‘Project Hail Mary,’ ‘Marshals,’ ‘Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat,’ and ‘SNL UK.’ Plus, ‘Paradise’ S2E7.

Summary

The Watch Podcast – Episode Summary

Date: March 24, 2026
Hosts: Andy Greenwald & Chris Ryan, The Ringer
Episode Theme:
Andy and Chris break down the current state of the pop culture landscape, tackling big headline TV and film projects, dissecting the return of comforting "bad TV," and sharing first impressions of new shows. The episode blends incisive analysis, banter, and industry insight while spotlighting “Project Hail Mary,” “Marshals,” “Jury Duty: Company Retreat,” “SNL UK,” and a detailed segment on “Paradise” Season 2, Episode 7.

---

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. State of the TV Landscape

• Cultural “Show & Tell”
  • Andy and Chris discuss the lack of a single dominating, passion-grabbing new show post “Industry” and “Night of the Seven Kingdoms.”
  • Instead, they bring “work to the table”—each shares something they've watched recently, invoking a “show and tell” spirit.
  • [03:19, Andy] “I feel a little bit of pressure…50% of the podcast, but 15% of the work.”

---

2. Project Hail Mary (Film)

• Big Sci-Fi Hit & Gosling’s Career
  • Chris notes the film’s success as a rare major original sci-fi event, based on Andy Weir’s novel, starring Ryan Gosling.
  • Reflection on Gosling’s status as a movie star—how he’s managed to be both globally appealing and chameleonic in genre choices.
  • Quote: [08:15, Chris] “If you don't like Ryan Gosling, I don't think you should see this movie because it is 90% him talking to another character.”
  • Andy ponders whether today’s star system is too quick to declare or dismiss “movie star” status, noting Gosling’s continued dominance.
  • Chris emphasizes the importance of actors like Chalamet and Gosling seeking collaborations with great directors and shifting tones across their careers.
  • Excitement about Gosling being tapped for future sci-fi projects and Lucasfilm’s gamble on his star power in “Starfighter.”
  • Quote: [10:24, Andy] “Do you know who's really, really happy today? The folks at Lucasfilm. They built their…want to go to space with this guy?”

---

3. IP Futures: Star Trek & The Business of Streaming

• Starfleet Academy’s Cancellation & Franchise Strategy
  • Andy is puzzled by Paramount canceling “Starfleet Academy,” expected to re-launch the Star Trek franchise.
  • They discuss the inherent value vs. over-saturation of IP (Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek) and whether streamers are shifting from safe, baseline content for loyal fans to aiming for cinematic big swings.
  • Chris: “If you've got something that's set in outer space, put Ryan Gosling in it.” [14:27]
  • The shifting value proposition—movies need to pull audiences in, not just exist for franchise maintenance.

---

4. The Comfort (and Guilt) of “Bad TV”

• Marshals (CBS/Yellowstone Universe)
  • Chris discusses the function and appeal of “bad TV” or “laundry shows”—shows like “Marshals” that don’t demand total attention but offer comfort and predictable rhythms.
  • Quote: [22:18, Chris] “I mean straight up, like, I'm watching this…it's essentially shot like an episode of the Drew Barrymore show…just enough story that will be resolved in 42 minutes.”
  • Parallels with network TV’s procedural DNA, and the “Taylor Sheridan Universe” of spinoff TV, where “Marshals” isn’t even penned by Sheridan himself.
  • The peculiar TV guilt: spending hours on formulaic shows when peak/quality options pile up on watchlists.
  • Andy and Chris compare the pleasures of “Jeopardy!” or other reliable old favorites versus committing to “prestige” new shows.

---

5. Legacy TV & Artifice: American Classic (MGM+)

• The Surreal Existence of Odd New Shows
  • Andy describes stumbling on a contemporary sitcom (Kevin Kline, Laura Linney) about a Broadway icon returning to his hometown—a show that seems like a relic from another era, airing on a barely-known platform.
  • The tension between high-quality talent and strange creative choices—especially with bizarre casting age differences and “pilot season” energy.
  • [33:02, Andy] “The problem with movie theaters is we haven't given ideas big enough, including the majesty of my relationship with Fast Times at Ridgemont High star Phoebe Cates.”

---

6. Jury Duty: Company Retreat (Amazon/Freevee)

• Meta-Comedy and Repetition Woes
  • Chris liked S1’s inventiveness and the casting of an unsuspecting “heart-of-gold” participant among actors; S2 feels more engineered, with more visible “puppet strings.”
  • Still, the short format and prank-based setup hold some easy appeal, but the freshness is wearing thinner this time.
  • Both discuss the ethics and limits of reality-TV tricksterism.

---

7. SNL UK (Peacock)

• Format, Local Flavor, and Rhythmic Familiarity
  • The UK’s first SNL episode, hosted by Tina Fey (with Wet Leg), is “very British, very offbeat.”
  • Strong performances, uniquely UK humor, and cameos from Nicola Coughlan, Michael Cera, and Graham Norton.
  • Quote: [50:29, Chris] “It’s a little offbeat, it’s very British and very United Kingdom.”
  • Andy notes the UK’s rich comedy ecosystem and the cross-pollination between stand-up, TV, radio, and theater.
  • Conversation turns to speculation: Is Tina Fey being courted as Lorne Michaels’ successor? Her craft and foundational presence as a “producer” of SNL is praised, but also the daunting legacy of following Lorne, and whether anyone would want to.

---

8. Paradise Season 2, Episode 7 (Spoilers)

• Plot Mechanics & Series Structure
  • This episode marks a shift: the series enters “no one really dies” territory, as previously-dead characters may resurface through alt-realities or scientific breakthroughs.
  • Chris unpacks the possible reveal: main character Samantha may have been working on both a society-saving bunker and a parallel-reality technology, leading to multiple versions of the dead (James Marsden’s Cal).
  • Andy confesses, despite enjoying the show’s brisk energy and wild turns, that he doesn’t really care about some subplots (the “teens in the bunker,” Jane’s story, President Cal’s son).
  • They compare Paradise’s “broadcast” style—where plotting is often frenetic and not every story or character death has real impact—to more prestige-focused TV.
  • [62:16, Andy] “Paradise being maybe the afterlife, paradise also being the third book in Dante’s trilogy…that is a framing that seems to be consistent with what the show has always intended to be.”
  • Critique of “nosebleeds” as a hacky time-bending trope, banter about the mundane aspects of bunker life, and speculation about the show’s endgame as it nears its planned third and final season.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Movie Stars:

• Chris: “It’s pretty impressive to watch him sell this all over the world, charm every single junket interviewer he’s got.” [07:32]
• Andy: “Are we too quick…to declare someone a movie star or not a movie star in this era?” [08:26]

On “Bad TV” Pleasures:

• Chris: “There is a weird extra layer of guilt to watching bad television when you know, you could always be watching something that at least has the promise of being really good.” [25:41]

On SNL UK:

• Chris: “It had a quality I kind of miss from SNL, which is a lack of self-consciousness…Much more intellectually rigorous, I think.” [50:29]
• Andy: “The structure of SNL is so entrenched, the way that it was just actually quite easily transportable. It made you think, why did it take 50 years to even try it?” [51:32]

On Paradise’s High Concept:

• Andy: “I didn’t go as far as you did, but that does make sense…There are these, you know, Xavier’s having these little flash-forward dream things as if there is some sort of time travel element.” [61:13]

---

Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:19] Show & Tell Format Explanation
• [07:32] Discussion: Gosling’s phenomenon & "Project Hail Mary"
• [14:27] Star Trek/streaming/IP management existential talk
• [22:18] Marshals, “bad TV,” and comfort TV rationale
• [30:59] American Classic, uncanny family sitcoms on obscure streamers
• [40:00] Jury Duty: Company Retreat, second-season reality trickery
• [49:48] SNL UK review, local adaptation, and format observation
• [57:47] Paradise S2E7 spoilers: time travel/alt-reality theory, show’s narrative style
• [67:07] Concluding thoughts on Paradise, show structure

---

Additional Highlights & Running Jokes

• Multiple mentions of Ryan Gosling as suggested star for any and all science fiction
• Recurring bit about Kevin Kline’s age relative to his “father” on American Classic
• Banter about “plus ones in the bunker,” jobs in post-apocalyptic society, and the logistics of streaming inside the Paradise universe
• “Nosebleed” as the universal TV shorthand for time travel or multiverse hijinks

---

Summary for New Listeners

This episode of The Watch is a sweeping survey of current pop culture, mixing sharp industry sense with the hosts’ trademark dry banter and genuine enthusiasm for high and low TV. Andy and Chris navigate the paradox of infinite choices and “homework TV” versus the pleasure of predictable, low-investment shows. They explore the state of “movie stardom” through Ryan Gosling, dissect the business reasoning behind hits and cancellations (Star Trek, SNL UK), elevate and gently roast “bad TV,” and offer a nuanced, spoiler-rich review of “Paradise” as it barrels toward its finale.

Listeners will finish the episode with a sense of what’s worth watching—and why even familiar or “middlebrow” shows can matter—plus a roadmap through the latest streaming releases and pop culture headlines.

Transcript

[Pharmaceutical Announcer]

For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphya offers self injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self inject Tremphaya, proper training is required. Tremphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tremphya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tremph Fire radio.com this episode is brought

[Chris Rye]

to you by the Active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game or grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Say it with me, the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. Be a 2 percenter. Learn more at Wells Fargo.com forward/two active cash terms apply. I need support staff to clear the room.

