I okay, I'm gonna start going because I'm so excited to have you here. We're with Ben Mendelgarh. Did I say it right?
Yeah? Pretty much?
No, not pretty much.
How do you say it, mandel Kurt? I think you said mendel Kerr. It's mandel Kerr. It was very close, mandel Kurt.
Now, don't let people get away with close. Okay, Ben Mandelkerr. We've had you on the big show. We've had you on the podcast, yes, because Andrew found you at the podcast awards right podcast.
Yes, I watched Watch What Crappens Well.
I listened to it.
It is a podcast for a very long time, and I found the recaps to be hysterical. And then they were there and I'm like, I don't think you understand. Your impressions get me every time.
Impressions of what Andrew.
The Housewives, Yes, specifically the Meredith marks one from Salt Lake City.
And thank you very much for that, indoorse Man and also Angik I am greeg I am Greek. I literally had Greek food last night, and the entire time I was like, I feel like I am Angie.
Kay.
So you're in Diamond lose their crap over this all the time, and I don't watch the show. However, I have to say I'm very impressed with the impressions that you have done. And you you were echoing in my brain when we had the Countess Luann on uh, because you said, of all the housewives, she's got maybe the best character arc or a story in general.
I will say this over and over again. I will always make my case for Countess Luan. She shows up in two thousand and eight or nine, whenever the show begins as a countess married to big old money like built the Panama Canal money while she's taken on old money and she's like, I'm a countess and you are all beneath me. I can play tennis, which it really was. The Diamond can vouch that it was like kind of her character.
Oh, the tennis matches and about her.
Whole thing was that she played tennis and she had manners, and she wrote a book then about manners and like how you should carry yourself at an event. And then she did random things like came out with like plates with like a line of plates or something like that. And then she got divorced and then she winds up going down this other path. She winds up like having sex with a pirate in the Caribbean.
She claims she didn't.
She claims she didn't, but we all.
Know she said her friend infacted. She just want to smoke a doobie with the guy.
Well, technically, I guess Sonia did anal with the pirate.
Yea to make sure that we whip that out, make.
Sure we know who the pirates with. But for a long time we are we believe that. I mean, her relationship actually does fall. She is with a new French guy named Jacques. It falls apart because on TV it appears that she had sex with a pirate.
Oh, that ruined her relationship.
You know, it's one of the most common things that can end a relationship. A pirate a certain age, you know, a pirate rumor, a pirate rumor will take down any relationship absolutely. And then from there, she now was like single, desperate, winds up moving into her friend's attic. And the attic, by the way, has like a tube TV, like a tube TV, like a sharp TV from like two thousand and three. Like she's up there in this and there's no heat in there. Remember, no hot water, you know what.
So she's so, this former countess is now in the attic of a decrepit town home with a tube TV. And then she meets a man named Tom Dagastino, not related to the Dagasino you know, grocery fortune. But we all like to believe he is. She all thought he was, yes, and he let us. It's like the pirate rumor, right like we we later on found out it was not true. But then she has a whirlwind romance with this guy Tom Dagasino. Turns out he is like fucked half the cast and my left by the way, Okay, I just
want to double I always did every podcast. I'm like, is this okay? This is airing on? And so she gets married to Tom, and then within nine months they're divorced. And then all of a sudden, she's like wasted in a hotel and palm beach. She's arrested and now she's gone from countess and you know, like the the the last word on etiquette. And now she's arrested in Florida.
And then she resurrects herself as a cabaret star and she is and now she's like a sex kitten and like, this is like her arc just keeps on evolving in such fascinating ways.
It's like it's not even an arc. It's just a rollercoaster.
But there you go.
It's amazing. And we saw her titties, you know what.
Like that. I'm I'm jealous.
I wish you would have been here.
You were again, you were echoing in my head because I was like, man, Ben would have loved this.
I would have I would have so much.
It was a good time.
She's just the best.
But we're here to talk about you because you're doing all kind of stuff. So you have Watch What Crappens, which is an it's a podcast.
It's a podcast, but you call it watch well what Crappins? Well yes, well, I mean technically we do have like a video component that we have on Patreon, but it would start the name as a parody of Andy Cohen's show Watch what Happens. Yes, so we started our podcast in twenty twelve and we're like, well how about this, why don't we make up a pun. Instead of being watched what Happens, We'll be watched for Crappens. And yeah, from there it was born.
And it's been doing really well. And you guys, were you nominated for an award at the Podcast Awards.
We were, We were nominated for Best pop Culture Podcast and we actually want it.
Which tell Andrew what it's like to win.
Oh, what does the awards sit?
Because I would think that if I ever won, like an actual big award, I'd probably keep it someplace that I could see all the time, and I'd be really obnoxious about it.
