TBTL Episode #4610 “There's An Ab For That”

Date: December 2, 2025
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh
Podcast: TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live

Episode Overview

In this characteristically meandering and hilarious episode, Luke and Andrew embody the TBTL ethos—taking listeners on an amiable journey from over-the-air TV nostalgia, to the perils (and pride) of aging family refrigerators, to the existential embarrassment of being shirtless on national television. Along the way, they deep-dive into the arcane world of net promoter scores, muse about beef stroganoff genealogy, and inadvertently discover the latest in abdominal surgical trends—ab implants. This is podcast comfort food in its purest form: familiar, amiably digressive, and studded with laughter.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Over-the-Air TV Rediscovery

• Andrew’s Antenna Revelation
  • Andrew shares that Genevieve recently picked up a digital antenna, and they discovered a bounty of over-the-air TV channels, far more than expected, bringing him back to his childhood days of coaxial cables and UHF dials.
  • Notable Moment: “It was cool, John. It was also theater.” ([08:09])—a callback to inside jokes and TV references.
  • Luke revels in the simplicity of the old TV experience, reminiscing about the satisfaction of flipping on live, local broadcast without digital hoops to jump through.
• Modern Channel Lineups
  • Andrew is especially delighted to discover dedicated channels like LAFF and that he can now “catch an ALF,” showing surprise at the trove of ‘90s sitcom reruns available for free.
  • The hosts marvel at the changing economics of TV syndication and question whether Jim Belushi is still making money off “According to Jim” reruns. Luke jokes about being able to text Belushi to find out. ([16:03])

2. Loyalty Points and Corporate Manipulation

• Hotel Points Anxiety
  • Andrew describes receiving increasingly desperate emails from a low-tier hotel chain about expiring loyalty points from a stay two years ago.
  • They riff on the absurdity of points systems and how companies manufacture urgency for negligible rewards.
  • Quote: “They could just set up their own point system where you need a million points to earn anything.” ([18:27])

3. Family Frugality and the Saga of the Stroganoff

• Leftover Ethics and Parental Habits
  • Luke narrates an epic tale of beef stroganoff, unveiling an elaborate timeline of how his family recycles leftovers—past the bounds of safety and taste.
  • The dish in question was made for a birthday, from ground beef “about to go bad,” and endured nearly two weeks in various refrigerators (including one that had stopped working).
  • Quote: “If you open the refrigerator and you put your hand in there, there was no discernible difference in the temperature of the outside...or the inside.” ([27:22])
• Food Waste, Guilt, and Salvage
  • Both hosts reflect on their evolving thresholds for food expiration, with Luke noting he’s “moving more towards mom” in terms of salvaging less-than-fresh ingredients.
  • They also discuss generational differences in how people treat food safety, waste, and leftovers.

4. Net Promoter Scores and Survey Frustration

• Customer Feedback Loops
  • Andrew recounts an encounter with a T-Mobile survey that interprets anything less than a 9 or 10 as negative feedback, sparking an overzealous follow-up from the company.
  • Listener Ian confirms this frustration, explaining the Net Promoter Score (NPS) system and its impact on retail employees.
  • Andrew: “It’s a broken system that only exists for corporations to rank retail chains and their employees.” ([57:04])

5. Embarrassment and The Abs Challenge

• Luke Faces Shirtless TV
  • Luke details the comedic, almost existential dread he faces having to be shirtless on CBS for a TV segment about Miami’s coral restoration efforts ([46:50]).
  • In a last-minute bid for courage (or tan), he jogs shirtless along Miami Beach, feeling self-conscious amidst a sea of ripped beachgoers.
  • Quote: “This is not my preferred look. This is for something else. Please––I am not a guy who can’t wait to take his shirt off!” ([47:49])
• The Discovery of Ab Implants
  • The terror peaks when Luke encounters an older man with “the most pronounced abs I’ve ever seen...glued onto a torso that made no sense.”
  • Andrew investigates and confirms the existence of both “ab implants” and “ab sketching”—the future (and folly) of cosmetic surgery. ([51:21])
  • Andrew: “If you want to walk in my footsteps at home, try ‘abdominal implants’—that’s going to get you closer to it.”

6. Listener Donors, Power Outages, and TBTL Lore

• The hosts thank their loyal supporters, segueing into digressions about old refrigerators, the “Cars for Kids” jingle, and day-after-Thanksgiving awkwardness.
• They close as always with show sign-offs, gratitude, and warmth.

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Over-the-Air TV
  Andrew: “By the time I got home Genevieve had it installed and had watched the back half of the Seahawks game on it. And then last night I put on Sunday Night Football.” ([05:44])

• On Food Safety Instincts
  Luke: “I just thought, like, there’s food that’s edible and it’s been thrown away for no reason.” ([35:55])

• On the Absurdities of Corporate Points
  Andrew: “It’s such a strange thing. It’s not even like ‘hey, you have points at Sprouts, maybe use them on some strawberries before they expire.’ This is...a Choice Hotel.” ([18:44])

• On Survey Hell
  Andrew: “Tell us what happened that went so wrong. Can we call you to make it right? And I was just like, no, it’s fine, just everybody calm down.” ([57:04])

• On Bodily Anxiety
  Luke: “It’s really messing with my carefully cultivated situation with my...mostly my hair but also my baadi.” ([47:04])

• On Ab Implants
  Luke (on spotting ab implants): “He had the most pronounced abs I’ve ever seen in my life even though he was not like a person with 0% body fat...they were glued onto a torso that made no sense for those abs.” ([50:33])

Highlighted Segments & Timestamps

• Over-the-Air TV Nostalgia & Discovery: [03:46–13:29]
• Hilarious Unpacking of Hotel Points: [16:06–19:33]
• Beef Stroganoff Family Saga: [19:33–38:13]
• Net Promoter Score Rant: [55:57–59:49]
• Luke’s TV Embarrassment/Ab Implants: [46:50–53:13]

Tone & Style

Warm, self-deprecating, and witty—the show flows like an ongoing chat between friends who see the absurd in everyday minutia. In-jokes, sidebars, and pop-culture riffs keep the energy light, while the theme of not taking oneself too seriously anchors even the silliest digressions.

For Listeners New and Old

Whether you’re curious about what “laugh” channels exist on modern antennas, ever found yourself nervously eyeing week-old leftovers, or simply want company in your own daily foibles, this episode brings it all. Luke and Andrew’s infectious camaraderie and observational humor make even the debate over ab implants unmissable.

End quote:
Luke (signing off): “Thanks for listening, everybody. Have a great Tuesday. And please remember, no mountain too tall.” ([64:48])
Andrew: “And good luck to all.” ([64:57])