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Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV

Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV
Author: Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV
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Join Tara Ariano, Sarah D. Bunting, David T. Cole and their valued guests each week for discussion of what's new on TV plus our hall of fame roundtable segment called The Canon, listen as we appoint Winners and Losers Of The Week and of course our ultra competitive TV trivia quiz: Game Time.
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We are off this week but present you with this EHG Club unlock of EEHG 324: This Week In Historical TV: September 4-10, 1991.
Earlier this year, our Patreon supporters unlocked a new milestone, and with it a new annual BONUS bonus episode: This Week In Historical TV! Since we've gone with September 4-10, 1991 and chosen as our lead topic Cast A Deadly Spell, an HBO TV movie that combines classic hard-boiled detective fiction with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, we had to invite Dan Cassino, a fan of both, to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through some highlights of our week in programming: the series premiere of Herman's Head; an all-timer Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode on Gamera vs. Guiron; Parker Lewis Can't Lose; and the Merlin Olsen-hosted Fantastic Facts. Tara pitches the S09 Cheers episode "Days Of Wine And Neuroses" for induction into The Canon. Then, after plucking a winner and loser out of the September 6, 1991 issue of Entertainment Weekly, it's on to a Game Time that has us asking many MORE than 19 Questions about the characters, places, and things of the 1991-92 TV season. Send your zombie henchman outside and join us!
GUESTS
Dan Cassino
TOPICS
Lead Topic → Cast A Deadly Spell
Will Dave Hate This? → The Gambler Returns: The Luck Of The Draw
Around The Dial → Herman's Head
Around The Dial → Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Around The Dial → Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Around The Dial → Fantastic Facts
The Canon → Cheers S09.E16: Days Of Wine And Neuroses
Winner & Loser → Jack Wagner
Winner & Loser → Ramy Zada
Game Time → 19 Questions: 1991-92 TV Season Edition
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EPISODE NOTES
Full episode notes
Dan Cassino on Bluesky
The Herman's Head pilot on YouTube
Mystery Science Theater 3000's episode on Gamera vs. Guiron on YouTube
Parker Lewis Can't Lose S02.E04 on YouTube
Dark Justice on Wikipedia
Dark Justice on the Internet Archive
Photo: HBO
We haven't heard much from creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg since BoJack Horseman ended in early 2020, but he's back with a new animated family dramedy, Long Story Short, which has already been picked up for a second season. Are we excited to lengthen our time with it? New guest Eli Yudin joins us to talk about it. Around The Dial clicks through Peacemaker S02, Zach Galifianakis: Live At The Purple Onion, and Smoke. Mlle. Caroline pitches the Andor episode "Who Are You?" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close up with a particularly fraternal Game Time. Grab some kugel and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Eli Yudin
TOPICS
Announcement: 🤏 Patreon Update
Lead Topic: 🕍 Long Story Short
Around The Dial: 🕊️ Peacemaker
Around The Dial: 🧅 Zach Galifianakis: Live At The Purple Onion
Around The Dial: 🚒 Smoke
The Canon: ⁉️ Andor S02.E08: Who Are You?
