Podcast Summary: "Once We Did Home Improvements"

Once We Were Spacemen, Episode 10
Host(s): Nathan Fillion & Alan Tudyk
Date: January 14, 2026

Episode Overview

In this light-hearted and unscripted episode, Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk reminisce about their shared history, their affection and frustrations with various homes and cities, the quirks of working in Hollywood, and a hilarious assortment of personal pet peeves, favorite gadgets, and bodily hygiene. The episode weaves stories of misadventures in haunted houses, the challenges of semi-retirement, and tangents about rebooting classic television shows, all delivered in their witty, self-deprecating banter.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Haunted House Hijinks & Personal Fears

• Alan recounts participating in an interactive haunted house show called "Delusion," describing a particularly terrifying segment involving creepy children.
  • "If a kid is going to come at me all creepy, spooky, they—I don't care what size they are. They got one up on me if they think they can come at me." (03:05 — Alan)
• Nathan and Alan share stories of embarrassing (and painful) reactions to jump scares and immersive theater experiences.
  • Alan: "I was scared so bad that one time that I went that I ran into the wall trying to get out of that room where that dead thing was. And I hurt my leg and hurt my arm." (02:16)
  • Nathan: "They set you off on a creepy crawler under a crawl space... You say, 'Well, I'm no jeweler.'" (03:33)

Life and Work in Vancouver & New York

• Alan opens up about living in Vancouver post-'Resident Alien' and how life there now feels like "soft retirement."
  • "It feels a little selfish. It feels a little like I should maybe be working a little bit more." (05:11 — Alan)
  • Both contrast the outdoor lifestyle of Vancouver with memories of tighter, less pleasant times in New York—highlighting the city’s challenges, like expensive and cramped apartments (08:05 onward).
• Nathan expresses warmth for Vancouver’s landscape and people but admits it's tough to stay through the rainy winters.
  • "I'm Canadian...Just the very landscape of Vancouver, between the mountains and the ocean and the trees and the green...just warms my heart." (09:13 — Nathan)

Hollywood Work Schedules and Industry Changes

• They examine how TV production has changed, from grueling 24-episode seasons to shorter, more precarious streaming formats.
  • "Now you're done with something every eight episodes..." (20:02 — Alan)
  • "The business is changing a lot and it's making it more difficult for people to make a living...they wanted to pay us less and less, pay these poor crews less." (20:11 — Nathan)
• Castle’s work schedule dominates Nathan’s memories, with nearly unmanageable hours.
  • "Once you started Castle... I disappeared from life for eight years." (16:38 — Alan)
  • "14 hours a day was the best I could possibly hope for... that show was terribly mismanaged until season eight." (16:58 — Nathan)

Childhood TV Reboots & Nostalgia

• Both fantasize about rebooting beloved shows from their youth:
  • Greatest American Hero (21:40 — Alan: "That's on my list too.")
  • Quantum Leap (23:08)
  • Simon & Simon (24:01)
  • Rockford Files (25:10)
• Nathan describes the thrill of chasing the dream TV adventure and reminisces about childhood TV memories.
  • "My dad would send us over to the TV again. Ok, go see what’s on channel three." (24:44 — Nathan)
• Alan highlights how storytelling and audience pacing have sped up over the years.
  • "Audiences now process at a higher speed... three seconds on Instagram:" (27:17 — Alan)

Technology, Gadgets, and Pet Peeves

• Alan and Nathan both confess to weird online shopping carts—fossilized pinecones, protein waffles, gadgets.
  • Alan: "A fossilized pinecone is in my cart right now. Also... Viking waffles." (33:54)
  • Nathan: "I'm a gadget guy...I love AirTags because I lose everything." (36:05)
• Pet peeves abound: The scourge of public speakerphone calls and loud phone conversations irritate them both.
  • Nathan vents: "If you believe holding it a foot away from your ear is going to protect you from radiation, you don’t know how radiation works." (28:36)
• Music in public hiking spaces, and generational shifts in public courtesy are discussed.
  • Alan: "I get into this thing of, like, I wish I hadn't... I'll beat myself up if I don't [apologize]." (31:19)
• They riff on home gadgets: portable bidets, folding measuring spoons, and more—often with hilarious tangents about bodily function.
  • "A portable bidet sounds like a sports bottle that has been repurposed..." (40:30 — Alan)

