Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV

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292: Playing Games With Dispatches From Elsewhere Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

AMC already had a perfectly good Charlie Kaufman-esque property, but the network went with Dispatches From Elsewhere over Lodge 49 -- and while it's kind of Sarah's dream to fall into an alternate-reality scavenger hunt, first-time guest Dave Chen felt like the show would be more fun to "play" than to watch. Is it too twee? Too slow? Too divorced from the reality of non-celebrities? Or do the excellent cast and the In Search Of… graphics make it all worthwhile? Then we went Around The Dial with Love Is Blind, The Outsider, Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant, A French Village, and second-rate American TV in East Africa before Dave Cole declared transparent computer screens NOT the wave of the future. Dave Chen tried to give the Canon a bear hug by submitting the first-season finale of Succession for the Canon. Trebek won, disgracios lost (again), and IMDb throuples tested our wits during Game Time. Don't miss this dispatch from your podcast app; it's an all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS

👤 Dave Chen

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 📬 Dispatches From Elsewhere

Around The Dial: 🙈 Love Is Blind

Around The Dial: 🍃 The Outsider

Around The Dial: 🤰 Teen Mom: Young & Pregnant

Around The Dial: 🇫🇷 A French Village

Around The Dial: 🌍 TV in East Africa

I Am Not A Crackpot: 🤪 Transparent Computer Screens

The Canon: 🏆 Succession S01.E10: Nobody Is Ever Missing

Winner & Loser: 👍 Alex Trebek

Winner & Loser: 👎 Disgracios

Game Time: 🧠 They Get Around

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 292 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Dave Chen on Twitter

🧐 Culturally Relevant with David Chen

🤠 Decoding Westworld

🎈 Tara on Party Of Five at Primetimer

⚖️ Sarah on The Trials Of Gabriel Fernandez at Primetimer

👃 The Sweet Smell of Succession

291: Breaking Confidentiality To Talk About Better Call Saul Feb 26, 2020

Show notes

As Better Call Saul returns for its fifth and almost final season, superfan Will Leitch joins us to check in on Jimmy, Kim, Nacho, Mike, and of course, good old black-and-white Gene. Dave explains why he is not a crackpot to feel infuriated by the current Chili's TV ad campaign. We ponder David Ellis Dickerson's Extra Credit question about which TV shows should go to an all-nude format. Will presents (heh) Party Down's "Steve Guttenberg's Birthday" for induction into The Canon. Then it's on to a Game Time that really sings. Fire up your complimentary burner phone and listen!

GUESTS

👤 Will Leitch

TOPICS

Lead Topic: ⚖️ Better Call Saul

I Am Not A Crackpot: 🤪 Chili's ads are maddening

Extra Credit: 🤑 NCIS Oh Calcutta!

The Canon: 🏆 Party Down S02.E05: Steve Guttenberg's Birthday

Game Time: 🧠 The Man From Simon & Garfunkel

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 291 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Will Leitch on Twitter

📩 Will's newsletter

👨‍💻 Will's blog

290: February Forcenings Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

To keep you in content while Dave and Tara go on vacation, we're forcening each other to watch TV episodes! Dave forcens Tara to watch what happens when a zombie virus ravages the Smurf village. Tara forcens Sarah to journey to Satellite Beach, FL as its high school re-mounts Annie Get Your Gun on Encore!. And Sarah forcens Dave to tag along with Josh in the series premiere of Netflix's Daybreak. How did each of us take it? Listen and find out!

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 💙 The Smurfs S01.E27: The Purple Smurf

Lead Topic: 🎭 Encore! S01.E05: Annie Get Your Gun

Lead Topic: 🌅 Daybreak S01.E01: Josh vs. the Apocalypse: Part 1

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 290 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

👿 The Purple Smurfs

🎭 Encore!'s 'Annie Get Your Gun'

🌅 The series premiere of Daybreak

289: Building Something Real With Lego Masters Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

Will Arnett has followed his ex-wife Amy Poehler into the field of highly meta reality show hosting with his gig on Fox's Lego Masters, and American dad (and therefore Lego Master) Jim Durr has returned to discuss the season kickoff! Around The Dial takes us through The CW's Katy Keene; Free Solo on Disney+; a roundup of titles on CBS All Access: Picard, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Interrogation; and Dave's latest favorite local ad. Dave is also in the hot (ejector) seat in presenting The Prisoner's "Many Happy Returns" for induction into The Canon. Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a pun safari in this week's Non-Regulation Game Time. Careful where you step as you join us for the latest episode!

