the sweetums life of zach and cody. Dave: [1:00:20] You are correct for another point nicely done everybody has gotten all their points so far let's see if car can keep it up with this one from steel meal eric two farts get out of the theater and onto the links to mock short people, two old farts get out of the theater and onto the links to mock short people. Tara: [1:00:44] Stattler and Waldorf? Dave: [1:00:47] Steel Meal? Alright, I heard Adam first. Sarah: [1:00:51] Okay. Adam: [1:00:51] Stattler and Waldorf? Tara: [1:00:54] Dorf? Adam: [1:00:56] Steel Meal? Sarah: [1:00:58] Stattler and Waldorf on golf? Dave: [1:01:00] Yes, that is the correct title. Stattler and Waldorf on golf. Dorf on golf with Tim Conway. Sarah: [1:01:06] Not happy that I got that, but... Tara: [1:01:09] Well, you're in the lead, so you should be. Dave: [1:01:11] Serity Bunting, the head of Muppet Labs travels down to Chicago with his dog Diefenbaker to solve the mystery of his father's murder. Once again, the head of Muppet Labs travels down to Chicago with his dog Diefenbaker to solve the mystery of his father's murder. Sarah: [1:01:30] The mystery of his father's murder? Dave: [1:01:33] Yes. And let me just, you know, travels down to Chicago. Sarah: [1:01:38] To Chicago. Tara: [1:01:40] Diefenbaker. Dave: [1:01:41] Diefenbaker. Sarah: [1:01:42] That does not help me. Dave: [1:01:43] No, it doesn't. Sarah: [1:01:43] Sorry. Yeah. Yeah, I think I know the first half, but I don't know the second half. I'm sorry. Someone should steal a meal. Adam: [1:01:50] Steal a meal? Dave: [1:01:51] Steal a meal from Adam. Adam: [1:01:52] Dr. Bunsen Honeydew North. Dew South. Dave: [1:01:55] Okay, we'll take it. Dew South was quite good. Sarah: [1:01:58] Dew South. I didn't know that's what that was about. Dave: [1:02:01] Bunsen Honeydew South. Yes. All right. So Adam picks up a point and here is your question adam come with me in five if you want to live. Adam: [1:02:11] Scoo terminator the sarah connor. Dave: [1:02:14] Chronicle, tar yeah this one comes from mill snack a depressed and undersung muppet would cheer right up working a nine to five in cleveland which rocks, A depressed and undersung Muppet would cheer right up working a nine to five in Cleveland. Which rocks? Adam: [1:02:33] Thank you. Tara: [1:02:33] The show is the Drew Carey show, but I don't know which muffin is depressed. Muffin? No, which Muppet is depressed. Adam: [1:02:43] Steel Meal. Dave: [1:02:44] Steel Meal from Adam. Adam: [1:02:45] The Drew Carey show. Dave: [1:02:46] The Drew Carey show is correct. Yes, Adam using those steel meals to great effect. Sarah: [1:02:51] Zerity Bunting. Dave: [1:02:52] We're driving on frozen water like wow. Sarah: [1:03:00] Janice road truckers. Dave: [1:03:03] Janice road truckers is correct yes oh brutal back to adam this veteran starship scientist has years of experience in space and the upside down oh. Adam: [1:03:16] No uh oh no not a note dr stranger things pork. Dave: [1:03:22] Yeah dr strange yes very nice all right this will take us into our first score break it is for tara the you're seen protector of the ponderosa also has to deal with his sons adam hoss and little joe, I suspect this might be one only Adam can solve. It's a relatively new Muppet, right? Adam: [1:03:46] Oh, yeah. I'll give you. It won't help. Because you're going to win. It won't help. It's Bonanza. Tara: [1:03:51] So, but I don't know the Muppet. Again. Dave: [1:03:55] Adam, let us know. No points. Adam: [1:03:56] It's Bobo Nanza. Bobo is the bear. It does appear briefly in the special. Dave: [1:04:00] Bobo Nanza the bear. Tara: [1:04:02] Correct. Dave: [1:04:02] All right. That is time for our score break. Tara: [1:04:04] Well, they're exactly what I just said they were. Dave: [1:04:08] Which is? Tara: [1:04:08] Adam has six. Sarah has four. I have one. Dave: [1:04:11] All right. Thank you. Let's get back into it. We'll do our Equalizer Challenge Zone at the next score break. Tara: [1:04:17] Okay. Dave: [1:04:17] Back to Sarah. Johnny Asay provides The Adventures of an Eccentric Chicken Lover in Westeros. The Adventures of an Eccentric Chicken Lover in Westeros. Keep in mind, Sarah D. Bunting, there's multiple shows in