This Show Has Everything

Mike is on the line like Charlie Townsend, corralling Christy, Ann, Meredith and Bobby (Bosley?) who are gathered on the shore of Pipe Lake in beautiful Kent, WA, for a very special 80%-in-person TBTL Week in Review that’s almost as satisfying as a little red wine, a Twix bar and a ESPN 30 for 30 documentary. Between the community chop saw, fast food marketing talk and some dirty clown love (f—ing stereotypes, how do they work?) this episode has something for everyone.

Special thanks to Bailey (rippletale on Instagram) for lending us her artistic talent for this episode’s amazing (and copyright-free) show drawing. And also to guest engineer Aidan on the ones and twos for not only keeping us rolling and apologizing (#sorryaidan), but also for putting together a video of our recording session. (It’s amazing how far these kids have come despite having Will for a father.)

This is the show Mike never DREAMED would happen. You might say it’s his worst NIGHTMARE, but we think you shouldn’t SNOOZE in case you miss anything. Okay, okay, we can’t tell you the topic of this show, but we can give you a preview of just a few of the things Christy and Ann talk about in it. There’s an extended conversation about the sexiness (or not) of Kevin Costner. Also, a reference to a “river of cheese thoughts”, an earnest desire to try space fajitas, and the question of whether men and women are equally insane. And Ann finally has her wish granted. You might CATCH yourself laughing along with us; we certainly hope it won’t SNORE you to tears.

It’s a special all-ladies recap, and Christy, Meredith and Ann are here with the hot topics and cool takes on the most recent week of TBTL. Luke made the false assumption that you can have too many desserts at a potluck, Andrew made the false assumption that everyone will appreciate medium rare burgers at his cookout, and we made the false assumption that the guys wouldn’t need to spend 20 minutes talking about the alphabet when coming up with this year’s TBTL picnic food assignments. Additional topics on today’s show: pronunciation hypocrisy, what the actual purpose of the driverless car study was, the problems with living in a lighthouse on Lake Huron during the winter, and the atrocity committed by Meredith’s onetime dinner guest on a perfectly good piece of meat. Plus, Christy makes it clear why she’ll never have an heirloom sponge collection.

Gold star archivist and our #1 favorite Jeremy (Jeremy Auer) joins Christy and her 6th-favorite co-host (Bobby) from Gresham, Oregon—Underground Poker Capital of the World™—for a listen back to the time Luke, Andrew and guest Lynn Shelton discussed bad customer service (and bad customers) (Luke) instead of talking about her latest film.

In addition to our own job worsts and firsts, we explore why Jeremy (AKA helvetica.carabeaner) studied landscape architecture, has science-splained Luke and Andrew multiple times, and manages the only tumblr in Christy’s feed that’s not porn.

This episode listens back to TBTL episode 1427 from Sept. 13, 2013, and you should go listen to the whole thing.

Live from the Bucking Beaver Bar, Bobby, Ann and Meredith recap the second week of Andrew at the helm of TBTL, and his Build Your Own Guest Host Grand Slam of Ders, Bean and Phyllis has us more excited than a couple of Cracker Ballers on their way to a grand opening ribbon cutting. Plus, Bobby needs a grandson, Ann’s hair is a crow magnet, and Meredith googled “Diplo potato” so you don’t have to.

When you’re done with this episode, go Push Trump Off A Cliff Again, but only after you’ve ordered your Greenteeth McBaldy-approved DIY dental kit.

Pour a tall chalice of gin & juice and relax into your gangster lean as we flash back to August 2008, when Luke flashed back to November 2001, when, for $5, he inadvertently accepted a standup gig at a pimp convention. HistoriTens: Which brother was harder for Luke to follow? The warmup act at the Oregon Bankers' Association about a decade later, or the pimp convention emcee Mr. Mookie? Which was the tougher crowd: Squares at a corporate gig, or pimps and hoes? Does Luke fail harder on the theme of being unreasonable in unreasonable times, or "what's up with white people?" Well, only one of these events was recorded as far as we know, so we'll hear 25-year-old Luke live onstage from the (formerly Best) Western Hotel in Tacoma. Christy and Phyllis fall into the credibility gap with this TBTL gem from the radio days.

