Does The Audacity Have Any Of Its Own?

Dave 0:22 This is the Extra Hot Great Podcast, Episode 610 for the week of April 13th, 2026. I am high-tech perm David T. Cole, and I'm here with Tree of Outcomes, Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah 0:42 I'm really leafy. Dave 0:43 And Tungsten Cube, Tara Ariano. Tara 0:46 Desired by Crypto Bros. Tara 0:57 Welcome to Extra Hot Great for another week. Before we get into the episode, a little podcast business. First of all, we did announce... Dave 1:05 Before you get into the actual item. Tara 1:07 Yes. Dave 1:07 What do you think about in the future? We have podcast business, which typically last 45 seconds. We have a giant, giant orchestral fanfare that lasts about two minutes for it. Tara 1:19 I don't think anyone would be annoyed by that on the listener side at all. Dave 1:24 Yeah. Sarah 1:25 Yeah, certainly your co-hosts don't find this baffling. Dave 1:29 That's baked in. Sarah 1:31 Well, it is. Tara 1:33 First of all, we did announce last week that our guest this week would be Devendra Hardwar. Unfortunately, Devendra is not feeling well. He's dead or dying or something. He has bronchitis. Dave 1:44 Yes, get well. Tara 1:45 So get well soon, Devendra, and we will have you back as soon as you are. Dave 1:49 Get well, get well soon. We want you to get well. Tara 1:51 Get well. That's all I have. Dave 1:53 All right, I got something. You may remember the last time we talked about the Drunk Dave episode, which is a Patreon club member perk that we were waiting for Sarah to come back before we rescheduled it. She is back. So we have rescheduled it. It's going to be May 24th at 2 p.m. Central Time. So that's three o'clock Eastern and noon on the West Coast. Sarah 2:16 And five o'clock somewhere. Tara 2:17 And one p.m. for the freaks in Mountain Time. Dave 2:20 Nobody cares about the mountain people. so i will have more details about how to join in theory it is a live show on zoom and you can watch and then if you're called to participate to ask a question then you'll be brought into the show so i got to figure that out has something to do with webinars or something like that but that is all future stuff i will have details when i figure. Tara 2:45 Yes, and that is, as Dave said, a perk only for club members, so go to extrahotgreat.com slash club to hear it. And if you can't join live, there will be a recording that we will also put up for Patreon club members. Dave 2:58 Yeah, I don't know exactly what the destination is going to be. It might just be the video, and then just an audio grab of the video. I don't think it's going to be edited like a podcast. It's just going to be there. Yeah. All right. Anyways, let's go. Tara 3:08 All right, let's get into it. We're here to talk about the audacity. Duncan, Billy Magnuson, was so sure his tech company, Hypergnosis, was about to be acquired by a bigger tech company called Cupertino that he leaked the news to juice his stock price. But the acquisition fell through, and now he's scrambling not to let his company tank and or get personally prosecuted for fraud. His company's newest app is essentially a god's eye that gives him access to individuals' entire online lives. So could that? Turn things around for him somehow? The show was created by former Succession and Better Call Saul writer Jonathan Glatzer. Only one episode has aired so far on AMC and all of its sister networks. We got access to eight. We will be mindful about spoilers. Let's do the Chen check-in. Sarah, should our listeners watch The Audacity? Sarah 4:02 I don't think so. Tara 4:04 Dave. Upshot is... It was bad. It was really fucking bad. I don't know if it was really fucking bad, but it was pretty boring. It's a no for me as well. Let's get into it. I don't think it's a spoiler to say there's an episode of Hacks coming up where Debra has a meeting with a tech bro and he arrives in a fleece vest. And when we were watching the screener, I asked Dave if he thought real Valley guys had realized that the vest had become like a pop culture signifier of a particular kind of tech loser and then moved on to a different style choice. If they did, no one told the audacity because the very first fucking thing we see is Billy Magnuson in a vest looking like a total cliche. And that's kind of it doesn't really get better from there. I felt this was nothing really new. Sarah, you're a no. What were your feelings about the show? Sarah 4:58 Here's the thing you know i love magnuson and i think i had forgotten that it was him despite seeing his picture in our pod slack it was like oh the perm i like didn't recognize him in a thumbnail i don't know so that was a pleasant surprise the ayahuasca like dad therapy vom was also a surprise a fellow emetophobes that's gonna be happening in the first episode But as well as it's acted, as much as I respected the performances, it's like, how... Sarah 5:36 Many more groups of uniformly irredeemable rich fucknutses do I have left in me? And the answer is maybe more, but not this group. If they had shifted the POV of the show to one of the kids, all of the kids, Rob Corddry's Veterans Affairs character, the undersecretary, then I might have been interested. I just feel like Prestige TV finds this vein much deeper or thinks it has more to mine. And at this particular point in American and human history, it's like, I don't want to spend time with these people. I don't care what Billy Magnuson is doing. If there's Full Frontal, I will freeze frame that, enjoy it, and still not watch. I just I can't spend time with these people no matter how well observed it is or like oh there's a black male plug okay good for you take care I'm out I hope you rich get eaten yeah. Dave 6:38 Speaking to the, we've had enough of this, you know, and Silicon Valley was a while ago, but that was like a comedy and Succession was slightly less a while ago. And that was like the hardcore business of it all. This does neither as well, even though those are sort of like, you know, two halves of its whole. To me, this show feels like if Wag the Dog was made today. Like, yeah, we know. and this is just stuff we know impressions we get from skimming headlines in our rss feed like yeah we know tech's really bad yeah we know that there is some big money virus that all these men get and turns them into weirdos and they believe that ai actually will be ai from the movies and not just a really fancy spell check which is actually what it is so when it's. Tara 7:31 Right which is not always. Dave 7:32 Right yeah i mean i don't want to get into that all that but speaking of boring that yes exactly but this show for me boils down to like if you like watching tech bros have temper tantrums boy this is the one for you but it doesn't go anywhere and these characters are not really gelling with