Rolling Stone's chief TV critic Alan Sepinwall is back to talk about Apple TV's latest prestige limited series -- starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, directed and written by Alfonso Cuarón, and maaaaybe a little too fond of its own shot compositions. Is the hinted-at conclusion worth sticking around for -- or are we mostly seeing it through for Kline's cardigan acting? Next, we went Around The Dial with Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, Happy's Place, Shrinking, and the Platonic (not) ideal of "this should have been a feature" docuserieses, before Tara nominated a third-season Harley Quinn episode for the Canon. An Office reboot won, Succession lost, and a new scoring wrinkle scared the hell out of us in Game Time. Throw your drawers out the train window and have a listen!

👤 Alan Sepinwall

Lead Topic: 📜 Disclaimer

Around The Dial: 💍 Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage

Around The Dial: 🙂 Happy's Place

Around The Dial: 🛋️ Shrinking

Around The Dial: 🦎 The Hunt For The Chameleon Killer

The Canon: 🃏 Harley Quinn S03.E03: The 83rd Annual Villy Awards

Winner & Loser: 👍 The new Office series

Winner & Loser: 👎 Jeremy Strong

Game Time: 🎃 Halloween Spooktacular

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✍🏻 Alan Sepinwall's review of Disclaimer* for Rolling Stone

⚖️ Alan's Better Call Saul book, Saul Goodman v. Jimmy McGill: The Complete Critical Companion to Better Call Saul

💊 Tara's Untitled: A Bad Teen Novel

👱🏻‍♂️ The Billy Crystal wig under scrutiny

🌃 Tara's piece on Saturday Night Not Ready For Primetime Players verisimilitude for Cracked

🦎 Sarah's The Hunt For The Chameleon Killer review at Best Evidence

📷 Photo: Apple

🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To

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Three British talents from the worlds of TV comedy (Jon Brown, Armando Iannucci) and film (Sam Mendes) have come together for The Franchise, a look behind the scenes at the making of a fictional superhero movie. Does it shoot up, up, and away into the stratosphere? Devindra Hardawar returns to discuss. Around The Dial takes us to 9-1-1: Lone Star, 9-1-1 (talk about running the gamut), and the second season of Interview With The Vampire. The otherwise absent Sarah makes her pitch for inducting the Frasier episode "The Ski Lodge" into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close with a Non-Regulation Game Time that might not be entirely super, but is at least somewhat duper. Hide out in your trailer and listen!

👤 Devindra Hardawar

Lead Topic: 🦸🏽‍♀️ The Franchise

Around The Dial: 🧑‍🚒 9-1-1

Around The Dial: 🐮 9-1-1: Lone Star

Around The Dial: 🧛🏻‍♂️ Interview With The Vampire

The Canon: 🎿 Frasier S05.E14: The Ski Lodge

Winner & Loser: 👍 Rugrats

Winner & Loser: 👎 Peacemaker

Game Time: 🦹🏼‍♀️

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🦋 Devindra Hardawar on Bluesky

💪 Tara's review of The Franchise at Cracked

😦 Tara's Scare Tactics review at Cracked

⚰️ EEHG 297, about Interview With The Vampire S02

🎞️ The Filmcast's episode on Megalopolis

📷 Photo: Colin Hutton / HBO

ABC's new cruise-ship medical procedural features Dawson's Creek's former Pacey Witter as a hotshot surgeon who sets sail in search of work-life balance; Jessica Morgan returns to discuss whether everything's shipshape. Around The Dial takes us through the Real Housewives of New York, Salt Lake City, AND Orange County before ending on the 30 for 30 episode "My American Son." Anne pitches the 30 Rock episode "Queen Of Jordan" for induction into the Nonac. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's really taking its (game) time. Put on your life vest and join us!

👤 Jessica Morgan

Lead Topic: 🚢 Doctor Odyssey

Around The Dial: 🌃 The Real Housewives Of New York City

Around The Dial: 🧂 The Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City

Around The Dial: 🍊 The Real Housewives Of Orange County

Around The Dial: 🎾 30 For 30

The Nonac: 👸🏾 30 Rock S05.E17: Queen Of Jordan

Winner & Loser: 👍 Stranger Things

Winner & Loser: 👎 Lorraine Bracco

Game Time: 🐢 Slowly At First III: Tubey's Revenge

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🐦 Jessica Morgan / Go Fug Yourself on X

🙂‍↔️ Tara's review of Nobody Wants This at Cracked

✋ "Nobody Wants This Mean-Spirited Depiction Of Jewish Women In Nobody Wants This" by Esther Zuckerman at Time

👗 Go Fug Yourself

🍸 The Drinks With Broads newsletter on Substack

📚 Jessica's books on Bookshop

⚾️ Sarah's review of Charlie Hustle And The Matter Of Pete Rose at Best Evidence

📷 Photo: Disney / Tina Thorpe

None of us necessarily expected to recommend a comics-IP property featuring Colin Farrell under pounds of prosthetic make-up -- but we all liked it, including returning guest Richard Lawson. We talked about how it surprised us, the small feature-film stories it seemed to contain, whether it should have let the real Farrell shine through, and who's the season MVP (spoiler: Cristin Milioti). Then we went Around The Dial with the new Matlock, Alex vs. America, and Ryan Murphy's take on the brothers Menendez before Richard battled at least five Cynthia Nixon performances to get a Law & Order: SVU episode into the Canon. Friends won, Cold Case lost ("....AAeeeEnNNNGhhHHHHH!"), and Erica introduced us to a hard-fought Game Time. Waddle on over to your podcast app and have a listen!

