Comedy Bang Bang: The Podcast – Bonus Bang: Plan One: The Scrooge Gang

Date: January 8, 2026
Host: Scott Aukerman
Guests: Jason Manzoukas, Andy Daly (as Byron Denniston, Dalton Wilcox, August Lindt, Hotdog)
Theme: Revisiting Episode 700 – A Landmark, Character-Driven CBB Adventure

Episode Overview

This riotous milestone episode, originally released as Episode 700, is unearthed from the paywall vault for Comedy Bang Bang’s "Half a Hundo" retrospective. Scott Aukerman celebrates this round number with longtime guest Jason Manzoukas and a cast of absurd recurring characters (Andy Daly in comedic tour-de-force mode), spiraling from royal scandals and end-of-the-world conspiracy to deranged heist plotting and interconnected CBB lore. The episode is a pure distillation of the podcast’s signature: freewheeling, meta-referential, character-packed chaos.
Tone: Surreal, rapid-fire, self-referential, improv-fueled absurdist comedy.

Key Discussion Points & Memorable Segments

1. Milestone Reflections & Early Banter

[03:17–07:00]

• Scott welcomes Jason with the classic CBB banter, riffing on the “insect burrito” catchphrase.
• Milestone: Celebrates the 700th episode and reflects on the years-in-the-making journey.
• CBB in its prime: Meta jokes about the show's longevity, round-number episodes ("hundos"), and the absurdity of focusing on timing (“Other shows did 700 quicker, but who cares?”).
• Riffing on eating bugs and cow farts—timely ecological gags with signature Manzoukas energy.

“How long until we're eating bugs?...There is going to come a time where we are using bug proteins in our farts.” – Jason Manzoukas [03:17]

2. Deep Dive into ’90s & Meta Sitcom Lore

[06:45–08:57]

• Extended Frasier/Cheers analysis, including deadpan confusion about show continuity, alcoholism in sitcoms, and alternate-reality writing staff.
• Jokes about needing "new writers" for your own life.
• Playful speculation about “the Blip” (Marvel Cinematic Universe), with riffs on the possibility of living in an alternate reality podcast.

“Your life needs new writers. It just feels like your writers don’t do any contemporary stuff.” – Jason Manzoukas [08:29]

3. World Re-Opening, Pandemic Paranoia and Past CBB History

[16:29–19:28]

• Comic processing of the COVID pandemic: re-entry fears, variants, and the show's own timeline adjacent to lockdowns (Jason’s prescient warnings).
• Recap of early lockdown CBB episodes.

“What are you gonna do when the world opens back up?” – Scott
“Cautiously optimistic…Re-entry is going to be slow.” – Jason Manzoukas [17:29]

4. Meet Byron Denniston, Royal Watcher

[24:29–41:20]

• Scott introduces Byron Denniston (Andy Daly), “royal watcher” from the UK.
• They riff on British/American language differences (“humor” vs “humour”), and joke about the “weirdos” who founded America.
• Byron offers a revisionist and scathing take on America’s founding (“the Brits sent their weirdos”).
• British TV culture: Joking about “The Rusted Board,” “The Sunken Doorknob,” and other fictional English chat shows.
• Switches to talk of royal scandal—teasing explosive insider news.

“When people came over to America…they were weirdos. They were UK weirdos.” – Byron Denniston [25:42]

5. EXCLUSIVE: Plan One – The Royals’ Apocalypse Scheme

[48:38–54:50, 51:36]

• Byron drops his bombshell insider story:
  • The European royals are about to activate “Plan One”—a mass escape via a spaceship disguised as Dutch city hall (in Alphen aan den Rijn).
  • All European royalty (plus-ones included) will board the craft, launch into space, and nuke Earth.
  • Jokes about options for joining (“marry a royal!”), and the practicality of impersonating Prince Philip.

“Plan One is…all the royalty of Europe ...converge upon the City Hall in Alphen...which looks like a spaceship, and is a spaceship. As it blasts off, it will fire nuclear weapons and destroy the entire planet.” – Byron Denniston [51:36]

6. The Heist & Caper Movie Planning

[56:07–61:37]

• The crew brainstorms a fake death for Byron so he can abandon the Prince Philip disguise and marry into royalty for a space escape.
• Hilarious digression into heist movie clichés:
  • Villains in masks (“Scrooge Gang”: Ebenezer, Marley, Ghosts of Christmas Past/Present/Future).
  • Inside man in the bank, classic squib/gunplay stunts, discussion of head shots and body doubles.
  • Eye-rolling puns ("blue balls robbery," "eyeball heist").
• The heist plan involves swapping bodies and fooling the royals—a layered send-up of movie logic.

“It’s the classic blue balls robbery—the blue balls robbery done by the Scrooge Gang…” – Scott [61:17]

7. Soap Opera & CBB Universe Interconnections

[61:41–69:13]

• Ongoing convolutions: Byron’s failed attempt to woo Lady Amelia Windsor (who’s engaged to “Grizzle”) and strategizing his pursuit of Princess Elizabeth (nicknamed “TNT”).
• CBB’s canon awareness: Intertextual riffs on character relationships, “swapping” tropes, and prior episode callbacks.
• Jason and Scott lovingly dunk on the ridiculousness of keeping track of such a tangled narrative.