Winner & Loser: 🌃 Saturday Night Live
Winner & Loser: 📜 Lifetime's non-scripted team
Game Time: 👯♂️ All In The Family
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
👨🏻💻 Eli Yudin's website
🗣️ Tara's Paul Reiser interview at Cracked
✌️ Tara's Peacemaker S02 review at Cracked
🎤 Eli's standup special Humble Offering on YouTube
📚 "The Dog-Eared Days Of Summer" sale at Exhibit B. Books
📷 Photo: Netflix
Amanda Knox's arrest for murder in Italy became a sensational true crime story...so of course it is now the subject of a scripted true crime series. Did we find it sensational? Eve Batey joins us to discuss it. Around The Dial lands on North Of North, The Yogurt Shop Murders, Back To The Frontier, and The Fixer. Tara pitches the Friends episode "The One With Russ" for induction into The Nonac. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that knows: triples is best. Put down your old cell phone and your platter of pasta and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Eve Batey
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🍝 The Twisted Tale Of Amanda Knox
Around The Dial: 🧭 North Of North
Around The Dial: 🍦 The Yogurt Shop Murders
Around The Dial: 🪵 Back To The Frontier
Around The Dial: 🛠️ The Fixer
The Nonac: 🍷 Friends S02.E10: The One With Russ
Winner & Loser: 📞 Wendell Pierce
Winner & Loser: 🚨 MS Now
Game Time: 3️⃣ Three For All
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Eve Batey on Bluesky
❄️ North Of North Outfits at Victoria Jacket
💩 "And Just Like That Goes Out With A 'Bah'" at Cracked
🍦 "The Yogurt Shop Murders Unpacks 'The Craziest Crime In Texas'" at Vanity Fair
📰 The Pleat
⚒️ "The Fixer: Marcus Lemonis's New Show Is Very Similar To The Profit" at Reality Blurred
🔎 Best Evidence
👯♂️ "Friends: Why Russ Is Played By 'Snaro' (When It's Really David Schwimmer)" at ScreenRant
😉 "'Diner Wink' Full Sketch - I Think You Should Leave Season 2" [origin of "triples is best"] on YouTube
📷 Photo: Hulu
The Alien-verse has landed on TV with Noah Hawley's re-imagining (or pre-imagining) of the xenomorphic worlds of the film series -- and Andrew Cunningham has landed back in the guest chair to talk about telepathic blackmail, when hearing is scarier than seeing, and acting choices that don't make sense. Is this essential viewing, or should you jump in a shuttle and bail? Later, we went Around The Dial with War Of The Worlds 2025, The Gilded Age, It's Always Sunny, and American Prince: JFK Jr. before the panel stared into the abyss of Sarah's Sopranos Canon pitch. The Yellowstone-verse won, the Sussexes lost, and we kicked off a new Game Time season with a real facehugger. Skip that cryo-nap and listen to an all-new Extra Hot Great instead!
GUESTS
👤 Andrew Cunningham
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 👽 Alien: Earth
Around The Dial: 🌎 War Of The Worlds
Around The Dial: 🚂 The Gilded Age
Around The Dial: 😎 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Around The Dial: 🤴 American Prince: JFK Jr.
The Canon: 👠 The Sopranos S02.E07: D-Girl
Winner & Loser: 🐮 Y: Marshals
Winner & Loser: 👑 Harry and Meghan
Game Time: 🫦 They Mostly Come At Night
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Andrew Cunningham on Bluesky
📚 Andrew's book pod with Craig Getting, Overdue
👨🏻💻 Andrew at Ars Technica
🌍 Tara's War Of The Worlds review at Cracked
👵🏻 "Oldies but goodies" on sale at Exhibit B. Books
📷 Photo: Patrick Brown / FX
Fifteen years after its series finale on Fox, King Of The Hill is back with its fourteenth season, now at on Hulu. Is it worth yelling from the mountains about? We discuss. Around The Dial stops at The Yogurt Shop Murders and S21 of Project Runway. Tara pitches the Close Enough episode "Secret Horse" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close with a Non-Regulation Game Time that's on the level. Grab a can of Alamo and join us!
