Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV

A whole passel of alt-comedy superstars got together to make a comedy feature for Hulu about the class of 2008 having to redo the last two weeks of their senior year. Should they…maybe not have bothered? Brandi Brown returns to discuss it (and we hope will return again after we made her endure this). Around The Dial takes us through Miss You, Love You; Office Romance; a viral video of the cast of The Gilded Age pausing a shoot to celebrate the Knicks winning the NBA championship; Carl The Collector; and Mad Men. Sarah pitches the Law & Order episode “Everybody’s Favorite Bagman” for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week’s Winner and Loser, we close on a Sorkin-ass Game Time. Put your senior high school yearbook away and listen!

GUESTS
👤 Brandi Brown

TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🎓 Never Change!
Around The Dial: 💖 Miss You, Love You
Around The Dial: 📌 Office Romance
Around The Dial: 🏀 The Gilded Age
Around The Dial: 🦝 Carl The Collector
Around The Dial: 🥃 Mad Men
The Canon: ⚖️ Law & Order S01.E06: Everybody's Favorite Bagman
Winner & Loser: 🔫 Stephen Falk
Winner & Loser: 🍷 Milania Giudice
Game Time: 🍄‍🟫 Sorkin-Ass Names

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Brandi Brown on Bluesky
💥 "Widow’s Bay Creator Tells All After Explosive Finale" by Tara at Daily Beast
🏀 The cast of The Gilded Age reacts to the news of the Knicks winning the NBA championship
📆 Brandi's imminent standup dates
📚 The #majorcase sale at Exhibit B. Books
📷 Disney / Brett Roedel

Interview With The Vampire returns with a tonally shifted, maximalist third season — and Caroline Framke also returns to talk about the show’s new POV character, in-universe songcraft, when scenery-chewing works, and how vampires’ greatest trick was convincing the world they don’t exist. We went Around The Dial with Not Suitable For Work, Love Island UK, Gardener’s World, and Michael Jackson: The Verdict, and we wondered Will Dave Hate This? about an upcoming The Littlest Hobo remake; Tara may have had an anxiety dream about her Canon pitch for a fifth-season Hacks episode; and La Brea won (for once), while short-sighted executives lost (as usual). And heaven COULDN’T wait for another iteration of Dan Cassino’s faith-based-TV Game Time. Stage-dive into an all-new Extra Hot Great!

GUESTS
👤 Caroline Framke

TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🎸 Interview With The Vampire
Around The Dial: 🤬 Not Suitable For Work
Around The Dial: 🏝️ Love Island UK
Around The Dial: 🪴 Gardener's World
Around The Dial: ✨ Michael Jackson: The Verdict
Will Dave Hate This?: 🐶 The Littlest Hobo
The Canon: 🍷 Hacks S05.E07: Montecito
Winner & Loser: 🕳️ La Brea
Winner & Loser: 👯 Brothers & Sisters
Game Time: 🙏 Thou Shalt Guess The Title, Book II

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🎥 Caroline Framke goes behind the scenes with reality-TV producers for Bustle
☘️ Tara's interview with Kate O'Flynn at The Daily Beast
😬 Sarah's Michael Jackson: The Verdict review at Best Evidence
🐕 Maybe Tomorrow by Terry Bush
📷 Photo: Frank W. Ockenfels III / AMC

While the counter-history of For All Mankind was going on, what counter-historical events were occurring in parallel in the U.S.S.R.? The spinoff Star City is here to dramatize it, and new guest Sophie Brookover is here to say whether it’s a “da” or a “net.” Around The Dial takes us to Make That Movie, The Tower, Deli Boys S02, and Instadocs. Wendy pitches the Designing Women episode “How Great Thou Art” for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week’s Winner and Loser, it’s on to a bookish Game Time about big- and small-screen adaptations. Find any of the many listening devices hidden in your home and join us!

GUESTS
👤 Sophie Brookover

TOPICS
Announcement: 🏳️‍🌈 Pride Month Gift Exchange
Lead Topic: 🚀 Star City
Around The Dial: 🎥 Make That Movie
Around The Dial: 🏢 The Tower
Around The Dial: 🥪 Deli Boys
Around The Dial: 📹 Instadocs
The Canon: ⛪️ Designing Women S02.E20: How Great Thou Art
Winner & Loser: 👍 Anna Kendrick
Winner & Loser: 🦆 Jorge R. Gutierrez
Game Time: 📚 Screen Sizes

