#4645 Nothing But A Gmail Thang

Summary

TBTL #4645: "Nothing But A Gmail Thang"

Date: January 20, 2026
Hosts: Luke Burbank & Andrew Walsh

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Episode Overview

In this lively Tuesday episode, Luke checks in from sunny Burbank, CA, recovering from a travel cold and sharing stories of Hollywood glitz, hotel mishaps, and back pain. Andrew holds it down in Seattle, reflecting on the gentle absurdities of adult life, questionable sleep accommodations, and the hassles of Gmail spam filters. The hosts detour through 90s cartoons, hotel etiquette, early cartoon crushes, and behind-the-scenes television production tales. There's also a running anxiety over hotel check-out, traffic-laden L.A., and the increasingly odd demands of modern media platforms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. An Unorthodox Cold Recovery and L.A. Tales

[02:10–07:30]

• Luke describes rallying from a rough cold to travel for work, donning his N95 mask, and being buoyed by Southern California sunshine:

  “There’s just something about this Southern California sunshine that has me feeling much, much improved on this Tuesday.” (Luke, 02:10)

• The main reason for the trip: a press visit to a huge new HBO show set, “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe”—a Big Bang Theory spin-off with a twist.

2. Everyday Life: Morning Greetings, Weather Jealousy, and the Joy/Pain of Travel

[04:23–08:24]

• The hosts reflect on the automaticity of saying "good morning" during non-mornings, with Andrew playfully correcting Luke’s time zone mix-up.
• L.A. “Burbank” airport ego boost:

  “We should all have an airport with our last name in it… it just really feels like I did something with my life.” (Luke, 08:24)

• Andrew recommends the legendary pho at Golden Deli in Alhambra, and they commiserate about the hellscape that is L.A. traffic.

3. Hotel Headaches and the Mysteries of Room Assignments

[11:42–16:26]

• Luke describes the chaos of extending his Marriott stay, only to be told he must change rooms because the hotel is overbooked:

  “Three people are gonna get moved out of their rooms today because we’re oversold. That doesn’t seem like the best system.” (Luke, 15:08)

• The two discuss the logistics and indignities of room swaps and speculate about hotel algorithms and pull-out bed hygiene.

4. The Aging Body, Sciatica, and Modern Sleep Disasters

[17:16–24:09]

• Both hosts swap tales of back pain, the physical aftermath of long drives, and the universal horror of hide-a-beds.

  “After the age of, say, 16, I've never had a good night's sleep on a hide-a-bed because of that bar…” (Luke, 19:28)

• Andrew tells of sleeping on his parents’ pull-out, resisting complaints to avoid triggering their hospitality problem-solving.

  “I guess I’m at that age where the pullout couch is not exactly ideal for me.” (Andrew, 23:15)

5. Archie Comics: Chronically Pained Lunch Ladies and Surprising Cartoon Crushes

[24:09–31:41]

• A surprisingly deep digression into the posture of Archie comics characters, cartoon objectification, and the confusion of early crushes:

  “Depending on who was drawing the comic at the time… such a wide range. I’m looking at a really foxy Ms. Grundy.” (Luke, 26:26)

• Both banter over cartoon love interests, from Betty and Veronica to animated chipmunks and the mom from Muppet Babies.

6. Modern Communication Woes: Gmail’s Newsletter Hate

[34:01–35:39]

• Andrew laments Gmail’s ruthless spam filtering, especially for the TBTL newsletter.

  “I am straight up, like, persona non grata on the internet now. If you're a Gmail user, my newsletters go straight to spam.” (Andrew, 34:01)

• “Nothing But A Gmail Thang” becomes the episode title:

  “Would you say that right now your leading suspicion is that it's nothing but a Gmail thang, baby?” (Luke, 35:16)

7. Donor Thank-Yous: On Iowa, Baltimore, and Bellingham Nicknames

[35:39–40:58]

• In classic TBTL fashion, Luke and Andrew riff through locations and local color as they thank key donors, reminiscing about place names and inside jokes.

8. Luke’s Big Hollywood Day: Behind the Scenes on ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’

[41:01–55:17]

• Luke describes the scale of the HBO shoot:

  “There must have been 250 people there, working on this thing… and the scene that was being shot was at the most two minutes.” (Luke, 53:21)

• Show details: a Big Bang Theory single-camera, multiverse comedy, featuring side characters and guest star Lauren Lapkus.
• Reflections on craft services (“off the chain”), the weirdness of stand-ins, and the quirks of large-scale film production.

9. Hotel Life Redux: The Dreaded Knock

[55:14–58:48]

• Luke is interrupted mid-record by housekeeping, illustrating the universal anxiety of late checkouts in overbooked hotels.

  “If you want to talk about a noise that fills me with a physical anger… it’s so unpleasant to my ear about the knocking that housekeeping does…” (Luke, 57:14)

• They collectively empathize with hotel staff but can’t deny the existential dread caused by that clanking knock.

10. Industry Deep Dive: Tax Breaks, Netflix Memos, and the Future of Viewing

[68:03–74:28]

• Luke recounts how million-dollar-per-episode California tax credits are essential for keeping major TV production local.
• The duo digress into Matt Damon’s revelations about Netflix pressuring directors to re-explain plots for viewers watching on their phones, and the depressing trend toward “dumber” content:

  “Your job is not to make a movie that someone can’t take their eyes away from. Your job is to make a movie they can totally take their eyes away from…” (Luke, 71:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Luke on the joys of seeing his own name on signs:

  “We should all have an airport with our last name in it…” (08:24)

• Andrew on growing older:

  “I guess I’m at that age where the pull-out couch is not exactly ideal for me.” (23:15)

• Luke on hotel overcrowding logic:

  “How did the computer let them sell or rent… three rooms more than the number of rooms?” (15:08)

• On early cartoon crushes:

  “Your first feelings of… attraction was probably to a cartoon or a comic. That would actually just make sense, right?” (Luke, 27:33)

• On the Netflix ‘two-screen experience’:

  “Make these shows less compelling, because if they’re too compelling, they can’t be used as a two-screen experience.” (Luke, 71:29)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Recovering from illness, L.A. sunshine & travel plans: 02:10–07:30
• Flight, hotel, and Burbank banter: 08:24–16:26
• Back pain & hide-a-bed horror stories: 17:16–24:09
• Cartoon crushes & Archie comics deep dive: 24:09–31:41
• Gmail newsletter woes & show title chosen: 34:01–35:39
• Hollywood shoot behind-the-scenes (Stuart Fails…): 41:01–55:17
• Dreaded hotel knock / staff etiquette: 55:14–58:48
• Industry talk: tax credits, Netflix criticism on content: 68:03–74:28

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Tone & Style

The episode is classic TBTL—mixing self-deprecation, gentle observational humor, pop culture nostalgia, and genuine warmth. Luke is a storyteller with a meandering but always relatable air; Andrew is the dry-witted skeptic and backup detail guy, always ready to riff.

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Conclusion

“Nothin’ But A Gmail Thang” is a quintessential TBTL installment: a blend of everyday absurdities, media industry curiosity, and the small trials of adult life—served with jokes about cartoon crush objects and the indignity of hotel room logistics. If you missed it, you missed a delightfully rambling window into the lives and minds of two of podcasting’s most endearingly neurotic friends.

Transcript

[Gwen]

My ideal man doesn't play the drums, doesn't stay late at the bar, does what he says and says what he does. Does not. Get a fancy lawyer that the other person can't afford if things get weird. My name is Gwen. I am divorced. I have two kids, and I will not ever regret having those two kids. Okay? So that's really important for me to tell anyone who's listening. I type 110 words a minute. I actually can type faster, but I keep a little bit for myself. I blew out my knee jazzercising, so I don't want a guy that's too active. My best qualities. I own a timeshare. My favorite way to unwind is with a Virginia Slim and a big scoop of cottage cheese. Half a tomato. Why I want to find love is I just think that everybody deserves a second chance. I want to go to the PTA with somebody, not just myself. Oh, there's Gwen. She's divorced. Oh, did he run away with his secretary?

[Andrew Walsh]

I left.

[Gwen]

A great first date with you would be two words. Beni Hana.

[Andrew Walsh]

Tbtl. Can we listen to tbtl?

[Luke Burbank]

You want to listen to tbtl? Yeah.

[Gwen]

Your favorite dish?

[Andrew Walsh]

My favorite dish. I like mugs because they're very comfortable in your hand and they hold hot.

[Luke Burbank]

Things that you don't have to touch.

[Andrew Walsh]

So, you know, coffee or hot tea. I hear the words you're saying and I believe you believe it's important.

[Luke Burbank]

They sound un freaking incredible together. My dear, I don't know why you insisted on my doing this rigid broadcasting.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, well, it'll soon be over.

[Luke Burbank]

I hope so.

[Andrew Walsh]

They taste like burning.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, all right. Hello, good morning and welcome, everyone, to a Tuesday edition of TBT all, the show that just might be too beautiful to live.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's a relief. In a way, it's not fun.

[Luke Burbank]

My name is Luke Burbank. I'm your host.

[Gwen]

It's a tough but rewarding job, one that takes years to move into.

[Luke Burbank]

Coming to you from Burbank, California. That's right, Burbank. Live from Burbank, California, Got sunshine, was not feeling well yesterday and was actually wondering if I was even going to make the trip down here. But I improved over the course of the day enough to board the airplane. I did wear a mask, by the way, and made it down here. And there's just something about this Southern California sunshine that has me feeling much, much improved here. On this Tuesday, as we've arrived at episode 4645 in a collector series, let the fun begin. I flew down here because There had already been a whole thing scheduled involving me coming to and visiting the set of this new HBO TV show that was filming down here. It was a heck of a production.