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🤠 King Of The Hill
Around The Dial: 🍦 The Yogurt Shop Murders
Around The Dial: 👗 Project Runway
The Canon: 🐴 Close Enough S02.E16: Secret Horse
Winner & Loser: 🕵 The Tennessee high school forensic club that solves cold cases
Winner & Loser: 📝 Temuera Morrison
Game Time: ⚖️ Oops! All Equalizer Challenge Zones
SUPPORT THE SHOW
🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🗣️ Brian VanHooker's interview with King Of The Hill writer Norm Hiscock at Cracked
🍺 Tara's review of King Of The Hill S14 at Cracked
📅 Tara's ranking of the King Of The Hill's season premiere's most self-consciously 2025 jokes, at Cracked
🦤 Nicholas Quah's review of King Of The Hill S14 at Vulture
🍦 "The Yogurt Shop Murders Unpacks 'The Craziest Crime In Texas'" by Eve Batey at Vanity Fair
🔍 "HBO's Smart New Docuseries Takes On The Yogurt Shop Murders -- And True Crime Itself" by Sam Adams at Slate
📽️ "9 Clips To Remind You Why Kristen Johnston Is One Of The Greatest Living Comedic Actors" at Cracked
🧑🏫 Classroom Essentials Lists at Donors Choose
🎠 Secret Horse
Critic and podcaster Mark Blankenship returns to The Blankenship Chair to discuss Hitmakers, a reality show about songwriters that needs less contrived drama and more process -- but did appeal to a couple of our panelists as eye candy. Should you give it a try, or wait until one of its pop creations comes on in an elevator? We went Around The Dial with Happy Gilmore 2, Million Dollar Secret, The Challenge 41, and The Gilded Age spoilers before tapping our toes to a Canon pitch for Buffy's musical episode. A nepo Beatty won, Resident Alien lost, and Non-Regulation Game Time struck a chord with another round of Tube Tunes. We don't want to call it "fire," but it IS an all-new episode of Extra Hot Great!
GUESTS
👤 Mark Blankenship
TOPICS
Announcement: ❤️🔥 EHG Club Update
Lead Topic: 🤩 Hitmakers
Around The Dial: 🏒 Happy Gilmore 2
Around The Dial: 🤑 Million Dollar Secret
Around The Dial: 🏂 The Challenge
Around The Dial: 🐎 The Gilded Age
The Canon: 👩🏻🎤 Buffy The Vampire Slayer S06.E07: Once More With Feeling
Winner & Loser: 🪓 Ella Beatty
Winner & Loser: 👽 Resident Alien
Game Time: 🎶 Tube Tunes XVI
SUPPORT THE SHOW
🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
🛍️ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
💿 Mark Blankenship's Lost Songs Project
⛳️ The one Happy Gilmore 2 joke that made Tara laugh
👍 Tara's appreciation of Christopher McDonald
😳 A ranking of all the HG2 non-sports cameos
🔪 The latest true-crime reviews at Best Evidence
📷 Photo: Netflix
Well, we all have a face that we hide away forever, and we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone -- even Billy Joel, who has decided to take his out for Billy Joel: And So It Goes, a two-part HBO docu-series about his life and work. Should he have kept it to himself (it's his life)? Daniel Blau Rogge returns to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through S02 of Digman!, The Comeback, and Billionaire Boys' Club. Dan presents the Hacks episode "The Roast Of Deborah Vance" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to Game Time, in which we're listening…to celebrity Frasier callers. Say Goodbye To Hollywood and hello to a new episode!
GUESTS
👤 Dan Blau Rogge
TOPICS
Announcement: 🍎 EHG Apple Podcast Subscription
Lead Topic: 🎹 Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Around The Dial: Digman!