8. Dalton Wilcox, Cowboy Laureate & Further Assistance

[77:19–91:00]

• Dalton Wilcox (Andy Daly) joins, rudely awakened underground with a projected text. Now joined at his hideout by wife Irina (in a delightfully offhand aside—reference to Bananas bonus episodes).
• The team now includes a pretzel factory owner (August Lindt) and further plots are hatched: fake funerals, water skiing contests, hot dog-shaped holsters.

9. Hot Dog Returns: CBB Lore Collides

[102:24–117:15]

• Hot Dog (Andy Daly), champion water skier and Shanana-na obsessive, re-emerges to escalate the mythos.
• Recaps his apocalyptic plan: getting Sha Na Na inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will trigger the literal apocalypse (“Earth Angels will appear and bring end times”).
• Hot Dog reveals his real heart is in his thigh—triggering a failed Zoom-initiated assassination by Dalton.
• The show devolves into increasingly frenzied cross-chatter and meta-breaking attempts to kill off characters through improv code and attempted digital homicide.

“If we can kill Hot Dog before he successfully replaces Sha Na Na with Tina Turner...once again it all comes down to killing Hot Dog. The world lives or dies if Hotdog dies.” – Jason Manzoukas [113:06]

10. Plug Bag & Finale

[117:42–END]

• Each guest plugs their real or fictional projects:
  • Jason shouts out his animated series “Invincible” (Amazon), “Close Enough” (HBO Max), and “How Did This Get Made?” podcast [118:45].
  • Plugs for “Threeedom,” “Bananas for Bonanza,” and various character endeavors (Schmeiderberg Pretzels, Kickstarter for Sha Na Na, etc.).
• The plug bag theme song is met with horror and delight.
• In true CBB fashion, Dalton finally “shoots” Hot Dog in the thigh—with the suggestion the world is saved, maybe.
• The chaos concludes abruptly (“We got him in the thigh!”), with various guests unceremoniously ejected or murdered, and plugs and goodbyes flying rapid-fire.

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Podcast Milestones:
  “To achieve this is no small feat.” – Jason Manzoukas [04:29]

• On Eating Bugs:
  “How long until we're eating bugs? ...I feel like it's coming.” – Jason Manzoukas [08:41]

• On Royal Scandal:
  “You sort of tell yourself stories that your nation was founded by… the most romantically rebellious people of Europe…but it isn’t really that way. It was more that the Brits, sort of, said, ‘We’re tired of these weirders, put them on a ship…’" – Byron Denniston [25:53]

• Plan One Revelation:
  “All the royalty of Europe… are going to converge upon City Hall…which is a spaceship. And as it blasts off…it will fire several nuclear weapons which will destroy the entire planet.” – Byron Denniston [51:36]

• Heist Concepting:
  “We need something iconic for this to really pop...Like the Scrooge gang!” – Scott Aukerman [58:19]

• Hot Dog’s Heart Reveal:
  “I had a decoy heart in my chest…my main heart, the heart that's really doing all the work, is in my left thigh.” – Hot Dog [103:39]

• Breaking the Cycle:
  “Once again it all comes down to killing Hot Dog. The world lives or dies if Hotdog dies.” – Jason Manzoukas [113:06]

• Meta Commentary:
  “We are adults who retain this information. Can you think about the important things we have forgotten—because I don't remember my parents' names and I remember this nonsense.” – Scott Aukerman [76:16]

Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:17] – Insect Burrito catchphrase & bug-eating riffing
• [08:41] – Pandemic re-entry & life’s new “writers”
• [24:29] – Byron Denniston (Royal Watcher) appears
• [41:20] – Byron teases royals’ “explosive news”
• [48:38] – Plan One explained: Royal Exodus in a spaceship
• [56:07] – Bank heist/Scrooge gang movie planning
• [61:41] – The “blue balls”/eyeball heist pitch peaks
• [77:19] – Dalton Wilcox and August Lindt join in
• [102:24] – Hot Dog returns, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame apocalypse lore
• [113:06] – Jason and Scott plot to kill Hot Dog
• [126:10] – Dalton “shoots” Hot Dog in the thigh, saving the world?
• [117:42–124:44] – Plug Bag, meta-commentary, original theme deconstruction

Conclusion

This episode is a masterclass in the signature CBB blend of improvisational character comedy and surreal, interconnected meta-narrative. Listeners are treated to royal satire, sci-fi doomsday plotting, frenzied heist movie homages, and inside-joke-heavy improv that’s as self-referential as it is absurd. Andy Daly’s parade of characters collides with Manzoukas’s anarchic energy and Scott’s deadpan hosting for a sprawling, hour-plus comedic universe—one that’s impossible to explain succinctly, but that rewards loyal fans and drop-ins with relentless invention and hilarity.

Perfect for:

• Longtime CBB-lore nerds
• Fans of madcap character comedy
• Anyone wanting to know how Sha Na Na, the royal family, and a blue-eyeball heist could, against all logic, intersect.

“Horny! She’s got a great ass!” – [71:35] – Scott Aukerman, summing up both the irreverence and the spirit of absurdity that defines this landmark Comedy Bang Bang installment.