Extra Hot Great

Will Leitch is a renowned sports journalist, so did we have him on to talk about 30 For 30 or something similarly thoughtful and incisive about the world of athletics? No, he's joining us to talk about the very special all-athletes season of Dancing With The Stars! Around The Dial rolls through Good Girls, Gotham, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dear White People, and Myths And Monsters. Will presents Better Call Saul's "Chicanery" for submission to The Canon, and after identifying the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's got a lot of stamps on its passport. Trade your Under Armor for Danskins and join us! GUESTS

As HBO's obsession-inducing dystopia returns for a second season, Eve Batey also returns to discuss reflections on capitalism; college-dorm philosophizing; why wigs are still shite in the future; and whether Ed Harris is using a stunt double. Eve claimed not to be a crackpot for calling for a Simpsons cancellation -- with a surprising hatchet man -- and the Bosch theme may have been deemed Worse Than Jazz before we went Around The Dial with The Handmaid's Tale, Splitting Up Together, and Unforgotten on Masterpiece Mystery. Then we were Flipping Out over Eve's Canon submission. Frankenstein's author won, Rectify's antagonist lost, and it all added up on a very mathy Game Time, in an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

Netflix having successfully adapted House Of Cards (*********) and remade One Day At A Time, it's reached back into the archives of classic TV to bring us an all-new take on Lost In Space -- and new guest Jeb Lund is here to talk about all the Robinsons' extraterrestrial meanderings. Around The Dial stops at that bad episode of The Simpsons, Patriot, and Season 4 of Bosch. Jeb presents the Connections episode "Death In The Morning" for induction into the Canon, and then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we mark our 200th episode with a special 200th episode-themed Game Time. Grab your interstellar GPS and listen! GUESTS

Buzzfeed's Doree Shafrir joins the panel this week for the latest filmed take on E.M. Forster's Howards End, and while we liked some things -- the casting; the memories of Witches Of East End occasioned by Julia Ormond -- not everything about the new iteration worked for us. We went Around The Dial with New Girl, Billions, Paterno, and Killing Eve before sinking our teeth into Big Little Lies S01.E05, "Once Bitten." Renewed shows won, cretins lost, and Tara put a song in our hearts with the next chapter of Tube Tunes for Game Time. Hail a carriage with wifi; it's an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

The Americans is wrapping up its spy mission in the U.S., and You're The Worst creator Stephen Falk has crammed his viewing of the previous two seasons to prepare for our discussion of the Season 6 premiere! Around The Dial takes us through Alex, Inc.; an update on Here And Now; HBO's latest doc The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling; and the fourth season of the Swedish/Danish crime drama Bron/Broen. Stephen makes the case for us to induct Archer's "Skytanic" into The Canon, before we name the week's Winner and Loser and then roll into a Game Time that Could! Change! EVERYTHING!!! Put on your headphones in the Secret Basement Of Spycraft and see if you can crack our code! (JK, we don't have the patience to make you a code.) GUESTS

Silicon Valley returns for its fifth season on HBO, and a Who Weekly podcast host returns to the panel -- this time, Jezebel's Bobby Finger, and we're all wondering how much battery the show has left. How many times can it repeat the same cycles? How much longer can it really expect to keep Kumail Nanjiani? And seriously, what's with all the barfing? After Sarah celebrated a Real Housewife Tiny Triumph, we went Around The Dial with Roseanne, Splitting Up Together, the new Queer Eye, grandpa show American Experience, Barry, and a Will Dave Hate This? update on The Terror, before our guest pitched a first-season Leftovers episode, "Guest," for the Canon. Dirty John was a winner, another gross man was our loser, and Dan Cassino's Italianate pronunciation vincit omnia in a Latin-geek-nip Game Time. Grab a mug of your favored office coffee and have a listen to an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

NBC having lined up the showrunner from Friday Night Lights, a producer of Hamilton, and the former Ted Mosby for a weekly drama series about a high school putting on a musical, it was made very clear to us that we had better not think of having any guest on to talk about it other than Adam Grosswirth -- and since we can take a hint, we were happy to have him on to discuss whether the show hits all the right notes. Around The Dial takes us through The Arrangement, Slings & Arrows and Nailed It! before we ponder the induction of The West Wing's "In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen" to the Canon. Then it's on to the week's Winner and Loser, and a Game Time that's a real banger. Warm up your instrument and join us! GUESTS

