She's A Bon Vivant!

Summary

The Commercial Break: "She’s A Bon Vivant!"

Air Date: January 24, 2025
Hosts: Brian Greene, Kristen Joy Hoadley
Main Theme:
A freewheeling, irreverent episode in which Bryan and Krissy riff on snow in Atlanta, social media oddities, cryptocurrency grifts, and take a nostalgia trip through an early episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. True to the show’s improv-comedy roots, the hosts blend sharp social insights, pop culture commentary, and gleeful tangents—anchored by their offbeat chemistry and a wry look at American fascination with wealth and status.

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Episode Overview

Bryan and Krissy reunite in-studio after Atlanta's snowstorm to roast the city’s handling of winter and reflect on how fleeting fame, tech power plays, and money culture shape modern life. A central bit is their running commentary over a vintage Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous episode, lampooning both the show's "rich porn" and the American dream of wealth.

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Key Discussion Points & Segments

1. Atlanta Snowmageddon & Studio Banter

• [00:51–03:44] Hosts joke about Atlanta being shut down by snow, contrasting Atlanta's 2 inches of snow (“a big blanket,” per Krissy, [01:17]) with other southern cities’ incapacity:
  • Brian: “They don’t even have long sleeve shirts.”
  • Frustration with local meteorologists and the city's predictably botched snow response.

2. Viral Reels, Venezuelan Listeners, & Language Gags

• [04:23–05:38] Show's popularity surging with Venezuelan fans; Bryan muses jokingly about rebranding the show:
  • Brian: “I think we're just gonna start speaking Spanish on this show. ... It's gonna be called the Madur.” [04:29]
  • Hosts contrast loyal foreign listeners with indifferent Americans (“can’t be bothered to click follow on Instagram”).

3. Social Media Shenanigans—Auto-Follow Rant

• [05:38–10:25] Bryan vents about Instagram and Meta "auto-following" JD Vance and Donald Trump on people’s accounts:
  • Brian: “It’s insanity at the highest levels in a company that is run by insane people. Meta is for insane people, truly.” [06:46]
  • Spotlights how Threads & Instagram are pushing “shitty business practices” by mass auto-subscribing users to celebrities, “fucking with” his carefully curated algorithm.
  • Krissy: “Guess it's part of meta too.” [08:56]

4. Tech Billionaires, Political Access, and Cryptocurrency Grifts

• [10:25–17:53] Spirited critique of billionaires exerting influence, grift culture, and meme coins:
  • Meta, Musk, Trump and “Zuck Cuck”: a rollicking rant on how the lines between tech and politics are now public, not backroom.
  • Brian: “They want to control you and own you and everything about you.”
  • Discussion on meme coins like “Melania Coin,” with Bryan calling out the lack of utility and the pump-and-dump schemes:
    • Brian: “A meme coin has...no utility...It’s simply a vehicle. It’s a pump and dump scheme. That’s it. Let’s call it like we see it.” [13:46]
  • Krissy chimes in: “I did see some of the cryptocurrency pioneers...were mad because the Trump and Melania coins...does not lend legitimacy.” [13:32]
  • Side note: Jesse Pelosi insider-trading joked about (“It’ll be Nancy Pelosi, she'll be the first one” [15:57]).

5. Media, Wealth, and American Greed: Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

• [19:24–38:58] Main content: Hosts watch/comment on vintage Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous episode.
  • Nostalgic riffing on money obsession in 1980s/90s:
    • Brian: “The 80s were kind of like it is today. Money and greed above all else. Yes, everyone's screwing everybody else. As long as I got mine, greed is good. And that was literally the vibe...” [19:37]
    • Rich “porn”: the origins of shows gawking at the lifestyles of the wealthy.
  • Skewering the show’s "infomerical" vibe, endless intro, and fluff segments (Debbie Gibson in London, Kenny Rogers’ estate, Merv Griffin’s riverboat casino).
    • Brian: “This is one big commercial for Merv Griffin’s riverboat and his big gamble...” [43:44]
    • Kristen: “This really is just as an advertisement. Now for him.” [43:26]

Notable Breakdown:

• Debbie Gibson Segment:
  • Hosts lampoon the PR-driven “inside look” at teen fame (“You showed one shot of her house. That’s not Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. That’s Debbie Gibbs. Buy tickets here in London. Shame on you, Robin.” - Brian, [34:00])
• Kenny Rogers’ Estate:
  • Comedy approach to luxury excess:
    • Brian: “Now, this is Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The guy's got an infinity pool, an 18 hole golf course, the world's largest horse barn...Kenny Rogers is rich. Debbie Gibson is paying the mortgage.” [38:40]
• Merv Griffin’s Bon Vivant Life:
  • Dripping sarcasm towards the “bon vivant” lifestyle:
    • Brian: “I want to be a bon vivant. How do I get to be a bon vivant? Brian Greene and his longtime co-host and bon vivant sit around and stare at penises as they're slowly revealed behind a curtain...He's a true bon vivant.” [45:13]
  • Reflection on Merv’s vast wealth, creative empire (owns the Beverly Hilton, created Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune), and beating Trump in a casino deal:
    • Brian: “Just for one day, I want to wake up and not wonder what’s in my bank account. ... I just want to be Merv for one day.” [53:34]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Politics & Social Media:
  • “...the amazing amount of dick sucking that is going on on behalf of the big technology companies into Trump’s...zipper is unbelievable.” – Bryan Greene [06:46]
  • “...I have made my algorithm into a national treasure.” – Bryan Greene [09:40]
• On Meme Coins:
  • “A meme coin has very little, if any, utility...It’s a pump and dump scheme...All meme coins really are, at the end of the day, some of them have some utility, but really no, they don’t.” – Bryan Greene [13:46]
• On 1980s Rich Porn:
  • “The 80s were kind of like it is today. Money and greed above all else...greed is good.” – Bryan Greene [19:37]
• On Lifestyles Fluff:
  • “This is one big fluff piece. Speaking of PR.” – Bryan Greene [34:13]
  • “This is an early episode...it's just one big commercial for Merv Griffin’s riverboat and his big gamble on, you know, the wave. Taking the wave of the future riverboat.” – Bryan Greene [43:44]
• On Merv Griffin:
  • “Merv lived well. And the fact that he beat Trump out for a couple of hotels makes me even more joyous on this day of our Lord, whatever day it is today.” – Bryan Greene [54:25]

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Fun/Absurd Moments

• Bryan’s recurring “bon vivant” riff, culminating in the callback bon vivant/penis joke ([45:13], [45:45]).
• Live Googling of Beaver Dam Farms and discovering it was Kenny Rogers’ property sold for a fraction of its value ([34:37–36:25]).
• Mock-awe over 80s tech (“Look at that laptop computer back there. That is highfalutin for 1984.” – Brian, [30:06]).
• The saxophone-timeline conspiracy: “Shit started to go wrong in this world when sexy saxophone stopped being played in music.” – Bryan Greene [46:01]
• Bryan’s self-aware send-up: “Just like an episode of the commercial break.” [49:26]

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Episode Structure (Timestamps)

• Opening Studio Banter & Atlanta Snow: [00:51–03:44]
• Venezuelan Listeners & Viral Reels: [04:23–05:38]
• Meta/Instagram/Threads Auto-Follow Rant: [05:38–10:25]
• Tech Billionaires & Meme Coins: [10:25–17:53]
• Transition/Ads/Quirky Tangents: [17:53–19:24]
• Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Watchalong: [19:24–54:39]
  • Debbie Gibson segment: [27:11–34:13]
  • Kenny Rogers estate: [34:13–38:58]
  • Merv Griffin riverboat/luxury/life: [41:02–54:39]
• Final Callback/Outro Banter: [54:39–End]

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Takeaways

• Satirical Deconstruction: Despite its improv-chaos, the episode is sharp in skewering social and political hypocrisies—especially around money, tech, and representation.
• Pop Culture Nostalgia: The deep-dive into Lifestyles is both playful and cutting, using nostalgia as a lens for today’s influencer-rich culture.
• Signature TCB Vibe: Self-aware, “just FINE” with being a little messy, the show balances absurdist humor with jabs at society’s obsession with status.

