Postgame Show: The Drama

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Postgame Show: The Drama

Date: April 8, 2026
Setting: Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami

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Episode Overview

In this postgame show, Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and the crew dive into their usual blend of sports, pop culture, and personal banter. The episode’s unexpected centerpiece is a deep analysis of a buzzy new film starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, humorously titled “The Drama.” The group’s playful, irreverent style persists as they dissect the movie’s marketing, the shocking plot twist, and its emotional impact—while weaving in classic show chemistry and inside jokes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Greg Cody's Tennis Racket Destruction (00:32–02:04)

• Greg Cody attempts to destroy a tennis racket:
  The episode opens with laughter about Greg Cody’s attempts—a nod to his “successful dismantling,” though it’s quickly clear Greg struggled to make a dent at first.

  • Memorable quote:
    • “There were three hits before it was even dented.” – Chris Cote (00:44)
    • “Like, maybe it was only my trained eye who could see it, but after the first slam, it was no longer a perfect egg shape or whatever the hell shape a racket's called.” – Greg Cody (01:05)

• Show-and-tell on a podcast:
  Jokes abound regarding Greg drawing illustrations to show off the damage (which, as Chris jokes, is not helpful for the audio audience).

  • “What are you drawing?” – Audience confusion, with much laughter at Greg’s efforts (00:57–01:41)

• Hair jokes:
  Mike Ryan draws a fun comparison between Greg Cody and Bill Murray’s “Kingpin” character, praised for its accuracy.

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2. Deep Dive: Zendaya’s “The Drama” (02:06–08:55)

The Movie’s Mysterious Hype and Marketing (02:06–03:37)

• Jeremy raves about “the new Zendaya movie”:

  • The film is shrouded in secrecy, its marketing culminating in a fake wedding announcement for Zendaya and co-star Robert Pattinson in the Boston papers.
  • “They just took out an ad in the Boston Herald, I believe, or the Boston Globe for, like, a wedding celebration...a photo of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.” – Jeremy (02:30)

• TMZ’s spoiler controversy:

  • Days before release, TMZ leaks hints about a shocking plot twist.
  • Discussion of a Reddit theory: Producers of “Euphoria” might have sabotaged the movie due to Zendaya’s lack of promotion for the show.
    • “Some people online theorize that it’s actually the producers of Euphoria that leaked it to TMZ because Zendaya wasn’t promoting. Sabotage. Trying to sabotage her movie.” – Jeremy (03:13–03:39)
  • The panel debates whether this theory holds water.

First Impressions & Reception (03:46–05:34)

• Crew reactions:
  Both Jeremy and Mike Ryan saw the movie and found it “vastly entertaining” and “captivating.”

  • “I was captivated the entire time.” – Mike Ryan (04:29)
  • The film draws comparisons to Reddit’s “Am I the Asshole?” threads, putting audiences in an ethical “what would you do?” position.
    • “The entire premise...is like one of those ‘am I the asshole?’ posts on Reddit.” – Jeremy (04:02)
    • “How much would I forgive someone who I love?” – Jeremy (04:25)

• Audience response:

  • The movie evoked audible gasps; a divisive twist means some love it, others are offended.
    • “The twist is one that people are gonna have feelings about.” – Mike Ryan (04:41)
    • “For some folks, this is deeply personal. In fact, the audience has a rooting interest in one of the characters that is speaking to how personal one can take this.” – Mike Ryan (05:35)

• Critical reception:

  • Rotten Tomatoes: 75% critic, 80% audience scores.
    • “75%...80%...I understand where the 25 and 20%...would take genuine offense.” – Mike Ryan (05:15–05:34)

• Genre & Tone:

  • Mike Ryan: “A really good dark comedy”—though he admits the film’s darkness may turn off some viewers.
    • “For people that like dark comedies...this is certainly one of those films.” – Mike Ryan (06:33)
  • Jeremy pushed back: “I didn’t even really find it, like, funny in that respect. It is just dark.” (06:45)

Spoiler Reveal: The Shocking Twist (06:52–08:55)

• Build-up:
  The team carefully debates whether to spoil the movie—spoiler alerts are emphatically issued.

