Rebooting a show hosted by original Spock with the new Spock may have seemed...logical, but the summer-weight EHG panel didn't think much of the new In Search Of , which is perhaps a casualty of the internet, and definitely suffers from not committing to its crackpot premises. At least we got to make an American Movie reference about the premiere? Later, we went Around The Dial with Dr. Pimple Popper , an HBO doc on Robin Williams, and Ancient Aliens before Liz presented a fourth-season Frasier ...
Jul 18, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 211
Even in 2018, the summer TV season isn't all prestigious limited series and Emmy contenders: there's still misbegotten syndication-quality sci-fantasy stuff like The CW's overseas-Syfy import The Outpost ! We stretched the bounds of Monty Ashley's patience by inviting him to join us and discuss it. Around The Dial clicks through the second seasons of Nailed It! and GLOW , as well as Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Animal Kingdom . Monty presents Batman: The Animated Series 's "Heart Of Ice" for i...
Jul 11, 2018•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 210
The second season of Detroiters started last week, and new guest Josh Gondelman joins us to talk about why it's so great, and why it should be better known: the crack timing, the considered use of Tim Meadows in his lower "gear," and the things it gets right about longtime friendships. We're going Around The Dial with Pose, Nanette, Barry, Jersey Shore: Family Reunion (again), Luke Cage, and Handmaid's Tale before Detroiters 's Tim Robinson makes another appearance in Josh's Canon pitch for Robi...
Jun 27, 2018•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 209
While some prestigious shows do find berths on summer schedules, it's also still a dumping ground for C-list reality shows -- and for you, we welcomed back Jeff Drake...and made him join us in suffering through five premieres from the past week. In what ways does Travel Channel's Caribbean Pirate Treasure fail to live up to its title? Whose trust is being broken in Investigation Discovery's Broken Trust , other than the viewer's that her hour will pass enjoyably? Was 24 To Hell & Back too li...
Jun 20, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 208
Season 2 of Claws is underway on TNT, and Jeb Lund returns to talk about everything from yummy visuals to tonal whiplash to Franka Potente's Rrrrrrussian accent. We're also going Around The Dial with an ATX Festival round-up, David Cassidy: The Last Session , and Sharp Objects ; and into The Box with Jeb's Homicide: Life On The Street submission from the first season. Teresa of RHONJ is a winner, the other People Of Earth were losers, and Tara lit it up with a bad-behavior-based non-regulation G...
Jun 13, 2018•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 207
It's time already for another Bachelor washout to take her turn as a chooser of men on a new season of The Bachelorette , and Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter who also happens to be a citizen of Bachelor Nation, is joining us to discuss the start of the season. Around The Dial flips through AMC's new dramedy Dietland , Jersey Shore: Family Reunion , The Tale , and Succession , before we move on to debate the induction of GLOW 's "Live Studio Audience" into The Canon. We name a new Win...
Jun 06, 2018•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 206
Our esteemed colleague and Star Trek fantasy-draft star Mo Ryan returns to the podcast to talk about Liz Garbus's four-part New York Times documentary, The Fourth Estate , and the various frustrations we all had with both the documentary itself; its sometimes navel-gazey and tone-deaf subject; and all the things we wished the series had covered (or skipped)...though the intensity of our feelings probably means it's worth a watch. Also worth a watch in our Around The Dial section: Killjoys , Wyno...
May 30, 2018•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 205
As Netflix gives us another installment of 13 Reasons Why (and we get why they wouldn't call it 13 More Reasons Why , but...come on), our dear friend Joe Reid returns to dig into the sophomore season that has dramatically divided TV critics. Around The Dial rolls through The Middle , Dancing With The Stars , Brooklyn Nine-Nine , Champions , The Mick , and Below Deck Mediterranean , with a couple of cameos from Willie Survive. Joe presents Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt 's "Kimmy Does A Puzzle!" for s...
May 23, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 204
We hope Nick Rheinwald-Jones won't hold it against us that we invited him back to discuss Patrick Melrose , the Cinnamon Toastencrunch vanity proje-- er, "Benedict Cumberbatch-starring miniseries based on the St. Aubyn novel series." Because y'all, we haaaaated it, and we've got the extended remix of fart noises to prove it. It won't take a Sherlock to deduce that we moved smartly along to our Around The Dial section, with stops at the newest Little Women adaptation, Claws , and some Netflix com...
May 16, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 203
Will Leitch is a renowned sports journalist, so did we have him on to talk about 30 For 30 or something similarly thoughtful and incisive about the world of athletics? No, he's joining us to talk about the very special all-athletes season of Dancing With The Stars ! Around The Dial rolls through Good Girls , Gotham , Brooklyn Nine-Nine , Dear White People , and Myths And Monsters . Will presents Better Call Saul 's "Chicanery" for submission to The Canon, and after identifying the week's Winner ...
