#4488 A Show About Almosts

Summary

Podcast Title: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live
Episode: #4488 A Show About Almosts
Release Date: June 13, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank, Andrew Walsh
Description: TBTL is a daily show hosted by two longtime friends goofing their way through the world the best they can. Join Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh as they cover the most important topics of the day, from 25-year-old film reviews to whether or not Andrew’s neighbors are secretly using his garbage bins.

---

Introduction to Slang and Light Banter

[00:00 - 01:18]
The episode kicks off with Luke Burbank sharing a series of contemporary slang terms to help listeners "sound cool." He introduces words like "crim," "stront," "liquid laugh," "valdemode," and "Yandy," providing humorous examples for each. This segment sets a playful tone for the episode and showcases the hosts' camaraderie.

Luke Burbank ([00:00]): "The way you're eating that burrito is crim."

Following Luke’s introduction of slang terms, Andrew Walsh interjects with enthusiasm, hinting at the day's theme and building anticipation for upcoming discussions.

Andrew Walsh ([00:31]): "TBTL. Guess what day it is."

Discussion on Friday the 13th and Episode Theme

[01:20 - 02:36]
The hosts acknowledge the release date coinciding with Friday the 13th, blending humor with a slight edge of superstition. John Sklaroff joins the conversation, adding his own experiences and setting up the episode's central theme: "A Show About Almosts."

John Sklaroff ([01:30]): "It is just absolutely beautiful today. Looking at Lake Michigan and... And yet this beautiful view is causing a weird reaction in my brain that I don't like."

He introduces the "Great TBTL Billboard Hunt," revealing that the episode will provide clue number four in the contest to guess the billboard's location.

Billboard Hunt Contest

[02:36 - 05:35]
John elaborates on the ongoing billboard hunt, explaining that listeners are tasked with identifying the specific locale in America where TBTL is placing a billboard. He humorously hints at the possibility of the billboard appearing sooner than expected, generating excitement and urgency among listeners.

John Sklaroff ([02:36]): "Listeners trying to guess where in America TBTL is putting up a billboard starting as soon as next week."

Andrew and John engage in a light-hearted conversation about technical challenges and the possibility of the billboard unveiling earlier than planned.

Andrew Walsh ([04:11]): "I think we're in good shape here, Luke, to do a great show."

Personal Anecdotes and Nostalgia

[05:35 - 15:48]
The discussion shifts to personal stories, with John expressing his frustration over finally getting a room with a view of Lake Michigan after years of being denied one at a familiar hotel. This leads to a deeper reflection on missed opportunities and the emotional impact of finally experiencing something long denied.

John Sklaroff ([07:03]): "I'm now in this room that is facing the lake. When I walked in here last night, Andrew, it was like a choir of angels singing."

The conversation then transitions into nostalgic territory as John and Andrew reminisce about the classic TV show Beverly Hills 90210. They delve into character analyses, discussing their favorite characters and critiquing the show's representation of different personalities.

Andrew Walsh ([12:14]): "I was a Shannon Doherty head, not Tori Spelling."

Listener Interactions and Community Building

[15:48 - 26:21]
The hosts interact with listener submissions, including a message from Mike Farnan, affectionately known as Clem Fandango. Mike applies for a "TBTL employee" position in a humorous exchange that highlights the show's playful nature.

Listener Mike ([27:08]): "Consider this message my official application to become TBTL employee numero dose."

Andrew shares a heartfelt story about a friend who listens to TBTL during tough times, emphasizing the show's positive impact on its audience.

Andrew Walsh ([22:33]): "We are getting towards the end of this list for this year, which always means we're getting towards the beginning of the next TBTL."

Highlighting Community Initiatives

[23:29 - 25:21]
John introduces the "Pedaling Relief Project" by the Cascade Bike Club, a listener-driven initiative that partners with food banks in Seattle to deliver food to homebound clients via bike. This segment underscores TBTL's commitment to community service and showcases listener contributions.

John Sklaroff ([23:29]): "Cascade has partnered with five food banks in Seattle, where volunteers deliver food to their homebound clients by bike."

Andrew praises the program, relating it to the show's ethos of combining fun with meaningful action.

Andrew Walsh ([24:54]): "Making food to give away is really important and good, but also so much food goes to waste when you're, like, tapping into that."

Further Contest Details and Listener Engagement

[26:21 - 54:12]
The episode continues with detailed discussions about the billboard hunt, including past guesses from listeners. The hosts provide additional clues, emphasizing the billboard's location within a specific U.S. state known for both something Andrew loves and dislikes.

Listener Mike ([46:00]): "John is in a place that features one of Andrew's favorite things and one of Andrew's least favorite things."

They encourage listeners to stay engaged by submitting their guesses while maintaining the mystery around the billboard’s exact location.

Andrew Walsh ([47:35]): "Can we just say that, like, send in your answer, but don't, like, post on the slack page, like, here it is."

The hosts also touch upon the design and subtlety of the billboard, noting that it might not be immediately recognizable as a TBTL promotion, adding an extra layer of challenge to the hunt.

John Sklaroff ([48:38]): "Such an incredibly, unuseful promotional tool that people will probably even listeners, if they looked at it, would not even clock it for what it is."

Concluding Remarks and Teasers for Future Episodes

[54:12 - End]
As the episode draws to a close, the hosts engage in playful banter about potential future contests and listener interactions. They tease the next episode's potential developments, including the possibility of announcing the billboard hunt winner or sharing additional clues.

Andrew Walsh ([53:29]): "All right, there we go, everybody."

The show wraps up with a mix of humor and camaraderie, reinforcing the friendly and engaging atmosphere that TBTL is known for.

John Sklaroff ([54:12]): "All right, that's gonna bring us to the end of our broadcast week."

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Luke Burbank ([00:00]):

  "The way you're eating that burrito is crim."

• John Sklaroff ([07:03]):

  "I'm now in this room that is facing the lake. When I walked in here last night, Andrew, it was like a choir of angels singing."

• Listener Mike ([27:08]):

  "Consider this message my official application to become TBTL employee numero dose."

• John Sklaroff ([23:29]):

  "Cascade has partnered with five food banks in Seattle, where volunteers deliver food to their homebound clients by bike."

• Andrew Walsh ([46:11]):

  "This clue represents sort of the entire state that it's..."

---

Key Topics and Insights

1. Slang and Language Trends:
   The episode begins with a fun exploration of modern slang, highlighting the hosts' playful approach to everyday language.

2. Billboard Hunt Contest:
   A central theme is the ongoing contest to locate the TBTL billboard, engaging listeners in an interactive and mysterious challenge.

3. Personal Reflections and Nostalgia:
   The hosts share personal stories and memories, particularly revolving around Beverly Hills 90210, fostering a sense of nostalgia and connection with the audience.

4. Community and Listener Engagement:
   Through listener interactions and highlighting community initiatives like the Pedaling Relief Project, the show emphasizes its role in fostering a supportive and active listener community.

5. Humor and Light-Hearted Banter:
   Throughout the episode, humor and friendly teasing between the hosts create an engaging and entertaining atmosphere.

6. Future Teasers and Continued Engagement:
   The episode concludes by hinting at future developments and encouraging ongoing listener participation, ensuring sustained interest and engagement.

---

Conclusions

Episode #4488 of TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live masterfully blends humor, personal anecdotes, and interactive elements to create an engaging listening experience. By combining playful language discussions, a challenging billboard hunt, and heartfelt community stories, the hosts maintain a lively and inclusive atmosphere. Notable quotes enhance the relatability and memorability of the episode, while structured sections ensure a coherent and comprehensive summary. This episode exemplifies TBTL's commitment to entertaining and connecting with its audience, making it accessible and enjoyable for both longtime listeners and newcomers alike.