each other mostly because a lot of them are soulless corporate characters And they don't have the emotive capacity as characters to carry the script of the show, the message of the show, the mission of the show, whatever exactly that is. And that's just all mixed up together makes this a very dull show for something that should be, given the stakes that are happening now in the high tech sector, should be a bloodbath, but it's not. It should be succession in that regard, but it's not. And then on top of all that, they add, what's happening in the home of da da da da? It's like, don't care. I'm sorry, daughters of everybody. Don't care. Sarah 8:33 Yeah. And I could have cared about Orson, which like, of course, they named this character Orson, this poor farty teen. He makes me too sad. And I just, I don't have room for that. This is like everyone has said, it's not doing anything new and sharply observing this particular sector of life is like, it's been done, even if it hadn't been done as well. Who wants to observe these soulless shitwits? Not I. Tara 9:01 Yeah. Dave 9:01 Yeah. Not anybody in 2026, I'm going to guess for the fortunes of this show. Tara 9:06 Well, yeah, that's the thing. Part of what makes contemporary life so annoying is having all of these extremely uninteresting real-life people imposed on us all the time, just based on how much power their money gives them. But that doesn't make them compelling in real life. That definitely doesn't make their fictional avatars compelling either. And in terms of the succession tie-in, like, it feels like a lot of people who wrote one or two episodes of Succession are getting development deals because the assumption is, like, reproduce that success. Dave 9:40 Son. Tara 9:41 Yes, but all of these people, their hit rates are so low. And what all of them don't reproduce, which is what gave succession its zing, is the family story. That was what was the emotional underpinning of that show, and it's lacking here. Dave 9:58 I mean, not that it would solve the audacity's problems, but they do need the Brian Cox character in this show. The one that just is like, you know, kids open the door, Kool-Aid Man style. that just, oh, yeah, here's all my terrible thoughts. Yeah. Like, it needed that sort of energy to it because the lead, Billy Magnussen, his energy is, I need to fix something. And so, like, and he's not aggressive about it. You know, he's sulking in the shadowy sidelines of SEC violations and all this sort of stuff. And it just doesn't make for compelling character development and in a way that sort of befits this cutthroat setting. Tara 10:42 Yeah. Like, imagine if Roman were the protagonist of Succession. That's kind of what this is, except less interesting to you. Sarah 10:49 Kind of. Magnuson is perfectly capable of playing just a dead-eyed psycho. Tara 10:54 Yeah, he did it in Made for Love already. Dave 10:56 Oh, God, yeah. Sarah 10:57 But, I mean, you know, do we need proof of concept? Like, okay, you've got Billy Magnuson, who kind of can do anything. Turn this into a fucking musical, then? Like, I'm already here. Dave 11:08 We do it. I thought the story in the story was it would have made a more compelling show. The tone would have to change. But the idea, and I hate this, generally speaking, but if I had to pull something out, the therapist character who's played by what's-her-nots from Barry. Tara 11:23 Yeah. Dave 11:24 If that character, so in the show, that character is a therapist to all the CEOs in Silicon Valley. And she basically is using that to do insider trading. She takes that information, buys herself stocks, making a lot of money. And in the first episode, that's all falling apart. That storyline excised from everything in sort of a semi Breaking Bad sort of mold would have been an interesting show where she sort of goes down the rabbit hole and getting deeper and deeper as an observer into a world she didn't fully understand. And she gets sucked into it more and more as the episodes go along. Could have been interesting. Tara 11:58 Yeah. Dave 11:58 That's not what the character is doing here. I feel like there is a show in a show here that doesn't speak directly to the tech bro of it all, which I think the show needed. It needed a different way in. Tara 12:09 Yeah. Sarah 12:09 Tech bros, colon, they're not like us. They're assholes. Like... That's not going to work in 2026, I don't think. I mean, it's AMC. Good luck to them. Dave 12:21 Sidebar. Can AMC just decide they're just AMC? They don't need to put AMC slash AMC plus production at the start of their shows. We understand the hierarchy there, AMC. I'm not a crackpot. Tara 12:32 I think they did just rename the company along those lines. So they heard you in advance. Yeah. Another example of how first thought this show is, is that the evil tech company that It isn't the Duncans. The one that's acquiring him is called Cupertino. Like every time they referred to it before we actually went there, I thought they meant Cupertino like in the way a governor will be like, Washington doesn't like this. You know what I mean? Sarah 12:56 Like a metonym. Tara 12:57 And then it's like, oh, it's really just called Cupertino, the city where Apple headquarters is. Okay, got it. Sarah 13:02 That's lazy. Tara 13:04 To back up to the farty son, there's a plot point where he comes out of the bathroom at this party and he's left a terrible smell. And we've already seen his mother, who is the therapist, warning him, like, eat after you swim because you don't want to have an accident in Duncan's pool. So evidently he is some kind of IBS related issue. He comes out of the bathroom. He's left a terrible smell. A girl goes in after him. He's like, oh, no. And in the doorway, we see her making a horrified face. Why become a billionaire if you can't buy some kind of mechanism to vacuum up terrible smells in the bathroom? a mechanism the rest of us can't even know about, never mind a Ford. It just, I'm not a crackpot. Sarah 13:47 Yeah, aerosolized nanobots that you just spray it in the bathroom and they just- The methane. Tara 13:55 Yeah. Dave 13:55 If we could just hermetically seal the bathroom and deprive it of oxygen while you're in there. No smell. No air. No smell travel. Sarah 14:03 The toilet becomes a trebuchet and particularly egregious offenders get launched into the pool, pants around their ankles. Dave 14:10 Yeah, I don't know about this one, Darren. I don't think the technology's there yet. Tara 14:14 I think he should be developing that. Not worry about his god's eye attack. Dave 14:19 Okay, should he be developing that technology? Yes. But for pennies on the dollar, you can just spray that potpourri stuff on your toilet. I always see the ads for it. What does it do? Does it turn into polymer after you spray it? I don't want