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Sophie Brookover on Bluesky
👯‍♀️ The Two Bossy Dames newsletter
🏳️‍🌈 Pride Month gift exchange information and signup
👀 "Why You Should Be Watching Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" at GQ
🛎️ Downton Abbey on the Telly Visions podcast
📺 "9 Shows For '80s And '90s PBS And Masterpiece Kids" at Two Bossy Dames
📹 Sarah's Instadocs review at Best Evidence
🕰️ Sarah's Woman Of The Hour review at Best Evidence
🚪 Anthony Bourdain in Narnia at An Archive Of Our Own
📷 Photo: Apple

CLUB-ONLY NOTES
🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To
💬 Get On Our Community Discord

The Stranger Things team (among others) is back with a similar “a community of X bands together against a supernatural force” story in The Boroughs, which features an all-star cast (Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Lester from The Wire) going up against [redacted] AND their own aches and pains. Does the actors’ group chemistry carry the story, or did it need to take one thing off? And have we maybe seen these ideas in other properties like The Descent and Man On The Inside? If that pairing of references didn’t give you whiplash, come Around The Dial with us for Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, Animaniacs, The Bear‘s trip to Gary, IN, and a Drunk Dave recovery report before Dave takes us to a DIFFERENT old-folks home with his Aqua Teen Hunger Force Canon pitch. BAffleck won, Tom Hardy lost, and we all hoped Game Time would tie the whole episode together. Barge on in with a six-pack and some gossip: it’s an all-new Extra Hot Great.

GUESTS
👤 Devindra Hardawar

TOPICS
Announcement: 📢 Club Update
Lead Topic: 👴🏻 The Boroughs
Around The Dial: 😃 Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed
Around The Dial: 🗼 Animaniacs
Around The Dial: 🐻 The Bear
The Canon: 👨‍🦽‍➡️ Aqua Teen Hunger Force S03.E06: Little Brittle
Winner & Loser: ⚾️ Ben Affleck
Winner & Loser: 😡 Tom Hardy
Game Time: 🔌 Also Also Also Connect

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
📺 Devindra Hardawar talks new TV tech on the Engadget podcast
🔥 The Extra Hot Great Club page
🌃 Tara on The Late Show finale at GQ
💥 Sarah's review of The Crash at Best Evidence
📷 Photo: Netflix

The last of the Emmy-begging shows are nearly behind us, which means it’s time to look ahead to what has historically been TV’s silliest season: summer! Alan Sepinwall and Kathryn VanArendonk, co-hosts of the new podcast TV Is Good, join us to share the shows they’re into; the shows they should be into but aren’t; the shows no one should be into; and the “Good For You!” shows that aren’t for them but have a right to exist. Wendy pitches “Take My Finals, Please” from The Facts Of Life for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week’s Winner and Loser, we close on a Non-Regulation Game Time worth singing about. Close all your blinds against the blazing sun and listen!

GUESTS
👤 Alan Sepinwall
👤 Kathryn VanArendonk

TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🏖️ Summer TV Preview
The Canon: 📙 The Facts Of Life S04.E22: Take My Finals, Please
Winner & Loser: 🤠 The Lowdown
Winner & Loser: 🎙️ AMC
Game Time: 🎼 Tube Tunes XVII

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Alan Sepinwall on Bluesky
🦋 Kathryn VanArendonk on Bluesky
🦋 The TV Is Good podcast on Bluesky
📺 The TV Is Good podcast
🔥 EEHG 407
⛴️ “Why Widow’s Bay Is The Horror Comedy You Should Be Watching” at GQ
☘️ “Breakout Horror Comedy Star [Kate O’Flynn] Is Giving TV’s Best Performance” at The Daily Beast
🪞 Serling: A Journey Into The Twilight Zone With TV's First Visionary at Hachette
📰 The Best Evidence newsletter
🐽 Popular Mechanics at Fandom's Muppet wiki

You hear us play Game Time, but only the bravest few dare attempt it themselves. Laura, Mike, and Rob face off in a trio of Game Times, one written by each co-host. Listen to find out how many winners there are among them!

GUESTS
👤 Rob Hartmann
👤 Laura Hampton
👤 Mike Seifert

TOPICS
Game Time: 📚 Stacks-onomy Of Episodes
Game Time: 🔠 One Letter Off
Game Time: 🫥 Oh! I Didn't See You There

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site

Two past and future EHG guests and one listener are showcased in this special episode. First, the good: Mlle. Caroline's pitch for the fourth episode of BBC's 1995 Pride & Prejudice, and Dan Cassino deep (sea) dive on Iron Chef's "Squid Battle." Bringing up the rear is Wendy's Nonac pitch for The Great British Bake Off's infamous "Mexican Week." Warning: might make you hungry for a giant ham, squid pizza, and "TACK-os."

