S1: #8 - We Almost Killed Our Director

Summary

Podcast Summary: Smosh Mouth - S1: #8 "We Almost Killed Our Director"

Episode Information

• Title: We Almost Killed Our Director
• Podcast: Smosh Mouth
• Hosts: Shayne Topp (Short), Amanda Lehan-Canto (Tall), and rotating Smosh friends
• Guest: Ryan Finnerty
• Release Date: April 10, 2019

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Introduction to Ryan Finnerty's Role

The episode kicks off with Shayne and Amanda introducing Ryan Finnerty, the longtime director of Smosh. They delve into Ryan's decade-long journey with the team, highlighting his pivotal role behind the scenes.

"Ryan Finnerty has been delivering thrills for over a decade."
— Ian Hecox [00:18]

Early Days of Smosh and Ryan's Entry

Shayne recounts his initiation into directing Smosh content around 2010-2011, transitioning from the earlier days when he and Anthony managed directing duties themselves.

"Before that, it was like myself and then sometimes Anthony, like, kind of doing like a little co-directing thing."
— Courtney Miller [02:20]

Ryan shares his first experience directing for Smosh, emphasizing the shift from analog to digital filming and the challenges it presented, such as handling DV tapes and managing lengthy shoot days.

"The first thing I shot for you guys, you handed me a Panasonic DVX100 that still shot on DV tape... suddenly it was the longest shoot day."
— Ryan Finnerty [02:51]

Challenges with Early Production and Crew Reliability

The conversation highlights the lack of discipline during Smosh’s initial filming years. Courtney reminisces about unreliable crew members who often showed up hungover or intoxicated, disrupting the shooting process.

"One of the camera people that we had before you, Ryan, ... he took breaks from shooting to go throw up in the bathroom."
— Courtney Miller [07:52]

Ian adds a humorous yet tense anecdote about a challenging day on set involving a disoriented makeup artist who had been excessively drinking, leading to an almost violent confrontation.

"He immediately got pissed off, went to his bag and pulled out two box cutters... you just prepared for it."
— Ian Hecox [14:59]

The Fruit Cup Incident

A significant moment in the episode is the recounting of the "fruit cup story." Ryan describes an encounter with a young man on set who reacted aggressively after being denied access to the crew's refreshments. The situation escalated quickly, revealing the risks directors like Ryan face.

"He had these two box cutters and literally, like, pulls them out... That's one of those moments where you almost kill your director."
— Ryan Finnerty [15:24]

Ian reflects on the incident with remorse, recognizing that the director may have inadvertently provoked the situation by being dismissive of the man's request.

"In retrospect from that situation, I am actually the asshole."
— Ian Hecox [15:55]

Sactors: Sacramento's Acting Scene

The hosts discuss the term "sactors" — actors based in Sacramento who often lack professional training or experience compared to those in Los Angeles. They share their experiences casting local talent, noting both the challenges and the hidden gems they found.

"A lot of these people were actors, but they never were entertainment actors and they certainly weren't comedy actors."
— Ian Hecox [23:23]

Courtney mentions specific actors like Tom Hart, whom they frequently cast as their "old man," appreciating the unique flair these local actors brought to their sketches.

"Tom Hart was great. He was very endearing."
— Courtney Miller [23:36]

Evolution of Production Processes

The discussion shifts to how Smosh's production has evolved over the years. Initially, Ian was juggling multiple roles—directing, producing, handling payroll—which led to burnout. Over time, the team streamlined their processes, introducing specialized roles to manage different aspects of production more efficiently.

"We kept that consistency. We like to have at least one hungover and drunk person on set... It just keeps things fresh."
— Ian Hecox [08:18]

Ryan and Courtney talk about implementing strategies to improve on-set communication and collaboration, such as developing a safety word to signal frustration without escalating tensions.

"We developed a safety word to know if someone was mad or just focused."
— Ian Hecox [30:38]

Working Dynamics and Personal Anecdotes

The episode delves into the personal dynamics between the hosts and Ryan. They share lighthearted stories about living arrangements, mutual support, and the camaraderie that sustains their collaborative efforts.

"You're such a big part of Smosh. Without you, it would be a huge impact."
— Courtney Miller [45:00]

Ian humorously compares his role to being the liver of the Smosh body, processing and managing the creative output to keep everything running smoothly.

"I like to think of myself as the liver that processes the alcohol."
— Ian Hecox [45:04]

Conclusion and Reflections

As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on the journey they've undertaken together with Ryan, acknowledging both the hurdles and the successes. They emphasize the importance of teamwork, adaptability, and maintaining a positive environment despite the pressures of content creation.

"We've built up such a great crew, so I 100% appreciate the comment that it's like, without me, there would be this gap or whatever."
— Ian Hecox [48:31]

Ryan expresses gratitude for being part of the Smosh family, highlighting the strong bonds that have been forged over years of collaborative work.

"I love talking with you guys. This is what couples goals is what it is."
— Ryan Finnerty [62:24]

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Notable Quotes:

• "Ryan Finnerty has been delivering thrills for over a decade."
  — Ian Hecox [00:18]

• "I started directing, I've been with you guys for 10 years, but I don't think I started directing until 2010 or 11."
  — Courtney Miller [02:20]

• "He immediately got pissed off, went to his bag and pulled out two box cutters... you just prepared for it."
  — Ian Hecox [14:59]

• "You are a resident Vine expert... but we're definitely shooting over six seconds and we're not really sticking to it."
  — Courtney Miller [32:27]

• "I like to think of myself as the liver that processes the alcohol."
  — Ian Hecox [45:04]

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Final Thoughts "We Almost Killed Our Director" offers an intimate glimpse into the behind-the-scenes operations of Smosh, highlighting the dedication, challenges, and humorous moments that define their creative process. Through candid conversations and shared experiences, the episode underscores the value of teamwork and resilience in the ever-evolving landscape of content creation.

Transcript

[Ian Hecox]

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[Courtney Miller]

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[Ian Hecox]

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[Courtney Miller]

That's a lot of games. All for free.

[Ian Hecox]

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[Ryan Finnerty]

Chumba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade.

[Ian Hecox]

So claim your free welcome bonus now.

[Courtney Miller]

And live the chumba life.

[Ian Hecox]

Visit chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary vgw group.

[Courtney Miller]

Void where prohibited by law 21 +.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Terms and conditions apply.

[Courtney Miller]

Ramble.

[Ian Hecox]

He immediately got pissed off. Went to his bag and pulled out two box cutters and literally pulls him out like they're these two fricking blades. You just prepared for it.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Snoring's such a comforting sound to me. My dad snored, so any snoring is just like. It's like ocean sounds.

[Courtney Miller]

Guys, don't wanna freak you out, but there's a lot of blood. There's some fur laying around. Can't find the cup.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You've been a part of Smosh. For so long and you're such a hu. Detrimental. Hope that's the right word. Part of it.

[Courtney Miller]

Nope.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Nope. What's detrimental mean?

[Courtney Miller]

That's. That's a bad.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You're crap. That's not what I meant.

[Courtney Miller]

Welcome back to. Courtney doesn't know words.

[Ian Hecox]

We're gonna bum these.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, that's okay with me.

[Ian Hecox]

Well, that's what we'll say. Something funny about you and be like. Right, right. Get it.

[Courtney Miller]

Don't make any jokes about me, please. Please. I'm very fragile, man. Hello, everyone. Welcome to smoshcast. Today I am joined by the very lovely Courtney Ruth Miller.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Hello again.

[Courtney Miller]

And Ryan. I don't know.

[Ian Hecox]

Ruth.

[Courtney Miller]

Ruth. Todd.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Ryan.

[Courtney Miller]

Ruth. Tod.

[Ian Hecox]

My middle name is also Ruth.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, that's lovely.

[Ryan Finnerty]

My middle name's Edward and we're here with Ian. Do we have time to take a dump? He talks.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, I took a dump right before this, just so you guys know.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And we did have time.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. Starting the podcast off strong. Talking about our dumps. Yo. How was your D?

[Ian Hecox]

I always enjoy mine.

[Courtney Miller]

Good. For those of you that are listening or might not have watched Smosh videos from two or three years past. Ryan. Well, you've. You've been our director for 10 years now.

[Ian Hecox]

I started directing. I've been with you guys for 10 years, but I don't think I started directing until 2010 or 11. One of those that's true.

[Courtney Miller]

Cuz. Cuz at that point. Yeah, because before that it was like myself and then sometimes Anthony, like, kind of doing like a little co directing thing.

[Ian Hecox]

Right?

[Courtney Miller]

And then we realized, like, oh, this is a lot of work and we're maybe not the best at it.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Didn't. When he first started helping you guys, you were still recording on tape or something?

[Ian Hecox]

Oh, yeah.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And then you had to like, tell.

[Ian Hecox]

Him, like, no, that was the. That was the first day we started shooting. The first thing I shot for you guys, you guys handed me a. A Panasonic DVX100 that still shot on DV tape. And I was like, no, I'm not gonna shoot on this. So then I borrowed a friend's hvx and then that was like the first digital shoot you guys had where you didn't actually shoot on tape, which actually kind of bit me in the ass, because since I did that, I was the guy that had to download everything on set. So then that shoot day was like the longest shoot day. Cause I'd shoot, download all the footage, shoot again. Sounds awful.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

But fun.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You guys are such hips to still shooting on film. What are you, Louis Lumiere?

[Ian Hecox]

That's.

[Courtney Miller]

Wow, that's a. That's a name.

[Ian Hecox]

It's. It's tape. It's not.

[Courtney Miller]

So.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

So, Ryan, how did we. How did we even come across you? Because it was. We.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I don't even know this story so well.

[Courtney Miller]

So before. Before we had Ryan, we. We got a producer and turned out they weren't that good.

