Disney Plus's latest series for teens and tweens is the very puzzle-y The Mysterious Benedict Society , based on a beloved novel, and Leigh-Ann Jackson is here to talk about how well it works! Around The Dial takes us through In Treatment , The Good Fight , Jiva! , Flack , the (sort of) final season of B-B-B-B- Bosch , CSI , and Derry Girls ! Craig and Courtney argue for the Canon induction of the King Of The Hill episode "The Wedding Of Bobby Hill." Then after naming the week's Winner and Loser...
Jun 30, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 361
The latest new series from AppleTV+ is Physical , starring Rose Byrne as an aerobics addict in 1981 San Diego; Jeb Lund joins us to discuss whether the first three episodes left us wanting more, or...wanting more of GLOW (R.I.P.). Around The Dial takes us through Cruel Summer , Holey Moley , Exterminate All The Brutes , American Barbecue Showdown , the I'll Be Gone In The Dark special, and Epstein's Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell . Tara and Sarah share a Tiny Triumph (thanks, Slate!), and Shan takes ...
Jun 23, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 360
Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair is back to talk about the latest product off the Marvel industrial complex assembly line: Disney+'s Loki . We discussed everything from Religion 101 to DB Cooper to mid-century production design to canonical gender identity -- but should you make TIME (...sorry) for the show? Then we went Around The Dial with Younger , Starstruck , Bargain Block , Crime Scene Kitchen , The Housewife and the Hustler , and a weird movie on HBO Max, and then it got REALLY weird when we...
Jun 16, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 359
Netflix joins Amazon in boldly dropping a soft sci-fi story about an extremely contagious disease outbreak mid-covid pandemic...but at least Sweet Tooth , unlike Utopia , also has as its lead character a very cute little deer boy? New guest Santiago Melli-Huber joins us to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us to the premiere of We Are Lady Parts on Peacock, the finale of Pose on FX; then to AMC's Kevin Can F**k Himself ; to Sarah's summer TV preview pick Mike Tyson: The Knockout (and related ...
Jun 09, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 358
Writer and co-host of The Nod Brittany Luse joins us for a double shot of summer TV fare, starting with NBC's well-hosted but incorrectly constructed Small Fortune . We like the dioramas; we're not sure about the durability of the games (or future guests). Then we ducked under the yellow tape to look at FOX's Crime Scene Kitchen , which isn't as bad as Sarah expected, but also isn't as good as it could be. Will any of us keep watching either of these? Is Curtis Stone the Joel Kinnaman of celebri...
Jun 02, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 357
With summer nearly upon us, we're dusting off a format we haven't done in a while, looking at the premieres that are coming in the weeks and months ahead and each choosing one title we're into; one we SHOULD be into but aren't; and one NO ONE should be into. Joining us for this very important work is longtime listener, first-time guest Stacy Lambe! After we all offer our summer picks (and un-picks), we consider Dave In Chicago's Extra Credit question and answer which TV side character deserves t...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 356
EEHG 090: Dave Forces Everyone To Watch Thunder In Paradise S01.E13: Queen Of Hearts Once upon a time there were two ex-Navy SEALs living in Florida. Then a whip bull-cracking Terry Funk visited riding on the hood of a monster truck. Also, here's The Queen Of England! Don't forget about Hulk Hogan's Bumblezebra beach onesie! And here's comes Truckasaurus! We haven't even seen Thunder The Boat yet! (Nov 13, 2020) EEHG 106: Let's Watch David Copperfield Poof Lady Liberty! In a 1983 TV special that...
May 19, 2021•44 min•Ep. 355
Slate TV critic Willa Paskin is back to talk about Peacock's girl-group-comeback addition to the Tina Fey-verse, Girls5Eva . Did the panel's opinions on the show's quality harmonize? Is the bubblegum/ TRL world of 20 years ago a familiar song? Does the thin writing of Busy Philipps's character hit a bum note? Has Sarah already started blaming that Wonder Woman piano for various clumsy incidents around her own home? You know the answer to that last one; you'll have to listen to learn the rest. We...
May 12, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 354
A while back, we put out a call for six-word pitches to program a whole episode of this podcast, and our listener Heather was the victor with "Nice British People Doing Nice Things." As a result, she has slotted in (virtually) every show you will hear us talk about in this episode, for which we are joined by returning guest Alex Collins! First, we all tuck in on the pop history series Back In Time For Dinner . Then Around The Dial takes us to France for Escape To The Chateau , Newfoundland and K...
May 05, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 353
Jessica Liese is here to talk about a brand-new, brand-content competition reality show from Hulu -- Exposure , in which professional photographers compete in irrelevant-to-their-strengths "influencer" challenges while rookie hosts Cole Walliser and Cat Jimenez make terrible photo puns. The problem isn't so much the Samsung-fluffing; it's that the show isn't process-y enough, isn't transparent about how the challenges work, and isn't made by the same people who make Bake Off and could figure out...