Westeros. Sarah: [1:04:36] Oh, yeah. Adam: [1:04:38] Oh. Sarah: [1:04:41] Oh shit what was the actual name of it it's something dragonzo but i can't i can't pull that rest of it. Dave: [1:04:50] That's sad you're almost there we were looking for house of the dragonzo house of the dragon dragon so dragon so i'm glad this one went to adam it comes from dj empirical, in imperial beach california the dysfunctional yost family intersects with a new arrival to the community a crooner who's a big fan of tony bennett wow yeah i. Adam: [1:05:15] Have no idea. Dave: [1:05:16] Um i saw this character in the muppet show special i. Adam: [1:05:20] Assume it's johnny fiamma but i don't know the show. Dave: [1:05:23] In imperial beach california the dysfunctional yost family intersects with a new arrival to community um. Adam: [1:05:29] Is that animal kingdom is it johnny fiamma animal kingdom is that what it's called. Dave: [1:05:35] It's not anybody else he has given the right information on the muppet the show you were looking for was john from cincinnati so he got johnny fiamma from cincinnati never. Adam: [1:05:46] In a million years. Dave: [1:05:46] Would have gotten that all right tara a scandinavian takes over from titus burgess and shoots people with a cannon full of food. Tara: [1:05:56] Oh, man. What the hell was that show called? Okay, give me the clue again. Dave: [1:06:05] A Scandinavian takes over from Titus Burgess and shoots people with a cannon full of food. Tara: [1:06:11] Sweet dish mantled chef. Dave: [1:06:13] The sweet dish mantled chef from the Quibi show, Dishmantle. Where they shoot you with food and they have to figure out what they shot you with. Sarah: [1:06:21] A Quibi show for shame. Dave: [1:06:25] Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:06:26] Yeah. Dave: [1:06:27] A stressed amphibian interviews newsmakers about the current affairs of the week. Sarah: [1:06:33] Permit the press? Dave: [1:06:35] Yes. That is the show that started this process. It got it in my head. And there we are. All right. This is question 17. It is for Adam. It comes from Josh the Salt Man. A phantom of the Opera Lake creature haunts a crabbing boat. Adam: [1:06:50] Uncle Deadliest Catch. Dave: [1:06:52] You are correct. Tara. Tara: [1:06:54] Yep. Dave: [1:06:54] A stand-up comedian tells bad jokes in a high-tech helicopter. Tara: [1:07:00] Fozzie Bear Wolf. Dave: [1:07:02] Fozzie Bear Wolf. Fozzie Bear Air Wolf. Question 19 comes from Millsnack. It is for Sarah. Stacy and Clinton help Blank Muppets decide on new eyebrows, new noses, and new mouths. The change to the title is minimal. It is, in fact, one letter. Sarah: [1:07:25] Uh i mean i don't i don't understand what the muppet part is so what not to wear wolf i don't know the answer to this sorry. Adam: [1:07:35] Incorrect what. Dave: [1:07:37] Is it adam. Adam: [1:07:38] What nots to wear what. Dave: [1:07:40] Nots to wear what nots being what oh okay. Adam: [1:07:43] Sort of blank muppets they can just use as anything and swap their facial features around they're. Dave: [1:07:46] Like a utility muppet. Adam: [1:07:47] They're called what nots on the Muppet show and anything Muppets on Sesame Street. Dave: [1:07:51] All right. This is your full question, Adam. It comes from, oh, me. This great Muppet stars in a jukebox comedy in which he can understand people's thoughts as songs. Adam: [1:08:03] Oh, what was that show called? Uh, not Emily in Paris. Dave: [1:08:09] Sound it out and use what you know already. It may help. Adam: [1:08:13] I mean, I assume it's Gonzo because of great. i'm never gonna pull it and this is bad podcasting so buzz me. Dave: [1:08:21] All right steel mill opportunity here no nobody i think i know zoe's extraordinary, yep here's another one from josh the salt man a happy-go-lucky stage manager is brought into a military conspiracy with andy dwyer. Tara: [1:08:42] Oh, God. Dave: [1:08:44] We watched it. Tara: [1:08:46] Scoot Terminal List? Dave: [1:08:48] Yes, that is correct. Tara: [1:08:49] I don't think we did watch it. Dave: [1:08:51] Didn't we? Wasn't it a movie first maybe we watched or something? Tara: [1:08:53] Oh, maybe. Dave: [1:08:54] Yeah. Sarah D. Bunting. His life in Hollywood