Studying The Testaments

Dave: [0:43] This is the Extra Hot Great Podcast, episode 609 for the week of April 6, 2026. I am one-armed masturbator, David T. Cole, and I'm here with unsubtle dollhouse metaphor, Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:02] Raise the roof. Raise it. Dave: [1:04] Fiber Arts dropout, Tara Ariano. Tara: [1:06] More like Nodal Point. Dave: [1:07] And Pearl Girl, Alison Herman. Alison: [1:10] Forsaken by God. Tara: [1:17] Welcome, heathens, to another extra hot great joining us. She is a TV critic, a variety you have heard with us many times before. It's Alison Herman. Welcome back, Alison. Dave: [1:28] Welcome back, Alison. Alison: [1:30] Hi, guys. Tara: [1:31] We're delighted to have you back for The Testaments, the spinoff of The Handmaid's Tale. And in that show, we got to know and hate the oppressive Gilead regime through the perspective of June Osborne, a woman conscripted to bear children for a commander in the government and his wife. But what is life in Gilead like for commanders' daughters who are about to be marriageable? In the Testaments, we meet Commander McKenzie's daughter, Agnes, Chase Infinity, the same day she meets Daisy, Lucy Halliday, at Aunt Lydia's school. Daisy is a so-called Pearl Girl who has come from the forsaken Sodom of Toronto for a more godly life. Or has she? The show is adapted from the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. Bruce Miller adapted it. He also was behind the adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale. The first three episodes dropped on Hulu the same day as this podcast episode. We got access to more, but we'll be careful about spoilers. Let's do the Chen check-in. Allison, should our listeners watch The Testaments? Alison: [2:32] Shockingly, yes. Tara: [2:33] Sarah. Sarah: [2:34] Yeah, same. I bailed the mother show, but I would say watch this one. Dave: [2:40] Dave, if if you watch Handmaid Tales and was like, I wonder if there's a version that's a little less oppressive. And this this is for you. Tara: [2:49] Yeah, I would have watched a thousand seasons of The Handmaid's Tale if they'd keep making it. That's not to say I thought it was good. I didn't. I was just fascinated by it. If you watch The Handmaid's Tale, you should watch this, too. It's an interesting variation on the theme. So let's get into it. The Handmaid's Tale, of course, started out as a feel-bad watch that evolved into, in my opinion, more of a cartoon. Allison, do you think that this feel-bad watch is coming at the wrong time, or could there never really be a right time for it? Alison: [3:19] I should maybe start by being open about my priors, which is, like many people, I bailed on The Handmaid's Tale after the season two finale, in which Elizabeth Moss boards an escape truck to Canada and then chooses to get off and re-enter Gilead, and then the show continued for four more seasons, which was just this like completely unnecessary totally explicit elongating of a premise that ran out with you know the first season covers the book and then after that it's all fan fiction yep and this I kind of dipped my toe into with some trepidation but I think first of all it satisfies the kind of like shameless spinoff like as world building itch of just like how does this work? How does this work? It's not really that integral to the story, but like I'm interested in seeing them flesh it out. I think maybe the most important distinction so far is that there is rape. Alison: [4:18] So that, or at least in the first three episodes, like I think that's a lot of what made the Handmaid's Tale super gruesome. And I think it makes this show, you know, obviously it's not a total fun teen soap, but even as like Rowan Blanchard's in there, but it's a little easier to just watch and be like, this is a science, you know, basically a science fiction show. And it's about completely a different world. And then the third thing that I found myself really engaged in is the having Daisy in there. So you're not just in this hermetically sealed Gilead universe where women can't read calendars and don't know what's going on. You have an outsider who, spoiler for the first three episodes, you find out is basically like a spy who's trying to come in from the outside and damage Gilead from within. but it gives it this kind of like propulsive forward action thing where the handmaid's tale at least to start is you're just with june in this like completely miserable existence and there's no real realistic way out of it and so i think all those things kind of came together in that i didn't feel like i was watching like a dispatch from the news i just thought i was watching you know a relatively engaging like alternate history fantasy with young women. Tara: [5:30] The teen drama aspect is funny to consider. Like someone might turn this on thinking, oh, it's the summer I turned fertile. But, you know, it's not really a cute little rock. Dave: [5:42] Wow. Sarah: [5:43] Oh, sorry. Tara: [5:45] Definitely spending all our time with teen girls gives it a different energy than the main show. Even without rights or freedom, they're still going to find ways to act out and torment each other. Sarah, what did you find compelling about this version of girl world? Yeah. Sarah: [5:58] Girl World was in my notes. I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn. And there's a scene in the first episode where there's just this absolute screeching bloodlust happening that takes almost nothing to touch off. I mean, part of it is part of the ritualistic world that they've built, and you're going into it somewhat familiar with darkness that attends this entire Gilead verse. if you watched any of The Handmaid's Tale or read the book. the way that they evoked that just sometimes terrifying moment where a crowd of girls who have all pretty much cycled onto the same menstrual cycle because they spent all their time together, that it's just a breath away from absolute mob rule being torn limb from limb, literally. And I thought that was a very evocative way of showing that, but not being weird or disrespectful about it. It just was kind of true to the experience of a girl school lifer that I was like, not that anyone was getting things amputated at assembly at a place. Tara: [7:10] Yeah. Sarah: [7:11] I mean, maybe I missed that assembly. It's possible. I was out sick that day, but I did think that was a good evocation of it that wasn't weirdly misogynistic about women's ways of knowing or whatever. And I think it's very well acted by the various leads. And you have a sort of convincing range of girl world subtypes. You have the Andrea Zuckerman. You have the little kiss-ass who's maybe a little crazy. Tara: [7:42] The Nellie Olsen. Yeah. Sarah: [7:43] Yeah, absolutely. There are some aspects of the parent show that I didn't really miss, like the very obvious soundtrack queues, but I didn't realize I missed the way that they build these worlds and give you the process of how certain things have come to be, certain rituals, certain statutes. And it looks, I mean, it looks great. It's very compelling to look at all these sort of beautiful colors that are at the same time, extremely aggressive. So yeah, I thought it was good. Alison: [8:18] My favorite button on the assembly scene is as they're all shrieking at the designated like scapegoat object of shame. The aunt just interjects in like, I'm so proud of the young women you're becoming, which is just great performance there and just like a wonderful little tag. Tara: [8:36] Yeah, not to come out as pro hand removal, but they do establish this guy was kind of leering at Agnes, our lead. so it does seem like there is something going on with this guy but whatever speaking of the colors dave you had a note that you're fine with plum but when they introduce indigo that's where you have to draw. Dave: [8:55] The line there's a scene i don't know indigo's like the helpers at the school i think they might be like cafeteria staff or something like that but it's too close i'm saying you can't have the indigos near the purples the indigos have to be just dealing with like your browns and your oranges and i'm sort of speaking about being fascinated i'm fascinated that there seems to be a color for everything in this universe. I didn't realize from The Handmaid's Tale