Transcript

[Luke Burbank]

All right, here are some more slang words you can use to sound cool. All right, first up, we have crim, short for criminal. The way you're eating that burrito is crim. All right, next up we have stront. Yo, babe, I just heard about this new Italian strawn down the street. We should go check it out. Next up we have liquid laugh. This is Australian slang for boofing. Where's Will? He's out back having a liquid laugh. Then we have valdemode. It's a diabolical state of being. You went voldemode last night and got us kicked out of the bar. Finally, we have Yandy. Far as hell. I'm not picking you up.

[Andrew Walsh]

You live.

[Luke Burbank]

Yandy.

[Andrew Walsh]

TBTM Guess what day it is. Guess what day it is.

[John Sklaroff]

It's Friday. Friday.

[Andrew Walsh]

Gonna get down on Friday. Everybody's looking forward to the weekend.

[John Sklaroff]

Ah, gazpacho soup just burned my lips. The gazpacho? Yeah, it's been sitting out.

[Andrew Walsh]

It warmed up.

[John Sklaroff]

It warmed up so much that it burned your lip. Let. Let me explain something to you. If you're expecting something ice cold and you bring it up to your lips and it's room temp, it's going to feel like your mouth's on fire. It's gonna feel like your body's on fire.

[Andrew Walsh]

You don't have to make rude noises.

[John Sklaroff]

That's all right.

[Andrew Walsh]

I don't mind laughter.

[John Sklaroff]

A sure sign of a good time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, everybody, stand by.

[John Sklaroff]

Here we go again. All right. Hello, good morning, and welcome, everyone, to a Friday edition of tv, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

Oh, yeah, buddy. My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host. I don't know who that is, and I don't care to find out. Coming to you once again from Chicago, Illinois, looking out on Millennium Park. It is just absolutely beautiful today. Looking at Lake Michigan and. Oh, ma pa. It's just beautiful. And yet this beautiful view is causing a weird reaction in my brain that I don't like. Maybe explaining it today will help me move it out of my brain so I can go back into a positive frame of mind. Also, It's Friday the 13th.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am petrified.

[John Sklaroff]

Petrified with this story. So it might be a weird show. I don't know. It might be a spooky show here on Friday the 13th. The only number we care about, though, is the episode number. And if I'm doing this right, we're at episode 4488 in a collector series. Let the fun Begin. And because it's a Friday episode of the show and because we are doing the great TBTL billboard hunt, we are gonna bring you clue number four in the great billboard hunt.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4.

[John Sklaroff]

Listeners trying to guess where in America TBTL is putting up a billboard starting as soon as next week. Hope I can say that. I hope I'm allowed. You know what? We'll find out later if I was allowed to say that the billboard could go up as soon as next week. A guy who might know is the longest running cobra of the show. Maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus. He's Andrew Walsh and he's joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning.

[John Sklaroff]

Was I allowed to say that?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I think so. By the way, I just realized. I went to unmute my mic and I realized it's been unmuted this whole time. So if you heard me making a little, like, affirmative little noises while you were talking, my apologies. I didn't mean to weigh in.

[John Sklaroff]

I said, you don't have to make rude noises. And you said, I don't mind.

[Andrew Walsh]

That is true. You scared me for a second. I was like, oh, did I respond to that? Because sometimes you're.

[John Sklaroff]

I know you've been dealing with a lot.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am. I'm.

[John Sklaroff]

Technical times.

[Andrew Walsh]

I've got a lot going on. I'm going to do the same thing I had to tell myself to do last week on the show, which is I'm closing out a bunch of tabs here and I am going to stop thinking about the technical times I'm having. I think we're rolling. I think we're in good shape here, Luke, to do a great show. And I will say that I do think it's okay to say that our billboard is going up before most people will know where it is, I think. Right. Because we still have, like a week's worth of clues to give. But we just found out in a quick, informal meeting that the billboard may be going up early. So it's gonna be out there in the world before most of our listeners even know where it is.

[John Sklaroff]

Well, depending on and if anybody gets it based on today's clue, that is true. The structure of this, and it is highly structured. We had multiple meetings about this. The str. You know what, we'll explain all this later when we have John Sklaroff on. Can I explain you why I'm furious about this beautiful view of Lake Michigan?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I'm just glad that you said this beautiful view of Lake Michigan and not you. Yes, tell me.

[John Sklaroff]

Well, okay. I'm staying in this hotel that we always stay at when. When we're here doing. Wait, wait, don't tell me. And it's. It's on Michigan. Well, part of it's on Michigan Avenue. It's a cool hotel. I like it. But I have heretofore, I've never had a room. I've been staying here for years now. I've never had a room that faced the lake. I've always had a room that was facing like another building or an air conditioner or some just kind of fairly depressing interior something or other. And I have asked at least four or five times. You know me, I'm nothing if not a nudge. And I have asked four or five times. I was like, hey, are there any rooms that have a view of Lake Michigan? And what I have literally heard from some of the front desk folk is, no, none of the rooms at the hotel face the lake. That's what I had heard. And that is why I stopped asking, because I just thought. I mean, what a weird layout. Well, maybe, you know, maybe that's this. This building is converted from being something else. And who knows? I just. I believed them. I didn't think somebody would actively lie to me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, and you've been doing this for so long, you must have walked towards the pier or something.

[John Sklaroff]

I mean, that would have been a giveaway.

[Andrew Walsh]

On your way back, you would look. Or you'd look over your shoulder and you'd. Well, there are a bunch of windows facing this direct. It'd be weird to have like a tall. Like a hotel building like that where one side just has no windows on it.

[John Sklaroff]

Well, the thing is, the entrance is not on the side. That is the lakeside. Yeah, it's a little confused. There's a side street. And I am. I'm very bad with geometry and geography. And so I. And again, I had asked at some point could I have a room that's facing the lake? And I was told none of the rooms face. Like, I was literally told that.

[Andrew Walsh]

And that was years ago. Like, years and years ago.

[John Sklaroff]

For years I've been staying in this hotel. I get here last night and I'm checking in and a new guy at the front desk. And I did my normal move, which is. I say, because this is one of those. This is one of them Bonvoy places. I said, am I eligible for any upgrades? And he said, no, I'm sorry, we don't have any upgrades available, but I do have you in a. A room facing the lake. And I go, what? He goes, yeah. I go, there are rooms that face the lake. He goes, yeah. And I'm now in this room that is facing the lake. When I walked in here last night, Andrew, it was like a choir of angels singing. I am looking directly at Lake Michigan. I'm looking at the fountain that kicked off Married With Children Sunday nights on Fox.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[John Sklaroff]

I'm looking at. From here, I can see the. The. What is it? The. The Air and Space Museum. I think if I look, I can see Soldier Field or whatever they call it now. It is just absolutely beautiful. Like, I'm gobsmacked. I'm having. So I see a bunch of sailboats that are just kind of moored, if you will, and some sailing around enjoying this beautiful day on Lake Michigan. It's. I'm enjoying this so much that I am now retroactively furious that years have gone by that. But the reason I don't like that about my brain is because instead of just enjoying that, I have a nice view of Lake Michigan. I'm now mourning. I am. I am. I'm. I'm bereft. About all the times I've stayed in this hotel and not been looking at this. And that's the part of my brain that I don't like, that it works that way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, that sounds like something a therapist would have a pretty easy, like, sort of answer to as far as, like, a.

[John Sklaroff]

Some have tried, some have died, Andrew. Nobody's been able to crack this nut.

[Andrew Walsh]

A way of framing it. Looking forward, not back. And it's something. Who you are. This is. Having no window on the lake has made you who you are today. I want to say, though, you stumbled on something that I find even more interesting, if you could believe it, which is.

[John Sklaroff]

Wait, more interesting than my petty grievances.