Well, it's not unlike that one right up there. You're there's actually like an iHeart Award on the shelf in the studio, and yours is actually like has a nice chrome to it. Mine is kind of like a matte, like, you know, great thing, I.
Know you liked class.
We give the shiny ones to people who are on radio, we give the matt ones the podcasters. But it has on a shelf in my dining room. And yeah, it was. Honestly, it was the coolest thing ever. You know, Honestly, when you start a podcast called watchro Crappins, you just never think you're gonna win an award, you know, like you're you have crap in your name, right, and then you know, and we were we would get advice We once met with like a PR person and he was like, Okay,
here's what you gotta do. You got to rename your entire podcast, Like no one wants to no one wants to help beicize something that's crap in the name. How about call it gay Men watching Bravo?
And I'm like, oh, that's like a horrible, like AI generated name, Like here are the things that I want and come up with a name.
Oh, gay men watching Bravo.
Yeah, that's what he was like, just say what it is. And I'm like, I'm like, we get it. But it's like, that's like we want to be watchro Crappins. So it's been cool to finally get like get in the door at festivals and and be like taken seriously. I mean, we don't want to be taken that seriously because we were comedy podcasts. But yeah, it was cool to get it get this award.
Well, congratulations.
And if you don't know, I was making a little shot at Andrew over there because he was nominated.
He and the Serial Killers nominated was the best food podcast. Yeah, but they lost two.
Uh the Eater three or something.
I don't know that you don't know her.
Yeah, I don't. I don't know her. They didn't even show up. That's so rude. It's so rude. Well, I'm glad you showed up because when we met and then we bombed it over cereals. Yes not the body.
Had you on that our podcast, the serial one? Yeah, actually have you on for a full one if Scottie clears out a.
Studio Speaking of the studio, that studio over there, which is right next to us, we're in the big studio right now, Ben said this is his favorite studio of all the studios he's been in, and that includes Radio Andy.
So I got it was my first time meeting Andy Cohen in person. Obviously, It's like really nice there too. I just I love I just love all the big bright lights in here. You know a lot of places I know, I just love I love I love a big brash light. But yeah, that was so cool. Andy was really nice and it was really fun just talking Bravo with like the grand Zaddie of it all, you know,
like he was. He was so cool in the sense that like you didn't feel like you had to hi like pull any punches, like you know, he asked, like, what did you think about what do you think about the new Real Housewives of New York reboot? And we were able to be honest and be like, yeah, we don't really like it that much. And he was chill about it. You could tell he wasn't like, how could you say something negative about one of my shows? So
I won't say I'm pleasantly surprised. I was just was, you know, because I kind of felt like that Andy would be like that. I just you know, it was just like really cool. It was really cool that he was so he I feel like he gets it. I feel like he understands like the whole podcasting vibe and like we just have to come in and say our opinions, you know.
So was it a pincherself moment starting this podcast Watch what Crappens?
And now you're on with Andy?
It was weird to be such an outsider. I'm not saying that we're an insider now, but like it felt like we were not on anyone's radar, and especially no one at Bravo. And then yeah, to now be at a place where actually sitting in a studio with Andy Cohen, it is kind of full circle.
Do the Housewives follow you?
We do have housewives who follow us? Yes?
I love that.
Yeah, any that we know, and like, I don't know any of them, want to be honest.
When I mean.
Sandra Bullock, I'll just I'll just name famous these. We have several that follow us. Uh, Luanne, Luanne follows us.
Luanne is a follower man, she is on it.
She is great, like anytime she likes something, and I just see count just Luanne like this. I just because I also imagine her looking at something like hmmm, they posted a picture of an animal following over. I like that.
So a little behind the scenes here. When she came in her people there wasn't it wasn't even people.
A guy who was with her.
Oh, they left and then they said, hey, we don't want you guys to air X, Y and Z. And I was like, well, we're not gonna do that. One, we're not gonna put all of it on camera, which just a podcast, it's gonna be all audio. But two, once we have all of it, you can't then come back and tell us don't do these things. Then Luanne ended up sending me a message I didn't get for days until after it had been released.
Yes, and I'm like.
Oh shit, she's gonna be so upset because we aired some of these things that they didn't want us to, the flash shore boobs, but she flashed us vaping in the studio, which I mean that would have gotten aust In trouble more than no one can because you are not a lot of smoking here. But we air them, we put them in this little trailer, and she likes.
All of it.
Of course she gets it. She's like, oh, I was fabulous in that moment, and I think she was. The way I vaped, I really am an icon.
Ye, it was amazing.
Aren't you trying to go to the cabaret? Oh?