Hygiene Real Talk: The Wet Wipe Discourse

• Alan shares the Will Smith 'wet wipes' story (and how it later became a scene in Deadpool 2 with Matt Damon).
  • Alan quoting Will Smith: "Let’s say I just rub some shit on your arm...and I offer you something wet or dry paper—which are you going to use? The wet. Exactly—You got a stinky ass." (43:22)
  • "Ever since then I've been using these tucks..." (44:00)
• Nathan follows with a harrowing tale of a toilet-air-freshener/match mishap.
  • "He sprays it around... then throws the match down into the toilet, where it promptly explodes. Flame shoots out from every space available. A lot of it was between his legs." (47:01)

"Get to Know You": Odd Habits & Surprising Facts

• Alan’s petty limit: Will avoid coffee shops with doors that require a pull to exit ("I take it personally that they put their door on wrong." [49:35])
• Nathan’s “everyone-thinks-I’m-a-jerk” confession: Due to being hard of hearing in his left ear—stemming from childhood ear surgeries.
  • "A lot of people when they first meet me think I'm a jerk...But the fact of the matter is I'm hard of hearing. I don't have...hearing in my left ear." (50:04)
  • "Back in the day, if you had chronic ear infections...they performed a little procedure called a mastoidectomy." (50:49)

Strong Opinions on Weak Cookies

• Alan rails against macarons:
  • "Macaroon cookies. I do not consider that a cookie. It's not a cookie....They're like Beats headphones...like a Gap T-shirt." (53:24–55:18)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Nathan on the perils of haunted house shows:
  "If a kid is going to come at me all creepy, spooky...They got one up on me if they think they can come at me." (03:05)
• Alan on workplace self-sacrifice:
  "Once you started Castle... I disappeared from life for eight years." (16:38)
  "That show was terribly mismanaged until season eight..." (16:58 — Nathan)
• On the hustle of entertainment today:
  "Now you're done with something every eight episodes." (20:02 — Alan)
• On generational technology annoyances:
  "It radiates, motherfucker." (29:15 — Alan, on cell phone use in public)
• Classic Will Smith wisdom via Alan:
  "If I rub some shit on your arm, are you going to use something wet to wipe it off or dry paper?" (43:22)
• Nathan’s confessional, with technical medical detail:
  "No, it's archaic...they performed a little procedure called a mastoidectomy..." (50:49)
• Alan’s existential beef:
  "Macaroon cookies. I do not consider that a cookie. It's not a cookie...It's an affront to me." (53:24, 54:31)

Important Timestamps

• Haunted House Stories: 01:48 – 04:43
• Life in Vancouver and New York: 04:49 – 09:49
• Hollywood Work Schedules: 16:38 – 19:19
• TV Show Reboots: 21:29 – 26:39
• Shorter Hollywood Attention Spans: 27:09 – 28:08
• Public Technology Pet Peeves: 28:17 – 32:46
• Etsy and Gadget Shopping: 33:32 – 39:09
• Portable Bidet and Measuring Spoon Digressions: 40:03 – 42:23
• Will Smith, Wet Wipes, and Deadpool 2: 43:22 – 45:05
• Bathroom Disaster Story: 46:08 – 48:07
• Get to Know You — Coffee shop doors: 49:31
• Nathan’s Deafness & Surgery Story: 50:04 – 51:49
• Alan’s Macaroon Rant: 53:23 – 55:25

Tone & Style

The episode is filled with lively, honest, and irreverent banter, blending showbiz shop talk, self-deprecating humor, and everyday gripes. Nathan and Alan's camaraderie shines, and their candor about personal stories and professional challenges brings both laughter and insight for listeners.

For Listeners: Why You Should Tune In

If you love behind-the-scenes Hollywood stories, personal confessions delivered with wit, and the peculiar things actors care about off-set, this episode brings you all of that—and then some. Fillion and Tudyk are a relatable, hilarious pair, offering a warm window into friendship, nostalgia, and the strange connective tissue of everyday life.

End of Summary.