[Andrew Walsh]

About the past that you survived? Okay.

[John Sklaroff]

The past is history. The future is a mystery.

[Andrew Walsh]

That fountain, that is in the beginning of Married With Children. Now, you will be surprised. You'll be unsurprised to hear that I have not watched an episode of Married With Children since it was probably a newish show on television, like. And we weren't allowed to watch it, I don't think. Or. It wasn't. Like, it wasn't exactly celebrated in our house. It was quite bawdy, et cetera, but it was on plenty. And it sort of, you know, would catch a. It would catch a young man's gaze with the female Gaze. Exactly.

[John Sklaroff]

But.

[Andrew Walsh]

But it was also a terrible show. I don't even know if I really liked it. I was just drawn to it. But anyway, that's two American sitcoms that feature a fountain, because the Friends opening has a fountain. Right. That's another show that I didn't really watch, but I know it has a fountain. How many. I mean, are there other big fountain opening sequences and TV that we're leaving out here? Mr. Belvedere, that doesn't have a. I don't think that probably.

[John Sklaroff]

He probably travels past a fountain at some point.

[Andrew Walsh]

His journey drops kick before he drop kicks his jacket.

[John Sklaroff]

You would think that the. The folks creating Friends. And now, I know obviously, Married With Children and Friends were probably mostly appealing to a different viewing demographic, but you would think that when they were trying to come up with the intro to Friends, when somebody said, okay, they're in a fountain, it was like, well, you know, there was just a show that, I mean, say what you want about it, and what I want to say about it is, yeah, terrible. Meredith. Children. Absolutely terrible. One of those things that I watched, I had a friend, and I actually won't name this friend. It wasn't Peter Williams, by the way, at a different friend who loved the show and would always on, you know, at school on Monday, he'd be like, you know, quoting things from the show and whatever. And somehow just his enthusiasm for the program then tricked me into thinking that I liked the show. So I started watching it. Just. I guess so we would have that sort of shared language.

[Andrew Walsh]

And it must have been also pretty exhilarating to you. Like, you didn't. You weren't allowed to watch almost any tv. And now. And by the way, I believe I said female gaze before because I'm always joking with Genevieve about her female gaze. I meant male gaze, of course. But, like, it must have been a. It must have been a wild ride for you. You're not even allowed to watch Mr. Ed back at the Homestead. Now you're over here watching some pretty bawdy material.

[John Sklaroff]

Well, another thing that contributed to this was. And I've told the story a million times, but we had very, very limited TV access in our household. But I, at some point bought. I didn't buy. I traded something to a kid named James demuth for a. Like, some kind of a little boombox that had a TV built into it, which is hilarious to think that the screen of that television would have to have been so much smaller, Andrew, than my cell phone that I'm holding up right now.

[Andrew Walsh]

My Friend Tony had that same boombox with a TV built into the center of it. And I was just like, I could not get over it. I could not get over it.

[John Sklaroff]

And my parents did not realize there was a TV on it. They just thought that I had gotten my hands on some kind of a boombox. And. And I had it set up. It was on my little nightstand. So I would just lie on my futon because the entire house was resplendent in futons because my dad had done a job for a futon place that went out of business and they paid him in futons. I would lie on my rock hard futon. By the way, futon was the last word in that sentence, Andrew. So get your mind right out of the gutter about a teen boy's fancies and watching Married with Children. And one of the channels that came in most clearly on this little tv, because, remember, this was one of those things where you. It didn't have, like, a knob that changed it. It was a little sort of a tuner, if you will.

[Andrew Walsh]

You slide it from left to right.

[John Sklaroff]

You would. Yeah, you would. You would kind of tune between the TV channels. And there was. And you'd, you know, he had an antenna and everything. Yeah. So some of the channels came in better than others.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

And one of them that came in really well was Fox. So that meant I ended up watching when I really fell in love with the Simpsons. And also I was watching a lot of Married with Children and a lot of In Living Color, by the way.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah, and 90210, was that fox, too?

[John Sklaroff]

90210 was fox really big? I was a huge 90210 head.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

Again, owing mostly to. Well, first of all, I had a crush on every girl on that show, and I wanted to be every guy on that show. But also, you didn't want.

[Andrew Walsh]

You didn't want to be Steve. Come on. You didn't want to be Ian Ziering.

[John Sklaroff]

Ian Ziering did somehow manage to maintain almost zero coolness on a show that is supposed to be about. Like, how did one uncool guy make his way onto this show that's supposed to. I mean, it's a. It's a soap opera for teens. It's a fantasy. There should be no uncool people on it, but somehow they got iron Ziering. The very fact that you remember his name is, first of all, shocking. Well, second of all, I met him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Once, or I almost met him once at a Cleveland car show. I believe there's a long line. I was very excited. My dad took me to a car show and I just excited that some guy from 90210 was going to be there. So I'll always remember, like Ian Ziering. This would have been like the, you know, early to mid-90s.

[John Sklaroff]

I believe he goes by Ian.

[Andrew Walsh]

I am. Oh, sorry.

[John Sklaroff]

That was, that was, that was the first red flag.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, but wait a second though. If you recall, though, he wasn't even the door. He wasn't even supposed to be playing. No, great. No, he was the radio. The radio guy was the dorky guy, right. The guy who did the class announcements or whatever. Brian or something.

[John Sklaroff]

Brian Austin Green is the real Brian. Was his name Brian Silverman on the show. I thought he was cool, too. I don't think there was anyone that I remember who was framed as the uncool one.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I thought, I thought it was him and that woman Andrea or the kid Andrea.

[John Sklaroff]

I had such a crush on Andrea Zuckerman, played by Gabrielle Cartier Cartieris. However you say her name, that is who I had the biggest crush on. Of anybody on the show. Not Jennie Garth, not Shannon Daugherty. I was a Shannon Doherty head, not Tori Spelling. I was. I had big feelings for Andrea Zuckerman, I believe the editor of the school, like paper or yearbook or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes. And of course you're right. David Silver was the character played by Brian Austin Green. And I thought that he was sort of nerdy and those. She worked for the paper and he was kind of in the. In studio or kind of in school Radio Guy. Right?

[John Sklaroff]

What are you saying? In school Radio Guy is not cool?

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I'm just saying. But like there is. Both of those characters were coded as nerds and both of them worked for the media. What's going on there?

[John Sklaroff]

See, I don't, you know, it was a long time ago. I don't, I don't want to. Generally speaking, when I say something sort of, with any kind of strident tone, I'm always proved wrong. But I guess I didn't think of David Silver. Maybe I just thought he was cool. I didn't, I didn't read him as being the nerd. I do remember how he shows up in the credits. Is he like, is he in the radio studio or DJing? He's doing something kind of active and then he's caught by the camera. That's what I remember about turnover.

[Andrew Walsh]

Maybe I'm. I mean, I would trust your memory of this better than mine. Although we both. It sounds like we both went through a pretty heavy 90210 phase early on and I'm proud to say that I thought that his character started. And again, I want to be. I'm going to state this as strongly as you did. I don't want to be strident here. I have not seen this show in literally decades since I had it on a little TV that I had in my room in the early 90s. But I thought that his character started as a pretty strongly coded as nerdy and then made possible. Cooler. Possible with time. But we'll see.

[John Sklaroff]

Very possible. It's all. But I think we can agree that the Ian Ziering character was not nerd coded.

[Andrew Walsh]

No.

[John Sklaroff]

But was to me the least cool person on the show. I was always like, this is who you cast to be like the kind of jockey. Because wasn't he like, he was like the jock, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Ian or Ian or Steve? I think so, yeah. That's. I would not.