  • “Spoiler alert! Spoiler Stop listening if you don’t want to know the premise.” – Jeremy & Stugotz (07:16–07:17)

• The twist explained:

  • At a pre-wedding dinner, guests play “what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”
  • Zendaya’s character confesses—with a trigger warning—the worst thing she ever did was plan a school shooting as a teenager, going so far as to bring a gun, film a video, and select a target, but ultimately not going through with it.
    • “She brought the gun to school and everything...Never followed through...She had a target, 15 years old, someone was kind to her, and she decided to change her mind about it. But she reveals this.” – Jeremy (08:10–08:22)
  • Her fiancé, Robert Pattinson’s character, and the rest of the table, never knew.
    • “Nobody knew.” – Jeremy (08:24)
    • “The rest of the movie is a roller coaster of what would you do in this scenario if you learn this about a loved one?” – Jeremy (08:25)

• Immediate reactions:
  The cast acknowledges the gravity and originality of the premise.

  • “Goosebumps. Like, wow. It’s—It’s—I’ve never really seen anything quite like it.” – Jeremy (08:25)
  • “That makes me want to watch it.” – Dan Le Batard (08:43)

• Viewing advice:

  • Best watched streaming, not a theater experience.
    • “You watch it or not? Should watch it streaming. Sure. Not a movie you’re gonna go to in the—” – Mike Ryan (08:44)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There were three hits before it was even dented.” – Chris Cote on Greg’s racket skills (00:44)
• “Maybe it was only my trained eye who could see it, but after the first slam, it was no longer a perfect egg shape...” – Greg Cody (01:05)
• “It’s an excellent call, though, by Mike Ryan. That Greg Cody...there is a resemblance to Bill Murray in Kingpin.” – Stugotz (01:49)
• “The entire premise...is like one of those ‘am I the asshole?’ posts on Reddit.” – Jeremy (04:02)
• “How much would I forgive someone who I love?” – Jeremy (04:25)
• “[The twist] is one that people are gonna have feelings about…I kind of have a dark sense of humor. So I found this film to be a really good dark comedy, a really interesting one that's performance driven...” – Mike Ryan (04:41)
• “For some folks, this is deeply personal…” – Mike Ryan (05:35)
• “She brought the gun to school and everything…Never followed through...she had a target, 15 years old, someone was kind to her, and she decided to change her mind about it.” – Jeremy (08:10–08:22)
• “The rest of the movie is a roller coaster of what would you do in this scenario if you learn this about a loved one?” – Jeremy (08:25)
• “Goosebumps. Like, wow. It’s—I’ve never really seen anything quite like it.” – Jeremy (08:25)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• Greg Cody’s tennis racket fiasco: 00:32–02:04
• Movie marketing & TMZ leak discussion: 02:06–03:37
• Film reactions, tone, and divisiveness: 03:46–06:50
• Spoiler reveal and group reaction: 06:52–08:55

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Summary

This postgame episode is a quintessential example of the Le Batard Show’s blend of laughter, culture, and left-turn discussions. Greg Cody’s comic attempts at tennis racket destruction give way to a genuinely thoughtful analysis of “The Drama,” a daring and dark new film. The crew unpacks its risky marketing, explains the central dilemma, and navigates sensitive ground with their trademark candor—leaving listeners both entertained and genuinely intrigued by this unorthodox pop culture talking point.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

A successful dismantling of the tennis racket by Greg Cody. Was it harder than you thought it was going to be? Because your first couple attempts you did, as I suspected, very little.

[C]

That's what I'm saying. I don't know if it was a success. There were three hits before it was even dented.

[D]

No, I'm going to. I'm going to illustrate.

[C]

Okay.

[D]

Okay.

[C]

Going to show us a slightly dent. This is not helpful for the audio audience. What are you drawing?

