How Did This Get Made? – “Diana: The Musical LIVE!” (Matinee at Largo)

Original release: November 18, 2025
Hosts: Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas
Episode theme: A riotous, exasperated dissection of the critically panned “Diana: The Musical,” as seen on Netflix. The trio debates what went wrong (answer: almost everything), how the musical treats royalty, and muses on why someone thought this story needed to be told as a Broadway rock opera.

Episode Overview

“Diana: The Musical LIVE!” finds the HDTGM crew returning to their “home” at Largo in LA to perform a live audience matinee breakdown of the Broadway-to-Netflix spectacle “Diana: The Musical.” The hosts grapple with the baffling choices made in the production—from mind-numbing exposition and flat characterization to bizarre artistic decisions—while reveling in the musical’s earnest incompetence. Throughout, the team oscillates between horror, delirium, and genuine appreciation for the performers giving it their all.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is “Diana: The Musical?” (03:00)

• Paul Scheer’s Initial Take: Claims the show is at the quality level of “a very creative sixth or seventh grader’s book report… set to song.” He warns that this adaption makes “Cats” look like a work of genius.

  “Just because you are singing words doesn't mean it's a song. … Imagine a very creative sixth or seventh grader who decided to do a report on Princess Diana and said, I'm going to make my book report different. I'll make it one where I sing.” – Paul (03:00)

• Difference from Broadway/Netflix: Paul clarifies that the Netflix version is nearly the same as Broadway, just missing the energy of a live audience (03:00).

2. The Sheer Oddness of the Production (04:45–09:00)

• Tone Problems: Jason refers to the show as “a war crime.” (04:48)
• Performance Vibe: The trio agrees it has the energy of a high school production or family-filmed recital (07:14), with June declaring:

  “I genuinely started to enjoy it [on second viewing]. So I don't know.” – June (08:02)

• Sauna Bed Experimentation: June confesses to her double-watch day, including a viewing in her “sauna bed,” prompting jokes about hallucinating musicals under heat stress (08:49).

3. Are Any of the Songs Memorable? (10:49–12:45)

• Audience Challenge: Jason prods the live crowd to sing a song from memory. One brave audience member forges ahead with “Pretty, pretty girl in a pretty, pretty dress” (11:36), shaming Jason’s doubts about the music’s memorability.
• The ‘Fuck You Dress’ Song: This becomes the touchstone for the musical’s only slightly memorable lyricism:

  “The only song I truly remember is the Fuck youk Dress. The Fuckity Fuckity Fuckity. Because it's so crazy.” – Paul (11:57)

• Lyrics = Word Soup: Jason and Paul agree: the songs get stuck on awkward phrases (“underestimated!”) and fail to deliver hooks.

4. Does the Musical Tell You Who Diana Was? (12:37–16:42)

• Warped Portrait: The hosts feel Diana is depicted variously as a vindictive schemer, a naïve child, or a martyr—resulting in a confusing, contradictory protagonist.
• Narrative Structure Fumbles: The supposed narrator, romance novelist “Barbara,” appears, disappears, and is never used to better effect---a missed opportunity for thematic coherence (13:34).
• Absence of Perspective: Jason notes the lack of a true storytelling device:

  “Why not an overarching structure that is this story’s being told to someone or point of view.” – Jason (14:01)

5. Broadway Origins & Netflix’s Strategy (14:35–16:42, 41:19–44:45)

• COVID Disruption: The production opened just as Broadway shut down, and was filmed for Netflix without an audience in hopes of capturing “the next Hamilton” (15:15–15:43).
• Dead Energy: June laments its lifeless feel versus clips of other filmed musicals.
• Rock Credentials!?: The musical’s composer turns out to be Bon Jovi’s keyboardist, David Bryan (44:45).
• Netflix’s “Diana Mania”: The crew jokes about Netflix trying to corner all “Diana” content—“The Crown,” documentaries, etc.—and questions whether that built-in audience was ever really there (43:29–43:42).

6. Surreal Choreography, Stage & Costume Debates (23:29–32:27, 51:28–54:48)

• Aggressive “Shoulder Work”: Paul is fascinated by the repetitive, harsh shoulder moves assigned to bellhops and pop stars alike (24:29).
• Stage Design Fight:
  • Paul is weirdly charmed by the set and costume changes, claiming “give it up for suspension of disbelief!” (52:29)
  • June and Jason think everything looks “high school” and unconvincing. June asserts:

    “I thought the costumes were terrible. I thought the set was terrible, and I thought the choreography was terrible.” (52:02)

• Jason: Parodies British dance moves: “You do the Tames! Or even… You do the Tames.” (30:29)

7. The “Feck You Dress” & the Musical’s Approach to Lore (61:34–62:38)

• Historical Fact vs. Musical Ham: The infamous “revenge dress” moment is dramatized, with Paul quoting production research on the real event and how the show renders it:

  “What I like about this stage design is… it doesn’t take attention away from the feck you dress and actually lets the feck you dress shine.” – Paul (62:38) “If you say it's soup enough times, I'm like, I guess that's soup.” – Paul

8. Mishandling of Diana’s Story and Royalty (32:46–39:07)

• Flat Characterization: The musical glosses over Diana’s acts of defiance (such as visiting AIDS wards) and reduces emotional stakes.
• Moral Confusion: Jason rails against the slideshow of royal “villains” sanitized to look aspirational:

  “This is a play about the monarchy who are unquestionably villains, right? And we are asked over and over again to root for them.” – Jason (27:06)

• Ending Issues: The musical’s last word goes to Charles, which infuriates Jason (“Shame on you!” 37:32), as do the queen’s sudden crocodile tears.

