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We are off this week for EHG Prime but present you with this EHG Club unlock of EEHG 296: Showing Proper Deference To Star Maidens. We're in the doldrums of mid-May. None of the week's TV premieres lit us with a fire of passion. What better time for Dave to make us all watch Star Maidens, a mid-70s British sci-fi show about a CRAZY planet where women are in charge and men are their bitter servants. What could go wrong? For Ask EHG, we solicited your DUMBEST questions, and you came through with queries about, among others, how our pets would get in trouble if they went to school and which of the three of us would win in an EHG Thunderdome. We bring you some all-new Not Quite Top 11 Lists in lieu of the week's Winner and Loser. Then we close up with Anthobuzz's Extra Credit submission on updating a Rodman's World Tour poker segment for the decade of our choice. Get in the Hypnomat and join us! TOPICS Lead Topic:

One week out from Christmas, we're bringing you a special all about the holidays. Will festive episodes of The Twilight Zone and Frasier take their place in our TV Hall of Fame? Will a famous failure of a Veronica Mars episode land in our Hall of Shame? Fa la la la la la la la listen and find out! TOPICS The Canon:

It had been far too long since we played Mullendash, one of our favorite games, so we reached out to our network and gathered three people who write jokes for a living: standup comic Brandi Brown; comic and former Desus & Mero head writer Josh Gondelman; and former Last Week Tonight writer Jill Twiss. How good were they at writing bad punchlines that could pass for Jim Mullen's, thus fooling their fellow players? Listen and find out! GUESTS

Once again, we made some of our Valued Guests stick around after their tapings and muse about TV in our version of a What If? Find out where their imaginations took them in this very special yearly EHG tradition! GUESTS

One of the oldest and most venerated game show formats is Password, dating back to well before all your co-hosts were alive. On an entirely unrelated note, for this special episode, we're playing a game called Personal Authorization Code! We've invited our friends Sarah Baker, Robert Krut, Jeff Drake, and Wendy Molyneux to play; since all of them live on the west coast and had to record in the middle of the night, our beloved Joe Reid sat in for Sarah as Tara's partner. Who can do the most with the least...number of words? Listen and learn! GUESTS

Prestige series Dune: Prophecy travels more than ten thousand years into the past to see what put in motion the Dune-iverse events we already knew about. Guest Phil Maciak took the time-machine trip with us to discuss whether the series is only for fans of the existing IP; what the series might have focused on instead of administrative wrangling; and why the club always looks annoying regardless of timeline. We went Around The Dial with A Man On The Inside, Junior Taskmaster, Say Nothing, and a Day Of The Jackel update before Phil appealed to our hearts -- and guts -- with a Somebody Somewhere pitch. Friday Night Lights won, Jenny Mollen lost, and the melody lingered on with another round of Tube Tunes. Cue up your thinking machines and listen now! GUESTS

Superstore creator Justin Spitzer has teamed up with Eric Ledgin for a new sitcom set at an Oregon hospital. Is it goofier than the subject matter demands? Stephanie Early Green returns to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through Married At First Sight, Anatomy Of Lies, Sister Wives, Cruel Doubt, and The Penguin. Stephanie pitches the 10th episode of Australia's Instant Hotel's first season for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close up with a Game Time about TV shows that burned brightly, but too briefly (and...not always brightly). Put your feet up -- in or out of traction; that's up to you -- and join us! GUESTS

We thought a far-out distraction from current events was the way to go this week -- so we went to a fictional White House with accidental president Mike Brady, via 2002 TV movie The Brady Bunch In The White House. Should you take the tour -- or is this second-generation photocopy of an already-mediocre nostalgia brand not a candidate for your attention? We went Around The Dial with the new season of Abbott Elementary, the Criterion Closet series, and Mad Men before Ari wove together a Canon case for a sixth-season Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Tapestry." Prestige casting won, Amazon lost, and we voted early often for film-adaptation shows in Game Time. It's your patriotic duty to listen now! GUESTS