[Ian Hecox]

That's one way to put it.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, they were. They were very. They gave great first impression, really talked themselves up and. And they. They got us a few, like, cool things. Like we. We got to shoot it like a prison. So that was pretty cool. But they also just didn't do their job very well. And so we needed a camera person. And that's how they. That's how we got hooked up with you.

[Ian Hecox]

And so basically they called me. Well, the long story is it's a lot of people because we were in Sacramento, so it's a very small group of people. So the sound guy that I worked with, it was actually like the worst. It was like the worst setup for, like, a job interview. He was like, oh, hey, this other person that we worked on on this feature film that I directed, and the sound guy was the same sound guy on it. And then this person was actually our makeup person on that one.

[Courtney Miller]

The producer was the makeup person for your.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Wow.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, they wore many hats, apparently but our sound guy, we were on a job, and he was like, oh, hey, yeah, do you want to work for this, like. I don't know, it's like this comedy thing, and it's like, God, it's like, I don't even know what it is. And it's like, you know, and it's that one, you know, and he, like, he. He wasn't a big fan of the person either. He's like, yeah, you'd have to work for them. And like, I don't know. And it's like long hours and, like, the lunch wasn't that good on the day. It was like, the worst setup. And he was like, but, you know, they wanted to talk to you, so, you know, I don't know.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Way to sell the yeah. Channel.

[Ian Hecox]

And I was like, you know, basically, I was like, all right, well, that sounds interesting. Again, we were coming back from, like, I think, a commercial for a hospital or something. So anything comedy or anything like that. I was like, I don't really care. I'm down to do whatever. And then when I got the call, it was actually, like, straight up a dark and stormy night. I don't know if you remember, it was like this really torrential downpour in Sacramento. And I came over and I had already met you prior, and then.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, yeah, I met you at. There was like, a weird kind of janky California, like, film group thing, right?

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

Like, I got an invite. So, I mean, like, oh, we're like a group of filmmakers in Sacramento. We get together and, like, have meetings. And I went out there, and I think it was like. It was you, me, and, like, two other people on, like, a panel and maybe 20 people in the audience. I was like, okay, first panel. I guess so. Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Was it.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, I mean, at that point, for sure.

[Ian Hecox]

And it was nice. And just to be fair, they're very spirited, lovely people.

[Courtney Miller]

Everyone was very lovely.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, they're very nice. But, yeah, it's a small group.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Sacramento is not the most popping in the entertainment side of things. It's mainly commercial, industrial, a lot of political production.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

But that's how we met.

[Ryan Finnerty]

What year was that?

[Courtney Miller]

That was.

[Ian Hecox]

It would have been, like, 2008 or something.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

I think because I. That meeting I had with you guys was 2009, and that meeting was, like, five months prior to that. But then I came and met, you know, again, I'd already met you prior. Was like, did the whole, like, oh, yeah, we met at this thing, yada, yada. And then met Anthony, and then had the interview, and then it was like, after that, it was like, cool. We shoot next week. And then. Yeah, I think I shot for you guys two or three different things before it became a regular thing. Because you guys at that time didn't have a schedule. It was like you shot kind of once a month or something.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You guys weren't putting out stuff regularly, like, at all, huh?

[Courtney Miller]

No, I mean, like, we had our one main channel video we put out out every week, but that was it. And it. We weren't disciplined in. In filming. Like, there were definitely times when we would shoot or we would plan on shooting, and then we'd wake up and, like, eat breakfast and then just kind of like, hang out, talk about the video and be like, let's get some lunch. And then we get lunch. And we'd be like, I don't know. Do you want to just shoot this tomorrow?

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, my gosh.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. One of. One of the camera people that we had before you, Ryan, I recall, definitely showed up, like, hungover or possibly still drunk from the night before. Like, I remember several times he took breaks from shooting to go throw up in the bathroom. Like, this is. This is great. So, yeah, not. Not a lot of discipline in our first few years of filming, I think.

[Ian Hecox]

We'Ve kept that consistency. We like to have at least one hungover and. Or drunk person on set.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It just sounds like college.

[Ian Hecox]

It just keeps things fresh. Yeah, very much like college.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

Well, I like to have that. That, you know, drunk person with the, you know, their life not in order. So I feel better about myself, you.

[Ian Hecox]

Know, Actually, I have a funny story about that. When we were. When we started, we were in the swing of things, shooting in Sacramento, we had another. That was a makeup. One of our makeup artists, she came on set one day and was like, you know, I'm really not feeling good and blah, blah. I'm sick. And I remember we're like, okay. And so we were, like, treating her. We were, like, really nice and being, like, cool in between each setup. Go lay down, yada, yada. Somebody else, I think it was like a PA on our set was like. And this, I think, was before Instagram. So you didn't have, like, Instagram stories, but it was like Facebook, you could post videos or whatever. And she came up to me and was like, did you see her video from last night? I'm like, what are you talking about? And she showed me the video, and she had literally filmed herself up drinking till like, three or four in the morning.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, my God.

[Ian Hecox]

And I remember Just getting so mad. And she was in. It was when we shot at my old office.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

And she was sleeping in my office. And I remember just kicking the door open and being like, get up. Like, we need you to like.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It was like, oh my God.

[Ian Hecox]

All niceties were gone after that. I was so mad you were being.

[Ryan Finnerty]

So nice to her.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Cause we thought she was sick.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, that's, that's not cool.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, that's pretty irresponsible.

[Courtney Miller]

And yeah, I've considerate. I've definitely like always made it a thing to, to never, to never drink to anything that could be considered excess the night before. Shoot. I mean, it's, I mean like I, I. The way that I see like shoots is like you're, you're showing up to war and, and you gotta, you gotta be prepared. You gotta be well rested. You know, you don't, you don't show up to the battlefield with, with an empty gun and you know. Yeah, you don't show. Yeah, I don't know where I was going with that, but basically. Yeah, you don't want to do that. You know, I mean, what are you going to do? Throw your gun at somebody?

[Ian Hecox]

Well, you could scare them. Like, I'm going to shoot you. I swear there's bullets in here.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, that works.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I've like, it's very rare to see. You have to be like, or ever be like angry or like, you know, like, because you're pretty, you're a pretty chill, like person generally. Like, I feel like, because this job was really like my first time being on set like super regularly. Like I was on that music video production set and like those people were yelling at each other like in front of clients and stuff like that. But like when you're mad, you either like, you always like take a step out for like five seconds or like you'll throw an F bomb in a sentence. Like that's like the equivalent of like when you can tell, like you're stressed out but like that's like about it. Except for there have been moments that like, of other things that have caused you to have to be like that. The, that time on set, that guy, that was it a homeless guy who came on set one time.

[Ian Hecox]

And that's the fruit cup story.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Do you mean tell the fruit cup story?

[Ryan Finnerty]

I would love.

[Courtney Miller]

I love hearing this story because I wasn't, I wasn't there.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You weren't there?

[Courtney Miller]

No, I was. Because that was like in every blank ever that I wasn't in.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

So I just heard the story secondhand.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's very rare to see you, like. I don't know, what do you call it? Like, not, like, come alive, but, like, when you have to, like, bring out that inner, like, tough guy. I don't. I don't know.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm glad that it doesn't come out. Cause on the inside, I'm just an angry little man. So I'm good. I'm glad that I've, like, hit it. No, so the story was. It was. I remember it was the day of the election to vote for the governor, the California governor. And so we were shooting at a church that day for every funeral ever. That was one of the things we were shooting. And we had all our crafty out. And I don't think he was, like, a homeless guy. He was a young kid, probably, like, I mean, maybe early 20s.

[Ryan Finnerty]

No, he looked older.

[Ian Hecox]

He was just grizzled. Yeah, Like, I think he was like a young dude, like maybe mid-20s or something like that. But he had no shirt on, just pants. But he was, like, kind of like a. Like a. Like, I don't know, like a graffiti kid or like a. You know what I mean? Cause he definitely had a backpack.

[Courtney Miller]

A gutter punk.

[Ian Hecox]

Well, he had a backpack, and you could, like, literally hear the spray cans rattling in his backpack when he walked up. But anyways, he walked up and we were all, like, just. Just hanging out. And he was like, what are you guys doing? And, you know, usual. Usual answer for things. We're always just like, oh, we're shooting comedy thing. You know, no big deal. We don't try to, like, say exactly what it is.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Or didn't our producer at the time, she would say, like, oh, we're filming a mayonnaise.

[Courtney Miller]

That's always. That's always the general response. As you say you're filming a mayonnaise commercial, which usually works. It usually gets people to just, you know, go away because it's uninteresting. Yeah. Except for the time that we were shooting in this park and this. This, like, dude, like, rolls up on a bicycle and he's like. And he's like, oh, what are you guys shooting? We're like, mayonnaise commercial. He's like, oh, I like mayonnaise. What kind? And I was like. I was like, taste good foods. Because I was just trying to think of, like, a generic brand that would like. And he's like, oh, never heard of that one.

[Ian Hecox]

He was legitimately the only person in my entire career that ever challenged about mayonnaise no that was ever psyched about mayonnaise. Everybody else did the thing where they're like, oh, yeah, gross. Okay.

[Ryan Finnerty]

But this time we said comedy thing.

[Ian Hecox]

So, yeah, I said, we're just shooting a little YouTube thing or whatever. I think sometimes we'd say, like, a college video or something. Sometimes that was, like, a standard project. Yeah, college project. We. So I said that to him, said, oh, yeah, we're just shooting this thing. And he was like, oh, what's up with all this food? Cause all our crafty was out. And I, you know, let him know, like, oh, hey, you know, we have a large crew. We keep them fed, blah, blah, blah. And he's like, oh, can I have some? And I politely said, nah, man, this is for our crew. You know, we're paying people to be here. And we were just. And he was really jovial, so he kind of, like, sarcastically was like, well, what are you gonna do if I take one? So I was just kidding around. I was like, oh, I guess I'd punch you in the face. Cause we were just joking. And he literally just, like, kind of, like, changed his tone right there. Got, like, stone face, walked up to. We had these little fruit cups that were just filled with, like, melons and shit, and grabbed the fruit cup and then held it up to his face, like, right in front of me and just started eating it in, like, the most defiant way.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Jeez.