that we had anything else going on besides red. Tara: [9:21] And blue. The wives are blue. Dave: [9:22] It's like the fucking Power Rangers now. They're just like, we've got browns and greens. Sarah: [9:27] The no-power rangers. Dave: [9:28] The dressing of the show is, it's novel. The world in which there's stop signs, but they won't have letters on them because you're not supposed to learn how to read. Those trappings are still interesting, as Sarah was saying, the world building. But I thought the color stuff was a little silly. And also, but where are the white supremacists? Alison: [9:49] Yeah, I also had that note of like, I guess race doesn't matter in Gilead, which you could argue is a function of them needing children no matter what kind. But yeah, I'm like, I don't really believe that a system that hates women this much would also be fine with non-white people. That's kind of not those things kind of go together historically. Tara: [10:09] Yeah. Alison: [10:09] It's kind of like a hyper exaggerated version of the Bridgerton problem where you're like, we're trying to wokeify an extremely like not woke environment, you know, and like the, you know, the show itself is progressive and liberal and it's politics, but the Vervancus regime it's depicting is not. And like, how do you square those things? You know, it's tough. Dave: [10:34] The closest thing I think they had in the show, there's a moment after Purple Girl has her period. Tara: [10:40] Agnes. Dave: [10:41] Thank you. She goes up to meet her dad, and her dad's having a meeting with a whole bunch of other commanders, and they're all bearded, fat, white dudes. That was the closest they came to actually showing something, but it wasn't full of the amount of menace that you would expect from that sort of power dynamic. It just seemed like just intruding on dad's workday for a moment. Tara: [11:00] I also think they wouldn't even allow beards, necessarily. If this were real, you know, that feels a little too ethnic. Sarah: [11:06] So Gilead is the Yankees? Got it. Don't add me. Dave: [11:10] One more thing. I am not a crackpot, but TV shows and movies absolutely have to stop doing this stupid Chiron bit where they show, you know, telling you about the universe, blah, blah, blah. Fine, do that. But don't do the thing where you fade out to just show selected words right at the end of it. Tara: [11:26] Oh, the women. Dave: [11:26] I fucking hate it. So that corny. Tara: [11:30] Yeah. Dave: [11:30] They do that on the start of this one and made me mad right away. Tara: [11:34] I'm also not a crackpot, but if your plums are graduating from one state to another, I feel like they should start green and turn purple, not the other way around. Just speaking botanically. Sarah: [11:44] You're not a crackpot at all. Tara: [11:46] Thank you. Chase Infinity comes here straight from the awards run for one battle after another. She did not get an Oscar nomination. She probably came close. Has there ever been a 25-year-old on screen who seemed more authentically teenish? Don't say Gabrielle Carteris. She was older than 25 when she started on 9 to 2 and 0. Allison, how did you think Chase Infinity did in this role? Alison: [12:07] I thought she was great, but I think she had the advantage of I knew how amazing she could be because she got like the best possible showcase that a young actor could get. And so even though like in any other career trajectory, this would be like her big breakout role where you really see what you can do. She's almost like paired back here compared to one battle after another where she's like literally at a full sprint for the entire movie. Tara: [12:30] Yep. Alison: [12:31] And so I actually found myself a little more surprised by, I'm so sorry, who's the actor who plays Daisy? Sarah: [12:38] Lucy Halliday. Alison: [12:39] Because I didn't know her at all. I was like, oh, whoa. And also her character. I think Chase has to like slow roll. Her character has grown up in this regime, believes. There's like a really hilarious moment where they're on the bus and she calls Daisy a slut, which is like, it comes like ice water because the regime is otherwise so buttoned up. But then they let the kids say terrible things to each other. But she has to play this kind of like slow awakening because she starts a full indoctrination. And I think Lucy gets a lot more of, you know, she's playing a double life. She has this really radical motivation. She's oscillating between these two extremes and under extreme stress and trying to hide. And I just thought like her role to start is a little more both like surprising in terms of the actor's potential and just, you know, she's almost more the protagonist of the story. And Agnes, we know who Agnes is by background, but like for all she knows, she's just a normal child of privilege in Gilead. And so I thought, you know, to start, there's a little bit of an imbalance, but like I know what Chase Infinity is capable of. So I'm sure that's going to come out later down the line. Yeah. Tara: [13:47] The other thing with Halliday playing Daisy is she has to play so many levels of like officially Pearl girls are very pious. They're converts. They came from outside of Gilead and intentionally chose this life versus people who are raised in it. And so even the plums are sort of suspicious of them because they're like super hardliners. And so when we first meet her, we don't know, is she trying to entrap Agnes into something by breaking a rule and seeing what she does? Or is this her real authentic reaction? So that makes her more interesting, too. Sarah, what did you think of these performances? Sarah: [14:22] I really was pretty impressed by the way that they set up Agnes so that Chase Infinity would have some things to do. There are some aspects of her circumstances, like having a stepmother, like being in the kitchen with the Marthas and spending a lot of time with them, where you could see that the character is primed to, like, there's a place to put in a wedge and kind of leverage it for Lucy Halliday. Why can't I remember the character? I keep calling her Pearl. Dave: [14:52] Daisy. Sarah: [14:53] I did think that gave Chase Infinity an opportunity to do a little more and not have to slow roll too much with the performance. But I really, I really enjoyed all of the performances. And then Agnes's best friend, she's like a little further down the road towards being promised to a commander or whatever the process is. Like she's going to these dress fittings and Agnes is like, well, you know, it's a dress, not a husband. And she's like, not yet. anyway, and that she's both energized, but also terrified by what's next and all of these things that they've made sure these young women don't understand about what their lives are going to be, but that they haven't totally been able to prevent information getting in around the sides. I think the stepmother has some tossed off comment that's like, keep it up and you'll get a fat husband or whatever horrible thing she says. I think there are opportunities there for these actors, even the ones that are playing characters that are supposed to be indoctrinated from birth or toddlerhood or whatever, to have glimmers of realization that none of this is right. And once they're provided with a contrasting view, she has a couple moments, especially with the stepmother, where you could see her tamping down an actual emotion so that she can just have it for herself and not be called out for not being docile and obedient. Alison: [16:17] So stepmother played by Amy Simons, we should note in her in her grand return to television. Tara: [16:24] Yeah. The girlfriend experiences own Amy Simons. As a former Toronto resident, everything Daisy says about its godlessness tickled me. We also see her with June at Cafe Diplomatico, more like Cafe Overradico. Very overrated, although it was when we lived there. One of the few places in the neighborhood that was open 24 hours. Dave, any comments on the Toronto that we see? Dave: [16:45] If you are at Cafe Diplomatico, get out of there and go two doors down to Utopia, which is a much better place to chill. Cafe Diplomatico is one of those places where you're like, it's been here forever. I'll be sad if it closes because it's been here forever, but nobody ever goes there because