Trivial Matters with Dan and Zach

Dan and Zach discuss Netflix’s latest chess-based hit “The Queen’s Gambit,” touching on the portrayal of the sport on screen, the strength of the performances, and the overall enjoyment of the limited series.

We’re back! After a three month hiatus, Zach and Dan are back to talk about two of their favorite TV shows—the first season of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” and the Disney+ Star Wars hit, “The Mandalorian.”

Dan and Zach are joined by writer/director/podcaster Brandon Gale for a spoiler-filled discussion of Hulu’s feature film “Palm Springs.” The crew discusses the enjoyable new movie’s surprises and riffs on similar movies, as well as where it succeeds as a highly original romantic comedy.

Dan and Zach are joined by good friends Julie Joseph and Sarai Warsoff—both dancers/choreographers—to discuss the much-lauded Disney+ release of Hamilton. In addition to discussing the content of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mega-hit musical, the team discusses the faults and merits of filming live performance, particular criticisms related to the cinematography, and the relevance of Hamilton to our current moment. Recorded 7/6/2020.

Dan and Zach are joined by fellow pop culture connoisseur (and Dan’s roommate) Charlie Zuhlke to discuss the newest works from Greg Daniels, “Upload” on Amazon Prime and “Space Force” on Netflix. In addition to covering those two new shows, their successes and failures, and where we’d like to see them go next, the crew also goes over Daniels’ career and compares these works to past ones such as “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “King of the Hill,” a current favorite of Dan and Charlie’s.

Dan and Zach are joined this week by good friend and fellow sports fan Noah Suchoff to discuss the ESPN documentary “The Last Dance” about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Bulls. After a quick round of trivia surrounding Jordan’s teammates, the three delve into their respective interests in watching the documentary, the portrayal of Jordan and his relationships with his 90s teammates, if social media has ruined the future of sports documentaries, and, of course, a comparison between Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

Dan and Zach are joined by good friend and music industry insider Harris Cohen to talk about the show “Dave” on FX/Hulu, including the novelty of its success, the comparisons of the character of “Lil Dicky” to his more real persona, and its similarities and differences from other music-based films and TV shows from the last few years.

Dan and Zach kick off the episode with a new trivia segment related to this week’s subjects (1:12). Then they dive into SPOILER HEAVY discussions about the HBO film “Bad Education” (4:47) and the beginning of the second half of the fourth season of Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” (27:23). Dan and Zach finish the show by each sharing a pleasant moment from the week (43:20).

Zach Marlin and Dan Rozel are back in the podcasting world with a new show—Trivial Matters! This first episode introduces the format of the show before diving into the fifth season of the AMC drama “Better Call Saul” (3:02) and the entirety of the HBO miniseries “The Plot Against America” (30:08). Please note, these discussions contain HEAVY SPOILERS! Dan and Zach then finish out the episode with things that made them happy this week (51:46). Theme music by Harris Cohen.