👤 Richard Lawson

Lead Topic: 🐧 The Penguin

Around The Dial: ⚖️ Matlock (2024)

Around The Dial: 👩‍🍳 Alex Vs America

Around The Dial: 👯‍♂️ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

The Canon: 🔪 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S09.E01: Alternate

Winner & Loser: 👍 Friends

Winner & Loser: 👎 Cold Case

Game Time: 4️⃣ Four At A Time

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✍🏻 Richard Lawson at Vanity Fair

🐧 Richard's review of The Penguin

📍 Tara's Bashir Salahuddin interview at Cracked

🎙️ Tara's Natasha Rothwell interview

🔪 Sarah's review of Monsters at Best Evidence

👯‍♂️ And Richard's at VF

👩🏼‍💻 Sarah's Canon pitch for "Avatar"

📷 Photo: Macall Polay / HBO

An ex-Lost writer brings a French crime show to America with Kaitlin Olson as the extraordinarily intelligent cleaner who becomes the LAPD's newest consultant; we tell you whether it's the rare network show that deserves an hour of your life each week. Around The Dial takes us through the second-season premiere of Tulsa King, HBO's new doc David Chase & The Sopranos, and The Sniffer. Mlle. Caroline takes another run at getting a Psych into The Canon with "Last Night Gus" (and we also salute JMak, a Patreon supporter who added it to our Forcening pool). Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we drive Metallicar right into a Non-Regulation Game Time. Unlike a church, you can face whatever direction you want as you listen!

Lead Topic: 🧠 High Potential

Around The Dial: 🤴 Tulsa King

Around The Dial: 🔫 Wise Guy: David Chase & The Sopranos

Around The Dial: 👃 The Sniffer

The Canon: 🍩 Psych S06.E02: Last Night Gus

Winner & Loser: 👍 Tim Robinson

Winner & Loser: 👎 Netflix's doc series Martha

Game Time: 👻 Is This Supernatural?

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🧠 Daniel Fienberg's High Potential review at The Hollywood Reporter

🍳 Tara's review of Frasier (2023) S02

🎶 Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs on Patreon

📷 Photo: Disney / Pamela Littky

Writer and critic Sonia Saraiya is back to bid summer adieu with a discussion of Netflix's The Perfect Couple, a six-part murder mystery among the rich and unbearable that's aiming for Revenge and Succession vibes -- but does it work? The panel has mixed feelings...except about the beautiful locations, and the star wattage of Meghann Fahy. After we rinsed off the sand, we went Around The Dial with Adam Sandler's latest special, the first season of BoJack Horseman, and The Challenge, and Julie hoped a great first date would lead to something Canon-ical with her pitch for Looking. Lee Daniels won, Bosch: Legacy (and Sarah's years-long runner) lost, and we tried to figure out who the IMDb considered most likely to succeed in Game Time. Take a break from chipping balls into the bay and have a listen!

👤 Sonia Saraiya

Announcement: 📢 Club Campaign Update

Lead Topic: 👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻 The Perfect Couple

Around The Dial: 😜 Adam Sandler: Love You

Around The Dial: 🐴 Bojack Horseman

Around The Dial: 🏃🏻‍♂️ The Challenge

The Canon: 👀 Looking S01.E05: Looking for the Future

Winner & Loser: 👍 Lee Daniels

Winner & Loser: 👎 Bosch: Legacy

Game Time: 🤩 TV Popularity Contest II

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🐦 Cross the Sonia Saraiya drawbridge on X

💃 The Perfect Couple cast vs. the dance sequence

😆 IndieWire on the Sandler special's fake comedy club

🙋‍♂️ Tara's review of Universal Basic Guys at Cracked

😽 Bookstore Cats on Instagram

🐈 Find a foster or rescue org near you

📷 Photo: Netflix

🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To

💬 Get On Our Community Discord

We are off this week due to holiday travel but present you with this EHG Club unlock.

EEHG 294: Discussing A Scorching Burn Notice

Susanna invited us to check out the Burn Notice episode "Bad Breaks," and we were thrilled! Find out why that was the episode Susanna picked and exactly what two BN veterans and one new arrival thought about it. Ask EHG has us pondering our hypothetical Family Feud garb, the avatars we use on our various streaming platforms, and more. Then we each name our Not Quite Winners And Losers Of The Week, and close things up with another round of Now You Know Your ABCTVs. Put down your yogurt and join us!