May 09, 2018•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 202
As HBO's obsession-inducing dystopia returns for a second season, Eve Batey also returns to discuss reflections on capitalism; college-dorm philosophizing; why wigs are still shite in the future; and whether Ed Harris is using a stunt double. Eve claimed not to be a crackpot for calling for a Simpsons cancellation -- with a surprising hatchet man -- and the Bosch theme may have been deemed Worse Than Jazz before we went Around The Dial with The Handmaid's Tale , Splitting Up Together , and Unfor...
Apr 25, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 201
Netflix having successfully adapted House Of Cards (*********) and remade One Day At A Time , it's reached back into the archives of classic TV to bring us an all-new take on Lost In Space -- and new guest Jeb Lund is here to talk about all the Robinsons' extraterrestrial meanderings. Around The Dial stops at that bad episode of The Simpsons , Patriot , and Season 4 of Bosch . Jeb presents the Connections episode "Death In The Morning" for induction into the Canon, and then after naming the week...
Apr 18, 2018•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 200
Buzzfeed's Doree Shafrir joins the panel this week for the latest filmed take on E.M. Forster's Howards End , and while we liked some things -- the casting; the memories of Witches Of East End occasioned by Julia Ormond -- not everything about the new iteration worked for us. We went Around The Dial with New Girl , Billions , Paterno , and Killing Eve before sinking our teeth into Big Little Lies S01.E05, "Once Bitten." Renewed shows won, cretins lost, and Tara put a song in our hearts with the ...
Apr 11, 2018•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 199
The Americans is wrapping up its spy mission in the U.S., and You're The Worst creator Stephen Falk has crammed his viewing of the previous two seasons to prepare for our discussion of the Season 6 premiere! Around The Dial takes us through Alex, Inc. ; an update on Here And Now ; HBO's latest doc The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling ; and the fourth season of the Swedish/Danish crime drama Bron/Broen . Stephen makes the case for us to induct Archer 's "Skytanic" into The Canon, before we name the...
Apr 04, 2018•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 198
Silicon Valley returns for its fifth season on HBO, and a Who Weekly podcast host returns to the panel -- this time, Jezebel's Bobby Finger, and we're all wondering how much battery the show has left. How many times can it repeat the same cycles? How much longer can it really expect to keep Kumail Nanjiani? And seriously, what's with all the barfing? After Sarah celebrated a Real Housewife Tiny Triumph, we went Around The Dial with Roseanne , Splitting Up Together , the new Queer Eye , grandpa s...
Mar 28, 2018•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 197
NBC having lined up the showrunner from Friday Night Lights , a producer of Hamilton , and the former Ted Mosby for a weekly drama series about a high school putting on a musical, it was made very clear to us that we had better not think of having any guest on to talk about it other than Adam Grosswirth -- and since we can take a hint, we were happy to have him on to discuss whether the show hits all the right notes. Around The Dial takes us through The Arrangement , Slings & Arrows and Nail...
Mar 21, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 196
S2 of Netflix Marvel anti-heroine joint Jessica Jones was a long time coming -- and unfortunately it took a long time to get going. Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton joins the panel to discuss the absence of Kilgrave malice, whether thirteen episodes is five too many, and the evident female gaze of the season's directorial corps. Around The Dial recommended Champions , Altered Carbon , and the second season of The Good Fight , and Dave wondered if the Is This Worse Than Jazz theme is worse than jazz. This ...
Mar 14, 2018•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 195
It's time once again for Gordon Ramsay to take a break from screaming at adults and spend a few weeks gently critiquing kids: that's right, MasterChef Junior is back for Season 6. To talk about the premiere, we welcome first-time guest Lindsey Weber of the Who Weekly podcast to talk about the half-sized hash slingers. Around The Dial takes us to Atlanta , Vanderpump Rules , Drunk History , and NightMan , before we ponder whether the series premiere of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , "Josh Just Happens To ...
Mar 07, 2018•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 194
After a literal car wreck of a second season, UnREAL is finally pulling back the curtain again on fictional dating show The Suitor -- and grown-ish writer Kara Brown pulled up a guesting chair for the first time to help us unpack the show's issues, starting with its, well, need to address capital-I Issues. Also Jeremy, who is not a fetch we're willing to see happen. Does UnREAL try to do too many things, or the wrong ones? Who on the panel is cautiously optimistic about it leaving S2 behind a la...
Feb 28, 2018•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 193
Netflix has a new period drama, set in the '90s, called Everything Sucks . Where does it fall on the spectrum of Stranger Things to Freaks And Geeks ? We've asked true '90s kid Stephanie Green to join us and break it down. Around The Dial takes us to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , The Bachelor , and Chris Rock's new Netflix special, Tambourine . We ponder whether _The New Adventures Of Old Christine_S03.E06, confusingly also called "The New Adventures Of Old Christine," should be inducted into The Canon....