[Ian Hecox]

And I always describe it. It's like, kill Bill. Like, everything like that. Kill Bill, like, went off, and everything kind of went black and white and went, dun, dun. I just smacked the fruit cup from the bottom up into his face and just started screaming, get. You know, get the F out or whatever. And again, I. And I barely remember it. So a lot of it's like.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And then AD or somebody, like, got him out of there real quick or something, right?

[Ian Hecox]

He immediately got pissed off, went to his bag and pulled out two box cutters.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, that's right.

[Ian Hecox]

Like, he had these two box cutters and pull. And literally, like, pulls them out.

[Courtney Miller]

He was ready.

[Ian Hecox]

Like, they're these two fricking blades. Like, you just, like, prepared for it.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Like a Ninja Turtle, pretty much, with a backpack and.

[Ian Hecox]

Or, like, blade. Yeah, yeah. And our art department art director, Lindsey, who was super cool and very tough and could definitely beat me up.

[Courtney Miller]

She beat us all up.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. Grabbed. Grabbed him. Well, kind of, like, came up to him, was like, hey, bro, why don't we take a walk and just kind of diffuse the situation? And then the cops came, and I felt Bad at that point. So I was like, you know, man, just like. I think he was just having a bad day. Cause what I didn't know after the fact was the church we were shooting at, that was a common practice. They would have food out. Oh. And so people could. Yeah. Homeless or whoever could come and get food. So I just. In retrospect from that situation, I am actually the asshole.

[Ryan Finnerty]

But you explained to him. He asked what it was and you.

[Ian Hecox]

Said, I still feel bad.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And it was.

[Courtney Miller]

At least you didn't get your ass cut.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. No, that's crazy.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You almost got open like a FedEx box, man.

[Ian Hecox]

Truth.

[Courtney Miller]

Nobody's ever like, pulled a knife out on me or something. I seen a girl stabbed. That was weird.

[Ian Hecox]

What happened then?

[Courtney Miller]

We were at like a house party, and then. And then suddenly the house party turned very not cool. And then. And then somebody's like, oh, the cops are coming. We walked out of the place and they're just a girl just kind of like sitting there and there's just blood all over the ground.

[Ian Hecox]

Oh, so you didn't see her get stabbed?

[Ryan Finnerty]

You saw her?

[Courtney Miller]

No, she was stabbed and I was like, oh, dang.

[Ian Hecox]

That was this Sacramento or la?

[Courtney Miller]

Sacramento.

[Ian Hecox]

Wow.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, it was like. It was like, you know when you, like, you have those. Those friends that you probably shouldn't be friends with and they take you to all the really dumb things. Oh, yeah, yeah, it was one of those things. It was. It was a friend's girlfriend that she was. She was kind of scrappy, shall we say. And. And we would. She brought us this party and it's like, nah. Oh my God. So, yeah, that was weird. I think the person probably survived.

[Ian Hecox]

You know, there's just a flesh wound.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You know, like a flesh wound.

[Courtney Miller]

Cuz, like, you know, a little bit of blood on the ground looks like a lot of blood, you know. So anyway, I remember I was.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I think I was in the dressing room or in the makeup room, like, and I saw some of the craziness of that day happen. Through a window.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. Because the way that it was set up was the craft service was right front of us. And then that window was where you guys were.

[Ryan Finnerty]

So you guys were getting.

[Ian Hecox]

You guys had like a front row seat through the window.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I remember seeing, like, when his. Your eyes. When, like, things got serious, I was like, oh, my goodness, what just happened?

[Ian Hecox]

Because I remember Shane talking about. That was like, you guys thought I was just talking to some dude or something. And you had no idea until I started yelling or whatever. And then you realized it was like a different situation.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

So what was your. What was your first impression of. Of my.

[Ian Hecox]

Of me when I first met you?

[Courtney Miller]

So I'm just smiling at people listening. I'm just smiling at him.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Like, what was it like where, like, yeah, like working with new. These new people. And it's like, you weren't. Were you doing YouTube stuff before then?

[Ian Hecox]

Like, well, it's interesting because, like, I experienced it later on in the same way. So obviously the early days of YouTube was such a trip to a lot of people, I think, because especially me. Like, I was, you know, I just directed a feature. I was trying to do short films. Like, I thought my career path was very, like, I'm gonna have to, like, hustle to try to, like, get into film or television or whatever. And I was making short films. And so before I met you guys, I was like, am I just wasting my time? Because, like, there was no outlet for these things. Like, I was make. I was doing a lot of, like, film festival things where I would do a 48 hour film festival where I would make a film in, you know, 48 hours and put it out, or there was other ones where you'd make a 10 minute film in 10 days. And I remember thinking, like, is this a skill set that's even worth anything? Little did I know that it was exactly what YouTube was gonna become, because that skill set to turn things around really fast is a huge asset, obviously. So when I first met you guys, and again, that very, very awesome introduction where it's like, yeah, this comedy thing, I looked at it and again, it was so 180 of anything. So I was like, who the hell are. What the hell is this? Like, what. Why are people watching this? Like, what the.

[Courtney Miller]

I also wondered the same thing.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, about your own stuff. Yeah, no, and that's the thing. And it's kind of like, okay, so then when I met you guys was like, oh, these guys are really cool. So I obviously got along with you guys very quickly. And then you kind of like grow into the comedy, right? And then once I was like kind of in it with you guys, then I'd meet other people where you have the same experience where you're kind of like, oh, hey, like, especially people who are hiring. Yeah, like, hey, check this thing out. And they'd be like, what is this?

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

And then they start working with us and then they kind of get into it and go, oh, okay. Obviously, Ryan Finnerty was one of the main people that we brought on the first, and that was the same Experience was like, you know, hey, check this out. And it's like, kind of like, okay, what is this? I was like, you'll get it. And then we just kind of jumped in it. We worked on Ask Charlie. That was, like, the first thing we started working on together. So, yeah, again, at least that was, like, interesting, because we got to, like, work on it kind of from the ground up with you and create it. And that experience was really fun. But, yeah, I mean, I think the first impression was that. Which is like, I don't understand why this is so popular, but this is awesome. That it is. Let's just jump into it. And then when I first met Anthony, he was just so pretty that I was just, you know, really embarrassed because I just wanted to impress him and make sure, you know, he liked me.

[Courtney Miller]

And you were embarrassed that I. You were embarrassed for me? Because I. I didn't. I didn't hold up. And aesthetically, compared to, it was just.

[Ian Hecox]

Easy being around you because it was just, you know, there was no. I didn't. I didn't feel. You know, I didn't feel threatened. Threatened at all.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, I get that.

[Ryan Finnerty]

That bowl cut is very disarming.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. Not to me. Not to me.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You guys. I met both of you at the same time in my callback audition.

[Ian Hecox]

I. I didn't meet you in the first time.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You were not in that room.

[Ian Hecox]

No, my first interaction with you was great.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I was in Sacramento.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. Oh, you. I had known who you were, obviously. I saw the pictures, and I knew you were, like, slated, and we got you on the emails and stuff. And then you showed up at the door. I remember this. Showed up at the door to the Smosh house. And I opened the door, and I was like, courtney. And you're like, yeah. I was like, oh, so great to meet you. I'm Ryan. I'm the director. And you were like, oh, thanks. And I was like, cool, let's get this girl into makeup, make her a meth head, and let's go. That was the first interaction I had with you, and I didn't see you. You went and got into makeup, and you came back, and you were just all methed out.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, my God.

[Ian Hecox]

And you killed it. The performance was so funny. Oh, great.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Thank you. I remember. I just remember, like, because the scene was I meet Ian, and I'm like, I'm your Tinder date, and, like, I hurl myself against the screen door and, like, hit a crash pad.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And I remember, like, I was standing there at the door, and then you were like, okay, so what's gonna happen is. And you start directing me and telling me what we're gonna do, need to do. And I was like, oh my God, this is the first time I've ever done anything like this in my life. Like. And I was like, all these thoughts, I was like, does he know I have zero experience in acting. Do they know? I don't know what the heck. And then I just committed know it's okay.

[Courtney Miller]

Because all the other actors that we had in Sacramento also apparently had zero acting experience. We.

[Ian Hecox]

That can be so mean. That's not true.

[Courtney Miller]

I mean, I mean, it's not true.

[Ian Hecox]

But like 90% of it's true. But 10%.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, there are some people. Yeah, there, there's people who we.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, we had a. We had a word for. For them and I. I don't know who coined it, but I think it.

[Ian Hecox]

Just happened like a nick.

[Courtney Miller]

It just kind of happened. We. We started referring to the actors in Sacramento as sactors because with. With the proximity to Los Angeles, if you were serious about acting and pursuing an acting career, you would just move to la. You wouldn't stay in Los Angeles. So a lot of the people, A lot of the people that, that wanted to be actors in Sacramento, it's nothing, it's nothing against them. Like, it's a lot of people, like, they kind of. They already. They have a job and they're just doing it as like, oh, it's like a fun thing. I'm trying it out, whatever. Or they're. They're thinking about getting into acting. So it's kind of a nice little, like, step in. I mean, I think it. I think it provided kind of like a fun little quality to our old videos where it's like, these people are all kind of like, terrible.

[Ian Hecox]

We found some absolute gems. Tom Hart, our gem of the gems, like our old.

[Courtney Miller]

He was a guy that we used. We always use as like our old man. His name was Tom Hart.

[Ian Hecox]

He was the landlord.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. In the Charlie videos.

[Ian Hecox]

Always got stabbed in the chest.

[Courtney Miller]

Yep.

[Ian Hecox]

So good.

[Courtney Miller]

He was great. And just. Cause, yeah, he had a. Just a certain style to him. It was just very endearing. But I could say that about a lot of our actors.

[Ian Hecox]

Well, and that's the thing. I think. I think the perception was. And that's the problem when you're trying to cast in Sacramento. Like I was saying before, Sacramento is very. You do industrials or you do politicals, or you do just like straight commercials. And a lot of it was printed. So a lot of these people were actors, but they never, they weren't entertainment actors and they certainly weren't comedy actors.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

So we leaned into obviously getting a lot of. There's a lot of really great theater actors in Sacramento which would work for us sometimes. Not all the times because sometimes even the theater side of the acting would be a little too much. But thankfully we're doing a lot of comedy. So it really, you know, more often than not, we got some really great people from there. And then you know, just off the top of my head, it was like Britney, Stephanie, trying to think who else was really good. Those were like the two top girls that we used a lot.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, Britney, she's, isn't she?

[Courtney Miller]

We had one that we really liked and then, and then we found out that she had like a lot of like furry porn on her Tumblr. On her Tumblr. So we kind of started easing off of her.

[Ian Hecox]

That's a weird way to put it. But yeah, also she. I actually see her on the flight quite a bit back and forth from Sacramento to la. I've seen her a couple times and it's crazy because she's one of the nicest people.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh yeah, she's incredibly nice.

[Ian Hecox]

She's like such a sweetheart. But yeah, she is in. She's got, she's got a. She's got a side that's very, very open.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. I mean, you know, because we're just trying to do a fun thing here. And then it's like, oh yeah. It's just a little strange if you're working with somebody that's selling their panties on the side.

[Ian Hecox]

How to have fun anytime anywhere.

[Courtney Miller]

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[Ian Hecox]

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[Courtney Miller]

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[Ian Hecox]

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[Courtney Miller]

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[Ryan Finnerty]

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[Courtney Miller]

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[Ryan Finnerty]

True.

[Courtney Miller]

That's just.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, so do I.

[Courtney Miller]

Okay. Okay.

[Ian Hecox]

Shadow, I haven't gotten away from that.

[Courtney Miller]

Okay, that's, that's true.

[Ian Hecox]

Unfortunately, no matter what city we're in.

[Ryan Finnerty]

What is, what are you. Okay, so I'm going put you in the spotlight here. Like, how do you feel about how you have to deal with, like, me or Ian on set? Like, have we grown over time? Have I gotten better? Or was. Have I always been bad? Do you hate working with me?

[Ian Hecox]

No, I don't. I don't hate working with either. It's two very. There's two very distinct things. Just like I obviously have my own very specific tics with Ian. It's a. If you don't mind me saying this, I've always said Ian is the biggest stoner that doesn't smoke weed. Meaning if you've ever hung out with a stoner that, like, just kind of zones out, you'll do a very specific thing. So a lot of times we'll, you know, that'll happen. And I have a good workaround with that. The other thing, too, is you're very. You know exactly what you want, and it's very specific. So sometimes when we're doing a scene, I'll want to get just like a different. Like I always say, I want as much ammunition going into the edit as possible. So we'll have nailed a performance. And I'll go, okay, that's awesome. Let's try this. And you'll kind of go, but no, we.

[Courtney Miller]

But that's not how it's supposed to be done.

[Ian Hecox]

And we'll always have the argument which is like, yeah, but do this. Do this for me.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, Yeah, I can definitely be a pissy little bee about some. Some notes. It's. It's definitely something that. That I've had to. That I'm still working on is. Is being able to, like, take notes because, yeah, I do have a very specific idea of how I think the scene should go, but I also understand that, you know, I might not have the. The best ideas. So I always try to stay open to. To, you know, getting alts and, you know, trying new things. So it's usually really.

[Ian Hecox]

It's really good. All. I mean, again, and I think most of the time, it's. It's always random because a lot of times you're just kind of. Because we do so much, it'll be just that one or two on a shoot day where you've really laser focused on that one. And like I said, I. Our usual thing is you get to that mode, and I go, yeah, man. But I got that, like, we're solid. I will use that in the edit. Can I have this? And then my default is always like. And if you don't like it, well, then, cool. We got like a fun blooper or a fun alternate scene or whatever, which is always. Back in the day when we used to show alternate scenes and the bloopers that we shot for the BTS videos and stuff like that. And then now with our bloopers that we run at the end, Courtney. And we've worked it out, actually. So there's. On set, there's some stuff. And we actually just had this just recently where you'll get so focused on something that sometimes I think you're, like, mad and so. Well, sidebar. And we did it a few shoots ago where I said, can we develop a signal? And I don't even think we thought of a word. We should create the word on stage. Yeah, we should come in here.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Safety word.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. Where I'm like, are you mad or are you just Focused. And this was something from actually on the feature that I had done. It was a similar thing where there was an actress that she got so focused on what she was doing and I would talk to her on set and we developed the same thing. Cause I wouldn't know if she was actually pissed off or mad. Cause her role was like really like kind of crazy. So that's. That's the only. That's the only thing.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I also sometimes, I mean, I've worried that like. Cause sometimes I'll work on deliveries in my head and I'll like make faces. Like if my character has to like give attitude or something. Like you're talking and I do like an eye roll or something. Like when I'm doing my delivery man, I'm like, oh my God. I hope that didn't seem like I was rolling my eye. Cause I'm like literally working out the stuff in my head. But.

[Ian Hecox]

And it's crazy too. Cause when you're on set, I'm literally looking at a camera that's like right on your face all the time. Yeah, so. And that's part of the problem.

[Ryan Finnerty]

No, and I'm aware of that. But it's like. Yeah. And I feel like I've come a long way though too, in a lot of ways. Like when I first started, I definitely didn't have a full grasp on like not the hierarchy well, but like who makes the certain calls and when you need to shut up and it's not your job, you know? Like, I remember when we did every vine ever. That was super early on in my like, career with you guys. And like, I remember I be. I. Like, I didn't power tripping the word. Not even. But like, I definitely was like, well.

[Courtney Miller]

You are a resident Vine. Yeah, you are a resident vine expert. As is noted on your collar, you have a Vine pen. But we're also like, Yeah, I mean like it's quote unquote Vines, but we're definitely shooting over six seconds and we're not really like sticking to it.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, I don't remember you being. I remember that being pretty positive. So if you were. I don't remember. It's not a lasting thing in my head that it's like the most I remember from Vine, I think. Wasn't that Shane's shirtless, oiled up scene?

[Ryan Finnerty]

The thirst trap scene?

[Ian Hecox]

Or was that Snapchat?

[Courtney Miller]

That's Snapchat.

[Ryan Finnerty]

That was Snapchat.

[Ian Hecox]

That was Snapchat.

[Ryan Finnerty]

There was like a weird creepy scene for every vine ever that I was like, we gotta Cover those thirst tricks. Trap boys that, like, do the grind with me.

[Ian Hecox]

Oh, I hated shooting that scene. Yeah, that was the grossest scene to shoot.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah. And, yeah, that was really hard to get through because, like. And. And because you guys have your way of shooting it. And I was like, no, I see it totally different, but it's like you guys were already. Camera up, lights up, like, like, filmed a couple takes already, and I was just like, ah. I remember I came in and I was like, it's not supposed to be like that. Like, I literally. And I was like. And then, like, you were like, you just don't. You're very, like, you're. You're very composed. You're a very composed person. And I.

[Courtney Miller]

He's. He conceals it well. He's very much frozen. Conceal. Don't. Well, no, he does feel.

[Ryan Finnerty]

No. Yeah, that's a good thing.

[Courtney Miller]

He just doesn't show.

[Ryan Finnerty]

After knowing you, after a few years, it's like, I. And I feel like you and I are very similar people, like, in a lot of ways. And so I know, like, you probably feel those emotions very strongly, but you have, like. You're very good at staying composed regardless of what the feeling is.

[Ian Hecox]

Right.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. I mean, I think directing, especially at the. At the. The amount and level that we. That we do is. It's a extremely stressful environment. You're working with a lot of people, and not everybody is. Is completely there. Some people are comfortable and, you know, in the whole process, and they're not. They're not treating it. I mean, it's. It's easy for. For us to just be like, yeah, I'm just coming to work, whatever. Like, I'm just doing. I'm just doing my thing. And it's easy to forget, like, you know, to. To treat this like you're coming to a film every time. You know, if. If. If we're ever falling behind, that's just further stress on. On Ryan. Yeah. And, you know, the amount of restraint that I've seen Ryan have to exercise throughout this entire decade of him working with us is incomparable.

[Ryan Finnerty]

So in other words, who's your favorite?

[Ian Hecox]

Anthony Padilla.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. Right.

[Ian Hecox]

It actually always shifts. And the one thing I can say, too, about, like, before I talk about favorites, because everyone's got their pros and cons. It's an ego trip on set, especially as the director. Cause, I mean, the one thing I've noticed these last few years is it's. It's kind of a coveted position in a way. Like, a lot of People want to do it, you know, because it's like a really fun thing to do, especially. Especially if you've written the script, which is a hard part. And that's a big collaborative thing, like working with whoever's. Whoever's joke it is. It's like, you obviously want to make sure you're. You're working with them to know what the actual joke is, and you're really understanding it. Because if they happen to be the actor on set and for some reason you're coming at it from a 180, that's gonna be obviously really hard for them if they wrote the joke and they're performing. So you have to be on top of that. And then also, it's such a collaborative thing. Like, sure, you're the director, but you're really collaborating with everybody. So I always have to check myself of being like, am I saying, am I arguing this point or discussing this point? Because I wanna just be the person to make the note, or am I arguing the point because I don't want to, like, collaborate? And again, my head always goes there. And I go, no, you always want to collaborate. So make sure everyone's being heard. And that's why we do a lot of those situations where it's like, able to go, hey, do this one for me. You know what I mean? Or like, oh, we got that one. You did. That was great. Let's try it a different way. And then you can get. Because that's the coolest thing about what we do, is you can try multiple ways and you can play with it in post. And then whatever one you choose, then there's a bunch of options to make sure that really funny thing doesn't just get lost. You can throw it on social media, you can throw it on our Instagram, you can throw it on Facebook, you can throw it at the end of our bloopers. And that's why, I mean, I, you know, I do miss our, like, BTS videos. Cause that's where we could put a lot of that. But just, you know, with Instagram stories and a lot of stuff, like, obviously that stuff's so immediate now, so it makes more sense to go there. It didn't, you know, it doesn't really transcend as much on YouTube.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I remember when I was a Smosh fan, by the way, I was Team Ian. I was. I actually was. But I.

[Courtney Miller]

Good.

[Ryan Finnerty]

But the like, to knock you back down, I usually was. I was the girl that was like, I'm gonna like the one that is.

[Courtney Miller]

The less the Ugly one. The ugly ones.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You could just say, everyone loves Harry Styles. I was like, I love Niall.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, Niall's the best. Now I'm questioning your taste.

[Ryan Finnerty]

But I would, back in the day, I would. I would click the link to go to smosh.com and watch the BTS.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, that was.

[Ian Hecox]

That was fun.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, that was back in the days when websites existed. Like nowadays. No, like nowadays. Yeah, there's. There's literally just social media and YouTube and websites aren't a thing anymore. Like, I used to go to so many websites and now it's. It's literally just Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

[Ian Hecox]

If you do have that website though, you're stuck.

[Courtney Miller]

People just don't go though. They don't. They don't care.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And now we gotta make more fun stuff.

[Courtney Miller]

Well, but then also like, all the social media, like, networks started punishing the, like you and the algorithm for linking outside of their website. So. So it used to be really beneficial for us to have like a YouTube video and then link to smosh.com for the BTS. But then we found out that we started getting hit in the algorithm for linking outside because that was also seen as like a spammy thing. I guess so.

[Ian Hecox]

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[Courtney Miller]

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[Ian Hecox]

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[Courtney Miller]

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[Ryan Finnerty]

I remember when Facebook used to be super. Like when you posted a YouTube video, it was like super nice. And LinkedIn would play right away. Then they made it so ugly and like, hard to get to.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ryan Finnerty]

So weird.

[Ian Hecox]

That's been the crazy game for these last six, seven years.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. Cause they just want to keep people on their platform. I get it.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's exclusive. Like just be. Let's all just Internet together.

[Ian Hecox]

Doesn't work like that. Capitalism doesn't allow those things.

[Courtney Miller]

I'm sorry.

[Ian Hecox]

Capitalism's a fix.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's like my parents were getting divorced and I had to pick. It's like, don't make me go back there. Just all be, you know.

[Courtney Miller]

Huh.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Www.we're all. At the end of the day, we're all just a WWW dot.

[Courtney Miller]

Courtney, are you okay? Are you alright?

[Ian Hecox]

Can I do a quick disclaimer? Just because we talked about BTS a lot and in case we want to put it in, can we let people know that BTS stands for behind the scenes.

[Courtney Miller]

Right. We're not talking about everyone's favorite K pop band.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

Which I will not say anything bad about because I know that I'll get flamed online if you say anything. Flame.

[Ryan Finnerty]

We're gonna get flamed.

[Courtney Miller]

Getting so flamed, bro. Yeah. Don't say anything bad about BTS ever. Ever.

[Ryan Finnerty]

The band or the. Our behind the scenes?

[Ian Hecox]

I'd say both.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Okay.

[Ian Hecox]

I'd say both.

[Courtney Miller]

Okay.

[Ian Hecox]

Sure.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. Both.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

But one comes with more people ready to kill you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't mess with K pop fans, man. They, they, they, they're serious.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I feel like a lot of fans you don't want to mess with nowadays.

[Courtney Miller]

That's true.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. On like a YouTube front that it's still, it's still like burned in my mind. That video of Logan Paul at the, in the fountain at YouTube those years back that.

[Courtney Miller]

Well, okay.

[Ian Hecox]

No, I know. And that's what I'm saying. He brought that upon himself. But I was just looking at that. Being like that would just be so awful and so weird. And to actually bring that upon yourself is kind of odd to me as well. But that's just such a high level of Beetle esque mania. That is so weird.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's that mentality though. Like when a bunch of brains are near each other and they get excited, you all amplify off each other. That's like a known thing. It's like.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, I mean, he, he totally set that up. He said that he stashed like $1,000 somewhere in the courtyard.

[Ian Hecox]

Yep.

[Courtney Miller]

So all of his fans then went to the courtyard and then. And then. Oh, here I am right here. Of course people are going to freak out. So I mean, it was kind of like a weird PR move, but it made for a great, you know, clip that he could use to show how famous he is.

[Ian Hecox]

And it changed like the whole vibe of VidCon after that. I felt like, like there was a very different shift after that.

[Courtney Miller]

I mean, I saw scenes like that that happened naturally at VidCon a couple years before that. When security wasn't so great. Yeah, like when they didn't. Because nowadays like VidCon picks up YouTubers at this one location. Takes them to the back of the place. So they never have shuttles. They're never, like, face to face with. With fans unless they're doing meet and greets and that kind of stuff. But before, they would just give you, like, one security guard and walk you from the hotel through the expo hall. And. And I saw, like, insane scenes like. Like, looks like a zombie apocalypse. So there's like 200 screaming fans chasing after somebody.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And you've been to every Vidcon.

[Courtney Miller]

Every single one, man. This year's year number 10.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, it's gonna be year number five for me. It's crazy when you see those fans screaming or running and you're just like, are we playing tag? Who's it?

[Ian Hecox]

Well, you're excited that they love you, but also scared at how.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

How much they.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, it's not safe.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's not safe. I feel like it was. It only in the recent years, in the last few years that they really amped up the security.

[Courtney Miller]

I mean, I think part. Part of that was because of Christina Grimmy.

[Ian Hecox]

That makes sense.

[Ryan Finnerty]

They caught a lot that year that they increased. It was like, it wasn't. It didn't go to waste. Like, I remember one of the guys who worked for. I don't know, I can't remember the company that was doing VidCon that year, but that he talked about, like, yeah, man, we caught huge knives from coming through. We stopped a grown man from chasing down a young girl. Like, they, like, they literally. It all was like, is worth it.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. Vidcon does do a pretty good job at security. I know that if any YouTuber has, like, a stalker or anything, they give them photos. So security has photos of all the stalkers so they could stop.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Important.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, the Christina Grammy thing was. Was really a shock to pretty much everybody on the platform because everyone was like, oh, yeah. Like, they're just fans. Like, they're cool. It's like some people not quite right in the head.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I'm like. And with all of the craziness that's just been happening the last couple years, like, I. I feel like I get a little more nervous about conventions and stuff. Like, each year just like, things where it's like, it's a specific thing that is special and happening, and there's so many people all so close together. It's like I get a lot more anxious now about it.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

I definitely wouldn't agree to any sort of convention that I didn't trust, had security as, like, a number one priority. I completely trust Vidcon. I think that they've done a great job with that. I wouldn't go to Tanacon.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's happening again. Right?

[Courtney Miller]

I hope.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Did you go? I didn't.

[Ian Hecox]

I did not go. Yeah, but I watched it on YouTube.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And it was very entertaining, I would say. It's kind of crazy. Like, you've been. You've been a part of Smosh for so long, and you're such a huge detrimental. Hope that's the right word. Part of it.

[Courtney Miller]

Nope, nope. What's detrimental mean? That's bad.

[Ryan Finnerty]

What does detrimental mean?

[Courtney Miller]

That means, like, you're. You're a detriment.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. Like, I've just been killing the brand this entire.

[Courtney Miller]

No.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Okay.

[Ian Hecox]

Which is possibly not.

[Courtney Miller]

You're like, no. No instrument.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Well, you're just, like. You're crap. That's not what I meant at all.

[Courtney Miller]

Welcome back to. Courtney doesn't know words.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I literally don't. I don't. But. Okay, so you're literally, like, you're. If not like the spine, the backbone of sm. Like, you're very, like, you're a good majority of the brain of Smosh. Like, in terms of creating the.

[Ian Hecox]

I like to think of myself as the liver that processes the alcohol.

[Courtney Miller]

Okay, yeah, but go on.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Sorry.

[Ian Hecox]

Go on.

[Ryan Finnerty]

But you're, like, such a huge part of it, and, like, without you, like, if you just disappear, like, it would be. It would be a huge. It's a huge impact. And so you are so important, and you're such a big part of Smosh. But you, like, you. You haven't done, like, a lot of, like, the fan servicing or, like, haven't. Like, is that. Do you feel, like, thankful that you don't have to be a part of that? Or, like, do you wish you got to, like, be involved more in that stuff?

[Ian Hecox]

Well, it's interesting. I mean, and that's been the thing with YouTube this whole time, which is, like, if you're not the person in front of the camera, it's not known to the public that you're really a part of it. So it's like. And I think that's been the perception of Marshall. Like, I think a lot of fans, like, even. And just people that casually watch it, see it, and kind of go, like, oh, those are the people that make it. And again, it's constantly.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Because YouTubers.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, yeah. Because, I mean, honestly, from a fan's perspective the most that I like, people don't talk to me about being the director as much as they talk to me about being Stevie. So when I was playing Stevie back in the day, that's when I would get any sort of that, like, oh, my God, you're Stevie. And, you know, and I'd even seen comments that were, like, directly in contrast to each other, where it's like, in one comment, it's taught. It's like, you know, it's like, oh, God, the direction on this sucks. But that Stevie character's really good. So it's like they don't even consciously know that I'm doing both.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You look so different right now, like, versus. If you were to get into Stevie right now.

[Ian Hecox]

Right. Well, this beard just pulls on and off.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's a sticker.

[Ian Hecox]

So when I become Stevie, I just pull the beard off.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, my gosh.

[Courtney Miller]

Can you give us a quick Stevie?

[Ian Hecox]

You want one? So the funny thing with Stevie is I always. To get into Stevie, it's always the very first introduction to Stevie that we did.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

In the video, it's. I forget the title. It was something about our new best friends or something. Was that one where you befriend the guys with the pinball machine? And that was like, the first introduction with Stevie.

[Courtney Miller]

I don't remember any videos, but my first line is.

[Ian Hecox]

And I see if I can do it is. And it's always how I practice together.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, you gotta back away.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. Cause it fucks up. But I go, hey, Ann, I saved my peanut butter and jelly sandwich for you. Yeah, that's my test. And so once I say that line, I can engage Stevie. It's like my. You know, it's like my Power Ranger belt buckle. As soon as I do that, I can turn into Tyrannosaurus or whatever.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, I don't think that's how Power Rangers works. What do you mean, turn into a Red Ranger?

[Ian Hecox]

But he goes Tyrannosaurus.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. But he doesn't turn into a Tyrannosaurus.

[Ian Hecox]

Well, he. Man, I wish he was.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I wish you'd turn into a transgender.

[Ian Hecox]

But he's like, the power of the, like.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Red Ranger, I think.

[Courtney Miller]

I think being the liver of Smosh is. Is a perfect. Is a perfect description of your sort of role. You know, I think the liver is a very underappreciated organ of the body. But it's also. But also, you, like, really need it to survive.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And when you're having liver problems, you can see it in your face.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, sure. So you can see it on our.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Faces when you're having director problems.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, well, that's the thing. Like, spine. Yeah. You can live without that.

[Courtney Miller]

Your Liver jellyfish.

[Ian Hecox]

Let's be real.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And so the alcohol are.

[Ian Hecox]

Yes, the alcohol are you guys, like, you guys are the spirits. And I have to filter said spirits through the body of Smosh. But to your point, which is, I think we've built up such a great crew, so I 100% appreciate the comment that it's like, without me, there would be this gap or whatever we have to fill.

[Courtney Miller]

However, we'd be on dialysis.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, you could go on dialysis.

[Courtney Miller]

Wait, that's kidneys.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Well, Ian doesn't know body.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, no.

[Ian Hecox]

But the point is, there's such a great group of people. And that was kind of my point of like, there is so many people that are here now and in the past have been behind the scenes that there are plenty of people that can pop into the role. And we have such. And in the past, I mean, the first, I'd say five years, it was such an aggressive amount of work because not only was I directing, but I was producing everything. So it was just so much stuff. I mean, you know, at one point I even like, processed payroll and did all the paperwork and did. Did the time cards and did, like, all these things. It was crazy. And so little by little, we've been able to much like a, you know, more of like a kind of indie film production or a television production partitioned. New people to come in to produce and coordinate and manage. And, you know, even back in the day when, again, I was producing and directing a lot, you were editing all at the time. Ian is bored. And Anthony was editing all of the Smosh sketches. And like I had mentioned before, before we brought on Ryan Finnerty, you were also writing everything. So, you know, until we brought on Ryan, there was a lot of stuff that we were having to do. So it was really this like, seven day a week. Because I remember the first. God, three or four years I worked every weekend practically. It was so much work to get everything done. Cause we'd shoot every week. And then. I can't remember when we did it. We finally got smart and started being like, all right, at least let's take one week off and shoot double.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Are you single then?

[Ian Hecox]

No, No, I haven't. I've.

[Courtney Miller]

He, he, he. He popped a baby out, like, right when. Oh, yeah, right when we met.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, I was pregnant for nine months.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

And I popped a baby out. It was like that movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[Courtney Miller]

But that's also been wild because. Because your daughter was literally just a little, teeny, tiny baby when we first met. Or did you even have her?

[Ian Hecox]

No, I did. So.

[Courtney Miller]

You did? Yeah, the first.

[Ian Hecox]

I mean, when I'd work with you guys, when we didn't have any sort of, like, office or any situation she was in. The little. Little baby.

[Courtney Miller]

Little carrier. I totally remember that.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. I remember one day, too. I, like. I don't think I ever told you this. One day I was there with her and it was. I think she was, like, young. And you guys had these, like, couches before I replaced them, remember? And they were, like, the shittiest couches.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, they were garbage. Like. Like, hand me down couches.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, they were the one. And they had stains on them. And I remember my daughter. I was there working, and I'd sit her on the couch, and she was just, like, hanging out or whatever, and I did a bunch of stuff, and you guys were in the back, and I was like, all right, I'm gonna take off. And then I picked her up, and she had definitely, like, peed and leaked out the diaper. And so I was like, oh, no. And then I thought about it, and.

[Courtney Miller]

I was like, they won't notice.

[Ian Hecox]

They won't notice. And I just left and let it dry. And no one ever said anything. And I am a terrible person.

[Courtney Miller]

Whoa.

[Ian Hecox]

But I don't feel bad.

[Ryan Finnerty]

That's amazing.

[Courtney Miller]

What?

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. And it was like, I'd say maybe a softball size. Little wet spot, A little piddle. Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

The son of a. Beach.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

What are you gonna do?

[Courtney Miller]

I mean, nothing. We threw the couches, but those couches were really comfy. I do say they were they comfy.

[Ian Hecox]

Over time and again, I made up for it because I literally got you guys new couches. I was the one that brought in the new ones.

[Ryan Finnerty]

That's so funny. I love that.

[Courtney Miller]

Because you felt guilty for allowing your daughter to pee all over our furniture.

[Ryan Finnerty]

He told her to. He told us.

[Courtney Miller]

Did you even try to, like, mop it up at all?

[Ian Hecox]

I think I took, like, a wet, wet wipe or some shit.

[Courtney Miller]

Thanks.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, something.

[Courtney Miller]

Thanks.

[Ian Hecox]

I mean, again, the other thing, too, was. It was just like. I think, like I said, our schedule was so aggressive. And I remember my first car. My first car was actually my first. The two cars I had for the bulk of production in Sacramento were just destroyed on the inside from Smoshoots. Because I would throw gear in there. We'd use them on set. And they would often be the picture car that we would use. So they would get little things. I mean, I remember again, pretty early on, it was right after I got my car. We drove To LA to do a shoot. It was the Lou Ferrigno shoot. And he had to have that big boulder that he threw for the thing. Right. And I had to go pick up that boulder in my car, and it didn't fit, so I was, like, trying to wedge it.

[Courtney Miller]

I had a Jetta gli.

[Ian Hecox]

Jetta gli. And I was trying to, like, shove it into the thing. And it was. The little speaker cabinet in the back seat was cracked because I shut the door on and it cracked my speaker. Little encasement.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Two days after I bought the car or whatever. Maybe like a week. But. Yeah, but I mean, it just, you know, so I don't feel bad. I don't feel bad at all.

[Courtney Miller]

Ryan still lives in Sacramento.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, dude.

[Courtney Miller]

Because he's a crazy man.

[Ian Hecox]

Sacramento represent.

[Courtney Miller]

So he actually flies down here every gall darn week to work with us. I think. I think it's crazy, but I also completely understand. Sacramento's dedicated. Sacramento is a nice place to, like, raise a family and stuff in la. Not quite so. Because of that and to. And to, you know, save you some costs so you could send your daughter to college. He stays at my house for every other week.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah. I do a combo.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

I shack with you. And then I do, like, an Airbnb situation every now and again. Or I kind of hop back and forth.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Ian's been nice enough to let me crash kind of every other week. Or do you sleep with Ian in his bed?

[Ryan Finnerty]

Really? No, no, I would do that. You guys should do that.

[Courtney Miller]

Would you guys? Why?

[Ryan Finnerty]

Because, I mean, girls are more comfortable. Yeah, girls can do it when they're close friends. It's like, I had a twin bed when I was a kid, and it was like me and my three friends would try and all sleep in a. We'd be like. Some people have heads on other sides and stuff. But, like, come on, guys.

[Courtney Miller]

That's adorable. You were also, like, how old?

[Ryan Finnerty]

15.

[Courtney Miller]

Okay, so you're already big people.

[Ian Hecox]

Big people. You're already big people.

[Courtney Miller]

You're already big people.

[Ian Hecox]

I've done it, though. I mean, I'm not. I just snore really loud, so it's like, I even feel bad for, you know, the people that my family. Because I'm. I definitely have some sort of deviated septum situation that I need to. Which is funny because sometimes you'll let me know. Like, I sleep, you know, on your couch, which is, you know, far away from your room. But I'll. He'll come in the morning, we'll wake up in the morning sometimes. And he'll be like, very nice about it, but just kind of slide in there like, yeah, man. Like, you were definitely snoring last night. And I feel terrible.

[Courtney Miller]

I've never been. I don't think I've ever been woken up by it. I just like, I'll wake up and I'll be like, oh, I hear snoring. I guess he's sleeping, but it's never been too bad.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Snoring's such a comforting sound to me. My dad snored. So, like, any snoring is just like. It's like a ocean sound.

[Ian Hecox]

Really?

[Courtney Miller]

You like the sound of snoring?

[Ryan Finnerty]

I'm not like, yes, snoring, but like, when I hear it, I'm like, all.

[Ian Hecox]

Right, so tell me if this is soothing to you, because this is what it sounds like.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, no.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You know, that might wake me up.

[Courtney Miller]

That's what I thought.

[Ian Hecox]

I'd like to apologize to anyone that that triggered on the.

[Courtney Miller]

That triggered so many people.

[Ryan Finnerty]

My dad's more like.

[Ian Hecox]

Oh, oh, that just sounds like the ocean.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Like an ocean crash.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, that's really sick. See, that makes me like your dad even more. I already met your dad and I really like him now. I like him that much more. He's a sweet guy.

[Courtney Miller]

He's basically the perfect man. It is Ryan Seacrest here.

[Ian Hecox]

There was a recent social media trend which consisted of flying on a plane.

[Courtney Miller]

With no music, no movies, no entertainment. But a better trend would going to chumbacasino.com. it's like having a mini social casino in your pocket.

[Ian Hecox]

Chumba casino has over 100 online casino style games, all absolutely free.

[Courtney Miller]

It's the most fun you can have.

[Ian Hecox]

Online and on a plane.

[Courtney Miller]

So grab your free welcome bonus [e-mail] sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary.

[Ian Hecox]

VGW Group void.

[Courtney Miller]

We're prohibited by law 21/ terms and conditions apply.

[Ryan Finnerty]

So do you guys like dude guys in your house? Do you guys, like, watch movies together?

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, so we basically say that we're. We're like, what, a divorce?

[Ian Hecox]

Like, we're like, divorced. No, we're.

[Courtney Miller]

Like two bachelors.

[Ian Hecox]

No, no, no. Widowers. We're widowers.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, we're two widowers.

[Ian Hecox]

It's gotten kind of dark. Yeah, we're two old men that are widowers. Our wives have passed away, but we found comfort with each other. Platonically cute.

[Courtney Miller]

We each microwave our dinners.

[Ian Hecox]

We straight up have microwave dinners that we have prepped for the week because.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I know you have like, your thing, your Set diet thing. But what are you having?

[Ian Hecox]

I just do the same thing to keep costs down while I'm traveling and to be efficient. Because, again, it's like when you're traveling a lot. Because I'm doing this now, but I did it when we were at the other place, too. I mean, I've been traveling down to LA for four years now. And when you do, like, postmates and eat out a lot.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

You just look at the cost, and it's insane.

[Ryan Finnerty]

It's like 500 bucks a month sometimes.

[Ian Hecox]

It's crazy. So I try to kind of just like, get all my shopping done at the beginning of the week, and then. And again, a lot of times we're working such crazy hours. So it's. By the time you get back to wherever you're staying, you just kind of want to know food's there.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

And obviously it's just easier to have something like a prep meal. And I go to Sprouts, and I get there prepped, prepared meals. And they're very delicious and very nice. They're super good.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I remember during this. Sorry, Ian. I remember during the shutdown, you guys. I remember we had a shoot day. I came in, you guys were, like, making breakfast together.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, yeah. And you're like, can I have some?

[Ryan Finnerty]

He goes, sure.

[Courtney Miller]

Like, then we tossed you some eggs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes we've. We've. He's cooked me breakfast. That's been lovely. He's been a very good roommate. He cleans up after himself.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Are you a good roommate?

[Courtney Miller]

I mean, like, I know it's your.

[Ryan Finnerty]

House, but, like, you're sharing.

[Ian Hecox]

Oh, he's very nice. He's not a roommate. He's a very good host.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that's a good way of putting it.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And there's. Luckily, you have two bathrooms, so your poops are never conflict.

[Courtney Miller]

Exactly. There's no poop conflict. And because I have a tankless water heater, never run out of hot water. So that's shower zone conflict.

[Ian Hecox]

I've never told you this, but I enjoy the hell out of your shower. It's like. It's kind of like the shower head's, like, a little. Like, it's like. It's a little calcified or whatever, so it doesn't come out clean.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, it's a little messed up, but.

[Ian Hecox]

It almost feels like you're under, like, a really warm waterfall. And there's a lot of weight to it. And the problem is, is I could straight up probably take like, a 40 minute shower in your shower. Not even thinking about it. Cause I zone out.

[Courtney Miller]

Hey, that's okay. California's out of the drought, so use all the water you want, bro.

[Ian Hecox]

But don't you still pay for that?

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, that's true. Don't do that.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, for real. Like, that's messed up.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah. You don't want to bring the drought back, Michael.

[Courtney Miller]

Well, it's okay. We got that audible sponsorship. We're good.

[Ian Hecox]

I just, you know. But I'm just. I often. And then also, in your guest bathroom, you have that really cool shower curtain that has all the different words on it. And I zone out, get some light reading. I just read in and I discover all these words, and then I try to, like, work them into, like, sentences throughout the day. But I often forget or I get it wrong. Kind of like, you know, telling you you're a detrimental.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Detrimental. Detrimental sounds like, important. It sounds positive.

[Courtney Miller]

When you know the word detriment.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Well, when you know the word. Yeah. But when it's a new word, you know, I've probably been told I'm detrimental many times and was like, thank you.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, probably.

[Ian Hecox]

You know, I do that on set quite a bit, actually. Like, I will use words totally wrong.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Like in Scott Pilgrim.

[Courtney Miller]

Also, I've been teaching Ryan words he didn't know. Stan.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, stalker fan.

[Ian Hecox]

That's been the big thing. So it was Stan. I didn't know the concept of Chekhov's gun. I apparently had never known that. And I knew the concept, but I'd never known the name. And then there was one other thing that he. So that's been the thing as Rumi. Ian's educating me quite a bit.

[Ryan Finnerty]

That's cute.

[Courtney Miller]

Cause I was like. I was like. I forget what we were. Whatever we were watching. I think maybe it was like we were watching Killing Eve. And I was like, we Stan a psychopath queen.

[Ryan Finnerty]

We Stan.

[Courtney Miller]

And he's like, what? I was like, we Stan a psychopath queen. And he's like, what are you saying? I was like, stan, oh, my God.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Cause if you had said that to me, I love Killing Eve, too. It's so good. So if you had said that, I would have been like, yes, we Stan.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. I don't know if I Stan her. She's. We just, like, quick, quick killing. Suicide.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oksana. She kind of hot, though.

[Ian Hecox]

Oksana is the best. Yeah, She's. I mean, other than the murderous thing. Yeah, she's really. She's really good.

[Courtney Miller]

That's such. So. So that's another thing that Ryan and I Do we. We microwave our food and then we take it to my. To my living room and we sit down at the couch and. And eat our dinners and watch our programs, so.

[Ian Hecox]

Which I have to say is really refreshing because since we're not, like, you know, we're not actually in a relationship, it's actually the best situation. Cause, like, if you were to, like, watch a couple episodes, I wouldn't get mad at you for it. I'd be like, oh, that's cool. Whatever. I'll catch up with him. But in a relationship, I feel like that's such a cliche.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

Where it's like, you watched episodes without me. I hope we can actually get there one day. But for right now, it's really nice.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah. I mean, I was holding off on watching Pen15 for a time that we can go back to watch the rest of that.

[Ian Hecox]

We should, though, because now we finished Killing Eve. We should go to pen 15.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, we finished Killing Eve. It's great. Cause it's, you know, we get home around, like, seven or so, and so we have, like, you know, a couple hours to, like, watch things.

[Ryan Finnerty]

You guys are so fricking cute. Why am I so alone?

[Ian Hecox]

And then Ian's actually really nice because typically around that time is when I have, like, my. My nightly FaceTime call to my family. So he's, like, nice enough to pause, and he does a little pause, and then I FaceTime the famous for, you know, a little while, and then I come back and we start our show again.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, it's really lovely. Yeah, it's very. It's a nice.

[Ian Hecox]

It's a nice couple's goals is what it is.

[Courtney Miller]

It really is.

[Ian Hecox]

Yep. Works out.

[Courtney Miller]

And I get my dishes clean, so it works out for me.

[Ian Hecox]

Well, that's the thing. If I'm a guest, I do it actually at the Airbnbs, too. Like, my whole thing at the Airbnb's is I want to make it when I leave. I kind of want to make it look like I wasn't there. Oh, yeah, you still pay the cleaning fee. They're obviously still gonn to pay for the sheets and stuff and all the bathroom situation. But as far as, like, dishes and just the funny thing, too, is I always make my bed when I leave, too. Even though I know they're just going.

[Courtney Miller]

To pull them off.

[Ian Hecox]

No, no, I always. I just. There's something about, like. And it's really nice. Like, people are very cool and they comment. They're always like. I get a lot of comments that are like, wow. He was like the perfect guest. I couldn't even tell he was here.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Aw.

[Ian Hecox]

So, yeah, I tried to do the same thing at Ian. So I'll like, you know, do whatever I can to help out because it's very nice of him to let me.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I. Stan. A power couple.

[Courtney Miller]

What's that, Stan?

[Ian Hecox]

I don't know what that means.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Stan. Stan Lee.

[Ian Hecox]

Oh, I thought you're talking about Stanley Tucci.

[Courtney Miller]

R.I.P.

[Ryan Finnerty]

We. Stan. Stan.

[Ian Hecox]

I love Stanley.

[Courtney Miller]

You guys watch the Joker trailer?

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, No, I don't do trailers. I don't.

[Courtney Miller]

I know. I've lately been kind of trying to stay away from trailers.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I feel like I should have seen the trailer for us though. But like Avengers, I'm like, keep that away.

[Ian Hecox]

Or you can do the first one. I think you can do the first ones. But when they go further, like, Black Panther was the big one. The first two Black Panthers were great. And then I watched the third one and they revealed the whole villain character of what he was gonna be. And up to that point you didn't know what Michael B. Jordan's character was gonna be. And I was so pissed. So after that point, I started throttling back. I watched the first couple, but if you starting to see that third, fourth, fifth, you know there's gonna be so much. And Avengers Endgame was a big one because when they're all walking to the.

[Courtney Miller]

Ship, I don't know what you're talking about.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I just want to see the shot in the theaters and I want to get the chills. Like, I happen to come across a gif. I'm gonna say gif. I'm very self conscious.

[Ian Hecox]

That's fine.

[Courtney Miller]

No, GIF is the correct way to say it. Choosy programmer space. Kevin behind the camera shake his head no, Kevin, you're wrong.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Our editors think a lot of them think it's gif. Or even if it is jif.

[Courtney Miller]

The guy that created the guy that created the gif. Jif said it's Jif because it's like.

[Ian Hecox]

The peanut butter choosy programmers choose Jif.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I saw one of a really cute shot from Endgame and I was like, man, I would have really loved to see that in the movie and nowhere else.

[Courtney Miller]

It's hit me so hard, but it's so funny because now I just hear trailers secondhand. Like, I just hear somebody else watching.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Someone's always watching.

[Courtney Miller]

So I'm usually able to like pinpoint like what it is because it'll be like, like, I mean, Avengers is obvious cuz that that orchestral theme that they have is so like, I got chills just hearing. I didn't even have to see it. I just heard that orchestral, like, arrangement. I'm like, oh, that's cool. And then the Joker trailer, like, whatever. It was like the music that they use or whatever. Like, I heard it for like five seconds. You were watching it, Ryan. And I heard. I was like, oh, is that a Joker trailer? You're like, yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

I was like, oh, I think it was the combo too. Because it's the first time you hear Joaquin Phoenix's character kind of do a laugh, like a cackle. And it was like the music and that. And then like shortly after, like, just a second or two, you're like, oh, is that the Joker trailer? So I think you kind of just like subconsciously put it all together. The trailer looks good. The movie looks good. I think it's really interesting. And I love Todd Phillips.

[Courtney Miller]

I think it's so random that the dude that. That did the hangover is now doing this like really dark Joker thing.

[Ian Hecox]

Right, right.

[Courtney Miller]

But I mean, I guess if you know how to work a camera, maybe you could do it for comedy and for scary, you know.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Frozen trailer. I'm glad I saw. Cause that one, I feel like I wouldn't have been super psyched to see Frozen 2. But the trailer that they put out, I mean, it's the first one, so they don't really tell you anything. But that one got me really excited.

[Ian Hecox]

Me too.

[Courtney Miller]

Well, do you remember the cars3 trailer? How they made it like super dark?

[Ryan Finnerty]

He fricking died.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, they made it like he died. And they're like, they're like this October Cars Guy fricking dies at the racetrack.

[Ryan Finnerty]

He shitted.

[Ian Hecox]

Why did they use the VO of Cars guy? Why did they just call him Lightning McQueen?

[Courtney Miller]

No, they call him Cars guy.

[Ian Hecox]

That's weird. See, that seems like a bad choice right there just to like big red cars, man. It's like they just phone it in. Like, nobody, like big car guy. And then like, you know, like Southern Draw tow truck guy. Yeah, that'd be it. See, I'd be in on that trailer actually.

[Courtney Miller]

Larry the truck guy. Yeah, truck boy. But like, I wonder if they're doing the same thing where they're just trying to rope people in with this very, like, dramatic, like, dark looking trailer for Frozen 2.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah, they also just look really good. I like the fact that their hair is different. I'm so excited. I don't know why that's just a thing like, whoa, their hair is different. Like that's why Barbie did so well for so long. It's just. It's a. It's a thing.

[Ian Hecox]

Just let me notice that.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Her hair.

[Ian Hecox]

No, see, I didn't notice that.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Elsa puts it into a low pony. Are you kidding?

[Ian Hecox]

That must be like a. That must be like a.

[Ryan Finnerty]

And then. And then Anna. Anna does something different too. It's crazy, dude.

[Courtney Miller]

But she put it in to the pony so that she could run over water.

[Ryan Finnerty]

That was the reason.

[Courtney Miller]

What was she going to do? Just run across a whole ocean?

[Ian Hecox]

No, she's trying to surf, bro.

[Ryan Finnerty]

She can.

[Courtney Miller]

She.

[Ryan Finnerty]

She can run across.

[Ian Hecox]

She's trying to hit that big wave.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ryan Finnerty]

She could probably make herself fly. She can just take the moisture out of there and make a. She do fro. She could Frozone it. Frozone.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh, yeah. Frozen.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Elsa. Elsa 3. Frozone.

[Courtney Miller]

That would be the most ambitious crossover.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Who would win a fight, Elsa or Frozone?

[Courtney Miller]

Depends. Does he have a super suit?

[Ryan Finnerty]

If he can find it, I think Frozone would win. I'm just gonna say I think Elsa could win.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, well, agree to disagree. All right, well, Disney, do something about it. As if to pretend like we're on a road trip and I'm one of the worst people to be on a road trip with because I pee every 20 minutes.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, no.

[Courtney Miller]

Do you really have to pee?

[Ian Hecox]

Right? I'm. Have you literally.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Are you dying?

[Ian Hecox]

I've been doing this.

[Courtney Miller]

No, it's fine. Let's just. Let's just wrap this up with. With some. Some more funny news.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Copy funny news.

[Courtney Miller]

So today's funny news, or what do we call Ian's funny news?

[Ryan Finnerty]

Is it actually funny?

[Courtney Miller]

So, yeah, it's. I think it's hilarious. I just rolled my eyes a little bit. A jaguar was. Was recently artificially inseminated.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Oh, yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

At a zoo. And two days later ate the baby.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah. It was the first jaguar born of artificial insemination. The mom ate the baby.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ian Hecox]

I hate this story. It's so sad.

[Courtney Miller]

Is it just, like.

[Ian Hecox]

This isn't natural, I'd imagine.

[Courtney Miller]

But I was also reading that apparently this actually does happen. So it's not.

[Ryan Finnerty]

They eat the cubs. Yeah. Sometimes the male lion will eat the lion cubs.

[Courtney Miller]

Like, sub with that.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Sub with that.

[Courtney Miller]

I know. Like, hamsters do it all the time. Like, you have to, like, legit, like, separate the babies from the.

[Ryan Finnerty]

When you need your wife's attention.

[Ian Hecox]

I think it's a Sparta thing. I think it's like a. I think it's like they sense this one is not worthy and they're just. And they're doing. It's like, from 300. They're just tossing that baby off the cliff.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ryan Finnerty]

That's crazy.

[Ian Hecox]

Which is sad and depressing, and I'm just not a big fan of this news thing. I'm just gonna say I think it's a really dark.

[Courtney Miller]

This news isn't as funny as the. As the teachers getting shot with airsoft guns.

[Ian Hecox]

Still dark, but that's. You have a dark sensibility, and that's fine. Thank you.

[Courtney Miller]

It's true.

[Ian Hecox]

You should be in the universe, the universal dark universe, I think.

[Courtney Miller]

I think it's just funny to. It's. It's kind of like a schadenfreude kind of situation, because they probably spent so much money and so much time.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah.

[Courtney Miller]

Like, making this happen. They were so proud. Yeah. They probably had this big old party and, like, in the middle of them, like, chugging champagne, dude comes in.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I'm gonna eat it.

[Courtney Miller]

Guys. Don't want to freak you out, but. But cub is missing. There's a lot of blood. There's some fur laying around. Can't find the cub. Just putting it out there.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Keep.

[Courtney Miller]

Don't let me. Don't let me hold up your party. That's fine. You guys got the hats on. You got the streamers. You got the little finger foods. You got the champagne. Do that. But once you guys are done, maybe come out, we all try to find the cub. I'm not saying that it definitely got eaten.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Should we put up some signs? Do we need lost kit? Lost jaguar kitty?

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, you probably. You know what? It's probably just on vacation. It probably walked off. We just need to go find it.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I'm done with you.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah, I'm done, too.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Kimberly, you're making Ryan hold his bladder in.

[Courtney Miller]

I derive much pleasure. Whoa.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Pleasure.

[Courtney Miller]

I derive. I derive much pleasure. Ryan. Once upon a time. Once upon a time.

[Ian Hecox]

Oh, we're doing the us thing now.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Yeah. That's the end of that.

[Courtney Miller]

I can't. Okay. Well, yeah, I think, you know, that's. I think that's enough for this. For this smosh cast. Ryan, thank you so much for coming on.

[Ian Hecox]

Thank you for having me.

[Courtney Miller]

I hope. I thank you. Thank you, dude.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I don't know.

[Ian Hecox]

You're very welcome, and I very much enjoyed it, and I love talking with you guys.

[Courtney Miller]

Oh.

[Ian Hecox]

In this kind of stuff.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I love talking to you guys.

[Ian Hecox]

Yeah.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I. I stan you boys.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah, I stan it. Do you. Do you understand now?

[Ryan Finnerty]

Do you understand?

[Ian Hecox]

I understand.

[Courtney Miller]

Okay.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Okay.

[Courtney Miller]

Well, thank you guys so much for listening. If you want to subscribe to the Smosh cast, I highly recommend you do that. You can do it on any of the podcast apps that exist in the world. And you can also do it on YouTube if you want to see our pretty little faces, but. Oh, it'll be censored on YouTube. Just so you know, naughty words and no titties. No tid. None of this. Anyway, we'll just cut that out.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Okay, maybe we won't.

[Courtney Miller]

I'm just trying to extend this out so Ryan pees is kind of, you know. This is what you get for making your daughter pee on my couch.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Listen, we don't want liver damage on the body. That is Smosh.

[Courtney Miller]

Okay, that's true.

[Ian Hecox]

Can I seriously just go.

[Courtney Miller]

Just go. Okay, yeah, just go. That's fine. If you want to just like. Wow, wow, wow. He just leaves our podcast.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Ian, I need to talk to you.

[Courtney Miller]

This is inappropes.

[Ryan Finnerty]

He had to pee so bad, it made me have to pee like you. Look what you did.

[Courtney Miller]

This is payback. He let his daughter pee on my couch. This is all payback because I did not know about that.

[Ryan Finnerty]

Well, he almost peed on the chair.

[Courtney Miller]

Yeah.

[Ryan Finnerty]

All right.

[Courtney Miller]

We, our guests have to sit in that chair too. So I guess it's probably not such a good thing.

[Ryan Finnerty]

I love you. And I love you too, listeners.

[Courtney Miller]

Thank you guys so much. We'll be back next Wednesday and. And on Friday on the YouTubes. Goodbye. Bye.

[Ian Hecox]

Hello it is Ryan. And we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big.

[Courtney Miller]

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[Ian Hecox]

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[Courtney Miller]

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[Ian Hecox]

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[Ryan Finnerty]

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