Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV

Latest Episodes:

302: I Know This Much Is True Is Misery Porn May 13, 2020

Show notes

We hope Bobby Krut agrees to come BACK to Extra Hot Great after putting him through the unrelenting barrage of anguish that is HBO's latest limited series, I Know This Much Is True. Sure, the acting is good; yeah, it's impressive that Mark Ruffalo plays twins; not one of us is planning to keep watching, because there's never a break or a moment of levity, and even Dave's ice-cream-fixins-bar metaphor made us sad. Our trip Around The Dial made us MAD, mostly -- Tara was disgusted with Regular Heroes, Sarah was disappointed in American Experience's Dubya-sode, and Dave was not a crackpot about The Good Fight's failure to understand electricity -- but at least Bobby brought in the Antenna TV Comfort Blanket roster to cheer us up. Jeff's Extra Credit saw us rewriting well-regarded series finales with How I Met Your Mother-style bungling, before we headed to the polls for Bobby's Canon submission, NewsRadio's "President" episode. Guy Fieri won (for once), Lori Loughlin lost (again), and the competition got feverish during Game Time. Give yourselves a hand for listening to an all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS

👤 Robert Krut

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 😭 I Know This Much Is True

Around The Dial: 📦 Regular Heroes

Around The Dial: 🏙 Diff'rent Strokes

Around The Dial: ✏️ The Facts Of Life

Around The Dial: 🏡 Gimme A Break

Around The Dial: 👨‍🏫 Head Of The Class

Around The Dial: ⏲ The Hogan Family

Around The Dial: 🇺🇸 American Experience

I Am Not A Crackpot: 🤪 The Good Fight

Extra Credit: 🤑 Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

The Canon: 📻 NewsRadio S03.E01: President

Winner & Loser: 👍 Guy Fieri

Winner & Loser: 👎 Lori Loughlin

Game Time: 🧠 Merry Maladies

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 302 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Robert Krut on Twitter

🌴 The Again With This podcast

💻 Robert Krut's website

🔪 The Best Evidence newsletter

301: Taking A Dream Trip To Hollywood May 06, 2020

Show notes

Hollywood, the latest product of Ryan Murphy's Netflix deal, has hit the streaming service. What did we think about his ahistorical take on marginalized voices in the film industry? Kevin O'Keeffe joins us to discuss! Around The Dial clicks through Betty, Never Have I Ever, The Circle Brasil, and Masterpiece's new procedural Baptiste. Erica uses her Extra Credit to get us to pitch new Big Mouth transfer students and the Hormone Monsters they'll bring with them. Kevin pitches The O.C.'s "The Rainy Day Women" for induction into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we kick off a new season of Game Time with a quiz that tests our knowledge of shows' 300th episodes. Jerk yourself a soda and join us!

GUESTS

👤 Kevin O'Keeffe

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🎥 Hollywood

Around The Dial: 🛹 Betty

Around The Dial: 😍 Never Have I Ever

Around The Dial: 🇧🇷 The Circle Brasil

Around The Dial: 🇳🇱 Baptiste

Extra Credit: 🤑 Hormone Monsters For Everyone!

The Canon: 🍊 The O.C.

Winner & Loser: 👍 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Winner & Loser: 👎 The Last Dance

Game Time: 🧠 First And 300

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 301 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Kevin O'Keeffe on Twitter

💰 Tara on Good Girls

🍹 Kiki With Kevin

🔪 The Blotter Presents

300: Defending Jacob Isn't Easy Apr 29, 2020

Show notes

Captain America and Lady Mary did their best, but Allison and the rest of the panel still found legal procedural Defending Jacob guilty of crappy pacing in the second degree; aggravated TV tropes; and felony possession of moody blue gels with intent to distribute. Were the regulars able to get Al into a diversion program before she felt obliged to finish the season? We also went Around The Dial with Vida, Arde Madrid, and The Last Dance, before Dave trotted out a solution to the problems with Devs. Dan Cassino's Extra Credit tasked us with growing some goateed evil twins to spice up our favorite shows, and Elenore brought us back to a '90s kind of world with her Living Single Canon submission. Re-casting ("alleged") felons won, nudity lost (but also kind of won?), and we kicked up our heels with Tara's Tube Tunes 6 Game Time. Got a garage door to scrub? Pass the time with an all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS

👤 Allison Lowe Huff

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 👩‍⚖️ Defending Jacob

Around The Dial: 🍺 Vida

Around The Dial: 🇪🇸 Arde Madrid

Around The Dial: 💃 The Last Dance

Around The Dial: 💾 Devs

Extra Credit: 😈 The Upside Of Evil Twins

The Canon: 🏆 Living Single S01.E06: Great Expectations

Winner & Loser: 👍 Solid properties subtracting leads

Winner & Loser: 👎 Sacramento reporter Melinda Meza

Game Time: 📻 Tube Tunes VI

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 300 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

⚖️ "By the Content of Cousin Pam's Character" on Seven Scribes

🍻 Tara's Vanity Fair piece on Vida

💋 Tara's Vanity Fair kiss-off of the Will & Grace re-finale

🇪🇸 Al's Arde Madrid write-up on MHz Choice

💩 The Diarrhea Song by Michael Scott

🍆 KCRA goes full frontal

📷 Photo: Apple

299: The ABCs Of TV Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

In an absence of series premieres any of us could manage to get excited about, Dave came up with a new format: the ABCs of TV! With our beloved Joe Reid, we go around the horn, each naming an important TV person, show, feature, or just THING about TV that matches up with each letter of the alphabet. Then, it's on to a Game Time made for cuffing season. Did any of our letter picks line up with yours? Listen and find out!

GUESTS

👤 Joe Reid

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🔤 The ABCs of TV

Game Time: 🧠 The Story Of Us

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 299 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Joe Reid on Twitter

🔫 The A-Team M-24 Assault Rifle toy

🤬 The Wire's "Fuck" scene

⚖️ Tara on the Better Call Saul finale

🕸 Primetimer.com

🐝 This Had Oscar Buzz

🎶 MASTAS on Dubious Heroes

298: Run: Hot And Cold Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

Dan Rogge bought a ticket for our latest episode on HBO's Run, a "comedy thriller" about college sweethearts trying to reunite. Does the pleasure of watching Merritt Wever and Archie Punjabi at work outweigh the credibility issues? Do phones in the Run-verse never need charging? And is Rich Sommer TV's worst husband? We super-sized Around The Dial with stops at The Baker And The Beauty, Bosch, The Good Fight, Sesame Street, Money Heist, The Valhalla Murders, Devs, and Picard. And we chased that with a Sean double: first, whether he's a crackpot for thinking streaming services should offer a single-storyline watching option; and then his Canon pitch for the virulently catchy America's Next Top Model episode, "Game." Amy Schumer won, Lori Loughlin lost, and the melody lingered on in a musical Game Time. Grab your show-branded airhorn; it's an all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS

👤 Dan Rogge

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🏃 Run

Around The Dial: 🥊 The Good Fight

Around The Dial: 🍪 The Baker And The Beauty

Around The Dial: 🚸 Sesame Street

Around The Dial: 🌆 Bosch

Around The Dial: 🔪 The Valhalla Murders

Around The Dial: 💶 Money Heist

Around The Dial: 🧑‍💻 Devs

Around The Dial: 🫖 Star Trek: Picard

I Am Not A Crackpot: 🤪

The Canon: 🏆 America's Next Top Model S17.E08: Game

Winner & Loser: 👍 Amy Schumer

Lead Topic: 👎 Lori Loughlin

Game Time: 🧠 Royalties ROI

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 298 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🥊 Angelica Jade Bastién on The Good Fight's premiere