[Andy]

Stand up and walk now.

[Chris Rye]

Hello and welcome to the Watch. My name is Chris Rye and I am an [e-mail] and joining me in the studio he'll have some apple pie and sandy green walls.

[Andy]

Difference to studio set up today, different studio.

[Chris Rye]

We're at our Sycamore Studios. I think we're allowed to say that that's the name of the studios.

[Andy]

Well, we're not here when we're recording, so don't all rush out in front.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah, exactly, Please. And if you do form an orderly line to meet Andy,

[Andy]

thank him for his service for me.

[Chris Rye]

You can just rush, you know, bull rush me. I don't care it's Monday.

[Andy]

It's more that I'm concerned that, like, it's Monday, but I do feel like we are either gonna be looking at each other or we could be judging the Westminster Dog show. If we look forward.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah. This is a little bit of a weekend update. T appropriate because we are going to talk a little bit about Saturday Night Live UK today as well as Paradise. Andy and I are playing a little bit of show and tell today, which, and I mean that in the originalist Samuel Alito way of show and tell where you bring something to class to present to to your classmates.

[Andy]

Okay.

[Chris Rye]

You know, we kind of had this weird moment of TV where post industry, like in the throes of the pit, we're all loving it. But post industry, post Night of the Seven Kingdoms, I don't know if something has grabbed our full and undivided passionate attention that's new over the last couple of weeks, but doesn't mean we're not doing the work. It doesn't mean we're not watching tape scouting shows. And what we decided to do today is rather than unite and talk about one show, and we did, we're going to do paradise together. But we'll. We'll bring some. Some work to the table. Right.

[Andy]

Okay. I feel a little bit of pressure,

[Chris Rye]

but yeah, like how so you're 50% of this podcast.

[Andy]

If it I. 50% of the podcast, but 15% of the work, which our numbers would be tough to negotiate in that.

[Chris Rye]

I will guide you through this process. Before we get into it, it's the [e-mail] it's thewatchpod underscore on Instagram. It's ringer-tv channel on YouTube.com or on your YouTube app. And you can listen to us and watch us on Spotify or. Or wherever you get podcasts. Some of the other shows that we're going to talk about today in case people are interested, Jury duty, company retreat, SNL uk, as I mentioned, Marshalls.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

Can't wait to discuss that with you. What are. And you have.

[Andy]

So here's the. Here's the thing that I'm concerned about. Today's show, if I can be honest. I do think that maybe what we should have done. It's a little bit late now, but we probably should have assigned each other something because I think we're kind of

[Chris Rye]

saki movie kind of thing.

[Andy]

Well, yeah, you keep circling that. Keep pushing the bruise. It's almost like we're telling on ourselves a little bit because when we were allowed to retreat to our respective culture corners, you went and you watched Marshalls and I watched American Classic, a elderly sitcom about the American theater.

[Chris Rye]

I think that's what makes peanut butter. Doesn't work without jelly. You know what I mean?

[Andy]

Yeah, it does.

[Chris Rye]

Well, it's fine without jelly. That's why if I want to start the Chris Ryan show, I guess I

[Andy]

could do it 100% could do it. It would do crazy numbers. Has this only occurred to you now?

[Chris Rye]

But no, because, like, I don't want to just stare at a camera and be like, in episode two of Marshall's Casey Revisits the zone of death.

[Andy]

No, I think that first of all, first of all, it's. There are a couple different ways you could do it. I've been. I've been really consuming a lot of content of, like, solo travel influencers who now seem to have, like, remote control drones following them so it looks like they're being filmed.

[Chris Rye]

Reader. We all do.

[Andy]

And I think that would be what you would do. You'd be like, walking in the neighborhood. People would be like, what's up, cr? You'd be like, okay, okay.

[Chris Rye]

But in, like, Buenos Aires.

[Andy]

No, Silver Lake. You'd be getting the south.

[Chris Rye]

Okay. So my travel would be, like, 10 minutes west of me.

[Andy]

How much free time? I mean, do you want to travel further? Yeah, Okay.

[Chris Rye]

I want to see the world.

[Andy]

Okay, well, get in line. Get in line now for gsa.

[Chris Rye]

Not a lot of big headlines coming out of the weekend of news. I mean, a lot of people probably spent their time watching tournament games there. It is worth noting, I think that Project Hail Mary is a big fat hit. First of all, this is great. I think that's awesome. It's an original sci fi concept based on Andy Weir's novel. Andy Weir obviously wrote the Martian. Everybody should listen to Andy on House of R and Lord and Miller went on Big Picture. So definitely check those out. If you're looking for more in depth Project Hail Mary content, I know you didn't get a chance to see it.

[Andy]

Can I confess something?

[Chris Rye]

Sure.

[Andy]

Because this was embarrassing. You kind of called me on this.

[Chris Rye]

No, I didn't.

[Andy]

My brain. No, no, you did. In a good way. Because I really want to see the movie, and I was with the kids, and it didn't occur to me until I had, like, missed the potential screening window to see it that I could take them to a movie that wasn't like, Moana 3.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

I don't know. I want to apologize to our listeners for that. That was on me. I forgot that, like, they're old enough now to go see a movie without songs by Lin Manuel Miranda in it.

[Chris Rye]

Take him to Hamdit. Be like, suck it up.

[Andy]

Uncle Chris prefers movies that go like this. What are your thoughts? Yeah, suck it up. Couldn't have it so bad. Do you also. You know, he caught a couple L's, but dad did all right. Dad rebounded, wrote, wrote Hamlet. He turned that pain into art. Yeah. Imagine the second season of Sick. The landing I could do.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, my God. Yeah. Anyway, I thought your kids would like this movie. Yeah, it is a bit long. I don't know how they do with the two and two hour. And like, I think it's 32, 20 something.

[Andy]

My older daughter said that the Conan bit at the Oscars where he did the split screen with Subway Surfers, the way that, like, YouTube and TikTok, that's what they are. She legitimately said that that was the most engaging part of the broadcast for her.

[Chris Rye]

Okay, well, that doesn't bode well for the future of monoculture. Unless subway surfing indeed becomes the monoculture. I just think it's. It's a really cool story for the movie business. Their first queue of the year to have a big.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

Big hit like this. And it's like, you know, we did nice guys on rewatchables that I'll be going up today. And I guess it's time to, like, reckon with, like, maybe Ryan Gosling is. Is him. You know, I think he had had a couple of years there where whether it was Barbie or Fall Guy, where it was like, you know, Barbie, he's obviously playing a supporting role, but Fall Guy is like, a definite, like, choice from him to make a different kind of movie than he had when it was like, nice guys, la la land. Have Nelson all the way back. I love half Nelson, but it's pretty impressive to watch him sell this all over the world, charm every single junket interviewer he's got.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

Go on all the shows. And he is the, like. If you don't like Ryan Gosling, I don't think you should see this movie because it is 90 him talking to another character.

[Andy]

But what do you think? Are we too quick? This is kind of a big picture conversation. Literally the show, the big picture conversation. I don't want to step on their toes with this, but, like, are we too quick to declare someone a movie star or not a movie star in this era? Because he ticks all the boxes, he's beloved, he's incredibly talented. He is charming in comedy and drama, and he can hold camera and hold attention and sell a movie like this. That's just him, basically, around the world. That was true when Barbie came out and everyone was like, oh, my God, we love this guy. It's almost like we forgot. And then Fall Guy came out. It was still true. Fall Guy wasn't a very good movie. And there were some, I think, pretty quick obituaries of his career as a leading man when opportunities are different in the 2000s than they were 10 years, 20 years, 30 years ago.

[Chris Rye]

I've been thinking about this with all Chalamet and. And. And Leo and a bunch of actors and their choices to. I mean, obviously it's a privilege, but also they're. They choose to work with the best possible directors that they can. And I think that Gosling has gone through, like, different phases of his life. Like, there's obviously, like, a difference between the Blue Valentine half Nelson part. Then there is the kind of, like, post, like, I don't know, like, Crazy Stupid Love, where he's, like, doing a, you know, a bunch of different genres, working with a bunch of different filmmakers. He seemed like he was gonna do, like, I'm Damien Chazelle's De Niro. Like, I think he was kind of on this trajectory of, like, I'm a pretty serious actor. Drive, drive. But that then kind of, like, was like, you know what? I think I want to have, like, way more fun while I work and maybe feel a little bit better at the end of a day. And so his roles that he's done in the last couple of years have been pretty lighthearted. And this is of a piece with it. It just happens to be probably the best movie. You know, Barbie is. Is obviously Barbie, but, like, this is the most successful execution of Ryan Gosling charm machine that I've seen in recent years.

[Andy]

Do you know who's really, really happy today? The folks at Lucasfilm.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, because they got Starfighter coming.

[Andy]

Because they built their.

[Chris Rye]

What is that? That's next year.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

Okay.

[Andy]

But it's built around. Want to go to space with this guy?

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

The answer is a resounding yes.

[Chris Rye]

Yes. It sounds like it. What do you want to do first? Should we do some paradise? Did you have anything else on the.

[Andy]

Any other news? Any other things?

[Pharmaceutical Announcer]

Not really.

[Andy]

Can I ask you a question? This is just throwing this at you, but I saw news today that a show that I was curious about but have not engaged with Star Starfleet Academy was just canceled.

[Chris Rye]

Okay.

[Andy]

We are not.

