The Dog & Pony crew faces the monster under the bed, considers a move to Ravenloft Heights Condos, contemplates vampire theology, and breaks some heart. Of course, once again, they gotta go up to get down.

Dog & Pony Show VII, Part 6

Tony Sindelar with Aleen Simms, Dan Moren, Erika Ensign, Jane Ritt and Mikah Sargent

Edited by Erika Ensign.

Friend of the show Frank is seeking to delineate when something is a “vending machine” and when it’s just a machine that vends.

John Siracusa and Jason Snell

The High Republic! An era of peace, the height of the Jedi, and…murder? Your Star Wars pals Dan, Kat, and Tony are back to talk this brand new show in a never-before-seen (on TV) era. We discuss Jedi sartorial choices, the oldest plot twist in the book, and when is a droid not a droid?

Dan Moren, Tony Sindelar and K Benesh

The roguish Jonathan Groff appears amid an extended riff on “Bridgerton.” Jason recommends a different Netflix series. Erika gives this episode a very high rating. Chip wonders about the metatextuality of it all. Was this episode for the cosplaying birds? Or could we not get it out of our heads?

Jason Snell, Erika Ensign and Chip Sudderth

Our 2024 book club shortlist read continues with “Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon”, “The Terraformers,” and “Some Desperate Glory.” We enjoyed them all, to varying degrees! Plus: What else are we reading?

2024 Awards Shortlist, part 2

Jason Snell with Aleen Simms, Scott McNulty, Erika Ensign and Heather Berberet

Next books: “The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi”, “The Saint of Bright Doors”, and “The Water Outlaws.”

What else are we reading?

Erika:

Aleen:

Scott:

Heather:

Jason:

When the going gets tough, the tough name their episodes after days of the week. In “Monday”, Jordan’s dealing with multiple difficult humans — among them Danny and a newly-hired mean girl who heads up reality programming. Jack goes to a concert to enlist the help of our pal Zhang. Darius and Sim start a fight. And Tom pursues Lucy, because this show sometimes has more drama than the reality shows it pans.

Lex Friedman and Brian Warren

We lead off the tenth(!) season of our podcast with a fastball right up the middle as veteran minor leaguer Dan Moren takes prodigal but wild talent Lex Friedman under his wing in 1984’s Bull Durham. Hot topics include what to get a couple for a wedding gift, why it’s called Bull Durham, and whether a certain character is too annoying.

Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks!

Lex Friedman and Dan Moren

John Moltz, freelance writer, podcaster (The Rebound and Biff!), joins Scott to discuss “These are the Voyages” (ENT S4E22). Topics include how bad this episode is on many levels, shocking cameos, great characters in not so great shows, and inexplicable deaths.

Scott McNulty with John Moltz

Watch “These are the Voyages” for yourself:

It’s another Romance in Action mission with Argylle. Let’s be honest. Our Director mandated this mission purely for the cat content which she rates very highly. Follow cat-loving novelist Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) as she is pulled out of her fictional imaginings into the IRL world of spy craft with the mysterious stranger Aiden (Sam Rockwell). Warning: This mission will contain rainbow fog.

Argylle Movie

Annette Wierstra with Sandra Wong and Moisés Chiullán

Road House in your house.

Road House (2024)

Joe Rosensteel and Dan Sturm

Road House (2024) - IMDb

Road House (2024 film) - Wikipedia)