Feb 21, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 192
It's an EHG reunion! Too bad it's for Here & Now , Alan Ball's new HBO show, and while Tara and Sarah couldn't make it past the pilot, Joe had some additional insights on the existential crises (and Jim Carrey-an supernatural twists) of a Portland blended family that even the show itself doesn't seem to like. We went around the dial with the new Queer Eye , American Crime Story: The Assassination Of Gianni Versace , Schitt's Creek , and Homeland , then tripled up on guessing the heart of our...
Feb 14, 2018•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 191
As NBC leads us into the Olympics with a sneak peek of its new sitcom A.P. Bio , we call on Monty Ashley (get it) to discuss whether it should have been held back. Around The Dial takes us to 2 Dope Queens , Dragula , Intervention , Altered Carbon , and The Cloverfield Paradox . Monty makes the bold case for Episode #1839 of Sesame Street to be inducted into the Canon, and then after we name the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to the season's first Regulation Game Time. Sharpen your #2 pencil a...
Feb 07, 2018•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 190
Season 2 of the updated One Day At A Time dropped last weekend, and we talked with Kim Reed about the fine balance between sitcommy and touching; how the two finales stacked up; and whether we'd keep watching if Rita Moreno leaves the show. We went around the dial with I Love Dick , The End Of The F**cking World , Black Lightning , and Big Mouth , and then Tara tried to deliver a Canon win with the first-series finale of Call The Midwife . Charmed won, ESPN lost (some more), and Tara led us in a...
Jan 31, 2018•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 189
High Maintenance is back on HBO, and John Ramos is also back to talk about the adventures of The Guy in marijuana-delivery-land; whether the show's too New York-y to be relatable, or warm-hearted enough to have broad appeal; and what exactly happened to that one lady's cat. We also went around the dial with new Soderbergh joint Mosaic , new-to-John show Insecure , and the same old comforting Top Chef before considering a listener submission for Star Trek: Voyager changed the way we think about a...
Jan 24, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 188
As we count down to the official premiere of Starz's previously sneak-peeked new J.K. Simmons vehicle Counterpart , Eve Batey and Tim Ehhalt join us to discuss all the twists, turns, and...twins? Around The Dial takes us to new series Alone Together and Dr. Pimple Popper ; limited series Wormwood ; and returning fan favorites The Magicians and The Fosters . We debate the induction of the Justified episode "Brother's Keeper" to the Canon, and then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on...
Jan 17, 2018•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 187
A new year means new sitcoms, and Spotted Dick/seasoned business traveler Adam Grosswirth is joining us to discuss one in particular: Fox's budget-airline-com L.A. To Vegas ! We debate whether Dave Will Hate Ridley Scott's new TV project The Terror , before Around The Dial takes us to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , 9-1-1 , The X-Files , and The Leftovers . The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode "Kimmy Goes To A Play!" is submitted for induction into the EHG Nonac, and then after naming the new year'...
Jan 10, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 186
Happy new year! And...unhappy near-future narratives, as Nick returns to discuss the fourth season of Black Mirror . We all ranked the episodes from our least to most favorite, and discussed what worked ( Star Trek neckbeard vengeance; "San Junipero" with a twist) and what didn't (chases; barely altered procedurals). After we went Around The Dial with The Profit , Black-ish spin-off Grown-ish , and Runaways , Nick wined and dined us for our Canon votes with the "First Date" episode of Master Of ...
Jan 02, 2018•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 185
What's under the Extra Hot Great tree today in this winter-holiday all-Canon episode? First up is Supernatural 's fifth-season "Changing Channels," a TV trope send-up with a couple of Buntnip elements the submitter hopes will guarantee a vote from Sarah, followed by a very courageous anime submission in the form of Gurren Lagann S01.E08. And once we've dispensed with Jeffrey Dean Morgan in-jokes and AT-AT tiki walkers, it's time to contemplate the $165 budget of the pilot of NightMan , a show th...
Dec 27, 2017•59 min•Ep. 184
Heading into Christmas, we decided to do our most positive episode ever: offering up our "Best"s in categories selected by listeners like you! What's the best show to watch when you're sick? What's the best fake website from a TV show? What's the best thing about living in The Good Place ? We answer these questions and many more in our first Besties-sode! TOPICS Lead Topic: 🏆 The Extra Hot Great Besties NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 183 page on ExtraHotGreat.com...
Dec 20, 2017•42 min•Ep. 183
We couldn't decide which was the week's most important TV premiere -- the second season of Netflix's QEII drama The Crown , or Syfy's dark Chris Meloni comedy Happy! -- so we decided to cover both! Joining us from Go Fug Yourself are our official purveyors of Epic Old School Recaps of The Crown , Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan! Around The Dial takes us to quick mentions of Married At First Sight: Jamie & Doug Plus One , Encore! , The Mindy Project , Vanderpump Rules , American Vandal , and...
Dec 13, 2017•1 hr 57 min•Ep. 182