[Chris Rye]

Is that Giamatti and Holly Hunter?

[Andy]

Yes. We are not historically Star Trek watchers or discussors on the show, but as a. You know, we're the watchers on the wall of IP to a degree.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy]

And I find this very, very confusing. And maybe the answer is just there's been a lot of turmoil at all the streamers, and Paramount is not immune to it, and the Cindy Holland regime may have a different attitude about this beloved plank of their. Of their business than the previous regime. And that. That might be it. But my sense of the show and what made me curious about it, not curious enough to watch it yet. So it's on me was that this felt like a bigger swing to reignite the franchise.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, okay.

[Andy]

Like we're gonna get a big star again, but we're gonna make it younger or sexier. We're gonna do. There'd been rumors of like a Hogwarts for Star Trek for years. And then they made the show and they seemed to put a lot of money and attention into it and now they're just sort of casually pulling the plug after two years. Feels. Feels odd to me in terms of the priority that I thought that stuff had for their brand management. Maybe they no longer. Maybe they want to reboot the whole thing again. Or maybe part of their attitude is all of our energy is now going to go into D.C. and all the stuff we're about to acquire.

[Chris Rye]

I think it's the former. So I think that the way that they had been running Star Trek for the last like five, six, seven years, especially since. Yeah. But like as they kind of had rolled out, I think it's like half a dozen shows on Paramount that at various points were running that it was like, you know what? There is a baseline audience for this stuff of passionate Trekkies that keeps it afloat and we're gonna spend accordingly. Like, we're never gonna get too out in front of our skis with budget.

[Andy]

Yep.

[Chris Rye]

And we're just going to kind of serve the audience. But it's not going to pop beyond that, probably. Right. Like there was some nice reviews for certain things. I know you checked out like Picard when it came out, but for the most part it.

[Andy]

That's where I first learned about Dr. Trinity, Santos, Z, Sopranos and Picard. I didn't know that.

[Chris Rye]

But that's not really a money maker for them.

[Andy]

No, but it's.

[Chris Rye]

They have to have it be. Could we get a Star Trek movie to be a 500 to $750 million movie? And I don't remember how much the first Star Trek with pine made.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

But it's got. They. They probably are like this IP has the potential to be a blockbuster. We can't just let it languish in making a procedural television show every week.

[Andy]

I think that's probably the retrenchment and the new plan because I. We. We don't talk about it enough because generally we don't talk about it. But when we have discussed over the past few years the missteps in the management of Star wars and even Marvel. One of the major points of conversation is it was diluted and made to feel a lot less special when it was something that was just showing up on our televisions and on our streaming services. And that was the entire plan with Star Trek for the last 10 years. Like, this is more valuable to us as something as like, as you said, as a floor setter of audience that will subscribe to our service as long as somebody is beaming somewhere and they may now be looking at it and being like, we have devalued this to the point where it's sort of generationally null and void and we need to reimagine the whole thing.

[Chris Rye]

I think that if you've got something that's set in outer space, put Ryan Gosling in it.

[Andy]

Is that your advice? It's good advice.

[Chris Rye]

Make something that can go on imax, make something that can go away and be an event cinema thing. I mean, there was this viral clip of Gosling going around from introducing Project Hail Mary at, I don't know if it was Lincoln center or wherever the IMAX theater is in New York City. And he was like, thank you for coming out to movie theaters. It's not your job to the audience. It's not your job to keep theaters open. It's our job to make movies that make you want to come to movie theaters.

[Andy]

Whoa, did Sean get like a tingling?

[Chris Rye]

I actually would love to hear what Sean has to say about that because I take that not necessarily as like, we have to make large format movies that appropriately play on 70 millimeter or IMAX screenshots. I think it's something that makes it feel. There's got to be a quality right now that makes you feel like, this is worth noting. This is worth inconveniencing myself because like so much of what entertainment has become, this actually leads into how I wanted to talk about some of our show and tell stuff is so much of like, entertainment is about convenience now that you just have too many differing basically approaches to how people want to consume TV or movies. And so you've taken away the singularity of like, well, if I want to see this within the next 18 months, I have to go see it at a movie theater. And you could extend windows and all that, but like, if somebody's just like, I think ready or not to will play just as well on my flat screen television as it does in the movie theater, then they're just going to wait And I don't know how to. I don't know how to thread that needle necessarily. Like, I don't know what that means for anything that's, like, smaller than a Project Hail Mary or smaller than Doomsday or smaller than Dune 3 or Odyssey. What makes that kind of movie? I mean, like, look, the housemaid made a ton of money. There's still an audience to Colleen Hoover. Movies make money. People go out to see movies. But it's a little bit more. It's hard to, like, gauge anymore what non IMAX stuff will perform.

[Andy]

Well. Look, Gustav's childhood home in Oslo looks. Honestly looks shitty at home, your own house. You got to go see it in the biggest screen possible.

[Chris Rye]

Did you see sentimental value on a big screen?

[Andy]

I don't have to answer that. I intended to, but I did not. It's also worth thinking about it in terms of the flip side of that argument, which is one of the reasons. And we shouldn't. I'm not trying to gleefully, like, pre write the obituary here, but I think that one of the major obstacles for Mandalorian and Grogu is that it's like, well, this is a TV show. And the volume has trained a mini generation of audience to be like, well, I can see these things. I can see these things on my screens at home. What's the value at. What's different in the theater? And it can't just be like, you know, a novelty ugnaught popcorn bucket.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah. And I just. I think even if you were to take away the idea that people are already very familiar with the characters and have seen hours of footage of these people already, which is totally fine, because we've seen hours of footage of the Avengers, and we're gonna go see them in December. What's at stake?

[Andy]

You asked me out. You gonna see it together? I'll go with yes. The answer is yes. I got your rose.

[Chris Rye]

Well, it's a tough time for the Bachelorette franchise.

[Andy]

Oh, do you want to comment on that?

[Chris Rye]

I did some Taylor Frankie Paul reading this week. Do you know who this person is?

[Andy]

You said it in a way that you're like. The three names made it sound like this is like a congressional historian.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, I thought it made it sound like more like a graduate of the Iowa Reuters program. And it's like, I read some Taylor Frankie Paul short stories.

[Andy]

And what's interesting about Taylor, you remind

[Chris Rye]

me of Deborah Eisen. It's kind of.

[Andy]

You know, Taylor Frankie Paul enlisted in the Marine Corps at a young age and did serve in Afghanistan. And so her perspective that she brings to the novel form.

[Chris Rye]

True.

[Andy]

Is really moving.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah. You know, she seems like a wild girl, man, I gotta tell you.

[Andy]

That's your review.

[Chris Rye]

She's on Secret Lives as Mormon wives.

[Andy]

Kai is ready. Kai is worried that the camera's gonna spin.

[Kaya]

I feel like saying all my, like, keywords right now.

[Chris Rye]

She's never been videos of like when they are around a dog and they're like, yeah, I want to go to the park. Yeah. So she's on secret lives of warm and W Wives, which I've never seen. And then she had gone from that show and she immediately became like the Bachelorette.

[Andy]

Yeah. Kaya. I feel like Mormon wives. I feel like I know about their public facing lives. I don't want to assume too much because they're secret.

[Kaya]

The secret lives.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

Right. So I'm saying, so what is secret about their lives?

[Kaya]

Yeah. Soft swinging.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Kaya]

Yeah.

[Andy]

Excuse me. Soft.

[Chris Rye]

Not that soft though.

[Andy]

No.

[Kaya]

Well, she called it soft swinging.

[Andy]

Soft swinging is like when you go for frozen yogurt with someone else.

[Kaya]

Yeah, exactly.

[Andy]

Don't make me ask.

[Chris Rye]

Like, you know what third base is. Broadly right.

[Andy]

I know what third base was, but I feel like the way things are

[Chris Rye]

going and who knows how the Mormons interpret the text, you know what I mean? But I think it just is supposed to let you know everything up to the biblical deed.

[Andy]

Everything up to touching home.

[Chris Rye]

Yes, yes.

[Andy]

Sorry. When you said third base, I thought about how JP Crawford ripped a triple before his call up to the major league. So that's the secret life I'm interested in.

[Chris Rye]

I thought you were thinking about the gas face.

[Andy]

No.

[Chris Rye]

MC Search and Pete. Nice.

[Andy]

Do you watch the Bachelor and Bachelorette franchises, Kaia?

[Kaya]

So I used to and I have, but I haven't tuned in in a couple years. But I was all set to tune in to Taylor Frankie Paul season.

[Andy]

So is this a sign? What? Give me my easy older man, hot take. Prep me. Is this a sign of the debasement of this once romantic franchise that now they have to dumpster dive for celebrity weirdos.

[Chris Rye]

Effort to fully vertically integrate. Because Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is like a Hulu show Bachelor's ABC thing. So they were like, we're gonna take somebody from a reality show that we already have and even further stream them upstream them. And she had a pretty serious domestic violence and. Yeah, I guess is the best way to put it. Um, in which some footage was leaked of her like going off.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

And so they pulled the season.

[Andy]

The entire season. They filmed the season.

[Chris Rye]

They're like fully like they've shot another Mormon Wives season or not or. They were shooting it.

[Kaya]

The fifth season of Mormon Wives just aired. They are. They were in production on season six, but the production shortly before they can. The Bachelorette season. They had stopped down production on season

[Chris Rye]

six to let her go do Bachelorette.

