While attending the ATX Television Festival earlier this month (June 2022), Pod Clubhouse had the opportunity to ask the casting director, Josh Einsohn, of This Is Us some questions about the highs, lows, and by-the-skin-of-their-teeth adventures in casting the multi-generational roles seen in every episode of the show. Listen as Paul asks for the stories behind the roles. Be sure to check out our other podcasts for This Is Us: Season 6 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15 | 16 ...
Jun 26, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 19
THIS IS US — “Us” Episode 618 — Pictured: (l-r) Justin Hartley as Kevin, Chrissy Metz as Kate, Sterling K. Brown as Randall — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) Well, that’s it, This Is Us fans! After six seasons of happiness and sadness, stumbles and accomplishments, birth and death, This Is Us finished up this week on its own terms. In this podcast, Caroline and Paul discuss the audience’s reaction to the finale and compare it with how they felt about it. Listen and you may find another way to look...
May 27, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 6Ep. 18
THIS IS US — “The Train” Episode 617 — Pictured: (l-r) Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Gerald McRaney as Dr. K — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) For this penultimate episode for the entire series, This Is Us ‘ Rebecca (Mandy Moore) takes a final ride on “The Train”. Caroline and Paul discuss all three of the episode’s stories – The Brooks family and their brief intersection with the Pearsons, the Pearson gathering at Kevin and Sophie’s house, and finally what’s happening on the train with Rebecca. Carolin...
May 23, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 17
THIS IS US — “Family Meeting” Episode 616 — Pictured: (l-r) Chrissy Metz as Kate, Justin Hartley as Kevin, Alexandra Breckenridge as Sophie, Chris Geere as Phillip — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) As the series winds down, Caroline has decided to go back and watch the show from the beginning of season one. If you haven’t taken a look at those foundational episodes in a while, you might want to. The details and callbacks Caroline identifies in “Family Meeting” and the rest of season six all draw a...
May 17, 2022•49 min•Season 6Ep. 16
THIS IS US — “Miguel” Episode 615 — Pictured: Jon Huertas as Miguel — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) This week, This Is Us took a deep dive into a character that hasn’t gotten much credit from fans over the life of the show: Miguel (Jon Huertas). While Caroline and Paul tried to cover the most important parts of this episode, they take a very personal look at Miguel’s role as Rebecca’s caretaker and what those parts of his story meant to them. Caroline and Paul discuss these and MANY more in this...
May 08, 2022•49 min•Season 6Ep. 11
THIS IS US — “The Night Before the Wedding” Episode 614 — Pictured: (l-r) Alexandra Breckinridge as Sophie, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) Another podcast, another two-pack for your listening pleasure! In this one, we cover Kate’s wedding to Phillip as well as Kevin’s mysterious night leading up to it. Caroline and Paul cover all the important character interactions, like: Miguel and Randall – the reality of caretaker fatigue and needing to be open and honest with people...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Season 6Ep. 10
THIS IS US — “Saturday in the Park” Episode 611 — Pictured: (l-r) Justin Hartley as Kevin, Chrissy Metz as Kate, Sterling K. Brown as Randall — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) Another mega-podcast for you as Paul and Caroline cover both “Saturday in the Park” and “KaToby” in one go. As we state at the beginning of the podcast, we get the non-Kate and Toby stories for both episodes out of the way before diving into the hard-to-talk about stuff. This one gets very personal, so buckle up as opinions ...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Season 6Ep. 9
THIS IS US — “The Hill” Episode 609 — Pictured: (l-r) Chris Sullivan as Toby, Chrissy Metz as Kate — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) Thought we’d given up on you? Never. We’re here until the end of this series. In this mega-sized super-sode, Paul and Caroline take all three of the final season’s Big 3 episodes and combine them into ONE big podcast. For “Guitar Man”, we discuss: Kevin’s longtime resistance to putting in the work to find “depth” in his personality Kevin’s final arc – does it require...
Apr 03, 2022•1 hr 46 min•Season 6Ep. 8
THIS IS US — “Taboo” Episode 607 — Pictured: (l-r) Jon Huertas as Miguel, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) We can’t have a final season of This Is Us without the annual Thanksgiving tradition of unleashing fresh torrents of drama onto the audience. Kate and Toby – Low patience and high tension all shaping up to give the audience a good reason to feel ok about their upcoming split. It’s gotta be pretty bad if you have to take off the Pilgrim Rick hat, Toby. Kevin – Dude nee...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 6Ep. 7
THIS IS US — “Our Little Island Girl: Part Two” Episode 606 — Pictured: (l-r) Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth, Jazlyn Martin as Stacey — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) This week’s mostly Beth-centric episode, “Our Little Island Girl: Part Two”, presents viewers with many questions. Questions like: Did teen Kate handle the situation with Kevin and Sophie “right”? What about how adult Kate and how she handled the situation between Kevin and Madison? If you had a chance to get something off your chest ...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 6Ep. 6
THIS IS US — “Heart and Soul” Episode 605 — Pictured: (l-r) Jennifer Morrison as Cassidy, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) Randall said what we were all thinking when he ran down Kevin’s romantic conquests, horserace-style, didn’t he? After last week’s Jack-centric episode, this week we returned to the central plotlines of this final season: Kevin – We’re 100% sure Kevin winds up with some kind of partner – but is it Cassidy? If so, she’s going to make him work for it. Ran...