Lead Topic: 🏦 Burn Notice S02.E13: Bad Breaks

Ask EHG: 🙋🏼‍♀️ 1.5x Shows

Winner & Loser: 👍 American Idol

Winner & Loser: 👎 Netflix's safety coordinators

Winner & Loser: 👍 Netflix

Winner & Loser: 👎 Quiet On Set

Winner & Loser: 👍 Family Guy

Winner & Loser: 👎 Family Guy

KRTMATIWOTVLM: 🦷 The Brady Bunch S04.E13: Love and the Older Man

Extra Credit: 🔤 Now You Know Your ABCTVs

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

🏦 Burn Notice S02.E13: Bad Breaks on Hulu

📷 Photo: USA Network

As August continues letting us down in the TV premiere department, we take a look back -- waaaaaaaaay back, to 1974, when Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis slapped his name on a TV movie version of Dracula written by Richard "I Am Legend" Matheson and starring Jack "One-Armed Pushups" Palance. Since we've previously subjected Nick Rheinwald-Jones to other Dracula adaptations, it falls to him to return and discuss it with us. Around The Dial spins around to Emily In Paris, Mastermind, the comedy specials of James Acaster, We Are Lady Parts, and Everwood. Nick makes his pitch for the S03 finale of The Bear to be inducted into The Canon. Finally, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we end on a Game Time that comes to us in triplicate. Wash your neck and join us!

👤 Nick Rheinwald-Jones

Lead Topic: 🧛🏻‍♂️ Dan Curtis's Dracula

Around The Dial: 🥖 Emily In Paris

Around The Dial: 🧠 Mastermind

Around The Dial: 🤣 James Acaster's comedy specials

Around The Dial: 👛 We Are Lady Parts

Around The Dial: 🪵 Everwood

The Canon: 🧸 The Bear S03.E10: Forever

Winner & Loser: 👍 ₖₑₗₗᵧ ᵣₑᵢₗₗᵧ

Winner & Loser: 👎 Good Omens

Game Time: ☘️ Three Of Those

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🦋 Nick Rheinwald-Jones on Bluesky

⚰️ Dan Curtis's Dracula on JustWatch

🎧 The Demi, Myself & I podcast

🦢 Sarah's review of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans at Best Evidence

🥨 Shappy Pretzel

The USA Network is apparently making original shows...that should be streaming shows, like The Anonymous, which throws The Traitors, Big Brother, and a number of other alliance-based reality shows into a blender. Kari Race is back to discuss whether it's a concoction worth drinking, given all the AI dad jokes, dead air, and inappropriate cliffhangers in the first three episodes. Then we went Around The Dial with Taskmaster NZ, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee, and Homicide: LOTS. Mr. Throwback won (a timeslot), Teresa Giudice lost (again), and Tube Tunes got stuck in our heads again during Non-Regulation Game Time. Take a break from screaming at a pizza slice and have a listen!

👤 Kari Race

Lead Topic: 🫥 The Anonymous

Lead Topic: 🥝 Taskmaster New Zealand

Lead Topic: 🔤 Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee

Lead Topic: 🔫 Homicide: Life On The Street

Lead Topic: 🤥 Would I Lie To You S17.E09

Lead Topic: 👍 Mr. Throwback

Lead Topic: 👎 Teresa Giudice

Lead Topic: 🎶 Tube Tunes XIV

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

📻 Listen to more Kari Race at Charlie's '80s Attic

💄 Listen To Sassy

🔫 Alan Sepinwall's Homicide episode recs at Rolling Stone

🏆 EHG 207's Homicide Canon

📈 EEHG 163's post-Homicide power rankings

🏀 EEHG 310 on Mr. Throwback

🌴 Again With Again With This

📷 Photo: Rico Torres / USA Network

Florida transplant Al Lowe Huff is back to talk about Bad Monkey, the Apple TV adaptation of Carl Hiassen's Sunshine State-noir book, and the ways it lets Vince Vaughn's...Vince Vaughn-ing find the apex of its expression. We also discussed the show's great casting, realtor shade, meta voice-overs, and unwelcome references to True Detective before we went Around The Dial with Couples Therapy, My Life Is Murder, and the fifth season of Justified. Hallie had one more thing for us to consider in a Nonac pitch for a 1990s zombie Columbo, before The Gilded Age won and a Red Sock lost. Finally, we wedged in a sequel to a Trivial Pursuit-based Game Time, so load up your battered vintage cooler with an armload of popsicles and join us!

👤 Allison Lowe Huff

Lead Topic: 🐒 Bad Monkey

Around The Dial: 🛋️ Couples Therapy

Around The Dial: 💀 My Life Is Murder

Around The Dial: 🤠 Justified

The Nonac: 🧥 Columbo S10.E05: No Time To Die

Winner & Loser: 👍 The Gilded Age

Winner & Loser: 👎 Jarren Duran

Game Time: 🥧 The Return Of Televisual Pursuit

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

🙉 Tara's Bad Monkey review at Cracked

🩻 We're talking about Scrubs on AWAWT later this week!

📚 Save on "headliner" true crime at Exhibit B. Books