Around The Dial: 🥊 The Comeback
Around The Dial: 💰 Billionaire Boys' Club
The Canon: 🎤 Hacks S03.E03: The Roast Of Deborah Vance
Winner & Loser: 👩🏼❤️👨🏻 High-Concept Dating Shows
Winner & Loser: 🙂 Happy Face
Game Time: 📻 Notable Residents of Seattle
SUPPORT THE SHOW
🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Daniel Blau Rogge on Bluesky
Tara's Digman! S02 review at Cracked
🛍️ EHG 336, including our discussion of Shangri-La Plaza
🪨 Dan on the Glass Houses ranking episode of Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs
💁🏻♂️ Listen To Sassy 141, featuring Dan
🤦🏻♂️ Listen To Sassy 142, also featuring Dan
👨🏻💻 Dan's website
🍪 Adopt A (PBS) Station
📷 Photo: Courtesy of Art Maillett / Sony Music Archives / HBO
Lena Dunham is back with Netflix romcom Too Much -- and so is Maris Kreizman, to discuss Dunham's return to the discourse, whether we can separate the creator from the show, and what the panelists who didn't care for it still think it did really well. We went Around The Dial with American Horror Stories's third season, Veronica Mars's FIRST season, and Ballard, and Tara hoped we'd come to praise AND bury "the Giamatti episode" of Black Mirror for the Canon. Richard Gadd won, Today's Craig Melvin lost (while letting Rick Springfield also win), and getting "home free" proved a challenge in a tagline-based Game Time. Throw a nightie on your favorite pet and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Maris Kreizman
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 💂🏻 Too Much
Around The Dial: 😱 American Horror Stories
Around The Dial: 🕵🏻♀️ Veronica Mars
Around The Dial: 🅱️ Ballard
The Canon: 🪞 Black Mirror S07.E05: Eulogy
Winner & Loser: 🦌 Richard Gadd
Winner & Loser: 🥱 Craig Melvin
Game Time: 👉 Tag, You're It
SUPPORT THE SHOW
🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
📇 Maris Kreizman's website
🧨 An excerpt from Maris's new book, I Want To Burn This Place Down, at Rolling Stone
🦋 Maris on Bluesky
🪞 Extra Hot Great 558 on Black Mirror S07
🇬🇧 Tara's review of Too Much
👐 Kerr County Flood Relief Fund
✍🏻 ProPublica's local reporting network
📷 Photo: Ana Blumenkron / Netflix
In the grand tradition of our drafts for Law & Order and the Star Trek franchise, we're using this special episode to draft teams of staff, patients, loved ones, and inanimate shows from ER -- and who better to join us than Laura Hampton, a PA known to us from our Discord as an ER superfan who recently completed a full rewatch of the entire series? No one, which is why she's here picking a team AND organized the draft with the correct number of each category of character for us to choose from. Now we're going to need YOU to vote for which team reigns supreme! Laura also presents Doug saving Ben from a flooding storm drain in "Hell And High Water" for induction into the Hero category of the Tiny Canon. Finally, we close with an on-theme game about body parts in the names of TV shows and actors. Get listening, STAT!
GUESTS
👤 Laura Hampton
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🏥 ER Draft
Tiny Canon: 🌊 ER S02.E07: Hell and High Water
Game Time: 🫁 The Body Keeps The Score
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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🛍️ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🩻 Final ER draft picks from Laura, Tara and Sarah
📊 Poll: Best ER Lineup
📊 Poll: Hospital You'd Most Want To Be A Patient At
💵 Donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds
💉 Your Local Epidemiologist on Substack
📚 LibraryFinder
We are off this week but present you with this EHG Club unlock of EEHG 343: Should You Sign On To With Love, Meghan?