Feb 02, 2022•46 min•Season 6Ep. 5
THIS IS US — “Don’t Let Me Keep You” Episode 604 — Pictured: (l-r) Laura Niemi as Marilyn, Milo Ventimiglia as Jack — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) This week’s deeply emotional episode centered on the loss of Jack’s mother and the long shadow of abuse and trauma cast by his father on both of their lives. In a season that will almost certainly end with the death of Rebecca surrounded by her loving family, Caroline and Paul examine the case of Marilyn. Thanks to the terror wrought by Stanley, she ...
Jan 27, 2022•52 min•Season 6Ep. 4
THIS IS US — “Four Fathers” Episode 603 — Pictured: (l-r) Milo Ventimiglia as Jack, Kaz Womack as Kevin, Isabella Rose Landau as Kate, Ca’Ron Jaden Coleman as Randall, Mandy Moore as Rebecca — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) Each of the show’s four fathers sure had a tough time this week, didn’t they? As parents, your reviewers, Paul and Caroline, have encountered similar Real Life situations like these and have a lot to say about them. Listen in as we chat about: Jack – Super-dad took it on the c...
Jan 19, 2022•54 min•Season 6Ep. 3
THIS IS US — “One Giant Leap” Episode 602 — Pictured: (l-r) Lyric Ross as Deja, Asante Blackk as Malik — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) This week’s episode, “One Giant Leap” (although it was entitled “Lovebirds” at the time of our recording) focuses on two major life events for two of the show’s non-central characters. Deja decides to take her relationship to another level with Malik during a trip away from the watchful eyes of the Pearsons. Meanwhile, after deciding that Nicky’s pining involved ...
Jan 13, 2022•46 min•Season 6Ep. 2
THIS IS US — “The Challenger” Episode 601 — Pictured: (l-r) Isabella Rose Landau as Kate, Kaz Womack as Kevin, Ca’Ron Jaden Coleman as Randall, Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Milo Ventimiglia as Jack — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) Welcome back to Pod Clubhouse’s coverage of the final season of This Is Us ! Caroline and Paul discuss how the Pearsons navigate through this season as it builds up to the various flashforwards we’ve gotten to see. Already we know we’re going to end up bedside with Rebeccas ...
Jan 05, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 6Ep. 1
THIS IS US — “The Adirondacks”, Episode 516 — Pictured: (l-r) Caitlin Thompson as Madison, Chrissy Metz as Kate — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) The season five This Is Us finale ended with a transformative, compelling, question-creating minute of television that will leave fans theorizing until the premiere of the sixth and final season sometime next year. This season, shortened by two episodes and somewhat compromised by shooting conditions imposed by the COVID pandemic, brought the Big 3 back ...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 16
THIS IS US — “Jerry 2.0”, Episode 515 — Pictured: (l-r) Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC) When teen Beth and Randall mentioned the idea of a Cuba Gooding Jr. and Regina King Jerry Maguire -based spinoff, were they teasing us about their own This Is Us spinoff? Enquiring Carolines want to know! In “Jerry 2.0”, dueling bachelor/bachelorette parties make up most of the plot with the honored guests both working through bouts of cold feet. Paul and ...
May 20, 2021•46 min•Season 5Ep. 15
THIS IS US — “The Music and the Mirror” Episode 514 — Pictured: (l-r) Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth — (Photo by: NBC) The decision to root Season 5’s storyline in the events of the current world impacted Beth’s hopes and dreams this week. Thanks to the ongoing COVID-related crisis and the social-distancing practiced as a result, Beth’s dance school unfortunately goes under in “The Music and the Mirror”. Poignant scenes juxtaposing the first time Beth was forced to gi...
May 13, 2021•55 min•Season 5Ep. 14
THIS IS US — “Brotherly Love” Episode 513 — Pictured: (l-r) Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: NBC) It’s been so long since the titanic blow-up at the end of last season, you might have forgotten that Kevin and Randall still had some serioius reconciling to do. Dan Fogleman and the rest of the team got the Big 3 back on track in “Brotherly Love” this week. In this podcast, we talk about: “Ghost Kingdoms” and how they might apply to other kinds of loss What we’re l...
Apr 14, 2021•38 min•Season 5Ep. 13
THIS IS US — “Both Things Can Be True” Episode 512 — Pictured in this screengrab: Jon Huertas as Miguel — (Photo by: NBC) Since all of you were probably wondering, Paul DID in fact LIKE this episode! We didn’t get a tear-jerker or any deep-dives this week. Instead, we returned to a tried and true episode format that allowed all of the main characters to move their individual plots along. Maybe it’s the slow-paced, COVID-impacted roll-out of this season’s episodes, but it has felt like FOREVER si...