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For new listeners: Expect a blend of vintage pop culture, modern-day gripes, and spontaneous humor—anchored by hosts who find the comedy in chaos and keep the banter unfiltered and authentic.

Transcript

[Brian Greene]

Hey, bestie. I'm a snow angel and I'm here to tell you you are more beautiful than the snow. Bestie. Let it snow. Let it snow.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

On this episode of the commercial break.

[Brian Greene]

I want to be a bon vom. How do I get to be a bon vivo? Brian Greene and his longtime co host and bon vivant Percy Jose sit around and stare at penises as they're slowly revealed behind a curtain. Look, that bon vivant is uncircumcised. He's a true bon vivant.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

The next episode of the commercial break starts now.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, boy.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, yeah. Cats and kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Greene. This is the Theresa to my Frankie Creek. Kristen Joy Hoadley. Best to you Kristin. Best to you Brian, Best to you out there in the podcast universe. Thanks for joining us. We're all back in studio after a fart of snow here in Atlanta took the entire town down for three.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

We did not get a fart of snow. We got a huge covering, Christina and I down where we live.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, but what would you say, like a total of 2 inches?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, but it was a big blanket.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It was beautiful.

[Brian Greene]

It's amazing.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I sent you the picture.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, I saw the pictures. Lots of traffic jams yet again happened yet again. The city still can't get it right. But I mean, you know these meteorologists, they tell you it's going to happen late in the afternoon or in the evening. So everyone figures, okay, let's go to work, let's go to school, let's do the things. The truckers are driving through Atlanta. Everyone's having a good time. And then of course these fucking nudniks can't get it right. I mean, I love the weather guys. I know that they have a hard job and I understand that weather's really hard to predict, but they got it wrong again by like four hours. So of course it starts snowing at 10am, not 5pm and everybody gets stuck out there on the fucking roads. They're killing each other out there trying to drive in ice and snow in a town that's ill prepared for any event whatsoever. And so there you go. So now what about Florida? Well, that's true. That's a different animal.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Even have snowplows.

[Brian Greene]

They don't even snowplows. They don't even have long sleeve shirts. I know.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

What, yeah, Florida, New Orleans, all that Gulf area, Houston, I just saw that.

[Brian Greene]

Amelia island, one of my favorite places got a good more than a dusting of snow and that's like the first time in 30 years that that's happened. I mean, it has to be really fucking. It has to be a really weird event for snow to happen in Florida, which is usually. No, you know, it's usually never below freezing there. I mean, I can't think of a time when I've been down in Florida and I've spent a lot of time there when it's actually been below 32 degrees. Maybe one night during the winter, maybe. But then they got snow. That's crazy. And the crazier part is I am literally four miles from three inches of snow. Do you know what I'm saying? I know I am four miles from three inches of snow. But I guess that's how the weather works. Why are we talking about the weather again on this show? I feel like we're one step away from the weather dot com.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Well, it was a big event.

[Brian Greene]

It was a big event. It was a big event. It took us all down. And the reason why it's a big event is because then I have to deal with my children three days in a row. Fucking stir crazy and absolutely nothing to show for it. Like we say it's a snow day and they fully expect they're going to be out there making, making snowballs and there's nothing. And it was just too cold to go outside.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It was really cold.

[Brian Greene]

Too lazy to bundle them up. So I said, hey, make the best of it. Drive yourselves. Drive yourself.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

You and Astrid got in the studio together.

[Brian Greene]

We did. We got in the studio together. We managed to have. And thank you so much to Astrid. I mean, I literally am just like, okay, you're on. Like, what are you talking about? And she hates the microphone. I know she does, but she does a great job. She does.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

And so it was a back to back. It was Gustavo on Saturday.

[Brian Greene]

Gustavo on Saturday.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yep.

[Brian Greene]

Astrid on Thursday.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Wednesday or Thursday?

[Brian Greene]

Well, Thursday.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

What day is it?

[Brian Greene]

I don't know. Well, the episode. Yes, the episode is a Thursday episode. So there you go. And another reel about Venezuela going viral out there on the Internet.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Good.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah. I think we're just gonna start speaking Spanish on this show. I think we might.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

We're putting some classes.

[Brian Greene]

It's gonna be called the Madur. That's what we're going to call it from now on. Those Venezuelans are just lovely and they're so loyal. Like, once you. Once you show affection to them, they will show affection back to you. Unlike our American listeners, can't be bothered to click follow on Instagram.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know. I feel like, we've become part of the family.

[Brian Greene]

We're in the fold. There's no doubt now. We have our naysayers. We have some people who call me kind of like the Spanish or in Spanish. They would. It would be an idiot and a dunce. A slow person, if you will. Yes, I'm a dunce. I'm an idiot. But, you know, you got to take the heat when it comes your way. You know, when you're riding the waves.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Chance it's going to crash everybody.

[Brian Greene]

That's right. So we've had two. We've had a number of reels go viral, and most of them are because I say something about Venezuela.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Greene]

But eventually we're going to get backlash. So I figure we stop while we're ahead, but stop all the Venezuelan. So let's just stop over at.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Let's just leave it at that. We love the people and it's a beautiful country.

[Brian Greene]

That's it. And then we'll slowly watch as our Instagram following goes back down again. So much fun. So much fun. Speaking of Instagram following, I don't know if you had a chance to stop by J.D. vance's page and follow him recently, but I noticed you were just throwing that out there.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, that was not me.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah. Wow. Unbelievable.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Like, Meta made some changes.

[Brian Greene]

Meta made some changes.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

The old Zuck.

[Brian Greene]

Zuck, yeah, the old Zuck. The old fuckerberg. He's up to no good again. The old Zuck. The old Zuck Cuck is what I'm going to call him because he's currently cuckolding the administration that just. God, listen. Vote for Trump. Cool. That's your right. I will fight for your right to vote. And I don't care who you vote for. That's the way it works. Sometimes the cookie crumbles your way, sometimes it does not. I'm not here to cry over spilled milk, but I will say that the amazing amount of dick sucking that is going on on behalf of the big technology companies into Trump's. Directly into Trump's zipper is unbelievable.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It really is very blatant.