[Andrew Walsh]

You want showmanship, you got it.

[Luke Burbank]

The show is called Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. And it's basically like an expansion of the, the Big Bang Theory universe. I'm apparently the, the leading reporter for Big Bang related content that's not actually the Big Bang Theory did a story about young Sheldon once. I couldn't figure out how to work in a I need an old Sheldon and a young Sheldon joke on that story, which was regrettable. But now they're making this new show and it's people from the, the Big Bang Theory show. But now it's a totally different kind of show. They live in a multiverse and they're, they're, they're heroes and they're Revenge of the Nerds. Anyways, actually pretty interesting. It might have been the biggest sort of Hollywood production that I've, I've, I've seen. So we will probably talk about that. Oh, and we will definitely talk to this guy. He is the longest running cobra of the show, maybe best known for his depictions of the tall ships. He asks himself, and I think this is why he's so outstanding at his job as the cobra of the program. He asks himself this question each day right before he cracks the microphone. Do I know that the person to whom I'm speaking will not be offended? He's Andrew Walsh and he is joining me right now. Good morning, my friend.

[Andrew Walsh]

It is not morning, Luke. It is afternoon.

[Luke Burbank]

I know. I'm saying that so reflexively.

[Andrew Walsh]

I didn't either.

[Luke Burbank]

I am sorry. I did that twice already. You know, there was a time I was very committed to never saying good morning if we were not in the morning times. And then at some point I just decided, eh, who cares for consistency? I will say that. But I mean, honestly, 2:47pm that's stretching it.

[Andrew Walsh]

That is pushing it even for me. And you know me. I am the one who will stretch the definition of morning if it means that I can lay in bed until noon on any given day. I don't come here today, though, to bust your chops on such minutiae. I didn't even notice that you had done it earlier. I just. When you said good morning, I was caught off guard. But I will say this.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, the sun is upsetting here in Los Angeles. I think we've missed, missed that window.

[Andrew Walsh]

You have missed some of the most beautiful days in Seattle by The way what. I was recording a hey Dummies video on Friday, I think, because I remember I was in my car and it was the most beautiful day. But you were not in town on Friday, right? Were you traveling or were you, were you at your home on Friday? It doesn't matter. Either way, you're traveling again and I'm telling you, you're missing some of the. They've been sunny, beautiful days and the sun is just going down right here, right now.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, it's been. I was, I was in the Northwest yesterday and Sunday. I was down at my place. So I was, I was like, well, I was sort of enjoying that weather. And then I woke up on Monday morning and I just felt like absolute crud. And I really thought like, well, this is the worst case scenario because, well, A, we had our show that we needed to record on Monday. We were in fact going to try to do some extra recording and then I had this TV thing down here and I thought, like, you know, I have these certain weeks, like this is a pretty crazy week for me with a bunch of different things, including we've got Livewire on Friday night at the Reaser in Beaverton and you and I are doing some special recordings as well. There's just like a lot happening this week for me and I always think, like, what will happen? What would happen if I just was really sick and couldn't do it? And the answer is everything would be fine, the world would continue to rotate on its axis, but I would feel very bad about like telling the crew down here, you know, skip it, and the producer who worked hard to put this whole thing together. You know, I felt very bad asking you to cover for me yesterday, but I do appreciate you doing it. But then again, I was very surprised. Here's what happened. I emailed you at like six in the morning and said, I don't think I can do the show. I then went back to bed for like four, four to five hours, got up, felt better enough to consider the idea of going and getting on an airplane. Went into the office, found some of my old N95 masks, went to the airport, masked up and then got down here. And then immediately I got to the hotel at like 8 and I got in bed and then I went to sleep for like another nine hours. And I'll tell you what, it worked because I woke up this morning feeling remarkably better. So.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good. Well, I was telling you before the show, I'm a little bit worried because I, I've, it's, I've Been lucky. It's been a while since I've had like a bad cold or flu. I think honestly, not going in to work at an office or a studio helps. I think that, like, that stuff used to get passed around a lot, especially working in radio where you have microphones and like.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, remember you used to host that radio show from a nursery school? And I mean, that's just. Forget it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know there's just. They were.

[Luke Burbank]

It's a recipe for getting. Just going around.

[Andrew Walsh]

But great guests. I get great guests. But so you're kind of near the end of your workday now. I was thinking you're in the east coast time zone. I didn't realize you're in Burbank. So that's good. It's not super late in the day, but I'm worried about you starting to flag and being fresh for tomorrow. But I have some advice for you. Do you have a car or are you like, ride sharing it around town?

[Luke Burbank]

I'm ride sharing it around town because I'm. I'm not. I flew into Burbank, which, by the way, we should all have an airport with our last name in it, because there. It does not matter how many times I travel to that airport. It is just a massive confidence boost. It just really feels like I did something with my life. They have just so many amazing signs that just say Burbank and welcome to Burbank. And you, you're going to love Burbank. And so. So it. But the hotel that I'm at is very close to that airport and then it's also very close to where we were filming, so I didn't need to rent a car.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I'm looking something up here. I do think that this is going to be maybe a little bit pricey if you don't have a rental car.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was going to recommend that you go to the Golden Deli in. I want to say Alhambra.

[Luke Burbank]

Golden Deli in Alhambra.

[Andrew Walsh]

How do you know? Be a girl.

[Luke Burbank]

Thank you.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sure. Of course. A terrible Bamford. I offered there my apolog, but it was a listener. And I'm sorry that I cannot remember the listener's name, but if you give.

[Luke Burbank]

Me this credit, it's called the golden what again?

[Andrew Walsh]

The Golden Deli. They recommended this place when I was living in Los Angeles. So we're talking about. About 11, 12 years ago, a listener wrote in to say, you love pho. I think I had trouble finding high quality pho in like where I was living in Los Angeles at the time. And somebody said, go out to Alhambra, go to the Golden Deli. It remains one of my favorite restaurants. It's not, like, fancy in any way. It is, but I'm looking at it right now a. I mean, it's the only restaurant that I'll wait in line for. You show up. And there is a line literally kind of along the wall of the little strip mall that it's in. There's always a line, but they handle it really quickly. It's kind of a digital. You know, you get in line digitally, so you can kind of wander around a little bit if you want. I can't remember. But anyway, if I'm ever in that area, I try to go there. They have, I think, literally, maybe the best five ever had. Maybe there's some in Seattle that would rival it. And when I'm feeling the way you sound right now, which is generally okay, but a little bit raw, I. I feel like it has medicinal powers.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, if I. If we end the show right now and I leave, I can be there by 3:59, because it's about an hour and 27 minutes away from me.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's. Oh, really? Oh, I was mapping it. It looked like it was only 36, but I was just from the heart of Burbank, so I don't know. You know, I guess I'm.

[Luke Burbank]

Technically, I'm. I think I may have strayed barely over into Sherman Oaks, but I'm. I'm. I'm effectively. I'm culturally Burbank. But it's. You know what it is? It's more. Here's the real deal. I don't know if you've heard this LA traffic. Not great, not ideal. And to the degree that it's made me. The thing I was going to say about how long we will go today on the show. I mean, we got a couple of things going on. One, the show needs to get on the Internet asap because we started so late because of me doing that TV stuff this morning. And again, thank you for your patience. Really. I should be saying thank you to Genevieve for jumping on the show yesterday. Um, but it's that also talking right now. When I see that in the show Descript, I get worried because it's like, I feel like the listeners, when they hear Genevieve on the show, they hear how good the show could be.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, she. She saved me. She just. She could hear me struggling during the introduction, and so she just jumped in and took over. It was quite a moment of podcasting true heroism.

[Luke Burbank]

But, no, the Traffic is rough here. To the degree that I have become an like, I don't know if it's a true weirdo, but I have really become this person that when I'm here in LA and if I like I'm staying up in the Valley right now. We flew into Burbank, we were filming in Van Nuys. I'm not going back to lax. I'm not going back to lax. You can't make me. So this is what I'm doing. I'm staying overnight tonight so that I can fly out of Burbank, which is like 20 minutes from where I am right now. Um, I'm going like, I don't know, my flight's at like 6 in the morning or something. I'm fly so that all of that is so I don't have to get in a car and go all the way down to LAX right now, which would take, I assume, a really long time and really, really just kind of kill my soul. But what that also means is I have to change rooms in this hotel today and I have to change rooms at 4 o'. Clock. I decided to because of this whole flight thing. I extended my stay by one night and I called down and because not to brag, but being Bonvoy Platinum, I usually treated with great deference in these types of hotels, like these Courtyards by Marriott's. And the guy was nice, but he said, I do, we do have availability, but you can't be in the room that you're in. That room is oversold by three rooms and so you're going to have to move rooms. And I was like, what is more inconvenient? Repacking my stuff, taking it to a different room and unpacking it, or canceling my morning flight and just trying to figure out should do I just call an Uber and go to LAX tonight and fly home. And I guess what I decided was I'm going to do the room change thing.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, you need to sleep a little bit. I think that makes the most sense.

[Luke Burbank]

I need a day of not getting on an airplane.