I want to go to the cabaret so bad. It's in October, I think.
Right, we're gone. I think it's November sixteenth or something like. That's on my calendar.
I'm ready.
Okay, Yeah, you're gonna have a fun time. So the first time I went, I went to her first tour, which was probably like twenty eighteen or so, and so she really only was prepared to sing three songs. I think so. But it was actually really good because she would come out and she would sing like, you know, she'd say lovey, which is one of her one of her.
Bossles I heard, I heard all the time, and I can't believe you didn't break into song.
And then what she would do is she would sing one song and then she would just leave and have a costume change, and then while she was off stage shot like she would have like Broadway people like Cheyenne Jackson, oh wow, or I forget their names, but people would come on and they would like sing like numbers and they were like amazing singers. So you'd have like Luanne doing her campy thing, and then you get like real big deal caparet and then Luan again, and it was
like kind of the best thing ever. She plays the bongos else on there. She like has like a moment she pulls up bongos and she's like, look at me, a musician. Bongo bongo Bongo's.
Very Matthew mcconaugheyfer So you said when Andy asked you if you liked a new season, the new am I even saying it correctly. You can say the new season of Ronnie, the cast of Ronie, the new whatever, the reboot, what don't you like about it? I'm asking the entire room too. I want Ben first, but then Diamond's over there rolling her eyes so hard.
I can feel it.
Diamond and I are very bonded on this. I feel Yep,
they got rid of the entire cast. Okay, the cast previously was like Countess the wimb But it's like a lot of women from the Upper east Side who were women of a certain age who would go out to the Hampton's and they were just like they lived a very sheltered life and lived in a bubble and would sometimes say like wildly offensive things and they just had just and they would get wasted, and they just had a very like Upper east Side mentality and you'd just
be like, I can't believe I'm what I'm watching. And they replaced it with a bunch of like young, hip, fabulous women who you just want to be your best friends. And I'm like, I want best friends. I want to look at like I want to look at women who have had their marriages, they've had their children, and their kids are all off to college, and now they're getting drunk and they're having sex and they're going to like the Regency on a Wednesday night and they're just out of pocket. I love that.
So the new one's just like too.
It's like it's an influencer from Brooklyn.
I'm already bored with it and I haven't even started watching it.
Yea.
It wants to see inside the world's up an influencer, Like that's their job. We already see it. I want to go behind. I want to get into communities I don't have access to and want to see how they operate and see how they in their logic works, you know, because I have a hard time reconciling how you can like live in society and say and think these things, Like I don't like going into the world of an influencer. That's not me, Like that's not exposing anything new to me.
Like I know, it's like there's there's no like gated community. There there's nothing. There's no nothing I have to push through to be like, Wow, I'm finally understanding something. It's just like, no, you're opening boxes on Instagram.
Then I'm sick of it, Diamond, what.
Is your I say that as someone who opens.
Boxes, I don't need to see more of me I need.
I just miss the organic relationships that the women had, Like we heard stories about the fact that like castmates would hang out and do lunches while their kids were in school together and stuff like that, and these some of these arguments would be from like things that happened twenty years ago, like Sonya and Ramona arguing over literally address from like the early two thousands and they were arguing about it in twenty fourteen or something like that.
Like I miss that, like these actual organic relationships, whereas like we're watching the New Ronny and they're like basically saying Hi, nice to meet you on camera.
It's it's very weird.
Diamond, It's totally right, like those relationships also on Ronnie, Like on top of everything else that I said, those relationships are real, and they are they go back a long time, and they're very intertwined and there's like a lot of layers there that's like really watchable.
Which interesting take notes you're gonna boar with your castmates.
A very long and detailed response to because.
I have no idea and I would love to one.
I want to know your thoughts on the Jersey Housewives and if that in fact needs to be completely revamped, clean house, or if you think they can rebuild from where they are.
Yeah, I don't know, Honestly, I don't know with that one, Like if they decide to fully refresh it, I would be okay with that because I think unlike New York, I don't think they're going to say, Okay, here's the new New Jersey, here's all the movers and shakers that you want to be your best friends. I think they'll just find some more crazies and tend to fly, and you know, they'll find like like Marisa Antonia and you know, like Joanna, Jody Goldfarb or whatever. I don't know.
It just feels like that era of TV, like the New Jersey fan has gone, like it's coming gone, Like Jersey Shore was a moment that led to Mob Wives, that led to like all the Jersey shows that came out. I feel like we're kind of past that era of Jersey TV.
My hot take is that there's always room for some like Jersey Rupperknacking.
I went to a charity dinner not too long ago in Jersey, like in I forget which city it was, but it was in Jersey, and when I walked in, I was like, wow, yeah, the hair almost took me out. You can get too close to people. It was like natural social distancing because it was so big.
