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
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422: Should You Enter Therapy With The Patient?
31/08/2022 Duration: 01h22minAfter co-creating The Americans, where have Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg gone next? Back to FX...on Hulu, with the psychological thriller The Patient, and first-time guest Patrick Monahan is joining us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through Star Trek: Lower Decks, For All Mankind, Industry and Mike. Tara pitches the Regular Show episode "That's My Television!" for induction into the Canon. Then it's on to the week's Winner and Loser, and the eleventh (can you even believe it) round of Tube Tunes. Get on the couch or chair -- whatever makes you feel most comfortable -- and listen! GUESTS
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421: Should You Take House Of The Dragon For A Ride?
24/08/2022 Duration: 01h38minOur resident (reluctant) GoT expert Jeff Drake is back to talk about HBO's ponderous, poorly wigged prequel to Game Of Thrones, House Of The Dragon -- who it's for, why it's so murkily lit, when it's going to get out of the administrative world-building weeds and get interesting, and which actors are making us long for the upcoming time jump. After that, we jumped into Around The Dial with She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Bluey's third season, and Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist, and Erica challenged us to drop Jeff "the Dude" Bridges into existing shows. The gang slipped and slid towards the Canon in a twelfth-season It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia pitch; Paul Rudd won, and arranged TV marriages lost; and Game Time had us contemplating the shows that just keep draggin' on. The old gods have spoken: listen to the latest Extra Hot Great! GUESTS
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420: Playing Ball With A League Of Their Own
17/08/2022 Duration: 01h32minBeloved baseball movie in which there is no crying A League Of Their Own is the latest film to get a series reboot -- with a bunch of twists -- on Amazon Prime. We talked to Yahoo! Sports's Liz Roscher about the casting, the bifurcated stories, whether the baseball holds up, what happened to the Rockford Peaches' manager (and to Candy Bar Guy #1), and all that 2022 dialogue rattling around 1943. Is it a homer, or a whiff? We also went Around The Dial with Never Have I Ever, Drag Race's international entries, the Better Call Saul series finale, and a This Fool follow-up before Liz tasked herself with getting a Series 7 ep of Taskmaster into the Canon. The state of New Jersey was a winner, the surveillance state was a loser, and we rolled ourselves a nice fat Game Time about S04.E20s. Should you put that mustard on a hot dog, or your face? Only one way to find out -- with an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS
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419: Should You Sleep On The Sandman?
10/08/2022 Duration: 01h07minNetflix is the latest platform to turn a Neil Gaiman property into a series with The Sandman. How does this one go? First-time guest Ilan Muskat is here to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through Season 3 of Harley Quinn; Season 2 of Girls5Eva; the TV movie Helter Skelter; and the ILM doc Light & Magic. Keira cashes in her Extra Credit to make us turn unexpected TV properties into videogames. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that hits some real lows and highs. Stay wide awake and listen! GUESTS
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418: Should You Get Consciously Uncoupled?
03/08/2022 Duration: 01h06minSex & The City creator Darren Star has teamed up with Modern Family alumnus Jeffrey Richman to create Uncoupled, a NEW show about dating in New York, but from the perspective of a fortysomething gay man who's just been dumped HARD after 17 years. Should you make room for it on your schedule? Malcolm Venable returns to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through Surface, Hulu's forthcoming This Fool, Young & Pregnant, and The Ipcress File. Sean makes the case for inducting the Underground episode "Minty" into the Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a smash-and-grab of a Game Time. Take a break from swiping through the apps and join us! GUESTS
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417: Should You Make An Offer On The Ugliest House In America?