[Andrew Walsh]

You can take a couple of trips. You know, this is like the difference of moving across town versus moving across the country, right? You don't have to pack everything up perfectly. You could, and I don't know that if you would do this and maybe I'm opening a bag of worms here, but you could conceivably grab some shirts that are on hangers and carry them down to your new room and hang them up and then maybe take the elevator. To your old room and grab another bag or. You know what I mean? It's a little bit. You don't have to pack up like you're getting ready for a flight, which is a little bit different.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, the good news also is once we are done recording our show today, I can break down my audio gear and pack that in the suitcase for good. Because tomorrow I will be joining you from the Madrona Hill studio. So that's one thing. If I had to like break this all down, move it, and then reconstitute it tomorrow morning, that would be a kind of a great annoyance. But I don't have to do that. And I honestly didn't bring that much clothing. I have a suitcase that I. I don't have to check it. I can just throw it in the overhead. So it's. It's not. It could be worse. But I guess my main point is that if I. If my body doesn't give out by at 4pm we're going to hear a not so gentle knock on that door of them telling me it's time to move. What I really feel bad about is the three other people who are getting relocated. This is what me and the guy got into. I was like, I go, well, could I just stay in this room? And then if somebody doesn't show up, then I get to keep it. And he said, no, no, because we're oversold by three rooms. Three people are gonna get moved out of their rooms today because we're oversold. And I remember thinking, I didn't say it to him. Cause it's not his fault. But I thought that doesn't seem like the best system.

[Andrew Walsh]

No.

[Luke Burbank]

How did the computer let them sell or rent or whatever we call it three rooms more than the number of rooms. I understand if I can't be in one of these rooms. Cause I'm asking for, like I was supposed to be done today. This was supposed to be my last day at this hotel. So I'm asking for something special. And I understand I can't be stay in this room. But there's. There's at least two other people who are just gonna get evicted from their rooms who were just. They didn't do anything wrong. They're. They're in their rooms that they're allowed to be in.

[Andrew Walsh]

Why are they gonna find out that they're oversold? And why wouldn't they get precedence over the newcomers? Why would they get evicted?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, maybe. How about this? Maybe those people won't be evicted, but there's gonna be two People that show up and they are going to be like, okay, please take me to my room now or show me my room card that gets me into my king bed room with a pullout couch. And they will be told, sorry, we sold too many of those. You need to go to a smaller room that does not have the pull out couch. Which I guess, I mean, I don't know how many times I'm actually staying in a hotel room where technically the couch is another sleeping surface. Like the couch is a pullout. I'm almost always traveling by myself for these work things. It's never even occurred to me that these couches are also hide a beds. I'm sitting on the couch right now actually as we talk.

[Andrew Walsh]

Of course I don't even like to open up hide a beds in my own home based on what you might find between the cushions. It's a disgust. You think you live a clean lifestyle. You're even for me, you know, a medium clean lifestyle and then very clean lifestyle. I try to be clean. I don't know if the house would. I don't know that the house would back that up, the state of it right now. But you pull the cushions off your couch and you realize you're a disgusting animal and you should hate yourself. It is. Yes. There are not. I can't and you know me also.

[Luke Burbank]

In your house are a little bit to blame.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, I think it's mostly crumbs and detritus.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, yeah, they're messy eaters.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, exactly. So anyway, I would say don't try to use that hide a bed tonight. Just sleep on the regular bed.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, the thing is I'm going to be moved. I'm downgrading to a room that does not have the hide a bed. So I don't even have even. I don't even have the temptation of it. But I'm almost curious. I'm not curious enough to do this because also, by the way, my sciatica is killing me. Was I telling you on Saturday night about my. My newfound lifestyle of having back pain? No, would not recommend it. My lower back has become a whole situation. It is and it is activated by primarily by driving in a car, sitting in a car seat and driving. It's mostly. It's fine when I'm standing, it's fine when I'm jogging. It's not the worst when I'm sleeping, but something about the typical, particularly the seat in my car, my actual car, which is really a bad situation. It like when I drove from on Sunday when I Drove from Seattle back down to my place after we watched the football game on Saturday night. I, I, when I got out of my car. So that's like a two hour drive or something. When I got out of my car, literally the first like seven steps I took, I was completely bent over.

[Andrew Walsh]

I know that feeling.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, like I cannot, unless I like, really engage my core and like, try to like, very intentionally, like, straighten out my back. Like I am now the guy that if I'm in my car, if I'm driving for more than 10, 15 minutes and you see me getting out of the car, you are seeing a guy who looks like one of, looks like the custodian in the Archie comics. Was it him or was it, was it, was it, was it the custodian or was it the lunch lady? One of them seemed tremendously stooped over in my memory.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, me, maybe both. Yeah, let me hook it up. Let me, let me do. What about airplane seats, though?

[Luke Burbank]

Not great if I'm in coach, but, but doable for some reason. I can kind of like, I mean, I'm. Let me put it this way. I'm more uncomfortable getting out of a car that I was driving, whether it's my car or a rental car, than I am getting off of the airplane. There's something about the fact that I have to, if I'm driving, I have to hold the steering wheel. There's a certain, I have to hold, maintain a certain posture. And by the way, my car has one of those, like, lower lumbar inflation things. Have you ever been in a car with that kind of move going?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Does zero good. Does absolutely no good. I don't know what your lumbar pain would have to be or what your sciatica pain would have to be for that to work, but it is not effective on my. And where I'm going with all this is. I don't know the last time I slept on a hide a bed, Andrew, but I can tell you that after the age of, say, 16, I've never had a good night's sleep on a hide a bed because of that bar. And, and for all of the, you know, we can, we can send people not so much onto the moon anymore, but around the moon. We're doing a moon mission that we're gonna go up and circle the moon and come back and take pictures of it, which seems like a thing we could do with a telescope, but okay, we can do that. But are we still putting that bar in the middle of a hide a bed? Like, how is that still the way that it works. Because that thing is. That's the enemy of good sleep.

[Andrew Walsh]

I gotta be careful here. I don't think my parents listened to the show. And we're, you know, what are we in 20 minutes in. And I've done a pretty good job of making the top half pretty boring. So even if they were listening, they're probably gone. Well together. I mean, our powers together are just teamwork.

[Luke Burbank]

Makes the dream work.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the second time somebody has said that to me today. The other one being John Sklaroff. No joke. But I will say so. They're always very accommodating when I'm in town and they very much like me to stay with them. It's the only exception I kind of make to the not sleeping over people's houses rule.

[Luke Burbank]

I sleep over at my parents house on Thanksgiving and I kind of love it. Even though I never sleep over at anyone's house.

[Andrew Walsh]

Like, you know, I don't like that either. Yeah. And I know that there was a time in your life where you sort of did enjoy that idea of like waking up and having coffee with friends and maybe.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, I like having people at my house.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, okay. Yeah. No, I just. I don't like any of that.

[Luke Burbank]

I like. I like that morning time hang. If it's on my turf, if I.

[Andrew Walsh]

Slept in my bed, I don't miss Beasley.

[Luke Burbank]

The.

[Andrew Walsh]

The lunch lady is not especially stooped over. The. Honestly, the custodian is in better shape than I am. So I don't know what we're thinking of with Archie. Or maybe you're thinking of a specific thing. Maybe something from the Simpsons. But I was going to say this, so my folks are very gracious.

[Luke Burbank]

Mr. Svensson is the name of the custodian. And I think that. No, he looks fine.

[Andrew Walsh]

No, he looks good. He looks good.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, yeah, he definitely, you know, he's. He's in good shape. I think he's arguably in better shape than either of us.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what I'm saying. Like, I'm. I'm gonna. I'm low. Look at him. Like, he's hearty, he's pushing things around.

[Luke Burbank]

But the lunch lady. Okay, keep going.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. Anyway, I was gonna say, I think you know where I'm going with this. So. I do. Like, you know, if I had my druthers, I'd still probably get a hotel or something in Cleveland. But my time there is usually relatively short. My dad likes to maximize it as much as possible. I totally understand. Especially if I'm doing shows from there or something. And so it's just a tradition. And so I stay there. And what they have is a little room in the basement that is my dad's office. And then this sort of couch thing that does pull out into a bed. It's almost more like an ease. It's almost like a chair, I think, that sort of pulls out into a bed and it is very tidy. And I think the first time I slept on it, I don't know if I've slept on it two or three times. The first time, definitely. Fine, maybe the second time. But the last time I was there, I was like, I can't say anything because it would seriously, it would really bum them out. They would get a new thing, you know, if not a new chair, they would start to problem solve. And I really don't want to put anybody out. Like, I can sleep. Like, trust me, it's one of the few things I can do well and for any duration of time. And so it's fine. But this last time, I'm like, I guess I'm at an age where I can't just sleep anywhere anymore. When I was younger, I literally slept in a bathtub one time like in college or something. And I will say that I was like, oh, I don't know if it was a bar. I think it was a bar or something going on underneath the mattress. And also my weight.

[Luke Burbank]

Sometimes you sleep on the bar, sometimes the bar sleeps on you.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I was like, wow. And I was only there for maybe four or five nights or tops, but. And so is fine. But yeah, I guess I'm at that age where the pullout couch is not exactly ideal for me.

[Luke Burbank]

I bet you that the technology has gotten better. I think one of the things they've done because I actually have a pullout couch in the Madrona Hill studio. But what the deal is is it's what you're sitting on. So when it's all folded up, when it's a couch, you're sitting on this, you know, actually pretty. Pretty comfortable kind of regular couch padding, I guess. But then if you were good to go to sleep on it, you unfold that and then you are on a mattress that's now on the ground. So they've completely eliminated that whole complicated spring metal kind of machinery that brings the hide a bed out. And the downside is you're at floor level. But the upside is it's a lot more comfortable than those old hide a bed. Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

Now I believe that.

[Luke Burbank]

So here's what I think about the Mrs. Beasley situation. I think she's not letting on how much back pain she's in.

[Andrew Walsh]

Really, you think that she's just powering through.

[Luke Burbank]

I think she's like so many women have for so many generations. I think she's being strong for the rest of us. I'm looking at some, like, old, like, some, like, more vintage Archie. She also has gone through a lot of different, like, iterations in the different kind of versions of Archie as it's progressed over the years.