🍪 Tara's Primetimer piece on The Baker And The Beauty

🧛 Tara's Vanity Fair piece on What We Do In The Shadows Season 2

🩸 The Blotter Presents

👩‍🎨 Monica! The Podcast

297: Making A Whole Meal Out Of Quibi Apr 08, 2020

Show notes

Just a few short weeks after we tested our knowledge of Quibi titles in Game Time, Quibi is taking center stage: the platform has launched, and we have selected a total of eight of its 24 launch titles to discuss with returning guest Adam Sternbergh! For his Extra Credit topic, John C. challenges us to reimagine single-camera comedies as multi-cams. Adam makes the case for our inducting Cheer's series premiere, "God Blessed Texas," into the Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's a little objectionable. Settle in for the long haul and join us!

GUESTS

👤 Adam Sternbergh

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🏚 Murder House Flip

Lead Topic: 🍽 Dishmantled

Lead Topic: 🤬 I Promise

Lead Topic: ⚖️ Chrissy's Court

Lead Topic: 🕳 Memory Hole

Lead Topic: 🤸 Flipped

Lead Topic: 🎰 Gayme Show

Lead Topic: ⛔️ Most Dangerous Game

Extra Credit: 🤑 Should Have Been Filmed In Front Of A Live Studio Audience

The Canon: 🏆 Cheer S01.E01: God Blessed Texas

Winner & Loser: 👍 Craig Conover converted his pillow company to make PPE

Winner & Loser: 👎 Ellen DeGeneres

Game Time: 🧠 Objectionable People

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 297 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Adam Sternbergh on Twitter

📱 Tara on Quibi at Primetimer

🚓 Tara on Brooklyn Nine-Nine (new!), also at Primetimer

🍑 Sarah on Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project, ALSO at Primetimer

296: Will Heidi And Tim's New Fashion Show Be Making The Cut? Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

One half of the GFY brain trust, Heather Cocks, came back to discuss Amazon's Project Runway with a big-budget twist: Making The Cut. As much as we love Naomi Campbell's sugar-free approach to, well, life, the panel agreed that Making The Cut has some structural problems (too long; dumb Tim 'n' Heidi "friend dates"), and too tight a focus on NOT being a sewing competition. Will any of us keep watching? You'll find out before we decide whether Emily Is Not A Crackpot for wanting period shows to air period commercials. We'll go Around The Dial with Call The Midwife content warning, the return of One Day At A Time, Barry, homemade Lego Masters spinoffs, Top Chef, and a Better Call Saul sound drop; later, we'll feel relieved that the Sherlock episode we all THOUGHT Erica presented as a Canon contender is actually for the Nonac. Kate McKinnon won, celebrity quarantine-busters lost, and Game Time stretched those family ties (sha la la laaaaa). Tick tock: it's an all-new Extra Hot Great.

GUESTS

👤 Heather Cocks

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🧵 Making The Cut

I Am Not A Crackpot: 🤪 Period shows should air period commercials

Around The Dial: 👶 Call The Midwife

Around The Dial: 📆 One Day At A Time (2017)

Around The Dial: 🥷 Barry

Around The Dial: 🧱 Lego Masters

Around The Dial: 🧑‍🍳 Top Chef: All-Stars

Around The Dial: ⚖️ Better Call Saul

The Nonac: 🤮 Sherlock S04.E03: The Final Problem

Winner & Loser: 👍 Kate McKinnon

Winner & Loser: 👎 Celebrity quarantine-busters

Game Time: 🧠 Family Ties

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 296 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

📆 Tara's Primetimer piece on One Day At A Time

🍆 Tara's Primetimer piece on Black Monday's male nudity

🫅 Pre-order Heather Cocks's and Jessica Morgan's The Heir Affair

🩸 The Blotter Presents

🐯 Buntsy on Tiger King for Primetimer

295: First-Time Shows At The Canon Ball Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

Some shows -- your 30 Rocks, your Simpsonses -- get pitched to the Canon all the time. So for this special all-Canon episode, we reached into our mailbag and chose user submissions for shows that had never been pitched before. Dan Cassino challenged us to battle with Foyle's War; Caroline opened the door for The Haunting Of Hill House; and Jeff put all his eggs in a Baskets. Then, befitting an episode that started in World War II, Dave shocked Sarah and Tara with a Teutonic non-regulation Game Time. Hit up the buffet for some desserts and join us!