it's not that good. It's one of those places. You know, it's just a landmark. It's, you know, nothing special. If you find yourself about to be sent to an oppression regime to go undercover as a Pearl Girl, treat yourself. Tara: [17:15] For God's sake, make your last meal at Utopia. Sarah: [17:18] Yes. Get that gravy. I was a little disappointed that in the flashback when she's on a skateboard, she wasn't wearing mod robes. Tara: [17:26] That's a good note because she did look like she was on Queen Street West. If you saw Nirvana, the band, the movie, the TV, the show. Alison: [17:33] The movie or whatever it is. Tara: [17:35] There it's the same definitely the same area of toronto that you see in that movie too. Alison: [17:40] Yeah two great works of canadian media um thank you yes i did find myself miss i mean i'm sure this is coming later in the season but because we get that outside perspective of being in toronto i was missing a little more information about like what is gilead's role in the world what is the state of this embattled regime like there's sort of a throwaway line that a commander gives about you know in Gilead we have like clean air and water because in theory like what led to the fertility crisis is this like larger environmental collapse and I wish there was a little more information about like how is the rest of the world dealing with that is that Gilead propaganda or is that true and I feel like we could get a little more of use of that like we have we have an outside of Gilead point of view that we can get more information from so I hope to see that more in the rest of the season, but... it's there. Tara: [18:32] Yeah, I guess all of June Osborne's testimony to the International Criminal Court was only covered on pay gated media because Daisy has no idea who she is when they meet. So I don't know, maybe she didn't make it to her algorithm on TikTok or something. I wasn't necessarily expecting so much emphasis on posture. They keep called out to stop slouching. But I guess if there's a very short list of ways girls can distinguish themselves as potential wives like they can't really be accomplished intellect you might as well talk up posture but this feels like something older women care a lot about and straight men don't really notice like i don't think that slouching it's gonna lose you a decent man if any of them are decent which they're not there's. Sarah: [19:14] Also the livestock assessment aspect of their lives. Tara: [19:18] That it's. Sarah: [19:19] Like as a tall person who had terrible posture because she got boobs when she was 10 if they're trying to assess the merchandise in that regard, I could see posture being a key aspect of that growth. So that is to contemplate. Tara: [19:34] Sure. Alison: [19:34] I have a dumb question for a person who actually watched the rest of Handmaid's Tale. Tara: [19:38] Hello. Alison: [19:39] Does the Handmaid's system still exist or did they get rid of it? Tara: [19:42] I believe at the end of the season, it still exists, but they're trying different ways to sort of liberalize aspects of it, I guess. One of the things that the Bradley Whitford character, He plays like a decent commander who's sort of a helper to June. He's trying to set up like a city for people that want like Gilead light. And so he's trying to get her to come back and live there to prove like it's OK. And she's forget if she actually does. But her whole thing about not wanting to leave Gilead is my daughter's there. But then she has another daughter in Toronto. So, you know, pick one, I guess. Alison: [20:18] But yeah, so like the Testaments, they're just not showing the handmaids to have like a visual differentiator from the mothership show. And then, yeah, I mean, the whole I'm also just fascinated of like Gilead's able to have converts. So it's like, what's the understanding of Gilead? Do they know what they're walking into? Like, how down are they? Have they just been fed a bunch of propaganda and lies? Sarah: [20:38] What is the extradition situation? Yeah, I had a lot of questions about that, too. But I think maybe at a certain point, it's smart not to get too into it because it's like, well, that could never work. But I don't know. Current foreign policy seems deranged at best these days. Tara: [20:54] So, yeah, I assume that the idea with Pearl Girls, I mean, there's one line that an aunt has where she says, like, they're all going to end up econo-wives anyway. But I assume some of them will get shunted into hand maitory if they're, you know, fertile. So, you know, don't move to Gilead, I guess, is the bottom line of this. Seems bad. Dave: [21:17] Newfangled stories on my electric story box all right it's time to go around the dial our first stop is tara. Tara: [21:25] We got screeners, so we spent Saturday watching all of Hacks Season 5. The fifth and final season drops its first episode this Thursday night. There's a lot I'm not supposed to talk about. The cameos are something HBO Max is particularly insistent not be revealed. But I think I'm okay to say the main storyline of the season is Debra, Jean Smart, has been mistakenly reported dead in the previous season finale. It's easy enough to correct the record on that, but Debra says, Your obituary leads with either your biggest accomplishment or your biggest shame, and she refuses to let hers lead off either with this freak news story or with her losing. Tara: [22:05] You know, being the first woman to host the late night show and get bounced a few months later or bounce herself. In what her nemesis, Bob Litvak, played by Tony Goldwyn, has been telling the press was a breakdown, and he's getting away with that because A, he's in charge of a huge media company, B, he has scrubbed his media company of all traces of Deborah, and C, she is under a gag order until for several months, so she can't publicly counter his narrative. She's determined to line up an even bigger accomplishment because of the restrictions on her performing or doing anything even kind of performing adjacent. It's going to be hard. Almost every scripted show I watch has, over the past nine months or so, had an episode elucidating why AI is not only bad but also embarrassing. I think the general public disapproval of it can be attributed in part to this kind of propaganda, and I absolutely approve. But since last season, Hacks has also been on the forefront of portraying why media consolidation is not only bad but dangerous, and that also continues in the final season. Thank God. But on top of that, the show's still very funny. This season's showcase episode for DJ Debra's Daughter, played by Caitlin Olsen, is one I can say almost nothing about except it's an all-timer. It got the single biggest laugh out of me of the whole season. It's amazing. Tara: [23:19] If I were writing an actual review, I would probably say there's a little bit too much fan service in terms of where characters end up and not enough friction to keep it all from being unrealistically sweet and easy. But since I'm not writing an actual review, it's the final season. I'm happy with how almost everything came out in the end. As with Somebody Somewhere, I wish I thought this were one of the HBO originals that could sustain periodic spinoff movies. But as it is, we got a lot of more of Hax than I would have expected at the start. And it was a good way to end the season, I thought. Dave, what did you think? Dave: [23:51] So two things. Because it's the final season, it's nice that they didn't have to do the, now we're on the big outs again. Tara: [23:58] Yeah. Dave: [23:59] You know, this is going to be the conflict. Will we find a way to work together again? Gosh, I hope so. We don't have to do that, right? And the other thing is they did a callback to one of my favorite lines in the last episode of my favorite jokes from Hax. there was a callback and I can't say what it is, obviously, but when you hear it and you reminded how much I love certain foods, you will say, oh, yeah, right. Tara: [24:21] And that's hacks. So make sure you start watching it this Thursday. I believe it probably drops after the pit or at the same time. For my plug, the again with this website has had a big makeover courtesy of David T. Cole. It now has visual aids integrated on episode pages. There are transcripts for almost