is messy. Luckily, he's just the guy to clean it up. Also seen on the special? Tara: [1:09:06] Mm-hmm. Dave: [1:09:08] His life in Hollywood is messy. Luckily, he's just the guy to clean it up. Sarah: [1:09:15] I don't know what either half of this is. Dave: [1:09:17] It's going to be problematic. Sarah: [1:09:19] Yeah. Dave: [1:09:20] All right. Anybody know this one? Tara: [1:09:22] This is your last one if you want to use it. Adam: [1:09:24] Yeah, might as well. Dave: [1:09:24] All right. Adam, Stu Mill. Adam: [1:09:26] This is Beauregard Jack Horseman. Dave: [1:09:28] Yes, correct. Beauregard Jack Horseman. That is good for another point. Your Stu Mills are out, yes? Tara: [1:09:34] Yes. Dave: [1:09:35] All right. But here is your actual full question, Adam. Observation. Question. Hypothesis. Experimentation. Analysis. Iteration. vampires uh. Adam: [1:09:49] There are so many vampire shows. Dave: [1:09:52] Observation question hypothesis experimentation and analysis iteration vampires i. Adam: [1:10:00] Don't oh dr bunson honey what we do in the shadows. Dave: [1:10:05] What we bunson honey do in the shadows is what i wanted but that is close enough we'll give you the point. This will take us into our score break, Tara. Tara: [1:10:13] Yep. Dave: [1:10:13] From Johnny Asay, a long-running anime series about an eccentric chicken lover who defends the Earth against aliens and androids with his magical powers. Tara: [1:10:24] Okay, it's Gonzo. Is this that Taron Langham whatever show that we had to watch one of for the canon? Then I don't know what it is. Dave: [1:10:34] Anybody know this one? Sarah: [1:10:35] Deal Meal? Dave: [1:10:37] Okay. Sarah: [1:10:37] Drag Gonzo Ball Z? Dave: [1:10:40] Yes, you are correct. Nicely done. And that will take us into our score break. Tara: [1:10:46] All right. Adam has nine. Sarah has six. I have four. Dave: [1:10:51] Wow. All right. So that means, Tara, you are in the Adam Equalize Your Challenge Zone. Sarah: [1:10:57] Wow. Dave: [1:11:04] All right, you don't get to pick this time around. What I'm going to do is give you six 1970s questions from the generic TV trivia game cards. So these are all 1970s questions. Tara: [1:11:14] Okay. Dave: [1:11:15] Are you ready? Tara: [1:11:15] Yep. Dave: [1:11:16] We'll give you two. We'll give you, let's see, two points if you get three, four points if you sweep. Tara: [1:11:21] Okay. Dave: [1:11:22] 1970s. What is the title of the MASH theme song? Tara: [1:11:26] Suicide is Painless. Dave: [1:11:28] What was Mary's last name on the Mary Tyler Moore show? Tara: [1:11:31] Richards. Dave: [1:11:33] Who starred as Jamie Summers in The Bionic Woman? Tara: [1:11:37] Lindsay Wagner. Dave: [1:11:40] What nationality was Freddie Prince, who played Chico on Chico and the Man? Tara: [1:11:46] If he wasn't American, I would guess Mexican. Dave: [1:11:52] Puerto Rican. What was Chico's nationality on Chico and the Man? Tara: [1:11:57] Doesn't matter because I got three. Dave: [1:11:59] Oh, you just got those? Let's do it. Tara: [1:12:01] Okay. Puerto Rican? Dave: [1:12:03] No, Mexican. You fucked up. And finally, what high school do Richie Cunningham and his friends attend on Happy Days? Tara: [1:12:11] I don't remember. Dave: [1:12:12] It's Jefferson High. You got your three points, so quickly update the scores. Tara: [1:12:17] All right. Now Sarah and I are tied with six points each, but Adam's still ahead with nine. Dave: [1:12:23] All right. That feels right. We still got lots of game left. Let's get to it. Sarah D. Bunting, DJ Empirical, is back. A Bostonian rodent detective works with their chief medical examiner partner to capture the attention of Dan Casino. You can ignore the Dan Casino bit. Adam: [1:12:44] But that's actually, I wouldn't have gotten it without that, so thank you. Dave: [1:12:48] Once again, a Bostonian rodent detective works with their chief medical examiner partner to capture the attention of Dan Casino slash solve crime. Sarah: [1:12:59] Is this character's name okay well this is the only answer i have so here it is ratso rizzoli and isles. Dave: [1:13:07] Rizzoli and isles is correct good for one point to adam all right you ready for this one p-e-i girl p-e-i girl ah no