[John Sklaroff]

He was like the jock guy. But I just, I was like, of all the people, I mean, the casting call in this show must have been tremendous. And that's who they, that's who they went with for that. Of course I. Because his name was Luke Perry in real life, not on the show. I was. Was it. What was his name?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, I should know that.

[John Sklaroff]

He was Brendan Walsh. Was. Was Jason Priest.

[Andrew Walsh]

Brendan and Brandon.

[John Sklaroff]

Brandon.

[Andrew Walsh]

Brandon and Brenda maybe were the Brandon and Brenda kids.

[John Sklaroff]

So I forget what. Dylan.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, cool. Dylan, man, he was so cool.

[John Sklaroff]

Although he did, and I don't want to, he did have the hairline of about a 47 year old man. And I don't say that to be critical. It's just again, you're casting a show about teenagers and you have a guy who definitely, you know, the girls loved him, but he definitely sort of. He was kind of older seeming. And yet that did not affect me at all. It did not affect my desire to want to be him.

[Andrew Walsh]

Real. I stole the TV kind of territory going back to school, by the way. And I'm not trying, I'm not saying this to take a victory lap, but I am on the 90210 Wiki page, like the fan wiki page, whatever.

[John Sklaroff]

I did that in weeks and then get back on that.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm looking at David Silver's character and here's how it's described. David starts out as an ambitious freshman, eager in every sense of the word to create a name for himself at West Beverly, be it through his music or by dating the most popular girl in School, with whom he's infatuated, Kelly Taylor. Though irritating Kelly and Steve at first, after a while, he slowly becomes friendly with the gang and ends up graduating a year early to be with his friends and longtime girlfriend and Donna. So it does sort of sound like he was definitely an. He was a bit of an outsider. Show began.

[John Sklaroff]

What do they say about Ian Ziering's character?

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, here, let me look. If I just look up. And his name was Steve on 90210. Right. We don't his last name. Am I right about that?

[John Sklaroff]

They didn't even give him a last name.

[Andrew Walsh]

Steve Sanders is his name.

[John Sklaroff]

Oh, wow. I can't believe I couldn't remember that name.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's wearing a bomber jacket. He's wearing a. Like a leather bomber jacket, my friend.

[John Sklaroff]

What's his backstory?

[Andrew Walsh]

Let's see here. Steve is. Steve is at first careless, rich and spoiled, or so it seems. Beneath the posturing, he struggles with the knowledge that he was adopted, his strained relationship with his critical father, Rush, and a lack of substantial relationships with his mother and friends. Once Steve meets Brandon. So it is Brandon, not Brendan. Like Kelly, he quickly takes to the stable Walsh family. I have something in my eye and it's watering my eyes and I can't read. Let's see here. I have a clear.

[John Sklaroff]

It's okay if you get emotional reading the I N Ziering fan page. Andrew, you don't have to be strong for all of us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you ever wipe your eye? I probably touch my eyes too much. Do you ever wipe your eye and then you realize you had something on it, whether it was hair. I'm not wearing any hair product right now, but there was lotion or something on my finger and I wiped my eye. And now my eyes as I'm trying to read this are watering and I'm reading through tears here. But he quickly takes to the stable Walsh family, and his friendship with Brandon provides him with stability that he had. Luke, hitherto not known. I love the use of hitherto there.

[John Sklaroff]

Okay, now can we go through the non white characters?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, right. It'll be a short conversation.

[John Sklaroff]

It will be a non. It's just such. It's so funny. Funny is not really the word for it. Interesting to think about a time when representation meant absolutely nothing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

Like if you just think about that show, like, you wouldn't make that show that way today, hopefully, anyway. I mean, maybe you. Geez, maybe you would. But, like, you know what I mean? Like this idea that it's just like every character is just so flipping white and so kind of broad and like, heaven forbid there be somebody who's even a little bit interesting on this show. And particularly a person who doesn't look like just what Aaron Spelling's idea of Americana is.

[Andrew Walsh]

For a second, I was like, wait a second. What about the famous character Dixon Wilson? And I'm looking at this. But no, I guess 90210 was rebooted and Dixon Wilson, who looks like a black man, played the Brendan Walsh character. Basically, the character is Dixon Wilson, but it's based on the Brandon Walsh character. It looks like. Okay, so this is from a different. But this is. I guess there was a reboot that was just called 90210 USA or something like that. Are you familiar with this?

[John Sklaroff]

I heard that Trump was trying to do that, make the national zip code 90210 for the whole country.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sounds like.

[John Sklaroff]

What does 90210 USA even mean?

[Andrew Walsh]

I guess it was just called 90210 and whatever I was looking at was just designating it usa. But this seemed to be something that was rebooted sometime in the 2000s, just as 90210. Oh, around 2008, maybe. And I did not know that there was, like a new young version of 9020 for the younger generation.

[John Sklaroff]

This is obviously a huge success.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, obviously. Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah. We was hoping for some razzle dazzle. Razzle dazzle. That's right, man. Razzle dazzle. On your mark. On your mark. Get set, get set now. Ready?

[Andrew Walsh]

Ready?

[John Sklaroff]

Go, everybody.

[Andrew Walsh]

Razzle dazzle.

[John Sklaroff]

Hey, let's thank some dazzling donors. These folks are keeping TBTL in business with their dazzling donation of dough. We are. We're getting towards the end of this list for this year, which always means we're getting towards the beginning of the next tbtl.

[Andrew Walsh]

A thon indeed.

[John Sklaroff]

It's going to be really fun. We're really excited. By the way, side conversation to you and John. I've gotten an important update. Our project.

[Andrew Walsh]

Exciting.

[John Sklaroff]

I'll share that with you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Positive update. A positive update.

[John Sklaroff]

I think it is a positive update.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice. Love it.

[John Sklaroff]

Yes. You hear that excitement in Andrew's voice, everybody? That's just a taste of how exciting this year's TV telethon is going to be. And we've only gotten here because of the support of folks like Lee Lambert, our buddy Lee Lee.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hey, buddy.

[John Sklaroff]

Over in Shoreline, Washington. Like many have said before, I'm grateful to have TBTL to listen to when I don't have the mental strength to listen to the news. This is really the show that will bring you the sort of, I would say, the most current updates on Remembering the show. Beverly Hills 90210. That's what we're known for 40 years ago. Like, if you just don't have. If you're just not emotionally able to monitor what ICE is doing, you can listen to us. Try to remember Ian Ziering's character's last name.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

That is a service we provide.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sanders. Right?

[John Sklaroff]

Sanders. Very good.

[Andrew Walsh]

Which is kind of like Lambert. I was talking to a friend. I hope this, like, sort of amplifies Lee's message. I was talking to a friend the other day who I hadn't talked to in a while, and he works in radio, and I know that he would dip into TBTL from time to time. I'm not exactly sure what his listening habits are, but we were chatting and well into the conversation, he said, you know, I don't know how you're going to take this, but TBT is the show that I listen to when I'm not in a very good mental place or something. Only when he's like, when I'm not doing that well, like, sort of emotionally and mentally. And what I forgot to ask him, I was like, I kind of processed that. We talked about it for a bit. What I forgot to ask him is, are you listening to TBTL right now and do you need anything? Like, it was a cry for help.

[John Sklaroff]

And unanswered, and I'm just sort of.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, looking at the Arbitron book, being like, oh, well, what does this mean for our downloads? And I now I feel bad that I don't know how my friend's doing. I'm both hoping and not hoping that he's not listening to DBTL right now.

[John Sklaroff]

Lee says, in the interest of sharing something bright that came from dark times, I wanted to let the TENS know about a unique program run by my work, the Cascade Bike Club, called the Pedaling Relief Project. It's exactly what it sounds like when Lee's out there on his bike and the other Cascade Bike Club enthusiasts. Cascade has partnered with five food banks in Seattle, where volunteers deliver food to their homebound clients by bike.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice. That's really cool.