[Brian Greene]

It's blatant. It's unbeliev. This used to happen behind the scenes when we couldn't know about it, therefore we weren't so stressed about it. But the fact that Zuckerberg or somebody made an actual decision that anyone who's not following J.D. vance or Donald Trump should be. So we're gonna go ahead and do that for them, is insanity at the highest levels in a company that is run by insane People. Meta is for insane people, truly people who want to run the world. They want to control you and own you and everything about you. And it's just insane to me that I wake up in the morning to all this kerfuffle, that everybody's following J.D. vance and no one followed J.D. vance. And I thought to myself, come on, guys, let's stop crying, right? Let's stop being big babies about this. And then I go, and I'm following J.D. vance. It's unfucking believable. I was like, holy. It's true. Oh, my God. It happened to me.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It was. And it is.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah. Now, I wasn't following djt. I wasn't following him, but I was following JD Vance. Jdv. Not J. Djt, but jdv. I was following him. And then I noticed that a lot of my friends were following. You know, it says also followed by. And there's just some people who I know would never make that. Like, no one.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

That's correct.

[Brian Greene]

I know their finger would never press that button.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Greene]

And as a rule, on our particular, like our. Our company account, the commercial break, the podcast account, we don't follow people who don't come on the show. And that's just one of those things. Like, it's no offense to anybody. It's just like, if you come on the show, we follow you. Otherwise, we don't. And that's for our personal accounts. That's who we follow. We follow all you plebs on our personal accounts. We can't be seen messing around with the people who have less than 3,000 subscribers, because we have more than 3,000 subscribers according to social media, by a tiny bit. So anyway, I say this not to, like, make anybody, not to sound elitist. I say this because I know for a fact that we would not have followed one of those accounts. And we were. And it was just unbelievable to me. Now, here's what I've also noticed. I've also noticed that we have a thousand or so people following us on threads. Oh, yeah, the Twitter knockoff that. Yeah, I like threads too, but I.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Guess it's part of meta too.

[Brian Greene]

Yes. I also know for a fact that those thousand people did not follow us on threads because we haven't posted anything on fucking threads. So how did we get a thousand followers? It took us four years to get a thousand followers on the commercial break. How do we magically appear with a thousand? They are auto subscribing people, auto following people that follow us on the commercial break account. How they make the decision about who that is, I really have no idea. Maybe someone that has a Threads account, then it automatically follows them. But that's just a shitty business practice. I think you. Yeah, like, I don't want to be auto following people. I just want to, like, follow the. I have made my algorithm into a national treasure.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes, you've been working on that.

[Brian Greene]

Toil and trouble through blood, sweat and tears, many long nights of anxiety, I have made my algorithm something to behold. Yes. Many nipples later, I have my algorithm right in the sweet spot. Or as Christina loves me to say, on fleek. Now, I don't want it to be fooled around with by Zuck, Zuck, Zuck Cuck and his friends over there at Meta. And I don't give a shit if he hears this. He doesn't because he lives in a plastic bubble. People roll him around on his private yachts or jets or whatever. I just. That just seems like a really boner move to me. Don't do that, dude. Don't do that. Keep your fingers out of the pie. How's that? Don't seem so oblivious.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know that's been on the pie.

[Brian Greene]

I know.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Always a part of the pie. What's that new one? Blue sky or something?

[Brian Greene]

I'm guy's good. Blue sky is good. And there's only like six people over there right now, so you can probably get a following that's only like six people. I have a Blue sky account. I got a Blue sky account. I think I got one for the commercial break. Yeah, it's like. It's Twitter, basically, is what it is. But it's, you know, supposedly the better Twitter. Like, not as ruckus as Twitter has become, because Twitter's. I mean, Twitter's always been kind of like a rough place to be if you're going to get in those waters. You really got to know what you're doing. Yeah, you got to have a very thick skin. And it's been that way long before Elon Musk too over, just to be clear about that. But there was some semblance of, like, reciprocity or, you know, it seemed like there was an even hand somewhere over there at Twitter when. Before Elon owned it. Now. Now it's just like it's literally the Wild West. So anyway, I don't want to bash on everything that, you know, Trump does or Elon does or JD does or whatever that. I don't care about that part. I'm not going to talk about that part. But I do not care for these billionaires getting so Close to the seat of power. And apparently it feels like they're buying the seed of power. Feels like they're buying into a clear path to do whatever the fuck they want whenever the fuck they wanted. And I do believe that there needs to be some checks in place. I believe in your right to be a billionaire. I really do. I'd love to be one. I'd like to be a billionaire. It'll take another 6020 episodes of the commercial break before we even get to 100,000 there. But just know this. I will also fight for your right to be a billionaire. But there needs to be some. Of course there needs to be some. Like, just like, guardrails. You know what I'm saying? Like, don't be so obviously bending over with your. Ready to have your bell rung by everybody in power. It's just so fucking.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I didn't watch the inauguration, but apparently they were all, I guess, right there up front, like, even closer than some other people.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, Chrissy. They had box seats. And I'm sure that those box seats were sold to them by somebody. Yeah, but don't worry. You can use Melania coin to buy a Melania coin. Oh, I was talking to Astrid about this or the preacher who was up there, given the whole sermon. You know, the kind of the. This sermon that was much ballyhooed online. He went right off stage into the backstage area and then announced his own altcoin, too, because, you know, we should all prosper under the Lord or some shit like that. I mean, it's unbelievable.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know.

[Brian Greene]

Grift is unbelievable.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Really crazy.

[Brian Greene]

The grift is on. Everyone's got their hands in the piggy bank. These meme coins do nothing but just make other people rich. It's just unbelievable. And there's a sucker born every minute, I suppose. I told Astrid I think we should have a TCB coin. We should have a TCB coin so that we can get in on the action. What are we doing? What are we doing? We're sitting around here like idiots working for a living.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know.

[Brian Greene]

Do you know what I'm saying?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Greene]

Why are we doing that? I don't know, Chrissy. I don't know.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Well, I did see that some of the cryptocurrency pioneers or people that are high up in it were. Were mad because the Trump and Melania coins, because it just. It does not lend legitimacy.

[Brian Greene]

It bastardizes the whole thing. And a meme coin has very little, if any, util utility whatsoever. You cannot walk into Kroger and Spend your Melania coin on milk. Okay? It does not take an anywhere. It's simply a vehicle. It's a pump and dump scheme. That's it. Let's call it like we see it. And all meme coins really are, at the end of the day, some of them have some utility, but really no, they don't have any utility. And so people who get in at the beginning, who make these, who hold onto a large portion of it, they control the price. And when the coin gets released or it gets really high or they pump it, then they dump it. And everybody else is left holding the bag, hoping that one more idiot behind them is gonna come in willing to buy it at a higher price than they bought it. But people always get left holding the bag. Always. And when the people who make the laws, who make sure that people don't get left holding the bag are in fact holding the bag, what do you do? Nothing. I don't know. I don't know. It's sad to me. It's just sad to me. And the. There are millions. I was looking the other day like that melania coin had $53 billion worth of transactions happen in a 24 hour period. $53 billion. And who money is buying, buying and selling, buying and selling, buying and selling. If I was smart, I would have bought. You know what I'm saying? If I was smart, I would have bought. Maybe I'm just mad because I didn't buy any. Maybe I'm just mad because I didn't make any money on Melania coin. Jealous? Yeah. Where's the Biden coin? I'm waiting for it. I'm waiting for it. I'm waiting for the Joe coin. That's Joe Coin. I'm waiting for Joe Coin to drop. I don't know, there's got to be a, you know, Kamala, Kamala coin. Buy the Kamala coin. It's all coming. They're all going to go the same way. It's all happening, I'm telling you. I see this coming down the tracks. The liberals protest right now, but they're soon going to be willing to get into bed also with the billionaires and the oligarchs to make themselves personally enriched. And, and none of us are going to have representation anywhere. Be careful what you ask for.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

It will appear they're all doing that already with stocks.