i know i'm trying. Adam: [1:13:21] To part p-e-i girl oh jesus animal of green gables or animal with an e animal with an e. Dave: [1:13:28] Animal and a mole with animal is correct yes oh. Sarah: [1:13:33] My god would watch. Dave: [1:13:34] Yes an autistic singer keyboardist with savant syndrome relocates from a quiet country life to join the mayhem unit at the prestigious san jose saint benaventure hospital the. Tara: [1:13:47] Good doctor teeth. Dave: [1:13:48] The good doctor teeth correct sarah a backstage manager at a theater suffering from overpopulation and environmental collapse opens a portal to a land full of new challenges and dinosaurs. Adam: [1:14:01] God. Sarah: [1:14:05] Who wrote this? Dave: [1:14:06] Me. Sarah: [1:14:06] I just want to talk to you. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. Adam: [1:14:09] Come here. Sarah: [1:14:11] If I'm right, I hope I'm wrong. Scutera Nova? Dave: [1:14:16] You are correct, and it's good for a point. Back to Adam. A gruff newsman from Minneapolis relocates to L.A. to run a daily newspaper about throwing fish and having them return back to you. Adam: [1:14:30] Lou Zeeland Grant. Dave: [1:14:32] Lou Grant Zeeland. Yes, correct. Oh, boy. Adam should have got this one. I apologize, Tara, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. It is from Steel Mill Eric. A bizarre vending machine can tell if you're lying. A bizarre vending machine can tell if you're lying. Okay. Tara: [1:14:51] Uh, I think the show is Lie to Me, but I don't know what the Muppet is. Dave: [1:14:56] Incorrect. Anybody know this one? Sarah: [1:14:58] I think the show's Poker Face, but I don't know the Muppet. Adam: [1:15:01] Oh, okay. I knew the Muppet. It's Venda Poker Face. Dave: [1:15:04] Venda Face is a bizarre vending machine in the Muppet universe. Venda Poker Face is the answer. All right. To Sarah. Teen drama about a pair of giant hair monster twins navigating friendship and romance in their California town. Sarah: [1:15:22] I don't know what their names are i'm sorry buzz me. Dave: [1:15:28] Anybody know this one i. Adam: [1:15:30] Don't know this either. Dave: [1:15:30] Tara this is oh. Adam: [1:15:32] No it's a 90210 9021 snoth. Dave: [1:15:35] No different different twins different california town this is sweetums valley high Oh. Sarah: [1:15:44] All right. Dave: [1:15:45] Adam, this one should have got to Tara. No, no, not in the swamp. Inside the swamp. In the heaviest, deepest, most brutal part. The Mariana Trench. That was pretty good. Tara: [1:16:02] Yeah, that's good. Dave: [1:16:02] My throat hurts now. Sarah: [1:16:03] You just got a polyp, but well done. Adam: [1:16:05] I know. Pass. Dave: [1:16:09] Tara? Tara: [1:16:10] Kermitlokalypt. Kermitlokalypt, yes. Sarah: [1:16:15] That's good. Dave: [1:16:17] All right, Titar. Tara: [1:16:18] Yes. Dave: [1:16:18] After the Great Grumble, a candy-loving ogre is born with antlers on his head for some reason. Tara: [1:16:28] Sweetums Tooth? Dave: [1:16:30] Sweetums Tooth from Sweet Tooth. The story about a kid with antlers for some reason. Sarah: [1:16:35] Sure. Dave: [1:16:36] All right, back to Sarah. An anchorman investigates the feth of a necklace at a retirement home while worrying about objects falling on his head. An anchorman investigates the fat of a necklace at a retirement home while worrying about objects falling on his head. Sarah: [1:16:56] Sam man on the inside. Dave: [1:16:59] Anybody? Anybody know this one? Tara: [1:17:02] It's just the news man on the inside, right? Dave: [1:17:05] The news man on the inside is what we're looking for. Sarah: [1:17:08] Oh, okay. Dave: [1:17:08] All right. To Adam, a porcine space captain runs a year 2000 website investigating urban legends and weird paranormal shit. Adam: [1:17:21] Uh, what's that show called Freaky Links? So Freaky Links Hogthrob? Dave: [1:17:27] Freaky Links Hogthrob is exactly correct. Sarah: [1:17:30] Nicely done. Adam: [1:17:30] What could be in my brain besides that? Dave: [1:17:33] Deep cut. All right. This will take us into our penultimate score break. We are nearing the end of the game. It comes from Steel Mill Eric. Kermit's nephew goes back to the Louisiana swamp to join the police in a