It's clear the former Meghan Markle wants to do something significant with her British-royal influence; it's also clear her new Netflix homekeeping show, With Love, Meghan, isn't that. Stephanie Early Green is back to talk about why it's so dull, what might have helped, and how Martha Stewart succeeded where Meghan Sussex fails. Ask EHG wondered who would replace Noel Fielding on GBBO and which characters we'd want on our bar-trivia teams, and then Tara pitched a lyrical SNL sketch for the Tiny Canon. And after we listed our Not Quite Winners and Losers of the week, Sarah's Extra Credit polled the panel on important princesses of television. Throw on a $300 linen apron and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Stephanie Green
TOPICS
15s Of Fame: 🤬 The Good Swear
Lead Topic: 🕯️ With Love, Meghan
Ask EHG: 🎂 Replacing Noel Fielding
Tiny Canon: 🏀 Saturday Night Live S38.E18: Vince Vaughn
Winner & Loser: 🃏 Poker Face
Winner & Loser: 🏈 Tracy Morgan
Winner & Loser: 🍄 The Last Of Us
Winner & Loser: 🏢 Keegan-Michael Key
Winner & Loser: 💜 Prince's estate
Winner & Loser: ⛹️♂️ Running Point
Winner & Loser: 📉 The Recruit
Winner & Loser: 🎥 Arrested Development
Winner & Loser: 🥀 Bachelor co-EPs Michael Margolis and Keely Booth
Extra Credit: 🫅 Important TV Princesses
Mini: 👑 The Royal Them
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
💚 More from Stephanie Early Green at her website
📖 Vanity Fair's Harry 'n' Meghan cover story
🤨 “Meghan Markle Pioneers New Frontiers in Unrelatability” by Kathryn VanArendonk at Vulture
🗣️ “The Meghan Interview” at People
📷 Photo: Netflix
Like a lot of family-owned businesses, Havenport, North Carolina's Buckley Fishery is having a rough go of it lately. If they can't make their nut and pay all their employees on fish alone, maybe...smuggling cocaine will make up the shortfall? What could go wrong?! Jessica Morgan returns to talk about the ways Kevin Williamson's new show crosses over with the one we know him for best (Dawson's Creek), and the ways it doesn't but that we WISH it would. Around The Dial takes us through Season 3 of The Gilded Age, The Valley, and Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. Sarah pitches the Law & Order episode "Empire" -- aka "The Julia Roberts One" -- for induction into The Canon. Then, after identifying the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a game that's naming names -- lots of them. Grab a serving of fresh oysters and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Jessica Morgan
TOPICS
Announcement: 🏦 EHG Mutual Aid Vault
Lead Topic: 🌊 The Waterfront
Around The Dial: 👒 The Gilded Age
Around The Dial: 😎 The Valley
Around The Dial: 🏟️ Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
The Canon: ⚖️ Law & Order S09.E20: Empire
Winner & Loser: ⭐️ Five-Star Weekend
Winner & Loser: 😱 Ryan Murphy
Game Time: 🪞 Same Name Game
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Jessica Morgan on Bluesky
🔥 Extra Hot Great Club
🏦 Contact Sarah about making a deposit to or withdrawal from the Extra Hot Great Mutual Aid Vault at bunting@tomatonation.com
🔫 "Kevin Williamson Reveals How His Dad's Sordid Past Inspired New Crime Drama 'The Waterfront': 'He Paid The Price'" at the New York Post
🤰🏻 "'Adults' Takes A Strong Stance On Abortion: Everyone Deserves Access, Including Jerks" at Cracked
🌴 Again With This's Membership Campaign
👗 Go Fug Yourself
🍹 The Drinks With Broads Newsletter
📚 Save On True-Crime Paperbacks at Exhibit B. Books
📷 Photo: Dana Hawley / Netflix
And that truth is: none of us thinks you should bother, including returning guest Will Leitch, who agrees that We Were Liars moves too slowly; shows AND tells too fart-sniffily; wastes the talents of an impressive cast, including Mamie Gummer and David Morse; and is based on a property whose author sounds fake. We went Around The Dial with the very real The Chicken Sisters, Untold, and The Mortician before Tara's Canon pitch reunited us with Party Down's third-season premiere. General Hospital won, Doctor Odyssey (maybe??) lost, and Dan Cassino got us all a volume discount on long-running shows in Game Time. Cannonball verrrrrry sloooowwwly into our all-new episode now!