[Andrew Walsh]

Definitely I was having trouble nailing that down.

[Luke Burbank]

I'm looking at what seemed to be like, some, like, much older ones. And she just. She's not doing what I said she was doing, which is like she's bent over and her back hurts, but there's just an energy radiating off of her that says this is a person who's dealing with chronic pain and is just being strong about it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I believe that.

[Luke Burbank]

I know that I was technically wrong in that how I described her, but I think spiritually, she and I. I feel connected to her every time I get out of my car. And you know. Cause you know what the move I do is? I put my right hand because my right side. So it's weird. The left side of my lower back. Zero pain, zero problem. It's strictly my right side. I get out of the car and I do the ultimate old man move, Andrew, which is hand. Right hand on right hand on the lower part of my back. Like, all these old bones. And I'm not doing it for effect. No one's even with me. It's my. It's my instinctive reaction to the pain that I'm feeling. And it's just like. It's if it. It's like. It's a confirmation that I too, am subject to the degradation of age and time.

[Andrew Walsh]

Can I say one more thing on this topic, please? Ms. Grundy has wonderful posture. She is like. I see a picture of her walk. She's a teacher. She's got white hair as well. She's tall and very skinny. She's almost olive oil esque. I'm just looking at the COVID of, like, a 1970s era Pep magazine. I can remember what Pep was. I think it all took place in the high school maybe instead of around. Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I'm looking at kind of a.

[Luke Burbank]

Grundy is kind of a snack, right?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, depending on the protect. Depending on the. Like, this is the thing. Depending on who was drawing the comic at the time. Right. Like, there's just Such a wide range. Like, I'm looking at, like a really foxy Ms. Grundy from World of Archie Jumbo comic strip. And then I'm looking at Archie and me, where she's definitely, like, kind of drawn a little bit differently and is not bad.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's the one I was looking at, by the way, the Archie and me. She's a little bit.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I was a. I think I was. Well, I was. Which one was Veronica have the black.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hair or Betty hair? Yeah, Betty had blonde hair.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I think I was. I think I was a Betty guy. I think I was. I mean, listen, I would have. I would have been so excited for any of these cartoon women to show me any affection as a young man. Like Josie, any of the Pussycats.

[Andrew Walsh]

Absolutely.

[Luke Burbank]

Midge.

[Andrew Walsh]

Midge. Midge was sleepy Moose. Absolute sleeper. Midge. Not to objectify these fake women, but Midge was a sleeper.

[Luke Burbank]

Don't you think that. Actually, I would say at least maybe people of our age who grew up here in the States and presumably in other places too, it's very likely that your. Your first feelings of like, not even like, maybe sexual attraction, because kind of young, you probably don't even have those kinds of thoughts, but like, attraction was probably to a cartoon or a comic. I mean, that would actually just make sense. Right. Like, I'm watching Little House on the Prairie. None of the, you know, young girls on the show, the girls that were my age were being set up to be particularly, like, they're not there to be sort of objectified. Ogled. Right, exactly. Like. And so the first good ogling I could do would be like, you know, maybe lady from lady and the Tramp.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, this is interesting. I thought you were going to say.

[Luke Burbank]

Or one of the girl chipmunks.

[Andrew Walsh]

See, I think I. Looking back, I don't think I realized this at the time, but maybe it was because I, you know, had trouble finding any kind of love in real life. I think I literally maybe just crushed on every single girl my age on television. I remember. Not even my age, but I remember. I think. I mean, I think I definitely had a thing for Laura at times. It was hard not to. But then, I mean, Mary wasn't Mary, her older sister, like, she. I remember crushing on Mary for a while after she lost her eyesight.

[Luke Burbank]

I want to say I said that hero complex again. Andrew saves the day.

[Andrew Walsh]

You can look at that another way. It's like my chances are better when she lost her eyesight.

[Luke Burbank]

I mean, but like, no, I. For whatever reason, I didn't I didn't find, you know, how. Okay. I did have a bit of a crush on Haley Mills from. From the Parent Trap. I thought she was. She's playing both twins and I thought she was absolutely adorable. I was a big sucker for the accent. She had, like, a British accent. I believe in that. Which I don't even know if I'd heard that very much in my life. But if I think more about, like, there's something about the way that they were able to animate, you know, like, if I'm thinking about, like, Riff Raff's girlfriend, or maybe it was more Garfield's girlfriend. Was that Sonia or Heathcliff's girlfriend? Like, some of the cartoon girlfriend? Did Garfield have a girlfriend? No, he didn't. He didn't. He had normal. Yeah, normal, Curious. Normal had those big eyes.

[Andrew Walsh]

My favorite show title of all time. This is not normal. I, I, you know, I. John Cliff.

[Luke Burbank]

And Riff Raff had. They had. They had girlfriends.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay. And John had a crush on the vet or the vet tech that he would take Garfield and OD2, and she was not having it. She was like, so eye rolly, like, and as well she should be. She was putting up with a lot of shit from a. From a client.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. Definitely not part of the job description to have to, like, tolerate John's, you know, affections, if you're not into that. But, like, yeah, just like. I think that probably most of my early feel, I was very attracted to. I can't remember which one of the, like, the. The sort of female chipmunks in Alvin and the Chipmunk.

[Andrew Walsh]

You know, how they had their counterparts. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And then also, I wouldn't say it was a romantic crush, but I think I've. There was something about the voice of the mom on Muppet Babies. It was played by, by the way, by Barbara Billingsley, I think, from Leave it to Beaver. I think the real life mom. I think I just. I needed some real mothering in my life so badly at that time. There was something about the mom and her stripey socks on Muppet Babies.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. You know what?

[Luke Burbank]

I hear her, but never see her.

[Andrew Walsh]

I was confusing her with the, with the adults on Peanuts. That was like. And I do remember, in fact, our friend Hauser. You have a nickname for him. Yeah, it's jdog. It's good because his first name starts with a J. Do you know that he was those legs for Halloween several years ago? I was not here. I think it was at a party at my house maybe. But I believe I split town because I'm not a big Halloween guy, but yeah, I know that he was working on that costume for a while.

[Luke Burbank]

That is a really, really clever.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Costume idea. But anyway. Well, maybe we do this. Maybe we thank some donors and then I can tell you a little bit about. About my big day and. And almost getting a job, a writing job in Hollywood. Yeah. So let's just. I'd say everybody watch your step around here, because I've got. I wouldn't call it a firm offer on the table, but I. I feel like my. I think the doors to Hollywood are finally opening for. For me. Thank you, baby. Speaking of our donors, we want to thank some of these wonderful, generous folks. They are voluntarily sending in donations. We don't have that big HBO money like the producers of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe do. We've got to rely on these folks. A note on this. I'm not sure if you addressed this yesterday, Andrew, but did we mention the dazzling donor note going out?

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, no, I forgot to mention that yesterday.

[Luke Burbank]

Message going out. So you were covering for me and dealing with a lot. I appreciate that. John Sklaroff has sent out the little form. If you are someone who has been a dazzling donor this year, that may be in your inbox even as we speak. You may also have gotten something from APM asking you to put them in your estate plans. Delete that immediately and focus on the. Well, I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, but I would say start off, if you can, by filling out the dazzling donor form, which is just a chance for you to get us to read anything on the air that you want. Within reason. Shout people out, talk about your business. Just talk about anything you got on your mind. I also want to say if that feels like your reward for donating money to us is that we've given you a homework assignment, you're also absolutely entitled to not fill it out.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right.

[Luke Burbank]

But if you are someone who likes getting to hear your name in lights, everything you're seeing today is my real voice. If you would like to hear your name in lights, then look for that form and please fill it out and get it back to us. And we will soon be thanking dazzling donors.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. If you gave it the dazzling level of donation during the last tbt. I thon. Which I can't remember exactly what it is, but I noticed.

[Gwen]

Incredible.

[Andrew Walsh]

Incredibly, incredibly generous. Look for that. And if you haven't received it, maybe check your spam folder. I don't know how much you've been following this, Luke, but I've been running into a lot of issues getting the newsletters into the hands of people who've signed up for it, especially if you're a Gmail user. Now, this email to the dazzling donors went out from John, so I'm hoping that it didn't get scooped up into your spam. But, Luke, I don't know if you know this. Like, I'm straight up, like, Persona non grata on the Internet now. Like, I cannot. Like, I. This last newsletter I sent out, I purposely kind of, like, talked obliquely about, like, how I'm trying to keep this newsletter very safe. There's no links in it. I didn't use the spam word.

[Luke Burbank]

I got it, but not. But I'm not on a Gmail.

[Andrew Walsh]

You're not on a Gmail. So if people are trying to look up Luke's personal email address, it's just try everything other than Gmail and try every combination of letters before the symbol possible. And so I think it is a Gmail thing. I think it's. I'm hoping it's just me and that it's not John's emails as well. But I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do about the newsletter this week because, I don't know, we need to rectify this. If I'm gonna be writing newsletters, they gotta get in the hands of people to read them. Otherwise, it's kind of a time suck. You know what I'm saying?

[Luke Burbank]

Would you say that right now your leading suspicion is that it's nothing but a Gmail thing, baby.

[Andrew Walsh]

Is that a reference or something? No, just kidding. That's funny. And I'm making it the show title.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, good. Wow. That went from he hates jokes to it's such a good joke. It's gonna be the show title.

[Andrew Walsh]

A Gmail. Should I write it thing or Thing? I think it's Fang.

[Luke Burbank]

I don't.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right.