Yeah. I think that like Jersey will be fine because there's so many characters in New Jersey, and I think, actually, like they just have to I don't want them to go into like a fan beliep kind of place like Mob. I think the show is like, see, I like Mob. I want Mob.
I love like the Mob wives, like I want that he discovered his greed.
Okay, okay, well either way, I think I think that they can reboot it and be very successful. I think they can also bring back some people and I'll still work. I think Jersey is just such a cartoony place on TV. Like in real life. I know there's more to it than that, but like on TV, it's just like a whole big, cartoony, silly place. So I think they'll be fine.
I think that they won't fall on the same track trap as New York, where it's like, no, we're going to show it the real New York, and real New York is full of young, hot, fashionable people. It's like, yeah, that's true, but it's not like good TV. But like Jersey, they don't have to worry about it.
Just walked the streets of Williamsburg and see it. Yeah, you need that ridiculous stuff.
Yeah, it's more like it's not so much that I'm team Melissa. I'm just more team not Teresa. There's no reasoning with her, and I think that she's like pretty toxic. And I agree that Melissa when she's every time she's like, you know, I just want to like I just want to bring this family together. I always felt like that was so insincere. But I do like the new version of Melissa where she doesn't do that anymore because she doesn't care. She like dropped that fakery and now she's
just like I fucking hate this woman. I don't want to talk to her anymore. Go fuck yourself. I'm like, that's a Melissa that like should have always been there.
I think I would have appreciated that. But my thing that I don't understand, and I've said this to like Melissa in Joe when they were here, Right, if you are the level headed person in this situation, take yourself out. Like Teresa has proven time and time again that this thing in her brain, I mean in her head is not on all the time, Like and so like, what are we arguing with her about?
Let her go? Yeah? No, And I'm like I actually totally get that. And my co host Ronnie is fully on your side about that. I wouldn't say that he's like fully a team Teresa person, but he hates Melissa and so like just for all that, all the stuff that you bring up, like the fakery, the phoniness, like the insincerity of it all. But I just I can never get over the fact that Teresa is.
She's a villain. She's just dumb like it, Like I'm being honest, This.
Is my question.
Why do you get people a pastor being dumb instead of being like, I don't like the dummy as I watched her on The Celebrity Apprentice, and that is my only real exposure to her.
And it was that was it.
Keep in mind it was Donald Trump and Theresa. There was something that was going on there, right and then now then he became the president.
Talk about him.
One of the people we know is her working with the charity.
Basically, like the only reason why she stayed as long as she did was because it was like just keep her on the show, Like they would make calls every week to keep her in. I think they were going to eliminate her at several points.
It was astounding because my sister and I were like, she made it through again, huh yeah, speak right through? Howw I don't understand this? Then in the background, I think, like to Diamond's point, as far as you know, if you're the wiser person, if you're a more calm, cool, collective person, see yourself out of the situation. I feel like politics has taught us that that does not actually work anymore.
Yeah.
Yeah, when they go low.
We go high.
Now when they go low, you have to meet them in hell.
And that's it, and that's I feel like it's reality TV and it's where our politics are and I'm.
Here for it. So we sort of mentioned this when we were talking off the air.
If you wanted to convince me to watch The Real Housewives, how would you dive into it? Because I compared it to Marvel movies, like, you don't start with what you think, you start with?
Yes, what would you start with?
You know? I used to always say start with old schoolrony. But I had an epiphany yesterday because I was talking to some one about this, Wow, there's a fresh takes, A fresh take, a fresh take for twenty twenty four. Instead of starting with old school Roning. I'm gonna say, start with Salt Lake City. Now, no, come on, here's here's the reason why. Yes, I completely, here's the reason why. It's just it's more digestible. There's only four seasons, and so I think it I think people will be more
open in four seasons. They pack in a lot. I mean there's a whole FBI raid.
Yeah, there's, oh god, a whole bunch of stuff.
What do you think you're hurting me?
Because I've had this conversation with my cousins.
What I think it is cheating, right, because somebody like Andrew who only watches Salt Lake thinks that they understand Bravo and Housewives from.
Just that those few seasons.
No, but there are a lot of things that, like you're missing because no, he brings up like he brings up like okay, an FBI raid and stuff like that. But we literally watch Theresa pretend as if she wasn't going to jail until she was going to.
Jail, like she might not have it.
Well maybe not, but like we've seen this before, and just because it's packed into like four seasons, it's great, don't get me wrong, but there's so much more that happens and you think that this is like, oh my god, the best. It's like, hello, do we forget the Ninny Leaks was on TV for fifteen years, Like that was in sales.