[John Sklaroff]

What a good idea. This program was started by two staff members in the early days of the pandemic. Five years in, and we now have about 250 volunteers that deliver and rescue food weekly. I don't know who rescued the food, if it was. If it was the Cheez its did the Cheez Its rescue Me, Andrew, or did I rescue the cheez?

[Andrew Walsh]

It just looking longingly at a bagel saying, who rescued you? That doesn't make sense, though. So at first I was, like, rescued. Oh, that's where so the bikers go. The cyclist goes to some probably participating restaurant. That is extra food, which is that. I really like that. Like, making food to give away is really important and good, but also so much food goes to waste when you're, like, tapping into that, like, good quality edible. Edible, I guess being the lowest bar food, like good quality food. That's just tolerable. Even. Even Lee's can tolerate my dazzling donor read. I really like that.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, that's a great idea. And also, like, just fun to be out on your bike.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

You know what I mean? You're getting some exercise. You're getting to see the town. You're getting to make someone's life better. You're getting to reduce the food waste. I mean, this is a really, really cool program. The program is approaching £2 million delivered since 2020. Luke, I personally think this would make a great CBS Sunday Morning. Sorry.

[Andrew Walsh]

Lee Smart, this is a brilliant good.

[John Sklaroff]

Use of your resources.

[Andrew Walsh]

What a use.

[John Sklaroff]

A pitch.

[Andrew Walsh]

A CBS Sunday MORNING pitch in the dazzling donor message.

[Listener Mike]

That is.

[John Sklaroff]

It is a really good. That is a really good idea for a story. Actually, if the tens in the Seattle area are interested in volunteering with the PRP, they can sign [e-mail] by the way, props to Cascade Bike club for getting cascade.org yeah, I mean, that's a biggie in the Seattle area. Yeah, you know, there's all kinds of things that refer to the Cascades and Cascade. So you can go to cascade.org Lee says we even have trailers that you can borrow. So put a trailer on your bike. And P.S. luke, congrats on your e bike and your take on helmets was a pleasant surprise. Well, I. I'm always surprising you, Lee, with my. With my decision to basically recognize the fact that me falling off a bike without a helmet would be a very, very bad idea.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. It's only took you like 48 years to get there, but you got there.

[John Sklaroff]

That's right. That's right. But better late than never. Lee, thank you so much for all your support over the years and your friendship to the show. We really appreciate you, man. Maestro, on your mark. On your mark.

[Andrew Walsh]

Get set, get set now. Ready? Ready.

[John Sklaroff]

Go. Everybody rattles it's our buddy Hollywoo Mike. Mike Farnan down there in West Hollywoo, California. Pronounced Clem Fandango.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, I can hear you, Clem Fandango.

[John Sklaroff]

Luke and Andrew, can you hear me? He has written in his thing. Now that is, that's. That's especially ironic because. Is ironic the word I'm looking for? That's especially apropos because our friend listener Mike works in the audio engineering industry.

[Andrew Walsh]

Indeedly do.

[John Sklaroff]

So he must have especially enjoyed the Clem Fandango stuff, which is. That's a Matt Berry thing where for those who didn't catch it the other times we referred to it, I guess the bit. I don't even know what the show is, but the bit is that there's this one guy sitting in these voiceover recording sessions. So Matt Berry's character is doing the voiceover recording and there's a guy named Clem Fandango who's just kind of like a rando in there. And every time he says something through what we call the talkback mic to the guy that's doing the recording in the voiceover studio, he identifies himself as Clem Fandango and doesn't he off maddening to Matthew Barry.

[Andrew Walsh]

This is Clint. This is Clem Fandango. Can you hear me okay? Yes, I can hear you, Clem Fandango.

[John Sklaroff]

Mike says, consider this message my official application to become TBTL employee numero dose.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay.

[John Sklaroff]

While John Sklaroff is doing an excellent job, I would bring several qualities to the job, including. I have a 53% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Pretty good. My mom would like that. My mom, as I've mentioned before now, she somehow found out about Rotten Tomatoes and it's, it's the lens through which she views her entire world. Like she's always telling us about how many Rotten Tomatoes or what the freshness. I don't know if she actually knows how Rotten Tomatoes works exactly, but she. Whenever there's any kind of, you know, visual media, any kind of moving picture, any kind of talkie, she then goes and checks out what its Rotten Tomatoes is and then tells us about it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I apologize because this is gonna really border up against the rude what I'm about to say or observe, but is there a possibility that your mom is more interested in the freshness rating of movies than she is in the freshness rating of the produce she eats?

[John Sklaroff]

Oh, I would say unquestionably, because, I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Mean, you had developed. I mean, she sort of developed a real reputation for being interested in woohoo deals at the grocery store. Like, milk is. This Milk was good three weeks ago. Like, this is like good stuff. But like freshness in A movie about a famous author. I'm trying to think what was their famous IMDb about? Oh, goodness gracious. Was it Frank McCourt was who wrote In Cold Blood?

[John Sklaroff]

Oh, Truman Capote.

[Andrew Walsh]

Didn't she have an interesting take on Truman Capote? Or she can. Maybe she thought that Philip Seymour Hoffman. She described him as the gay guy.

[John Sklaroff]

No, the movie was. Yeah, no, the movie was. The movie was Doubt.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

Which was a movie I think about like maybe sexual abuse in the Catholic.

[Andrew Walsh]

In the church, maybe. Yeah, that's.

[John Sklaroff]

Or an investigation or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

And she thought it was called. She described a really good movie that she really thought was really well made and it was called Guilt and it was starring that gay guy who died.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's right. And it was my theory that it was his portrayal as Truman Computer Capote.

[John Sklaroff]

Right.

[Andrew Walsh]

That made her think that would involve.

[John Sklaroff]

My mom watching a Truman Capote biopic.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, she wouldn't. Oh, really? I thought.

[John Sklaroff]

No, I don't think she wouldn't on principle. Certainly if they had it for free at the library, she would check it out. But like.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I mean, if you're watching Doubt, like doubt.

[John Sklaroff]

That's a good point.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is that the one that's specifically based on the Boston Globes reporting into the scandal?

[John Sklaroff]

That was coming into the corner of my brain, but then I stopped it. I pushed it out, Andrew, because I don't know if I'm right about that.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think that had Michael Keaton in it and there's a whole bunch of versions of Michael Keaton. He keeps on copying himself. I might be confessing that with a different.

[John Sklaroff]

Are you disrespecting my duplication investigation?

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the movie. It's Toys with Robin Williams.

[John Sklaroff]

That's other things that are great about Listener Hollywoo, Mike. Okay, 53% fresh on rotten Tomatoes. I have a wide selection of mini to many cables. I'd make an excellent junior bidet correspondent. I could use one on this show.

[Andrew Walsh]

I'm second.

[John Sklaroff]

I'm. I'm really behind enemy lines. Did you hear me and Andrew talking about it the other day, Mike? He's not interested.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that's right. Because Chris is our senior bidet correspondent. So he's saying Junior. Okay. I thought he was like trying to oust Chris. I'm like, I will.

[John Sklaroff]

And I will always remember Nicole Kidman's name. You say that, Mike, until you're talking into a microphone trying to remember her name.

[Andrew Walsh]

So you know, that one hurts a little bit, buddy. That one hurts.

[John Sklaroff]

But to be earnest, I would like to share these wide words, wise words rather, from Nick Cave, which have inspired me during this challenging time. Quote. Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act as small as you like says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in remaining hopeful with TBTL Signed listener Mike. Wow, that's a really. That's a really beautiful thought. I feel like, you know, I was never. I was never somebody who totally got the Nick Cave music experience, you know, like, I saw him at the Hollywood bowl because I was going with people cooler than me who really loved the music. I think he's an interesting character as time has gone on. I think he's a very interesting writer and almost sort of public intellectual, you know, Like, I've become a really big fan of him over the years, but not, not that I can name more than two of his songs, but just as a person in the world, I think he's so interesting.