[Brian Greene]

Well, they've been doing that for thousands of years. Right.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

It'll be Nancy Pelosi, she'll be the first one.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, listen. Absolutely, absolutely. It's been Shenanigans going on for years. And the Democrats are just as guilty as anybody. They're all in cahoots. They're all doing it. You think they go sit up there and work together because they really enjoy doing the work of the people? Sure, I'm sure a few of them do. True servants of this country. Yes, the John McCain's of the world and stuff like that. The people who give a fucking shit. But there's this whole other side of life where you can be fabulously rich if we could just pull a few strings here and push a few buttons there. And Insider Trading 101 here, let me give you that class. I'm sure they get that the second they become a senator or whatever. And then we all are here voting them in term after term after term after term after term. And they're making the laws that push the buttons and make the power and make themselves more rich. And now it's out in the open. There's no more hiding anymore. It's out in the open and all of them are guilty of it, or most of them are guilty of it. And we are all going to suffer because already we have, you know, whatever.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I know.

[Brian Greene]

No, I honestly, honestly, I just had to say something. I just like, my top just popped. I haven't watched news in first in forever. I know, but when I started reading about Melania Coin and then I got foul and then I'm following people I never followed. I just, it just made me incensed. It really did. It made me incensed. And so next week we're going to have a very special guest come on the show and for one day you guys are going to have to suffer through talk about politics. Do you hear me?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

The break is over.

[Brian Greene]

The break is over. The commercial break has broken. You've done broke the commercial break. How do you feel about that, Mark Zuckerberg? Fuck you. We'll be back.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

If you were wondering, obviously you were. Yes, we did finally surpass 5,000 followers. But now here we are thirsty for more. So follow us. We are hecommercial break on Instagram and CBpodcast on TikTok. And we'd love you the most if you liked our videos and subscribed to our channel on [e-mail] the commercial break. And if social media isn't for you, just go to our website, tcbpodcast.com because everything we have ever done lives right there. Now let's take a listen to our sponsors and then we'll get back to the show.

[Brian Greene]

All right? And we're back. Brian had to take a couple minutes, go outside, spin around three times, take a deep breath, look at my children. Say, everything's gonna be all right, Brian. Everything's gonna be all right. You know, back in the day, now we, now, I think because of the Internet and media and the way that we have to get involved in everybody. Back in the day, we used to have to run to the corner grocery store, talk to grandma about who's fucking who. Now you just look at that tmt. Back in the day.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Did you mean tmz?

[Brian Greene]

No, I meant tmt.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh, okay. What's tmt?

[Brian Greene]

I don't know, but I just made it up. But I mean, I don't know who grandma is or who the corner grocery store is either. I was going somewhere in my mind.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Okay, I'm following it.

[Brian Greene]

I had to stop because I didn't wanna completely derail the show as I'm doing right now. Okay, so Lifestyles of the Rich and Fam. This was probably our first rich porn.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Right.

[Brian Greene]

I think this, I remember growing up with this. The 80s were kind of like it is today. Money and greed above all else. Yes, everyone's screwing everybody else. As long as I got mine, greed is good. And that was literally the vibe for some period of the 80s. And people were doing very well. There was a lot of money flowing around. Wall street was really taking off as a place where you could make your money. And there were a lot of people that money, that kind of that hedge fund money, savings and loan money, it filtered down and everyone felt good. They had an attitude, an air that they, they too could be rich someday if they just got this real estate course from the late night tv.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Greene]

Like Brian did, like Brian's got his dad to pay for it. But I would say that Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, the show that aired from about 84 to 95, starring Robin Leach, produced by Robin Leach, was our first rich porn where we were really gawking at people who had fabulous amounts of money and hoping that's a.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

You were getting an inside look.

[Brian Greene]

You were getting inside look at what it was like to fly a private plane or be inside of a mansion. Yeah, it wasn't. Instagram wasn't showing this to us every other reel.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Right.

[Brian Greene]

As some dipshit, you know, some 13 year old in Colorado paid $100 to a pilot of a private plane to make it pretend and seem like he had a Lear jet. Do you know what I'm saying?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Greene]

We didn't have all of this. That's all the way. I can say it. Money porn that goes around today. And so that. But that show was fascinating.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It was.

[Brian Greene]

It got me just like it got everybody else. And I was very young when this first came on. But I remember it for a good chunk of my adolescence.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Me too.

[Brian Greene]

And I loved it. I loved it when it came on. The story is that Robin Leach had this idea to do this television show to showcase some of his friends fabulous wealth. But no one would bite. There was no company that would bite. So Robin paid to have these shows produced at first on his own, and then I think he continued to do that and he would syndicate it on whatever television show.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It was all over the place.

[Brian Greene]

It was all over the place. You would see it in the mornings, you would see it in the afternoons. It'd be on late night television. It ran a lot like. And there were many episodes, I think. I think they ended up doing like 180 episodes or something. So I thought after my little diatribe on segment number one, that it was only fair to, I think, go back to the beginning when we all started looking at these rich people as status icons, so to speak. Let's look at some rich porn from 1980s kids. We're going all the way back. I was trolling on the Internet, as you do, as I oftentimes do, and guess what I found.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Get ready for another incredible. Your VIP journey into the lives and loves of today's winners who really know how to enjoy the great things of life.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, look at that. Sexy fashion models. Large pools. Breasts of breasting.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Helicopters.

[Brian Greene]

Ooh, helicopters. I love helicopter. Nothing. A helicopter shot to get you get your morning wood going. That is the Breakers Resort in Miami, by the way. I know that because I one time saw a picture of it.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh, polo.

[Brian Greene]

Polo. We know how I feel about polo. Okay. Yachting, Sailing. Sailing. Gaudy gold tables. Oh, oh, it's like a Model T. Yeah, we're watching the intro. And by the way, this is one of the. This is like season number one or two or something. So this is one of the older episodes. It is. I think it's a model T. I.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Think it's a Rolls, but it's a Rolls.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

Rose host is Robin Leach, who circles the world to bring home the stories people will never.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

What if I'm good for ro.

[Brian Greene]

Fun job. And I think he was like, kind of like a nobody television producer before that. I don't know. I saw one time I saw a documentary about Robin Leach, but they don't show those anymore because I don't think, you know, he didn't really live on. And people of our age know about him, Right. But it's not like Robin Leach went on to be super famous. He did this show, and that's what he was known for. And he hosted a couple of other things. I think he did the game show, but so this guy pretty much glommed on to everybody else that was rich. He would just visit their house and take a camera. Yeah, People love showing off how much money they like.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

The. What was the.

[Brian Greene]

Mtv. Mtv Cribs. The Cribs, yeah. It was like Cribs before Cribs. Glittering Cribs before Cribs. Lifestyles before Lifestyles. Utah trad wife before Utah trad wife.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Big Ben chimes to a whole new beat Now Debbie Gibson is a Londoner. America's songbird inspires a Debbie Gibson.

[Brian Greene]

Debbie Gibson on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Now my. My ears are perked.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

In my old hometown. By juggling two careers. There's a new big wheel on the river of Dreams. The captain of the ship is Merv Griffin.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, Merv Griffin.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Wow.

[Brian Greene]

Merv Griffin made every game show you ever watched.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Brian Greene]

And still is around. Yeah, it's still around. That's a jeopardy, right?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Wheel of Fortune.