27/07/2022 Duration: 01h48sWretched real estate, Retta, and rocks indoors -- The Ugliest House In America is back, and so is Alison Herman, as we debate which of the houses "in paradise" is the most hideous, talk Sarah through money-pit PTSD, and wonder if we haven't finally found a show that actually belonged on Quibi. Then we went Around The Dial with a Hider In My House follow-up, Rap Sh!t, and Black Bird before Tara tried to stock the Canon aisles with a fourth-season Superstore. Teachers won, cops lost, and Number 5 was alive for a Nielsens Game Time. Take a break from gluing flannel to your bedroom wall and listen to an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS
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416: Living (In The Walls) For Phrogging: Hider In My House
20/07/2022 Duration: 01h36minDid you know that the crime of secretly living in someone else's house happens so much it has A NAME? It's called "phrogging," and it's the subject of Lifetime's new true crime show, Phrogging: Hider In My House, which we're discussing with returning guest (and house-hider survivor) Robert Krut! Around The Dial takes us through 101 Places To Party Before You Die; a new season of Married At First Sight; the Emmy-snubbed Somebody Somewhere and Reservation Dogs; D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!; This Is Going To Hurt; Downton Abbey: A New Era; Obi-Wan Kenobi; Ms. Marvel; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. For her Extra Credit topic, Erica challenges us to fix bad TV series endings by switching them out with OTHER bad TV series endings. Bobby presents What We Do In The Shadows's "The Casino" for Canon induction. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that really sings. Don't listen to that mysterious footstep-ish sound in the attic, which is probably nothing (or is it) -- listen to us! GUES
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415: A Trio Of Listener Forcenings
13/07/2022 Duration: 48minWe asked our Patreon supporters to suggest TV episodes we should be forced to watch, and boy, did they come through. From their many picks, we've gone with Breakout Kings's Season 2 premiere "An Unjust Death"; "Basic Lupine Urology," Community's take on Law & Order; and a Buck Rogers episode that features both frenetic youth dancing and Jerry Orbach. Join us, won't you? TOPICS Lead Topic:
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414: Holiday Extravaganza
06/07/2022 Duration: 51minEEHG 104: Spreading Around The Holiday Cheer Eric A writes: lots of shows have done Christmas episodes. Friends did some great Thanksgiving episodes, and Roseanne was known for its Halloween episodes. Pitch an episode for a lesser-known or covered holiday. What show should do the episode, and how does it teach (or subvert) the message of the day? EEHG 112: Making Your Theme Park Mark Jim challenged us to turn a TV show into a theme park. The result is a real...roller coaster. EEHG 132: You Can't Spell "Travel" Without "TV" As The White Lotus transports us all to a luxury resort, we're thinking about vacations! We each share the TV location we'd most like to visit on holiday, and picking one or several TV characters to bring along for the trip. EEHG 170: Hallmarketing Irritation at a Hallmark Channel event called Loveuary led directly to this challenge, in which each of us creates one full year's worth of programming events for the venerated Hallmark Channel. What are they called? What
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413: Should You Go Back For Seconds Of The Bear?
29/06/2022 Duration: 01h16minNadia Chaudhury is back to beef up our panel's discussion of The Bear, Hulu's tense, swear-packed story of a young chef's return to Chicago to run his family's sandwich shop -- and how his fine-dining past collides with a blue-collar present. Is Jeremy Allen White giving us William Fichtner vibes as Carmy? Can Sarah get enough of Richie's profanity? Is the show really about Carmy's journey, or Sydney's? And did watching make us hungry, or worn out? Then we went Around The Dial with Loot, Ms. Marvel, and The Janes before Helen tried to trap us in the web of her New Girl Canon presentation. Werner Herzog won, Nathan Fillion lost, and we whipped off our sunglasses and dad-joked into the opening credits with a CSI-based Game Time. An all-new Extra Hot Great is up, so get it to go! GUESTS
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412: Should The Old Man Get Off Your Lawn?
22/06/2022 Duration: 01h30minFill a dish with hard candies for Dave Chen, who's back after a long absence to talk about the somewhat mysterious appeal of FX's aging-spy-vs.-spy drama, The Old Man. Does Sarah think it needs more process-y bits? Does the excellent acting by Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and their younger versions make up for long nobody-talks-like-that passages of abstraction? And are Dave and Carol the real heroes? Later, we went Around The Dial with Rutherford Falls, RHONJ, and Players before Tara tried to convert us to her team with a sixth-season Seinfeld. DB Cooper won, Canada lost, and then we all wedged ourselves into a snowglobe for a Game Time from Dan Cassino. When you're done paying for your groceries with a check, hold your ear trumpet up to an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS
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411: Punching Up With Ms. Marvel
15/06/2022 Duration: 01h08minMs. Marvel, the latest MCU TV series to arrive on Disney+, takes viewers home to Jersey City with the titular character, but what did certified Kamala Khan expert Kate Sánchez think of the liberties the show takes with the source material? We discuss! Around The Dial takes us through the New Orleans season of The Real World Homecoming; First Kill; and Physical. Tara pitches Vida's "Episode 13" for induction into the Canon. Then it's on to the week's Winner and Loser, before closing up with a very formal Non-Regulation Game Time. Click on your enchanted bangles and join us! GUESTS
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410: Playing With The Boys