[Andrew Walsh]

The only thing I know about him, aside from what you've already set up, which is like all the cool kids listen to Nick Cave and then I never quite got into him, is I'm pretty sure Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are the band that appear in the movie Wings of Desire.

[John Sklaroff]

Oh, Vimvenders.

[Andrew Walsh]

Vim Vendors. Are you. Have you familiar with this? They later made it as an American, but has Peter Falk in it. Peter Falk plays a role in that as well. I think he's kind of a Columbo esque character, although actually he might show a little bit more range than that. But it's about these two, like kind of, I guess, modern day angels that watch. Watch over the city. Have you seen this?

[John Sklaroff]

Then they remade it with Nick Cage and they said.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes, they did. They remade it. And I'm trying to remember, is that called City of Angels? Is that what it was called?

[John Sklaroff]

I think it was called City of Angels. See, because that's what they call Los Angeles.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, but is that maybe Meg Ryan, who plays the other lead in that?

[John Sklaroff]

Very possibly. I thought you were going to say Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Bad Seeds once played at the peach pit on 90210.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, that would have been amazing.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, and I could have seen that happening, by the way. I mean, one of the Ways that Nick Cave kind of became big in the lore of TBTL was there was a period of time where he was getting play on MTV and they nominated him for some sort of MTV award. And he wrote this hilarious letter very graciously thanking MTV for the attention, but turning down the nomination because of how he thought it would essentially ruin his creativity. And somehow he managed to do this in a way that was actually humble and funny, not just being kind of a pompous jerk or thinking he was too good for mtv. But I remember that. So in that period of time when MTV is nominating, you know, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for things, it could have been the case that they could have popped up on an episode of 90219.

[Andrew Walsh]

Do you think that Hollywoo Mike is encouraged and inspired and impressed that I remembered Meg Ryan's name? And not only did I remember her name, I was absolutely right. It's Nic Cage and Meg Ryan in City of the Animation.

[John Sklaroff]

It's all about Andrew. You know what it's all about? Dividing and conquering. His job is to remember Nicole Kidman's name. Or Kidman, your job is to remember Meg Ryan's name. We just need one person to remember every name. So for each name there is to remember, we need a new staffer on tbtl, and their job is just to remember that one person's name.

[Andrew Walsh]

We are going to run out of money fast. We need more dazzling donors now because we are hiring more people. Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

Very good pitch. That's a good sales pitch for the continued donations from folks like Mike. Thanks again, Hollywood. We appreciate you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[John Sklaroff]

Our top story today, Andrew, is that it's another Friday, and that means it's another round of the great TBTL billboard hunt. Many people were wondering if I would bring this awesome intro to Chicago with me. Andrew and I just answered that question. I absolutely did. To help us with this is our friend and colleague and TBTL employee numero uno, John Sklara.

[Andrew Walsh]

I like to party. Do you like to party?

[John Sklaroff]

Welcome to the show, buddy.

[Listener Mike]

Hey, guys. How's it going?

[Andrew Walsh]

Good.

[John Sklaroff]

Pretty good. All right. Can you. I sort of reset this at the top of the show. I'm guessing most of the people that are hearing us right now are kind of up to speed on what we're doing. But can you remind us for the few, maybe we got a new listener this week. I don't know.

[Listener Mike]

Maybe.

[John Sklaroff]

What are we up to with this? Like, what. What. What. What is the. What is the. The project? What have the clues been laid on to me?

[Listener Mike]

Yeah. So the great TBTL billboard hunt is that we are putting up a billboard somewhere in America and we're doing a little contest where people can figure out, based on the clues we're giving out, where specifically it's going to be like a specific locale, not just like a state or a region, like a specific place.

[John Sklaroff]

Do they need the cross streets?

[Andrew Walsh]

No, no. I.

[Listener Mike]

My criteria is zip code. Like if you can give it. If the place has a zip code. That's what I'm looking for.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, well, but we want the name of the.

[Listener Mike]

Yeah, well, yeah, but like, I mean, like a cross street. Well, yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

Is it 90210? Is that the zip code?

[Listener Mike]

It is.

[John Sklaroff]

Was I allowed to say that?

[Listener Mike]

Can I. I don't know. Can we. Can I respond to that? I don't know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can we afford a billboard?

[John Sklaroff]

Absolutely not.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know too. I know.

[Listener Mike]

During award season or whatever. Or was. Aren't the Emmys coming up? Aren't.

[Andrew Walsh]

That would have been an idea. What if we had done a four year consideration billboard.

[Listener Mike]

Yeah, but that would.

[John Sklaroff]

Let's see how the fun. That would have been actually really funny. I mean, literally the entire budget of the show. Yeah. All the money that the show has in the world that is supposed to.

[Andrew Walsh]

Be used and we'd have to find. We'd have to fire John. Yeah, well. Yeah, well, but then we're hiring Mike though, so I. I don't know, I have it all written down somewhere.

[John Sklaroff]

But. Yeah, that would actually have been pretty amazing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Not to undermine you, John, but I don't want people like writing in, like with, with 07115 or whatever like that. What we're looking for is the name of a town, a city, a village. It's just we're looking for the name of the location, but you know, whether or not it's a city or a village or a town or a, you know, what do they call it when you're an unincorporated. Yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

Or like a designated place or something.

[Listener Mike]

Yeah, I just met zip code. Like it's a, It's a specific place. It's not like a county or like a state or whatever.

[John Sklaroff]

And we're trying to also be a little vague because if we say, if we use a specific term for the place as like town, city, metropolis, village, if we use one, then it kind of narrows it down. So we're trying. Correct. Part of why we're being so weird and vague about it is because we're trying to, you know, make this fun and not give it away, but the.

[Andrew Walsh]

Name of the name of the place, the name of the place or the area.

[John Sklaroff]

And the person who answers correctly first will win a small miniature version of the billboard. Have we decided if we're going to sign this or not? Like if we're going to autograph the back of it with a Sharpie, the three of us.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is there room?

[Listener Mike]

There could be room. Depends on how big your guys increase.

[John Sklaroff]

Or decrease the value of this novelty billboard.

[Listener Mike]

I mean, I guess it's the value is deemed by the person receiving it what the value they place on it. So that'd be up to the.

[John Sklaroff]

I feel like anybody who is listening to this and is actually going to be the first correct guess based on the clues we've given so far has to be pretty deep in the TBT lore and would probably enjoy again, this is assuming a lot, but that they probably enjoy our. Our signatures on the back of the board. Maybe we can ask the winner if they'd like us to do that.

[Andrew Walsh]

They want to win a miniature TBTL billboard, but they're not that into tbtl.

[John Sklaroff]

They're not signatures of it.

[Listener Mike]

What if they say, Luke, we just want Andrew to sign it. Would you be able to handle that?

[John Sklaroff]

Honestly, at this point, yes. Ten years ago, No, I have something inside me died a few years ago and I no longer. I don't take anything personally anymore.

[Andrew Walsh]

If it saves you a trip to the post office. Exactly.

[John Sklaroff]

Sort of some kind of fire went out in me a while ago and I'm just very fine with everything now. Okay, so can we go through the. Do we want to go through the guesses? Let's go through the hints so far. Right. And then we'll go through the guesses and then we'll lay the, the latest hint on people. Is that how we should do this?

[Listener Mike]

That works for me. So the, the, the. The clues to date. Number one, it's, it's in the United States.

[John Sklaroff]

Okay, good.

[Listener Mike]

Number two is you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Don'T mean to bug you.