[Brian Greene]

Wheel of Fortune. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

There's Lady Luck hit the jackpot on his brand. Nerve Floating Casino.

[Brian Greene]

First name Merv.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

Merv.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, it's Merv.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Baby Merv.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah. What's Merv?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Somebody named their baby Merv.

[Brian Greene]

The Perv. That's what they used to call him back in the day. This is 1984. And he looks 90 there.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

I know.

[Brian Greene]

And didn't he live till, like, just a couple years ago? I think so. He was like 107 when he died. People again, they just looked older back then.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

Mervyn is the name. Mervyn M, E, R, V, Y, N.

[Brian Greene]

Mervyn B. Pervin stays.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

Pervin.

[Brian Greene]

Mervyn stays Pervin'.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

A Brazilian bombshell has landed on children's television.

[Brian Greene]

Meet Shusha the 100 Shusha. Ah, good old Shusha.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Brazilian bombshell has landed on children's television. Okay, you don't hear that every day.

[Brian Greene]

We've hypersexualized half of Australia with these beautiful breasts, you can't go wrong. The kids will be sucking at the TTS of Shasha Host who's out to.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Bump off Barney, choke off lamb chop and slaughter Sesame Street. Can Latino Spitfire pull it off? You be the judge.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Slaughter Sesame Street.

[Brian Greene]

Wow. Do you think she sat around in meetings and was like, we're gonna Slaughter. Sesame Street.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

The other life of Entertainment Tonight's John Tash. Get to know the wow.

[Brian Greene]

First of all, what I have to remember about these television shows from the 80s and 90s is they had extraordinarily long intros. We're already seven minutes into the show and we haven't seen one bit of contest.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Man behind the mic. A former shy boy who muscled his way into not one but two super successful careers.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah. By the way, John Tesh is one of the most successful musicians that ever lived. And that's a fact that befuddles me to this day.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Really?

[Brian Greene]

He sold like 180 million albums or something. He's. It's insane.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Hot diggity dog. You're not gonna believe the platinum lives of Pampered Patch. Creature Comfort takes on new meaning for the four legged friends of the stars enter their world of luxury unlimited. Of doting owners deep into their pockets to lavish multi millions of.

[Brian Greene]

How much stuff can you fit into an hour long television show?

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Jewelry, spas, fashions and Barbies. A dog life. Don't you believe it. These amazing stories. And even more when Lifestyles returns in a moment. Stay with us.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Returns in a moment. Yeah, because we just introed forever.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Guess who we found in London town? America's teen idol. Debbie Gibson grew up to conquer a whole new continent. She even inspired a retro rock fashion craze from Bermondsey to Bethnal Green by starring in the English production of a classic American musical. Between eight shows of Greece each week. She also found time to explore the rockingest little city of Europe.

[Brian Greene]

She also found time to be a normal person walking into stores with cameras all around her.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

I remember going to Covent Garden on a day off from rehearsal and walking around. And what amazed me in general about London and especially that area is how people are just all out on the street. It's kind of like the equivalent.

[Brian Greene]

What amazes me is that there's people on the streets. Debbie.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

And now she's juggling.

[Brian Greene]

Debbie. That's one of the dumber things I've heard said. There were people on the streets. I know. Now she's juggling. Well, she's got talent. Debbie Gibson by far was my favorite teen pop star chick for sure. Yes. Who was the other one? Tiffany.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Tiffany.

[Brian Greene]

It was Tiffany and Debbie and the argument between the two. I would go Debbie all day week. Debbie. Debbie, Debbie.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

New York, only it's more central.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Debbie's first surprise.

[Brian Greene]

Penises in it.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Language and cultural parallels. It is most definitely Europe. She also discovered that like rome, London wasn't DoP in a day either.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

There seems to be a lot of culture here. I mean, this is probably what every American says. And I'm going to sound really redundant right now, but there's so much history around. Not every building is shiny and new you could drive through in a cab. And there's history about everything to be told. It's nice.

[Brian Greene]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Let's get to the good stuff. Show me what you're driving. Yeah. I love that Blossom hat, by the way she's got on. So 1984.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

Except you gotta do something about the weather. Summer was like last Wednesday and that was it.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

You're right. And that's why I moved to America. Taking a rain check on tourist hotels, Debbie checked into an elegant address that's a favorite for discerning visitors who stay for a while.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

The place I'm staying at was an old house, apparently, so it doesn't have that impersonal hotel feel. Instead, I feel like I'm in a house that happens to have room service and maid service and being.

[Brian Greene]

Instead, the water's cold and it smells like rat.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

I can't cook and I'm a slob. That is very helpful.

[Brian Greene]

I love when I get waited on entitlement.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

With a spacious suite doubling as an office, the dynamo and her manager mom worked double time for a new generation of British fans.

[Brian Greene]

Look at that laptop computer back there. That is highfalutin for 1984.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, it was.

[Brian Greene]

You do not find a laptop that I promise you that had the memory, the same kind of memory as Christina's computer. It's like 1.2k between shows.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

She composed new music for an hour.

[Brian Greene]

I'm getting her a new one. Stop texting me. I hear you already. I can hear you pounding away on that keyboard.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

To be released when she returns stateside, her core Blimey Limey fans were amazed to learn that Debbie's written more than a thousand songs.

[Brian Greene]

Whoa. She wrote a thousand songs. And what's Blimey Limey?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I don't know.

[Brian Greene]

I don't know either.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah. Blimey.

[Brian Greene]

I think I was post Blimey Limey.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Yeah.

[Brian Greene]

You have to be a real Debbie Gibson fan to know what Blimey Limey is.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

I don't think I could really choose a favorite as far as recording and doing content concerts and doing theater goes, because they're both very different. Theater is a very different thing from, let's say, recording in the sense that the producers.

[Brian Greene]

I sense that there's people. Show me the Actual yachts. I don't want to hear about your recording. I don't care.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

The director. Everyone has to be confident that you can get out there eight times a week.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Though immortalized on film, Debbie had no hesitation about reprising her character on stage.

[Brian Greene]

Reprising. It's reprising. Get it together, Robin.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

Sandy, since I was, you know, like 8 years old and saw the film, I was just dying to do a West End show.

[Brian Greene]

So I remember this being a show that showed you all the glitz and glamour. And what this really is, is one big promotional tool, tour tool for her Off Broadway show, Grease. What's that? Nah, we'll keep on rolling with it. Why not? Hey, listen, this episode couldn't get any worse than my grandstanding in segment one.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

So to be a part of that is just. It's like being a part of history. It's unbelievable. I think people will always love the 50s era. The upbeat kind of feel that Greece has, I think is timeless.

[Brian Greene]

People do love Greece. People do love that Grease. Do you like Greece?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I like Greece.

[Brian Greene]

Do you like Greece? Geez. Something wrong with you people? Rocks in your socks or something.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Triumphant return to her mega million dollar mansion in one of the big apples.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Here we go.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Incredibly, Daffy was just 18 years of age when she parlayed royalty revenues into this.

[Brian Greene]

This 20 room, 10,000 20 bedroom.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

At 18, she was 18 years old.