[Kaya]

No, she had already wrapped filming because she had more. She was having more issues and more domestic violence issues with her partner. And so they had paused production on season six.

[Chris Rye]

But there's like also like a sub layer of it. It's like what's real and what's not. And we're like, she's. She is. Is she. Was she still with this guy for up until the point of going.

[Andy]

Kind of a semantics guy. But I realize now it's tough to go from being a Mormon wife to a Bachelorette without some bumps in the road. Right. Like you can't.

[Chris Rye]

I think that would be the pitch for this season. Yeah. Yeah.

[Andy]

Put me in, coach. I'm ready to market this in any case. Wow.

[Chris Rye]

I read about that this weekend.

[Andy]

Okay. How was that?

[Chris Rye]

It was an interesting New York magazine profile of her. Quite well timed. And I watched Michael Powell and Emmerich Pressburger's A Canterbury Tale. Wow. Quite good.

[Andy]

You contain fucking multitudes, dog. That's incredible. You did both those things high and low.

[Chris Rye]

I did. What would you like to talk about the shared experience of watching paradise or some.

[Andy]

No, let's end with a shared experience. Let's run through a couple shows to give people a sense of what they should or shouldn't be watching.

[Chris Rye]

Okay.

[Andy]

We used to do that. We used to offer a service.

[Chris Rye]

I'm gonna talk about Marshalls real quick.

[Andy]

Take your time.

[Chris Rye]

Do you feel like you still need bad TV in your life?

[Andy]

Well, I feel like I've been getting a steady diet.

[Chris Rye]

No, that's not what I mean, though. I don't mean TV that aims to be good but winds up missing the mark.

[Andy]

Right.

[Chris Rye]

I don't mean 57 minute shows that like. Yeah, you're just kind of like, maybe I just don't really care about these people or what happens to them or whether or not this works out for X, Y or Z. I mean straight up, like, I'm watching this.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

I can't really. Like, it's essentially shot like an episode of the Drew Barrymore show. I can't really tell like seven of the characters names, but I remember with one guy's name. But there is just enough of a story that will be resolved in the 42 minutes. That I am watching this.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

That I will blithely have it on. Now. Sam Esmel always used to make fun of us for the idea of a laundry show. Like a show that you're walking in and out of the room for. But I think I found it.

[Andy]

Talk to me.

[Chris Rye]

It's Marshalls now.

[Andy]

Marshalls is part of the larger Yellowstone project.

[Chris Rye]

Interesting. I. I'm not going to get into like a huge reading of the state of the Taylor Sharon universe because I know that there's like only a select group of people who listen to us really give a about it. But this is an interesting expansion because it is one of two. This one and then the Dutton ranch, which is coming in May.

[Andy]

And what's that coming on?

[Chris Rye]

That's Paramount plus. And that's Cole and. And Cole Hauser and Kelly Reilly extending the Yellowstone story.

[Andy]

Okay.

[Chris Rye]

In Texas.

[Andy]

But this is on cbs.

[Chris Rye]

This is on cbs. Both shows are not written by Taylor Sheridan.

[Andy]

Okay.

[Chris Rye]

Both shows are more of like based on characters created by Taylor Sheridan and executive produced by Taylor.

[Andy]

Written by Claude.

[Chris Rye]

No, I would say that the. The first two episodes of Marshalls is actually like made me mad because I was like a. A more prestigious execution of this story would be interesting. It's very, very reminiscent to me of the times when I've been, you know, when I would be at my mom's house and like Chicago Fire. 19 episodes of Chicago Fire would be on and I would be like, I. For some reason I am following this even though I'm like in the room 1/10 of the time.

[Andy]

Yes.

[Chris Rye]

It's basically about the character. Casey was my favorite character on Yellowstone, which is why I give marshals a shot. Just all of a sudden becoming a marshal, which honestly they handle in about three minutes. And I'm totally fine with.

[Andy]

That's fine.

[Chris Rye]

And he's in a like a high intensity guns forward part of the marshals with Logan, Marshall Green, a couple other people. And the second episode is actually really cool. Like it's kind of sicario light. Aryan brotherhood and Mexican cartels are doing a fentanyl deal in the zone of death, which is like the Montana, Wyoming border.

[Andy]

That what they're calling it now?

[Chris Rye]

Well, that's where they used to dump bodies on Yellowstone.

[Andy]

Oh. Oh.

[Chris Rye]

So.

[Andy]

So it. It is referencing.

[Chris Rye]

It does. It does make some references and it's actually like a pretty good episode of television. But it did strike me that like there's so much stuff not only that's on right now.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

Stuff that is on recently enough. Like I've I've mentioned a couple of times my shame at never catching up on Dark Winds.

[Andy]

You know, it seems like something we would really like.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah. And I'm like, well, I'm watching Yellow. I'm watching Marshalls, which has some stuff to recommend. And then there's parts of it that you're just like, I need to be put to sleep. But there is a weird extra layer of guilt to watching bad television when, you know, you could always be watching something that at least has the promise of being really good.

[Andy]

Yeah. But there's also a reason why we eat snack food and, like, dependable, like comfort food. That's fine. I think that the rhythms of that. And when we talk about paradise, this will come into play too, because paradise is so broadcast television, its DNA that there are. That it is possible to skate along the surface of the show. It is possible to, dare I say it, at least consider doing a load of whites while you're dancing between the bunker and the outside world.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

But you're right in the sense that. Because that part of my diet is. I'm lacking in that part of the diet. Even in RFK's inverted pyramid, I def. I. There's just too much other stuff for me to catch up on. Even though I would probably find that reassuring.

[Chris Rye]

The sensation that I'm basically chasing is like coming home after a long day of doing something that had nothing to do with television.

[Andy]

Yes.

[Chris Rye]

And it's like 5:30, and while I'm making dinner, I put on a show. And that's the show that comes on. But I had no choice. I was like, I'm just putting on TBS or I'm putting on usa, and that show comes on, I'm like, you know what? Like, out of order. I wind up watching these Marshalls episodes. But now, at any given moment of your life, between standing on grocery lines or making your dinner or any hours that you're gonna spend watching stuff, you could theoretically be watching a Canterbury Tale or Dark Winds or whatever. It's. It's kind of hard to negotiate with, like, stuff that's just like. I look. 18 million people watch an episode of. Of Marshalls. They don't need my. My cosine signature. And I'll probably keep watching it because of. Of my dedication to Casey Dutton. But it's. It's strange.

[Andy]

It's a really nice thing to just kind of relax into something. I. I don't even think we've talked about this. But you know what I started watching with the girls is Fire Up Jeopardy. Really Jeopardy. Is just, you could just, they're all streaming.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

You could just watch it whenever you want without the commercials.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah. Right.

[Andy]

And then you just watch Jeopardy.

[Chris Rye]

And they like it.

[Andy]

Yeah. Cuz you know what's good? Jeopardy. Like, it's completely the same, except sometimes like, claro will be an answer, you know, but other than that, it's very, very, very pleasant to make the machine do what it used to do.

[Chris Rye]

Yes.

[Andy]

And, and have those rhythms of like, well, this is a fine thing. This is a fine thing to do together.

[Chris Rye]

So like I would just, I would, I guess, like, if you're really desperate for more Yellowstone Sheridan stuff, it's interesting to watch someone kind of write what they think Sheridan sounds like. Spencer Hudnett wrote and created this one.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

And the first two scripts are good. And Gregory, Greg Utanis directed the first two episodes. Great director and they have some verve. But I just, you know, for as much as we knock Netflix for like the Netflix effect of the visual language that we are kind of all speaking now, man, CBS procedurals, really, they, they look diff.

[Andy]

Can I ask you though, and maybe this is going to be useful for some of our listenership as well. I, I, I think it's time to come to reckon with this. And I think it was clear for anyone who listened to our last show from Thursday. But I, I'm willing to admit that I suffer from tds.

[Chris Rye]

Taylor Derangement Syndrome.

[Andy]

Taylor Derangement Syndrome. And if anyone else is suffering from that, is it a healthier experience for them to watch a show that is just straightforward.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, you shouldn't watch this.

[Andy]

No, no. Which camera's not. I wasn't going to. This is all just Canterbury Tales, though. I've just added to my criteria.

[Chris Rye]

I don't think you'd be as triggered by this as.

[Andy]

That's what I'm saying. Because maybe the issue isn't the dudes riding horses to the zone of death in 40 minutes and back again in time for supper. It's, it's that in the middle of it, there isn't a large conversation about pronouns and ferrets.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah, there's not. They're really, they don't have any time for like discursive conversations in Marshalls. Okay. It's all like, lot of skeletons out there. Sometimes they should stay buried. That's right, brother. And then they go do their thing.

[Andy]

That just seems like good advice.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah, sure, sure. One thing I will say about Logan Marshall Green and the cast is that, you know, very convincing wearing the tactical tactical vest. I I am curious. They obviously did a lot of like weapons training and stuff for this show. I don't know if they did weapons training while you're on a horse because there was a scene in the second episode where he seems rather uncomfortable and. And then there's a lot of very far away shots of guys on horses.

[Andy]

Do you think you'd be comfortable on the horse without the tactical gear or

[Chris Rye]

do you think it's the worst? Maybe it was just lack of kind of movement.

[Andy]

Yeah, I'm just trying to look out for my guy.

[Chris Rye]

Give me a show that you watched over the weekend.