GUESTS
👤 Will Leitch
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🤥 We Were Liars
Around The Dial: 🐔 The Chicken Sisters
Around The Dial: 🏟️ Untold
Around The Dial: 🪦 The Mortician
Around The Dial: 👺 The Devil's Plan
The Canon: 🎉 Party Down S03.E01: Kyle Bradway Is Nitromancer
Winner & Loser: 🏥 General Hospital
Winner & Loser: 🚢 Doctor Odyssey
Game Time: 📺 Intermittent FASTing
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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🛍️ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🎶 Will Leitch on the Rick Astley/popularity conundrum
🏙️ Will at NYMag
📰 Will at WaPo
📚 Buy Will's books
🎉 EHG 448 on the return of Party Down
😝 Tara runs down the best non-Daily Show comedic performances by TDS cast on Cracked
💀 Sarah reviews The Mortician
📖 Exhibit B.'s paperback sale
📷 Photo: Amazon Content Services LLC
Summer is upon us, but what are we going to watch? Robert Krut joins us to help make our traditional lists of what we're into; what we should be into but aren't; what NO ONE should be into; and what's fine for others but not for us. Dave pitches the South Side episode "Treat Yourself" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close out with a Game Time that's pure poetry. Find a spot directly in front of a fan and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Robert Krut
TOPICS
Announcement: 🏦 EHG Mutual Aid Vault
Lead Topic: 🏖️ 2025 Summer TV Preview
The Canon: 🦝 South Side S02.E01: Treat Yourself
Winner & Loser: 👨🍳 Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Winner & Loser: 🩰 Étoile
Game Time: ☘️ There Once Was A Man From TV
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🪶 Robert Krut's website
🌴 The Again With This Club campaign
✊ CHIRLA / Coalition For Humane Immigrant Rights
🙊 Sarah's review of Ask Not at Best Evidence
🏦 How to reach Sarah for Mutual Aid Vault withdrawals
🥮 EEHG 323, including Dave's "Treat Yourself" pitch for the Anger Tiny Canon
🎙️ Tara's interview with Bashir Salahuddin at Cracked
David T.'s beautiful son Taylor S. Cole is back to discuss Dept. Q, a Scottish take on a Nordic-noir book series that has the good sense not to mess with star Matthew Goode's face. Chemistry in trope-y scenes, why Scandi crime stories often have a submarine, whether the mystery needed so many episodes to solve -- we're talking about all of that AND recommending actually Nordic Nordic-noir TV if you liked Dept. Q. Then we're going Around The Dial with Mountainhead, The Rehearsal, and The Last Of Us S01 before seeing whether Taylor can do his entire The Studio Canon pitch before we lose the light. True-crime actors won, late night lost some more, and three was the magic number for one of us in Game Time. Throw on a nubbly sweater and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Taylor Cole
TOPICS
Announcement: 📈 Club Campaign
Announcement: 🎧 Incoming Apple Podcast Changes
Lead Topic: 🛗 Dept. Q
Around The Dial: 🏔️ Mountainhead
Around The Dial: 👨✈️ The Rehearsal
Around The Dial: 🍄 The Last Of Us
The Canon: 🎥 The Studio S01.E02: The Oner
Winner & Loser: 🪙 Anthony Boyle and Julia Garner
Winner & Loser: 🌙 Late-night prestige
Game Time: 3️⃣
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🎞️ Hear more Taylor S. Cole at the G&T Podcast
🐝 Taylor's also headed to the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast
🪞 And the Demi Myself and I podcast
🐸 AND the Muppeturgy podcast
⛰️ Tara's Mountainhead review and ATX Festival coverage at Cracked
😻 Support Bookstore Cats
🔥 The Extra Hot Great Patreon
📷 Photo: Netflix
Matt Wolf (The Stroll) got unprecedented access to Paul Reubens, generally better known as his alter ego, Pee-wee Herman; Will Hines joins us to talk about what resulted from their 40 hours of interviews. Around The Dial takes us through Big Mouth's eighth and final season; The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox, and Magic & Bird: A Courtship Of Rivals. Sean makes his pitch for the "Long, Long Time" episode of The Last Of Us to be inducted into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that really knows the score. Put on your reddest bow tie and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Will Hines
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🚲 Pee-wee As Himself
Around The Dial: 👄 Big Mouth
Around The Dial: ⚾️ The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox
Around The Dial: 🏀 Magic & Bird: A Courtship Of Rivals
The Canon: 🍄 The Last Of Us S01.E03: Long, Long Time
Winner & Loser: 📣 Taran Killam
Winner & Loser: 🤬 Charles Barkley
Game Time: 🎶 Stay Tuned
