362: America's-Birthday Forcenings!
It's a holiday week: time for a good old-fashioned Forcening, in which each of your EHG regulars makes another one watch a TV episode or movie. This time, we're acknowledging July 4th by obliging one another to watch shows with "America" in the title, and Tara's first up, forcing Sarah to watch 2000's short-lived, extremely derivative, stupidly enjoyable Young Americans, a Dawson's Creek spin-o...
58m Jul 07, 2021
58m
361: Should You Join The Mysterious Benedict Society?
Disney Plus's latest series for teens and tweens is the very puzzle-y The Mysterious Benedict Society, based on a beloved novel, and Leigh-Ann Jackson is here to talk about how well it works! Around The Dial takes us through In Treatment, The Good Fight, Jiva!, Flack, the (sort of) final season of B-B-B-B-Bosch, CSI, and Derry Girls! Craig and Courtney argue for the Canon induction of the King ...
1hr 26m Jun 30, 2021
1hr 26m
360: Bouncing Into Physical
The latest new series from AppleTV+ is Physical, starring Rose Byrne as an aerobics addict in 1981 San Diego; Jeb Lund joins us to discuss whether the first three episodes left us wanting more, or...wanting more of GLOW (R.I.P.). Around The Dial takes us through Cruel Summer, Holey Moley, Exterminate All The Brutes, American Barbecue Showdown, the I'll Be Gone In The Dark special, and Epstein's...
1hr 29m Jun 23, 2021
1hr 29m
359: Is Loki A Good Time?
Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair is back to talk about the latest product off the Marvel industrial complex assembly line: Disney+'s Loki. We discussed everything from Religion 101 to DB Cooper to mid-century production design to canonical gender identity -- but should you make TIME (...sorry) for the show? Then we went Around The Dial with Younger, Starstruck, Bargain Block, Crime Scene Kitchen, ...
1hr 26m Jun 16, 2021
1hr 26m
358: Getting A Taste Of Sweet Tooth
Netflix joins Amazon in boldly dropping a soft sci-fi story about an extremely contagious disease outbreak mid-covid pandemic...but at least Sweet Tooth, unlike Utopia, also has as its lead character a very cute little deer boy? New guest Santiago Melli-Huber joins us to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us to the premiere of We Are Lady Parts on Peacock, the finale of Pose on FX; then to AM...
1hr 24m Jun 09, 2021
1hr 24m
357: Securing Crime Scene Kitchen, Investing In Small Fortune
Writer and co-host of The Nod Brittany Luse joins us for a double shot of summer TV fare, starting with NBC's well-hosted but incorrectly constructed Small Fortune. We like the dioramas; we're not sure about the durability of the games (or future guests). Then we ducked under the yellow tape to look at FOX's Crime Scene Kitchen, which isn't as bad as Sarah expected, but also isn't as good as it...
1hr 36m Jun 02, 2021
1hr 36m
356: Diving Into The 2021 Summer TV Preview
With summer nearly upon us, we're dusting off a format we haven't done in a while, looking at the premieres that are coming in the weeks and months ahead and each choosing one title we're into; one we SHOULD be into but aren't; and one NO ONE should be into. Joining us for this very important work is longtime listener, first-time guest Stacy Lambe! After we all offer our summer picks (and un-pi...
1hr 33m May 26, 2021
1hr 33m
355: A Talking Boat, The Queen and The End Of Liberty
EEHG 090: Dave Forces Everyone To Watch Thunder In Paradise S01.E13: Queen Of Hearts Once upon a time there were two ex-Navy SEALs living in Florida. Then a whip bull-cracking Terry Funk visited riding on the hood of a monster truck. Also, here's The Queen Of England! Don't forget about Hulk Hogan's Bumblezebra beach onesie! And here's comes Truckasaurus! We haven't even seen Thunder The Boa...