racially tense department. Tara: [1:17:48] Okay, well, his nephew is Robin. I don't know any. Oh, Robbin, the heat of the night. Dave: [1:17:59] Robbin, the heat of the night is correct. I forgot that was a show. Yep. All right. Everybody has two questions left. We need the scores. Tara: [1:18:08] Okay. Is there going to be another equalizer? Dave: [1:18:11] No. That was the only one. Tara: [1:18:13] Sarah has eight. I have nine. Adam still maintaining that lead with 12. Dave: [1:18:18] All right. Let's get back to it for Sarah from Millsnack. The U.S. Marshals are fine examples of American patriotism, but a 12-minute adult swim show filled with nonsense is not. Sarah: [1:18:29] I don't have any idea what any part of this is. Dave: [1:18:34] Anybody else? Tara: [1:18:36] Not for points, but Sam the Eagleheart. Dave: [1:18:39] Sam the Eagleheart is correct. Sam the Eagle, Sam the Eagle, Eagleheart. To Adam, from Millsnack again. An old-fashioned singing duo experienced their new reality through the history of TV sitcom eras. Adam: [1:18:55] Wayne and WandaVision. Dave: [1:18:56] Wayne and Wanda, WandaVision. Yes. Last questions. Tara? Tara: [1:19:02] Yep. Dave: [1:19:03] While most people in Maranac are either Team Mimis or Team Frannies, the lead of this Hallmark show does well to avoid both. Tara: [1:19:14] Camilla the Chicken Sisters? Dave: [1:19:15] Camilla the Chicken Sisters is correct. To Sarah. Sometimes he plays the piano. Sometimes he hunts fugitives for money. Adam: [1:19:28] No. Dave: [1:19:33] Sometimes he plays the piano, Sarah. Sometimes he hunts fugitives for money. Tara: [1:19:38] It's not the same keyboard player that it was when I had that one earlier. Sarah: [1:19:42] Rolf the Dog the Bounty Hunter. Dave: [1:19:44] Rolf the Dog the Bounty Hunter is good for a point Adam's last Kenya Barris comedy about a foreign chef who struggles to be understood. Adam: [1:19:54] It's the Swedish chef obviously it's, I don't know the show. Dave: [1:20:03] Anybody know this one simple. Tara: [1:20:06] It's just Swede-ish. Dave: [1:20:08] Swede-ish it's correct yes All right, Tara, last question. Tara: [1:20:12] Uh-huh. Dave: [1:20:14] This Muppet trades his measuring cylinder for a two-cylinder Harley and joins the charming Reaper crew. Tara: [1:20:24] Bunsen Honeydoos of Anarchy. Dave: [1:20:26] Yes, Bunsen Honeydoos of Anarchy is correct. Charming being the town in which they operate. All right, that is regulation. We need end of game scores. Tara: [1:20:37] Okay, Sarah finished with nine. I had 11, Adam, our victor, had 13. Sarah: [1:20:43] As the universe dictates. Dave: [1:20:47] From Steelmeal Eric, it is our bonus question. We don't need it anymore. So first person to shout out the answer. We'll get a future Steelmeal. Here we go. A seriously funky bass player uses AI to help people who don't even know they're in danger. Tara: [1:21:05] Floyd Pepperson of interest. Dave: [1:21:08] Floyd Pepperson of interest is correct. I guess that's deal meal. But today belongs to Vali Guest. Tara: [1:21:16] Valued Guest. Sarah: [1:21:18] Valued Guest. Good job. Dave: [1:21:21] Yes. Thank you, everybody, for your help with that one. Super fun. Adam: [1:21:24] Yeah, that was fun. Thanks. Dave: [1:21:25] And that is it for this episode of Extra Hot Great. We felt around the Muppet Show revival before going around the dial with stops at the Pete Davidson Show, Ugliest House in America, and Conspiracy Theories. Adam stimulated our big cannon enough for us to explode in affirmation for LA Law Season 1, Episode 16. We crowned winners and thumbs down from Sarah. Oh, double thumbs. Oh, everybody's giving me thumbs down. We crowned winners and losers of the week. And Adam was the winner of this week's Game Time from our Discord and Blue Sky Helpers. Next up, it is celebrity bowling on Extra, Extra Hot Great. Remember... We're listening. I am David Teakle, and on behalf of Tara Ariano... Tara: [1:22:15] All you get for your trouble is bull semen. Dave: [1:22:18] Sarah D. Buttig. Sarah: [1:22:19] Tell that to the bull. Dave: [1:22:21] And Adam Grossworth. Adam: [1:22:22] Diane Wiest. Dave: [1:22:23] Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time, right here on Extra Hot Great.