everything Melrose Place is in process, but there's transcripts for like everything else so far. And there is new merch dropping in the next couple of weeks. So look out for that again with this podcast dot com. Dave: [24:56] Okay allison what have you been watching recently. Alison: [24:58] I have been watching the tail end of dtf st louis the hbo show i assume you guys talked about like the show as yeah we did began yeah so they sent out the first four episodes in advance and then i've since watched through the finale which airs this sunday so obviously i can't talk about what happens in it but i will say the last time i was on this podcast we were talking about tim robinson's the chair company and tim robinson is singular and steven conrad who created patriot and also dtf st louis is singular but boy oh boy did the show remind me of tim robinson's signature oeuvre both in its actual like tone and style and the way it sort of got under my skin of like it's a very strange show it's a very the odiosyncratic show it's about you know these three middle-aged adults in suburban Missouri who are estranged from themselves who start to embark on this like very singular menage a trois relationship you know it's not the most like immediately charismatic accessible thing but then as the show has gone on and as I saw how it resolves it because it's a limited series so it is like a very definitive ending i just got more and more impressed with it and more found myself thinking about it more and more i think every single central performance is so good i think jason bateman and david harbour in particular david harbour could obviously use a win. Alison: [26:27] Are just so surprising and i really would encourage people who maybe like didn't immediately click with it to stick through the end but i'm just so happy that something that is like original and singular and strange and not like, instantly appealing um was given a chance to do this and as we contemplate warner brothers sale to another media conglomerate i would like to honor these little glimmers of like this thing could probably only exist on hbo or it certainly could only get the audience and exposure it's gotten on hbo like i'm sure we all have people in our lives perhaps some of you are like this who like love patriot and talk about it constantly but that's very much a show that like is a cult show it's like either you've never heard of it or it's your favorite show of all time and i think it's really cool that dtf st louis got like the full hbo sunday night treatment with like the host of smartless which like i love to i love to picture a smartless listener watching the show because he's involved and then being treated to everything that happens afterward but yeah like such performances are great the supporting performance performances are great shout out to richard jenkins chris perfetti from abbott elementary shows up in the home stretch peter sarsgaard like it's just a really special thing that i hope you know lives on in addition to its current run and. Tara: [27:51] Linda carnellini doing some of the most exciting nuanced work i've seen from her in years like getting a break from being the not funny person in a comedy which is what she's been doing for the past several years before this and. Dave: [28:03] Some very surprising google search results for images. Tara: [28:06] Responding to Indiana Jones' dicks. That's so funny. Dave: [28:12] The image they showed in last week's episode just really set me off. It was so stupid. Tara: [28:18] Yeah. Beware, indeed. Dave: [28:20] Speaking about Stephen Conrad, this is semi-related because it's related to Patriot. But I was talking about somebody who tipped me off to the tie-in podcast. That's all about the scientist character in that show, the guy who is running the company. But there's another one that's based on a character from Patriot. And I don't even know if they're on screen at all. I think they just might be a voice character, Captain Dean Portis Love. There's a podcast, just four episodes of him, it's called New Techniques in Modern Practical Close Combat, which sounds very silly now, but the whole thing is a narrative from Stephen Conrad and it's about this guy. He goes around, teaches people close-quarter combat. He's a retired army guy and all that, but he's telling the story about the one time he sent him down to Honduras to eliminate, to assassinate the strongman down there, and then it goes back into the history about this strongman, how he was in the U.S. in the 70s. He had a gay relationship with a fellow train enthusiast and it kind of sounds like totally bonkers, but it's actually quite good because I don't usually listen to narrative podcast or not my thing, but I've been sucked into this one. So if you are looking for more Conrad content, I will give a recommendation to that. Tara: [29:31] We'll link that in the show. Alison: [29:32] And my plug, piggybacking on that, is that I actually interviewed Stephen Conrad about the finale, and that will be airing, or that will be running on Variety right after the finale on Sunday. And he is a lovely, thoughtful interview subject, and I had a great time talking to him. Tara: [29:47] That's awesome. Dave: [29:50] Okay, Sarah, what do you got for us? Sarah: [29:52] I would like to talk about the truth and tragedy of Mariah Wilson. Netflix dropped their documentary on the life and death of Anna Mariah Moe Wilson a few days ago. As you're listening to this, Wilson was murdered by an on-again, off-again love interest's live-in partner in May of 2022. And while a lot of the contemporary coverage focused not just on that angle, but on A, said love interest's gaslight-adjacent treatment of Wilson and of her killer, Kaylin Armstrong, and B, Armstrong's comparatively competent flight from justice and a subsequent escape attempt that was quite a bit more keystone in nature. Many true crime properties find it difficult enough to center victims effectively without resorting to her smile lit upper room cliches. This does seem literally to have been the case for Mo Wilson, a pro cyclist, but they do manage to avoid that kind of thing. It's especially difficult when the subsequent murder investigation features sororal passport swapping, phone dumps, and an extradition. But the truth in tragedy does a good job. The director is Marina Zinovich. She has always set an ear for how to frame challenging stories in this genre. Her Roman Polanski documentary for HBO navigated a tricky POV in that case, sure-handedly, I thought. Sarah: [31:13] This one gives you a sense of Wilson and of the concentric ripples of grief that her violent death caused without being sentimental or sensationalistic. It is based pretty directly on a bicycling magazine piece, but The New Yorker also did a fantastic look into the case a few years back. And sometimes a documentary can seem superfluous if, like, Texas Monthly or some other nonfiction heavy hitter in the long-read space already took it on. But I didn't feel any urge to pause during this documentary and go look up the pieces that I had already read or linked to from Best Evidence. And given that it's a Netflix joint, that's pretty high praise. It seems like the executive suite just expects you to be second or third screening during True Crime Properties. But this one was able to keep my eyes on a single screen the whole time. Sarah: [32:05] Speaking of single screens, not really. Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs is in the homestretch of our Dolly 64 season. That is us trying to determine the Dolly-est Dolly Parton song of all time. What a way to make a living indeed. There are still a few rounds left. You can get caught up or make your vote count in this process, the results of which will be Black Letter Law. That's at our Patreon, patreon.com slash mastass, but there's a link to our main show page in the show notes, And all episodes are eventually available to listen to for free wherever you get podcasts. Dave: [32:43] Here's what's coming up on the Extra Extra Hot Great universe soon this Friday. It is The Miniature Wife on Extra Extra Hot Great. We'll be talking about that, answering your asked ESG questions, doing extra credit, winners and losers of the week, whole bunch of stuff. Go to extrahotgreat.com slash club to join and get that. And to come back here in one week's time, EHG Prime, we're going to be talking about the Audacity with Devendra Hardwar. Dave: [33:17] It is time for the Extra Hot Great Canon presenting this week. It is Mary. Take it away, Mary. Hi, Extra Hot Great. I'm submitting Season 1, Episode 5 of Heated Rivalry, I'll. Tara: [38:48] You don't see that every day Oh, my God. believe this episode is worthy of induction into the extra hot great canon. Thank you, Mary. Allison, you chose this. Why don't you start us off? What did you think of the case and of the episode? Alison: [39:50] Yeah, I probably have the same trajectory with Heated Rivalry as a lot of people where I watched the first like couple episodes after it started taking off and it was like, oh, this is a little schlocky. It's a little clunky, but like, I also can't stop watching, you know, and that sort of guilty pleasure binge reading that a lot of romance written fiction produces. And then I feel like this episode just sucker punched me out of nowhere. And I was like, why am I crying? I guess I'm a lot more invested than I thought I was. And it really locks the whole season into place. It's the crescendo. I also noticed in reading or in listening to this case that I can no longer hear I'm coming to the cottage without filling in the EDM remix that went viral on TikTok as a backing track. Yeah, I think this episode just really makes clear what this show is doing. I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the Scott Alexander Kip standalone episode. And then, you know, all of a sudden it intersects with the main storyline in a way that it's quite purposeful. Alison: [40:57] And even outside of that climactic moment, like having the conversation between Shane and his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend where she's quite understanding about what's happening and... You know, it feels like a mature adult conversation in a way that's not necessarily a fantasy, even as it's a very idealistic outcome of this romantic tension. Yeah, I feel like the show in this episode becomes a much more mature and realistic version of what a relationship is, even as it is like shamelessly indulging in big, climactic grand gestures and is also using the like millennial emotional cheat code of that song. yeah I mean I chose this episode because also it was just so special to experience that in real time like it also felt like a cultural crossover moment of it started as this sort of like niche thing where it's like okay like Twitter's talking about this but is this real and then all of a sudden it felt like everyone at the same time saw that episode and was like oh no this is a great story and we are all experiencing it together which is so incredibly rare we love a weekly rollout yeah I think this episode absolutely deserves to be in the canon because if this doesn't make it in, I don't know what does. It was a true uniting cultural moment. It is unambiguously the high point of a very short season. It made the show a phenomenon. It's great on its own. Can't say enough good things. Tara: [42:23] I'll go next because I think you and I are the ones who have watched the whole season and Dave and Sarah, I believe, have not. It sounds like my reaction was the same as yours to the season where it was sort of, for the early going, I sort of felt like, okay, this is typical romance. No offense intended, but it's just very, has a lot of structural samenesses across stories. And so there's a lot of sort of wish fulfillment that goes into it. And it's, you know, it's not necessarily I felt or I didn't at first think it was trying to tell a very complex story. And I agree with you that this is the. Tara: [42:57] Episode where that sort of changes, where they're trying to do more than just... Have these two guys hook up every four months, wherever they happen to be in the same city and have very explicit sex. I mean, speaking of Canadian excellence, there's more of it here, I would say. I also love that I'd never noticed before the show is an accent a good entertainment production. Perfect. Tara: [43:21] I also agree with Mary that the Rose Shane scene was really well done. And I thought in a very witty way that had that relationship had the potential to be very Mary Sue ish, because this is, I think, a show about queer men that I won't say primarily, but that very much appeals to straight women. I certainly have observed anecdotally that straight women are very well represented in the fandom. Tara: [43:46] And so there was there's a way that they could have done that that would have been less effective. But I thought having her come at it being like 80 percent of the guys I've dated have been gay. I went to theater school was funny and clever and like made put her in a better light. And at the end when she's like, let's be friends. No, for real. I thought, OK, like, this is great. I appreciate that he's going to have another outlet potentially to talk to about this very fraught relationship. I also agree with Mary that the all Russian phone conversation is very romantic, even though Shane doesn't understand it. And it progresses them conversationally from where they had been, which was Shane says something boring. Ilya makes fun of him. Shane, fuck you. Which like we see that construction of a conversation 80 times before this episode. So I feel like this gets them further along as characters. It gives them more dimensionality. And the payoff with Scott and Kip is so great. I agree with you. I did not see it coming. I didn't know what was going to happen. I was shocked by it. I couldn't help thinking, you know, when we hear the hockey announcer going, we don't see that every day. Like, does this universe have a Don Cherry? And did his head just explode at this happening on the ice? Dave: [44:58] I'm always surprised Don Cherry is still alive. I assume he's. Tara: [45:01] I can't believe he is. Is that true? Dave: [45:04] Oh, I think so. Sarah: [45:05] Just a couple of pits in a jar. Dave: [45:08] Yeah, he's fueled by hate. Tara: [45:09] He just keeps going. Yeah. I definitely think this was a standout episode and the climax of the season. No pun intended. So, yeah, a good presentation, Mary. Sarah. Sarah: [45:20] Yeah, I did not get around to experiencing this at the same time as everyone else on Earth, because for the same reason that I was not on the podcast, I was dealing with an ailing family member and it just was like, I'll get to it. And then I didn't. I was enjoying everyone else's enjoyment of it, though, and I can absolutely testify sort of from the outside that when this dropped, my whole blue sky timeline was like, no, you're crying and just like shorting out their keyboards with the weeping. I had not seen anything leading up to this, but I live in the world, so I knew the basic outlines. This is like a perfect egg of an episode. You don't need really anything that came before it. I didn't need to keep going. It was very fulfilling. It was very sweet. Sarah: [46:09] And the problem with, or not the problem, this is not like on Mary's presentation, but what I found so striking was these little moments like the conversation where Rose is sort of trying to let him come out. walk to her and come out. Once he realizes that he's been seen, he's just a million miles away and his eyes slowly start to fill up. And then later, when Hudson Williams is listening to Ilya speaking Russian. Sarah: [46:40] And he doesn't understand it, but he does, the way that you understand music. And there's music happening in the show at the same time on the soundtrack. And the way that he's listening to it is just so beautiful and such a simple evocation of love and supportive emotion and that unique face of like hearing your loved one just speaking even if you don't know what they're saying they're speaking to you and that's all that matters and you can see why this show had this profound effect these little moments connor's story has a couple as ilia as well like they're at the all-star game and they're like awkwardly having this conversation at the bar. But when he first sees Shane coming, he can, you can see him mutter to himself almost imperceptibly like, okay, as he's coming towards Ilya and he's just like sort of in a Hawaiian shirt, drinking a beer and trying to steady himself for seeing him again, since