Her for The Celebrity Apprentice. She was great.
You think think of like Sake City as like a gateway franchise, like it's it's the thing that will give you, like it's taste of lots of different things. I insist that this is the one of the very best television shows of all time. It is not just reality show television show.
It is no in the same category as like the Sopranos.
Yes, yes, I think it's better than the Sopranos.
And I just watched the Sopranos. The reason why is so much better is because the ship is real.
I believe nothing anymore.
It is. There's like layers of stuff going on on Ronnie, Like there are through lines that just pop up year after year. There's like there are relationships that are that are more complex, the most scripted relationships you will ever see on TV, like endlessly compelling. Like you you like it is. It is just one of the best shows of all time.
No, because Andrew is also the person that I just don't like his takes on A Housewives.
I'm sorry you takes are now impacting my takes because I feel like I have a very good take, but I can see that there's baggage from Andrew's takes bothering me. If there were no Andrew you, if they had never heard and just takes.
I wouldn't exist.
I would always say rony.
So here's the thing.
With Andrew, and this will be a good segue into the next thing I want to talk to you about. Andrew watched Game of Thrones, which I actually really really enjoyed that show.
On tip like you said it as if like no one really liked watching a Game of Thrones.
Well, I feel like after Game of Thrones there was just so much controversy based on the end of it, and there will be spoilers. So if you are in the midst of watching it, I'm telling you now.
There are spoiler alerts.
Andrew over here watched Game of Thrones and intently until the Red Wedding and stopped watching it after that.
I was good. What that was good? That was like me with Breaking Bad. I watched like four seasons of it and then I was like.
No, it's it's what it's up there.
Also it was okay, well it was I finished like season four and I was like, okay, cool, and I was like, I'm gonna step away for this from a little bit.
So when Gus got his face blown off, you watched till the end of that, I don't remember who you would remember?
Oh my god, Ben, he was okay.
The season that I ended on was someone was in the hospital. What's his face was in the hospital? And then no, no, I saw after that the wife found the phone. Then it's the season after that She's like, I want in on this. I think, was I watching it get breaking bad? I want to talk about Ron again.
There was a point where she was like helping him wash the money, like clean the money, but she was.
Still kind of like you thought was an affairs.
I wanted to get his.
Lung cancer taken out. She found the second phone she got pissed off.
Was Gus the like the other person who had the high voice. No, you know the guy who was like, hey man, what's going on?
What you then? What were you watching?
Gus was the mastermind behind the Mexican cartel, the chicken restaurant.
Oh, he's alive in my in my timeline.
Really missed a lot there.
I should I should finish it, Okay, I just the same for.
Me a few things.
Yeah, So Andrew got to the Red Wedding, which is like one of the most epic scenes of.
Game of Thrones, fantastic TV, insane, and then he just stopped watching it. He didn't want to watch anymore. He has no idea how it ended.
Wow, reason because it was just kind of like then the fifth season started and they're like, oh, here's Cadacimir and this is his cousin.
Like not even.
Gwendolyn and they it's just so many characters that I like, I really thought I would need a notebook and with like a chart, but you.
You can keep track of ten thousand housewives.
Well yeah, because it's like, oh, this person's like, yeah, it's Dolores from New Jersey. It's not like all Lady Gwendevere of the House of the Targaris.
In six different realms, butchering Nate to be fair in the Game of Thrones universe, and especially how's the dragon. Their names all sound the same, which is very annoying.
I will give you that.
And I know that there's also multiple names for one person, so it's you know, like Scenari's first of her name, house of whatever, blah.
Blah blah blah blah.
It's always like.
Mother of Dragons and they pick them up out takes.
Like twenty minutes for them to just walk into a room because they have so many names that they introduce.
It clearly also separates the thinkers from the non thinkers.
And here.
So Andrew stopped watching it after that, so he doesn't know anything that I'm about to ask you.
Wow, what were your thoughts on the way Game of Thrones ended?
You know, we're running form.
I don't care.
Yeah, you could ruin it. I don't know it was it wasn't an well. First of all, I hated I'm gonna ruin it all right now.
I'm totally coming one of the idiot kids becomes like a thing.
Right, Yes, that Ran gets the iron thrown, And honestly, I hated that. I've always hated brand. I always was so useless, like the sickly, sickly kid who can see the future. Fuck him. He just is annoying the entire time. People have to carry him around.
You know, a lot of people killed in the process.
Gets a lot of people killed, and then they're like, okay, we'll give the We'll give the West throws over Tim.
Because it should have been John Snow, right.
You know what.
I didn't like John Snow either. Okay, okay, he was annoying.