44m May 19, 2021
44m
354: Girls5Eva Passes The Audition
Slate TV critic Willa Paskin is back to talk about Peacock's girl-group-comeback addition to the Tina Fey-verse, Girls5Eva. Did the panel's opinions on the show's quality harmonize? Is the bubblegum/TRL world of 20 years ago a familiar song? Does the thin writing of Busy Philipps's character hit a bum note? Has Sarah already started blaming that Wonder Woman piano for various clumsy incidents a...
1hr 23m May 12, 2021
1hr 23m
353: Nice British People Doing Nice Things
A while back, we put out a call for six-word pitches to program a whole episode of this podcast, and our listener Heather was the victor with "Nice British People Doing Nice Things." As a result, she has slotted in (virtually) every show you will hear us talk about in this episode, for which we are joined by returning guest Alex Collins! First, we all tuck in on the pop history series Back In T...
1hr 31m May 05, 2021
1hr 31m
352: Zooming In On The Reality Show Exposure
Jessica Liese is here to talk about a brand-new, brand-content competition reality show from Hulu -- Exposure, in which professional photographers compete in irrelevant-to-their-strengths "influencer" challenges while rookie hosts Cole Walliser and Cat Jimenez make terrible photo puns. The problem isn't so much the Samsung-fluffing; it's that the show isn't process-y enough, isn't transparent a...
1hr 22m Apr 28, 2021
1hr 22m
351: Should You Enter Into Couples Therapy?
Dr. Orna Guralnik has returned to Showtime to work with a whole new crop of troubled partners in a new season of Couples Therapy, and Vulture's Kathryn VanArendonk -- one of the show's biggest boosters -- has returned to our podcast to yell about it! (Positively!) Around The Dial takes us through Younger, a new Mythic Quest special, PBS's Philly D.A., Why Did You Kill Me?, Sasquatch, and the mi...
1hr 22m Apr 21, 2021
1hr 22m
350: Should You Be Doing The Most With Phoebe Robinson?
Doing The Most With Phoebe Robinson joined the ranks of "rich people hanging out with each other" shows last week, and Here For It author R. Eric Thomas joined US to talk about the 2 Dope Queens co-host's foray into TV, including clunky animations, guest chemistry, and whether the animals in the pilot were too well-behaved. Dave was Not A Crackpot about leaving internet-based "fun" to the exper...
1hr 23m Apr 14, 2021
1hr 23m
349: Surveilling Law & Order: Organized Crime
Elliot Stabler has returned from his ignominious exile in...uh, a very nice-sounding job in Italy, and into an SVU spinoff that will find him Taking! His wife's murder! Personally! all over the Mob. Christina Tucker joins us to discuss this new vehicle and what a(n unpleasantly) surprising departure it actually is from the Law & Order model. Around The Dial takes us through Made For Love, Wipeo...
1hr 19m Apr 07, 2021
1hr 19m
348: Did Pooch Perfect Made Us Want To Flea?
Reality-television expert Andy is back to talk about Pooch Perfect, and why you shouldn't sit, stay in front of the show, including awkward hosting by Rebel Wilson, consent issues with dyeing dogs, and a total lack of narrative tension. Matters improved with Around The Dial, as we discussed Genius: Aretha, Superstore, Race To The Center Of The Earth, Tough As Nails, The Bridge, and Housewives i...
1hr 50m Mar 31, 2021
1hr 50m
347: Muppet Thunderdome
Over New Year's, we treated our Patreon supporters to a very important thought experiment: if 27 Smurfs entered Thunderdome to compete in battles to the death, who would be the last Smurf standing? Now, we are turning our minds to the same question...but with Muppets from The Muppet Show. Naturally, we had to bring in an expert to consider the question, which is why Adam Grosswirth of the Muppe...
1hr 13m Mar 24, 2021
1hr 13m
346: Is Waffles + Mochi The Cream Of The Crop?
