Podcast Summary: TBTL #4557 - “Immediate No with Jen Andrews”

Date: September 18, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank, Andrew Walsh
Guest: Jen “Flash” Andrews

Episode Overview

This episode reunites the TBTL crew with beloved original co-host Jen “Flash” Andrews for a lively blend of classic banter, generational trends, TV critique, and candid life stories. Centering on the theme of aging, fitting in (or not), and saying “immediate no” to the things that don’t serve you, the conversation moves effortlessly from nostalgia for TBTL’s early days, fashion and fitness fads, and snack foods, to the changing landscape of TV, true friendship, and the power of clear boundaries. It’s a funny, warm, and very “classic TBTL” listen.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Revisiting TBTL Memories & On-Air Nostalgia

• Jen marvels at hearing old-school TBTL audio drops and wonders if listeners remember their live reenactments of classic TV.
• Luke shares: “You’d be surprised at how little we’ve progressed in the last, I don’t know, 15 years… those are still the drops we’re using.” (04:00)
• Stories about old “TBTL Players” skits—especially one disastrous attempt at “The A-Team”—spark a discussion of changing views about “problematic” content and shifting awareness:

  “This is how the woke mind virus has taken me over… I immediately thought, well, one of the stars of ‘The A-Team’ is Black. Please God, tell me we did not have someone trying to be Mr. T.” – Luke (06:46)

2. Aging, Fitness, and Fashion Trends

• Luke’s accidental entry into a high school cross country meet (08:17):
  • Humorous account of finding himself running among high schoolers, relishing the crowd’s encouragement, and recalling how young people perceive anyone over 28 as ancient.

  “I was kind of pretending it was for me… never felt so alive.” – Luke (11:36)

  • Jen notes how, to teenagers, adults are simply “that really old guy.” (11:49)
• Weighted Vests & Granny Time
  • Jen explains the explosion of weighted vests among women in their 50s: “You have to have a weighted vest. How much weight do you have in it?” (14:30)
  • Relates it to muscle loss in menopause and resistance to giving into fads—while admitting she’ll inevitably cave:

    “There’s something in me that’s like, I’m not going to do it… but I know it’s coming for me.” – Jen (19:05)

• Fashion Reluctance but Eventual Surrender (Barrel Jeans & Jorts Edition)
  • Both resist new trends until exposure therapy (or Stockholm Syndrome) wears them down.

    “Now the idea of skinny jeans...if you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t put skinny jeans on…and yet, talk to me in 20 years…” – Luke (16:05)

• Girls’ Weekend: Dietary Identities
  • Jen describes a “girls’ weekend” where every attendee brought her own unique eating constraints (no seed oils, no food dye, no oxalates or “obesogens,” one woman subsisting on sardines and protein powders, another only eating See’s Candies when hungry).
  • Luke’s incredulous response:

    “God, this sounds like a fun weekend.” (21:14)

  • Jen still follows Michael Pollan’s “eat what your grandmother would recognize as food” guideline (22:03).

3. Modern Eating Habits and Homemade Food

• Luke describes his new resolve to eat unprocessed foods and cook his own meals, a marked shift from his prior cycles of fad dieting:

  “I just had to reacquaint myself with real food that is initially not quite as exciting…” (23:14)

• Both reflect on their changing relationship with food—moving away from exciting processed items like Cool Ranch Doritos toward real, less intensely flavored sustenance.

4. Donor Shout-Outs and Changing Podcast Economics

• The hosts thank listeners directly for supporting the show, noting a move away from ad-driven revenue to community support (29:25).

5. TV & Pop Culture — From Emmy Bits to Task and Beyond

• The Emmys & Nate Bargatze Hosting
  • Discussion of a controversial Emmys bit: money deducted from a charity donation for long speeches. Both viewed it as clearly a bit, but Jen felt it ran too long; both liked Nate Bargatze but found his “aw shucks” persona a little forced in this context. (31:18–34:30)
• Network Caution & Safe Choices
  • Luke notes: “This was an extremely safe choice for CBS…conservative America is not threatened by [Nate Bargatze] in any way, shape, or form.” (34:08)
• First Reactions to HBO’s “Task”
  • Luke found the Delco accent and “Philadelphia-ness” overwritten (“…every person that's talking at all times is Delco-ing out the hardest,” 37:51), while Jen really enjoyed the pilot for its characters and setup (38:42).
• Late Night Landscape and Kimmel Controversy
  • Discussion of the growing irrelevance and political vulnerability of late night shows, with Kimmel’s removal appearing more political than Colbert’s cancellation.
  • Both bemoan the chilling effect of administration pressure and the disappearance of late night as a cultural staple, though admit they primarily catch highlights on TikTok now. (42:47–44:34)
  • Jen: “I wanna feel sad about it except that I also really haven’t watched…it just feels stale.” (42:56)

6. Immediate No: Owning Your Preferences and Boundaries

• The group text tradition: borrowing Bieber’s “immediate no” as the gold standard for setting boundaries, particularly in social and friend group settings (56:01).