to know. Feels like it's incredibly bad for the environment. Tara 14:34 Probably. Speaking of tech. Dave 14:41 Got a lot of shows. It's a great time for shows. That said, Tara, I do appreciate that you approach toilets, right? That's a subject. Tara 14:50 Of course. Dave 14:51 I feel seen. Yeah. This is Around the Dial, talking about things we've watched recently on television. First off, always Tara, what do you got? Tara 14:57 I watched the first two episodes of Margot's Got Money Troubles. Dave 15:01 Oh, no. Tara 15:02 Which premiered on Apple TV the same day this podcast episode drops. I am interested. It's based on a novel by Rufy Thorpe. Margot is Elle Fanning. She's a student at Fullerton College. Her English professor is so blown away by her first essay in his class that he thinks she plagiarized it. And when she says she didn't, he says she could be going somewhere a lot more prestigious. Her friend at NYU is like, he's trying to fuck you. And Margot's like, no, he's not. But he is. And she gets pregnant, which is not ideal because he's already married with other children. And when Margot tells him she's going to keep the baby, he stops answering her texts. Also not answering your texts is Margot's father, who hasn't really been in her life in any kind of consistent way. But the reveal of who he is happens at the very end of episode two, so I won't say. So Margot does have a... It's not the professor. Just in case you're worried about that. Sarah 15:52 Oh, Jesus. Wouldn't have occurred to me. Yikes. Tara 15:55 Margot has a very present mother, Cheyenne, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who has no compunction about telling Margot it's a bad idea to have the baby at this stage of life, that she loves Margot, but that her own life was much harder. because Cheyenne had her as a single parent, and that if Margot has the baby, it will be Margot's responsibility. Cheyenne has her own plan for life, which is to get her boyfriend Kenny from church, who's played by Greg Kinnear, to marry her even though he's boring and cheap and he thinks she doesn't drink, which she does, and she's been lying to him about herself to fit the image that she thinks he wants. The show was created by David E. Kelly. When I was reminded of that by the opening credits, I thought about whether Pfeiffer, who is David E. Kelly's wife, was ever mad that he didn't cast her in any of those big juicy parts in Big Little Lies. Cheyenne's a very different kind of character, but an instantly fascinating one. And in the first episode, she and Margot are walking back to the car with the stroller that was still wildly expensive, even with Cheyenne's Bloomingdale's employee discount. Margot spots Mark, the baby's father, with his family, and we get this. Let's hear the clip. Do not tell me. That's him. in. I can be quick about it. You're going to mind your own business. I don't do that. Sarah 17:20 Such a good line. Tara 17:23 In her Tory Burch sunglasses and her Michael Kors belt, which she also probably got with her employee discount. It's perfect. Fanning, recent Oscar nominee, also very good, especially in the second episode when actually parenting the baby is portrayed as shitty in the extreme. But Pfeiffer is the real one to watch in all of her scenes. I'm interested to see how Apple TV does with a story that is, unlike most of its other shows, so explicitly about financial insecurity that is in the title. And if you've ever watched a beautiful actor playing a poor character and thought, why don't they just become a model? That's what Margot does. Thank you, OnlyFans. So it's an interesting first couple of episodes. I'm going to stick with it. I recommend. Dave 18:04 Is there an after credit sequence where she is half a person on the back of the president? That would solve her money problems. Tara 18:12 I mean, not so far. But like I said, I only watched the first two. Dave 18:15 Okay. Okay. Tara 18:17 For my plug, I wrote about the pit for GQ, specifically how fans of the pit are weird and crazy. In some instances, not all, but some. And we'll link that in the show notes. Dave 18:30 Way to qualify it. Sarah 18:33 Not you. Tara 18:34 I didn't write about the good ones. I wrote about the crazy ones. Dave 18:37 Not you. No, not you. All right. Sarah, what do you got? Sarah 18:40 If you think I mean you, I don't. She does. Okay, so Love, Ted Bundy came out on, I think it was actually Oxygen originally. It came out last month. It's now available on Peacock. This is basically an adaptation of Ted Bundy's cousin Edna's book called Dark Tide. It came out a couple years ago. We reviewed it quite well on bestevidence.fyi at the time. When it became clear that it was an adaptation of that, which was very good, thoughtful, measured, had an actual unique point of view on this case, which there's no more covered ground probably in the genre of true crime unless it's like Manson or Jack the Ripper. that this was an oxygen joint. I was like, okay, I'm not optimistic. And that was correct. But the problem with love, Ted Bundy, isn't that there's just that there's something left to say about Bundy at this point in cultural history. There is almost nothing left to say about him or his crimes, but you could set up from the point of view of testimony by or about his victims that That has value, and that includes victims' families and Bundy's family. And there are records of documents here that we haven't seen a dozen times before. That has value. The letters between Bundy and his cousin qualify on both counts. It is no mystery why this got made. Sarah 20:06 Anything with Ted Bundy in the title gets made still, to my puzzlement, to a degree. But the real problem is that Martin already offered this testimony and these documents in the book. And everything that made that grimoire distinctive is getting buried because it's an oxygen property and they are purposefully undistinctive. For every family snapshot that viewers haven't seen a thousand times, there's two that you have. For every retrospective insight from Martin about Ted Bundy using her as a tool to hunt at discos, you get four drone shots of Seattle and some Fillory B-roll of a beige VW bug. I think all these productions just use the same one and the same B-roll of it coming into a shot like Christine. Sarah 20:54 That's not for me, but it's fine. I'm not angry at it. It's not, like, irresponsible. But Oxygen's whole thing is true crime comfort food, which shouldn't make sense and sort of doesn't. But it's kind of informative. It's kind of observant. And it prioritizes, one, mystery solving that neutralizes threats and comforts the viewer. And two, the ending uplift, that like fifth act of be closured victims or eyewitnesses walking usually on a beach. That is why Lofted Bundy spends as much time as it does on a