We're thrilled the third time was the charm for our guest Alison Herman, as we all dug into the pro-cooking kids' show from the Obama-tainment industrial complex, Waffles + Mochi. We talked about "variety" shows for children, whether Mrs. Obama is as stiff as Mochi is adorable, and supplemental tomato facts before going Around The Dial with Step Up: High Water, kid 90, Allen vs. Farrow, Greek, ...
1hr 16m Mar 17, 2021
1hr 16m
345: Moving Back Into The Loft For The Real World Homecoming: New York
As part of the relaunch of CBS All Access as Paramount Plus, the original Season 1 cast of The Real World has reunited in their old Soho loft for a limited series, so we got back together with our former Real World recapper Kim Reed to discuss the series premiere! Also on the Paramount Plus tip, Tara also has to stress that she is not a crackpot for being irate that Oprah's interview with Harry...
1hr 43m Mar 10, 2021
1hr 43m
344: Brutal Bridesmaids Isn't Brutal Enough
Brandon is back to talk about last weekend's Brutal Bridesmaids and its strange lack of bloodshed, plus ugly bridal fashion, an emergency male-stripper substitution, and realistic wedding-party cliques. We went Around The Dial with Close Enough, Punky Brewster's reboot, Search Party, Murder Among The Mormons, and Dave's 911 Lone Star report before re-imagining legendary episodes of TV as Lifeti...
1hr 33m Mar 03, 2021
1hr 33m
343: Taking Off Our Glasses For Superman & Lois
After illness prevented her from making her earlier booking, LaToya Ferguson has returned to talk about another show she feels passionate about: The CW's Superman & Lois! Is she all in on this latest iteration of the Man of Steel and his family? Listen and find out! Around The Dial takes us through It's A Sin, Cherries Wild, In & Of Itself, the full-throated endorsement of Firefly Lane that cir...
1hr 41m Feb 24, 2021
1hr 41m
342: The Stinky Teenagers Who Live In Secret Places In Your House
Austin HQ had a water pipe burst on record day so we celebrate with two EEHG about other bad things in your house. EEHG 094: Dave Forces Everyone To Watch The 1974 Made For TV Movie Bad Ronald Bad Ronald lives in a hidden room in the house you just bought. What a weirdo! EEHG 096: Tara Forces Everyone To Watch Crawlspace When the search results for Bad Ronald included another TV mov...
54m Feb 17, 2021
54m
341: The Equalizer Racks Up The "Fine"s
Fametracker's own Adam Sternbergh (oh, also the New York Times's but whatever)(hee) is back to discuss The Equalizer, the perfectly acceptable re-imagining of the '80s classic. Whom on the panel did the new verzh win over with casting coups, origami tradecraft, and similarities to Leverage and Blindspot? Who called it the three-camera sitcom of cop shows? And is anyone setting their DVR to watc...
1hr 41m Feb 10, 2021
1hr 41m
340: Running Down Firefly Lane
With our intended guest and Firefly Lane expert LaToya Ferguson forced to bow out (we'll re-book her again ASAP!), your co-hosts muddled through on Netflix's new middlebrow book adaptation to the best of our ability. Around The Dial takes us through the late Quibi sitcom Mapleworth Murders, Hulu's Canadian import Jann, HBO Max's Danish import The Investigation -- and Borgen, with which it share...
1hr 8m Feb 03, 2021
1hr 8m
339: A Bridge & Tunnel Too Far
Our esteemed colleague, "Pot Ledom"-ologist, and Long Island native Dan Rogge returns to analyze Edward Burns's thoroughly mediocre Bridge & Tunnel, about the post-college lives and loves of six suspiciously hot high-school friends...none of whom can seem to master the accent. A huge music budget (and equally large commitment to the sex scenes) can't make up for stilted dialogue, anachronistic ...
1hr 36m Jan 27, 2021
1hr 36m
338: Adjusting The Horizontal Hold For WandaVision
Marvel Studios has kicked off its slate of TV series with WandaVision, a sort-of spoof of classic sitcoms starring a couple of Avengers. What's actually going on? We don't know (though Dave has theories), but Caroline Framke is here to talk about the two-part premiere! Around The Dial takes us through The Good Lord Bird, Call Your Mother, Season 2's new Batwoman, the Premier League of football ...