you're given to understand it not end well the last time. I just thought that it was really, I mean, extremely corny and predictable and expected in some ways, as Tara referred to, but also those ways give you things. Sarah: [47:55] The ritual of the expected beats in a rom-com are fulfilling, and then there's something extra here, which is little moments that you can't hear on a podcast necessarily, but if you've seen this episode and you feel it should be canonized, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. It was a pleasure to finally see what everyone had been talking about as well. So thank you, Mary, for giving me that opportunity. Dave, it's a big night for hockey. Go ahead. Dave: [48:23] First of all, Don Cherry is alive and he's 92. Tara: [48:25] God. Dave: [48:26] So it proves my point. Also alive, Dave Hodge, still alive. Really? He's in his 80s. So, you know. Tara: [48:32] All right. Dave: [48:33] Longevity for the hockey night in Canada people. Just one question for you guys. Where is all the hockey player sex that was promised? Tara: [48:41] That's true. This is one of the least horny episodes of the season. Dave: [48:45] I didn't see any dong. Tara: [48:46] No. Well, you never see dong. Sorry. Dave: [48:48] Oh, okay. Alison: [48:49] There's a yearning. Yearning is sexy. Dave: [48:52] Oh, okay. Not even like put their helmet on their junk? Tara: [48:56] I don't think they do that. Dave: [48:57] None of that? Okay. It's a good story and it's a good episode. And the end where they win the steamer cup, as I've been calling it. Sarah: [49:08] It looks like a science project. Dave: [49:11] As a side, I enjoy how they close the skirt things that are copyrightable. right the stanley cup is whatever i don't know what they actually call it in universe but it's the steamer cup the new york rangers are the new york enforcers the boston team is now the boston raiders like they're all slightly skewed jennifer lawrence isn't quite jennifer lawrence but she's still getting all her blue makeup from x-men applied to her nonchalantly in a scene i did enjoy that part of it quite a bit and actually the hockey uniforms were pretty well done usually that sort of thing sucks. Like, in Superstore, when there's supposed to be the in-store promotional posters that look nothing like a retail poster. Tara: [49:54] They look like shit. Dave: [49:55] Yeah, they look like, they don't look right. I thought they did a pretty good job here. Tara: [49:59] The Raiders logo that it looked, because it's a Canon with wheels, that it looks like, A penis and balls. Sarah: [50:04] Go on. Dave: [50:05] Oh, yeah. Sarah: [50:05] I totally missed that. Dave: [50:07] Interesting. Sarah: [50:07] Love it. Dave: [50:08] My only knock against this episode, and it's just, I mean, I don't know how you would even fix it besides putting it in a different time period, but then the subject matter wouldn't work. One third of this episode takes place over text. There's way too much texting in the show. I mean, I don't like it when that happens a lot because it's just like it doesn't really feel like you're doing anything with the content. And it happens a lot in this episode. So, again, I don't know what the solution would be. Like, if you could set it further back in time, you would lose the cell phone part. But obviously, you can't set it in the 70s. You know, nobody's coming out in hockey in the 70s. Tara: [50:43] Sadly, no. Dave: [50:45] Great story about not only, like, coming out, but just trying to navigate telling somebody for the first time how you feel about them. So, I think there was, like, moments in the relationship that were very big and also sort of smaller. And I think like hitting both of those at the same time in the scene in the hotel room, I thought it was a smart play, sort of like this is a declaration between me and you, but also I'm working through some really big things and you're the only person I could lean on for support. I thought so. I thought that scene in particular was noteworthy. And of course, the steamer cup. Alison: [51:19] Yeah I think it needs to be said that um Connor's story I believe learned conversational Russian to do that scene in like 30 days I have spoken to people who literally did not believe me when I told them he was from Texas like that performance is such a revelation and is so impressive just in terms of the like mechanics of what he had to do yeah and like even being able to like pronounce those words let alone properly let alone like imbue them with the emotion and layer his actual performance on top of the difficulty is just extraordinary yeah. Dave: [51:57] Yeah i didn't know that that's really impressive all right shall we put this to the official vote yes all right allison what say you canna worthy or not. Alison: [52:05] I. Dave: [52:06] Tara. Tara: [52:07] I'm coming to the cottage. Dave: [52:09] That's right. That was a really great ending. Tara: [52:12] It makes me laugh every time. Dave: [52:14] Yeah, yeah. Sarah D. Bundy. Sarah: [52:16] Simple for me. It's a yes. Dave: [52:18] All right, me too. So. Heated Rivalry, Season 1, Episode 5. I'll believe in anything. You are hereby inducted into the Extra. Ah, great, can it? Dave: [52:39] love a winner yeah and will not tolerate a loser nope it is time to discover our winner and loser of the week sarah has this week's winner. Sarah: [52:48] Yes i do it is david e kelly who is developing a bonfire of the vanity series at apple tv matt reeves will be directing could this also go horribly awry maybe but i'm more excited to see how it goes because i happen to be catching up on uh turner classic movies mankowitz hosted the plot thickens podcast which is about like famous film fiascos the most recent season was about cleopatra and i recommend but if you go back in the archives there's one there's a season about bonfire of the vanities as well it's very good, and I just kind of want to see how this goes, and what David E. Kelly, how he Kelly-fies an already, I don't know, fraught text? With a sketchy history? I don't know. I guess the winner is actually. Dave: [53:37] Tara, who is our Loser of the Week? Tara: [53:39] Our Loser of the Week is RuPaul's Drag Race, because we have come to the point in the season where Ru has a sit down with each of the remaining contestants and has sort of a, you know, one on one heart to heart about their past. And usually this involves pulling out a photo of the contestant when they were young and saying, what would you tell your sis alter ego or whoever it is? Their birth name alter ego. What would they tell them if they could? And this year they decided instead of portraits, they were going to do AI slop art. And there has already been a backlash about this, rightly so, because even if they look great, it would be bad. But they don't. They obviously look like shit. And this is not the first time that World of Wonder, the production company that makes RuPaul's Drag Race, has done this, has dipped into the AI well. And we'll link in the show notes, post about this by past and future guest Andy Dennart from Reality Blurred, where he sort of lists all the hall of shame moments of World of Wonder doing this, including an animated Christmas video that they did last year and put on YouTube and quickly pulled it down because it was all AI animated and fans were rightly disgusted. So World of Wonder, do better. Dave: [54:53] All right. Speaking about being disgusted, do you know what time it is? Tara: [54:56] Yeah, it's game time. Sarah: [54:57] Bye. Dave: [55:10] All right, everybody, this is the seventh game time of this season. The scores are currently Tara with four, one away from a season victory. Sarah's still looking to get on the board. Value guests have two victories. Today's game goes out to Laura from Ari, the help of Elon, who bring us today Lip Mashers. Lip Mashers is a before and after quiz in which I will give you a synopsis of a movie rom-com and a TV show mashed up. and you have to give me the before and after title that Synopsis is trying to tell us about. Guess the title right and you get three points. If you don't know it or you get it wrong, we'll move on to your first clue, which is going to be the year of the movie and a star from it. Still don't get it? Then we'll give you the year of the TV show and a star from