Synopsis
Join David T. Cole, Tara Ariano, Sarah D. Bunting 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.
Episodes
-
462: Launching An Investigation On Deadloch
07/06/2023 Duration: 01h05minPrime Video's newest international import is Deadloch, an Australian comedy that parodies the tropes of dark season-long murder mysteries from national treasures Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan. Actual Australian Anthony Farrell joins us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through The Ultimatum: Queer Love, Fear The Walking Dead, and 30 For 30. Julie presents the thirtysomething episode "Mr. Right" for induction into the Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that has us hearing double. Check your peripherals for Kevin The Seal and listen! GUESTS
-
461: Sticking Around For I Think You Should Leave
31/05/2023 Duration: 01h15minI Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson is back on Netflix for Season 3, and actor/comedian/media mogul Will Hines is also back to talk about the season's best sketches, unique sketch-show rhythms, and whether Robinson is still TV's best screamer. We went Around The Dial with Platonic, The Night Agent, and Primo, and then relaxed by the pool with Chris's Lodge 49 Canon submission. Kenan Thompson won, Andy Cohen lost, and we rolled the dice in TV real estate during Game Time. Hop off the zipline and listen to an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS
-
460: Can Clone High Duplicate Past Success?
24/05/2023 Duration: 01h29minWay way back in the early aughties, we all adored Clone High, an animated satire of Dawson's Creek and its ilk that featured wall-to-wall gags and catchphrases your regular panelists -- and esteemed guest John -- still use to this day. Naturally, we welcomed news of a decades-later second season...but does the show still have the same deranged energy, or is it too careful? We talked about how long it dwells on cancel culture (...sigh), who's the best new clone (and who's our most beloved returning character), and whether this version is getting renewed (spoiler: doubt it). Then we went Around The Dial with Primo, a last-minute Tiny Triumph, Mrs. Davis, and Happy Valley before Tara tried to pile-drive another episode of Glow into the Canon. Jason Momoa won, SVU's casting department lost, and DJ Farnsworth mixed everyone up with a theme-song mash-up Game Time. Try not to burn yourself on an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS
-
459: Heating Things Up With Our Summer TV Preview
17/05/2023 Duration: 01h21minThe lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are nearly upon us, and there's only one thing on all our minds: what shows are we going to be watching? The New Republic's TV critic Phillip Maciak joins us for the first time as we all share our picks for the shows we're into; the shows we SHOULD be into, but aren't; and the shows we feel NO ONE should be into. Philip makes the case for the pilot of The Americans to be inducted into the Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that may require parental guidance. Make yourself a nice Arnold Palmer (or a Negroni; you're an adult) and join us! GUESTS
-
458: Going Down Deep Into Silo
10/05/2023 Duration: 01h25minNot content to have bummed us all out with Extrapolations earlier this spring, AppleTV+ is back with yet another grim vision of our environmentally devastated future: Silo! Vanity Fair Chief Critic Richard Lawson returns to discuss it with us. Around The Dial takes us through the new third season of The Other Two, Alex Guarnaschelli's Food Network oeuvre, Secrets Of The Dead, and Star Wars: Visions. Richard makes the case for inducting Australian Survivor S10.E07 into The Canon. Then after naming a bunch of Winners and Losers of the WGA strike (which: solidarity with the workers!), it's on to a high-flying Game Time. Find a source of natural light and join us! GUESTS
-
457: Spring Fling Forcenings
03/05/2023 Duration: 01h14minWhen we invited listeners to program this Forcening episode on the theme "Spring Fling," people went wild. Did these selections have us feeling as bright and cheerful as a field of wildflowers, or leave us screaming "MAYDAY"? Listen and find out! TOPICS Lead Topic:
-
456: Making Womb For Dead Ringers
26/04/2023 Duration: 01h13minPrime Video has reimagined David Cronenberg's classic body horror film Dead Ringers as a series, starring two Rachels Weisz where two Jeremies Irons once were; Vulture's Roxana Hadadi returns to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through Love Is Blind, Seinfeld, and Top Chef World All Stars. We consider a Canon pitch on the Monk episode "Mr. Monk And The Garbage Strike." Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Non-Regulation Game Time that will have you seeing double. Put your hair down, or up -- whichever is the opposite of how you started -- and listen! GUESTS
-
455: Is The Final Season of Barry Killing It?