[Luke Burbank]

That's. It is thang. I believe in the original song. Is rendering of it is is thang. We want to thank Chelsea Burke Betts, who's over there in Iowa City, Iowa. Lovely Iowa City, Iowa. The. The eyes of the nation. Well, that's not true. I was gonna say we'll soon turn back to your state as we get into primary season, but I think we're still a couple of. We're still probably a year and a half away from where we start talking about folks showing up in New Hampshire and Iowa also.

[Andrew Walsh]

Didn't they change or at least didn't the Democratic Party change the schedule last time around. It's funny that the fact that I don't know that is a real shame. And it really speaks how far along it's been, how long it's been since.

[Luke Burbank]

You'Re a low information voter. Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, the main issue, Luke, I'm a low information everything.

[Luke Burbank]

And voting just happens to be one of those.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's right. Don't you dare insult me like that. But I know that, I mean, even when I live there, every four years they would say there was always some saber rattling, we're going to change the primary schedule. And then people in New Hampshire would be very obviously protective of it, which I completely understand. But now that I don't live there and it's not just like a very fun to happen, I realize. Oh yeah, these, this very small, narrow, non diverse white group people should not be having an out. I'm not saying that their vote shouldn't count, but they shouldn't have a special weighted, you know, import on the process.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. Well, regardless, I will. You know what? I would let Chelsea vote first.

[Andrew Walsh]

Sure.

[Luke Burbank]

Chelsea help. Chelsea, I trust.

[Andrew Walsh]

First in the nation. Chelsea is what I say.

[Luke Burbank]

That's exactly who we're talking about. We're also talking about Wendy Mathia. Wendy is in Baltimore, Maryland. Our sound guy today on the shoot was from Baltimore, Maryland. And boy, could you hear it. Just a, just a beautiful, intense ballmer accent.

[Andrew Walsh]

Love that. Love that. I've been dipping into the wire a little bit. Just season one here and there late at night.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I tried to get my dad. I got my dad to watch a couple episodes when we were doing work on the house and he really enjoyed it. And I was like, oh, yeah, I need to. I need to reengage with this content. I need to reengage with thanking David Brumley who's in Bellevue, Washington. David also has an extreme Bellevue accent.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I know.

[Luke Burbank]

If you talk to him, you hear it right away.

[Andrew Walsh]

I hear it. Yeah. But I love him anyway.

[Luke Burbank]

No, it's beautiful, honestly. Deborah Allen supporting the show from Bryson City, North Carolina.

[Andrew Walsh]

Nice.

[Luke Burbank]

A place that I have not. I mean, maybe we've read Deborah's name before, but Bryson City, North Carolina does not ring any bells. But I bet you it's. I bet you it's lovely as well. We know it's lovely because Deborah's there. Fiona Bestwick, keeping the home fires burning in the city of subdued excitement. I only lived there for a few years and yet I continue to forget what the nickname of Bellingham, Washington is. Because I, of course, just call it the Bay City.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think you got it right, though. Subdued excitement, I think.

[Luke Burbank]

I think I sometimes would call it subdued expectations or something. I think I was. Even when I was trying to. I spent a lot of time pushing back on the nickname and trying to rename the city the Bay City. And. And then sometimes I would actually forget the real slogan, even when I was trying to use it properly.

[Andrew Walsh]

And why were you. Why did you. Why did you lean so heavily into trying to call the Bay City? Because that's how it started, right? It was officially subdued excitement, but you kept calling it the Bay City, and listeners were getting cranky about it, if I recall, which, of course, made you double down even more. Was it about a mural?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, yes, Andrew, there is a mural involved. What happened was I moved to Bellingham, and I just happened to notice, like, two different things that used the term Bay City. One of them was, like, Bay City Janitorial. Everything goes back to janitorial work today, Andrew. One of them, I think, was, like, Bay City Janitorial Supplies, which was kind of near our house. And then there was something else. I forget what it was, but it said Bay City. And so I was like, oh, that's what we call this place. It's on a bay, and it's the Bay City. So I started using that, and then people were like, dude, have you even seen the huge mural that says welcome to Bellingham, the City of subdued expectations, or something? And so I had already tried to christen it the Bay City, thinking that was really the nickname before I learned that it has this whole other thing. And then, as I often did, I just dug in and decided to continue to call it the Bay City, much to the consternation of some people, but also much to the adoption of that by some people. There were a lot of people who now started calling it the Bay City, just when they would email me and stuff. So it kind of worked.

[Andrew Walsh]

I mean, it really became a thing for a long time. People were including it in songs for us, the boys in the Bay City.

[Luke Burbank]

Fiona's sticking with Bellingham. That's fair. I get it. Johnna Bevin is also sticking with Camarillo, California. I can almost see Camarillo from this balcony in the Valley. Jonna, thank you so much for supporting the show. We've been seeing Johnna's name on this list for years and years. It's very much appreciated. So thank you. Jonna, thank you to all of our donors today for making TBTL possible. This would not be Happening without you guys.

[Andrew Walsh]

Hello and welcome to Top Story.

[Luke Burbank]

We have about 30 minutes left for me to describe this big Hollywood shoot that I was at today. But really what I want to talk about, Andrew, is the giant movie billboard outside of my hotel room here near the 405 for some kind of animated movie called Goat. And it looks like. I don't know what it's about, but it has goat on it and then a bunch of cartoon characters. And then it says, you're never too small to dream big. Exclusively in theaters February 13th. But what I noted was over on the side where, like, for where it says goat, and then you got these kind of, like, cartoon monster people. It says. I think it says, produced by Stephen Curry. Oh, I just thought. I thought, is that gonna move the needle? Well, would I see a movie because it was produced?

[Andrew Walsh]

There's stars in it, too. Well, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me. Let me say that was me reading directly from the AI Overview, which I always promised you and the listeners I would never do. Let me double check this. But I see it's both a goat, literally, and a goat, as in greatest of all time basketball movie.

[Luke Burbank]

Hold on. Here's what I'm trying to do. I'm now getting up and I'm walking over to the window, because this is when the podcast really does get affected by physical deterioration. Yeah, I swear to God. It says either in promotion. But they wouldn't.

[Andrew Walsh]

It doesn't. He does produce it as well. He stars and produces. Is that what you're. Is that what you're trying to figure out?

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah, I'm trying to figure out if it's saying. It says Stephen Curry in big writing. And then the other thing I think it says from producer Stephen Curry, which is like, again, just the stuff that Stephen Curry can do on the basketball court is, I mean, so phenomenal and fun to watch and something that I would. I would watch him. You know, I'd watch him play horse or pig or whatever animal he chose to spell. I'd watch him play Goat. But the idea that he produced it is a. Is a very. That feels, first of all, very LA to me. Like, I don't know if you drove by this billboard in Cleveland, if they would take the time to tell you it was produced by Steph Curry. But, like, that's just such a. That's such an odd. Because presumably the point of that is to further entice people to see the movie. And by the way, it does not say on this movie, I'm now getting Better eyes on it. It doesn't say starring Steph Curry. It says, produced by Steph Curry.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, I guess he. So I'm looking at the people in it. Do you know who I was? Not a big Stranger Things person. I watched the first season, but that was a long time ago. And like we said before, I'm a low information TV watcher, so I don't remember the details of it, but Caleb McLaughlin is in this and I believe that he.

[Luke Burbank]

He's a Stranger Things guy.

[Andrew Walsh]

He's a Stranger Things guy.

[Luke Burbank]

Says also, if it's not Finn Wolfhart, miss me with that.

[Andrew Walsh]

Who's Finn Wolfhart?

[Luke Burbank]

I think he's in Stranger Things.

[Andrew Walsh]

Okay.

[Luke Burbank]

I think that's the only person I can name. Well, other than. Let's see. Well. Oh, my goodness. Andrew. Hold on. My sciatica is bothering me. I need to go lie down for a minute. Winona Rider. Winona riders in Stranger Things as well.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, right. Of course I do.

[Luke Burbank]

Millie. Bobby Brown.

[Andrew Walsh]

Right, right.

[Luke Burbank]

Who else?

[Andrew Walsh]

But we have Stephen Curry doing voice in this. Gabrielle Union. You got some Nick Kroll in there. I cannot believe the thing. I like Nick Kroll. I cannot believe that during the age of really looking back at things, people said that Nick Kroll never. He doesn't seem to ever have to answer the fact that, like, he would do characters where he straight up said the N word on, like, Comedy Bang Bang and stuff. I remember going through the Comedy Bang Bang archives when I became, like, kind of a paying member to that. I was like, ooh, I have all the archives. And like a lot of tbt. I wanted to start from the beginning. And I did. And it was really cool because that show kind of started around the same time as tbtl. There was some interesting accidental, I think, sort of a little bit of overlap as far as the cultural eye of.

[Luke Burbank]

Both the show, sort of the things that they got obsessed with that we got obsessed with just a little bit.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, just stuff like that. Although the show was very different in format, especially back in that day. I think it was even a live stream on an Internet radio show. Anyway, none of that really matters, but I would listen to him and Scott will often even on the show. Scott Aukerman, the host of the show, will sometimes say, like, he makes these jokes about, like, yeah, go back, listen to the archives, but not all the archives. So I know that he is chagrined about some of the stuff that's in there. Not that he said, I don't think, but certainly what other people said. And if you go Back to the early days. It really is a lot. It's usually all men on the show. So many penis jokes. It's like back then, you just. Men joking around in a room could not stop. Everything led back to the phallus. That's what it seemed like in a very immature way. I find that surprising.

[Luke Burbank]

All of those people are so funny on that show, and it just feels like the lowest hanging, as it were.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

So you're even doing it.