that. You can guess after each clue. So you get three guesses in total if you need them. In all answers, the movie is first in the before and after title. So keep that in mind. Steel mill situation, please, Tara. Tara: [56:10] Thank you, Dave. Sarah has three. I have four. Valued Guest has one plus Eric's meal for a total of two. Dave: [56:16] All right. So, Allison, if somebody gets the answer wrong and you can only do this after the third clue in this particular game because of how it's structured, you can yell, steal mail! And then you can try to steal that last point. So Eric's meal always rolls over. So don't worry about wasting a future guest's steal meal. There's always something in the kitty. Let's throw it to Pinky to see our order today. we will start with valued guest all right allison's in the hot seat then we'll go to sarah then tara 15 questions we're going to have a grossworth equalizer zone somewhere in the middle there are we ready to play lip mashers yes all right well first of all let's just say happy birthday to laura happy birthday laura all right happy birthday laura here we go to allison first Here is your synopsis. You have to give me the before and after title it is describing. A floppy-haired man with a British accent romances a woman he meets at the first of a particular number of ceremonies, all while discussing social issues with her prejudiced father. So, that's a rom-com movie and a TV show mashed up. Give me the title, if you dare. Alison: [57:27] Four weddings and a funeral in the family. Dave: [57:32] Four weddings and a funeral in the family is correct with three points. Yes. Alison: [57:37] All done. Dave: [57:38] All right, Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [57:40] Yeah. Dave: [57:41] Hope you're paying attention. A floppy-haired man with a British accent romances a famous actress from his cozy London bookstore and still has time to tell his coworkers in an unnamed large US city to be careful out there. Sarah: [57:57] Nodding Hill Street Blues is. Dave: [58:00] Good for three. Tara. Tara: [58:02] Yes. Dave: [58:03] A floppy-haired farm boy with a British accent dresses in black to romance a woman who has become a terror while planning their wedding. A floppy-haired farm boy with a British accent dresses in black to romance a woman who has become a terror while planning their wedding. Tara: [58:21] A farm boy with a British accent. Dave: [58:24] Two clues coming at you if you need them. Tara: [58:27] Yeah. I'll take the first clue. Dave: [58:29] This movie is from 1987, starred, among others, Robin Wright. Tara: [58:38] The Princess Bridezillas? Dave: [58:40] You are correct. Two points. Alison: [58:42] I just rewatched Princess Bride. Great movie. Dave: [58:45] Back to Allison. A curly-haired man with a New York accent romances a woman he met on a road trip to her quirky Boston law firm, with fantasy sequences. Alison: [58:57] Oh, I know the TV show, but can you repeat the clue? Sure can. Sorry. Dave: [59:03] A curly haired man with a New York accent romances a woman he meets on a road trip to her quirky Boston law firm with fantasy sequences. Alison: [59:15] Oh, can I have the first clue? Dave: [59:17] This movie is from 1989 and stars Meg Ryan. Alison: [59:24] Oh, when you're Harry met Sally McBeal. Sorry. Dave: [59:28] When Harry met Sally McBeal. Correct for two points. To Sarah D. Bunting. A floppy-haired man with a British accent romances a dark-haired man with an American accent while learning life lessons from a family of Australian dogs. Sarah: [59:46] My family australian okay uh oh geez all right i need the first clue because i got the tv show the. Dave: [59:59] Movie is from 2023 and stars nicholas galantine galatine galatine thank you he-man Oh, really? Is that him? Okay. Sarah: [1:00:12] That, uh, 2023. Song Sung Bluey? That's right. Tara: [1:00:19] We did talk about it on Patreon episode. Alison: [1:00:21] Am I allowed to say that? Dave: [1:00:22] All right. Alison: [1:00:23] Or do you have to wait? Dave: [1:00:24] Uh, you got one more. She's got one more clue. Then you can steal another. Alison: [1:00:27] Sorry. Dave: [1:00:27] Uh, 2018 Melanie Lanzetti. Sarah: [1:00:32] Yeah. Dave: [1:00:32] Lanzetti. Sorry. Sarah: [1:00:34] Zanetti. Bluey Valentine. I don't know the answer to this question. Dave: [1:00:37] Steal meal from Allison? All right. Alison: [1:00:40] Red, white, and royal bluey. Dave: [1:00:42] Red, white, and royal bluey is good. Alison: [1:00:44] We're an extra point. Gay romances on streamers. Tara: [1:00:48] Mm-hmm. Sarah: [1:00:49] Yeah. Dave: [1:00:49] Tara? Tara: [1:00:50] Yep. Dave: [1:00:51] Can a high school student who likes to play matchmaker find love on her own after being promoted to the assistant to the anchor at the TV show news station where she works? As if. Can a high school student who likes to play matchmaker find love of her own after being promoted to be the assistant to the anchor at the TV news station where she works? As if. Tara: [1:01:15] Well, it's clueless. Clueless. I guess we can't just jump to the TV show. Dave: [1:01:26] All right. Tara: [1:01:26] Well, hint me up, I guess. Dave: [1:01:28] We can just skip to the third one here. Tara: [1:01:30] Okay. Dave: [1:01:30] Okay, obviously 1995, Alicia Silverstone is your first clue. 2002, Sarah Rue. Tara: [1:01:37] Oh, I didn't realize that's what her job was. Clue less than perfect. Dave: [1:01:41] Clue less than perfect is good for one. Yes. All right, back to Allison. We're each going to have one more before we get to our score break. A manic pixie dream girl meet-cutes her magic pictish dream guy. We follow their story over the course of a non-linear year and a half. Alison: [1:01:59] Oh um sorry can you repeat the clue. Dave: [1:02:01] Sure a manic pixie dream girl meet cutes her pictish dream guy that's with a capital p we follow their story over the course of a non-linear year and a half so you got a movie at the front a show at the back of this before and after title got two clues in the wings for you. Alison: [1:02:24] Yeah i think the movie's 500 days of summer but i don't know the show so can i can i also skip to the. Dave: [1:02:31] We can all right you're not gonna get zoe deschanel you already know that we're gonna go 2008 angel colby c-o-u-l-b-y, I just want to say I suggested this. I did not do the synopsis, but I suggested this title for there to put in the mix. Alison: [1:02:51] 500 Days of Somerville. Dave: [1:02:55] All right. Anybody want to steal this? 500 Days of Summerlin. Tara: [1:03:00] Merlin. Oh, Merlin. Sarah: [1:03:05] Boo. Dave: [1:03:06] Oh, I spoke too soon. The next one was a title suggested by me. Lovely. All right. Thank you guys for including me. Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:03:14] Yes. Dave: [1:03:15] They work so hard profiling serial killers. Can they find time for love? Or maybe they already have, don't remember, and are doomed to repeat it. Sarah: [1:03:24] Don't remember and are doomed to repeat it. Yeah, I'm going to need a hint, at least one. Dave: [1:03:30] The movie, 2004, starring Kate Winslet. Sarah: [1:03:34] Oh, okay. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindhunter? Dave: [1:03:42] Yes, two points. Nicely done. Sarah: [1:03:45] That's good. Dave: [1:03:46] All right, Tara. Tara: [1:03:47] Yep. Dave: [1:03:47] This will take us into our score break. She might call him a dinosaur because he believes in jazz, but their big showbiz dreams are about to meet something bigger. Actual dinosaurs. Tara: [1:03:59] La La Land of the Lost? Dave: [1:04:01] La La Land of the Lost is good for three points going into the score break. Sarah: [1:04:06] Wow. Tara: [1:04:07] Okay, it's very close. Allison and I are tied with six points each. Sarah is barely behind us with five, but she's about to get a big advantage. Dave: [1:04:17] All right, here we go. That means, Sarah, you are in the Grossworth Equalizer Challenge Zone. Sarah: [1:04:22] Woo! Dave: [1:04:29] All right, you want to give me a number between one and six? Sarah: [1:04:31] Two. Dave: [1:04:32] You'll be answering six questions from the 1980s Trivial Pursuit box. I'm sorry, not the actual one from the 80s. This is the totally 80s, 80s-themed Trivial Pursuit. I will give you six questions from six different cards, the TV category. You get three. We'll give you three points. If you sweep it, we double it to six. Tara: [1:04:51] Oh, shit. Sarah: [1:04:52] Dang. All right. Tara: [1:04:54] Good luck. Sarah: [1:04:54] Let's go. Thanks. Dave: [1:04:55] What sitcom yanked by CBS after its first season was saved by a massive writing campaign and ran for another six years? Sarah: [1:05:03] Another six years? Ugh. Well, it's not cheers. Fuck. Ugh. Dang. I don't know. Murphy Brown? Dave: [1:05:14] Incorrect. Anybody know? Designing Women. Sarah: [1:05:17] Oh, shit. That's right. Dave: [1:05:19] How many minutes long was the MTV show Andy Warhol's 15 minutes? 