Apr 28, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 352
Dr. Orna Guralnik has returned to Showtime to work with a whole new crop of troubled partners in a new season of Couples Therapy , and Vulture's Kathryn VanArendonk -- one of the show's biggest boosters -- has returned to our podcast to yell about it! (Positively!) Around The Dial takes us through Younger , a new Mythic Quest special, PBS's Philly D.A. , Why Did You Kill Me? , Sasquatch , and the midseason premiere of 9-1-1: Lone Star . Mlle. Caroline uses her Extra Credit topic to ask us about ...
Apr 21, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 351
Doing The Most With Phoebe Robinson joined the ranks of "rich people hanging out with each other" shows last week, and Here For It author R. Eric Thomas joined US to talk about the 2 Dope Queens co-host's foray into TV, including clunky animations, guest chemistry, and whether the animals in the pilot were too well-behaved. Dave was Not A Crackpot about leaving internet-based "fun" to the experts before we went Around The Dial with Kung Fu , Home Economics , Cybill , The Great Pottery Throw Down...
Apr 14, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 350
Elliot Stabler has returned from his ignominious exile in...uh, a very nice-sounding job in Italy, and into an SVU spinoff that will find him Taking! His wife's murder! Personally! all over the Mob. Christina Tucker joins us to discuss this new vehicle and what a(n unpleasantly) surprising departure it actually is from the Law & Order model. Around The Dial takes us through Made For Love , Wipeout , Godzilla vs. Kong (on HBO Max! Watch it while you can! A lot!), and The Falcon And The Winter...
Apr 07, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 349
Reality-television expert Andy is back to talk about Pooch Perfect , and why you shouldn't sit, stay in front of the show, including awkward hosting by Rebel Wilson, consent issues with dyeing dogs, and a total lack of narrative tension. Matters improved with Around The Dial, as we discussed Genius: Aretha , Superstore , Race To The Center Of The Earth , Tough As Nails , The Bridge , and Housewives in the age of COVID before generating a suite of new Survivor themes for Josh's Extra Credit. Afte...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 51 min•Ep. 348
Over New Year's, we treated our Patreon supporters to a very important thought experiment: if 27 Smurfs entered Thunderdome to compete in battles to the death, who would be the last Smurf standing? Now, we are turning our minds to the same question...but with Muppets from The Muppet Show . Naturally, we had to bring in an expert to consider the question, which is why Adam Grosswirth of the Muppeturgy podcast is here. Will Fozzie Bear emerge alive from combat with Lew Zealand and Sam the Eagle? D...
Mar 24, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 347
We're thrilled the third time was the charm for our guest Alison Herman, as we all dug into the pro-cooking kids' show from the Obama-tainment industrial complex, Waffles + Mochi . We talked about "variety" shows for children, whether Mrs. Obama is as stiff as Mochi is adorable, and supplemental tomato facts before going Around The Dial with Step Up: High Water , kid 90 , Allen vs. Farrow , Greek , Last Chance U: Basketball , and famous original 9-1-1 . Dave hoped a first-season episode of Warri...
Mar 17, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 346
As part of the relaunch of CBS All Access as Paramount Plus, the original Season 1 cast of The Real World has reunited in their old Soho loft for a limited series, so we got back together with our former Real World recapper Kim Reed to discuss the series premiere! Also on the Paramount Plus tip, Tara also has to stress that she is not a crackpot for being irate that Oprah's interview with Harry and Meghan is somehow not on it. Around The Dial takes us through Good Girls , an update on Married At...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 345
Brandon is back to talk about last weekend's Brutal Bridesmaids and its strange lack of bloodshed, plus ugly bridal fashion, an emergency male-stripper substitution, and realistic wedding-party cliques. We went Around The Dial with Close Enough , Punky Brewster 's reboot, Search Party , Murder Among The Mormons , and Dave's 911 Lone Star report before re-imagining legendary episodes of TV as Lifetime movies in an Extra Credit from David Ellis Dickerson. We dug into a classic episode of The Mole ...
Mar 03, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 344
After illness prevented her from making her earlier booking, LaToya Ferguson has returned to talk about another show she feels passionate about: The CW's Superman & Lois ! Is she all in on this latest iteration of the Man of Steel and his family? Listen and find out! Around The Dial takes us through It's A Sin , Cherries Wild , In & Of Itself , the full-throated endorsement of Firefly Lane that circumstances ROBBED LaToya of the chance to deliver earlier this month, and a report on a par...
Feb 24, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 343
Austin HQ had a water pipe burst on record day so we celebrate with two EEHG about other bad things in your house. EEHG 094: Dave Forces Everyone To Watch The 1974 Made For TV Movie Bad Ronald Bad Ronald lives in a hidden room in the house you just bought. What a weirdo! EEHG 096: Tara Forces Everyone To Watch Crawlspace When the search results for Bad Ronald included another TV movie called Crawlspace , Tara decided we had to stay in the "'70s paranoia about a dude living in your home's secret ...