19/04/2023 Duration: 01h13minEsther Zuckerman returns to talk about the early going of the final season of Barry, including how we felt about Sally's parents, self-indulgent directing, entertainment-reporter scavenger hunts, and our panel's predictions for how the show ends. Later, we went Around The Dial with Single Drunk Female, Perry Mason, and Somebody Somewhere before putting our (bare) feet up to listen to Esther's The Other Two Canon submission. Brooke Shields won, Netflix's tech problems lost, and musician TV cameos made in encore in Game Time. Take a break from changing your iPhone photo settings: it's an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS
-
454: Chewing Over Beef
12/04/2023 Duration: 01h26minNetflix's latest sensational new series is Beef, in which a blood feud breaks out between Angelenos after a road rage incident; Will Leitch is back to dig in on it! Around The Dial takes us through Jury Duty, a new season of baseball, and the doc Reggie. P.A. believes they are not a crackpot for believing all cameos should be four minutes nineteen seconds or less. Will makes the case for the Chernobyl finale "Vichnaya Pamyat" to be inducted into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's right on key. Safely pull over to the shoulder and listen! GUESTS
-
453: Should You Press Play On Tetris?
05/04/2023 Duration: 01h34minMonty returns to talk about Apple+'s rights-clearance/Cold-War espionage tale, Tetris, and how it stacks up against the actual game. Spoiler: most of the panel would have preferred playing to watching, but we did like some of the performances, and Sarah didn't mind a certain true-crime trifecta. Next, we went Around The Dial with Unstable, The Exhibit, Yellowjackets tasting notes from our esteemed colleague Eve Batey, and a Perry Mason credits game before Monty asked "will they or won't they" about a late-season episode of Moonlighting. Gehrig won, Fleiss lost, and we interrogated the origins of various TV objects in another Game Time round of 19 Questions. Grab a lawyer and your passport, it's an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS
-
452: Talking Your Ear Off About Yellowjackets
29/03/2023 Duration: 01h51minIt's time to reconnect with the Wiskayok Yellowjackets in a whole new season of Showtime's runaway hit drama, and Pamela Ribon is back -- with a sober Dave, for a change -- to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us on a real journey through Succession, Be Melodramatic, and Waco: American Apocalypse. Pam takes a big swing by pitching the Girls episode "Japan" for The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time sequel that really sings. (Or, in some cases, forebodingly thrums.) Load yourself up a nice platter of bear meat and join us! GUESTS
-
451: TV Nerd Thunderdome
22/03/2023 Duration: 01h40minThe Thunderdome is welcoming combatants again, and this time, they're all TV nerds! Will their big, juicy chess club brains serve them, or is it all down to pure brute strength? We tell you EXACTLY how such fights would DEFINITELY go down, as 27 TV nerds enter, leaving just one victorious (and alive) at the end. TOPICS Lead Topic:
-
450: Do You Know What Time It Is? It's Curtain Time!
15/03/2023 Duration: 01h22minDave had collected several different Game Times about the intersection of stage and TV stardom, so what could he do but save them for our most theatre-knowledgeable friends to play in this special episode? Mark Blankenship, Sean Pflueger, and Adam Grosswirth (that was his joke in the episode title) join us to test their memories for stage trivia and their ears for famous stage singers. Those blinking lights mean it's time for you to find your seat and listen! GUESTS
-
449: Should You Rock Out With Daisy Jones And The Six?