Prime Video's new unscripted show invites product creators to pitch supposed experts from the business world for the chance to get their wares featured in the Buy It Now store; reality TV expert Andy Dehnart returns to discuss what is essentially "Shark Tank, But Crappier." Around The Dial takes us through Somebody Somewhere's final season, The Summit, Four In A Bed, and Raiders Of The Lost Art. Andy pitches the Dating Around episode "Guru" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time with a lot of love to give. Put down that goop that lets you wash your face without water, and join us! GUESTS

Author, filmmaker, and Listen To Sassy co-host Pam Ribon is back to help us figure out what Hysteria! is trying to do: satirize the satanic panic and witch hunts of a bygone era? invoke Stranger Things and the Church Lady? We're not even sure what genre we should call it, never mind whether you should watch it, but maybe our discussion will help you decide. We went Around The Dial with What We Do In The Shadows, The Change, and Woman Of The Hour before trying to sneak an undercover 21 Jump Street episode into the Ca-- er, the Pamon. Slow Horses won, car chases lost, and we got bogged down in minutiae with rightwood's IMDb-forward Game Time. Take a break from that pentagram copy-edit and check it out! GUESTS

Rolling Stone's chief TV critic Alan Sepinwall is back to talk about Apple TV's latest prestige limited series -- starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, directed and written by Alfonso Cuarón, and maaaaybe a little too fond of its own shot compositions. Is the hinted-at conclusion worth sticking around for -- or are we mostly seeing it through for Kline's cardigan acting? Next, we went Around The Dial with Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, Happy's Place, Shrinking, and the Platonic (not) ideal of "this should have been a feature" docuserieses, before Tara nominated a third-season Harley Quinn episode for the Canon. An Office reboot won, Succession lost, and a new scoring wrinkle scared the hell out of us in Game Time. Throw your drawers out the train window and have a listen! GUESTS

Three British talents from the worlds of TV comedy (Jon Brown, Armando Iannucci) and film (Sam Mendes) have come together for The Franchise, a look behind the scenes at the making of a fictional superhero movie. Does it shoot up, up, and away into the stratosphere? Devindra Hardawar returns to discuss. Around The Dial takes us to 9-1-1: Lone Star, 9-1-1 (talk about running the gamut), and the second season of Interview With The Vampire. The otherwise absent Sarah makes her pitch for inducting the Frasier episode "The Ski Lodge" into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close with a Non-Regulation Game Time that might not be entirely super, but is at least somewhat duper. Hide out in your trailer and listen! GUESTS

ABC's new cruise-ship medical procedural features Dawson's Creek's former Pacey Witter as a hotshot surgeon who sets sail in search of work-life balance; Jessica Morgan returns to discuss whether everything's shipshape. Around The Dial takes us through the Real Housewives of New York, Salt Lake City, AND Orange County before ending on the 30 for 30 episode "My American Son." Anne pitches the 30 Rock episode "Queen Of Jordan" for induction into the Nonac. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's really taking its (game) time. Put on your life vest and join us! GUESTS

None of us necessarily expected to recommend a comics-IP property featuring Colin Farrell under pounds of prosthetic make-up -- but we all liked it, including returning guest Richard Lawson. We talked about how it surprised us, the small feature-film stories it seemed to contain, whether it should have let the real Farrell shine through, and who's the season MVP (spoiler: Cristin Milioti). Then we went Around The Dial with the new Matlock, Alex vs. America, and Ryan Murphy's take on the brothers Menendez before Richard battled at least five Cynthia Nixon performances to get a Law & Order: SVU episode into the Canon. Friends won, Cold Case lost ("....AAeeeEnNNNGhhHHHHH!"), and Erica introduced us to a hard-fought Game Time. Waddle on over to your podcast app and have a listen! GUESTS

