Extra Hot Great

Just 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

Primetimer'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

Peacock'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

Nine 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:

Chernobyl's Craig Mazin has teamed with Neil Druckman, creator of the video game The Last Of Us, to adapt said game as a post-apocalyptic drama series; Omar Gallaga is here to discuss the series premiere! Around The Dial takes us through MILF Manor (a real show, not a 30 Rock gag); Alice In Borderland, a whole pile of Nordic crime dramas, and the British true crime period piece Stonehouse. Omar pitches South Side's S01.E03: Turner Buys A Building, for induction into the Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Non-Regulation Game Time that stays too long at the party. Put your car battery somewhere safe and join us! GUESTS

Anne Rice source material is back on TV, and Best Evidence's Eve Batey is back to talk about Mayfair Witches, the latest Rice IP to hit the small screen. Listen and find out whether anyone on the panel is going to keep watching, how realistic an Alexandra D'Addario neurosurgeon is, why Interview With The Vampire works better than this one, and when to stop reading Rice. We also went Around The Dial with Harry & Meghan, Slow Horses, The Circle, and "randomized" show Kaleidoscope, before Mlle. Caroline urged us to bet on Supernatural for the Nonac. Abbott Elementary won, various Housewives lost, and Rob Hartmann scrambled our brains with Game Time. Grab your thickest blue gel: it's an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

It's a mini Television Without Pity reunion as the gang and former recappers Dan Rogge (DJB), John Ramos (Couch Baron), Kim Reed (Kim), and Joe Reid (Joe R) play Mullendash -- a game invented and played at the TWoP annual summits of yore. Take the game Balderdash and replace the cards with items from Jim Mullen's Hot Sheet from the pages of Entertainment Weekly. The set up to a Hot Sheet "joke" is read and players must create their own punchline in that particularly confounding Mullen style in an attempt to fool the others that they are The Mullen. It's a game full of WTF, shame and pretzeltine mental gymnastics!

To ring in 2023, Tara has crafted a very special non-regulation game time. Refill your champagne and find someone to kiss! Or just listen in the normal way.

EEHG 156: The 12 Shows Of Christmas We’ll all getting our asses ready for some serious not-moving-off-the-couch action over the holidays. So here are 12 shows from each of us that we think are worth your time. EEHG 158: What Made Your Christmas Crappy? If you’re a TV character approaching a holiday, one thing is certain: something is going to happen that will make it SUCK. But how well do Dave and Sarah remember what things sucked on which shows? Tara tests their knowledge in this festive Non-Regulation Game Time episode!

Seriously. Do they? Because four people just didn't show up. The Listener Game Time Tournament is back! Kinda! Up to maybe 9 contestants may or may not do battle in all sorts of TV trivia concocted by some of our smartest, most devious and possibly French game makers. TOPICS Game Time:

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 episode! GUESTS

Netflix's new cooking show takes a leaf from Claire Saffitz's book and challenges its chefs to make their own homemade versions of commercially available snacks. Home Cook and Food Scientist (one of these titles accurately applies) Adam Grosswirth returns to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through S03 of Mythic Quest, Selena + Chef, and an update on Sarah's Cheers rewatch. Adam pitches the Will & Grace two-parter "Lows In The Mid-Eighties" for induction into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's on the bleeding edge of culture. Grab some Oreos and listen! GUESTS

Book critic and The Maris Review host Maris Kreizman is here to discuss Hulu's glowingly reviewed adaption of Fleishman Is In Trouble, whether it works as TV given its structure as a book, and how. Is it better for people who didn't read the book? Is the pleasure in watching what Claire Danes, Lizzy Caplan, and the former Seth Cohen do with the roles? And is Hannah the most sympathetically slappable TV tween of all time? Later, we went Around The Dial with a Married At First Sight recap, Gypsy, and Spector, and Dave was not a crackpot about titling conventions. Lynsey, Katherine, and their dog hoped they wouldn't saw the panel in half when they submitted a third-season ep of The Magicians to the Canon. NBC won, the Chrisleys lost, and we returned to those thrilling days of yester-century for a period-piece Game Time. Get yourself a phone already -- so you can listen to an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