[Brian Greene]

Did he say 20, 000 square foot house? 20, 000 square foot house. That's 32 of these houses.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Square foot home. The house that hits Belf is sweet sanctuary for the girl who was destined for stardom. Picking out songs at age two, she quickly learned to play five instruments and was performing publicly by age 13. Wow. The meteoric rise was so swift that only as an American songbird in London was she truly able to take stock of her accomplishments over there. Debbie looked around at a new triumph in a new land. And she liked what she saw.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

No time for him on stage.

[Brian Greene]

And I look up, okay, this is one big fluff piece. Speaking of pr.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

And I go, I'm Jane Greece in London.

[Brian Greene]

This is how Robin got himself invited to all these places, because everybody knew he was just gonna do one big fucking Jack me off session.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, the west side. Exactly.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

I'm enjoying my personal life, my professional life. Yeah. And I do kind of go, is this really happening? You know, because it's just. It's one of those times in my life where I feel like I'm exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to be doing around the people I want to be around, which doesn't come together that often in my, you know, so when it does, it's like, really?

[Brian Greene]

Oh, I don't know. Look at any Instagram of any influencer and it seems like everything's going swimmingly for them also.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah, it comes right together.

[Debbie Gibson (archival interview)]

Kind of appreciate it and enjoy it.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Debbie, Good for you.

[Brian Greene]

Next. Okay, move on to the next one. You showed one shot of her house. That's not the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. That's Debbie Gibbs. Buy tickets here in London. Shame on you, Robin. I remember this show being much better.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

If relocating's on your mind, look no further than the foothills of northern Georgia.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, I remember this.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Beaver Dam Farms.

[Brian Greene]

Beaver Dam Farms, huh? I think that went out of business. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what Beaver Dam Farms is, but I. Georgia, do you see it? Is it still there, Christina? I mean, clearly there's like a multi million dollar house sitting here. Hold up, hold up, hold up.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

This is a real estate agency, so Beaver Dam farms. Oh, no. 900 plus acres of pure resort perfection. Let's see that. Oh, just outside of Athens. Up for auction in 2016.

[Brian Greene]

Okay. All right. Well, I don't know. Didn't all work out.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Beaver took it.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

It'll go for auction on the 16th of. Sorry. 2016. Estimated replacement cost, between 30 and 40 million to be sold to the highest bidder at or above 3.5 million. Now that's drama.

[Brian Greene]

Wow. That is $3.5 million. For how many acres? Man, I wish I. Yeah, if I was only would have known as a six. Boy watching this episode. It does look beautiful.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

But golf courses are famously hard to maintain.

[Brian Greene]

They're. They're, they're money and a blank environment.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

This is somebody's private.

[Brian Greene]

It's like a resort abode. No, you know, there's a.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

There.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah. And there's a number of people here in Georgia. And I knew one guy's name was Harrison. He was a lovely real estate developer. And he had this dream. One last hurrah. He would develop like, he helped develop like Sun City west out in Phoenix. Okay, so he's like a true real estate developer. Who knows what the fuck he's doing. Master plan communities. And he bought a bunch of land down south of the airport to do this huge resort with houses and restaurants and hotels and blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, 17 square miles or whatever it was going to be. He's going to make his own city, his own Disney World. His half rides and all this other.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Here.

[Brian Greene]

Yes, here. And this guy couldn't, he couldn't get two nickels to rub together to make this happen. Because everyone's like, you're dumb. Who the fuck is going to come out here to go to your resort when there's nothing to do here? Like there's nothing to do. Who's gonna be the first one to come down here? And essentially he was. He built his own house there and he was lonely cuz he was the only guy that lived down there. But now I remember why there's a commercial inside of this. Go ahead.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

Sorry, I'm just reading. It formerly was the estate of Kenny Rogers.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh, Kenny Rogers.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

And then it sold to a buyer in Texas. And then they used it as a private family retreat and home for a few years, which is crazy. And then it was later sold to a landlord corporation.

[Brian Greene]

A land corporation. Yeah, yeah. Meaning the hedge fund. Who then bought this for $3.5 million. The reason why there's a commercial inside of this is because he was funding this all himself. So he would embed commercials into the show. Smart, smart thinking Lincoln.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

Beaver Dam Farm is an old sweet song of Kenny Rogers. A 150 acre spread he designed and lovingly built with his country music millions like no other working farm. It's a masterful balance of practical luxury. Of shadows and light beneath soaring ceilings. There's a 3,000 square foot master.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

This must have been one of like the very first season.

[Brian Greene]

Islands in the stream. That is where we are. Lots of cocaine. And I'm at the bar suite, professional.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

Kitchen and movie star pool. Just for openers, the property also contains the world's largest, largest privately owned horse barn. Kenny customized all 72,000 square feet of blue ribbon design. From marble entrance to brass rail shop.

[Brian Greene]

Wow.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It's quite impressive.

[Brian Greene]

It is huge. Now this is Lifestyles of the Rich and famous. This was owned by Kenny Rogers. Owned and built by Kenny. And just a few short steps away. Chrissy, we didn't even know.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

Celebrity visitors. A five bedroom guest house with every imaginable luxury elegant salon.

[Brian Greene]

Cheese. If someone gave me that guest room in their house. Five bedroom, unbelievable guest house, gymnasium and bar. Let's not look at that. There is a like a cheers sized bar in that guest house.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

In the guest house. Yeah.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

At the par 72.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

18.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, there's Kenny. He's Brandon.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

To draw headliner pals to the Peach State. Just to play a few. Kenny's backyard, A hard drive from the green. You'll find a regulation sized tennis court where visiting Hollywood chums came to work on their backhand.

[Brian Greene]

It was, wow, okay, this is Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The guy's got an infinity pool, an 18 hole golf course, the world's largest horse barn, all right there in the luxury of his own backyard. That's what I'm talking about. About Kenny Rogers is rich. Debbie Gibson is paying the mortgage.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

Kenny's favorite spot, a gazebo by the lake where he and his son spent lazy afternoons playing hooky.

[Brian Greene]

Now the playing hooky and a helicopter landing on your backyard.

[Narrator or archival footage voice]

There's moving on. And Beaver Dam Farm is on the market. Yours for $13 million.

[Brian Greene]

13 million bucks. That was a deal back then, right? In 1984. That's probably the equivalent of 1 million Melania coin.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Directly ahead, one man.

[Brian Greene]

Okay, we're going to check out Merv Griffin's river steamboat gambling boat. Merv Griffin was into a lot of shit. He's probably into S and M too. But that's just my interpretation. No offense to the Griffin family.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

With a name like Merv, if you.

[Brian Greene]

Want me to host one of your. Ryan Seacrest should keel over at any point. You need me to do that Wheel of Fortune gig? I think I could do that. I was telling my son, who loves the Wheel of Fortune, I said, son, I could be the host of the Wheel of Fortune. And he said, I think I like Ryan better. That's what he said. Well, that's just the first in a long line of disappointing things you'll say to me, son. And this is. This is one of them. We'll be back.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

One of my New Year's resolutions is to hear more of other people's drama. So help a girl out and tell us your drama at 212-433-3822. You can text it or if it's extra juicy, leave us a voicemail with the full story. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTokCBpodcast and watch our video [e-mail] TheCommercialBreak but also, you can find everything I just mentioned and more on our website, tcbpodcast.com okay, let's listen to our sponsors and send us your drama.

[Brian Greene]

All right. And we're back with the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. We just saw Kenny Rogers trying to unload his amazing resort.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

That thing was amazing. I mean, $13 million, that's. It was huge.