This episode features a clip from August 1, 2008, Hour 2 of TBTL.

It’s a love fest over at the LRB! Even though Luke’s on vacation, a week of delightful guest hosts and great content has left Bobby, Meredith, and Ann with more put-ups than we know what to do with. We try to figure out if someone’s trolling Andrew over the Wallingford Parking Wars (it wasn’t us, honest!), take a surprisingly melancholy walk down memory lane, and ponder whose job it should have been to tell Michael Jordan he needed to lose the Hitler mustache. We also share our answers for this week’s Questions of the Day, including a heaping helping of Sandwich Talk and which chores we want our genie-wizard to take off our hands. In LRB host news, Bobby’s up in Canada developing his new podcast BrockMore (about the Hank Azaria series Brockmire), Meredith’s back from crisscrossing the country to visit her old stomping grounds, and Ann’s preparing her Frank Sinatra Filibuster, which is not a dessert, but sounds like it should be. Speaking of dessert, stick around to the end of the show to hear us mount a defense of the perfect pie.

With Luke on vacation this week and Song of the Shambles well underway, we at LRB decided:

1. You could use a little Burbank in your life.
2. Some fun music talk wouldn’t hurt.
3. We deserve a break, too.

So, join Bobby and special guest-host Amy from the Earbuds & Earworms Podcast for a trip into the LRB Archives for a chat from way back in 2015 with perhaps our favorite Burbank of them all, *David. He brought Mike and Christy the classic radio days segment Defend Yourself: iPod Edition, and our gang got in on the fun back then, too. In 2017, we read a few updates on life from young David before we get to the clip.

Also in 2017, both Mike and Phyllis have appeared on E&E to defend their **iPods with Amy. When you’re done listening to this, check those episodes out!

*Luke is probably fourth. We’ll let you fill in the rest.**Not technically iPods. But whatever, it’s 2017. Don’t overthink it.

Put down that homemade kombucha, stop chewing on those cotton balls and just sit down on the seat already, because it’s time for an old-fashioned levia-thon of commentary. This week, Ann earns the coveted Purple Carcass for surviving another round of stock talk, Bobby comes up with a scone-based analogy to explain the difference between cement and concrete, and Mike yells a lot for a guy who is getting sick.

Plus, would Justin Trudeau use a hotel towel as a pizza napkin? (Ann doesn’t think so, but it might not be a deal-breaker.)

Be sure to check out the story from a few years back about cringeworthy sounds featuring one of Bobby’s old friends, and the short film featuring Mike opposite a very talented young actor playing Tommy Wiseau.

Step on up to the bar, order a shot and a beer from the tough-as-nails lady wearing the cat sweatshirt, and get ready to embrace your rage, because this month’s clip show is all about the Big Dog. Luke is famous for his temper, so Ann and Christy are here to share some memorable TBTL times when things got … a little heated. Mostly, we try to answer the question, ‘Is Luke a jerk, or the best friend ever?’ Along the way, we break down the original Big Dog story, critique Andrew’s handling of a difficult bartender, and agree that Luke will probably never get a job with the Seattle Bureau of Tourism. Plus, Christy’s dad started an “extreme counseling” business (it involves non-contact taekwondo), and it’s kind of awesome. Here’s a handy list of what we learned:

1) It’s probably not about you

2) When The Mummy is the voice of reason, something has gone terribly wrong

3) Don’t awaken Christy’s righteous fury unless you want your tires slashed

4) NEVER TOUCH THE BOUNCER

Bonus: Here's the episode of Nerd Out Loud where Christy lost her mind with anger.