[Andy]

You know, one of the things I love about contemporary television landscape is the ability to be surprised, not necessarily surprised by the quality or tenor of programming because we pretty much ticked all the boxes and there's nothing new to invent more that we can still be like, wait, what is this? And it's on where? And that was my reaction when I heard that there was a sitcom that was already five or six episodes deep starring Kevin Kline and Laura Linney, and it was airing on mgm, which I have to admit, I thought was like Free V. And then it's not. It's what epics used to be and you have to pay for it.

[Chris Rye]

This doesn't even sound like a real conversation with human beings.

[Andy]

And so the idea like. And the show is about a titan of Broadway.

[Chris Rye]

Do they still do Freevee?

[Andy]

I don't know. I don't think so. A titan of.

[Chris Rye]

See, Jeff's not giving that away for free anymore.

[Andy]

We're keeping it all in. Um, but just like the idea of people pitching a television show that is about a. A titan of Broadway being brought low and then returning to his rural hometown to save his local theater with the help of his family.

[Chris Rye]

Uh huh.

[Andy]

I'm like, first of all, okay, grandma, come back to your rest home. But also, that sounds like a great, great thing. For pilot season on Amazon in 2013.

[Chris Rye]

Is it a period piece? No, it's a contemporary show.

[Andy]

It is a contemporary show. It is a contemporary show made by the director Michael Hoffman and the comedy writer, musical theater actor Bob Martin. And it stars Kevin Kline, as I said, and Laura Linney and also a sparkling constellation of Broadway greats. And it's so bizarre to me that it exists. Like you watch it and I genuinely feel happy for people to do what they want. I'm not trying to rag on this show. I think it's kind of a small miracle that it exists. And any show that's trying to make it about how we should support local theater is clearly fine with me in how I see the world. I want to talk to you about Kevin Kline.

[Chris Rye]

Sure.

[Andy]

Kevin Klein doesn't need us to big up him or married to Phoebe Cates. Do you think you got to. You're still working on your angles there?

[Chris Rye]

No, I was just asking if he was still married to Phoebe Cates.

[Andy]

100% he is.

[Chris Rye]

Okay.

[Andy]

And happily, I might add. Okay. It's just that, like, it'd be amazing

[Chris Rye]

if Kevin Klein showed up before Project Hail Mary was like, I am still married to Phoebe Gates, which some people might find as amazing as space travel. Enjoy Project Hail Mary.

[Andy]

The problem with movie theaters is we haven't given ideas big enough, including the majesty of my relationship with Fast Times or Ridgemont High star Phoebe Cates. Kevin Klein, one of our great American actors of the stage and screen, recently watched one of my favorite Kevin Klein films, Dave With My Children. Absolutely hits close to a perfect movie. Loved it. I have to say that as he's. As he's aged, he definitely. His approach to performance seems to have changed slightly. And we just watched. What was it called? Disclosure.

[Chris Rye]

The Cuaron. Was that Cuaron who directed that?

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

That's weird. That happened.

[Andy]

Was it? No. Disclaimer. Disclosure.

[Chris Rye]

Disclaimer. I think it was.

[Andy]

That was another show. It's like this really exists. And in that show, remember, he played a grieving British pensioner endeavors to ruin Cate Blanchett's life. Yes. Oh, yes, we did.

[Chris Rye]

I know you did, because I think you were like, I'm kind of, like, committed to this.

[Andy]

I hope you did, too, because otherwise it was a lonely walk.

[Chris Rye]

Okay.

[Andy]

And he was. What's the word for not subtle in that show?

[Chris Rye]

No.

[Andy]

And in this show, which seems to be created around him, he plays an extravagant aging lion of Broadway who likes a tipple named Richard Bean, who in the opening performs Lear with someone reading his lines to him in his ear. And then at the party afterwards, finds out that he has received bad reviews. And he basically not assaults, but has a viral meltdown moment yelling at the New York Times theater critic. So this is finger on the pulse stuff, and I would say there is broad as a barn door, and then there's whatever he is doing in this.

[Chris Rye]

In this. In American classic.

[Andy]

American classic. And then it also takes me out slightly when he is forced to return home because his mother has died. This brother, John Tenney, a great working actor for many years, is in it. He's really good. Calls him and is like, Richard, you have to come home. Our mother has died, but our father is still alive. And at this point, reader, I have to confess I did Google Kevin Kline age. Kevin Kline is 78 years young.

[Chris Rye]

Sam Elliott plays his dad.

[Andy]

It's fucking bad again. It is, is it? No. First of all, when they shot the first season, first few episodes of the show with Harris Ulen playing his dad in his 90s. Oh, me and Harris Ulin, yeah, he passed away. And they recast with Len Cariou, legend of Broadway at age who's basically nine years older. It's the Sam Elliot corollary. And it's just kind of, I'm willing

[Chris Rye]

to accept any frame Kevin Klein's dad, like there's no man who's alive.

[Andy]

I know. So these are the kind of thoughts where I'm like, maybe cast Kevin Kline is the dad. Or let's just give the whole thing kind of a think. I'm willing to accept. We're going to talk about on paradise how there is a young boy on that show named Bean who is. Who has lived in a bunker for three years and has frozen at nine years old. And I feel like they should be studying him for that reason. But I'm willing to accept some versions of like, okay, well, you know, it's the magic of theater or magic of the movies that these things don't happen. But it does beggar belief a little bit to be like this nearly 80 year old man has a few more acts in his one man show, including dealing with his troublesome parents and burying one at that age. But they've tried to address it like there's the young Laura Linney who's married to John Tenney, who plays Klein's brother.

[Chris Rye]

Okay, so it's his sister in law.

[Andy]

His sister in law. And they have a past at this local theater. And I wonder what Phoebe Cates thought about that. And they're the John Tenney and Laura Linney's daughter is like, I want to go to New York and be an actor, Uncle Richard. And like you Google her and she's like 30. So they did try to like, I'm

[Chris Rye]

really fixated on people's ages right now. I wonder what that says.

[Andy]

I think it says that I'm fixated on our age and how much longer we can continue to be the hip voice of young television.

[Chris Rye]

Mormon wives are right there, friends.

[Andy]

Mormon wives are honestly Starfleet, the next generation Academy. That's us. We're recruits. So this was a tough watch, but it was kind of a fascinating so

[Chris Rye]

not fully thumbs down, but not a voice. Like a not a passionate recommendation.

[Andy]

I would say it's not a passionate recommendation, but like it's, it's fun that Len Carreyu and Steven Spinella and Arend Feit and like all these people are having a good time. I do. I do support people working and enjoying what they do. And the message of like let's do, let's save small town theater is a good one.

[Chris Rye]

This episode is brought to you by Volkswagen. It can be hard to do your own thing when everyone else is following everyone else, but that's what some of the best films are about. An outcast striving to make their own way in the world. And this is your sign to be that outcast. From us, from vw, from the other outcasts out there. Take a chance, make the most of every day, and don't be afraid to veer off course every now and then. Because if you don't do it now, then when learn [e-mail] this episode is brought to you by TaxAct. Like analyzing plot twists, TaxAct guides you step by step to make sure you get your maximum refund. Get tips along the way. Add Expert Assist to talk to tax experts or let our experts do your taxes for you. With Expert full service, TaxAct helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit taxact.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See taxact.com for details.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This episode is brought to you by the Home Depot. Spring is starting, so it's time to wake up your yard. And at the Home Depot, they've got everything you need to do it. With low prices, guaranteed mowing your lawn is a dream with top brand outdoor power tools like the Ryobi 40 volt mower. With up to 50 minutes of runtime, you can add a pop of color with spring blooms and fresh plants and refresh your garden beds with EarthGrow mulch. Five bags for just $10. Start your spring with low prices now through April 1st. Available at the Home Depot. Exclusions apply. See homedepot.com Pricematch for details. This episode is brought to you by TaxAct. Like an expert coach, TaxAct offers step by step guidance and guaranteed accuracy when filing taxes. Get tips along the way. Add Expert Assist to talk to tax experts and let our experts do your taxes for you. With Expert full service, TaxAct helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit taxact.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See taxact.com for details.

[Chris Rye]

Let's stay on this same streaming service.

[Andy]

You're going to watch something on mgm?

[Chris Rye]

No, actually it's just broadly the Prime Video umbrella because I assume you didn't watch it on MGM's standalone app. You watched it on Amazon, right?

[Andy]

No, I'm committed. I want to see the experience from the inside. So I downloaded the app, I signed up, and I'll tell you one thing, they've really updated the roaring MGM line.

[Chris Rye]

Do you ever open Prime Video?

[Andy]

Do I ever open it? Yeah. Why?

[Chris Rye]

Because it's right there.

[Andy]

Yeah, I know.

[Chris Rye]

So you.

[Andy]

I was watching LA Confidential on it multiple times this weekend. Multiple times.

[Chris Rye]

I've leave you. I believe you.

[Andy]

That's.

[Chris Rye]

It's going to be fun.

[Andy]

It's about Los Angeles.

[Chris Rye]

It is. I watched something that was on Amazon, which is. You could probably watch American Classic on Amazon because, like, a lot of those are, like, fed into the Prime Video umbrella.

[Andy]

I don't think that's true.

[Chris Rye]

Okay. And I watched something called Jury Duty Company Retreat, which is the second run around the block for the Jury Duty concept. Did you enjoy the first season?

[Andy]

I think that this is one of the ones where I might be wrong, but I did not.