  “I would rather just do that…and all of us agreed, we’re not going to hurt each other’s feelings. I don’t want to do that. It’s an immediate no.” – Jen (56:11)

Notable Quotes & Moments (With Timestamps)

• Jen’s Rewriting of Familiar Sayings (00:00)
  “You can’t teach an old dog because they’re too old and they can’t listen to you because they could be deaf… Two wrongs don’t make it better. A picture is worth less than a person you love. … Don’t cry over anything.” – Jen Andrews

• On Old School TBTL: (04:00)
  “You’d be surprised at how little we’ve progressed in the last, I don’t know, 15 years since you were doing the show on the regular.” – Luke

• Fashion Reluctance: (16:05)
  “Now the idea of skinny jeans…if you put a gun to my head, I wouldn’t put skinny jeans on …and yet, talk to me in 20 years if I’m still here, and I’ll be the only guy at the old age home in the skinny jeans.” – Luke

• Weighted Vest Reluctance: (19:05)
  “There’s something in me that’s like, I’m not going to do it… but I know it’s coming for me.” – Jen

• Girls’ Weekend Dietary Chaos: (20:19)
  “She used two words that I thought she made up and was laughing because I thought it was a funny joke. One of them was oxalates, and the other was obesogens.” – Jen
  “This was her system... she would eat a See’s candy… so filling. …she wasn’t eating any calories but lived on coffee and See’s candy.” – Jen (24:50)

• On Cooking Energizing Food at Home: (23:14)
  “It’s been kind of a shift for me… I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself. I just had to reacquaint myself with real food that is initially not quite as exciting.” – Luke

• On the Rise and Fall of Late Night TV: (42:47)
  “Are we… we’re not going to have late night television shows in five years… all the monologues are kind of the same… it all feels a little boring to me.” – Jen

• “Immediate No” Philosophy: (56:11)
  “It’s immediately no. I’ve seen what I have to see. And the answer is immediately no.” – Jen, recounting the Bieber phrase

TV & Streaming Recommendations

• The Diplomat (Netflix, with Keri Russell): Jen recommends as “the best thing I saw last year.” (47:36)
• Department Q: “Scottish murder, police department, cold case” — perfect for British TV lovers and anyone who enjoys crime procedurals with an accent. (48:04)
• PBS’s Miss Scarlet and the Duke: “She’s a PI in 1800s London, he’s the chief of police. Obviously secretly in love but mostly solving mysteries.” (49:56)
• Fisk (Netflix): Australian comedy with office vibes and a unique absurdist touch (50:41)

Memorable Tangents & Classic TBTL Humor

• Jen’s “granny time” fears about falling, burning granola, and leaving instructions for her husband in case something happens to her (13:22)
• Luke’s story about the See’s Candy segment and receiving his own lab coat (26:40)
• Luke’s disastrous attempt to introduce his parents to “Sexy Beast”—not the family-friendly Ben Kingsley fare he remembered (51:09)
• Lady Carnarvon and the awkward Egyptology add-on at Downton Abbey/Highclere (52:05–55:12)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Jen’s hilarious proverb rewrites | | 03:25 | Jen returns, TBTL nostalgia | | 08:17 | Luke’s accidental cross country meet | | 14:30 | Weighted vests, menopause & muscle loss | | 19:05 | Fashion fads—barrel jeans, jorts, Jenko jeans | | 19:32 | Girls weekend: dietary restrictions run wild | | 22:03 | Michael Pollan’s “eat what your grandmother ate” | | 29:09 | Donor thank-yous and podcast funding meta | | 31:18 | Emmys review—Bargatze, Boys & Girls Club bit | | 37:51 | Task: Philly overload vs. authenticity in TV | | 42:47 | The decline/pressure on late night TV | | 56:01 | “Immediate no” policy in friend groups |

Overall Tone and Language

Classic TBTL: warm, self-deprecating, filled with inside jokes and recurring language (“granny time,” “nerd level,” “power out”), plus candid, nonjudgmental talk about real life, anxieties, and the strange ways we all cope with change, age, and group dynamics.

Takeaway

You’re not the only one resisting cultural change—nor the only one surrendering. If you want to feel less alone in avoiding weighted vests, wondering what to make for dinner, questioning media, or just wanting to say “immediate no” more often, this episode is pure comfort food.

Sign-off:
“Please remember: No mountain too tall.” “And good luck to all.”