1hr 49m Jan 20, 2021
1hr 49m
337: Big Dickinson Energy
The regular panelists had to forge ahead without esteemed colleague Kathryn VanArendonk in our discussion of Dickinson's second season; that's the bad news. The good news is, we all like Apple TV's imagining of poet Emily Dickinson's life and loves with lots of swearing and twenty-first-century slang. How DOES the show balance the demands of historical fact with flights of fancy, and not take i...
1hr 19m Jan 13, 2021
1hr 19m
336: Matlock's Big Bang Plaza
We're off this week but we've glued together three episode forcening, uh, episodes from our Patreon supporter bonus podcast Extra Extra Hot Great. EEHG 076: Listener Forcening: The Big Bang Theory Patreon supporter Sharon Johnson had us watch The Big Bang Theory S07.E03: "The Scavenger Vortex," writing, "While I'm aware that it's not well thought of among the EHG family, BBT is one of my ...
50m Jan 06, 2021
50m
335: Wrapping Paper Tube Tunes
To help get you through our holiday break, Tara wrote a special festive version of her fan-favorite (...is it?) Non-Regulation Game Time: it's Wrapping Paper Tube Tunes! Some original holiday songs from TV shows; some covers; all comfort and joy. Please enjoy this gift from us to you, and don't try to return it. TOPICS Game Time: 🎁 Wrapping Paper Tube Tunes NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be...
30m Dec 30, 2020
30m
334: Finding Out If Enthusiasm For The Stand Is Infectious
Stephen King's 1978 novel has already been turned into a miniseries once, but it's time for this generation to get its own, apparently? So CBS All Access has made one, and Roxana Hadadi is joining us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through The Flight Attendant, Celebrity IOU, TKTK, The Wilds, and Season 2 of The Mandalorian. Mlle. Caroline presents the Parks & Recreation episode "Rec...
1hr 42m Dec 23, 2020
1hr 42m
333: Is Tiny Pretty Things On Point?
First-time guest Kamille joins us for a conversation about Tiny Pretty Things, Netflix's new Center Stage-with-teens ballet thriller (?), and while she watched the whole thing, neither she nor the fulltime panel thinks it's good. But aside from the wretched VO, suspect acting, unwelcome parallels to 13 Reasons Why and decided un-Frenchness of cartoon villain Lauren Holly, is TPT a good time-was...
1hr 17m Dec 16, 2020
1hr 17m
332: Investigating The Hardy Boys
Hulu and Canada's kids' broadcaster YTV have brought the world a new adaptation of the nearly-100-year-old boy detectives Frank and Joe Hardy, and we've enlisted Adam Grosswirth to join us in discussing it! A super-sized Around The Dial takes us through Selena: The Series, Nurses, Jingle Jangle, Dolly Parton's Christmas On The Square, the original '70s version of The Hardy Boys, and Gangs Of Lo...
1hr 36m Dec 09, 2020
1hr 36m
331: War Is Hell: An All-Canon Episode
The panel is contemplating three user submissions for the Canon this week, starting with the extremely highly rated, extreeeeemely looooong series finale of MASH. Lindy makes a fascinating parallel between [waves hands vaguely] All This and the world MASH portrayed, but is the episode's status as a historical reference enough to earn it a medal of honor? Next, we're sampling a first-season Stra...
1hr Dec 02, 2020
1hr
330: Saying A Final Farewell To Supernatural
After 15 seasons on two networks, Supernatural has finally hunted its last monster, and our French friend Caroline Lefloch is joining us to bury the series finale in an unmarked, shallow grave. Around The Dial takes us through I Hate Suzie, Peacock's sequel to Saved By The Bell, Agatha Christie's Poirot, and new looks at the D.B. Cooper case in both History's Greatest Mysteries and HBO's The My...
