TBTL #4576: Who Killed Bugs Meany?

Date: October 15, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh

Episode Overview

In this episode of TBTL, Luke and Andrew dive into the art of dog-sitting, surreal TV plotlines, the AI “Sora” video generator, baseball playoff superstitions, and the saga of a stolen Sinclair dinosaur statue. With their hallmark mix of gentle ribbing, pop-culture obsessions, and local lore, they riff on everything from 1990s Columbo episodes to the existential threat of AI-generated deepfakes. Mariners’ post-season hopes and misadventures also get prime time, wrapped in a mélange of camp songs, commercials, and listener calls.

Key Discussions, Insights & Segments

1. Life Without Baseball Is Weird

• [01:44] Luke laments the off-day in the Mariners’ schedule and how it leaves him adrift, turning instead to TV binging.
• [03:09] Andrew marks the three-year anniversary of adopting his cat Bingo and the anniversary of a historic 18-inning Mariners game.

2. Pet Anxiety, Dog-Sitting & The “Chain Link” Addiction

• [04:05 – 10:14]
  • Andrew worries his anxious tendencies might “rub off” on dogs he watches for the neighbors.
  • Luke suggests anxiety is more contagious in human children than in dogs, igniting a nature-vs-nurture pet debate.
  • Andrew muses about dog personalities and recounts his odd affinity for chain link fences.
  • Notable exchange:
    • Andrew [09:06]: “I have this compulsion, almost an addiction to Chain Link, have I ever told you about that before?”
    • Luke [09:12]: “You’re a grateful Chain Link addict in recovery.”

3. Monosyllabic Dog Names & Card Games With Dogs

• [10:04 – 11:01]
  • Discussion of dog names (“Goose,” “Flea”) and the humor of naming dogs after other animals.
  • Andrew and Genevieve spend their pet-sitting evening playing cards and watching Columbo with the dogs.

4. Columbo, Faye Dunaway, and Peter Falk's Horn Dog Episode

• [11:01 – 20:09]
  • The duo breakdown an “unhinged” late-era Columbo episode starring Faye Dunaway and penned by Peter Falk.
  • Falk’s character goes against type—“Columbo makes out with Faye Dunaway in this so much. At one point, he's like...wiping this lipstick off. Like, we’re like, what happened to Mrs. Columbo?” – Andrew [13:01]
  • Plot summary involves a chair company, mother-daughter murder, and classic noir twists.

5. TV Binging: “The Chair Company” & The Week-to-Week Streaming Debate

• [21:13 – 26:32]
  • Luke reviews “The Chair Company,” a new HBO show by “I Think You Should Leave” creators, appreciating its oddity but withholding spoilers for Andrew.
  • Deep dive into streaming models: HBO’s week-to-week release format vs. Netflix’s binge drop.

6. Baseball Playoff Coverage: Streaming Rights & Uncanny Shohei Ohtani Ads

• [27:11 – 34:51]
  • Luke finds himself watching live baseball on HBO and discusses the surreality of AI-filtered, stadium-side Shohei Ohtani ads.
  • Andrew and Luke debate whether those giant animated athlete billboards are MLB- or team-contracted and bemoan the intrusion of rivals’ likenesses behind home plates.

7. Documentary Watch: “The Alabama Solution”

• [34:51 – 39:26]
  • Luke shares impressions of Andrew Jarecki’s documentary on Alabama’s prison injustice, emphasizing the lifeline cell phones provide for organizing and visibility:
  • “You finished the movie thinking, like, I can’t believe this is happening in this country.” – Luke [38:49]
  • Suggests watching it as a companion piece to lighten/darken the mood after comedies like “Chair Company.”

8. Commercials & Podcast Structure: Curveballs and Dead Eyes

• [39:26 – 47:53]
  • Andrew walks Luke through a baseball-themed “Indeed” ad, then rants (humorously) about the misapplied baseball metaphors.
  • Luke spots Connor Ratliff (from the “Dead Eyes” podcast) playing Henry VIII in a State Farm ad.
  • Extended discussion on the pros, cons, and psychology of “seasons” in podcasting, referencing Ratliff’s Tom Hanks odyssey.

9. Podcasting & Radio: The Flow & The Show Never Ends

• [47:53 – 50:56]
  • Andrew recalls a radio program director’s philosophy: don’t signal to listeners when a show ends—just let the conversation flow.
  • “Don’t ever give the audience a chance to look away because there’s just always another one coming down the pipe.” – Luke [50:56]

10. Listener Shoutouts & Trivia: Sisters Chicken Origins

• [51:26 – 54:45]
  • A run through donor names, with a sidebar on “Sisters Chicken and Biscuits”—an Ohio-based franchise once owned by Wendy’s.