[Brian Greene]

It was huge. What'd they say? They said it was like 900 acres or something.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

Thousand million over 900 acres.

[Brian Greene]

900 acres in between Atlanta and Athens. That, that has got to be worth some money. Now some hedge fund made a killing on that. All right, let's see what Merv Griffin is up to. He's the guy who started all the game shows.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

You love a million dollar gamble. Mighty mogul Merv Griffin goes for broke with a little help from a company.

[Brian Greene]

He does look like a jolly old man, doesn't he? Does.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

Yeah.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

He's filthy rich.

[Brian Greene]

He's filthy rich. Hook.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Superhero. Stay with us, Griffin. Mr. Entertainment. With the Midas touch, the super showman turned mighty mogul says his secret of big business success is all down to an attitude.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Well, I still have that wonderful optimism about life. I live by the philosophy that there were two stone cutters.

[Brian Greene]

I live by the philosophy that there's two young men, two young chiseled stone cutters.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

And they said to them, what do you do? And one of them says, well, I cut stones and I made blocks. And the other one said, I'm on a team that's building a beautiful cathedral. I like the second one.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Everybody sing.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Everybody sing. He's getting down on that piano.

[Brian Greene]

Everybody gather round Grandpa for one last hurrah. Your billionaire grandpa. He's seen Vanna White's titties. All right. Listen to him play Hooty Doody at the Howdy Dowdy.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

The Razzamataz. An innate savvy that built Merv Griffin Enterprises an empire captained by someone who's never been afraid of going against the stream.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, I would say of all the things your financial advisor would tell you to get involved in riverboat gambling, probably not one of them. It's worse than a restaurant.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

A joke that he sold himself down the river on his newest gamble.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Well, riverboats are going to be a thing of the 90s. I mean, there's no question about it. All the states are.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, yeah, no question about it. All I could remember about the 90s was riverboat gambling.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Gaming. And most of them are naming the fact that they have to be riverboats with the paddle wheel and all.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

A floating palace to lady luck players. Riverboat casino boasts three restaurants, entertainment and a 20,000 square foot cook gaming floor with room for 1200 passengers.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

This really is just as an advertise advertisement. Now for him.

[Brian Greene]

Yes, now, now I see just how fragile my young mind was. I always felt like the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous was a fun show.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Came about that later. That's what I was saying. I think this had to be a really early episode.

[Brian Greene]

This is. This Is an early episode a season one or season two? I can't remember which one I pulled. But yeah, this is just one big commercial for Merv Griffin's riverboat and his big gamble on, you know, the wave. Taking the wave of the future riverboat.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Gambling bankrolled the 18 and a half million dollar ship has every reason to toot his own horse.

[Brian Greene]

Wait, hold on. It's 18. 18 and a half million dollars to buy that riverboat ship. And it was only 13 to buy Kenny Rogers world's largest horse barn facility. I would have bought Kenny Rogers. Yeah.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

That means somebody won a jackpot.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Speeding bullet. Merv established the super casino's corporate headquarters somewhere rather fittingly the tiny northern town put on the map by a superhero.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

I guess the name Metropolis came first. I guess when they were doing the the strip in the papers of Superman they took the name of Metropolis. The paper here is the Planet. It's not daily, it's a weekly planet. And they have a statue.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Well I did not know this about metropolitan Metropolis, Illinois.

[Brian Greene]

I do not care. I really don't. I wonder if they still have that statue there. Ah, it's probably, it's probably a Banksy at this point one but the tourists.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Do come to see it right in the the town square.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

When he's not wheeler dealing, Merv's having fun usually with longtime companion Ava Gabor and his right, a world explorer and bon vivant, his favorite travel companion.

[Brian Greene]

I want to be a bon vivant. How do I get to be a bon vivant? Brian Greene and his longtime co host and bon vivant sit around and stare at penises as they're slowly revealed behind a curtain. Look, that bon vivant is uncircumcised. He's a true bon vivant. Elitist. You bonvivo.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Sorry. Son and daughter in law.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

They're a dream couple. They're great fun. They're fun to travel with, they're fun to be with, they're fun to be friends with other than being and my.

[Brian Greene]

Son in law's sucking all my money. He's sucking up all my cash.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Close family.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

It's nice to go.

[Brian Greene]

Oh yes. Nothing like someone pointed out on the Internet the other day. They said shit started to go wrong in this world when sexy saxophone stopped being played in music. And he like he actually put a timeline together of how the slowly the sexy saxophone went away from music and slowly things got worse around the world. Oh yeah, I think he's onto something here actually.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

He doesn't love a little slow saxophone.

[Brian Greene]

Listen Sexy. I used to play the saxophone, of course. It was one of my first instruments. Alto saxophone. I was second chair because Russell was first. Jeremy. He was much more talented than I was.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Oh, so nice to come home to a choice of three dream west coast addresses.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

My main headquarters is in Beverly Hills. I love Carmel Valley, where I have been for many, many years. And I have my vineyard there.

[Brian Greene]

Bon vivant. My vineyard with my bon vivant. My whores and poo boys. I swing either. I'm a wild Roman man. I'm a bon viv.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Spots in the world at 1700ft high on a mesa with the big sur mountains up against me.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

And he was living the light.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, he was. This guy was a billionaire before. Yeah, he wasn't that. I don't think he probably would be now. A billionaire. His. His company's got to be worth a billion dollars. At least. He owns all those rights to all those famous television shows. But he's embedding restaurants into the side of a mountain. He's got golf courses everywhere.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

He's got vineyards.

[Brian Greene]

Vineyards. And he's got bon vivons. He's. He's eating olives with toothpicks. This guy's. He's really into something.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

I live in the winter time.

[Brian Greene]

And he's even got a La Quinta hotel and everything.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

That's a ranch. They're too totally.

[Brian Greene]

Well, that's how. That's what bon vivants say. Chrissy. La Quinta. I say La Quinta places.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

And I'm really crazy about both of them.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

When the island's called Dayo, Mer follows the trains and splats.

[Brian Greene]

That's from Beetlejuice. Not the islands.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

She's down at a balmy hideaway.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

It's the greatest tonic in the world to come here.

[Brian Greene]

And you?

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

I sleep here.

[Brian Greene]

I sleep here. I sleep here with many people. I sleep here.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

He's. He's got an island in the Bahamas.

[Brian Greene]

He's got an island in the. Bah. I have an island in the Bahamas. Trouble Islands in my dreams.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Still, I'm very comfortable here.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

He's come a long way from a 50s crooner singing for his supper. Risking a steady $125 a week gig, Merv went solo and scored a number one hit.

[Brian Greene]

What? What?

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

He flirted with movies until a chance fill in as a host spun him into the living rooms of the first television generation.

[Brian Greene]

That's right. He was. He was like the guest host on the Jack Parr show. Then he did the Merv Griffin show.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

The whole world passed through that Talk show in those 23 years. It was 23 years.

[Brian Greene]

23 years.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

He had that show for 23 years. Wow.

[Brian Greene]

Wow. He was 107 when he died.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Or let the audience know what's going to happen next.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Did you spit that out of your mout?

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

It was part variety. It was part heavy conversation. It was part everything.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, just like an episode of the commercial break.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

It was all improvised. That's what I love.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Don Louise or what was it?