15 minutes nope 30 bitch maybe there's two segments come. Tara: [1:05:33] On now I guess hateful. Dave: [1:05:35] What hit CBS sitcom opened most episodes with a different Motown classic in place of a theme song CBS sitcom just gonna say you might have already mentioned the show this episode I'm. Tara: [1:05:48] Glad you did. Dave: [1:05:50] Very recently. Sarah: [1:05:53] Very recently well Well, um, oh my god, no, but that can't be. All right. Yeah, I don't know. Dave: [1:06:01] No idea? Sarah: [1:06:03] No, I don't remember the wrong answer. Dave: [1:06:07] All right. That was Murphy Brown. Sarah: [1:06:09] Oh, yeah. Dave: [1:06:11] You need all three of these to get your three points. Sarah: [1:06:14] Oh, good. Yes. I hate my chances. Let's go. Dave: [1:06:17] What sitcom did James Burroughs, Glenn Charles, and Les Charles leave in 1981 to set up Cheers? Sarah: [1:06:28] All in the Family? Dave: [1:06:31] Taxi. Taxi was what we were looking for. No equalizer points for you, so let's get back into the game. Everybody has two questions left. Here is Allison's Clear Pros Fast Pattern Can't Lose brackets this case, or a man might get the death penalty. Movies first, movie show second in the title. Alison: [1:06:53] Yeah, because I know half of it, but it could also be the movie or the show. So that's a little confusing. Dave: [1:06:59] I'll let you know that the one you're thinking of is the TV show in the equation. Alison: [1:07:03] Oh. Dave: [1:07:03] That's a fair piece of information to give you, given the ambiguity. Yeah, absolutely. Alison: [1:07:07] Okay. His Girl Friday Night Lights. Dave: [1:07:12] You're correct. Tara: [1:07:12] There it is. Sarah: [1:07:13] Three points. Dave: [1:07:14] Nicely done. Sarah D. Bunting. An econo-class underachiever holds a torch or maybe a boombox for the class valedictorian. But romance only blooms once they spend years working at the same magazine. A bit of a deep cut here. Tara: [1:07:31] Oh, wow. Yes, it is. Sarah: [1:07:34] Say Anything But Love? Tara: [1:07:36] Yes! Alison: [1:07:37] Whoa. Dave: [1:07:38] The 1989 Jamie Lee Curtis, Richard Lewis sitcom. Sarah: [1:07:42] Couldn't remember something I said 10 seconds ago, but I got that one. Yeah. Fear My Brain. Dave: [1:07:50] All right. Tara: [1:07:51] We honor Richard Lewis this day. Sarah: [1:07:53] We do. Tara: [1:07:54] Yep. Dave: [1:07:55] Two secret admirer pen pals should be able to figure it out since they work together at the only gas station for 60 kilometers in any direction. Two secret admirer pen pound. Tara: [1:08:07] Oh, got it. The shop around the corner gas. Dave: [1:08:09] Shop around the corner gas is good for three. All right. Everybody's got one question left, so let's get the scores. Tara: [1:08:17] It's still so close. Sarah has eight points. Allison and I are tied with nine. Dave: [1:08:22] Oh, all right. Tara: [1:08:25] Still anyone's game. Dave: [1:08:26] This is a good one. Allison, brought to you by the letter B, which is always for bridesmaid, but never for bride. Brought to you by the letter B, which is always for bridesmaid but never for bride. Alison: [1:08:44] Yeah, I'm going to need a hint. Dave: [1:08:46] The movie is 2008, starring Katherine Heigl. Brought to you by the letter B. Any ideas? Tara: [1:08:57] No, no, you were in the right chat. Okay, go. Dave: [1:09:00] Yeah, give it an answer. Alison: [1:09:00] 27, say yes to the dresses. Dave: [1:09:04] All right, not quite. Here's your next clue. The TV show started in 1969. one of the stars one of the talents of the show is Sonia Manzano, don't know anything about her but I suspect she is behind the scenes talent not quite on camera or not on camera herself brought to. Tara: [1:09:25] You by the letter B. Dave: [1:09:25] Brought to you by the letter B. Alison: [1:09:28] Knocked up in the air I don't. Dave: [1:09:29] Know alright anybody want this one steal it Sarah. Sarah: [1:09:35] 27 Dress Sesame Street. Dave: [1:09:37] 27 Dresses of Zuby Street is correct, yes. Tara: [1:09:41] We are all tied up. Alison: [1:09:42] That's symbolical. Dave: [1:09:43] All right, it's all tied up. We got Sarah and Tara to go. Sarah, last one coming up. Sexual perversity among the Brat Pack? That'll be $20 in time served. Tara: [1:09:55] That's good. Sarah: [1:09:58] Of all people to get this, I feel blessed, truly. About Last Night Court. Dave: [1:10:03] About Last Night Night Court. About Last Night Court. good for three that's uh 1986 with demi moore 1984 marky post nicely done all right tara you got to get this in three okay tie man picky is smiling on you lady all right here we go a reporter a producer can their professional relationship survive their romantic relationship against the backdrop of the downfall of two journalistic mediums. Tara: [1:10:32] Broadcast Newsroom. Dave: [1:10:35] That is incorrect. I'll let you know that the key here is the number two journalistic mediums. Tara: [1:10:41] Okay, yep. Dave: [1:10:41] Your movie, I think you got that. Tara: [1:10:43] Uh-huh. Dave: [1:10:44] 1987 starring Holly Hunter. Tara: [1:10:46] Yep. Dave: [1:10:46] So, your TV show clue is 1995 with actress My Attorney. Tara: [1:10:54] Broadcast Newsradio. Dave: [1:10:55] Broadcast Newsradio. You're very close, but not quite. One point there at the end. And all right, that's regulation. Need the scores. Tara: [1:11:05] Allison finished with nine. I had 10. Sarah got on the board with 12-1. All right, nicely done, Sarah. Sarah: [1:11:14] All right. Thank you, Richard Lewis. Dave: [1:11:17] I've got a tiebreaker here. I had to come up with this one, so apologies if it's not quite getting it right, but I think I got it. Here we go. First person to shout out the answer. Wins a steel meal for future use. This is open to everybody. Tara: [1:11:29] Okay. Dave: [1:11:29] Baseball fandom comes between a couple, one of whom is constantly breaking, and it's up to Baker and Poncherello to advance the relationship cycle to its conclusion. Tara: [1:11:41] Oh my God, what was that movie called? I saw it in the theater. Alison: [1:11:44] I know the movie, but not the show. Dave: [1:11:46] Workshop it, everybody. Tara: [1:11:47] What's the movie? Alison: [1:11:49] The movie's Fever Pitch. Tara: [1:11:50] Fever Pitch. Alison: [1:11:52] With Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Orr. Sarah: [1:11:57] Beaver pit chips? Dave: [1:11:59] Beaver pit chips is correct, yes. Tara: [1:12:02] Oh my god, Sarah! Dave: [1:12:04] I'm giving everybody a steel mill here. Sarah: [1:12:07] Oh my god. Dave: [1:12:07] Nicely done. Sarah: [1:12:10] Was it? I'll take it. Dave: [1:12:12] We'll see. Sarah: [1:12:12] We'll see. Dave: [1:12:14] Sarah! Sarah. Sarah. Tara: [1:12:17] Sarah. Sarah: [1:12:18] That's me. Dave: [1:12:19] All right, guys. That is it for this episode of Extra Hot Great. We discovered all the colors of the oppression rainbow with Hulu's The Testaments before going around the dial with stops at Hax, DTF St. Louis, and The Truth and Tragedy of Mariah Wilson. Mary shoots, she scores with her heated, wivery cannon pitch. Softness in his eyes. Tara: [1:12:44] Iron in his thighs. Dave: [1:12:46] We crowned winners and losers of the week, and Sarah was the winner of this week's Game Time from Ari and Elon. Next up is the miniature wife. she's so small. Remember. We're listening. I am David T. Cole on behalf of Tara Arellano. Tara: [1:13:05] Turn off your keyboard clickety clacks, Shane, you animal. Dave: [1:13:09] Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah: [1:13:10] Questions. You have too many of them. Dave: [1:13:12] And Allison Herman. Alison: [1:13:14] Under his eye. Dave: [1:13:16] Thanks for listening. And we'll see you next time right here on Extra Hot Great.