metaphorically convenient dream that Edna had, as it does on the profound and lasting unease of knowing that your cousin may have spent cocktail parties looking over your shoulder for targets and found them. So this is not worth your time, but as is often the case, I had to watch the whole thing to realize why and then to tell you about it and to go do something else. You're better off with the book. My full review is at bestevidence.fyi, as these things always are. Sarah 22:08 For my plug, that'll be linked in the show notes. And Dark Tide, read the book. Dave 22:14 All right, I want to talk about Taskmaster Series 21 in brief, and then an exciting I Am Not a Crackpot. So, so far, and this is early going, as of recording time, we've only seen the first episode here. So, cast seems very fun so far. They all seem like they're having fun, which isn't always the case with the cast. I mean, with the exception of Kamail Nanjani coming out hot with a rule sort of nitpick, Which never looks good on you. Don't do that on Taskmaster. I am enjoying the vibe. Tara, early fave contestant. Tara 22:50 I like Joel. I also like Amy, who we just got to know on LOL UK season two. She came in very strong with her prize task submission, which she won, which was the weird old lady to place in a window and scare people away from breaking into your house. But she seems like fun and peppy and like goofy in the right way. And there's a moment when they have a team task in the first episode, which I don't know if we've ever seen that before. I feel like usually that's something they do later in the season. But her team is Amy, Joel, and Kumail. And it's something where one person has to run out and do something periodically. And so as soon as Kumail is out of the room, Amy and Joel are like, he's so famous, which is really cute. Dave 23:34 I think the reason they put the team test in the first episode is because they knew this cast was gelling really well. And they just sort of wanted to shine a light on it. Sure. There's no reason why you can't put one in the first episode. Tara 23:45 No, no. I didn't say there was. I'm just saying it's not usual. Dave 23:47 I wasn't saying you say there was. I'm just saying out loud. Sarah 23:50 You're doing a rules thing on a live broadcast. Tara 23:54 Who's your early fave, Dave? Dave 23:56 I like Joanna Page so far because I feel like she captures some of the energy I liked about Lucy Beaumont without the, oh, I shouldn't be laughing at this brain damage I suspect she has. Tara 24:07 Yeah. Dave 24:08 So that is a good mix for me. Plus, she has an extremely Welsh accent, which makes me think about how my dad sounded before he started losing his accent coming over here. Oh, who do you think will win? Tara 24:21 Hmm. I think it could be Amy only on the grounds that I think she's an early pick for Greg Pett. That's not a derogatory against her. Every season, there's a Greg's pet who's like his obvious fave. Fatia Al-Ghuri was the Greg's pet of that season, for example. Dave 24:38 So it can get better scores in the live setting. Tara 24:42 Or we'll be like, well, you screwed that up, but I'm going to give you a bonus point just because I like you, whatever. But I also think that Joel is a comer and he's very competitive. Dave 24:51 That's my pick. That he's outgoing, but he's also got the eye of the tiger. And that's usually a good combo for a contestant. Tara 24:57 Yeah, he also looks like our friend Adam Sternberg to me, if Adam got crazy veneers. Dave 25:03 Did not see that. Yeah, they are crazy. All right. I'm not a crackpot. Dear Mr. President, there are too many states nowadays. Please eliminate three. I am not a crackpot. I'm not a crackpot, but I kind of wish Taskmaster was streamer native. And here's why. In the last task of the first episode, which is the live task where they're doing it in studio, you could tell just by the way it was edited that that game probably lasted 10 to 15 minutes in real time. And I'm not advocating for a real time viewing of it. Everything always needs editing. Everything's better with an editor at the wheel. But because of the way that Taskmaster is set up right now, it's on Channel 4. Channel 4 needs four ad breaks. The fourth ad break is at a certain time of the show. Therefore, you only have three minutes for your live task that is in the Bible. If it's on a streaming service, then you could front load that episode with shorter tasks and give yourself five to six minutes for the last task. Because that last task was really, really fun. And you could tell that they were getting energetically fed up with it. but it didn't really feel like that path was organic. Like it just sort of like the timeline sped up and then you could see they were getting antsy about everything and excited about every late game victory because it was excruciating for them. Tara 26:25 It was. Dave 26:26 In a fun way. Tara 26:26 For Sarah and anyone else that hasn't watched it, it was like a concentration game where there was only going to be one winner. So you had to find the ducks under like a big long string of cans. And if you uncovered something else like an apple, it meant that your turn was over or whatever. Dave 26:40 It was like snakes of ladders with things under pants. Three card Monty snakes on ladders. Tara 26:45 Yes. Dave 26:46 So I would just like to see in a theoretical universe what Taskmaster, where they have the freedom to play with the timeline within their episode. And I know they a lot of times put stuff up on YouTube or whatever, but I am not a YouTube watcher. If it's not on the show I'm watching, chances are I'm not going to watch it. So I would just, I don't think it's going to be better. I mean, who knows, maybe like sometimes when you are forced into a certain scenario that gives you something creative where you have, you know, it makes it better, but. I would love to see a little freedom there. All right. Here's what's coming up on Extra Extra Hot Great this Friday for our club members. We're going to be talking about the next newest version of American Gladiators is back, back, back again. But I'm going to ask right here, why new generation? Let's bring 67-year-old Nitro back and see what he can do today. That's my pitch. Available to club members, of course, go to extrahotgreat.com slash club for more info. And to join, you can join on Patreon or you can join directly on Apple's subscription program. But if you're on Apple, no other perks except for the audio perks. And then come back here, EHG Prime. We're talking about season two of Beef. Beef. A show all about farting, Sarah. That's all it is. Sarah 28:02 Finally. Dave 28:02 We welcome back Philip Maciac for that one. He's back. We're talking about beef. Don't miss it. Dave 28:13 It is time for the Extra Hot Great Cannon, presenting