[Chris Rye]

Okay. Now, I thought the first season was really funny and it brought us the beginning of the James Marsden songs, which is going great, which is still living through the Bradshaw administration is the president of my heart. He was obviously fantastic in that. I've only watched the first two of the season, which got dropped in its entirety on Amazon. And it's really funny to watch a show for its second season. The first one, I was just like, how are they doing this? This is so kind of like, strange to like, be like a voyeur.

[Andy]

Explain the conceit.

[Chris Rye]

So it's about a sequestered jury where one of the jurors is being put in the center of, like, a social experiment slash TV show. And all the other jurors, that's why I tapped out, are our actors who. Who are playing. And it's supposed to basically be like, what? How is this person going to react to all these different crazy situations? And they found, like, the one guy in the world who had, like, a really good heart and a really good sense of humor about the whole project. And it was a really. I think it was a successful show and very funny and. And touching in places. Watching Jury Duty, season two. So the idea is basically a temp arrives at a hot sauce company to work for the CEO and the HR department as, like, A, you know, assistant. And he finds out, like, we're actually doing our company retreat. It's like a couple of days in Agora Hills and we're going out there and like, you'll be helping with that. And he's like, cool, okay. And of course, as soon as he gets out there, it's like, it's. It's just like everything that could go wrong and all the funny, like, you know, a guy is drinking out of what he thinks is a complimentary water bottle and it turns out to be a used fleshlight that someone had left in his hotel room. I see that kind of thing.

[Andy]

So it's not really Pressburger and Emrick level of.

[Chris Rye]

I feel like watching it. I am pretty highly aware of all the people in the show. Acting.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

You know what I mean? And doing bits and. And also creating. Having predetermined. Like, hopefully this person will be the Pam to his gym or the. That kind of like, constellation of office archetypes that they are trying. Now, I could be wrong, obviously. There could be lots of twists and turns that happen on this show and who really knows with the character? Like, I think that there's a version of this show where it goes off the rails because the guy who's the protagonist, the unwitting protagonist, would be like, I don't fucking like this. You know, like, I imagine that wouldn't get aired because it's not a heartwarming comedy.

[Andy]

Right.

[Chris Rye]

But I guess I was just a little bit aware of the puppet strings this time around. But I. We'll probably keep checking it out to see the episodes are pretty short and the whole season's up.

[Andy]

Can you watch it on MGM plus, like, reciprocity wise?

[Chris Rye]

Like, you would know, man. You would know. You had a. Do you have it on your computer or is only a Apple tv or did you get a separate Apple TV box just for MGM app? The MGM app.

[Andy]

I wanted to really focus. I took this seriously because Amazon owns mgm. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And so that's why this has been a very MGM coded podcast, because Project Hail Mary is also, I believe, an MGM picture.

[Chris Rye]

The lion still roars.

[Andy]

I'm proud of that lion because I have to say, no disrespect, like, it is a legendary movie house, but I don't know if it's star has lost its luster a little bit. So the fact that they've like MGM plus.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah. Do you have a favorite movie studio opening like it's the Paramount Mountain or it's the 20th Century Fox revenue?

[Andy]

What about the Columbia lady. Isn't that what that.

[Chris Rye]

What does she do?

[Andy]

Doesn't she stand in there? This Columbia Pictures.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, her.

[Andy]

The woman. She's holding the flashlight. She's holding the flashlight? Yeah, for her head.

[Chris Rye]

Statue isn't like the Statue of Liberty lady.

[Andy]

But she's not.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah, but she looks like it.

[Andy]

Well, I mean first of all, not all women, you know.

[Chris Rye]

Is she like the Greek God of story? Like who is that?

[Andy]

I wish I had an answer for you. I like that one.

[Chris Rye]

I like. I like old school Warner Brothers.

[Andy]

Do you know what I really like? I like when you get that little scratchy Janis films.

[Chris Rye]

Oh yeah.

[Andy]

Because you're like oh damn, this is going to be some real.

[Chris Rye]

About to cook up some.

[Andy]

I mean we're going to the mean streets of Oslo today.

[Chris Rye]

Canterbury. Okay, so jury duty and then we have two things. Well, we have one thing that we watched. We actually did watch a little bit or I watched a bunch of. And you watched some of Saturday Night Live uk or is there another one?

[Andy]

Oh, I would just say that I know that this isn't. This probably isn't to your. To your liking. Although you did say you've been tippling a little bit more of the. The noble grape.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah, but we're getting out of red wine season. It's a little hot. You know, it's true.

[Andy]

A little foggy today though. You could have kicked the day off a little. Sort of a chewy game.

[Chris Rye]

There's a character on Marshalls when like it's really funny actually. I don't know. It's obviously probably a corporate sponsorship, but Logan Marshall Green's character on Marshall's drinks Blue Moon.

[Andy]

Come on. Wait, he puts on. Why didn't we lead with this? So you're telling me that a marshal who rides horseback with tactical gear into the zone of death, drinks blue moon, sips a little wheat beer with a lemon floating in it.

[Chris Rye]

There's another character on the show, lady who when they go to the like cowboy bar and there's always like a surprise performance from a relatively up and cominging country star.

[Andy]

Amazing. She drinks red wine at the country bar.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

Is it. But it has to be branded, right? Or is that just telling us.

[Chris Rye]

No, it's just like she's, it's, it's like her usual. Because the bartender is always like tough

[Andy]

day near the bottle.

[Chris Rye]

No, like a glass.

[Andy]

It would be really amazing that if in this honky tonk bar put a, put like a perfect Riedel stem glass in front and then like had the little thing that like just decants the right amount without spoiling, oxidizing the wine. So it's like squirt. Oh, my God.

[Chris Rye]

I would literally give my entire life savings if you could be a day player on Marshall's.

[Andy]

Be like, this is, this is quaffable.

[Chris Rye]

Marshall's sommelier, the Taylor.

[Andy]

It's all. It's all plonk, unfortunately. Speaking of wine, Speaking of wine, one of my favorite shows from a few years ago. We touched on it a few weeks ago that it was back Drops of God finished its second season on Apple. And I really, really enjoyed the show.

[Chris Rye]

Good.

[Andy]

And I really thought it was a fascinating example. Look, if you aren't into the show from the logline, that it is a kind of lovely, kind of gauzy international production that is equal parts Japanese, French and English and very, very deep into these vineyards about like varietals and the importance of, and the artistry and the humanity of wine. And you might be out on it, but if you do, if you're one of those people who listens to our show and is interested when we talk about like the scaffolding behind the shows that we like. I really thought that they made a lot of smart choices on how to turn a show that was, that was very concept driven. First season is a young woman inherits this legacy from her father who is the most prestigious and feared wine expert in the world. And basically he has left her as his life legacy, a competition to earn his cellar and his mantle. And she must compete against her father, her late father's protege, who's a Japanese man who turns out spoiler alert is her half brother.

[Chris Rye]

It's always the way.

[Andy]

That's how we met. And your father was the most discerning film critic in Philadelphia and he put us on this podcast together rather than make it another competition. They made the season half kind of a chase to find a missing wine and then a much more character driven story about the depths that we will go to find out the truth about our past or whatever. And it was really well done and it set the show up in a way that would allow it to run future seasons.

[Chris Rye]

Okay, did they go to the cellar? Did they finally somebody win in the first season?

[Andy]

They did.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, who won?

[Andy]

You want me to.

[Chris Rye]

No, you don't have to spoil it for the listeners. For me. You can spoil it after we're done recording.

[Andy]

I'll spoil it.

[Chris Rye]

Okay.

[Andy]

But the, but the second season, it's an interesting thing. If you get a chance to make a second season. Do you go super conservative and run the first season back? Because honestly, in this climate it's a miracle that you got two. Maybe you won't get three. Or do you do the work that might not be alienating, but might, you might see some of the seams as you transition the show from a one season thing into potentially a multi season thing. Sure. And it was pretty unsentimental about that in a way that I appreciate it. It's very entertaining.

[Chris Rye]

Before we get into paradise, let's talk briefly about Saturday Night Live uk. How aware of this project were you? You?

[Andy]

I was very aware because it was

[Chris Rye]

probably brewing when the last time you were over there was. Right.

[Andy]

Yes. And no one was talking about it

[Chris Rye]

in a nice way.

[Andy]

No, I'm just kidding. I, it wasn't like, you know, we, we, we weren't at the Devonshire being like, you know, another round of the, of the black stuff. And also have you heard that Lauren is bringing his trademark, it's interesting franchise.

[Chris Rye]

So Saturday Live, the first episode, their, their premiere episode aired Saturday night in London in England and then was available on Peacock, I think at 6 Pacific 9 Eastern last night. Tina Fey was the host, American. And Wet Leg was the musical guest. And I thought they were real good.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

It had some of like the usual kind of Saturday Night Live cameos. Although here are the cameos that happened during Tina Fey's monologue and I think are indicative of the spirit of the show. Nicola Coughlin from Dairy Girls and Bridgerton.

[Andy]

Yep.

[Chris Rye]

And Michael Cera. And Michael Cera was like, why are you here? And he was like, it's part of the Commonwealth, you know, like.

[Andy]

And Graham Norton.