GUESTS

👤 Jim Durr

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🧱 Lego Masters

Around The Dial: 👧🏻 Katy Keene

Around The Dial: 🗻 Free Solo

Around The Dial: 🪐 Star Trek: Picard

Around The Dial: 🌎 Star Trek: The Animated Series

Around The Dial: 🔦 Interrogation

Around The Dial: 🏷 Dave's latest local ad obsession

The Canon: 🏆 The Prisoner S01.E07: Many Happy Returns

Winner & Loser: 👍 Jerry Harris

Winner & Loser: 👎 Y: The Last Man

Game Time: 🧠 Kenya Believe These Punny TV Titles?

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 289 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Jim Durr on Twitter

🌴 Again With This on Patreon

🩸 The Blotter Presents

288: Should You Gamble On McMillions? Feb 05, 2020

Show notes

Even though Eve and Sarah D. spend most weekdays thinking about the true crime that's worth your time for their newsletter, they still didn't know much about the Mobbed-up McDonald's Monopoly-game fraud case that's at the center of HBO's McMillions. Will this docuseries join the scam-umentary pantheon alongside The Dropout and The Imposter? Is Doug Mathews the write-in presidential candidate we need now? And why aren't off-camera docu directors ever mic'd properly? After we considered those questions, we went Around The Dial with BoJack Horseman, The Outsider and other HBO Sunday-night offerings, the end of The Good Place, and Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet. Eve screened an episode of Home Movies for the Canon; then Tim Robinson won and Terry Crews lost, before we filled in the blanks -- in pen! -- in a history-making Game Time. Grab a light meter and go undercover for an all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS

👤 Eve Batey

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🍔 Mcmillions

Around The Dial: 🐴 Bojack Horseman

Around The Dial: 😶 Curb Your Enthusiasm

Around The Dial: 😦 The Outsider

Around The Dial: 😇 The Good Place

Around The Dial: 🧚🏻‍♀️ Mythic Quest

The Canon: 🏆 Home Movies S04.E01: Everyone's Entitled To My Opinion

Winner & Loser: 👍 Tim Robinson

Winner & Loser: 👎 Terry Crews

Game Time: 🧠 TV Crossword

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 288 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🍟 The Daily Beast post on the case

🍟 Margaret Lyons's review for the NYT

☕️ The documentary about the McDonald's hot-coffee lawsuit

🍟 Dr. Marcia Chatelain's Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America

📙 Tara on Citations Needed

🐴 Tara's BoJack review for VF

🔪 Sarah on Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer on Primetimer

287: Raising A Nice Glass Of Bordeaux To Picard Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

CBS All Access has chased Star Trek: Discovery with Picard, picking up with everyone's favourite retired Starfleet admiral as he...well, to be honest, he's probably not going to be spending much time tending to his French vineyard. What is he getting up to? Maureen Ryan joins us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through The Goop Lab, Shrill, The Expanse, Veronica Mars, and Flack. We discuss whether Doctor Who's "Heaven Sent" should be inducted into The Canon, and then it's on to a Game Time that will leave you starry-eyed. Cozy up with a beloved pit bull and listen!

GUESTS

👤 Mo Ryan

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🪐 Star Trek: Picard

Around The Dial: 🧫 The Goop Lab

Around The Dial: 😱 Shrill

Around The Dial: 🌌 The Expanse

Around The Dial: 🕵🏻‍♀️ Veronica Mars

Around The Dial: 📨 Flack

The Canon: 🏆 Doctor Who S09.E11: Heaven Sent

Winner & Loser: 👍 Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens

Winner & Loser: 👎 The BBC

Game Time: 🧠 All Stars

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 287 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Maureen Ryan on Twitter

👩‍💻 MoRyan.com

📏 danilo's Twitter thread on "Measure Of A Man"

☕️ Tara's Horny Viewer's Guide to Stumptown at Primetimer

🩸 The Blotter Presents

286: Visiting Little America Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

Apple TV+'s Little America premiered last week, and Rolling Stone's chief TV critic Alan Sepinwall returned to talk about the heartwarming, but not treacly, anthology series about "the lives of immigrants in the United States." We talked about the casting, our favorite episodes, and why it reminded Sarah of High Maintenance before going Around The Dial with Avenue 5, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Sex Education, and Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens. Alan tried to get a second-season episode of The Americans' passport stamped at the border of the Canon; then Peacock won (CHUNG CHUNG) and a bunch of dead shows lost before we all got sick with a slash-fiction-based Game Time. Admire the sprinkler system on an all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS

👤 Alan Sepinwall

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🇺🇸 Little America

Around The Dial: 🛰 Avenue 5

Around The Dial: 🚑 9-1-1: Lone Star

Around The Dial: 🍑 Sex Education

Around The Dial: 👸 Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens

The Canon: 🏆 The Americans S02.E09: Martial Eagle

Winner & Loser: 👍 Peacock

Winner & Loser: 👎 Dead shows

Game Time: 🧠 Slash Fiction

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 286 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🪨 Alan's review of Little America for Rolling Stone

🇺🇸 The Little America creative team talks about there being no politics in Season 2

📒 The Original Little America series at Epic Magazine

🚑 Tara on 9-1-1: Lone Star and Medical Police-esque spoof shows for Primetimer

🪨 Alan's review of Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens

285: Making Reservations For Party Of Five Jan 15, 2020

Show notes

When we decided to cover Freeform's remake of Fox's iconic teen soap Party Of Five, there was one obvious choice of guest: Meredith Smith, recent submitter of a Canon presentation on the original series. After discussing Freeform's devastating take on five new lovable orphans, Around The Dial takes us through Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Grand Designs, and Cheer. Meredith goes back into the Canon fray with the Murder, She Wrote episode "If It's Thursday, It Must Be Beverly." Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time to sink your teeth into. Gather all your siblings and listen!

GUESTS

👤 Meredith Smith

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🍽 Party Of Five (2020)

Around The Dial: 🎧 Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

Around The Dial: 🏡 Grand Designs

Around The Dial: 📣 Cheer

The Canon: 🔪 Murder, She Wrote

Winner & Loser: 👍 Saved By The Bell (2020)

Winner & Loser: 👎 Grey's Anatomy

Game Time: 🧠 TV Dinners

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 285 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🐦 Meredith Smith on Twitter

📺 Primetimer

🎧 Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs

284: Sinking Our Teeth Into Dracula Jan 08, 2020

Show notes

The BBC rolled out Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's Dracula on New Year's Day; we Yanks endured it over the weekend, and Nick and the panel agree that this grimly joyless take on a careworn narrative needs SOMETHING. A modern-day setting, maybe? Mini bottle eps on every famous personage the Count has eaten? But it just seems like the creators didn't really want to be there...and as a result, we didn't either. Going Around The Dial is more fun, with looks at Dare Me, You, Magic For Humans, Spinning Out, and Dave's tips for pepping up a Frasier rewatch. Then Nick returns us to the cemetery with his Nonac presentation on Buffy's fifth-season premiere. Killing Eve won, Witcher what-about-ers lost, and Steal Meals were flyin' in a very meta Game Time. Stake your claim to 2020's first all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS

👤 Nick Rheinwald-Jones

TOPICS

Lead Topic: 🧛‍♂️ Dracula (2013)

Around The Dial: 😝 Dare Me

Around The Dial: 🫵 You

Around The Dial: 🪄 Magic For Humans

Around The Dial: 😵‍💫 Spinning Out

Around The Dial: 📻 Frasier

The Nonac: 🤮 Buffy The Vampire Slayer S05.E01: Buffy vs. Dracula

Winner & Loser: 👍 Killing Eve

Winner & Loser: 👎 The Witcher

Game Time: 🧠 Televisual Pursuit

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 284 page on ExtraHotGreat.com

🧛‍♂️ Did British viewers stick around after Night 1 of Dracula?

📝 Tara's top 10 eps of the decade on Culturally Relevant

📄 Sarah on why to watch Surviving R Kelly Pt. 2: The Reckoning

🎭 Nick Rheinwald-Jones's Safehouse '82

📍 Nick's The Pod

283: Buffy The Timekeeper Jan 01, 2020

Show notes

Happy New Year! We're off for the holidays so we've released two of our Patreon episodes from Extra Extra Hot Great! See you next week for a new episode.

EEHG 023: The Post-Buffy The Vampire Slayer Power Rankings

In the years since BtVS seemed to dominate the cultural conversation -- and our TWoP forums -- some of the main cast have gone on to bigger and better things; others have gone on…Dr. Phil, with disastrous results. In today's Extra Extra Hot Great, we're ranking the top ten cast members listed on the IMDb, plus Joss Whedon, to see who's chosen and who's cancelled based on what they've done since the show ended in 2003.

EEHG 028: Measure Twice, Cut Once

In an era when there is, by any reasonable assessment, rather a lot of TV, we tend always to be grateful when a new show doesn't give us more than we would care to handle -- when episodes aren't too long; when a season doesn't feel like it's been overstuffed. The reason we appreciate that is because there are so many shows that we like, but that do impose themselves excessively on our time.

TOPICS

Lead Topic: ⚰️ Buffy The Vampire Slayer Power Rankings

Lead Topic: 🫃🏻 Overstuffed TV Shows

NOTES

🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 283 page on ExtraHotGreat.com