08/03/2023 Duration: 01h29minWe're thrilled to welcome first-time guest Kari Race to talk about Amazon's limited-series adaptation of Daisy Jones And The Six; we're less thrilled by the show, which is handsome to look at, but...knows that, and doesn't move fast enough. We also talk about bad wigs, resting dickface, "the Studio 60 rule," and the character whose story we really wanted to see instead. Later, we went Around The Dial with a MAFS micro-update, Cunk On Earth, the new Quantum Leap, and the rogue ampersand of Dick Wolf's Blood & Money. Then Kari served up a third-season episode of Bob's Burgers for the Canon. Toy cars won, Vanderpump stars lost, and we all thanked the Academy (meaning Seth) for an award-winning Game Time. Don't talk to Wig Cop without an attorney present; it's an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS
-
448: Celebrating The Return Of Party Down
01/03/2023 Duration: 01h23minIf you've been waiting since Party Down's S02 finale in 2010 for your pink-bowtied friends to come back into your life: good news! S03 premiered on Starz last week, and Mark Lisanti has come back to discuss it with us. Around The Dial takes us through The Consultant, Harrison Ford's new TV career, a selection of highlights from Peacock, Yellowjackets, and a horrifying ad for the home repair app Thumbtack. We answer Suley's challenge to create a Downton Abbey spinoff concept in which Lord Grantham loses the family estate on a poor investment. Tara pitches the Wellington Paranormal episode "The Coolening" for submission into The Canon. Then we name the week's Winner and Loser and move on to the male half of last week's Re-Role Playing Game. Grab a snack from a passing tray and join us: we ARE having fun yet! GUESTS
-
447: Getting Comfortable With The Company You Keep
22/02/2023 Duration: 01h29minThe Two Cents Plus Tax podcast's Krystal Farmer is back, and we picked her a good one this time -- to everyone's surprise! ABC's new Soderberghian con-fam rom-com isn't perfect, but it's cast really well, has good romantic andfamilial chemistry, and seems to think it's on premium cable, and for whatever reason, it works for us. (And so, for a change, does Sarah Callies!) After a list of mostly favorable comparisons to other heist shows, we went Around The Dial with Canadian hotel TV, Hunters, The 12th Victim, and Picard before Mlle. Caroline checked the Canon's motion sensors with the pilot episode of Leverage. Poker Face won, FX and On Hulu lost, and Pottsy is fine -- at writing games around actresses' IMDb entries. Finish RSVPing for the Aldis Hodge Appreciation Society banquet later; it's time for an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS
-
446: Pairing Up For Perfect Match
15/02/2023 Duration: 01h26minJust because some stars of Love Is Blind, Too Hot To Handle, and Sexy Beasts (among others) failed to find love on their shows, does that mean they should give up entirely? Netflix said NO, and put a bunch of them together in Perfect Match; Christina Tucker bravely returns to discuss it with us. Around The Dial takes us through Season 4 of You; The Real Housewives Of Potomac; The Good Fight S05; and a viscerally memorable moment from The Inbetweeners. Tara shares a Tiny Triumph that, if we're being honest, really belongs more to George Saunders. Laura pitches It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's Season 15 premiere for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's winner and loser, it's on to a Game Time that's written in the stars. Grab a large drink in an opaque metal glass and join us! GUESTS
-
445: Should You Mark Dear Edward Return To Sender?
08/02/2023 Duration: 01h21minPrimetimer's Mark Blankenship returns to his eponymous chair to talk about Dear Edward, an adaptation of a 2020 book that most of the panel found manipulative and stilted -- but others thought was moving and sweet. Does the show's success depend on what mood you're in when you sit down to watch? Why can't writers' rooms get middle-grade children's dialogue right? And how's Connie Britton's hair? After addressing these critical questions, we went Around The Dial with Not Dead Yet, Ghosts, and Buntsy's Cheers and Frasierrewatches. We took a quick break from the extended Crane-verse to hear Tomke out on why Bake Off hosts have lost their authority; then Sarah hoped to send the eighth season of Cheers out on a high note with her Canon presentation of the finale. Triplets won, TV news lost, and a Non-Regulation Game Time. Return your eye tables to the up-rolled position: it's an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS
-
444: Telling The Truth About Poker Face
01/02/2023 Duration: 01h48minPeacock's latest original series is a Rian Johnson-created Columbo-esque "case of the week" procedural starring a fugitive cocktail waitress/human lie detector played by Natasha Lyonne; Rolling Stone Chief TV Critic Alan Sepinwall returns to discuss it (and bring with him all his coverage from the magazine)! Around The Dial takes us through the start of a new season of Married At First Sight (yes, already), plus Shrinking, Russian Doll, Lockwood & Co., and a new season of 9-1-1: Lone Star. Jeff argues that he is NOT a crackpot for thinking so-called "bottle episodes" are wildly overpraised. Laura presents the Better Call Saul episode "Something Stupid" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we've got a lot of questions in Game Time. Sync the Bluetooth in your classic Barracuda and listen! GUESTS
-
443: Revenge Of The Listener Game Time Tournament
25/01/2023 Duration: 01h29minNine Extra Hot Great listeners who do know how to tell time, unlike some people, compete in a special all-Game Time episode! We test their knowledge of TV MacGuffins, TV vampires, and TV weddings; then the winner of each game progresses on to the finals, in which they show off how much they know about shows that changed their theme songs. Find out which Valued Guest is the most Valued in this very special episode! TOPICS Game Time: