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Some Like It Pop Patreon Exclusive: Best of September 2025
00:28:00
Twelve times per year, Matt Tamanini and Jennifer McHugh will be recapping their favorite pieces of pop culture of the past month. Let us know what your favorites are by emailing patreon@broadwayradio.com.
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- [00:00]
A
Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.
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B
Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?
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A
Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T Mobile commercial like you teach me. So, Dana.
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B
Oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at T Mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.
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A
Wow, impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.
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C
Nice.
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B
Je free.
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C
You heard them.
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A
T mobile is the best place to.
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C
Get the new iPhone 17 Pro on us with eligible traded in any condition.
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A
So what are we having for lunch?
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B
Dude, my work here is done.
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D
The 24 month bill credit on experience beyond for well qualified customers + tax and 35 device connection charge credit send and balance due. If you pay off earlier, Cancel Finance Agreement. IPhone 17 Pro 256 gigs 1099.99 A new line minimum 100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes and fees required. Best mobile network in the US based on analysis by Oklahoma Speed Test Intelligence Data 182025 Visit T mobile.com.
- [01:10]
C
Welcome to the October edition of Broadway Radio. Something like a pop podcast. My name is Matt Tameni, and as always, I am joined by the brains of our operation, Broadway Radio's Los Angeles bureau chief, Jennifer McHugh. Jen, how's your sleep been lately? I know you made a couple of adoptions here, so how's that gone?
- [01:28]
E
We did. We adopted two kittens, Veruca and Phoebe. You can probably pull where those pop culture names are from.
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C
Is Phoebe a smelly cat?
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E
She is in theory, but not in actuality.
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C
Okay, all right, got it.
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E
And Veruca is definitely living up to her name.
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C
I want it now, Daddy.
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E
Yep, that's correct. That is correct.
- [01:56]
C
All right, well, good. Well, interestingly enough, cats are also going to be part of my talking points for this week, so we'll get back to that. But if you are unfamiliar with what we do here on Some Like It Pop, every month, Jennifer McHugh and I look back at what we consumed from our pop culture diet in the previous month and let you know our three favorite things. Those can be tv, movies, book, music, podcast, theater, museums, whatever. And we will give you some things to recommend. Sometimes they are very obvious, sometimes they are off the beaten track. But Jen, since I mentioned it, I will start off. Phoebe might not be a smelly cat, but I did have a run in in September with a whole junkyard through of Jellicle Cats. And I gotta tell you, it was delightful. I was on the Oasis of the Seas for six days and. And I got to see Cats, the Broadway musical on the ship. And I have to tell you, out of all of the cruises that I have been on, it was the best stage production I have seen. Now that's not just even like the shows that are the ships that have had musicals on it, which I've seen. What has it been? Mamma Mia. On there? I've seen a Grease, obviously, now Cats, but every show has one or two, or every ship has one or two reviews. I saw Back to the Future, of course, as well. So I've seen a bunch of, like, reviews and, and cabarets and stuff, and Cats was the best. And it's interesting because I was a little nervous about it because they had another stage show, which was a review called One sky, same cast a couple days before. And I went and I was like, oh, that was kind of weak. Didn't really love that when the dancing was okay, but the vocals weren't very good. But I told myself, okay, well, this was kind of more like poppy music. Maybe they cast four Cats and then just told them to sing the other stuff and maybe it'll be better suited to like, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical or to the Andrew Lloyd Webber music. And it really was. They were fantastic. The. The dancing was great. The, the. The song, the singing was spectacular. So if you are a Cats fan and if you are looking to go on a cruise, the Oasis of the Sea is currently sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. I went to Nassau, Cozumel and Costa Maya. It was originally supposed to go to Labadee, Haiti and somewhere in Jamaica. I forget, but Haiti is currently not a safe place to go. So they rerouted us to Mexico. But it took me a long time to see Cats. I saw Cats only for the first time, maybe in the past 6ish years when it was on tour. Jen and I didn't really have any affection for it at all. And I kind of thought I wouldn't like it. But I enjoy it. I've seen it now multiple times on tour. I saw Cats, the Jellicle Ball off Broadway. I've seen it here on the ship and I'm looking forward to seeing Cats, the Jellicoe Ball on Broadway now too. So I guess I'm a Cats fan. I don't know that I would say that, like, enthusiastically, but I really, really enjoyed it.
- [05:02]
E
That is shocking. I, as a big Andrew Lloyd Webber fan, which I constantly am, made fun of for I am not a Cats fan. There's definitely some of the music that is nostalgic and fun to listen to, but I would not have pegged this on you at all. But I'm thrilled to hear it. When I was on my one and only cruise, we saw Legally Blonde.
- [05:26]
C
Oh, the dream right there. That would be. That would be like, I would never leave. I don't care if they only do it twice. I would be in the theater just waiting for them. But yeah, pretty special. You have to understand that Cats is a fever dream. It is absurd. It is ridiculous. If you go in knowing that and accepting that, then it's just fun. Watch the talent. Enjoy it. So Cats, Oasis of the Seas. That's my first thing for September. So, Jen, what are you going to start us off with?
- [05:59]
E
I watched a TV show. It's not brand new. I think it came out earlier this year called Running Point on Netflix starring Kate Hudson, created by Mindy Kaling and my hero Ike Barinholtz and two others, Ilene Co and David Stassen. And it's loosely based on the life of Jeannie Buss, who is the owner of the LA Lakers. So in this show, Kate plays Isla Gordon who is the owner of the fictional LA Waves. And it's, it's a family owned business and her older brother, played by Justin Thoreau, gets into some legal trouble and has to go to rehab, court mandated. So he signs the team over to her, kind of in hopes that she'll run it into the ground and everyone will be begging him to come back and take it over. But I really enjoy Mindy's shows and her writing and her humor because it's just, I loved the Mindy project and Ike Barinholtz does no wrong in my eyes. And it's just a really funny show. It's a great cast. Drew Tarver plays her younger brother. I think he was he also the one on the other two. He's also a writer from Saturday Night Live. And this other guy, Scott McArthur, who has big Ike Barinholtz energy, but he plays her other brother. There's also Brenda Song and it was.
- [07:27]
C
Gonna say bring the songs in that too, right?
- [07:28]
E
Yeah, it is. And a very poignant and hilarious performance by Chet Hanks, who I'm like, where did this come from? Like, I'm programmed to hate you. And it's, he's very moving on it. It's just really surprising. But it's 10 episodes on Netflix. It's really funny. Just, just really great characters. And really funny stories and it's really, you know, cool to see that it's based on a real live woman who has to, you know, figure out her way through a very, very male oriented world. So, and Kate Hansen's just adorable and Brenda Song is so funny on this show. So highly Recommend Netflix Quick episodes, 28 to 30 minutes each.
- [08:21]
C
When it was out, I heard a lot of people want to try to make the TED Lasso comparisons because it's a sweet comedy about sports. Is it in the same vein or is it something different? How do you compare it to TED Lasso?
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E
It's not because I think TED Lasso surprised everybody because it was so joyful and kind and this is more gritty and it's her taking on, like I said, the male dominated industry and it's way dirtier than TED Lasso.
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C
Okay.
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E
It's just, it's just grittier. I, I don't, I, I, I don't see the comparison really. It's the only thing they have in common is they're both sports.
- [09:05]
C
Okay. All right, good. And it is coming back for season two, I believe, from if I'm remembering off the top of my head. So. All right, very cool running point. All right, my next one, I'm trying to decide which one to go with. I'm going to go with one that if you would have told me that we were going to talk about this yesterday at this time yesterday, I would have said this is going to be like one of my favorite, like the favorite thing that I'm going to talk about. It's going to be something I'm going to be obsessing over for a long time. I've taken a little bit of a step back back because of the season finale. This didn't. Normally we only talk about shows like when we were finished watching a season, but I loved what Peacemaker Season 2 did during September. That I'm going to talk about it here. But I'm going to also mention some of the stuff with the season finale. I won't do spoilers, but I thought that season two, the bulk of season two, was one of the most impressive elevations between seasons of a show that I already loved that I can remember, like at least since the Leftovers, where the Leftover season one was excellent tv. But then when it got to season two, like, it just went to a completely other level. And I feel like Peacemaker did that in spades this year as well. It was not as raunchy comedy as it was in season one. There are still Plenty of that. But that wasn't necessarily the driving force, I don't think, Jen. It was a much more nuanced, character driven story, especially as the episodes went on. But the thing that I really was, was kind of taken with is how emotionally resonant and apropos to our own lived, everybody's lived experiences were right now. And again, not going to spoil anything. But if you watch season one, I'll talk about what happened in season one. Chris, the Peacemaker character, played by John Cena, he accidentally killed his brother when they were kids. His father is a white supremacist super villain kind of guy, and he ends up killing him in season one. But because of some multiversal stuff, he ends up going into another dimension where his brother is still alive and his father is alive. And we get to see him interact with them, different versions of them. And it really kind of hit because, at least to me, Jen, it was talking about how we can still have feelings of love and affection for people who we vehemently disagree with. And now the versions that he meets in this other dimension aren't the same versions from his own world. But I thought that it had a lot to say about what our preconceived notions are about other people based off of what they, what we think they believe, second chances, trying to convince ourselves of things that may or may not be true. I thought it was a really, really beautiful season of television. I watched the finale on Thursday night and I liked it, but I wanted more. I don't know that it felt like a, like a penultimate episode rather than the season finale. So that was a little bit disappointing, but I thought on the whole it was a major, major upgrade in storytelling. And again, I loved season one, but I was super impressed with what James Gunn was able to do. Led by John Cena, but the entire cast as well, to really tell an interesting, nuanced story about living with and loving people who you disagree with, but ultimately standing up for what you believe in and fighting for the people that you love. So I really liked season two of Peacemaker. Again, was a little underwhelmed by the season finale, but maybe you disagree. Have you watched the season finale yet, Jen?
- [13:17]
E
I have, and I do disagree. Mostly because one of my favorite childhood bands makes a surprise appearance and I literally was like, oh my God, this is happening. That was very exciting. And also another band that kind of tied together another song very much. And I loved that there was a point when that song was coming to a close where my boyfriend said, we can Just stop it here if you want, because we just had a feeling something was coming. It was a beautiful ending, but then they had to leave you with something else. And I don't know how to feel about that because I don't know if it's coming back. So that's annoying.
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C
It has to. It has to.
- [14:07]
E
But you and I had also talked about the unbelievable performances, like John Cena just delivering on one of the most emotional moments of the season, where I was brought to tears, and you just felt everything he was going through, and it was just remarkable. And there's not a side character that's a big ensemble cast. There's not a character that's wasted. Like, everyone has their moments. Everyone has their personality quirks, and I just. I love them all.
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C
Even the bird Eagly's amazing. I do think it's interesting that basically, James Gunn made an entire season of television just to prove the point that his wife was so hot that somebody would travel between multiversal dimensions just to be able to date her. So, I mean, good for you, James. Nice flex, I guess. But, yeah, the whole cast is great. Love Danielle Brooks, James Gunn's wife. Jennifer Holland is great. Stevie G. Is awesome. Freddie Stroma is great. Seeing. Seeing Robert Patrick just continue to do great work is great. There was actually a couple Terminator 2 references in a couple episodes because he was T2 in Terminator 2. So just really great work. I really, really enjoy everything about this show.
- [15:31]
E
Agreed.
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C
All right, so what is your second pick here for this month, Jen?
- [15:37]
E
My second is a movie that I was very skeptical about that took a big swing, and I loved every second of it. And it was the 2025 movie Naked Gun. I was. These are big shoes to fill. Like, you cannot step into the shoes of Leslie Nielsen. And Liam Neeson did it, and he plays his son, which is not a spoiler. It's in the trailer, but genuine gut belly laughs. Pamela Anderson. Phenomenal. It's just stupid, stupid humor. You could tell Akiva Staffer from Lonely island directed it, and you can tell that he grew up on this movie and he just gets it. And the humor was there. It is so stupid. You cannot go in expecting anything more than that, but it never stops. There's never a dull moment. You're missing 20 things in the background when you're watching it because there's so much comedy in it. But it is 90 minutes of pure stupid laughter. And it is good medicine for everything that's going on in the world. If you just need 90 minutes of just stupid, childish fun. This is your movie to watch.
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C
That's so good to hear. Because growing up, the Naked Gun was like my brother's favorite movie. Like the series was my brother's favorite. So when this was announced, he was like, I don't know. Leslie Nielsen is pretty impossible. Nobody does what he does. And then when it was Liam Neeson, oddly similar names as well, but it's like he doesn't really fit. But like you said, a lot of people had said when it was coming out, like, oh, this is really good. So to hear you echo those sentiments is very nice. I'll have to ask my brother if he eventually watched it. Not.
- [17:38]
E
Yeah, just, just dumb, dumb humor.
- [17:41]
C
Which I did. Yeah. All right, Jen, My final pick is a TV show back on Netflix. I'm not sure if you watch this one. We haven't talked about it at all. It premiered in August and I finally watched all five episodes in September. It is a political thriller miniseries called Hostage. Have you watched this?
- [18:05]
E
I have not. Who's in it?
- [18:08]
C
So no one really of note, but Julie Delpy is in it. A famous French actress, Saran Jones, is the lead of it. She plays Abigail Dalton, who is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Julie Delpy plays the President of France. Because of some internal political things happening in the uk Prime Minister Dalton is having to have a summit with the, the President. With the President of France. Prime Minister Dalton of the UK is fairly left leaning. She is trying to pull back on military spending while the President of France is, is more conservative and she is being pulled to the right by forces in her own country. And basically the UK is running out of, of cancer treatment drugs and they are trying to a way for France to, to fill in that supply. While that is happening, the Prime Minister's husband, who is a doctor on an aid mission in South America, is kidnapped. And from there it, you see kind of like the whole machinations and of course, you know, unsurprising for anybody who watches shows like this, there are a lot more tentacles to this than just being some random kidnapping in French Guyana. So it is a, it is a fascinating show. It is. It does remind me a bit of the Diplomat, which is also on NBC or is on Netflix, which we're going to talk about here in a second. But great acting, great story, very tight, very taught. You know, just, it was a gripping thing that like, I did not want to stop watching and my friend Janie told me she binged it. She's like, oh, you have to watch this. It's really, really good. So, really one of my favorite things that I've watched all season or all year. And because it's only five episodes, like 40 to 45 minutes each episode, you can get through it pretty quickly. And it's interesting because it is not just the traditional steps that you see in a lot of these shows, that this is what this politician's gonna do, and then this. It takes some turns, and they make some decisions that seem completely understandable but are not what I expected to happen. So it's created and written by a guy named Matt Charman, who I don't know that I knew much about before this, but he wrote the screenplay for Bridge of Spies, that Steven Spielberg movie from a few years ago. He wrote it with the Coen brothers, and he's also a writer in residence at the National Theatre in London. So he has deep, deep theatrical roots as well, which. Which makes sense because it is a very kind of talky, closed room, a couple people together kind of story. So really enjoyed Hostage and would certainly recommend it if you like stuff like that.
- [21:11]
E
I haven't even heard of it until now.
- [21:14]
C
That's the thing with Netflix. Like, you can. You can be pretty up on everything that's happening and still have no idea about really good things that show up on that platform. They don't really care about marketing. They're just like, here's what we got. Come see it if you want. And it's pretty fascinating, but certainly recommend that one.
- [21:34]
E
Wow. Okay.
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C
All right. What else do you have?
- [21:37]
E
Well, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the concert of a lifetime I went to in September. You know, I don't like going out. I don't like being around people. I don't like doing things in public, and I certainly don't like concerts because it's just too much for me socially. I told my boyfriend, I don't think I'll ever go to a concert again unless Oasis gets back together and tours. And it happened. So they had five US shows, two of which are 3.2 miles away from me at the Rose Bowl. So we went, and it was one of the greatest nights of my life, getting in and out of the Rose Bowl. Not the best, but it was my first time there, which is funny. Oasis was my favorite band in college. I was obsessed with their two albums, definitely, maybe. And what's the Story, Morning Glory. I never thought in my lifetime I would get to see them, because if you know anything about Oasis, these are two brothers who do not like each other. So my theory is, is that they either went through a lot of therapy or that their accountants called them together and said, guys, put aside your differences for a year and we'll make enough money for you for the rest of your life and you never have to talk to each other again. I don't know which one it was, but regardless, it was one of the best nights of my life. You saw a hundred thousand people jumping, dancing, wearing Adidas, singing, probably drinking more than they have in 30 years. Lot the sloppy Gen Xers falling over, getting carried out. Very fun to watch. But the show itself was just so fun and everyone was so happy. And either they're putting on a good act or they really have done some work because they look like they were having a good time. They hugged it out at the end and even Liam, as he was leaving the stage, said, we just want to thank you for supporting us through the years. It must have been a fucking nightmare. Which, you know what, Liam, props to you for the self awareness. So they are still touring, but it's not in the US anymore. I. I don't feel like this is the end, but it very well could be. Regardless, I got to see it. It was a once in a lifetime thing, but it took me back to some of their great albums. So my recommendation is, is to give those two albums and any other others a listen because they hold up and they're really good songwriting. So it was all worth it. Even the three mile walk I had to do on the way home.
- [24:20]
C
Yeah, I had another friend who I also constantly do a podcast with, but it's a sports podcast who lives in Los Angeles who went to the concert as well and said the exact same thing. It was great. It seems like they were really getting along, but getting in and out of the Rose bowl was an absolute nightmare. So definitely sounds like that is par for the course there. But I'm so glad you had the opportunity to do that because like you said, you never know if that is going to happen again. So very, very fun.
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E
I learned my lesson after Prince because Prince played a week of shows here in Los Angeles at the Forum and I never went. And I said, well, next time he comes, I'm gonna go. And he died. So I do not take that for granted anymore. And I mean, who needs to pay rent? I'm gonna go see Oasis.
- [25:09]
C
We're not gonna pay. Yeah, that's great. So I love that. All right, well, let's look forward to the things that we are looking forward to in the month of October. Even though we're like a week and a half into October. I'm going to start just because I mentioned this earlier. The third season of the Diplomat begins on Netflix on this coming Thursday the 16th. This is the show that is led by Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell, along with a great collection of other folks including Rory Kinnear, a2eason Doe, Alison Janney, Bradley Whitford, both of them are joining for this next season. Although Allison Janney was a guest star in season two, I will say Adrienne Warren showed up for one episode in season two, but it has to do with Kerry Russell, who is a veteran diplomat who is now the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Her husband Hal, played by Rufus Sewell, is the former US Ambassador to Lebanon and was like a really big deal, but now she's kind of usurping him. They are kind of tapping her to be the next vice president and lots of craziness happens along the way. And I just loved the first two seasons, Jen. Obviously we both love Keri Russell to see her do another espionage type thing after the Americans. A very different show than the Americans, obviously, but a great show, really smart, really fun. I always say it's kind of like Scandal meets the West Wing a little bit. So I love this. I'm looking forward to it. The first two seasons were both seven episodes, so I'm assuming that's what this one will be as well. And I'm sure I'll be in New York when it drops, so I don't know that I'll actually be able to binge it straight through. But I will watch it as quickly as possible. And I will mention good friend of Broadway radio and a good friend of mine, John Schwab has been in a couple episodes as well. Great show. Looking forward to that one coming up on Thursday.
- [27:13]
E
I still haven't watched it. I've got to get into it.
- [27:16]
C
I know you really do. Really do. All right. So what is on your list for October?
- [27:23]
E
Well, a couple have already started Saturday Night Live and Abbott Elementary. I think my only two network shows I watch streaming loot is coming back for season three on Apple starring Maya Rudolph, one of my favorites. Also a new series it welcome to Derry. That is a prequel to the movie it. We just watched the first one and the second one, you know, for spooky season. So I'm excited about that. And everyone's talking about this movie one battle after another. So I really want to see that. We'll mostly be spending my as we always do. I'll mostly be spending the month watching scary movies. We've watched three or four already. So a PTA movie might be a nice break from that or add to it. I don't know. I don't know anything about it and I like it that way.
- [28:16]
C
I mean, everybody has said that it is one of the best movies of the year. So I cannot wait to finally have an opportunity to check it out.
- [28:29]
E
Yeah.
- [28:31]
C
All right, everybody, that is all that we have for this month's episode of Some Like It Pop. Thank you so much for listening, supporting us here on Patreon. If you want to let us know what your favorite things from the month of September or what you're looking forward to in October, please feel free to reach out on social media or you can email us@patreonrodwayradio.com all right, everybody, that's all that we have. Thanks for listening and we will talk to you next month.