TOPICS

The Canon: 🏆 Foyle's War S04.E04 Casualties Of War

The Canon: 🏆 The Haunting Of Hill House S01.E06: Two Storms

The Canon: 🏆 Baskets S01.E04: Easter In Bakersfield

Game Time: 🧠 German To The Situation

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 295 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

294: Warming Up To Little Fires Everywhere Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

Appointment Television's Margaret H. Willison put a marshmallow on a stick to talk about Hulu's Little Fires Everywhere, and whether THIS is the real "vanity-free performance" on Reese Witherspoon's recent résumé, plus Kerry Washington's interesting choices as Mia; the production's unwavering commitment to 1997-ness; and whether the male Dawson's Creek lead we'd have bought in the Bill role is actually Dawson himself. Tara refused to be labeled a crackpot for thinking Mike Schur's upcoming philosoph...omedy? book is going to join its "humorous"-essay brethren in sucking, and then we went Around The Dial with Black Monday, The Bachelor, Work In Progress, Please Like Me, an Evil Lunch Bunch concept, Project Runway, and an Amazing Stories update. Margaret couldn't help but wonder if a second-season Sex & The City would make it into the Canon, and after Laura Benanti was a winner and most TV productions were quarantined losers, the Game Time question was Quibi Or Not Quibi?. This all-new Extra Hot Great's got dial-up; listen now!

GUESTS

👤 Margaret Willison

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🔥 Little Fires Everywhere

I Am Not A Crackpot: 🤪 Mike Schur's book will suck

Around The Dial: 📈 Black Monday

Around The Dial: 🤵‍♂️ The Bachelor

Around The Dial: 🗂 Work In Progress

Around The Dial: 😈 Evil

Around The Dial: 👗 Project Runway

Around The Dial: 😲 Amazing Stories

The Canon: 🏆 Sex & The City S02.E07: The Chicken Dance

Winner & Loser: 👍 Laura Benanti

Lead Topic: 👎 Productions in quarantine

Game Time: 🧠 Quibi Or Not Quibi?

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 294 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Margaret H. Willison on Twitter

📕 Pre-order A Very Special 90210 Book! Still not a bit!

🌴 Again With Again With This

📺 The Appointment Television! podcast

👩‍👧 Tara's Primetimer piece on Mom

293: Politely Sitting Through Amazing Stories Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

Apple TV+ has brought Amazing Stories, the less-nihilistic take on The Twilight Zone, back for all the '80s kids, though confusingly premiered this anthology series with only one episode. Mark Lisanti joins us to talk about the fishiness of this rollout strategy, and whether "The Cellar" was a compelling enough episode to get anyone back to watch more. Around The Dial takes us through For Life; a roundup of the series premieres on FX (and FX on Hulu): Devs, Breeders, and Dave; Jersey Shore: Family Vacation; and Season 3 of Babylon Berlin. Mark presents the "Hamm On Toast" episode of Toast Of London for induction into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we all sit a spell for this week's Game Time. Make yourself a bathtub gin and tonic and join us!

GUESTS

👤 Mark Lisanti

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 😲 Amazing Stories

Around The Dial: 🛟 For Life

Around The Dial: 🧑‍💻 Devs

Around The Dial: 🐩 Breeders

Around The Dial: 🤬 Dave

Around The Dial: 🏄 Jersey Shore: Family Vacation

Around The Dial: 🇩🇪 Babylon Berlin

The Canon: 🏆 Toast Of London S03.E03: Hamm On Toast

Winner & Loser: 👍 Casting agents for The Brides