this week as Tara Ariano. Tara 28:18 Hello. Because long-running shows generally get to be that way thanks to a consistent level of excellence, it can be hard for a late series episode to surprise the viewer. But last November, with Season 16, Episode 7, Bob's Burgers did just that. Let's talk about why Tube for Tina should be inducted into the cannon. Tara 28:40 Number one, its premise is grounded and relatable. In the Bob's Burgers is an animated Fox sitcom about a dad, a mom, and their two daughters and son. Its closest analog is probably The Simpsons. But whereas The Simpsons eventually drove away even its most ardent fans with increasingly outlandish storylines, Bob's Burgers has stayed a family sitcom more or less grounded in reality. Exception noted for its fantasy episodes, but those are relatively rare. Here is the inciting incident of Tube for Tina, clip one. What's this boys for now thing you going to again? It's the premiere of their new concert film, Boisterous. Tara 30:09 Okay, uh, this one's got UV protection. Never mind. Tina is a teen girl. Of course, she is excited to see her favorite boy band on the big screen. And since the Belcher finances don't permit her to do the other thing teen girls are apparently obsessed with, a Sephora shopping spree, Tina's road to glam is short and it ends at Seymour's Bay, New Jersey's version of Macy's. Number two, it deals in psychological realism. And this was what surprised me the most. Normally, one of Linda's attributes is affirming her children, even in their weirdest pursuits, sometimes to a fault. But when Tina comes out of her fitting room in her tube top, with roughly half her torso exposed, Linda is alarmed. Clip two. Tina, do you hate it? Should we put it back? Hand it to me. I'll put it back. Tara 31:30 Shouldn't buy it. Yes! I mean, right. Good choice, hon. Thanks. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Though Tina has reluctantly let Linda talk her out of the top, returning to the restaurant to find a deceased bird, we'll get to it, leads Tina to an epiphany. Clip three. I've made a decision. Huh? Mom, I really like that tube top. A lot. Tube top? Tara 32:12 What about the barrette brownstone? My barrettes are just going to have to couch surf a little longer. Tara 32:17 That Tina can't wait for the special occasion and wears the tube top to dinner, Jean didn't know the theme for dinner was Studio 54 is classic teen girl shit as is the visual detail of her carefully holding her hand under her mouth with each bite to make sure she doesn't slop food on the tube top before the movie Linda's dismay about it is classic mom shit clip 4, I guess it was going to happen at some point. The dead bird in our freezer or Tina wearing. Tara 33:47 But, ugh, why don't they just make tube tops that cover more of your skin? So a shirt. Yeah, a tube shirt. That could catch on. Oh, hush, you just don't get it. Tube shirt. Linda's at a difficult stage in her consciousness raising. Though she knows she shouldn't burden Tina with her own hang-ups, Linda hasn't entirely unlearned the negative and misogynist messaging she was raised on. Even though Linda's trying to keep her objections out of Tina's earshot, her discomfort has come through. So when the tube top suddenly disappears, Linda is forced to stop badly, hiding her feelings. Clip five. Why do you hate my tube top so much, Mom? Um. Yeah? Because. Tara 34:35 Well, I think I look really nice in it. Sorry you don't like it. When Tina accuses Linda of getting rid of the tube top, the viewer does think it's plausible, if not exactly the way Tina imagines it happening, which is that she snuck into Tina's room, picked it up, and clip six. I'm going to kill you. Linda admits she did consider it, and we see her unclippable fantasies of running over the tube top with her car, setting it on fire, and feeding it to piranhas. But she's innocent, and eventually they figure out it was accidentally swept up with Tina's cast-off clothes and brought to the Goodwill store. Searching for it there, they find out someone has already bought it, their mean neighbor Edith from the art store up the street. Linda bravely approaches her, clip seven. Please, Edith, you gotta give us the tube top back! Nope, no way! A tube top, it's gonna be a real jug jamboree in this thing. You know, I actually hate that friggin' tube top, and I didn't want Tina to wear it. Ugh, great. This again. It's a very small piece. Sarah 35:50 Furry belly. Huh? Oh, you mean your human body? You idiot! What I'm saying is I had my own issues. And all the other stuff. The hoochie hoochie stuff. Sorry, my mom uses the term hoochie hoochie. Tara 36:26 $43 and some mints from my purse? I'll take it. It's been funny the whole way through. I won't soon forget either Linda's fantasy of wielding a flamethrower against the tube top or describing it as the vehicle for her jug jamboree. But it's also a touching story of Linda making a breakthrough for the sake of her daughter and the fact that she hasn't entirely overcome her mental programming only underscores how much she should be lauded for the effort that got her this far. Clip eight. OK, bye. Wait, Tina. Yeah. You look beautiful. Thanks, mom. Tara 37:05 Oh, just a sequin. Just a stray sequin. Forget I said anything. You're beautiful. It's hard to imagine Louise ever wanting to wear a tube top, but if she does, Linda will be ready to support her in the way no tube top has ever supported anyone. Number three, a pet death B-plot is handled as well as such a thing can be. The front window of the restaurant is so clean that a bird flies into it and stuns itself. When the belchers on site plus Teddy gather around it, Jean notes how beautiful the bird is, and yes, it has a very long tail, but the fact that it's just drawn in white and gray makes me wonder if an animator did not get some instructions on making it colorful, but regardless, Teddy knows someone who works in animal rescue, so Bob calls for instructions on how best to help the bird, but while he's on the phone, it dies. So, yes, I am back in this segment with a dead bird for the first time since I pitched the Seinfeld episode The Strongbox to the Nonac back in episode 513. But in that instance, a parrot was suspected of having swallowed Kramer's strongbox key and died, and Kramer and Jerry were discovered digging up its remains. In this case, none of the show's major characters is culpable for the bird's untimely passing. They also honor its life with a funeral in Teddy's yard. The bird turns out to have been Zeus, a pet to Phyllis, voice of Maren Dungey. The show has a little fun with her, clip nine. Tara 38:23 I'm sorry we fought. I love you. I'll always love. Tara 38:36 This feels like a private conversation. But overall, it shows the Belchers feeling genuine regret for the way their