Honestly, Why didn't Snow annoy you?
Oh he's always moping around and like every man, he did have a hard life, but like lighting up, you're in a good place now. He banished to the wall. Yeah, he was bashed the wall. And guess what. Guess where he's not for a lot of the time, not at the wall.
So thatshed and then he got killed and.
Then he came back to life. Why are you not smiling? Okay, you should be so lucky. You have a lot of privilege, sir.
And half a dragon. Turns out he was half a dragon.
You can become half a dragon.
No, he was born that way you're born.
And lady really covers a lot of territory. Hello, I forgot that he was half a dragon.
Yeah, him and Denaries were related.
Well I knew that they were, like they were he was like secret targarian, yes.
Which is why well not he so he was a dragon from the House of the Dragon, right, that's why the dragon didn't freak out when he actually touched it.
Yes, while the dragons were mean to everybody else and.
Still not smiling. And he's riding a fucking dragon. He's supposed to bet a wall and so and like, here's the other thing, is that my favorite parts of Game of Throne, my favorite settings of Game of Thrones. I love being in the city and I like also the South. I really like Dorn and it's tropical confines.
Beautiful tan people.
Yes, and it's just like lovely and lush, and I love being all around all the wealth of like King's Landing or like I guess it, like the rich people in King's Landing. I'm just like, I'm that kind of guy who just like likes watching rich people on TV.
Okay, you want the access to.
Whenever you have to watch John Snow, he's always north of the wall in some cold area where it's just nothing but like pine trees and skeletons, and like.
That hated him because it was location.
Well, like go somewhere else. He's always every okay, every season it's like this, I think I know what I have to do what is it, John? No, stay, let's go to a tropical paradise. No, I have to go to North of the Wall. I'm like, you were just you just were North of the Wall. Take care of it in one trip, and then go to Dorn. Go to Like, go to Ess is so fancy. Why don't we spend more time there?
These are all great questions. We should rewrite this, you.
Know, like John?
Now, No, I don't understand.
It, John.
I really liked John, but I've so. I have a friend who hated the way Game of Thrones ended so much, and I actually liked the way it ended.
But by the way, I was not nearly as outraged as the rest of the internet. I thought. I was like, it was fine, I.
Mean, okay.
So his argument is that it was very rushed. Long story short, Andrew, here comes the ruining Diamond is like, I know a foreignlanguage to you in general, Denaris, who was our heroine through the entire thing, and you were rooting for her and cheering for her. Yes, they kill her best friend, chop her best friend's head off.
Yeah, brutal.
It was terrible.
Denara snaps and she takes her dragon and she burns the city to the ground.
You're gonna kill Medaria.
That's what you're ning get away with.
Anyway, she took that dragon and she burnt the ship to the ground, and they were ringing the truth bell, the bell of like, hey, we're not We're not here to fight, We're just here to be cool.
Be cool.
If you hear this bell ring, don't do it.
She heard that, she was like, fuck it, I'm riding burn everything to the ground.
See that sounds like a fun ending.
It was great. And then plot to us.
So you know that through the whole on for a very long time. I have to say, like it went on for like forty five minutes of air time. I'm like, okay, I've seen a building fall down. This is like being north of the wall.
I'm so bored now.
But also throughout the entire thing, she she had this this air that she was the daughter of the mad King, the guy who went crazy and snapped and they had to kill him. So then she went crazy and snapped, and John Snow, her lover and kind of cousin, kills her.
Yeah.
Yeah, now you want to watch it, don't you.
Yeah, you kind of maybe got me on it. I feel like maybe all he kills her. So I think here's my issue with the season that like one of the big existential threats of the entire series is winter is coming and the White Walkers, which are like the zombie kind of you know, you know, there's you know, yeah, I mean you have to get to them. If you watched like literally the first five seconds of the show, I saw that, like you got through the HBO screen.
But they are coming, and so everything is like building up to this confrontation. It's like, I guess the two big questions are who's gonna take over the Iron Throne and what are we gonna do about these zombies? And so like the zombie, the zombie situation is resolved by episode three of six episode season eight episode.
Season it was I think it was sixty seven either.
Way, like zombies taking care of midway through.
And by the way, who knocked out the zombies? Aria?
I liked her.
Yeah, Tia Aria gets the night King and they all dropped, even though.
She went through a sort of an annoying season of being like in this weird.
Many faces, many faces, yes.
But like the zombies, like it ends, and that to me that felt a little like it felt very climactic, and so then the fact that the show kind of kept on going was like, oh, so like to me, the season loss and steam from that. I didn't love that aspect structurally of the season, but like people lost their minds and I don't think it was like.
It wasn't that bad or I thought it was poetic.