TOPICS
The Canon: 🏰 Pride & Prejudice (1995) S01.E04
The Canon: 🦑 Iron Chef S03.E23: Squid Battle
The Nonac: 🌮 The Great British Bake Off S13.E04: Mexican Week

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site

Krystal Farmer helps us keep turning EHG into a hoops pod by coming back to talk about Running Point's second season: why it works, what it (perhaps wisely?) hand-waves, whose idea it was to cast such short kings as NBA players, and whether a certain former WB heartthrob is getting a back-door NHL pilot. We went Around The Dial with Call The Midwife, a Jerry West documentary, and Killing Grounds: The Gilgo Beach Murders before Julie did a song-and-dance routine on behalf of a final-season Mad Men episode for the Canon. Good reporting won, a bad Housewife lost, and Game Time once again asked us to guess the horny hearts of the average IMDb user. Was there a buzzer-beater? You'll have to listen to find out.

GUESTS
👤 Krystal Farmer

TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🏀 Running Point
Around The Dial: 🍼 Call The Midwife
Around The Dial: ⛹🏻‍♂️ Jerry West: The Logo
Around The Dial: 🏖️ Killing Grounds: The Gilgo Beach Murders
The Canon: 👨‍🚀 Mad Men S07.E07: Waterloo
Winner & Loser: 😵‍💫 Tessa Stuart
Winner & Loser: 🥒 Jill Zarin
Game Time: 🤩 TV Popularity Contest III

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🪙 Krystal Farmer's Two Cents Plus Tax podcast
🦋 Krystal on Bluesky
⛹🏽‍♀️ The WNBA
🏀 Our discussion of Running Point in EHG 552
🌮 Tara's Rockford Files manifesto at Defector
🐶 How to help Forte Animal Rescue
🏖️ Sarah's Killing Grounds review at Best Evidence
📷 Photo: Katrina Marcinowski / Netflix

Beef has returned with more than twice the beefs (or beeves, if you will); Phillip Maciak has also returned to talk about whether it still sizzles. Around The Dial takes us through S05 of The Boys, Saturday Night Live, and Untold: Jail Blazers. Phillip pitches the New Girl episode "Normal" for induction into The Canon. And we close things up with the Winner and Loser of the week, skipping Game Time out of respect for Dave's frail constitution. Slather up with some of that fancy Korean sunscreen and listen!

GUESTS
👤 Phillip Maciak

TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🥩 Beef
Around The Dial: 🦹 The Boys
Around The Dial: 🌃 Saturday Night Live
Around The Dial: 🏀 Untold: Jail Blazers
The Canon: 🗽 New Girl S01.E20: Normal
Winner & Loser: 🚔 Matt LeBlanc
Winner & Loser: ⚖️ Law & Order: Organized Crime

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🦋 Phillip Maciak on Bluesky
🪐 "Cousin Planet - SNL" on YouTube
🚙 "Car Song - SNL" on YouTube
📲 "DTF St. Louis Is An Utterly Original Drama Of Male Loneliness" at The New Republic
🏀 "You've Watched Untold: Jail Blazers. What's Next?" at Best Evidence
📷 Photo: Netflix

Alas, our planned guest Devindra Hardawar couldn't join us after all -- but we forged ahead with our discussion of The Audacity, whose all-star cast didn't save the show from feeling superfluous. Should you give AMC's takedown of crappy rich Californians a try, or just watch Succession again? We went Around The Dial with Margo's Got Money Problems, Love, Ted Bundy, and the new season of Taskmaster before Dave was Not A Crackpot about live-task editing. Tara hoped a Season 16 episode of Bob's Burgers would make a perfect Canon fit. Joel Kinnaman won, Euphoria lost, and Sarah caught strays for her Chewbacca imitation in a copyright-compliant Non-Regulation Game Time. Someone light a match; it's an all-new Extra Hot Great.

TOPICS
Lead Topic: 💾 The Audacity
Around The Dial: 💸 Margo's Got Money Problems
Around The Dial: 💘 Love, Ted Bundy
Around The Dial: 💌 Taskmaster
Around The Dial: 🍔 Bob's Burgers S16.E07: Tube For Tina
Winner & Loser: 🥵 Joel Kinnaman
Winner & Loser: 🐶 Euphoria
Game Time: 🤫 Secret Invitation Code

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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🧑‍🦱 Billy Magnussen got a perm to play Duncan
🦹 Devindra Hardawar discussed The Franchise with us in EHG 531
🏥 Tara on bad fans of The Pitt for GQ
🖤 Sarah's full review of Love, Ted Bundy at Best Evidence
👀 Game Time Answer Sheet
📷 Photo: AMC