[Listener Mike]

So that's the audio clue. Thank you, Bono. Number three, Luke and Andrew almost hitchhike through the state it's in and that's where we. That's where we are as of today.

[John Sklaroff]

Nice. Yeah. So in the US something related to Bono saying am I bugging you? And then. Which led some people to bug tussle, which was not.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Great guess though.

[John Sklaroff]

That's a great guess. Not correct, but a great guess. And then, and then like you said, John, the, the fact that we in the classic TBTL fashion almost did something right. That's really, that's the TBTL storytelling advantage. I almost bought a bowling alley. We almost hitchhiked through the state wherein this place is located. So this really is a show about almost what sort of guesses have been rolling in.

[Listener Mike]

So we've had a lot. Again, people are really focusing on the Bono of it. And I think I said this last week, week, don't focus so much on YouTube specifically focus. This is an actual hint. Focus on the thing he's kind of hinting at because we got Dublin, Ohio, Dublin, Texas and Dublin, Arkansas. There's a lot of Dublin's in the.

[John Sklaroff]

US There's a Dublin, California where I was chased by coyotes.

[Listener Mike]

There you go. So there's some people are really thinking Dublin, but it's not, it's not any place called Dublin.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is it Vegas? Because I can go there and be Dublin. My money. Ooh, sorry, that's.

[John Sklaroff]

It's not. Also, it is not Joshua Tree, which was another thing.

[Listener Mike]

There's also several towns or cities across America called Bono or Bono, depending on how they pronounce it. It's not. Those people also guessed Andrew because this I think plays into the clue from last week. Like the middle part of America. A lot of people were guessing like Valley City or Cleveland.

[Andrew Walsh]

Interesting.

[John Sklaroff]

That's a really good guess and a good idea. Yeah, incorrect, but a good idea. Like we could have done it, you know, by Liverpool elementary or something.

[Andrew Walsh]

I will say we should at some point try to attend the frog jump competition in Valley.

[Listener Mike]

Sure.

[Andrew Walsh]

At the Valley City Street Fair some summer.

[John Sklaroff]

It's only a matter of time before I'm doing a CBS Sunday Morning. Let me look at it. Sunday Morning written all.

[Andrew Walsh]

I have a feeling it's going to fall too much in line with when our, when our fundraiser thon is anyway.

[John Sklaroff]

Well, next year I can go out there and scream at the PR person like I like to do on these stories. Now you haven't caught up to that story yet, John, but it's not great.

[Listener Mike]

Not great.

[John Sklaroff]

Not great. Not great for your old colleague burbs, but okay, so people were guessing Andrew's hometown. Not, not the place where it is.

[Listener Mike]

But I'll give you one more guess. I don't think this by default, like the question was like you guys almost hit, almost hitchhiked there, but you did hitchhike to Jamie in Mississippi's place. Wasn't that the point? Because I love this guess where somebody wrote in quote, the city of Mississippi where Jamie with a chicken draw lives. So I, I really appreciate that as an answer. But like. Well, based on the clue, it just.

[John Sklaroff]

Here's the way that that could actually be correct. It isn't correct. But the way in which that could be slightly correct is. We did have to bail on the hitchhiking plan because we were not making fast enough progress. First we had some weather issues. Then we ended up in like. We took a bus. It was a real planes, trains, and automobiles kind of a thing. We hitchhiked a significant portion, but then we also. There was like a rainstorm and then we somehow were on a bus and then we were. And then we had a rental car. That was when we were listening to the Mariners late into the night. Anderson. I believe we actually cruised into Mississippi in a car. So that could have been how they interpreted. Almost hitchhiked to this point.

[Listener Mike]

So that's technically.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, that's almost. We almost stuck with the plan, but then we didn't.

[Listener Mike]

Great answer. Just the city with a chicken draw.

[Andrew Walsh]

I love that.

[John Sklaroff]

Also, you could. Could have gone on Facebook and probably found Jamie and asked Jamie what town.

[Listener Mike]

Yeah. For the record, Columbus, Mississippi.

[John Sklaroff]

Right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Columbus. Yes. I always say it wrong.

[John Sklaroff]

I think I. I want to say Columbia.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I think I said it wrong.

[Listener Mike]

Last time, but that's Missouri. Right?

[John Sklaroff]

It's Columbia, Missouri. I'm sure there's a Columbia in every state. Sure. So it's not that either.

[Listener Mike]

So that's some of the guesses. There was also another shout out somebody. Personal appreciation. I forget the state, but there was another Utica that someone guessed. It's not Utica in. I think it was maybe Texas or something. It wasn't.

[John Sklaroff]

That actually would be pretty funny if we did, like put a steamed hams billboard up in Utica or something. Not.

[Listener Mike]

So that was another guess. So those are some of the guesses from this past week. We had some others, but those are some of my favorites.

[John Sklaroff]

Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right.

[John Sklaroff]

People are, though, would you say. Oh, I'm sorry, Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, I was just saying. Yeah, we haven't gotten there yet, but we are. We are. Was this. We're going to ask Lucas. So it sounds like people are kind of circling it. Right. Getting ever nearer.

[John Sklaroff]

That's what I was going to ask. Are people do. You're the one looking at the responses. John, does it seem like people are getting warmer?

[Listener Mike]

I will say this without giving anything away. There's a couple that seem to have been pretty close. I don't want to say anything more than that because that might give it away. But. But there's definitely a few guesses. I There's one person who sent in a few guesses, and a lot of people have sent in multiple guesses, but one person. I'm like, you know, I know not to. To besmirch Genevieve. Andrew, she was down on the tens and thinking nobody would get this. I am looking. I'm eyeing 110 in particular, who's based on their progression of guesses. I'm like, this might be the person that gets it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I would like to. I would like to. I would like to clear up Genevieve's name a little bit here. She did not not believe in the tens. She didn't believe in me. And the clues that we came up with. I'm being dead serious here. She didn't say the tens aren't gonna get this. She said, especially the Bono clue. When I played it for her and then told her why I think it's a clue, she said, that's not a clue. That's the opposite of a clue. That is something that makes it harder to guess, which I agree with her on. But she was not besmirching the 10. She was.

[Listener Mike]

Okay, sorry, us, please. I retract my statement.

[John Sklaroff]

There'd be no confusion about. It remains my favorite clue of the entire. It's literally the thing that makes me want to do this competition is just hearing him say that thing. Okay, so does that mean we are now at the part of the show where we can hear the latest clue, clue number four?

[Listener Mike]

I mean, unless you guys have anything else. I think so, yeah.

[John Sklaroff]

All right, here we go.

[Listener Mike]

Oh, you go to the short drum roll.

[Andrew Walsh]

The man who brought the rocket rollers.

[John Sklaroff]

I just figured we had time.

[Andrew Walsh]

We did.

[John Sklaroff]

All right, what is clue number four?

[Listener Mike]

John is in a place that features one of Andrew's favorite things and one of Andrew's least favorite things.

[Andrew Walsh]

Whoa. Okay, I'll repeat.

[Listener Mike]

Should I repeat that? Because it's a little word. It's in a place that features one of Andrew's favorite things and one of Andrew's least favorite things.

[Andrew Walsh]

This clue represents sort of the entire state that it's.

[John Sklaroff]

That's what I was gonna say. We're gonna say it's in a state.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is that a state that is well known for something that I like and something that I definitely don't like?

[Listener Mike]

That's the.

[John Sklaroff]

There you go.

[Listener Mike]

That's a cleaner way.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah. And. And. And this is fine, because we are, at this point, kind of hoping that people are getting close because we don't have that many more hints.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. Let's talk about this. And it turns out, it might be going up sooner rather than later. And by the time we have you on the show for clue number five, next week, this thing might be in the world. We may have birthed a sign by the next time we see your face.