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
📸 Will Hines on Instagram
🫦 Tara's review of Big Mouth S08 at Cracked
🗣️ Tara's interview with Big Mouth co-creators Jennifer Flackett, Andrew Goldberg, and Mark Levin, at Cracked
🪲 The Screw It, We're Just Gonna Talk About The Beatles podcast
👤 Will Hines's website
🔎 Best Evidence
📷 Photo: Dennis Keeley/HBO
Vulture's Kathryn VanArendonk is back to talk about Apple TV+'s Murderbot, and whether the books do a better job of exploring questions of gender and essential humanity without Alexander Skarsgard's Ken-doll crotch confusing matters. Should YOU give it a watch? We went Around The Dial with Overcompensating, Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives, and Leverage: Redemption's third season before Anne offered another variation on the Utahn theme with a Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City Canon Presentation. Kelli Giddish won, Tom Hardy lost, and we all tried to survive the process of Venn-diagramming premiere and finale casting in Game Time. Hack into your governor modules and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Kathryn VanArendonk
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🤖 Murderbot
Around The Dial: 🏋️♀️ Overcompensating
Around The Dial: ⏳ Kids Right Now Shows
Around The Dial: 🎭 The Rehearsal
Around The Dial: 🤫 The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives
Around The Dial: 🥷 Leverage: Redemption
The Canon: 🧂 The Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City S04.E16: Mysteries, Revealed?
Winner & Loser: ⚖️ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Winner & Loser: 🦴 Tom Hardy
Game Time: 🛟 Survivor Round II
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦤 Kathryn VanArendonk at Vulture
🦋 Kathryn on Bluesky
🌮 The ATX Festival
🤖 Kathryn's Murderbot review at Vulture
🏋️♀️ Tara's Overcompensating review at Cracked
🏦 Contact Buntsy about the EHG Mutual Aid Vault
📷 Photo: Apple
CLUB-ONLY NOTES
🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To
💬 Get On Our Community Discord
After more than two years, Rian Johnson's Poker Face -- aka "What if Columbo, but a lady named Charlie who's a human lie detector" -- is back for its second season on Peacock. Does it still deliver a pleasing throwback mystery vibe? David J. Roth returns to discuss. Around The Dial takes us through the second season of Conan O'Brien Must Go and Netflix's special Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor; Killing It; and Untold: Shooting Guards. Mike presents the episode "A Mercy" from The Terror for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we kick off a new season of Game Time with a very long drive between fictional TV cities in America -- hey, kind of like Charlie! Gas up and join us!
GUESTS
👤 David J. Roth
TOPICS
Announcement: 🍹 Club Campaign Update
Lead Topic: 🃏 Poker Face
Around The Dial: ✈️ Conan O'Brien Must Go
Around The Dial: 🤣 Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor
Around The Dial: 🐊 Killing It
Around The Dial: 🏀 Untold: Shooting Guards
The Canon: ⚓️ The Terror S01.E06: A Mercy
Winner & Loser: 🥊 Mike "The Miz" Mizanin
Winner & Loser: 🏈 Tom Brady
Game Time: 🚘 The Great American Fictional TV Road Trip
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 David J. Roth on Bluesky
♠️ Tara's review of Poker Face S02
🤩 "John Mulaney Is One Of The Best TV Comedy Guest Stars Ever" by Tara at Cracked
📍 Tara's review of Conan O'Brien Must Go S02 at Cracked
🤗 Tara's review of Friendship at Cracked
🏆 Dave Roth's write-up on Killing It in "The Best Things We Saw In 2024" at Defector
💥 The Distraction podcast
🎄 The It's Christmastown! podcast
🔫 Sarah's review of Whack Job at Best Evidence
🗺️ The Road Trip Game Time Map
📷 Photo: Peacock
Did Alan Alda vehicle The Four Seasons need an eight-part dramedy reboot? The panel -- joined by Alyson Lewis of Cracked -- doesn't think so, although one of us enjoyed returning to a version of a property that aired constantly on HBO in the mid-eighties. But did the story need this many episodes, or this downbeat a tone? Do we enjoy this iteration of a Tina Fey character? And why is a certain actor almost certain to get killed in prestige programs like this? Later, we went Around The Dial with Taskmaster's 19th season, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Clubhouse, and Tara hoped Mary (and "That Woman") would make it into the Canon. Kali Reis won, Disney lost, and we synchronized our schedules for a timely Non-Regulation Game Time. Boot up your favorite second-screen farm game and have a listen!