[Andrew Walsh]

I just said as it were. As you're saying, I'm just supporting you. I'm being the best supporting cobra, which is an award that I'm really hoping to win at the Webbies this year. But anyway, yeah, I know that the.

[Luke Burbank]

Person to whom I'm speaking will not be offended.

[Andrew Walsh]

See, I'm raw today.

[Luke Burbank]

You are speaking of the comedy bang Bang verse. I was talking to Lauren Lapkis today.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, nice.

[Luke Burbank]

One of the stars of this show.

[Andrew Walsh]

So, yeah. Okay, so are we transitioning? Can you just tell me about this now? I don't know if we need a special introduction, but I'm a little confused. You were on an HBO shoot, but this is literally the prop. Is this related to the original property of Young Sheldon and how I met your nerd? Sorry, I can never remember. Big Bang Theory is what it's called.

[Luke Burbank]

The Big Bang Theory Revenge of the Nerds. It is, but it's not a CBS show. It's an HBO show, which is the first thing that's kind of interesting about it. So it's. It's the. And, you know, I. I did do, like, a TV story about Young Sheldon. And so I guess that the, you know, the people that do some PR for the. Chuck Lorre's production company, he's the guy kind of. He's one of the guys in charge of this show. You know, they reached out again. I don't know. I got an email from my bosses asking if I would go to LA and. And do a story about this show. And since every story I do for Sunday morning feels like it might be the last one, I just figured, okay, but it's actually kind of a. I think it's a. Kind of a funny. Well, I was talking to one of the creators, a guy named Bill Prady, and he said straight up, he was like, we're finally making a show. One of these shows that we make that I would watch, which I thought was kind of an interesting way to frame it. Like, it's taking, like, four of the characters who are kind of side characters in the Big Bang. Theory. One guy named Stuart who ran the comic book shop, and then the Lauren Lapkis character who worked at the comic book shop and became his girlfriend. Brian Posayn played a geologist on the show. And then this last guy was named Kripke, and he was, I think, kind of like the nemesis of Sheldon. So these are, like four side characters from the Big Bang Theory. And the idea is that they. The difference is that this show on hbo, first of all, it's single camera, which means it doesn't have that kind of sitcom y look. It's not. There's no laugh track. There's no audience. There's not three cameras. There's not that kind of traditional sitcom. It's a single camera. So that's a different look. And the idea is that after the Big Bang Theory TV show ends, some point, Sheldon and his buddy have created some kind of. At Caltech, they've created some kind of a machine that goes haywire and is now kind of like fracturing the universe into these multiverses. And every episode of this show, Stuart fails to save the universe. They're in a different. The four main characters are in a different multiverse. They're in a different universe where things are. Things. Different things are happening, you know, and the. The style of the show is different. One of them, they're in a place. They're in a version of planet Earth where humans never really fully evolved. We never really got out of the kind of like, very early sort of caveman days. This one that they were filming today at the Van Nuys airport is one where the universe that they're in for that episode is, like, comic book related. So they're. They're at the. They're trying to find the Flash. But the problem is, like, you know, it's not easy to find him. And when he runs by, no one can see him because he's super fast. And it's, like, confusing. And one of the producers I was talking to said this. The idea of this show is like, imagine a comic book, but imagine the story being about the people that are standing in the other panel when, like, the main superhero person is doing something very cool and amazing. There's someone who's, like, going to get a hot dog on the streets.

[Andrew Walsh]

There's literally a guy eating an ice cream cone. When Superman is doing the thing, I think it's the scene or to turn. And this is, of course, from the movie, not a comic book, but I think it's from the first movie.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, and he's turning back Time.

[Andrew Walsh]

I think he's turning back time. I might be getting my movie movies confused, so forgive me on that. By the way, quick aside on this while I'm out over my skis on DC lore. That is interesting. They can use the Flash, I think, as DC has some sort of agreement with HBO, because I noticed, like, all of the.

[Luke Burbank]

They're using Mr. Freeze and the Flash in this episode that they were filming.

[Andrew Walsh]

I do think, you know, people make fun of it. I actually do think that some. Some of those creative, you know, IP crossovers are kind of fun. I think it's kind of, hey, we have access to this. Let's use it. I do kind of. I do kind of like that. But anyway, Veeves and I, we were watching super of years ago, 15, 20 years ago, and maybe I hadn't seen it since I was a kid. And there's like, literally a guy going to take a lick of an ice cream cone while Superman is doing something extraordinary. And then he kind of looks bummed when the ice cream cone or the ice cream falls off the cone or something. And I remember saying to Veeves, I just said, I'm an emotional leader. And so now we're always saying that we see somebody like, just like something extraordinary can be happening in these superhero movies, and there's just like, people who are just going about their day. It's probably gotten a little bit more realistic nowadays, but it's kind of like, wait, why were you still trying to shred that document while the world was exploding outside your window?

[Luke Burbank]

Well, yeah, I think that the premise of this is kind of like. And actually, you know, the more I talk to the people who made it, like, it's not out yet. So I haven't actually watched it because they're filming it right now. But the more that I was talking to the people that created it and the actors that are in it, I was like, this is actually kind of a very sweet idea, which is like the idea of the Big Bang Theory, which, again, wasn't a show that I watched with any regularity. Wasn't probably for me. But that was also a show where they were sort of like all the main characters in the Big Bang Theory would have been the weird person in it or the weird person who owns the pet shop or something. They would have gotten three minutes of a normal sitcom, right? And it would have just been like the quote unquote, normal people in the sitcom. And then they have got that weird lady who runs the cat store, you know, and like this. The idea was, well, okay, what if the whole show was those people? We centered them in the story and now this is like, okay, what if people who were to the side of that were in this one? And of course I made the joke, I guess, that the fourth sequel to this will be the guy from craft Services. We just have to keep getting further and further to the side of the main thing. But like, I guess the idea of this show is that the guy, Stuart, he's played by a guy named Kevin Sussman, an actor, is not in any way the person that you would sort of imagine is going to be the hero of this story. And in fact, none of the people in this, none of the actors in this seem particularly well suited to the task. Which is, you know, kind of a cute idea. Like instead of it just being Jack Reacher or whomever, instead of just putting, you know, the very typical sort of biggest, strongest, buffest, whateverist people, you know, to the task of trying to fix things, this is sort of like four people who kind of did not ask for it. They have no, they have no desire to be having this job, but they have it and they're filming it. And what I was really struck by was the sheer number of people on this film shoot. There must have been 250 people there working on this thing. And the scene that was being shot was at the most two minutes of the. Full of the half hour. That's like a half hour per episode. It was at best, Andrew, two minutes. And this was all day long for like at least 250. That didn't even count. Craft Services, which by the way, was amazing. I would, my body type would change dramatically if I worked on one of these shoots. The Craft Services was so phenomenal. They had. So first of all, just where you go for snacks was off the absolute chain. I ate something called a honey stinger energy waffle with my coffee, which I'm not eating that on a normal day, but it was there. And then it's lunchtime and then you go over to where they've got the whole buffet going and they got every kind of food under the sun. Then there's full on pie and ice cream. There's fresh vanilla ice cream there to be scooped upon the piece. I mean, unbelievable stuff. But like I was. It was amazing. The scale of this production and the whole scene they were shooting was the four main characters get into a cab. They, they tell the cab driver that they're trying to find the Flash. The cab driver basically thinks they're crazy. The Flash runs by their car but we don't see him because he's too fast. Normal human eyes wouldn't catch the flash being the flash. And then when they say, can you follow the flash? He says like, get out of my cab. That was the scene that, that all of these people were there to make happen that day. And by the way, it looked great, looked really good. But it is like absolutely shocking to me to see how many people. I've never, I guess I've never really been on a. I've been on film sets, but it's been like indie films and little things. Hang on. Andrew.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yup. The knock.

[Luke Burbank]

The knock. Dreaded knock.

[Andrew Walsh]

20 minutes early. 22 minutes early.

[Luke Burbank]

I know. You tell them I have a 4pm checkout. Let me try to practice my nicest voice.

[Andrew Walsh]

Go take care of it.

[Gwen]

Hi there.

[Luke Burbank]

I have a 4pm checkout. No problem. Thank you so much. I understand why they have to do it, but I heard somebody reference this. Oh, you know what? I think it might have been on like. Oh, I think it was like on Tik Tok. And it was some kind of a, an incident where law enforcement was like, was like summoned out to a hotel or motel because the person who was staying in the room was, was really annoyed. And what they were really annoyed at was the manner in which housekeeping was knocking on the door with that very shrill. I think they knock with like a key or a piece of metal or plastic.

[Andrew Walsh]

Somebody called the cops.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, there was a base. I think what happened was the person was getting maybe removed from the room or something, which probably for non payment or who knows. But what they kept bringing up and where I really related with them was they were like, they were obsessed. So they didn't want to talk about the bill. They don't talk about. They came. So they kept saying, why did she have to knock? So rude. And I was like, from your lips to God's ears, brother. Now I also understand if I worked in housekeeping, I wouldn't want to like go home every night with swollen knuckles.

[Andrew Walsh]

Swollen knuckles. And you really want to make sure that you're announced in case the person doesn't hear your knock. And then they haven't chained the door or whatever you call that modern chain bar, barred the door. And then they walk in and that's.

[Luke Burbank]

When you bar the door. Sometimes the door bars you.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's what I'm always saying in pre show audio checks, I think was that pre show was yours?

[Luke Burbank]

Wait, I can't remember.

[Andrew Walsh]

I can't remember what we said on the show.

[Luke Burbank]

Good Morning.

[Andrew Walsh]

Good morning. Good morning, Luke.