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, that is Don Luis. Don or Tom DeLuise. Don DeLuise, that's right. Isn't he like Gallagher? Didn't he have a brother? Twin brother? That would go around. I don't know. Dom. Dom DeLuise.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Dom DeLuise.

[Brian Greene]

Not Don. Dom with an M.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Such flamboyance made his low key 1986 farewell all the more poignant.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

We will not be right back after this message. That's all, folks.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

We will not do that.

[Brian Greene]

That's how I am ending the commercial break. Remember this moment, girls, because it might come sooner rather than later. When Brian says we won't, you know, we must say we will say we won't be right back.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Behind the scenes, he created and launched the two most successful game shows in television history that.

[Brian Greene]

Are still on, still on to this day. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Still extraordinarily popular.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

No game has ever in the past or ever will do what Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy. Have done.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I mean, I think he may be right.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, no, he's right about that. That they're the two longest running television shows, aren't they? And then the Simpsons or something.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Yeah, those shows.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, I guess the Tonight show in 60 Minutes and CBS this Morning and BBC World. Okay. There's a lot of other shows. Sorry, Merv. It didn't work out how you anticipated.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Revenues now of a couple of billion dollars.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

In 1986, Coca Cola made Merv an offer he couldn't refuse. $250 million for both shows.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh, Coca Cola bottles.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

I'm gonna have some fun now. There's plenty for my son. You know, you'll never have to worry, so why not have some fun? And I went out and just started buying things.

[Brian Greene]

I didn't know Coca Cola.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I had no idea.

[Brian Greene]

I had no idea. But it makes sense.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Merck spree began with $102 million for a West coast hotel.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, he owns the Beverly Hilton.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Wow.

[Brian Greene]

Okay. Chrissy and I are really impressed with Merv Griffin. He's the kind of billionaire we can fall in love with.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

Well, he is dead.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, well, yeah. He's like that old school pedo that. No, you know, just. He's kind of bothersome, but he really didn't do anything bad. And, you know, he just stepped over a few people's heads to get there and ruined a couple of thousand acres of land and stuff like that. But, you know, they were old. You could give them a break.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

It was a different time.

[Brian Greene]

It was a different time. Now he owns the Beverly. He. Oh, he owned at the Beverly Hills. Now his son does and his son's.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Probably never mind for renovations.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

If it's going to be an extension of me, I want to know what's going on in the place and I want input to it. I'm not a passive owner. I don't want to own things and then sell them.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

His next purchase sparked a bidding war for Atlantic City Casino. Did anywhere beat out Donald Trump from?

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Oh, I don't know if it'll ever be rectified with Donald.

[Brian Greene]

I didn't bother at all.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Oh, my God. There's a young Donald Trump.

[Brian Greene]

Merv gift. Griffin's unbothered by Donald Trump.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yeah.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

While he was running around saying, I.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Want, I want, I want, I want.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

I was in the back of the house with my sleeves rolled up, working on projects and getting things done.

[Brian Greene]

The shade.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Wow.

[Brian Greene]

Trump getting shit. Trump being called out early four years ago. That's right.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Winning better. $365 million won in resorts International Casino and more. With it came an 80 stake in another moneymaker in the Bahamas. With a roll of the dice, the showman muscled his way onto the cutting edge of big business. Yet despite his mover and shaker status, Merv remains a maverick, a mogul whose eye isn't totally focused on the bottom line.

[Merv Griffin (archival interview)]

Now, some people do it for money. I don't do it for money. It's very nice. I'm sure that it comes in. If someone says, what are you worth? I have no idea. If somebody said, how much money do you have in the bank? I have no idea.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, God. God, would that be nice. God bless. Just for one day, I want to wake up and not wonder what's in my bank account. Do you know what I'm saying? Not wonder how I'm going to pay the bill. Not wonder who's going to call me next for money. Not wonder any of this or not worry who's going to call me next for money. Not worry about any of that. I just want to be Merv for one day. I want to wake up and go, I don't know how much I have in my bank account. Well, that's true. I don't know how much I have in my bank account.

[Additional male contributor or producer]

I do that, but it's only because.

[Brian Greene]

I don't want to. Look. Yeah, I do ignore my bank account, largely because when there's a minus, when you open up your app, you just kind of forget about the rest of the numbers.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Merv Griffin enjoying the fruits of success by spanning the worlds of showbiz and big.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Good for Merv.

[Co-host (possibly Mark or another male co-host)]

Missing a beat.

[Brian Greene]

Wow. Good for Merv. I do. I do think I like Merv very much.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Merv lived well.

[Brian Greene]

Merv lived well. And the fact that he beat Trump out for a couple of hotels makes me even more joyous on this day of our Lord, whatever day, whatever day it is today. Is that important. You have to take that? No. Okay. I think someone is calling you.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

They are?

[Brian Greene]

Is that who I think it is?

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Yes.

[Brian Greene]

You're kidding me.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

No.

[Brian Greene]

How long has it been since you've talked to her? A while.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

A long time. Yes.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah, she's probably listening to the show, going, what are these two morons up to? I won't mention who because she might not want to be on this show, but hey, listen, okay, there's the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. We may not revisit that one, but, you know, we did it once. That's all I gotta say.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

I think if we go to a later.

[Brian Greene]

I think so, too. I think we gotta go later. Yeah. When it's more like rich porn. Right?

[Additional male contributor or producer]

I can pre screen for you.

[Brian Greene]

Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. I. And there aren't. Not every episode is out there on, you know, on the pla. On the YouTube, on the interweb. So, yeah, see if we can find one closer to like 1992 or 93 and that one. And one of those I might remember like this. I don't remember. I was too young for all of this. But anyway. All right, so bow to you. Bon vin Vivian. A bon vin vion. A bov vino bon vion a bovine fool, otherwise known as a bon vion. Okay, well, that's it. We're back in studio. You know, thank you to Asrid for jumping in. Jumping in for joy. There you go. I do love her dearly. I do love her dearly. But I. I do thank God that you're in this seat six hours a week instead.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

She probably does, too.

[Brian Greene]

Oh, yeah. No, definitely no. Why do you think she part of hates the podcast, the other part likes that I'm occupied with something besides talking to her. Also, Astrid and I talked about this yesterday about kind of the TikTok and creator economy. Some people will text in and they'll say love the show. If there's anything I can ever do to help, let me know. There is something you can do to help share the show. Share it with a friend, share it with a neighbor, share it with a boss you don't intend to be employed to with for very long. Just say it to someone you don't care about. Sharing is caring and if you can share the show, that's the biggest favor in the world you can do. Biggest compliment you can pay us. Also, you can follow us on Instagram at the commercial break. We're posting content there now constantly, it seems like at TCB podcast on TikTok. I do try and post there as frequently as possible though. TikTok's another scene altogether and I just don't get it. Yeah, I think we have less than a hundred. 100 followers, I'm sure.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

Hi. That does not surprise me.

[Brian Greene]

Oh how impressed Roy Wood Jr. Must be when he goes to our tick tock and he sees less than 100. Anyway. 2124-3338-2382-2212-4333 TCB Questions, comments? Concerns? Content, Ideas? We're taking them all right there and tcbpodcast.com all the auto all the video YouTube.com/the commercial break for every episode now available on video. Chrissy that's all I can do for now, I think.

[Kristen Joy Hoadley]

So.

[Brian Greene]

I'll say that I love you and I love you. Best to you, best to you and best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time Chrissy and I do say, we will say and we must say goodbye. Sam.