GUESTS
👤 Alyson Lewis
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🍂 The Four Seasons
Around The Dial: 💌 Taskmaster
Around The Dial: 😺 The Mary Tyler Moore Show S05.E04: Lou And That Woman
Around The Dial: 🧦 The Clubhouse: A Year With The Boston Red Sox
Around The Dial: 🚀 Andor
Winner & Loser: 🏦 12 12 12
Winner & Loser: 🏹 Disney
Game Time: 📆 Let Me Check My Calendar
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
😵💫 More from Alyson Lewis at Yes I Was High When I Wrote This
🌷 Tara's review of The Four Seasons at Cracked
🔪 Tara's Jason Mantzoukas interview at Cracked
🐈 Cookie the foster cat needs a forever home
📷 Photo: Jon Pack / Netflix
Heather wanted us to watch a 29-year-old Sam Elliott playing a cowboy in a Season 2 episode of The Streets Of San Francisco, and who were we to resist? We tell you whether the episode's worth ripping off your pearl snap shirt over. Our latest Ask EHG takes us through questions about, among others, our most out-of-character favorite shows and the strangest places we've ever run into someone we knew. Sarah pitches "Smizing" for the TV coinage Tiny Canon. Then, after sharing a new batch of Not Quite Top 11 lists, we close up by recasting famous original CSI. Find yourself a comfortable bunk and listen!
TOPICS
Forcening Pool: 🌉 The Streets Of San Francisco S02.E21: The Hard Breed
Ask EHG: 😩 Coping With Everything
Tiny Canon: 👁️ America's Next Top Model S13.E03: Fortress Of Fierceness
Not Quite Top 11: 😵 Defunct TV Networks
Not Quite Top 11: 🌨️ Significant TV Snow
Not Quite Top 11: ⚠️ Cleopatra 2525 Character Names
Extra Credit: 🔬 Recast This: C.S.I.
Mini: 🎸 Mark's TV Forcening (Jan 2014)
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🐮 The Streets Of San Francisco S02.E21: The Hard Breed on DailyMotion
🙏 Volunteer Match
👄 "'America's Next Top Model' recap: Private smeyes, watching you" at Entertainment Weekly
🤢 Our Nonac discussion of "Amends" in EHG 024
Most weeks, we confront our guests with a Thought Experiment to compile for an end-of-year special. But this time, we're the ones in the hot seat. We asked our friends -- past podcast guests all -- to challenge us with TV-themed Would You Rather? They came through in a big way with hypothetical choices that really set us to some soul-searching. Listen to hear what decisions we're being forced to make!
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🤔 Would You Rather
SUPPORT THE SHOW
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
📚 Pre-order Will Leitch's latest novel Lloyd McNeil's Last Ride on Bookshop
🛋️ The original credits sequence for what was then called Friends Like Us
😳 "Seinfeld In Oz" on Dailymotion
📺 The Decoding TV podcast
Diahann Carroll, not Dyan Cannon