[Luke Burbank]

I could not agree with you more. Like, I am so pro the housekeeping staffs of the hotels of the world. I think it is a really hard job that people don't get paid enough money for. So I don't. I'm not proposing anything differently for what they're doing with the knocking strategy. It totally makes sense for what you said. You want to make sure that the people in the room know you're trying to enter the room. You can't. You don't want to be rapping your knuckles against a hard door all day. That's. That's not a fair request. And yet, if you want to talk about a noise that fills me with a physical anger that's right up there with. It's below, but not that far below, like, loud motorcycle sounds, like there's something that's so. I don't know if shrill is the right word. There's something that is just so unpleasant to my ear about the knocking that housekeeping does using some kind of a hard metal thing on the door. And again, I don't. I'm not proposing a different, like, way of doing it. They should just keep doing it, and I'll just. It just won't sound great to my ears. I wonder if a little bit of it, too, is that there's really only two things that will be happening in this room when someone knocks on that door. And one is I'll just be still in bed, which is kind of unlikely because I usually come around at 9 or 10. I'm pretty much up by then. But the other thing is, I'm doing this show with you, so I'm almost always. Whether I'm asleep or talking to you, I'm in a state of mind where that noise coming out of the blue is extra. It's kind of extra upsetting to me.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah.

[Andrew Walsh]

I dread it as well. But I'm somebody who does like to sleep late, and that's what got me into trouble when I was in, like, in our last trip to Mexico and.

[Luke Burbank]

But all you got to do is put that do not disturb out, I guess.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, that's what you're saying. Yeah, I think I. But, I mean, don't you have that out now? And didn't they knock anyway?

[Luke Burbank]

I might. I'm also. Again, we're in this, like. We're in this liminal hour now where, like, I technically have until 4pm but, you know, I'm sure that there's somebody putting pressure on the housekeeping staff to get this room turned around because, remember, Andrew, they're oversold by three of these rooms. I was. Here was the other thing that I was. I guess impressed is the word. I mean, I just. I've just never seen. I've never seen a production on this scale. I've never seen this many people with this many different jobs to just. Like, there was 25 people that were just in charge of doing things to cameras. So that whenever it was time to use that camera, it would be ready to go. You know what I mean? And there was, like, every kind of boom imaginable. They had, like, multiple giant trucks to just hold out, like, giant. Like scrims. Like giant. Like a screen that would just change because it was shooting outdoors. It was in front of the. Actually, you know, it was part of the parking jet near the Van Nuys airport. So it was all, like, outside. So they got to constantly control the weather and the light patterns, you know. But at this, like, massive scale, they're not talking about what we call a flag at cbs. They're not putting up a couple flags. They're, like, fully bringing over something the size of Lumen Field and then just, like, plopping it over. Where these characters are getting out of this, like, 1950s cab, because that's also part of the plot is they're in some kind of. It's a vaguely 1950s version of this town that they're in looking for the flash or whatever. But the other thing was, I saw this guy early in the day, and I thought, oh, that's really funny. Because you know who Brian Posayn is, right? You've probably maybe been to his comedy show. Have.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, up in the U District.

[Luke Burbank]

Very, very funny guy. And, like, longtime collaborator with Patton Oswalt. He's been in a million shows. He's on the Sarah Silverman show. I'm sure he may have even been on this show. I don't know. I'm sure that our listeners are fairly well familiar with this guy, Brian Posayn. So I keep seeing this guy and I'm like, dang, that was, like, Brian Posein's brother. What are the chances you got another guy on this set who is also about 6, 7 and has a thunderous beard?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, he's very distinctive looking.

[Luke Burbank]

Yeah. And I was like. I was like, does that guy, like, know that he's sort of ripping off Brian Posein's look? Like, does like. And what is his job here? And then I realized at some point, oh, that's Brian Posein's stand in because this is a big Hollywood shoot. This. Somebody told me it has the budget of like an episode of Game of Thrones. I don't know what they're spending per budget on or per episode on this, but it's wild. Like, oh, well, of course there's like a stand in. And then I realized, oh, my gosh, there were. There was, well, four specifically, but I think they even had a stand in for one of the guest stars. There was four to five people that I kept see walking around. And there was something about them that seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out what their job was or what they were doing here. But they weren't getting yelled at by anyone. They didn't seem to have a job of like, you know, running snacks for people or like being a pa. There's another funny thing that happens, which I'd never been on a shoot that was this large, where when I guess it's probably the assistant director or the ad or somebody, somebody says, rolling. Everyone with a. With a walkie talkie supposed to yell rolling. So imagine that you have like 40 people with walkies. So it's like rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling. Everyone's yelling rolling all the time.

[Andrew Walsh]

And so just to be clear, not that this is super important, but just so that I can understand it, they're not using the walkie talkies to say rolling. But that's just. If you're wearing a walkie talkie, you have a. That means you have to echo this individual.

[Luke Burbank]

Maybe in the DGA or something. You're somehow in, like, the director track, I guess. Although, Andrew, to further. Can I just further complicate this? There was a period of time where the ad was trying to talk to everyone and it was spread out through this whole area. And I noticed, I was like, what are those people doing? They're all holding up cell phones. No, they were all holding their walkies, their walkie talkies up on speaker mode so that anyone who was near them was hearing what the ad or whatever the assistant director was saying into his.

[Andrew Walsh]

Walkie talkie from across the lot or something.

[Luke Burbank]

From across. So what it was, was a way. And they all knew to do it. There was a way that they could all personally turn into Bluetooth speakers.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, no, but by the way, it.

[Luke Burbank]

Was very blown out. Didn't sound good. I thought this is not a good.

[Andrew Walsh]

System, but feels like Pluribus. It was totally Pluribus.

[Luke Burbank]

That's exactly what it was, actually. But so then I finally realized, like, oh, yeah, there's a Like a Brian Posein lookalike whose job it is to like go and sit in this chair, you know, in this taxi cab when Brian Posein is like too tired to do it or has been doing it for too many hours or whatever. And you know, all of the principals, the main people had them. And I just like, at some point I like, came around a corner. It was actually as I was leaving and I just like accidented my way into the stand in where they were all sitting. And it was like Bizarro Jerry. It was totally like that Seinfeld episode where you've got a version of everybody but just a little bit different.

[Andrew Walsh]

That's crazy.

[Luke Burbank]

It was a little creepy. And you know, I mean, hey, it's honest work. And like, I'm sure there's. I bet you a lot of people tried out for that, honestly. So I don't say this to in any way, like try to denigrate or make light of having that as a job, but I just thought, man, that must be particularly in Hollywood where it's like, there's just so much. It's so hard to make it and it's so hard to be the person that they are deciding to point the camera at, you know, as the primary person, as the Brian Posayn of it all. And like, if you're just like, I look exactly like that dude, I could say that line.

[Andrew Walsh]

So wait a second though. For stand ins in a situation like this, it's not an understudy, it's a stand in. And it means like, you're just in there like you're. You look like Brian pose saying. So you sit in the back of this cab while they do all the lighting. And because you look like him so much, you can get everything adjusted and then the other person kind of swaps in. So if you're doing any kind of a line, it's just for a sound check. It's not like he's not a stunt double, in other words.

[Luke Burbank]

No, but I heard. I was talking to one of the creators of the show at lunch and I said, oh, I just realized why there's a guy who looks like Brian Posayn here. He goes, oh, yeah. Well, the other week we had our principal cast, we had their stand ins and then we had their stunt doubles. So there was three of everybody.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, wow, that's interesting.

[Luke Burbank]

I think that the stand ins are technically called the second unit. And yeah, I don't even know if they ever even do lines. They definitely are there for the purposes of getting the lighting Rigs and everything set up. But then also maybe there are some certain shots that they can do with the second unit where you wouldn't be able to tell the difference of the, of the person. So maybe they sit in for that. I mean, the amount of. You've heard this forever from a lot of people if they're in movies or whatever. But it's just like the amount of sitting around and waiting is just like insane. It is truly insane on one of these productions. Like the amount of just like waiting for something to get reset so that like they could film. They, they did this whole reset to show the taxi driver whacking down that like red flag, you know, because it's like a 1950s cab. And I was talking to the, the one of the creators of the show at lunch and I was like, I didn't get the Pyalla mode, by the way. I did demonstrate some restraint, but I was like, like, yeah, I was curious how many times you guys were going to shoot that, like, knocking down that flag thing. He goes, oh yeah, that'll never be on tv. I go, what do you mean? He goes, oh yeah, because. And this is where it's like, you could talk about it sort of like the Big Bang Theory or any of these shows that maybe are not created with our sensibility. And you could just kind of think that there's not. You could be guilty of thinking there's not that much thought behind it. And then you start talking to somebody, it's like talking to a musician about like recording an album. Like it could be a music that you're not even into. And they start telling you about gates and about, you know, like, like technical stuff having to do with how albums are recording. You're like, oh my God, there's so much to this. So he was like, he was like, no. The only reason that we shot a tight shot on that is because in the wide shot you see him move his hand to knock it down. So we, and we have time today because we have a light shooting schedule today. So our ad said we'll pick it up, we'll get a close up shot of it. I go, but why wouldn't you put it in the scene? He goes, because everyone knows what that means when the cab driver moves his hand down on the thing. And if we do a close up of it now that's part of the story. And we just can't have everything be part of the story. People can't follow, can't keep introducing visual concepts that aren't advancing the Plot. They're not important. They're not really part of it. So there's so much stuff like that where like they just are. They're leaving so much out because it's like, it's not relevant to the story. It's not a joke, it's not a laugh line. And it just. If you, if you left all of that stuff in, you'd have a very different looking movie. And one of the things that he was marveling about was that Vince Gilligan left in, in Pluribus we were talking about. Pluribus kept leaving in the entirety of Ray Seehorn's outgoing message.