[Listener Mike]

That's a really weird way of putting it, but yes.

[John Sklaroff]

What do we think the chances are that before we meet again to do this next week, someone. Let's just say the sign goes up. Let's just say for the sake of argument. Argument. Somebody drives by it.

[Andrew Walsh]

A listener of ours.

[John Sklaroff]

A listener of ours. Yeah. Somebody will drive by it regardless. But I listened out in the world drives by it and notes it and, like, takes a picture. That would be incredible.

[Listener Mike]

Can we just say right here, right now, if. If you do, don't spoil it for everyone. Can we say that, like, send in your. Send in your answer, but don't, like, post on the slack page, like, here it is.

[John Sklaroff]

I kind of feel like you might win the contest.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I feel like you take my place on the show.

[Listener Mike]

Okay, fine.

[John Sklaroff]

If you kill Andrew, you replace Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. You. You break me. You bought me. But no, I mean, if somebody. And also, like, again, we're being so cagey about this, and you can just tell that we want.

[John Sklaroff]

So, Andrew, there's a novelty billboard on the line. Are you not talking this seriously?

[Andrew Walsh]

More and more about this? But also, I will just say it is amazing how we are finally getting this billboard and how little it does to promote what we're doing. That is gonna be the big reveal. So if a motorist who happens to be listening to TBTL while they drive by, they see this, there's still a chance that they might not recognize it as a TVTL billboard. Potentially.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah, that's a good point too, Andrew. I didn't even think about that. We have designed such an incredibly.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's so bad.

[John Sklaroff]

Such an incredib, unuseful promotional tool that people will probably even listeners, if they looked at it, would not even clock it for what it is.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's the. I'm bugging you of billboards.

[Listener Mike]

Or you say, judd, I kept telling you guys, there's a bad use of advertising dollars to just put up Spiros billboard somewhere in America.

[John Sklaroff]

I mean, but just imagine the person who drives by that in a town or city or metropolis or hamlet that doesn't have a Spiros. This is a comedy. It writes itself.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I tell you guys a quick update on Spiros? First of all, Luke, one time on this show we were talking about that really Trendy, at least trendy of a few years ago, but, like, pretty trendy. Pizza place that's, like, relatively new in Seattle called Moto Pizza. Right? Like, they're the cool kids in town, sort of. And there, I think it might have been Pizza Floyd or Pepperoni Floyd who sent in. Or no, Lloyd, rather Lloyd. Pepperoni Lloyd, who sent in a little valentine that the Moto Pizza people produced on Instagram of them enjoying Spiros pizza, which was pretty heartwarming. And. And I don't think you know this, Luke, but a friend of ours was at some sort of a. A gathering. I want to say it was even maybe a funeral recently, and there were some industry bigwigs there. When I say industry, I believe I'm talking about the restaurant industry. And who was there but SP himself, I believe the person who runs Spiro Pizza and she was tempted to tell him that his billboard launched an entire billboard campaign for a podcast. But I believe that it was a.

[John Sklaroff]

Funeral, because I think I saw this person posting on Instagram, if you're at a Greek funeral and you're offered a shot, do it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay. Yeah, so it was a funeral. Yeah, I think that was it as well. So, anyway, Spiros is looming large, and we still have not taken over their billboard.

[John Sklaroff]

But for the record, our billboard is not a Spiros billboard.

[Listener Mike]

No, that was a bad joke.

[John Sklaroff]

It does say tbt. Barely.

[Andrew Walsh]

It does. It does. Yes, it does. Yes.

[John Sklaroff]

I'm proud of it. Honestly, I, I, I have never looked at the billboard design and not laughed out loud. And I looked at it 50 times.

[Andrew Walsh]

At this point, I know there are more people in my life who have seen the billboard design and are sworn to secrecy about it because I keep on pulling out my phone. I'm like, have you seen the billboard?

[John Sklaroff]

All right, so there you go. It's in America. It's somehow related to Bono asking if he's bugging someone. It's in a place that we almost hitchhiked through the state, and it's in a state that is very famous for something Andrew loves and something Andrew does not love.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, there we go, everybody.

[John Sklaroff]

Sweet.

[Andrew Walsh]

We should definitely get locked down by the next time we see you in the final clue as well.

[Listener Mike]

Yes, I hope so.

[Andrew Walsh]

And there's always one.

[John Sklaroff]

I think somebody might guess it. I think if somebody gets to the state, they're going to get to the location.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I think so, too.

[Listener Mike]

That's a real possibility.

[John Sklaroff]

We shall see.

[Andrew Walsh]

And also like knowing that it potentially could go up because I guess the Boundaries or the timing is a little bit loose. But it would be really interesting if somebody decides I'm going to find this billboard just by driving every road in America.

[John Sklaroff]

I mean, that's one way to do it.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Listener Mike]

That's commitment.

[John Sklaroff]

Absolutely.

[Andrew Walsh]

Driving.

[John Sklaroff]

I was going to say you could do like maybe Google street view, but that would involve the Google car going past the billboard.

[Listener Mike]

What's the Google car? Person is a listener and they call in with the answer.

[John Sklaroff]

That would be cheap. Cheating.

[Listener Mike]

That's cheating.

[John Sklaroff]

Yeah. Because it's your job to drive around and look at things and then you drive around and look at the billboard. It just feels like, you know, you guys, it just feels like you're already just doing your normal job.

[Andrew Walsh]

You guys, we need the Google car to capture the billboard. I need. Once the billboard goes up, I need it to be the official billboard that appears when you look this up on Google Maps.

[John Sklaroff]

Anybody know Larry Page or Sergey Brin?

[Andrew Walsh]

I need this so badly right now.

[John Sklaroff]

That would be incredible. Well, you know, it will be up for a little while. So it's not a zero. You know, it's a non zero chance.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, let's get the build new campaign. Let's get the billboard up. We'll tell everybody, like, once it's revealed where it is, and then we'll start calling on listeners to call in every favor that they have with people at.

[John Sklaroff]

Google to see if that would be absolutely incredible. I would love for that to be when you go to this location, what you see so. Well, John, thanks. Thanks for running this contest and thanks for being part of tbtl. Man.

[Listener Mike]

Next week, it's either clue five or we announce the winner, I guess.

[John Sklaroff]

Nice. Yeah. Excellent.

[Andrew Walsh]

That sounds good. And, Luke, I know you're a little bit tight on time. Should we go ahead and fire this music or did you have more music?

[John Sklaroff]

Yes, we should.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay, let's get.

[John Sklaroff]

Let's head on into the weekend.

[Andrew Walsh]

All right, then. All right, John, you're sticking around? I just wanted to make sure we didn't hang up on Jon awkwardly if we were just wrapping up the show there anyway.

[John Sklaroff]

In fact, if you guys want to keep doing the show while I'm gone, that's fine too.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think I'm good to you.

[John Sklaroff]

I don't have anything to talk about.

[Listener Mike]

My fantasy baseball team manager.

[Andrew Walsh]

Actually, I do. I do.

[John Sklaroff]

But I don't want to hear the word base or ball anywhere near each other until further notice. All right, that's gonna bring us to the end of our broadcast week. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Thanks for spending this time with us and making TBTL a possibility because we really like having this for our jobs. We will be back on Monday with more imaginary radio for you all. So in the meantime, have a great weekend. Take care of yourselves. John, what is the name of your fantasy baseball team?

[Listener Mike]

The Mighty Grasshoppers.

[John Sklaroff]

Go Mighty Grasshoppers. Thank you. And please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all. Don't you know your directions?

[Listener Mike]

It's real easy.

[Andrew Walsh]

West, right backwards yonder.

[Listener Mike]

You didn't even see east.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's cuz the earth face east, dumbass.

[John Sklaroff]

Power out.