lives have chanced to intersect with Phyllis's. Of the animal deaths I've seen in sitcom episodes, and weirdly, there have been a lot, this is one of the more sensitive takes. And that's my argument for Tube for Tina. Vote it in or I will make you watch all four plus hours of Boys for Now colon Boys Stur Us. Dave 39:01 Thank you, Tara. Sarah, what do you think? Sarah 39:04 I really enjoyed this. I thought that it was very skillful balancing act, like Tara said, between this sort of very funny, but also very relatable moment with the younger teen girl starting to wear more grown up things and mom feeling ways about that that have nothing to do with the actual girl or how she looks. And they definitely let it be touching and relatable to both sides while mixing in Edith yelling about yarn, drugs, and everything in between. So that was very enjoyable. And I think that's the way that you want to do these. And I was also in mind of the fact that part of the problem with The Simpsons as an animated Famcom is that the timeline window keeps shifting. so in some flashbacks everyone's in bell bottoms and in others everyone's in like mod robe skate pants and it's like okay what are we doing here it's also always extremely tempting to go hard on the boy band jokes there were just enough they got just like boisterous it's perfect like you're you're done you you can stop and they they did and of course it's four hours long but i I think my favorite part of this was all the dad's asides, just Bob being like, ugh. They're talking about someone decomposing and Gene's like, like dad does. And he's like, Gene. Sarah 40:30 Then he's muttering about like, so we got to go to this funeral for a bird we met yesterday. I mean, there were just like a lot of them that were, again, thrown in perfectly timed and they kept things moving. And that's one of the things that I historically enjoy about Bob's Burgers is that there's not lingering. Everyone is like doing what they do in character. Jean screaming about the bird belonging in the Oscars in memoriam segment at the very least was just very funny to me. Donut bird funeral forever. This was really fun to watch and an excellent presentation. Many good points made. Tara 41:08 All right. Dave 41:10 I think most of these have been mentioned, but here's my five favorite jokes from the episode. First going to be a real jug jamboree. It really took me by surprise and they laughed out loud at that. I think it's the only time I actually laughed out loud. Sarah mentioned the knitting con as yarn drugs and everything in between. Also really great. Sarah 41:28 What is in between? Dave 41:30 Linda killing the tube top in all the different ways, including by Piranha, which was fantastic. Sarah 41:35 It was very good. Dave 41:36 There is an ongoing Linda thing that always makes me laugh. It is sort of the equivalent of Marge getting really excited about doing housework, which is whenever Linda doesn't like something, she does a big throw up voice and the bird's in the freezer. And she's like, I don't know why, it always gets me. And then the one that nobody mentioned that I thought was a funny little bit is they're talking about having to shop for underwear. And then Linda eventually says, underwear for everybody then. And Teddy, who is also there goes, oh, not for you, Teddy. Oh, and it just happens very fast. It sort of speaks to what Sarah was talking about with just like these little tiny moments. And she's right. That is sort of the cadence of Bob's Burgers is when they don't have big things to make fun of, they fill it up with patter jokes, which depending on how long you've watched Bob's Burgers, you know, becomes part of the rhythm of it. But once in a while, there's one of those that kind of makes you laugh again. That said, I feel like this is one half of a canon presentation. And I think there's a reason why Tara sort of had eight clips about the not bird thing. And then one clip about the bird thing at the end, which is it is a weak part of this episode. And I'm not against dead things in TV shows. You can make anything funny if you put your mind to it. And there's some little bits that are funny here. I hate it when Gene Belcher sings during the episode. That wasn't one of them for me. Usually I don't find that funny, even though I feel like I would 100% be Gene Belcher if I had a keyboard when I was a kid, his age. True to life, but there we go. So for me... Dave 43:05 The tube top, canon worthy. The bird thing, not really. So when you mix them together, I think it lowers it just under the canon threshold for me. But once again, whenever I vote no on something, I just want to say when it is a good episode, it's a good episode. I just don't think it's a great episode. All right. Let's put this to the official vote. Sarah D. Bunting, what say you? Sarah 43:26 I thought the bird part was fine. So it's a yes for me. Dave 43:30 All right. Well, Tara, you kind of got screwed by our guest getting sick, I think, on this one. Tara 43:36 Yeah. Dave 43:36 So, unfortunately. And it's just two people. And a one-to-one tie goes to it not getting in, as is our draconian law, Bob's Burgers, Season 6, Episode 7, Tube for Tina. You are not inducted into the Extra Hot Gray Cam. Dave 44:00 love a winner yeah and will not tolerate a loser nope it is time for the winner and loser of the week sarah d bunting has this week's winner well. Sarah 44:12 I hated to take this one from dave but it's joel kinnaman. Dave 44:17 He Sarah 44:18 Went straight from his serious rap on for all mankind aka space show to Burning Man, where he spent his time, quote, wearing some chain mail and getting very high. This sounds like the worst possible time in terms of my like off time or celebrating the end of a big job. But he seemed really excited about it. And honestly, if I had to go to Burning Man, seeing fucking Ed stalking around in chain mail, baked off his gourd, that might actually sell me on Burning Man that possibility. Probably not, but it might. So good for him. Follow your star. Tara 44:55 This story also highlights something, which is we perceive him as being very boring. And in his real life, he is not. This is not something I want to do either. But going to Burning Man, it's not something a boring person does, really. Sarah 45:08 I don't have time for your little baby shenanigans. Dave 45:10 Who is our loser of the week, Tara? Tara 45:12 Our loser of the week is Euphoria, as a music artist called Labyrinth says he stopped providing the show with his music because he wouldn't, quote, let people treat him like shit. And two things about this. One is, what is the problem with HBO shows getting their creators into fights with their composers? The same thing happened with White Lotus last year. Sarah 45:35 Oh, yeah. Tara 45:36 And second, Euphoria