I liked it, you know what I here? So I have to say something, which is that my experience with the Game of Thrones I think was sort of unique in that I hadn't watched any of it, and I binged everything ahead of the final season, so I had like a month where I was watching nothing but Game of Thrones, And so for me, I would watch the show and I watched you know, you just go season
after season after season. There's no downtime, so you're able to keep everything in your mind, you're able to track everything but that But what's different is that what you miss out on is that being part of that pop culture experience of like a season ends and you spend a year being like, what's gonna happen, what's gonna happen, what's gonna happen, What's gonna happen? And you build it up and then a new season starts and you're so amped.
You're like at level twelve and you're so excited to see what's gonna happen, and so everything builds on it. So I can imagine after like eight years of that or nine years, that you get to this final season and it's just built up so much in your brain that like, if it does not match these expectations, you're going to lose your mind. Where it's for me, I was like, oh, okay, Like I just watched the whole thing right now, and so this is just marching on with the show.
That's kind of how it worked out for me too.
I had to actually purchase HBO because I had a free HBO trial and that's when I started watching it, and I was like, what the fuck is this? Oh my god, this show's amazing. And then it went away and I was like, well, all right, HBO, you got me.
But I binged it all.
But I think streaming in general has sort of ruined that aspect of any TV show. When they drop it all at one time, even when they drop like half a show and then they wait to drop the second half, people are outraged. How could you make me wait so long, but it does ruin it. I tried, you know what, that's why I hate Friends.
I think I like friends either High five Ben High five.
So one, there was a lot you like that friends.
I like Friends, But I think my roommate in college, she would turn it on every night before we went to sleep, So I feel like it's like a comfort show.
Okay, I just was worried. I was like, for some reason, like I feel like Diamond, you and I are always so in sync with all of our takes, and I feel like today between Terresa and Salt Lake City, I was like, I can't take another third. I can't take a third take where Diamond and I are not totally synchronized.
Yeah.
So I tried to watch Friends, but I watched it back to back to back, and one there was a lot of like physical humor in the beginning of it, which was probably like a huge thing in the mid nineties, Umbrella, early nineties, whenever it was. I'm sure that was like a thing, but I was very bored by that. But also the whole the Rows and Rachel arc because you're watching it back to back to back, it was like
four episodes. It was very short when they were together, and then there was a break and then whatever happened, and then that shit carried on for the whole season, where when you're watching it really quickly, it was so fast. Yeah, I thought, Okay, everybody, shut up, get over this. But if I was watching it maybe one episode at a time and it was spread out over a month or however long, I probably would have felt differently about it. Yeah, but I find that show to be horrible.
I don't think it's like that funny. That's my shoe. It's not that funny. But I think that like with Game of Thrones. I read an article in the show by the way Thrones to come to the year, I mean, like the Bear. Yeah, you know what, if the Bear could be a comedy, Game of Thrones could just be slapstid for sure. It Actually Game of Thrones is kind of funny because there it is ridiculous some of the
things that happened. But Wesley Morris and The New York Times wrote an article and leading up to the final season a Game of Throne saying same thing, like, I binge this show. I watched it, I watched it all, I loved it. It was great, And he was like, but I don't feel like it's mine. He's like I did not have to sit through years and years of anticipation and waiting and going on the internet and prediction
reading predictions and what can happen? And like, I think to be a true Game of Thrones fan, or not to be a true Game of Thrones fan, but to have had the full experience, you had to have really waited and put in your time and soaked in every single trailer and focus on every single frame. And like, yeah, I think that's I think the end. Like we just binged it, and so we just had we had privilege, we just could watch all it was. We had time, privilege we had we could just watch it and enjoy it.
And with cool.
I have a very good friend who truly wants to unfront me because I said I liked the way it ended.
But as you were saying, well, you know, the other thing is though, like I like, how's the Dragon? But it does make me reflect on how rich and how like how multi layered Game of Thrones was, because like how's the Dragon's good? But it's just not nearly as like it does not have such a complete world as as Game of Thrones.
And I kind of know that good tropical environments.
You know, honestly, we saw our first tropical environment this past this past episode. I was like, why do we have to wait two years to get to a tropical there spent a lot of time in the cold and house the dragon.
Actually that's all he cares about. I need sunshine, I need tand bodies and.
We can we have yeah, can we have a palm tree?
And John Snow smile.
Okay, last question, and then I know you have to go because you're to get on a plane. If you could have picked somebody to rule at the end of Game of Thrones, who would it be?
Who should have inherited the kingdom? Since you erroneously say not John Snow.
Hmm, let's see. Maybe Brianna of Tarth. I always really liked her because she could have sat, she could have sat on the throne and then she could have like trembled her her chin a little bit and she'd be like, I can't believe it doesn't It's like, Okay.