08/06/2022 Duration: 01h26minThe Boys are back in town for a third season of extremely bloody mayhem, and Will Hines has returned to talk to us about it! Around The Dial takes us through The Real World (NOT Homecoming) New Orleans; The Expanse; and the Houston season of Top Chef. Skylar pitches "Part 8" of Twin Peaks's Showtime season for induction into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time full of finales. Grab yourself a Lean Lady Frozen Dinner by Vought and join us! GUESTS
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409: Pounding Sand With Obi-Wan Kenobi
01/06/2022 Duration: 01h41minThe latest live-action Disney Plus series to tell us what happened between Star Wars movies is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and first-time guest Simone Chavoor is here to discuss whether it's worth your time! Around The Dial takes us through Married At First Sight, Julia, Under The Banner Of Heaven, Magnum P.I. (the original), The Lincoln Lawyer, and Prehistoric Planet. Simone pitches us "Apéritif," the series premiere of Hannibal, for induction into The Canon. Then we name the week's Winner and Loser and close out with a Game Time that's fun for at least two closely-related members of the family. Make yourself a humble little bowl of stew and join us! GUESTS
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408: Enrolling In Lovestruck High
25/05/2022 Duration: 01h10minSome maniac got the idea to throw a bunch of British adults (and one Irish adult) into a fake American high school set and make them date each other in the manner of teen movie characters; some other maniacs decided to discuss this brand-new offering from Amazon Prime Video on this podcast, and we've brought back Brandi Brown to join us! Around The Dial takes us through Hacks, New Scandinavian Cooking, and Naked City. Tara pitches the Shrill episode "WAHAM" for induction into the Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that will have you under its spell. The bell is ringing, so find a seat in homeroom and join us for our latest podcast! GUESTS
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407: Roman Holiday
18/05/2022 Duration: 48minEEHG 143: Dave Forces Everyone To Watch The Nero Episode Of Ancient Rome Don't you DAAAAAAAAAARE miss this episode. EEHG 160: Titulus Deest Memento Quaeso Titulum Creare Antequam Conveniant 2071 years ago today, January 7th, the Senate of Rome decreed that Caesar would be declared a public enemy unless he disbanded his army. In 'celebration' we each bring two TV entities (show, characters, networks, etc) to the floor that have not quite crossed the Rubicon. Explain why they are on the precipice and the terms they would have to meet to avoid bring declared enemies of the TV state by the EHG senate. TOPICS Lead Topic:
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406: Boldly Going With Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
11/05/2022 Duration: 01h11minWe're joined on the bridge this week by ATV Podcast's Andrew Cunningham, to talk about the latest addition to the Star Trek family, Paramount+'s Strange New Worlds: the benefits of procedural narrative, the Shatnerian properties of Anson Mount, and horny Spock. Then we transported ourselves Around The Dial with I Love That For You, Our Flag Means Death, and B-B-B-B-Bosch: Legacy, and listener Keira hoped to transport the lazily crappish series finale of The Good Wife into the EHG Nonac. Johnny Weir won, Tara's soap predictions lost, and someone got a major lift from Tube Tunes 10 in Game Time. Grab your universal translator and beam up the latest all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS
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405: TV Mom Thunderdome
04/05/2022 Duration: 01h10minMother's Day 2022 is nearly upon us, and if you haven't made a brunch reservation by this point, you're probably screwed. However, we have made something for you that you can pass on to Mom that's much better than an omelet and a macaroni collage: it's the TV Mom Thunderdome! We have selected 27 TV mothers to face off in a series of three-combatant elimination rounds. By the end of the episode, we will have determined which is the mother to end all mothers, which we will know for sure because she ended all the other mothers. Listen to find out if your favorite TV mom can go the distance: TOPICS Lead Topic:
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404: Did We Buy Into We Own This City?
27/04/2022 Duration: 01h23minThe fact-based cop drama We Own This City brings co-creator David Simon back to Baltimore and to HBO; it also brings Santiago Melli-Huber back to the podcast to discuss this take on Baltimore's Gun Trace Task Force scandal. Around The Dial takes us through even more true crime with WeCrashed, Captive Audience, and Gaslit, plus The Baby and RuPaul's Drag Race. Santiago pitches the WandaVision episode "Previously On" for induction into The Canon; then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that might make players a bit crabby. Strap on your Kevlar vest and join us! GUESTS
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403: Better Call Saul One More Time
20/04/2022 Duration: 01h51minOur longtime Better Call Saul correspondent Will Leitch returns along with BCS to discuss the first episodes of the show's final season. Which moments made us think, "Ah yes, our show is back"? How have we revised our predictions on what happens to Kim Wexler? When and where will we see Walter White and Jesse Pinkman as the story comes to a close? And can we please get Lalo Babies to happen? After a quick gold-potty break, we went Around The Dial with Russian Doll, The First Lady, Just One Kiss, Severance, Winning Time, The Tournament (ACK!), and When Calls The Heart, before Mike S. asked us to assign aughts TV characters their own podcasts for Extra Credit. Will got real meta with his Canon presentation of the third-season Mr. Show finale, celebrity real estate won and Tyra lost, and we all had to reverse course for a Twin Peaks-ian Game Time. Before you throw that life-size cut-out of yourself in the pool, listen to this all-new episode of Extra Hot Great! GUESTS