[Andrew Walsh]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And they keep calling. And he said he counted it. It was seven times.

[Andrew Walsh]

It's amazing. Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

And he was just like, yeah, we would not. We would not be doing that on this show.

[Andrew Walsh]

Well, hold on one second though. But they're tape. They're recording it though. They're filming it anyway, just in case though, right? Like, is that they're filming it.

[Luke Burbank]

He said the only. Yes, they're filming it just in case. And the only reason, he said. And actually, really, you want to know what it comes down to? Let me just try to land this plane in the most boring way possible. And by that I mean this show actually, it's not boring. What I really ended up talking about today with a bunch of people on this set was like, what's going on with like filming in Hollywood, right? Like, and in Los Angeles. You hear all these stories about how everything is moving out of. Of town and everything's going to Atlanta and it's been going to Vancouver for a long time. And it's, it's terrible for the industry here. You know, people are out of work. It's a really sad scene. And he said, yeah, we got a. And I guess that they put. I think it was Newsom actually put out, like, I forget what it was. 500 or $700 million in basically like tax breaks for these productions. And this guy told me it added a million dollars per episode to their budget.

[Andrew Walsh]

Whoa.

[Luke Burbank]

And that allowed them. He said they had. They wrote two versions of this show and one was if they got the tax break and one was if they didn't. Because if you don't have the tax break, you do not have as much time to shoot. And you have to be realistic about what you can get. Because I. Because like I said today, I watched this all. 250 people, not including the actors and the producers and stuff were out there all day to get two minutes of this show. And if they were supposed to get four minutes of this show, they wouldn't have gotten there. So they got this tax break. But the craziest thing was I was like, what's the application process? He goes, it's like applying for college. Their line producer printed out an application that said, how much is your budget for your production? How many people from your production will be going to local restaurants? Like, it's like the most basic questions about this thing you're doing. And then you put it in the mail and you send it to the like, you know, film and television department or whatever at the, like the state of California. And then you just wait to hear if you got this money back.

[Andrew Walsh]

Wow. Wow.

[Luke Burbank]

Which is a very kind of, you know, what would you call it? Like, not an overly Hollywood way to find out if you're going to get a million dollars more per episode.

[Andrew Walsh]

I wanted to share another thing with you that I read. You might have seen this bouncing around, I want to say yesterday or maybe over the weekend. And I'm looking at it now. I'd only seen the headline a couple of times, but apparently Matt Damon and I'm. Unfortunately, it was an interview with Joe Rogan. Oh, I read that about the Netflix telling directors to repeat the plot more often because people are using their phones while watching these movies and sort of re. And encouraging directors to like, kind of front load the. The movies, their Netflix movies with like action instead of doing the more traditional way.

[Luke Burbank]

Oh, I didn't hear that part. I read an article about how that movie that they did the rip, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is actually very, very worker friendly. Like, everyone is invested. And Netflix doesn't do this for most films. They only agreed to do it for this one because I guess this Matt Damon and Ben Affleckness of it, but that they were able to get some kind of a payment plan so that if the movie does well, everyone on the film, down to the catering people, gets paid a lot more than they would normally. So that it's kind of this, you know, everyone's sort of vested in a way, which seems like a cool thing. But I've heard something equally depressing about what they're saying over at Netflix. Not from those guys, but from somebody else who was saying that, yeah, they'd been in a meeting at Netflix and they were told also by someone in like programming there, you gotta make these shows or these movies or whatever it is they were making less compelling, because if they're too compelling, then they can't be used as A two screen experience. And so your job is not to make a movie that someone can't take their eyes away from. Your job is to make a movie they can totally take their eyes away from while it just drones on in the background and they scroll TikTok and I mean you want to just talk about depressing?

[Andrew Walsh]

Yes and no. I mean not. Not that we need to turn this into, you know, a debate program. I mean in it. So I was looking for more details on this with Matt Damon says Matt Damon has claimed that Netflix pushes directors to reiterate the plot for viewers because they're watching with their phones. I think that's interesting that I mean it's not depressing totally. But I guess I just want to be honest when I say I am sometimes choosing things specifically that I. That I can watch while I'm playing cards. And so there. I wouldn't say there isn't a need for that, but for me usually that means it's an old movie from the 90s that we're stumbling on. You know, by the way, I. Well, I'll tell you later when I can remember some of the stars names who are super famous. Veeves and I stumbled on a gem of a movie over the holidays that I need to. Maybe I'll tell you about it tomorrow when I can google it and get it in front of me because it's been a couple of weeks. But. But I love older mov movies like that for that reason. You know, I know people are drawn to certain, you know, like, oh, I'll put on reality tv. It's a bummer to know that those are directives coming for something that is supposed to be, you know, an artistic endeavor or a more serious endeavor certainly.

[Luke Burbank]

Well, exactly. Because what I would say is those. That programming exists, you know, that programming will be always be created. It exists, you know, right now. Whether it's older stuff. We've watched a bunch. A bunch. Whether it's reality stuff, whether it's. Whatever. There's. There's plenty of mindless stuff. But the idea that there would be also now less of the riveting stuff because everything is. Needs to be them. Like the mindless stuff was going to occur on its own. I agree.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah.

[Luke Burbank]

You know.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah. No, you mean don't. Don't purposely dumb things down. I mean that. That is right.

[Luke Burbank]

Exactly. There's enough here. Enough dumb stuff happening out there. I've also, I've seen some reviews of that movie. That show the rip is pretty bad. Which is kind of a bummer because Like, I really am on kind of a. Like, I've been seeing a lot of interviews pop up of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, you know, because they're promoting this movie heavily. And like, I really do find them to be pretty charming. I wish they weren't like the most die hard Boston sports fans of all time, but I do appreciate that they really are sports fans and they can really throw down and they, they, I don't know, they don't, they don't seem like they sort of had such a meteoric rise from kind of obscurity to being kind of everywhere that it's kind of fun to just roast them or particularly Ben Affleck's back tattoo. But like, I don't know, they're, they're. I don't know if I'm probably not going to see the movie they made, but they certainly have been kind of coming off as likable dudes that, you know, I'd have a beer with or whatever. Not George Affleck. I think he's sober.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, right. Yeah. No, I agree. They both do seem likable on their own. I love their friendship on screen. I know that. That Dunkin Donuts campaign they did two years in a row for the, for the super bowl. Not everybody love. I actually really liked the first one. I thought the second year when they tried to reboot it or run it back, that was just terrible. And it had, it had Jordan what's her name in it alongside Bella. It was just bad news all around. But I do like, they, those two will always have a good rapport and good chemistry with each other. And it comes off the screen and I like that. And I think, yeah, hopefully they're okay, fellas. I don't, I'm sure, you know, I don't. I'm not a Hollywood watcher, Luke. So I'm sure there's bad beats on both of them that we'll get emails about, but I'm, I am not aware of that.

[Luke Burbank]

Matt Damon, at the height of his powers was on CNN wearing an NPR T shirt because he had just done this is before. This is before you could buy those on Instagram. And they were kind of like a, a look. And he had literally, the story was he had been at NPR West, I think, doing Fresh Air or something, and somebody had offered him a T shirt. And like, his next media hit was cnn and he has fully dawned the NPR T shirt.

[Andrew Walsh]

See, I love that.

[Luke Burbank]

Like, yeah, solid dude.

[Andrew Walsh]

Actually, wait, speaking of npr, I do have a very, very quick thing I want to share with you here. And it occurred to me it does come from a listener. So would you mind if we do it very, very quickly, hitting that email sound and then I can transition this?

[Luke Burbank]

Okay. But if you hear someone rapping on that door rapidly.

[Andrew Walsh]

I forgot about you. No, no, no, it's okay. No, I forgot about. I thought it was just sort of like, we need to get out of here, get the show posted. I have already forgotten that you literally could then have to deal with somebody knocking on the door and then you, like, dragging a bunch of, like, underwear drag, you know, like sticking out of your suitcase as you flee from your hotel room into another.

[Luke Burbank]

Do I know that the person to whom I'm speaking will not be offended?

[Andrew Walsh]

So what I will do here is I will get us out of here, but I'm going to share this with you tomorrow. But we're going to try to transition and remind people that we were talking about public radio at the end of this.

[Luke Burbank]

That's so easy for me to get back to. Yes. We could even start tomorrow with it if you want. Although I'm sure I'll have some sort of a report from my flight home, so.

[Andrew Walsh]

Yeah, no, and so tomorrow, just to let listeners know, we'll be posting. Oh, no, not significantly later. Right.

[Luke Burbank]

No, I could. I might even be able to say good morning to you and mean it. Okay.

[Andrew Walsh]

And I might say good morning back. And one last thing, I want to let people know that you mentioned some special recordings this week. We are efforting, as I like to say. That's a verb that I like to say. To do another super show with our friends with. With Text me back. That hopefully will be airing this Friday. I didn't want to hide our light on that one. I'm looking forward to it.

[Luke Burbank]

No, it's going to be fun this Friday. You, me, Lindy, Megan, fun times. So I hope everybody will tune in for that as well. All right, well, listen to Andrew, for real. Thanks for covering for me yesterday and being so flexible today. Thanks to you, the listeners, for dealing with the delay in posting today and we'll be back on track tomorrow. In the meantime, everybody out there, have a great Tuesday. Please take care of yourself. Please be safe, and please remember, no mountain too tall.

[Andrew Walsh]

And good luck to all.

[Luke Burbank]

God damn it. That was one of the nicest episodes.

[Andrew Walsh]

Of TBTL I have heard in a long time. Thank you. Power out.