is also a loser because it gave its characters a five year time jump, which I guess made Sam Levinson think it was OK to make Cassie's storyline. This is the Sydney Sweeney character, her doing OnlyFans, including in a puppy costume in what even fans are calling extremely degrading. So Euphoria, not a show I watch and nothing that has happened since it came back on Sunday has changed my mind. Dave 46:05 Speaking about nothing changing your mind, except sometimes, and maybe all the time. Do you know what time it is? Tara 46:10 It's non-regulation game time. Dave 46:12 Yeah. Sarah 46:12 Non-regulation game time. Tara 46:13 Woo! Dave 46:24 All right, everybody, this is a non-regulation game time. Today, we are playing Secret Invitation Code from the EHG Assist team with special thanks to Renzi, who helped gather suggestions into a document for us to play for reasons that will be clear shortly. Secret Invitation Code, of course, is legally distinct from Password, a game we are not playing today. In this game, Tara and Sarah will take turns giving me one-word clues about a word connected to the world of television. We go back and forth with clues to me until I guess the word and that person will win the point. Now, obviously, I can't know the words in this game. So that's where Rinzi came in and created a one-word-per-page document that Tara and Sarah will play from. Spaced out so they can't see the second word when they're doing the first. Let's do that first word. as an example. So Tara, Sarah, open up your secret document. Look at that first word. We'll start with Sarah giving me a one word clue. Sarah 47:24 Perfectly. Dave 47:26 Shiny. Tara 47:28 Ambigons. Dave 47:29 Oh, crombulant. Tara 47:30 That's it. Okay. Dave 47:32 Very good. So that's how you play. Choose your words carefully so you don't lead into an obvious thing for the next person. It's all part of the password. I mean, secret invitation code strategy. Tara 47:43 Aha. Dave 47:44 All right. here we go. No steel meals today, obviously, and we will go until we stop. So, eh, question mark questions. No Grossworth Equalizer Challenge Zone. Let's throw it to Peggy to see who will be giving the first clue. We will start with Sarah. All right. So Sarah gets first step at the first word. Here we go. Are we ready to play Secret Invitation Code? Tara 48:12 Yes. Sarah 48:13 Yes. Dave 48:13 All right. Sarah, Brady Bunting, first clue, one word for our first TV work. invention invention the smelloscope no that's not that's more than one deep hyphen fry, uh uh double meat that's two words as well i. Tara 48:35 Think it's actually one word in the episode. Dave 48:37 Okay great not really an invention though. Tara 48:39 An innovation certainly. Dave 48:42 We do have a time thing here you don't get forever. You have about 10 seconds. You're coming up against it. Sarah 48:49 Banana. Dave 48:50 Banana. Invention. Banana. Deep fry. Cornballer. All right. Cornballer is our first word. That's how you do it. First point to Sarah D. Bunting. Tara 48:59 Good job, Sarah. Dave 49:00 First word from Tara Ariana. Tara 49:03 Robot. Dave 49:05 Robot. Bender. Sarah 49:09 Humanoid. Dave 49:11 Robot. Humanoid. Murderbot. Tara 49:16 Survivors. Dave 49:18 Survivors. Robot, humanoid, and survivors. I should tweak something. Sarah 49:31 Reboot. Tara 49:33 Good one. Dave 49:34 Reboot. Cylon. Tara 49:40 Nickname? Dave 49:41 Six. Six. Oh, I just got it. Sarah 49:46 Bread. Dave 49:47 Toaster. Nicely done. Tara 49:51 All right, that was a good one. Dave 49:52 That was a good one. Tara 49:52 Instead of nickname. Dave 49:53 Oh, just to mention it, just because I think either you want to play blindly with all of us or sometimes password style, and this is legally distinct from password, you would know the answer while everybody gives clues. So if that is your jam, somewhere in the show notes will either be the list or a link to a text file with the list if you want to see the answers as we play along. All right, let's get back into it. Sarah D. Bunting, your first clue. Item number three. Sarah 50:20 Doll. Dave 50:21 Doll. No, I'm sorry. I can't pull anything. Tara 50:31 Boobs. Dave 50:32 Boobs. Sarah 50:33 Doll. That would have been my next one. Dave 50:34 Boobs. The way you said it makes me think I should be connecting things faster, but I don't have anything. Tara 50:44 Wow. Sarah 50:45 Pink. Dave 50:47 Doll boobs in pink. I mean, it sounds like Barbie, but Barbie's a deal. Barbie? It is Barbie. Okay. I wouldn't have connected Barbie with the TV thing right away, which is why I was having trouble at the start of that, I think. But I guess she's had TV shows. Tara 51:04 Yeah. Dave 51:04 My friend Dee Weeb worked on one of them. Tara 51:05 He sure did. Dave 51:06 Sure. All right. All right, so Sarah D. Bunty dominating so far. Tara Iriano, you're first on our fourth word. Tara 51:13 Okay. Cruise. Dave 51:16 Cruise? Ooh, one word, though. Stubing. Sarah 51:24 Physician. Tara 51:25 Nice. Dave 51:26 Odyssey. Tara 51:28 Nickname? Dave 51:30 Fuckboat. Tara 51:31 That's it. Sarah 51:32 I'm glad that was Tara's first point. Dave 51:34 I like how we went to the love boat before Dr. Odyssey. I'm not old. You're old. All right. Very nice. Tara's on the board. Back to Sarah. Sarah 51:44 Oh, Jesus. Car. Dave 51:51 Kit only because you were giving the clue I think that's why that connection was made nicely done our first ace alright back to turn, turn, turn pivot alright back to Sarah. Sarah 52:14 Oh god competition. Dave 52:18 Hmm. Eliminated. Tara 52:21 That's a good guess. Singing. Dave 52:24 Competition, singing. All right, so American Idol, the voice. I'm going to go sideways and say gong. Okay. It fits so far. Sarah 52:35 This. This. Dave 52:38 Uh-huh. Sarah 52:39 This. Dave 52:39 Wasn't quite the right inflection. Sarah 52:41 But I'm going to have to live with it. Tara 52:42 I got it. I don't know if he would know that, though. I don't think he's seen enough of this thing. Dave 52:47 Ah, sorry, I don't have anything at this point now. No, I'm more confused, okay. Tara 52:53 Fallen? Sarah 52:54 Good. Dave 52:55 Fallen? Tara 52:56 Mm-hmm. Dave 52:57 It's a singing competition where you can get knocked down, maybe, yeah, sorry. Sarah 53:05 False. Tara 53:06 That was what I was going to say next. Dave 53:08 False. Is there a singing competition with a trapdoor? Tara 53:12 But I know of. Dave 53:13 Okay. That's what it sounds like you're explaining to me. All right. Let's do one more each. I feel like I'm miles away from this. Tara 53:22 It's so hard to do without saying anyone's. Dave 53:25 No. Sarah 53:26 One of us is going to do set up and the other one's going to get dunked. Tara 53:30 I don't know. Sarah 53:31 I think. Tara 53:34 Shit. Sorry. Dave 53:36 All right, Sarah. Sarah 53:37 Title. Title. Dave 53:38 Title? Sarah 53:39 