Did Paramount+'s Tulsa King SLY-ly (sorry) work its way into our hearts? The Filmcast's Devindra Hardawar is back to talk about the Sylvester Stallone vehicle, good pacing, bad wigs, and making room for weirdly charming B-minus viewing in your viewing diet. Later, we had Tyson drive us Around The Dial, with stops for The Big Brunch, the ends of The Crown and Atlanta AND The Good Fight, and true-crime royal-watching. Mike hoped we would NOT eliminate The Middleman with his Canon presentation of the show's eighth episode. Judy Blume won, Candace Cameron Buré lost, and we all went on a Mapquest with a road-trip Game Time. Might want to pull over at a dispensary before you listen to an all-new Extra Hot Great. GUESTS

The Crown is back for a new season, with a whole carriage load of new actors; Go Fug Yourself's Jessica Morgan returns to talk about whether its late 20th century setting has made it less compelling. Around The Dial takes us through Weird, Jersey Shore, Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty, and a current TV ad that's really boiling Dave's potatoes. Sarah presents The Sopranos episode "Christopher" for induction into The Nonac. Then, after we name the week's Winner and Loser, we wrap up with a Game Time that has us questioning everything. Have your valet serve you high tea, then join us! GUESTS

The White Lotus is back on HBO for a second season of subjecting rich jerks to various indignities (now in Italy); Joe Reid returns to discuss, among other things, which guests may deserve better than they're getting, and who that season premiere corpse might be. Around The Dial takes us through Love Is Blind, The Vow, and the series premiere of You. Sophie makes the case for our inducting The X-Files episode "Pusher" into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that may have you seeing double. Make yourself an Aperol spritz and join us! GUESTS

Big thanks to Nick for stepping in last-minute for our winter-television preview: all the new or returning shows we're psyched for (like The White Lotus), all the shows we should be psyched for but aren't (like Welcome To Chippendales), and a bunch of shows nobody should be psyched for or even in the same room as (didn't we cancel Criss Angel in the aughts?). After Nick tried to get an episode from The Dropout into the Canon's lab, The Watcher won; James Corden lost; and we all called on the power of three for a Game Time sequel. Grab an afghan and your remote: it's an all-new Extra Hot Great! GUESTS

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan take an unsolved stalking case as the inspiration for their latest Netflix limited series; Dan Rogge returns to discuss whether anyone should be watching it OTHER than The Watcher. Around The Dial takes us through Freevee's High School, baseball on TV, and the latest episodes of The Vow. Sarah and Tara try to determine whether Dave will Hate a TV series adaptation of The Wicker Man. Tara presents "The Two Mrs. Cranes" for induction into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we kick off a new season of Game Time with more questions than usual. Put down your binoculars and join us! GUESTS

Canadian journalist Danny MacEachern is back to take a look at the frustrating, but also maaaaybe promising, Alaska Daily, which spends a good half of its first episode giving us unnecessary backstory and throwing around phrases like "woke wussies" before finally getting into the real story. We discussed star Hilary Swank's wigs, why a network version of this show is never going to center the Indigenous people at the center of the mystery, whether we can expect the show to settle down and get better, and which other properties listeners should opt for instead. Sarah was Not A Crackpot about dangerous TV driving, and we went Around The Dial with The Real Love Boat, Reboot, a Werewolf By Night update from Dave, and a report on The Winchesters from foreign Supernatural correspondent Mlle. Caroline. Kitt (not the car) tried to get the egg of a Taskmaster episode through the hoop that is the Canon, and after we declared a Winner and Loser, we read TV books for filth in a non-regulation Game Time from Sarah. Borrow

The Vampire Lestat is back in a new series adaptation of Interview With The Vampire at AMC, and You Must Remember This creator Karina Longworth is here to talk about all its pleasures -- which definitely extend past its bare butts, but very much include its bare butts. Around The Dial takes us through new seasons of The Amazing Race and Abbott Elementary; a new evolution of Celebrity Jeopardy!; and a not-so-new relic recently returned to YouTube: Bands On The Run. Dave explains why he is NOT a crackpot for thinking pilot episodes should include any title treatments that get added to later episodes. Sarah presented the Sopranos episode "Christopher" for induction into The Nonac. Then it's on to the week's Winner and Loser, before closing up with a tasty Game Time. You'll want to sink your teeth into this one! GUESTS