1hr 30m Nov 25, 2020
1hr 30m
329: (Baby-)Sitting With Becoming You
It might not be Olivia Colman's highest-profile streaming series this week, but Apple TV+'s Becoming You, which explores how the first 2000 days of our lives shape our futures, is perfectly on-brand: expensive, gorgeously shot, and not quiiiiite essential. Omar returns to the guest chair to talk about the series' limited concept of diversity; whether the show made him miss his kids' first years...
1hr 39m Nov 18, 2020
1hr 39m
328: Celebrating Christmastime In The City With Dash & Lily
Perhaps you feel the 2020 holiday season should start a little earlier than may be strictly traditional? So does Netflix, as it brings us all Dash & Lily, in which a pair of adorable teens who've never met use a red notebook to challenge each other to dares all over New York City. Internet Boyfriend taxonomist Esther Zuckerman jumps over from Thrillist to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us...
1hr 16m Nov 11, 2020
1hr 16m
327: The Extra Hot Great American Pop Culture Quiz Show
EHG's Dave and Game Time veteran Dan Cassino along with host Taylor Cole welcome Tara, Sarah and Mark Blankenship for a special crossover episode with The Great American Pop Culture Quiz Show! Tara, Sarah and Mark battle it out in TV trivia modelled after a typical Extra Hot Great episode! We'll open with a new release for the week, go Around the Dial with a game about shows that change network...
1hr 7m Nov 04, 2020
1hr 7m
326: Unpacking The Undoing or Too Many Butterflies
What if Big Little Lies, but in New York City and with no point? That's kind of how Emily and the regulars all felt about The Undoing, the latest Nicole Kidman-David E. Kelley collaboration for HBO; we admired the workmanship, while not really understanding what sets it apart from BLL (besides the quality of the wigs), or buying Kidman and Hugh Grant's chemistry. Will any of us be successfully ...
1hr 56m Oct 28, 2020
1hr 56m
325: Are We Living For Someone Has To Die?
Netflix's new import is a miniseries set in Franco-era Spain and revolving around a just-returned college grad and his Mexican ballerino friend. How does Lázaro's arrival tear the community apart (with lust)? Will Ellis joins us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through Social Distance, The Conners, Selling Sunset, Australia's Next Top Model, and HBO's A West Wing Special. Will present...
1hr 28m Oct 21, 2020
1hr 28m
324: The Right Stuff May Not Have...Well, You Know
Disney+ and NatGeo decided to remake beloved '80s Mercury-astronauts epic (and earlier Tom Wolfe book) The Right Stuff as a series...and Adam Moussa decided to talk about it with us, a choice he may regret, because the four of us struggled to care. We struggled even to tell various astronauts apart, even, when we weren't wondering why this needed to be made, whether we should recommend For All ...
1hr 32m Oct 14, 2020
1hr 32m
323: Doing A Tight Five On The Comedy Store
Showtime's latest docuseries is a deep (maybe too deep) dive on L.A. comedy club The Comedy Store, and first-time guest Brandi Brown -- herself a comic -- is joining us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through Emily In Paris, Polar Bear's Café, and Paramount's doc I Am Richard Pryor. CoreyAH challenges us to cast the Hallmark Christmas movies of tomorrow, today! Then, after her succes...
1hr 28m Oct 07, 2020
1hr 28m
322: Should You Search For Utopia?
We're thrilled Devindra could step over from Engadget and Slashfilm to talk to us about Utopia, Gillian Flynn's reimagining of a belovedly culty UK original. Sarah was less thrilled by the show itself, which she's probably bailing on after only two episodes, but the rest of the panel had good things to say about the story, the acting (especially John Cusack), and how fundamentally weird it is t...