[Chris Rye]

And Graham Norton. So what does that tell you? It tells you that, like, it's a little offbeat, it's very British and it's very United Kingdom. And there was a lot of jokes about like, why is Tina Fey hosting this? And she made a. With an F word. She said, because none of you would do it.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

Speaking to, I think maybe some of the cynicism or apprehension that the, the larger, you know, UK comedy community might have had about the series. That being said, I follow a bunch of primarily Irish comedians. Like, and they were all pretty, like, it was really funny because some of them were like, I auditioned and didn't get it.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

But they were all like, that was pretty good. And I got to say it had a quality that I kind of miss from snl, which is a lack of. It wasn't as self conscious as I feel like SNL is Now where a lot of the time you feel like they're trying to get to a viral moment or trying to get right characters, you know, actors to break so that they can have, like, this hilarious experience. And even watching Weekend Update with two people that I had no familiarity with, they were good. And we're doing all Keir Starmer jokes. And it was much more. I. Intellectually rigorous, I think, maybe.

[Andy]

Well, I felt smug that I got the David Walliams joke.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

You know, I was there long enough to get that.

[Chris Rye]

Sure.

[Andy]

I thought they were. Who's the guy? It's Patty Young. Is that the guy who does the. Who had the mustache? Great delivery. I thought it was really interesting to see the way the. The structure of SNL is so entrenched, the way that it was just actually quite easily transportable. It made you think, why did it take 50 years to even try it?

[Chris Rye]

Seriously, the.

[Andy]

From the. Not very good, but fine political cold open to the opening credits of people I have mostly never seen before having a bit of a laugh with the pedicabs in central London, you know, or bringing too many drinks back at the pub, to the. To the band, to the cut, to the. No commercials this time, but to a fake commercial. And then Weekend Update, like, it's a very, very familiar and easy format. And just the nature of it made me realize you don't need Tina Fey to justify it because the rhythms were so familiar that we knew very clearly what they were doing. It also seems like not that big of an ask because the UK comedy scene is amazing and distinct and doesn't need this at the same time. The UK comedy scene is like the UK theater scene or the UK TV scene, slightly smaller than it is here, quite incestuous. Everybody knows each other. Everybody's putting on Come see me at Soho Theater, Come see me at the Edinburgh Fringe or whatever. An opportunity to be on TV once a week and kind of drive conversation and drive culture or potentially go viral just makes too much sense.

[Chris Rye]

The fact that it's not, obviously, for Americans, it's, I imagine, not gonna be on linear television.

[Andy]

No, but I think there was. I saw some talk yesterday when I was first looking for it, that it wasn't available within the window. Some people thought, like, you came on later.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

And that there was clearly a lot of interest because.

[Chris Rye]

Just go on. I obviously, I don't think they want to put it up against a Saturday live broadcast, but I was sort of surprised that it wasn't up on Saturday night at some point because I don't think there was a new Saturday Night Live this week and.

[Andy]

Right.

[Chris Rye]

It just would have like been nice to have been able to watch it at some point before Sunday night.

[Andy]

The other thing is American Saturday Night Live is famously incredibly expensive and weirdly has almost now justifies its insane price tag because it is also, I believe this is still true, the highest rated show on linear NBC at this point.

[Chris Rye]

I think so.

[Andy]

Which is insane considering when it airs. But the idea of making another version of Saturday Night Live that can fuel the larger NBC brand and provide it with viral opportunities, potential stars, just something people are clicking on on Peacock or on the in house YouTube channels for the relatively cheap price of a lot of relatively unknowns. It seems like a no brainer.

[Chris Rye]

My last observation about this, I liked the, the David Attenborough's last dinner sketch and the, the Hamlet or the Shakespeare sketch.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

But my last very American observation is this was. I, I'm not like a huge Game of Thrones person about Saturday Live. Like, I don't really know.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

But it did make me wonder whether Tina Fey is gonna replace Lauren, be the kind of flagship ambassador.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

And I was like, she's still really funny. I mean, obviously she's still really funny, but like, also watching her play, like, she seemed to have like a feeling for how a show should work.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

I wonder whether or not she worked with them at all in terms of structuring it or in terms of.

[Andy]

I would guess.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

But I, I think the impediment to Tina taking over is why would she want to do that? Why would she want to be the person after the person? Why would she want to.

[Chris Rye]

She might be like, she might, she might be better for, for sure.

[Andy]

But also, I, I don't know her personally, but she seems like she has a pretty good life doing what she wants. Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

I don't know, man. I mean, I agree with you, but

[Andy]

like, I mean, she's not married to Phoebe.

[Chris Rye]

Like, but none of these people are ever like, I'm good, I'm done. You know, like, yeah, that's a really hard life.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

I think possibly one of the things that she could institute is a different, like, kind of framework for how to make the show. I know that it's basically late. It's a ship that runs itself. I mean, it's, it's baked into the premise that it's going to be late nights. But I wonder whether or not there are certain elements of it that's like a chaos factory because of the way Lorne is always on it. I have no idea.

[Andy]

To, to, to. To investigate the note behind the note. How would you run the ringer differently if you stepped in? Like, would you change the.

[Chris Rye]

From Bill?

[Andy]

Yeah. Would you change like the, the hours. Would you change the catering?

[Chris Rye]

I would definitely change the catering.

[Andy]

Like you would get some. Yeah, because I'm very hungry. I will say about SNL UK that I. Did you know anyone, did you recognize anyone in the cast? I didn't. Hamad Animashan, who is someone I've been watching for a minute. He's really funny. Look at you, Joe. Black Ops. But that was also cool where like I don't genuinely. I mean this is a compliment. Like there's a democratization of culture there that I don't fully understand. Whereas here, country so big, the money making opportunities are so vastly disparate that we would be like, why is that guy on TV when I saw that guy in the movies? Or why is that movie star doing a play now if he's not trying to.

[Chris Rye]

Why does this comedian have a podcast but it's not very funny?

[Andy]

Well, 100% that there like the pathways from doing a, you know, a day player role on a TV show like Papa Esedoux being on who's one of the best British actors of his generation and is going to be Snape in Harry Potter. He did a one episode turn on Joe Barton's show Black Doves because he had been in Joe's other show and then he's also on stage and he very well could start a podcast or show up on SNL UK too because you just work. So I kind of think that might speak well both for the cast and future cast of the show. But also Michael Cera aside, people are around. People are around and will be willing to show up on the show in a different way.

[Chris Rye]

Also a lot of stuff is shooting in London.

[Andy]

Most things are not shooting.

[Chris Rye]

And so people will be in the mix.

[Andy]

Like we could go full circle. Like Ghazi. That's what my English co workers were calling Ryan Gosling when they would see him on the heath when he was moved there for a year to film Starfighter. Ghazi might drop in.

[Chris Rye]

Let's talk about paradise before we get out of here.

[Andy]

Sure.

[Chris Rye]

Spoilers for last night's episode of the Final Countdown is the name of the episode Spoiler.

[Andy]

They play a slow core version of Europe's the Final Countdown.

[Chris Rye]

So spoilers for the episode going forward because it's very difficult to talk about it without talking about what happens in it. We have certainly entered an interesting zone with this show that everybody who I've recommended to, recommended it to is like, oh, my God, they killed that character. And now we apparently are hitting the no one ever really dies part of. Of paradise, where if you were wondering why James Marsden was so extensively featured in a continued flashback role in season two, there is now a world where Cal's just in a different reality, I think is probably what's being suggested by the end of the episode.

[Andy]

Talk me through that.

[Chris Rye]

Well, it seems that link, the character played by Thomas Doherty that we like very much, who had that lovely tryst with Shailene Woodley at Graceland and yeah, she gave birth to his daughter.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Chris Rye]

It seems that he has come to the bunker in Colorado with his militia to kill Alex.

[Andy]

Whatever, Whoever. Whatever. Alex.

[Chris Rye]

It seems more like a what? And at the end of his conversation with Sinatra, which has been this negotiation about like, we want one of your nuclear reactors and blah, blah, and he is referred to as Dylan, which is the name of Samantha's late son. Right. At the end of the episode, she goes into a room. We don't see what she's looking at. She seems to need to put on some kind of lab coat. I don't know if it's to protect from radiation or whatever. And she says, did you say it worked, Alex?

[Andy]

No, she just says, hi, Alex.

[Chris Rye]

Hi, Alex. Oh, she tells her husband, everything worked. Everything worked. So my guess is that Samantha, while also creating a safe haven for society in the Colorado bunker, has also been working on a multiple reality time.

[Andy]

So she creates. So basically the idea that you're. That you're suggesting here is that she created a safe haven for the remnants of society, but potentially created another pocket safety that kept everyone alive or restarted people or.

[Chris Rye]

Or that people are out there

[Andy]

that

[Chris Rye]

don't know that they're a lot like, you know what I mean, that are. Are a part of some other strain of reality or a strain of time that are now. Maybe they were brought forward by the.

[Andy]

And might be a link between these worlds.

[Chris Rye]

Now you're picking up on it. So did you not feel that way when you saw the end of the episode?

[Andy]

I gotta be honest with you. I don't. I really like the show.

[Chris Rye]

But you don't care.

[Andy]

I don't care.

[Chris Rye]

Right.

[Andy]

But I don't mean that in a way that's to be dismissed. I genuinely am like, okay, let me know next week. Can't wait.

[Chris Rye]

I only say this because this episode also featured what looks like the death of Jane after her standalone episode. And you Know, I think that for as exciting as those character deaths can be, they may or may not have any consequence.

[Andy]

Well, they also are like the interesting thing about the show is it is very self aware. Cause Dan Fogelman with this is Us, really, really a pioneer in the field of doesn't matter if characters are dead. They have a lot of stories still to explore in flashbacks.