Title. Tara 53:40 T-I-T-L-E. Dave 53:41 Yeah, title. Not the forces of the ocean. Tara 53:44 Right. Dave 53:44 And the moon. Yeah, got it. Singing, competition, fallen, title. There's one more, right? I'm missing. Tara 53:52 Yeah, false. Sarah 53:53 False. Dave 53:54 False. False, fallen. So is the title one word? Oh, God. Tara 53:58 I don't think we can tell you that. Dave 54:00 Yeah, no, I'm thinking out loud. I'm going through word strat. I'm sorry, guys. I think this is a no-go. What is it? Tara 54:06 Idol. Oh, just idol. False idol. Sarah 54:10 You know what we should... Dave 54:11 Immunity. You should have said immunity. Sarah 54:13 Yes, I should have. I just realized that. That one's on you guys. Dave 54:17 All right. Who was first there? That was Sarah's first. So let's go to Tara for our first clue for our next TV work. Tara 54:23 Okay. Bandolier. Dave 54:27 Bandolier. Who wears a bandolier? Who wears a bandolier? Outlaws. Westerns, is this The Mandalorian? Sarah's broken Christmas Christmas Christmas What? Bandolier Christmas Christmas It was very bad Oh my god How do we go from bandolier to Christmas What is going on here Christmas, Sarah would never this is not one word anyways but I was going to go with Santa bot from Futurama but I can't do that alright Tara. Tara 55:17 Carpet, Sarah do you get the connection. Dave 55:25 Bandolier Christmas and carpet carpet Christmas bandolier bandolier is really throwing me I can't think of characters with bandoliers to Santa Another Santa have a bandolier at some point? Oh, sorry. No, need another one. Sarah 55:43 Really torn. Dave 55:44 Perhaps you can learn something from not having a different avenue in from the title. Tara 55:50 Well, it's not helpful in this case. Dave 55:53 Okay. Sarah 55:54 No. Family. Family. Dave 55:57 Family. Family. Bandolier. Christmas. And. Tara 56:03 Carpet. Dave 56:04 Carpet. Oh, my God. All right, let's do one more each. Tara 56:10 Life. Dave 56:12 Life. Carpet. Bandolier. Is this Life Day? Okay. I'm not sure if Life Day is two words or one word in the universe. I'm thinking Star Wars Holiday Special now, guys. Tara 56:37 Okay, knock it down, Sarah. Sarah 56:39 Species. Dave 56:40 Wookie. Tara 56:41 Yay! There we go. Dave 56:42 Oh, my God. Tara 56:43 All right, good clues. I felt wrong in this jock, by the way. Sarah 56:46 Yeah, by the way. Tara 56:47 Guys. Dave 56:47 Okay, now I understand. My mind was going old man. I mean, I don't want to. That wasn't a great Wookie impression. Tara 56:54 Well, no one can. Sarah 56:56 Yeah, no shit. I couldn't really get that. Dave 56:59 Don't you just have it? Ready? Sarah 57:02 That wasn't really a great Wookie impression. Is that what you just fucking said to me? Dave 57:08 Yes. All right. Let's just get the scores here. I don't know how long this is going to last still, but let's go. Tara 57:13 It's not close. I have two. Sarah has five. Dave 57:16 All right. Why don't we do two more? Tara 57:17 Okay. Dave 57:17 Okay. Sarah 57:18 Great. Dave 57:18 Sarah D. Bunting, first clue, please. Sarah 57:21 Award. Dave 57:22 Award. Emmy? Oh. Tara 57:27 Paper. Dave 57:28 Dundee's. Sarah 57:28 Ugh. Dave 57:30 Oh, God. It's two seconds after I said Emmys. I'm like, oh, fuck. I bet this is the Dundee's. I know how the people on the Discord work. Tara 57:37 I almost said Chili's. Dave 57:39 Yeah. Tara 57:40 I stopped myself. Dave 57:41 All right. Last one to Tara. phone phone that. Tara 57:47 Wasn't part of it. Dave 57:48 I know phone uh basically this is not my answer but one of my favorite things in the rockford files is they obviously have one prop pay phone they bring around as like this blue bubbly thing it's the only phone booth you really see in the show is because they could just bring it and plop it wherever rockford needs to make a phone call and just like the like i'm in the middle of the desert there's a phone booth, make a call. It really is like a prehistoric cell phone that somehow he carries around with it. Tara 58:16 I disagree. I think they just are shooting in places where that exists. No way. Dave 58:21 There's no way that style of phone booth was that prevalent. Tara 58:25 Well, give an answer. Dave 58:26 Okay. Phone. Phone? No, let's move on. Sarah 58:31 Timey. Dave 58:32 Oh, okay. Is this TARDIS? Hey, you can discuss amongst yourself whether TARDIS is one word. I don't want to get into it. All right. That is regulation of this non-regulation game. Can I please get our final scores? Tara 58:52 Yes, you can. I had three. Sarah D. Bunting, six. Dave 58:57 Oh, wow. All right. Blow out. Sorry, Sarah. Tara 58:59 This is non-regulation. Dave 59:00 Is there any one from the rest that you want to do as a parting shot? One that's especially delicious to you. Tara 59:07 I'm just scanning. the one after Moopsie. Dave 59:10 Oops. Sarah 59:12 Uh, sure. Tara 59:13 Okay. Dave 59:14 All right, here we go. This is for a steel mill for future use. Tara 59:17 Sarah's first. Dave 59:18 All right, Sarah, go. Sarah 59:19 Stop! Dave 59:22 Okay. Uh, that's gonna make sense later, but right now I just feel belittled. Um, stop! Uh, okay. No. Too general. Sarah 59:33 Can't play. I mean, if I could make a hand gesture, but I don't think I can. Tara 59:36 Can you say the same word more than once, like for inflection purposes? Okay. No! Dave 59:43 No! Stop! No! Stop! No! All right, still too general for me. Sarah 59:50 Game. Dave 59:52 Stop. No. All right, game. Sarah 59:54 Oh, I fucked up. All right. Dave 59:56 No, that's fine. Tara 59:57 I think that's okay. Dave 59:58 Stop. It was no, right? N-O? Tara 1:00:01 Yeah. No. Dave 1:00:03 Stop. Is this wheel? Okay. Tara 1:00:10 Animation. Dave 1:00:11 Oh. This is whammy? Sarah 1:00:14 Yeah. Tara 1:00:15 Yes, it's whammies. Dave 1:00:15 All right. Whammy, press your luck. All right. Nicely done, everybody. Thank you for your help. Thank you, Rinzi, for putting together that document. Today is Sarah's day. Tara 1:00:28 Sarah! Sarah. Dave 1:00:30 Except for the part where it's non-regulation and you get no points. Tara 1:00:34 You get the glory. Dave 1:00:36 Yeah, sure. All right, guys. That is it for another episode of Extra Hot Grade. We had the audacity. Before going around the dial with stops at Margo's Got Money Problems, Love Ted Bundy, which, by the way, was much better than With Love, Megan. Very similar shows. and Taskmaster. Tara didn't get Bob's Burgers 2 for Tina into the canon. We crowned winners and losers of the week, and Sarah was the winner of this week's Game Time. Next up is American Gladiator Senior Edition. Remember... I am David T. Cole, and on behalf of Tara Ariano... Tara 1:01:19 I'm going to kill you. Dave 1:01:21 ...and Sarah D. Bunting. Sarah 1:01:23 At the very least. Dave 1:01:25 Thanks for listening, everybody, and we'll see you next time right here on Extra Hot Great.