An ex-Lost writer brings a French crime show to America with Kaitlin Olson as the extraordinarily intelligent cleaner who becomes the LAPD's newest consultant; we tell you whether it's the rare network show that deserves an hour of your life each week. Around The Dial takes us through the second-season premiere of Tulsa King, HBO's new doc David Chase & The Sopranos, and The Sniffer. Mlle. Caroline takes another run at getting a Psych into The Canon with "Last Night Gus" (and we also salute JMak, a Patreon supporter who added it to our Forcening pool). Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we drive Metallicar right into a Non-Regulation Game Time. Unlike a church, you can face whatever direction you want as you listen! TOPICS Lead Topic:

Writer and critic Sonia Saraiya is back to bid summer adieu with a discussion of Netflix's The Perfect Couple, a six-part murder mystery among the rich and unbearable that's aiming for Revenge and Succession vibes -- but does it work? The panel has mixed feelings...except about the beautiful locations, and the star wattage of Meghann Fahy. After we rinsed off the sand, we went Around The Dial with Adam Sandler's latest special, the first season of BoJack Horseman, and The Challenge, and Julie hoped a great first date would lead to something Canon-ical with her pitch for Looking. Lee Daniels won, Bosch: Legacy (and Sarah's years-long runner) lost, and we tried to figure out who the IMDb considered most likely to succeed in Game Time. Take a break from chipping balls into the bay and have a listen! GUESTS

We are off this week due to holiday travel but present you with this EHG Club unlock. EEHG 294: Discussing A Scorching Burn Notice Susanna invited us to check out the Burn Notice episode "Bad Breaks," and we were thrilled! Find out why that was the episode Susanna picked and exactly what two BN veterans and one new arrival thought about it. Ask EHG has us pondering our hypothetical Family Feud garb, the avatars we use on our various streaming platforms, and more. Then we each name our Not Quite Winners And Losers Of The Week, and close things up with another round of Now You Know Your ABCTVs. Put down your yogurt and join us! TOPICS Lead Topic:

As August continues letting us down in the TV premiere department, we take a look back -- waaaaaaaaay back, to 1974, when Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis slapped his name on a TV movie version of Dracula written by Richard "I Am Legend" Matheson and starring Jack "One-Armed Pushups" Palance. Since we've previously subjected Nick Rheinwald-Jones to other Dracula adaptations, it falls to him to return and discuss it with us. Around The Dial spins around to Emily In Paris, Mastermind, the comedy specials of James Acaster, We Are Lady Parts, and Everwood. Nick makes his pitch for the S03 finale of The Bear to be inducted into The Canon. Finally, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we end on a Game Time that comes to us in triplicate. Wash your neck and join us! GUESTS

The USA Network is apparently making original shows...that should be streaming shows, like The Anonymous, which throws The Traitors, Big Brother, and a number of other alliance-based reality shows into a blender. Kari Race is back to discuss whether it's a concoction worth drinking, given all the AI dad jokes, dead air, and inappropriate cliffhangers in the first three episodes. Then we went Around The Dial with Taskmaster NZ, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee, and Homicide: LOTS. Mr. Throwback won (a timeslot), Teresa Giudice lost (again), and Tube Tunes got stuck in our heads again during Non-Regulation Game Time. Take a break from screaming at a pizza slice and have a listen! GUESTS

Florida transplant Al Lowe Huff is back to talk about Bad Monkey, the Apple TV adaptation of Carl Hiassen's Sunshine State-noir book, and the ways it lets Vince Vaughn's...Vince Vaughn-ing find the apex of its expression. We also discussed the show's great casting, realtor shade, meta voice-overs, and unwelcome references to True Detective before we went Around The Dial with Couples Therapy, My Life Is Murder, and the fifth season of Justified. Hallie had one more thing for us to consider in a Nonac pitch for a 1990s zombie Columbo, before The Gilded Age won and a Red Sock lost. Finally, we wedged in a sequel to a Trivial Pursuit-based Game Time, so load up your battered vintage cooler with an armload of popsicles and join us! GUESTS