S2 of Netflix Marvel anti-heroine joint Jessica Jones was a long time coming -- and unfortunately it took a long time to get going. Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton joins the panel to discuss the absence of Kilgrave malice, whether thirteen episodes is five too many, and the evident female gaze of the season's directorial corps. Around The Dial recommended Champions, Altered Carbon, and the second season of The Good Fight, and Dave wondered if the Is This Worse Than Jazz theme is worse than jazz. This week's Canon submission is -- surprise! -- the second in a row from submitter Lauren, as she aims for a two-fer with BoJack Horseman S02.E04, "After The Party." And Dan Cassino hopes we get lucky with another mash-up Game Time, Before & After II. Don't punch a hole in your car; an all-new Extra Hot Great to the rescue! GUESTS

It's time once again for Gordon Ramsay to take a break from screaming at adults and spend a few weeks gently critiquing kids: that's right, MasterChef Junior is back for Season 6. To talk about the premiere, we welcome first-time guest Lindsey Weber of the Who Weekly podcast to talk about the half-sized hash slingers. Around The Dial takes us to Atlanta, Vanderpump Rules, Drunk History, and NightMan, before we ponder whether the series premiere of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, "Josh Just Happens To Live Here!," should be inducted into The Canon. From there, it's on to the week's Winner and Loser, and to a Game Time built on Sound Foundations. Fill some ramekins with snacks and join us! GUESTS

After a literal car wreck of a second season, UnREAL is finally pulling back the curtain again on fictional dating show The Suitor -- and grown-ish writer Kara Brown pulled up a guesting chair for the first time to help us unpack the show's issues, starting with its, well, need to address capital-I Issues. Also Jeremy, who is not a fetch we're willing to see happen. Does UnREAL try to do too many things, or the wrong ones? Who on the panel is cautiously optimistic about it leaving S2 behind a la Friday Night Lights? And seriously, why is Jeremy? Later, we went Around The Dial with Nashville, Anna Deavere Smith's latest for HBO, Lovesick, and the return of NightMan, and Kara made the "wrecked" theme official with a Canon submission from Season 8 of RHONYC. The White House Correspondents' Dinner won, an entire southern state lost, and we got stuck in the middle (names) with a Game Time from David Dickerson. Please accept this rose, in the form of an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

Netflix has a new period drama, set in the '90s, called Everything Sucks. Where does it fall on the spectrum of Stranger Things to Freaks And Geeks? We've asked true '90s kid Stephanie Green to join us and break it down. Around The Dial takes us to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Bachelor, and Chris Rock's new Netflix special, Tambourine. We ponder whether _The New Adventures Of Old Christine_S03.E06, confusingly also called "The New Adventures Of Old Christine," should be inducted into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's been around the world. Check on your Tamagotchi and then join us! GUESTS

It's an EHG reunion! Too bad it's for Here & Now, Alan Ball's new HBO show, and while Tara and Sarah couldn't make it past the pilot, Joe had some additional insights on the existential crises (and Jim Carrey-an supernatural twists) of a Portland blended family that even the show itself doesn't seem to like. We went around the dial with the new Queer Eye, American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Gianni Versace, Schitt's Creek, and Homeland, then tripled up on guessing the heart of our producer with a three-fer of Will Dave Hate These? before Joe pitched "the Martin Short episode" of Arrested Development for the Nonac. Netflix talk shows won, Omarosa lost, and Dan Cassino brought us a delightfully bookish Game Time. Park your Prius by the side of the road and sob (with laughter): it's an all-new, yet comfortingly familiar, Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

As NBC leads us into the Olympics with a sneak peek of its new sitcom A.P. Bio, we call on Monty Ashley (get it) to discuss whether it should have been held back. Around The Dial takes us to 2 Dope Queens, Dragula, Intervention, Altered Carbon, and The Cloverfield Paradox. Monty makes the bold case for Episode #1839 of Sesame Street to be inducted into the Canon, and then after we name the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to the season's first Regulation Game Time. Sharpen your #2 pencil and join us! GUESTS