Feb 17, 2021•54 min•Ep. 342
Fametracker's own Adam Sternbergh (oh, also the New York Times 's but whatever)(hee) is back to discuss The Equalizer , the perfectly acceptable re-imagining of the '80s classic. Whom on the panel did the new verzh win over with casting coups, origami tradecraft, and similarities to Leverage and Blindspot ? Who called it the three-camera sitcom of cop shows? And is anyone setting their DVR to watch more of it? We went Around The Dial with Framing Britney Spears , Married At First Sight , GBBO , ...
Feb 10, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 341
With our intended guest and Firefly Lane expert LaToya Ferguson forced to bow out (we'll re-book her again ASAP!), your co-hosts muddled through on Netflix's new middlebrow book adaptation to the best of our ability. Around The Dial takes us through the late Quibi sitcom Mapleworth Murders , Hulu's Canadian import Jann , HBO Max's Danish import The Investigation -- and Borgen , with which it shares approximately half its cast -- the just-announced Black Panther show coming to Disney+ from Ryan C...
Feb 03, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 340
Our esteemed colleague, "Pot Ledom"-ologist, and Long Island native Dan Rogge returns to analyze Edward Burns's thoroughly mediocre Bridge & Tunnel , about the post-college lives and loves of six suspiciously hot high-school friends...none of whom can seem to master the accent. A huge music budget (and equally large commitment to the sex scenes) can't make up for stilted dialogue, anachronistic argot, and Burns's Lena Dunham-esque estrangement from the real-world problems of his characters. ...
Jan 27, 2021•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 339
Marvel Studios has kicked off its slate of TV series with WandaVision , a sort-of spoof of classic sitcoms starring a couple of Avengers. What's actually going on? We don't know (though Dave has theories), but Caroline Framke is here to talk about the two-part premiere! Around The Dial takes us through The Good Lord Bird , Call Your Mother , Season 2's new Batwoman , the Premier League of football (or soccer, if you will), The Challenge , and Superstore -- specifically, the voice Mark McKinney i...
Jan 20, 2021•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 338
The regular panelists had to forge ahead without esteemed colleague Kathryn VanArendonk in our discussion of Dickinson 's second season; that's the bad news. The good news is, we all like Apple TV's imagining of poet Emily Dickinson's life and loves with lots of swearing and twenty-first-century slang. How DOES the show balance the demands of historical fact with flights of fancy, and not take itself too seriously? And are Season 2's creepy [ character spoiler redacted ] the key to its success? ...
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 337
We're off this week but we've glued together three episode forcening, uh, episodes from our Patreon supporter bonus podcast Extra Extra Hot Great. EEHG 076: Listener Forcening: The Big Bang Theory Patreon supporter Sharon Johnson had us watch The Big Bang Theory S07.E03: "The Scavenger Vortex," writing, "While I'm aware that it's not well thought of among the EHG family, BBT is one of my all-time favorite television shows," and this episode a fave among faves. Did this selection make us come aro...
Jan 06, 2021•50 min•Ep. 336
To help get you through our holiday break, Tara wrote a special festive version of her fan-favorite (...is it?) Non-Regulation Game Time: it's Wrapping Paper Tube Tunes! Some original holiday songs from TV shows; some covers; all comfort and joy. Please enjoy this gift from us to you, and don't try to return it. TOPICS Game Time: 🎁 Wrapping Paper Tube Tunes NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 335 page on ExtraHotGreat.com...
Dec 30, 2020•30 min•Ep. 335
Stephen King's 1978 novel has already been turned into a miniseries once, but it's time for this generation to get its own, apparently? So CBS All Access has made one, and Roxana Hadadi is joining us to talk about it! Around The Dial takes us through The Flight Attendant , Celebrity IOU , TKTK, The Wilds , and Season 2 of The Mandalorian . Mlle. Caroline presents the Parks & Recreation episode "Recall Vote" for induction to The Canon; then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to...
Dec 23, 2020•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 334
First-time guest Kamille joins us for a conversation about Tiny Pretty Things , Netflix's new Center Stage -with-teens ballet thriller (?), and while she watched the whole thing, neither she nor the fulltime panel thinks it's good. But aside from the wretched VO, suspect acting, unwelcome parallels to 13 Reasons Why and decided un-Frenchness of cartoon villain Lauren Holly, is TPT a good time-waster? Not to worry: we found you some definite time-wasters when we went Around The Dial with The Wild...
Dec 16, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 333
Hulu and Canada's kids' broadcaster YTV have brought the world a new adaptation of the nearly-100-year-old boy detectives Frank and Joe Hardy, and we've enlisted Adam Grosswirth to join us in discussing it! A super-sized Around The Dial takes us through Selena: The Series , Nurses , Jingle Jangle , Dolly Parton's Christmas On The Square , the original '70s version of The Hardy Boys , and Gangs Of London . After Joe M. uses his Extra Credit topic to have us write a character-revealing power balla...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 332