You just wanted somebody who's very humbles.
The night the last night. Yes, I liked her.
Somewhere, yeah, sir Jamie.
And she's the one with the guy who got his arm chopped off.
Oh my god, yes, Jamie.
Jamie, Sir Jamie, Yeah, got it, Jamie character.
I think you know what, I think you should finish watching it because there's some really fun stuff that happens.
Yeah, there's some really crazy started book.
I can't not finish a book. It's like a really like so I almost feel that same way that the Game of Thrones book is just open and I'm like, I do.
Need to finish it.
But now, going in like almost three years later, I will come over.
And watch it with you, and when you have questions, I'll give you the answer something.
It's like a fun journey, like I think that like it's it's you know, like and like I do anticipate that I will finish Breaking Bad. It was like I didn't. I didn't say like, oh I'm done.
I'm not even sure he started it.
I'm not sure either. I think I did, but I could have just been watching an in commercial.
It's just a trailer on it.
When he sold that that meat dehydrator, I was like, wow, diversifying.
This is crazy. Oh my gosh.
All right, is there anything you guys want to ask Ben before we let him go and catch a super No, I.
Mean we'll chat later about packing cubes.
So it's fine.
Oh my god, wait, okay, real quickly. You changed Andrew's life.
Please tell us how Andrew changed my life, said, no one ever.
Yeah, because I went on a trip to Europe and I was concerned about like what my under the seat bag would be, and he was like, why don't you get a Duffel And I was like, that's and then I started researching Duffles. I actually did not get a Duffel, but it sent me down a path of underseat luggage research and I wound up with this amazing Patagonia bag,
the Mini MLC, and I love it. I love it so and it has so much space and I was able to bring back so many stupid Schokis from Europe and it fit under my seat and no one know, not not a single flight attendant or gate agent in Europe badter than I, because they're apparently very strict. And I have to say, it was just the most fun ever researching that bag and then finally getting it.
Have you brought Patagonia on to be one of the sponsors of your podcast?
I would become like a full on Patagonian influencer, and then I could also be on Roney.
Yeah, oh my gosh, they should let some guys on there.
I feel like they And I learned packing cubes from Ben because I was he was talking about the importance of packing cubes.
I'm like, I'm a new packing cube convert, and it makes the tubes.
I was able to go to Japan for two full weeks with like full wardrobe inside of my carry on.
Yeah, I was insane. I did. I did Europe for three weeks packing cubes. I mean, I had to do laundry, but like it still was you know, life. It was enough. Yes, well this.
Could be really important for us because we're about to take a trip together, the three of us and Josh.
We are headed out west.
We're gonna do Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Parks.
Wow.
Diamond and I were talking about, like what kind of luggage.
Are you bringing bringing?
Okay, is it going to be carry on or are you going to bring like a full suitcase.
Are you guys camping or plating at a hotel?
We call it off the grade, but really we're inside a hotel.
It is very much on the rid.
Yeah, you got for bears.
Uh A lot about this now.
Everybody is saying, like lookout for him, not just like oh you'll see one, but.
Like look out diamond though.
In all of my research, and we know a bear doctor, so we'll call her.
And we'll find out.
Okay, and all the things that I've ever read about bears, I can't remember a story where a bear attacked a group of people. So I feel like as long as the four of U state together will look bigger to the bear and it'll probably go away.
Yeah, and you say, you know what, excuse me bear? Yeah, we our radio personalities and whatever you do us people will know about it. So think twice.
I think that will be very effective. Yeah, so we did figure out our packing situation, so I'm excited.
Yeah, packing cubs will be great. You'll really like you're You'll be surprised at how effected they are and creating space in your bag.
Okay, Packing cubes and Patagonia. If you're listening, come on board as sponsors for either Sauce on the Side or Watch What Crappins Live.
Yeah say the live part? Uh no, actually don't. Andy Cohen has his Watch What happens live ours just Watchro Crappins. We do live shows, but we just we just stick with Watchro Crappins.
Okay, So if people want to find you, how do they find you?
I personally am at benmandel Kerr on Instagram and then our podcast is at Watch with Crap. It's on Instagram and the podcast is available on any podcast, plapforge, iHeart Radio, including specifically iHeart Radio.
Absolutely well, thank you also, guys, because we're definitely going to have to wrap it up without asking me anything and stuff. If you want to find you, Diamond, where will they find you?
Oh at Diamond sincere on Instagram, Andrew at Andrew Punk.
We need to change your So can I win? Can I win?
Roasted every day? I you can? I win every day?
And on that know, everybody said bye bye