9. Personal Experiences & Irony (49:11–50:17)

• Paul’s Unstoppable Binge: Despite desperate intentions to fragment his viewing, Paul “couldn’t turn it off,” finishing it at 1 a.m.—possibly the only true endorsement in the whole episode.
• June’s Sauna Bed Theory: Watching in altered mental/physical states affects tolerance; Paul insists, “I couldn’t turn it off.” (49:11)

10. Audience Q&A & ‘Team Camilla’ Riff (58:35–61:10)

• Question: “Why do you think it was so important for them to talk about how dumb Diana was?”
  • Paul agrees: “They do her a disservice. They make her dumb. They make her like a dumb kid.” (60:19)
• Are There Sides?: Light “Team Diana” vs. “Team Camilla” debate, with Paul weakly trying to justify sympathy for Camilla’s position in the love triangle.

11. Would You Recommend Diana: The Musical? (71:11–72:59)

• No Immediate Yeses: Jason is a hard no.
• June’s Nuanced Take: “It is something to see… Musicals in general, it’s so hard to translate [them] to a screen…We might have had a different experience in the theater.” (71:19)
• Audience Element: Jason wonders if filming with an enthusiastic audience could help the show’s “deadness.”

  “Would I have enjoyed this more if it had been filmed, not up close, but from the middle of the room and the audience been full of people enjoying the show?” – Jason (72:02)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jason, on how the musical feels:

  “A Wikipedia entry set to song. That's all it is.” (05:24)

• June’s double viewing experiment:

  “I put it back on and I genuinely started to enjoy it. So I don't know.” (08:02)

• Jason, summing up the experience:

  “I was already feeling unwell...To have one to click on that status bar and see that you have one hour left in this abject nightmarescape...” (46:53)

• Paul, on memorability and the ‘Fuck You Dress’:

  “The only song I truly remember is the Fuck youk Dress. The Fuckity Fuckity Fuckity. Because it's so crazy.” (11:57)

• June, on pitfalls of adapting Diana’s life:

  “When we already know where she's headed, it's hard to ever feel that this is a hero's journey and that she's going to get redemption because we ultimately know that they killed her.” (36:52)

• Jason, on missing the point:

  “The musical’s last word is given to Charles. Shame on you!” (37:29)

• Paul, on inexorable viewership:

  “I couldn't turn it off. … I'm like, I can't. I gotta finish it now.” (49:11)

• June, on the stagecraft:

  “I thought the costumes were terrible. I thought the set was terrible, and I thought the choreography was terrible.” (52:02)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Intro / Opening Rants: 03:00–07:36
• Sauna Bed Double Viewing: 07:36–09:10
• Song/Music Critique & Audience ‘Sing-Along’: 10:49–12:45
• Royal Family Character/Lore Discussion: 12:37–16:42; 20:54–29:05
• Choreography, Set & Costume Debate: 23:29–32:27; 51:28–54:48
• ‘Feck You Dress’ Segment: 61:34–63:20
• Would You Recommend? & Final Thoughts: 71:11–72:59

Conclusion

“Diana: The Musical LIVE!” is a masterclass in well-intentioned artistic folly: flat musical numbers, directionless storytelling, and odd production choices, all brought to life (sort of) by capable performers doing their best. Paul, Jason, and June’s multi-pronged critique is as funny as it is bewildered. If you’re on the fence about watching the musical, the consensus is: don't—unless you’re in a sauna bed, delirious, or have a fascination with historical mishaps set to electric guitar.

Final Noteworthy Exchange:

“It is something to see… None of the songs are memorable.”
– June Diane Raphael (74:06)

“Except for that gentleman. There they are. There’s nothing hooky.”
– Jason Mantzoukas (74:15)

Summary by segment time, for quick navigation:

• [03:00] Opening – What even is this?
• [07:36] June’s sweat-drenched double feature
• [10:49] “Can you guys sing a song? No?”
• [12:37] Does this actually explain Diana?
• [23:29] Choreography culture shock
• [32:46] Royal family morality play?
• [40:00] Audience Q&A
• [61:34] “Feck You Dress” and pop history
• [71:11] Would you recommend?

For fans of so-bad-it’s-good theater, musical disasters, or the ongoing trainwreck of the British monarchy’s portrayal in pop culture, this is an essential listen.

“Musicals are hard. But I will say these actors make it look good. … They're doing great, a great job with truly, catastrophically bad material.”
– Paul Scheer (51:28)