Extra Hot Great

For the first week of this July, we decided to honor the other national holiday: Canada Day! And what genre delivers the most CONCENTRATED dose of Canadian TV crappiness? Game shows! Therefore, Dave is forcening Sarah to watch Pitfall; Sarah's forcening Tara to watch Acting Crazy; and Tara's forcening Dave to watch Jackpot. We can't promise you that listening will help you win an 8-and-a-half-pound portable TV, but you should do it anyway! TOPICS Lead Topic:

Sorry to Bother You creator Boots Riley is back with a delightful Marxist fairy-tale dramedy (...right? Let's just go with it) on Amazon Prime, and Dan D'Addario is back in the guest chair for the first time since EHG Mark 1 to talk about it: how much overt Marxism it gets away with given where we're watching it, the care of the world-building, Jharrel Jerome's storytelling superpowers, and more. We went Around The Dial with Judge Steve Harvey, And Just Like That..., and McEnroe, and Mlle. Caroline was NOT a crackpot for thinking we don't need pilot episodes anymore. After Tara crammed us all into a phone booth for her Saved By The Bell (2020) Canon presentation, Ryan Seacrest won, Will & Grace lost, and we all made sure to park wheels-in for a Bay-Area-based non-regulation Game Time. Don't let silence happen -- it's an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS

Black Mirror has returned for Season 6 with five new episodes of (as usual) varying quality; Brandi Brown has also returned to discuss and rank them! Around The Dial takes us through The Righteous Gemstones; Ovation as a background cable channel; Season 2 of The Cleaner on BritBox; and an important line reading from a Camp LeJeune-related class-action legal solicitation commercial. Sarah makes the case for the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Avatar" to be inducted into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's really into labels. Pause the latest hit Streamberry drama and listen! GUESTS

More than a quarter century after The Full Monty unexpectedly charmed movie audiences, the boys are back for a limited-series TV sequel -- and not everyone on the panel is as charmed by Round 2. Mo Ryan returns to the guest chair to talk about unmitigated in "dramedies," whether TFM: The TV Show started as a feature-length sequel, and the correct amount of onscreen nudity. We went Around The Dial with Never Have I Ever, I, Tina, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds before Tara hoped a second-season episode of Reservation Dogs would get adopted into the Canon. Bill Hader won, The Crowded Room lost, and Game Time had us scouring the index of Mo's book. Grab a bag of chips and run: it's an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS

Prime 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

I 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

Way 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

The 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

Not 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

When 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:

Prime 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

Esther 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

Netflix'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

Monty 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

It'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

The 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:

Dave 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

We'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

If 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

The 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