[E]

Describe what you're drawing.

[B]

He's writing something here.

[C]

Drawing a racket that looks slightly different.

[B]

Oh, he's showing. Okay. He's showing us what it looked like at first and then what it looked like now.

[D]

Like, maybe it was only my trained eye who could see it, but after the first slam, it was no longer a perfect egg shape or whatever the hell shape a racket's called.

[C]

Can you hold up that illustration again? You're so close here. If you could just.

[B]

It's pretty good.

[C]

Just draw like a line from one. Yeah.

[B]

Can you draw which is the first one?

[C]

You.

[E]

Connecting a little U.

[C]

Hold it up a little so we can see.

[D]

Yeah, this is this.

[E]

A little you, a little you. A little you. Connecting the two circles. Yeah, just lift it up.

[C]

It's good.

[B]

When you lower it so that the mic. That's. That's good.

[E]

There you go.

[B]

There you go.

[C]

There you go. Now I can see it.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Okay, so in other words, it was slightly misshapen.

[C]

Just connect the two balls.

[F]

Yeah, I mean, rackets.

[D]

What does that mean?

[E]

Damn it, Chris.

[B]

It's. It's an excellent call, though, by Mike Ryan. That Greg Cody, he. There is a resemblance to Bill Murray in Kingpin. Yeah, you can see Greg's hair and Bill Murray's hair. It's very, very similar.

[D]

I love the comparison. Thank you.

[B]

Yeah, There you go. Jeremy, you know, I'm always looking for TV shows to watch, movies maybe that I haven't heard of as well. And I know you've been raving about this new Zendaya movie, right? The drama. Is it a movie?

[F]

Yes, it's a movie with Zendaya.

[B]

I don't even know what this is.

[E]

So that's kind of on purpose.

[F]

Yes. So what was really interesting about this movie is the marketing started. It's about a couple that's getting married, and they show you in the previews. Oh, there's. There's gonna be some sort of secret or twist that might come within the movie, but you don't really know. It's very, very secretive in the way that they've promoted it. And it started with they just took out an ad in the Boston Herald, I believe, or the Boston Globe for, like, a wedding celebration, a wedding announcement of these two characters, and it was just a photo of Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. That's how this whole thing starts. But now, a little over a week ago, TMZ put out a report that

[E]

there should be a spoiler alert here.

[F]

Yeah, I'm not gonna. I'm not even gonna spoil it, but they put out an alert that seemingly hinted at what the twist of this movie was gonna be, and it was very confusing as to why that would happen. Now, some people online theorize that it's actually the producers of Euphoria that leaked it to tmz because Zendaya wasn't promoting Sabotage. Yeah. Trying to sabotage her movie.

[B]

I do know about that. Sabotage.

[F]

Try to sabotage her big movie with Bobby P. Because she wasn't supporting Euphoria.

[B]

You really believe that that could be true?

[F]

I do think that could be true. But either way, this movie is vastly entertaining.

[B]

You saw it.

[F]

I saw it. The twist, if you want to call that, because it happens very early in the movie.

[B]

Is the twist what TMZ alluded to?

[F]

Yes.

[E]

Yeah.

[F]

And it is. Basically, I saw someone on Twitter say this, and I agreed. The entire premise of the movie, and in a complimentary way, is like one of those am I the asshole? Posts on Reddit, where it's just setting up scenarios for you to try to determine.

[B]

What.

[F]

What side of this would I fall on?

[B]

How.

[F]

How much would I forgive someone who I love?

[B]

Mike, was this a good movie?

[E]

I watched it. I was captivated the entire time.

[B]

I have to go to the theater for it.

[E]

No, I'm. I'm sure people. It's not a great theater experience, but, like, what? The theater that I was in.

[B]

No, no, I'm saying, like, can I stream it?