[Chris Rye]

Sure.

[Andy]

And so he carried that forward into the show. The idea that he is iterating on that idea being like they may be playing future alternate versions of themselves too. So we're gonna keep them in the call sheet. I find that fast. I find that compelling. I find that interesting. I didn't go as far as you did, but that does make sense because as we were saying last week when we talked about the show, there are these, you know, Xavier's having these little flash forward dream things as if there is some sort of time travel element. It is absolutely. This is not. This wasn't subtle, like I didn't. This wasn't buried in the mix. That this is clearly her son. But is this a version of her son that she has yet to meet or something that proves the success of her program? We don't know.

[Chris Rye]

Right.

[Andy]

But this brings me to my observation, which is everything that you're saying and that this was a. This is the last card turn of the show's big plan.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, I don't know about that.

[Andy]

No, no. But I'm saying if it is, if that's where we're headed in season three,

[Chris Rye]

time travel, multiple realities.

[Andy]

That would track with the fact that all of the reporting and the announcing of the renewal of the show for its third season was that this was always intended to be and was pitched and conceived as a three season show that would suggest that, you know, that we're not. That it's revealing this big card turn right on schedule for wherever the ultimate endgame of the show is. Paradise being maybe the afterlife, paradise also being the third book in Dante's trilogy and Star, you know, so we're seeing that that is a framing that seems to be consistent with what the show has always intended to be, apparently. I would say though, in my viewing experience of the season and especially the last two to three episodes post Shailene Woodley. It is not carrying itself like a three season show. If it is a three season show. And I say this especially because paradise is so, so, so fast and so like move fast, break things and worry about it later in a way that I find admirable and unlike a lot of the plotting Prestige stuff that we generally cover. Everything that you put on screen has to be vitally important. Sure. In terms of the larger endgame, and thus maybe why we have the Shailene Woodley Messiah baby looming, even though Xavier just left that baby a couple episodes. Okay, I buy all that, but I also feel just as a viewer, everything you put on screen then ought to be really, really compelling, not just important for the plot. And by that metric, I think the last few episodes have kind of failed. Not just because I don't really care about Jane's I'm a killer backstory, but also President Cal's adventures. President Cal's son's misadventures in the underworld are so boring. That is so uncharismatic and compelling.

[Chris Rye]

That part of, like, the people who are in Paradise Prison, the bunker prison and all. Like, there are several teenagers that I'm like, I know you're somebody's child. And you seem to be working with Xavier's former partner.

[Andy]

Yes.

[Chris Rye]

And the guy who built this whole thing.

[Andy]

Yes.

[Chris Rye]

Let me know when you guys get. Get to where you're going.

[Andy]

You know, you are like the. I'm sorry that happened or I'm happy for you. I ain't ready. Yeah, it's.

[Chris Rye]

It's just like, when there are a lot of. There are several you. I'm sure there are paradise podcasts that are granular and dedicated to the. Every movement. When it comes to the teens, I'm out. I'm just like. I'm like, I'm. I'm like, look.

[Andy]

Yeah. With like. Sinatra's daughter is a hacker who can provide wristband access to anyone, anywhere.

[Chris Rye]

Oh, that's right.

[Andy]

At any.

[Chris Rye]

I forgot. Sinatra's daughter is one of the.

[Andy]

I mean, there's just a lot of, like, it's funny to watch all these strands of, like, we're going to make an incredibly compelling serialized genre show. But also that part that I'm not necessarily against, but that sort of lizard brain broadcast part of the brain trust of the show that is like, if we make Julianne Nicholson, this Machiavellian character who seems to be pulling all the strings, we also very, very much have to have her say early in an episode, what does she say?

[Chris Rye]

At the.

[Andy]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm not a monster. Yes. And then also, we see how her intimate sex life with her husband has fallen by the wayside since she got shot in the clavicle and ended the world.

[Chris Rye]

Right.

[Andy]

Shout out to that guy. That's just like. That's a Doctor's paycheck. He sort of. He sort of sits on his couch,

[Chris Rye]

I think because I don't really understand like if you're not. Does everybody in the Bunker have to have like a job that keeps society moving?

[Andy]

Man, he's a plus one. He's a plus.

[Chris Rye]

Do you think he's like, maybe I'll get back into my real estate career? Like, do you sell properties in real estate is limited.

[Andy]

I feel like that's it.

[Chris Rye]

But would you try to like keep some semblance?

[Andy]

Like there's a whole nother level here. It's an emerging neighborhood. It is near a prison, technically. And it is near a power plant.

[Chris Rye]

And it gets no fake light.

[Andy]

And it gets no fake light. But you know, my first New York apartment. I think I feel like there ought to be. See, this is the problem with a show like this. There's actually a lot more stuff they could be doing, but then it would be a lesser different show. But I do think that if you got into the Bunker as a plus one, which by the way, we've all discussed, I would be dead day one. But if I did somehow manage to blag my way into like plus one, I feel like it would be incumbent on me to then become a surgeon, you know, or like learn something.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah, I would try to use like teach English at the high school or whatever. That'd be cool.

[Andy]

Cormac McCarthy died that day. But also his books.

[Chris Rye]

The Road is very useful in this circumstance. Yeah.

[Andy]

Do you think that's why the librarian was an important job in first. The first season? Do you think they have all the streaming services down there just frozen at the moment at the world end? Well, as a longtime subscriber, I can really help. I could help people navigate the MGM

[Chris Rye]

UX two more episodes of this season.

[Andy]

Yeah, it's just like they're doing a fascinating.

[Chris Rye]

One more.

[Andy]

I think one more. A fascinating and sometimes workman like job of like, well, we gotta keep these plates spinning. And sometimes plates spinning is like Xavier spent three plus years and one and a half seasons trying to find his wife and then he has her for 24 hours and he's like, yes, by all means, go have a one on one heart to heart talk with a man who tried to explode me with a bomb last episode.

[Chris Rye]

That's right, Gary.

[Andy]

And again, it's just like that is the weird beat that maybe speaks to what you were saying. You kind of like in Marshalls. And I wonder what people's appetite is for it. And what I mean is Cameron Britton an actor we like playing Gary the Mailman, a character who really, I feel like, has reached the end of his road in terms of like.

[Chris Rye]

But they don't kill him at the end.

[Andy]

They don't kill him. But also, some part of their lizard broadcast brain is like, we need a redemption arc for Gary. We need to hug him.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

I could have moved on, frankly. Like, it's okay.

[Chris Rye]

You wanted Gary dead.

[Andy]

No, we don't. I would have been like, that's cool. And then she's like, I must go get my son, my bunker son, Bean, whose growth has been stunted. You know, one thing, though. I will give it. Oh, wait. I have two questions before we wrap up here.

[Chris Rye]

Sure.

[Andy]

One, not even question. Just really more of a comment. I really like the thing where Terry's like, how are my children? How are our children? And she's like, it's a two part answer. It's just like, well, he sort of is complicated about she's dating someone, and then he's just. She's like, oh, you're saying he's white? About their kid's boyfriend.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah.

[Andy]

I thought that was funny.

[Chris Rye]

Wait, where's the baby?

[Andy]

The baby? He left the baby with the people. Oh, the trained people with the married couple. The women who read to the baby.

[Chris Rye]

They're gonna get on the train and go to Kalamata.

[Andy]

They have to get the baby. He was like, how do you feel about babies?

[Chris Rye]

Oh, right, right, right, right.

[Andy]

How do they get to turn the train? They're gonna lay the track to get the train to the train.

[Chris Rye]

What was your other question? That was more of a common, you

[Andy]

don't want to focus on train travel. Which makes me think about how.

[Chris Rye]

Guess what, brother? We're all gonna get focused on train travel pretty soon.

[Andy]

It's probably the only thing that's working. One of my favorite low key details about our beloved Lonesome Dove is that after it came out and won the Pulitzer Prize and was a huge sensation, Larry McMurtry admitted that he had forgotten about trains. There probably would have been a lot of train talk in that book.

[Chris Rye]

Probably.

[Andy]

But no, the other question was just to your altered reality thing. I think that we, as a storytelling people need to come up with something other than nosebleeds to signal supernatural or metaphysical shenanigans like scanning.

[Chris Rye]

Remember scanners?

[Andy]

The heads explode. Well, that would limit Julianne Nicholson's participation in the current reality.

[Chris Rye]

It does make me wonder. We've seen so far. Xavier has nosebleeds.

[Andy]

Right.

[Chris Rye]

Link has nosebleeds.

[Andy]

Mm.

[Chris Rye]

Did Jane ever have a nosebleed?

[Andy]

I mean, Jane's covered in blood all the time.

[Chris Rye]

But somebody was texting back in time during the Jane episode. Somebody's like, texting the Best Buy guy. You got to kill this baby, right?

[Andy]

Yeah. I mean, it wasn't text. I think it was aol instant messages.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah. Aim.

[Andy]

Oh, excuse me. Sorry.

[Chris Rye]

I think we did a great job today. We covered a bunch of shows.

[Andy]

Nosebleed.

[Chris Rye]

And we're going to go back in time and do it all over again on Thursday. Honestly. We do the Pit. Something else maybe. And Top Chef. Top Chef. That's right. Got anything else?

[Andy]

No. I feel like. I feel like. Feel like you're parking the car.

[Chris Rye]

Yeah, I'm parking the car. Thank you to Kaya. Talk to you guys on Thursday.

[Andy]

I can't wait.