1hr 58m Sep 30, 2020
1hr 58m
321: Coming Clean On Filthy Rich
Fox's newest soap opera places Kim Cattrall at the head of a televangelist family that -- and you're never going to believe this -- are not as polished and pious as they appear on TV. First-time guest Meredith Haggerty joins us to discuss whether this is a good use of La Cattrall's many talents! Around The Dial takes us through Sing On!, Just Shoot Me!, and Netflix's videogame docs-series High ...
1hr 16m Sep 23, 2020
1hr 16m
320: Zooming In On Home-Shot Reality TV
Reality-TV vet Andy Dehnart has seen a LOT of unscripted crap in his decades in the field, so we're glad he brought his expertise to our discussion of this unprecedented time in the genre's history: the home-shot, socially-distanced versions/spin-offs of some of our old "favorites," plus some new DIY unscripted stuff tailored to pandemic "set" safety. We talked about the challenges facing reali...
2hr 15m Sep 16, 2020
2hr 15m
319: Should Away Be Tossed Away?
Netflix's latest space drama takes a mother, played by Hilary Swank, to Mars, to try to balance work and family; Inkoo Kang of THR joins us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through The Boys, 90 Day Fiancé, and For All Mankind. We ponder whether The X-Files's "Humbug" should burrow into The Canon; then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that reads us all f...
1hr 32m Sep 09, 2020
1hr 32m
318: Premium Filler
We're off this week but we've glued together three listener-suggested topics from our Patreon supporter bonus podcast Extra Extra Hot Great. EEHG 055: Series Starter Kits Nicole tasked us: Each of you pick a show and then give your 5 most essential or favorite episodes from that show and discuss why they are in your top five. EEHG 059: The Can'tnon Seth White figured since this feed...
54m Sep 02, 2020
54m
317: Appraising Lifetime's Ruthless Realtor
Podcaster and Lifetime-movie-ologist Brandon is going deep on not just Ruthless Realtor (we would give you a plot summary, but it's...that, with a dash of Bad Ronald) but the evolution of Lifetime movies and the cultural anxieties they reflect; whether we'd ghost a weirdo who brought us a brisket; and why nobody seems to get a second take, or any direction. Then we staged an Around The Dial wit...
1hr 44m Aug 26, 2020
1hr 44m
316: Booking A Trip To Lovecraft Country
TV Guide senior editor Malcolm Venable is here to talk about Lovecraft Country, HBO's series imagining of Matt Ruff's novel -- and why everything from the show's look and feel to the acting to Jonathan Majors's believable charisma drew us in. Then we drove our woody wagon Around The Dial with stops at Ted Lasso, Little Voice, and The Great Heist before Rebecca's Extra Credit tasked us with cast...
1hr 23m Aug 19, 2020
1hr 23m
315: Taking Aim At Hitmen
Before they were the original co-hosts of The Great British Bake Off, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins were comedy partners, and their new project Hitmen, imported from Sky to Peacock, returns them to their roots. Did it slay us? We'll talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through An American Pickle, Hard Knocks, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. For his Extra Credit, Taylor Cole -- inspired by The Gre...
1hr 8m Aug 12, 2020
1hr 8m
314: Unraveling Frayed
The latest British Commonwealth addition to HBOMax's library is the BAFTA-nominated Frayed, and Christina Tucker joins us to discuss whether its riches-to-rags protagonist is as compelling as the world its star-creator, Sarah Kendall, has built around her. Around The Dial takes us through Immigration Nation, Coroner, Desert Hearts (now streaming on Showtime!), the Happy Endings Zoom reunion, an...
1hr 49m Aug 05, 2020
1hr 49m
313: Finding Ourselves At Lost Resort
Apparently TBS is not just for "very funny" shows anymore, as we learned from the premiere of Lost Resort, a new series with the bones of a reality show and the shredded guts of untreated trauma. The Verge's TV and film critic Joshua Rivera joins us to discuss what entertainment value its producers think the show has, and whether they are right. Around The Dial takes us through Married At First...
1hr 37m Jul 29, 2020
1hr 37m