[E]

No, not yet. Because it's actually been a success. It's already made back its budget, but I did see it opening week. The audience that I was in there were absolutely gasp from the audience. The twist is one that people are gonna have feelings about. I kind of have a dark sense of humor. So I found this film to be a really good dark comedy, a really interesting one that's performance driven with characters that draw you in. But the gambit is gonna be one that loses people from the job.

[B]

Rotten Tomatoes media score Tony certified fresh 75%. Rotten Tomatoes audience score 80%.

[E]

Yeah. And I kind of see. I understand where the 25 and 20%.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

Where they would take Genuinely. They would take genuine offense.

[F]

Yeah.

[E]

To what the subject matter is here. And I understand that especially. Yeah. Because for some folks, this is deeply personal. In fact, the audience has a rooting interest in one of the characters that is speaking to how personal one can take this. I know it sounds like we're talking around this and we all talking around it. Yeah, it is. Because I wish I had the. It was interesting. I told my wife about this TMZ article.

[F]

Yeah.

[E]

And she was actually, like, thanking me that I established that because she was mentally prepared for it.

[B]

It's. It's that jarring.

[E]

Yeah. Yeah. Our friends, we didn't even know the movie. There are friends.

[C]

Color me intrigued.

[E]

There are friends that are going through stuff that asked me about this movie, and I was like, well, there's something that you should know headed into this. So, like it. It's a conversation piece. It's well performed. It's one of my favorite movies that

[F]

I've seen is Spectacular.

[E]

Yeah. I love the performances. And I think that for. For people that like dark comedies, that really like dark comedies, that find humor in really dark things, like, this is certainly one of those films.

[F]

I also, like. I didn't even really find it, like, funny in that respect. It is just dark.

[E]

But the awkward and tension building is unreal.

[F]

It's amazing. And I mean, should we just do it? Should we just do. Spoiler alert. Spoiler Stop listening if you don't want to know the premise.

[D]

Yeah, tell me.

[E]

I mean, we probably should have done this from the beginning. We've been talking about.

[F]

No, but the talking around it is worth it.

[E]

Look, if you. If you want to have an idea, if you want to basically have what is tantamount to the. The tmz, I think I want to know.

[F]

Okay.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

All right, everybody. Like we are.

[F]

This is a.

[C]

Spoiler alert.

[F]

Spoiler alert.

[E]

If you're listening right now, want to see this movie, Just eject on the post game. Don't watch it.

[F]

We love you. Thank you for listening to today's show.

[E]

All right, you can leave. Bye, Chris, everybody. All right, I'll do this. I'll do this as quickly as I can. The before the wedding, they have one of these tastings. They invite the maid of honor and the best man, and they decide over drinks, it's a great time to play a game of what's the worst thing you've ever done? They go around the table, they start sharing things.

[B]

I'm intrigued.

[F]

Some pretty terrible things.

[E]

Some terrible things. Some things that are awkward, that you give a little nervous laughter.

[B]

What counts as terrible?

[E]

There was one character that locks somebody in a closet. One character admits that he cyberbullied somebody pretty badly. And then it swings over to Zendaya's character, and again, like, this is a legit trigger warning. Zendaya says the worst thing that she ever did was she planned out of school and she never went through with it.

[F]

She brought the gun to school and everything.

[E]

She filmed video.

[F]

Never followed through.

[E]

She had a target, 15 years old, someone was kind to her, and she decided to change her mind about it. But she reveals this.

[B]

Did the husband know?

[F]

No.

[E]

Nobody knew.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[E]

Nobody knows about this. And the rest of the movie is a roller coaster of what would you do in this scenario if you learn this about a loved one? Yeah. Goosebumps. Like, wow. It's. It's. I've never really seen anything quite like it.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

That's interesting.

[D]

That makes me want to watch it.

[E]

You watch it or not? Should watch it streaming. Sure. Not a movie you're gonna go to in the.

[B]

Not gonna see now.

[D]

We don't do the theater thing. Come on.

[B]

That kind of thing.

[F]

Swing.

[D]

Exactly. That kind of thing.

[F]

You're the kind of guy.