Apr 07, 2021•58 min•Season 5Ep. 12
THIS IS US — “One Small Step” Episode 511 — Pictured in this screen grab: (l-r) Griffin Dunne as Nicky, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: NBC) This week’s DEEP dive into Uncle Nicky filled in probably everything we needed to know about what went into his “One Small Step” outside his familiar existence and onto a California-bound airplane. Although Paul admits to feeling like this episode provided greater detail where none was required, Caroline points out this episode’s new character may be t...
Mar 28, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 11
THIS IS US — “I’ve Got This” Episode 510 — Pictured: Phylicia Rashad as Carol — (Photo by: NBC) Last episode, we saw various Pearson clans on their way home from the hospital. This week, we saw a variation on that theme with three groups of Pearsons having super mega-uncomfortable dinners. Even though this season has felt a little disjointed thanks to the COVID-related slowdown of production, it’s important to realize that this is episode 10. Normally, this would have been the first episode back...
Mar 17, 2021•48 min•Season 5Ep. 10
THIS IS US — “The Ride”, Episode 509 — Pictured: Milo Ventimiglia as Jack — (Photo by: NBC) This week, This Is Us showed us four families taking their kids home from the hospital in “The Ride”. With Jack and Rebeccas taking the babies home for the first time, we get a reminder of Jack’s alcoholism and where he was in the journey when the babies were born. As we’ve discussed, Kevin has felt he would come up short if he had to measure himself against his father’s memory, but this episode reminded ...
Feb 24, 2021•57 min•Season 5Ep. 9
THIS IS US — “In The Room” Episode 508 — Pictured: Caitlin Thompson as Madison — (Photo by: NBC) Did this one grab your emotions and squeeze them for all they’re worth? OK, granted there was a lot of good reconciliation stuff between Kevin and Randall. AND I won’t overlook that the cast has grown by three more Pearsons. BUT – Did I want to know how Kevin made it “In The Room” in time for delivery? Yes. Do I care about the invention of data compression? Not as much as the show’s writers obviously...
Feb 18, 2021•59 min•Season 5Ep. 8
THIS IS US — “There” Episode 507 — Pictured in this screengrab: Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: NBC) Dan Fogleman, you trickster! We, the loyal This Is Us audience, have been waiting to find out what kind of terrible accident you’d put Kevin through, muddling through the weeks of delayed broadcasts, only to find out we’d been duped yet again! Of course, we’ll all be back next week, hanging on every word, ripe for another bit of tomfoolery, but don’t take advantage of our love like that. (We...
Feb 10, 2021•48 min•Season 5Ep. 7
THIS IS US — “Birth Mother” Episode 506 — Pictured: (l-r) Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth, Vien Hong as Hai Lang — (Photo by: NBC) “I didn’t know I was looking for you.” The opening and final closing of the mystery of Randall’s birth played out this week as he and Beth visited his all-but-legally-wed-step-father, Hai Lang, in New Orleans. In a series of flashbacks, we learned all about Randall’s maternal grandparents, the well-to-do Dubois family. The struggles his mot...
Jan 13, 2021•44 min•Season 5Ep. 6
THIS IS US — “A Long Road Home” Episode 505 — Pictured: (l-r) Austin Abrams as Marc, Hannah Zeile as Kate — (Photo by: NBC) Welcome back, This Is Us fans! The winter break is over and we have a solid run of 14 episodes coming up, kicking off with tonight’s “A Long Road Home”. As narrative structures go, TIU has gone complicated with time jumps and tricky intercutting in the past – but not tonight. Sure, there were a couple of flashbacks, but overall, we were served up straight-forward, dramatic ...
Jan 06, 2021•52 min•Season 5Ep. 5
THIS IS US — “Honestly” Episode 504 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Asante Blackk as Malik — (Photo by: NBC) Atta boys (and girls) out there in This Is Us fandom! Another week into the fifth season and Dan Fogelman and company treat us to a rather lightweight, but enjoyable episode. Does that mean they’re getting ready for a gut-punch next week? Time will tell, but if Kate’s bombshell from her past is any indication, we might be in store for a trip down a dark ...
Nov 18, 2020•47 min•Season 5Ep. 4
THIS IS US — “Changes” Episode 503 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Caitlin Thompson as Madison, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: NBC) Caroline thought a better title for this episode might have been, “Is That a Healthy Way to Deal With That?” Meanwhile, Paul thought a fitting subtitle might be, “What’s the Deal With the Pancakes?” That’s the beauty of a show like this – everyone can take away a little something different. Aside from other possible show titles, Paul and Caroline discuss ...
Nov 11, 2020•38 min•Season 5Ep. 3
THIS IS US — “Forty Part 1/Forty Part 2” Episode 501/502 — Pictured: (l-r) Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Justin Hartley as Kevin — (Photo by: NBC) Season 5 of This Is Us kicked off last night with a 2-parter called “Forty”. In it, we found the Pearsons still very close to the aftermath of last season’s explosive finale and eventually make our way to the traditional celebration of Kevin, Kate, and Randall’s birthday. A lot has changed in the -real- world since our last visit with the Big 3 and th...
Oct 28, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 1