11. AI Deepfakes Get Real: The “Sora” App & The End of Trusting Your Eyes

• [55:52 – 68:45]
  • Luke and Andrew react with amusement (and mounting horror) to the Sora AI video generator and its viral clips—Tony Hawking on a skateboard ramp, Mr. Rogers roasting Tupac in faux interviews.
  • Andrew plays a Mr. Rogers–Tupac Sora clip
    • “You love these guys and you love these guys together. You immediately love their fake friendship.” – Andrew [61:57]
  • Notable Quote:
    • “If this stuff is starting to fool me, we got some, some real problems.” – Luke [68:45]
  • Discussion turns serious, considering the societal threat of not believing anything you see anymore.

12. Moral Panics, Propaganda, and “Who Killed Bugs Meany?”

• [68:45 – 75:39]
  • They relate modern-day deepfake anxieties to historic panics—comic books, Elvis, MTV, etc.—but concede this moment feels existentially different.
  • Andrew: “There’s already this widening gap between what people can agree on as being real... you’re throwing this on top of it. How can it not feel… terrifying?” [69:47]

13. The Saga of Claire the Sinclair Dinosaur

• [76:11 – 85:15]
  • Luke recounts the theft and community outcry over a beloved Sinclair dinosaur statue (“Claire”) in Brentwood, CA.
  • With Jamie Lee Curtis joining the campaign, the dino is returned with an apology.
  • Correction laughter: the NYT corrects spelling Claire-with-an-E vs. Claire-without.
  • They riff on the inherent absurdity: “We are Sinclair rich around here.” – Luke [80:08]

14. Baseball (Mariners) Deep Dive: Hope, Curses, and Playoff Nerves

• [85:15 – 124:47]
  • The discussion pivots to Mariners superstitions, their “window” for a championship, and being perennial underdogs compared to Dodgers/Yankees outspending everyone.
  • Extended breakdown of player arcs: Naylor’s Hobbesque quirks, Geno’s struggles, Julio’s star turn (and skipping the All-Star Game for self-improvement).
  • Luke on Naylor: “He is gathering information…Even with that, Gino does not appear to be gathering any information.” [122:00]
  • Andrew confesses to baseball-history blind spots about the Mariners’ past division titles.
  • Game day anticipation: conflicted hope and the fear of “jinxing” a good team.

15. Listener Voicemail: Camp Songs & The Judgmental Moon

• [97:07 – 98:18]
  • Listener Laura from Wisconsin serenades the show with a moon-themed camp song, which Andrew and Luke dissect for its lunar shaming undertones:
  • “You’re kind of saying ‘Go back to bed and come out when we’re ready for you.’ …Does the moon not have autonomy?” – Andrew [98:31]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On anxiety and dogs:
  “I always worry, will I do that to a dog? And it’s honestly one of the reasons I didn’t want kids as well. I didn’t want them to pick up my worst qualities.” – Andrew [06:55]
• On AI dangers:
  “Anything that a person could possibly imagine as a scenario can now be created in a pretty believable way.” – Luke [67:06]
• On internet disbelief:
  “If we can’t even agree on the source material and then how we feel about that, we got some real problems.” – Luke [73:00]
• On Mariners’ playoff anxieties:
  “All roads lead me to thinking the Mariners are going to win by a lot. The very fact that I suspect that the Mariners might not win makes me think they’ll probably win.” – Luke [106:22]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00 – 03:09: Show open, post-Mariners malaise, cat anniversary
• 03:09 – 10:14: Pet-sitting and dog-parent anxiety
• 10:14 – 13:45: Dog names and Columbo, Faye Dunaway episode
• 21:13 – 26:32: “Chair Company” review & TV release model debate
• 27:11 – 34:51: Playoff baseball coverage, stadium ads, HBO streaming rights
• 34:51 – 39:26: “The Alabama Solution” documentary
• 39:26 – 47:53: Commercials (Indeed ad), podcast “seasons” & Dead Eyes
• 55:52 – 68:45: AI video generators (Sora), deepfake panic
• 68:45 – 75:39: Moral panics, media trust, political context
• 76:11 – 85:15: Sinclair dinosaur theft and recovery
• 85:15 – 124:47: Mariners playoffs, player vibes, predictions
• 97:07 – 98:18: Listener Laura’s camp moon song & analysis

Episode Tone

Conversational, witty, deeply self-referential, oscillating between playful banter (fake pet addictions, Columbo shipping, listener camp songs) and earnest cultural criticism (AI deepfakes, carceral injustice, baseball despair/hope).

For Listeners Skipping The Audio

This episode is a quintessential TBTL blend: pets and playoff baseball, ‘90s TV throwbacks, internet absurdities, and the slow encroachment of existential dread—glossed with inside jokes, boyish optimism, and the world’s best imaginary radio campfire.

Power Out!