Season 2 of the updated One Day At A Time dropped last weekend, and we talked with Kim Reed about the fine balance between sitcommy and touching; how the two finales stacked up; and whether we'd keep watching if Rita Moreno leaves the show. We went around the dial with I Love Dick, The End Of The F**cking World, Black Lightning, and Big Mouth, and then Tara tried to deliver a Canon win with the first-series finale of Call The Midwife. Charmed won, ESPN lost (some more), and Tara led us in a remake/revival Game Time. How long will Dave stay drunk on power? Find out in an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

High Maintenance is back on HBO, and John Ramos is also back to talk about the adventures of The Guy in marijuana-delivery-land; whether the show's too New York-y to be relatable, or warm-hearted enough to have broad appeal; and what exactly happened to that one lady's cat. We also went around the dial with new Soderbergh joint Mosaic, new-to-John show Insecure, and the same old comforting Top Chef before considering a listener submission for Star Trek: Voyager changed the way we think about amphibians forever. Party Of Five won, casting agents looking for Trumps lost, and speaking of losing, boy did someone screw the pooch in a David T. Cole-authored Game Time. Pass around the edibles: it's time for an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

As we count down to the official premiere of Starz's previously sneak-peeked new J.K. Simmons vehicle Counterpart, Eve Batey and Tim Ehhalt join us to discuss all the twists, turns, and...twins? Around The Dial takes us to new series Alone Together and Dr. Pimple Popper; limited series Wormwood; and returning fan favorites The Magicians and The Fosters. We debate the induction of the Justified episode "Brother's Keeper" to the Canon, and then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a non-regulation Game Time (RIP Sarah) (just kidding, she'll probably live). Grab a nostalgic funnel cake and join us! GUESTS

A new year means new sitcoms, and Spotted Dick/seasoned business traveler Adam Grosswirth is joining us to discuss one in particular: Fox's budget-airline-com L.A. To Vegas! We debate whether Dave Will Hate Ridley Scott's new TV project The Terror, before Around The Dial takes us to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, 9-1-1, The X-Files, and The Leftovers. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode "Kimmy Goes To A Play!" is submitted for induction into the EHG Nonac, and then after naming the new year's first Winner and Loser, it's we finish our televisual tour of these United States in Game Time. Put your chair and tray table into the upright position and listen! GUESTS

Happy new year! And...unhappy near-future narratives, as Nick returns to discuss the fourth season of Black Mirror. We all ranked the episodes from our least to most favorite, and discussed what worked (Star Trek neckbeard vengeance; "San Junipero" with a twist) and what didn't (chases; barely altered procedurals). After we went Around The Dial with The Profit, Black-ish spin-off Grown-ish, and Runaways, Nick wined and dined us for our Canon votes with the "First Date" episode of Master Of None. Who were our Winners and Losers of all of 2017? Where in these United States (of TV) were the answers to this week's Game Time? And why might Monica Potter's agent be cringing? Auld lang syne up to download the first Extra Hot Great of 2018! GUESTS

What's under the Extra Hot Great tree today in this winter-holiday all-Canon episode? First up is Supernatural's fifth-season "Changing Channels," a TV trope send-up with a couple of Buntnip elements the submitter hopes will guarantee a vote from Sarah, followed by a very courageous anime submission in the form of Gurren Lagann S01.E08. And once we've dispensed with Jeffrey Dean Morgan in-jokes and AT-AT tiki walkers, it's time to contemplate the $165 budget of the pilot of NightMan, a show that couldn't even afford a fan and seems like it's maybe actually a pest-control porno. O Little Town Of *****, N*, there's a message for one of your residents in this very merry episode of Extra Hot Great. TOPICS The Canon:

Heading into Christmas, we decided to do our most positive episode ever: offering up our "Best"s in categories selected by listeners like you! What's the best show to watch when you're sick? What's the best fake website from a TV show? What's the best thing about living in The Good Place? We answer these questions and many more in our first Besties-sode! TOPICS Lead Topic: