Last Looks: The Big Hit

26:33Jason Mantzoukas:And it's just little details like that throughout are killing me in the show as a whole is fantastic and scary, but it is those little details. I have not seen any show do that. Just a meek little like, well, I'm over here. I did that. You know, it's like a little, and just like calling out stuff. There's a moment where one of the characters makes a very big declaration and then is immediately called out. Uh, like the way that in a way that you would do it on stage. I don't know. Like, I don't want to give it any more than that and just say that to me is like the special sauce of Katie because she's so attached to horror.

27:15Jason Mantzoukas:And if you don't know who Katie is, what I was going to say is like, Like, this is a horror show. This is a horror show that is very funny, you know? And this is, if you don't know Katie Dippel, this is like her sweet spot. I mean, June absolutely loves it. My dad loves it. My dad found it unbeknownst to, you know, any connection that I had to it or anything. I think the best way that I can illustrate that I often will say here is if somebody, if I'm trying to explain Katie Dippled to somebody, just Google Katie Dippled Babadook. This is exactly what I was going to say. This is the thing. She is mostly known.

27:57Jason Mantzoukas:She's a brilliant screenwriter. We perform with her in Dinosaur. She wrote The Heat and Ghostbusters, so many different films. But she is a meme online because she is dressed fully as the Babadook at a Halloween party. Where nobody else is dressed up. No one. And it is this shot that really, I mean, you have seen it. You've definitely seen this meme, and that is Katie Dippold. Because she's also not a person who is want for attention. It's not like she posted that. No. She's into Halloween, and we know that. She's obsessed with Halloween in the funniest way. So this show is so exciting to me because it is like truly dips being given the keys to just run rampant with a very cool horror show that is very funny.

28:57She just kills it. I love her. I'm so excited.

29:00Jason Mantzoukas:It'll be on the top of your list. It'll be on top of everybody else's list. But I'm excited for more and more people to find out about it. I'm stoked. It's on Apple. Do it up. Get out there. Watch it. I'm so excited that it's getting so well received. And it's like, I feel like I've been hearing from everybody. They're obsessed with it. I haven't been able to watch it because I have been traveling. I was in Europe. I was doing some work. And then I was in London. And I got to see my Taskmaster castmates. I saw the reunion pictures online. I follow enough of your castmates to have seen it all together.

29:37Jason Mantzoukas:And it looked like a great time. It was such a blast. We had such a great time hanging out and catching up with all of them. I do want to shout out, Fatia El Ghori has a BAFTA nominated short film up called donkey that is on YouTube. You can watch it on YouTube here and it's hilarious. Um, she's so fantastic. And then season 21 of taskmaster is up, is start is midway through the midway right now. Kumail Nanjiani is one of the guests or is one of the competitors cast. I mean, this is a great cast. it's I would say more famous than in recent note like you know like in the sense that you know Armando Iannucci's in there creator of Veep and a number of other things surprised that he did this like in not you know just a wild and he's having a blast he's having a blast it's a great season they're all great seasons listen we love the show but it's a particularly funny season that I think is absolutely worth everybody watching in addition I would recommend everybody Please, if you haven't watched it yet, season two of Last One Laughing, the UK.

30:44I am obsessed.

30:46Jason Mantzoukas:I am obsessed, obsessed, obsessed. This show is fantastic. Season one was incredible and so funny. Season two, the head to head pairing of David Mitchell and Sam Campbell is next level insane and so funny. I have never gone to bat more to be like, can I host the American version of this show? I love it so much. By the way, this is kind of a tangential side note. I know that I've talked to you very openly and passionately about my love for traders. But maybe the thing that will get you on board is the new season of traders, which is going to be. Celebrity traders? Yes. When you mean? Yes. I've heard about this.

31:33Jason Mantzoukas:Michael Sheen. Yes. Richard E. Grant. James Projector. Yes, James. Yes, James Acaster is in the cast. And I'm going to mispronounce his name, but Ramesh from Taskmaster. Fantastic. It is going to, I mean, it's James Blunt, is it? Can I ask you a question? Is this normal? Do they always do high-end celebrity traders? Or is this a new thing? I don't feel like I've ever heard this before. Because to me, whenever traders has been described, it's like real housewives. And, you know, like it's kind of like Bravo celebrities and so forth. There's a couple of things to go over. I mean, I know Ron Funches was on it, you know.

32:16No, no, no.

32:16Jason Mantzoukas:But this is what has happened. And when Traders first started, there was like a handful of British celebrities in the original cast mixed with real people. It was an interesting, like diverse group. Right. It's kind of like the way when Mike White competes on Survivor. Oh, that's Mike White, but he's with a bunch of normies. But America was like, no, no, no, no. We're never doing normies. We're only doing Bravo people. But BBC has always been in front of it. But the show's popularity has just grown and grown and grown. So I think that they are like, oh, shit, like we we can actually really get high end celebrities.

32:55Jason Mantzoukas:And then following that, the next season, which I know a little bit about, we could talk off air. The next American season is going to be matching that in some ways. This this I would say wait until celebrity season two, because that it's going to be all the people that you like. Like it'll be a good and it will feel, I think, like what we like in the Taskmaster world. It's going to be more fun and more playful. But here's the funny thing, I think, which is like Traders has gotten so successful with the Bravo celebs that now they're doing a normie version of Traders that's going to air on regular television.

33:32Jason Mantzoukas:So Traders is a streamer show, but now they're doing the normie version as a network show. And I got to say, I like the normie version of traders in the sense that no one's coming in with baggage. It's a lot more of like, oh, I don't know. Everybody's a discovery. Yes. And that to me, it's like, because there's a lot of shit that I don't like. Vocally, I've talked about this, but I, that where when you come on to Celebrity Traders, like, well, you're a housewife, so you're definitely manipulative. I'm like, no, no, no. Let them play the, let them play the game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't because in a game like Mafia, you're looking for any reason.

34:10Jason Mantzoukas:And it's so much more fulfilling, I think, to to really be like, no, no, no, it's all here. It's all. It's also like you're not getting people's like you're not getting like people who are like trying to do their thing. Right. If it's normal people, you are really just getting to know these normal people, you know. And then my ultimate issue with the entire show is you can't pick if you're a traitor or not. You are picked by the by Alan Cumming or, you know, by the host picks you. So even if you are the most manipulative person, it means nothing because you have no control over who you are. It's not like I get to choose what side I'm on.

34:47Jason Mantzoukas:Like and and that's part of the fun of the show is like when they bring on, you know, Travis Kelsey's mom and they make her a hidden traitor. You know, then people really attacked her. I guess. Oh, I didn't know she was on. Oh, that's funny. So, yeah, Mama Kelsey was on and could not really keep a straight face in the deliberation. So she was booted relatively quickly. Oh, my God. Oh, that's great. Yeah. So anyway, I will say that I feel like if you wait for season two of Celebrity Traders, I believe that that will be a great time for you. And you will also get who I think is fantastic, Claudia Winkleman, who is the BBC host.

35:24Jason Mantzoukas:And she is just a wildly funny weirdo. Oh, great. Yeah, in a great way. Perfect. I'll watch that. Today's podcast is brought to you by our friends over at Squarespace. You know, I love Squarespace because with Squarespace, everything that you need to succeed online is in one spot. From claiming your domain to building a beautiful website, promoting your work and taking payments. It's all there, whether you're just starting out or ready to grow. Easily create a standout site using designer templates or AI. With drag and drop editing, it makes everything so easy. I have so many sites. the dinosaur site, the how did this get made site, the paulshear.com.

36:02Jason Mantzoukas:It's all there and they're all completely different because Squarespace allows me to adapt my style for each one of those sites into a format that they make look good. Does that make sense? It makes sense to me. Look, whatever you want to do, offer services, book clients, get paid. It's all in one place with Squarespace, right? You can even do scheduling invoices and they have email tools built in people. It's great. I love Squarespace. Go to squarespace.com slash bonkers for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use the offer code bonkers to save 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain.

36:35Jason Mantzoukas:Let me tell you something, people, when you have a bad hire at your job, it wrecks everything. Okay. It costs you time. It costs you money. It costs you momentum. And when you're a small business, you can't afford that. You need a good hire and you need it right away. But finding great talent isn't easy. So that's where LinkedIn's new hiring pro can screen candidates for you. So instead of sorting through applicants, you spend time talking to the right ones. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash valuable. Terms and conditions apply. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

37:14Jason Mantzoukas:You know, for me, summer is tricky. Travel's picking up. Kids are out of school. There's adventure on the horizon, but there's also just normal things to do. I mean, summer demands are tough and it can make you feel overwhelmed and you're just kind of sometimes counting down the minutes until the kids are back in school. Well, guess what? Whether you're someone who thrives or just survives in summer, you can also make time to take care of yourself during these warm months. That's right. Why don't you put a little sun on yourself and you can do that with therapy with BetterHelp, the world's largest online therapy platform that can help you understand your needs, feel more confident about setting boundaries, and create a version of summer that actually feels good.

37:53Jason Mantzoukas:All you have to do, take a short questionnaire to identify your needs and preferences, and BetterHelp will handle the initial therapist matching, and it will make it work for you. Feel confident knowing BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S. You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support in therapy. Sign up and get 10 % off at betterhelp.com slash bonkers. That's betterhelp.com slash bonkers. All right. So you've been traveling, which means a lot of time on planes, a lot of time on planes, a lot of time in hotel rooms.

38:25And but frankly, a lot of time not having access to like my shows or my stuff, you know, because it's not partially why I wasn't able to watch Katie Dippold show is because I couldn't get any Apple TV stuff.

38:38Jason Mantzoukas:You're not not rocking some sort of VPN. You know, I travel now with a Roku thing that gets me some stuff, but Apple, HBO, I don't know how to do a VPN on the Roku, I guess, is what I would have to do. I'm certain it can be done. I also like when I'm in different countries to kind of partake in what's going on there. I watched a lot of just, I'm flipping around Italian television. I'm just flipping around seeing what's what. Let me ask you. Yeah, you're we won't talk about what you did, but you're in Italy. Yes. How are you approaching dining in Italy knowing the egg allergy is? Yeah. So I had a card printed up in Italian that explains my allergy in detail.

39:28Now, that being said, I used it only a few times. Almost everybody was very attentive and very, um, uh, very on top of allergies, which I was very surprised by. Um, and so, so even though it was very stressful and even though there was a lot of eggs in a lot of the meals that I was able to navigate pretty safely. And so knock on wood had no bad, uh, experience. That's amazing.

39:57Jason Mantzoukas:Cause it's, it is to me, it's like, there's so egg and pasta, everything, like all these little, all the breads, all the pastas, all the, all the desserts, all the breakfast, but this is why you look so good. You can come back from a little time spent in Italy and not have taken any of that weight. I had pasta a couple of times. It worked out a couple of times, but mostly for me, like I'm in Italy having grilled fish and a caprese salad. I'm eating very clean as opposed to everybody else who's going bananas. I mean, it's, it's, it's so good. I know we've talked about it, but I cannot recommend enough the fallen rise of Reggie Dinkins.

40:34Oh my God. It is pound for pound, the most joke dense, funniest show on TV, full stop. It's phenomenal.

40:45Jason Mantzoukas:Well, I got to tell you, there's a joke where it's not a plot joke. It's just a joke joke. Yeah. And I'll see if you remember it. It's like in the second to last episode and they go to a deli that Reggie has like a sandwich at the deli and they kind of have this moment with the delicatessen guy. And through the course of this conversation, the delicatessen guy is like, wow, I sell animal slices. Huh, slices of animal. And he just said, like for cold cuts and he has this like existential crisis. I laughed so hard at this. I've never thought of cold cuts as slices of animals. And then I wrote to our friend Meredith Scardino who is the creator of Girls 5 Ever whose name was on the episode.

41:33Jason Mantzoukas:And I was like, that is one of the hardest I've laughed watching an episode. And then she's like, that's your buddy, Phil Jackson's joke. That's a Phil Jackson joke. And I was like, oh my God, I watched it play out. And that's how Phil would play it. And I talked to Phil and Phil was like, I literally just improvised that in the room. And I was like, and it's because the guy has this momentary existential crisis. It's so fucking funny. The show is a blast. And kind of like what you were saying before, like there is an improv feeling to it. Like there is, there are like what you were saying about Dippled show.

42:08There are jokes and throwaway lines that feel as though they're improvised or feel of the moment. And it's really satisfying and, and it's so funny to watch. I just loved it.

42:20Jason Mantzoukas:Do you know who I thought was phenomenal on that show? I mean, the cast is... Megan Thee Stallion? Always. Megan Thee Stallion was so funny in the show. Truly, everybody in the show just crushes. Megan, her bit with Radcliffe is so, so good. So funny. But the one that I was blown away by was Anna Camp. Yes. Anna Camp who plays his - Great episode. I was like, oh, wow. It's such a fun - Because I think it's hard on a show like that to kind of come in and up the stakes even more and like play in a different thing. And they do that. Also, it's really hard to come into a show that already has so many bananas characters.

43:03That's yeah, that's yeah. And to be the focal point of that episode. So it's not like, oh, she's got a couple of scenes. She's going to do her thing. No, that episode is really about her in a way that is like really hard and challenging. And I thought she was absolutely hilarious.

43:21Jason Mantzoukas:Just killed me. Just like literally, I was like, oh man and it's just funny because like i just feel like to me i'm like oh i didn't even expect her to be able to come in and do that yeah you know uh yeah so i loved it i loved it um dark winds season four is happening now it is i mean i i remain on record as saying i think dark winds is the most underrated show on television right now it is i don't understand a world in which this isn't the show everybody's talking about all the time it is absolutely phenomenal well now i i'm gonna i'm gonna probably ask another question where you're gonna be like no i've not had a chance to catch up on this but i'm gonna ask it nonetheless have you watched the comeback the new season although i'm not caught up on it i watched the first that's a good example of i were watched the first chunk and then hbo was one of the shows one of the things i couldn't get.

44:14Got it. So I've got the last half of the season to watch.

44:18Jason Mantzoukas:Another great like I love that we have adopted or we have been able to adopt a certain British model for these shows where it's like oh we can come back whenever we want. Like when Alan Partridge comes back it's always wonderful and great which by the way I think he just came back in something else because he just won a BAFTA at the recent BAFTA ceremonies. Oh he did something last year. Yes. So it's like I'm always kind of but I think the comeback this season is really really really interesting i also re-watched the previous comeback before this season i re-watched the old ones and they are just so funny i mean it is that is one of the most consistently hilarious series that's ever been you know so saying that like you know this season is i mean if in the very broadest way valerie cherish is brought in to be the center of a show that is written by AI.

45:13Jason Mantzoukas:And I had this conversation with June last night because she's like, well, you know, the show is bad, but people are watching. I'm like, June, though, if you look at season one and two of The Comeback, those sitcoms written by human writers are equally bad. Like, there's no discernible quality difference between any of these shows, which is, I think, is also, like, just meta-commentary, too. It's like, they're not, they're all about the same level, but people will tell you that show is great. But I think that is also intentional. There is some great... It's really, it's another show that has just an amount of jokes coming at you that are so satisfying and land so hard.

45:56And I just think Kudrow is unreal. I think she's unreal as that character.

46:01Jason Mantzoukas:Truly fantastic. I mean, they definitely, I think, are saying goodbye to her this season. and the ending, it just wraps in so many great ways and there's so many beautiful things. Like there's, I don't want to spoil any of it, but there's just these great full circle moments that like literally brought tears to my eyes. Like twice in one episode. I was like, wow. Really, really great. I love it. By the way, the show I believe that we were both talking about with Steve Coogan is How Are You? It's Alan. And then in, is it parentheses? Partridge. i haven't seen any of it but i love it i love it i cannot wait um the the disney plus series uh the the animated darth maul shadow lord i think oh yes yeah yeah yeah fucking awesome um more of that i agree give me more give me more it's terrific i loved every minute of it i think it's it's a fantastic maul who would have thought darth maul such a kind of problematic character in the prequel would, in the animated series, across the animated series, become one of the most interesting, most three-dimensional characters in all of Star Wars.

47:16It's incredible.

47:16Jason Mantzoukas:This is the thing. Darth Maul is such a visually iconic character who was so underserved by the prequels. It really was just like, oh, wait, why? Wait, no, come on. And no character really lives up to that level of look, besides him in those prequel films. And the fact that they are able to do this, I mean, the Clone Wars, everything was so much better in this show animated. It is a great world to be, these stories to be told, not just to be villains that are dealt with. To really build them out and build him, like a character who, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure I'm right. Darth Maul doesn't talk in the prequels.

47:59No. And he talks so much in these animated series and his growth is so fantastic. And they're shining a light on periods of Maul's life that we just haven't seen yet. And it's all it's gangster stuff. It's smuggler stuff. It's all crime stories inside of Star Wars, just as the Empire has taken over. It's fantastic.

48:21Jason Mantzoukas:I wanted to say that there's a thing I saw online and I'm just repeating somebody else's observation. So I'm not taking it as my own. but they said one of the most badass things about Darth Maul is that in the first prequel series, he does not know that Anakin is anything special and he is chasing him down on the motorcycle, ready to kill him. It is one of the most bad. He's like, Oh no, I'll just kill this child. Like I don't even, there's no, there, he knows very little and is ready to go. And it's like, And that really is like, I never thought of it like that. It made me laugh so hard because it's like, oh yeah, this is a kid who's kind of good at pod racing.

49:02Jason Mantzoukas:That's what he's doing. And he's like, gotta kill this kid. Gotta kill him. Gotta kill him. Oh man. I know I mentioned it, I think maybe last time we spoke, but I did want to thank one of our listeners very kindly after I requested that people send me Film Club, the Amy Lou Wood show. Somebody sent it to me. And I got to say, it's one of the one of the most wonderful watches I've had in a long time. It is so sweet and so heartfelt. And it's all about the movies and it's all about how we feel about the movies and how how they interpret and allow us to exercise and exorcise our emotional interiority.

49:44And it is dynamite. It's so funny and so sweet and so heartbreaking. And it's six episodes. it's a little bit hard to find but I really urge everybody to seek out Amy Lou Wood's Film Club

49:57Jason Mantzoukas:but by the way one of the great things about being in our Discord is access to certain things like this as we talk about this people continue to help us out whether it's direct messages or even simply have access to things that we might not even have access to so the Discord is not just about this show it is about the community around the show everybody is amazing before we disconnect the Discord board um yeah here's what i will say in the spirit of if you're willing to help me out uh please i'm looking for the gold season two um i'm i know it's going to air here at some point uh the gold season one paul i've talked about it on the show before is one of the best most wonderful like heist crime shows okay yes british show that's based on a real story and i'll tell you the setup the setup is the first scene is these guys go to rob a bank and as they're breaking into the vault one of them is like hey what about that stuff over there and they look over and there is and i'm not going to remember the amount but they think they're going into rob like a couple hundred thousand pounds worth of money yes there instead is like 26 million pounds in gold right which is about uh which I guess in 2025 is 88 million.

51:17Jason Mantzoukas:So this is a giant amount. Yes. So they instead steal that, but then have no understanding or capacity of what to do with it. And so the show is about all of the people that have to get involved, that they have to like now find and reach out to, to figure out how to melt the gold or sell the gold or bury the gold or fence the gold. And it is, it's this sprawling epic that is so fantastic. Jack Loudon from Slow Horses is in it. Hugh Bonneville, like a whole ton of people. It's cops and robbers, but it's also all these other people that they have to keep bringing in and all the ways that it's always just falling apart.

52:01So season two -

52:02Jason Mantzoukas:Well, I will say it's going to be on PBS apparently soon. That's what I've heard too, but they've been saying that now for so long - Okay, got it. And I'm like, well, somebody just send it to me because it aired in the UK over a year ago, I think. So I'm looking for the gold season too. And I'm also looking for a show called Soviet Genes. If anybody knows about that show. All right, we have to wrap it up right now, but we will be back again to talk about all the things that we love. Jason, great talk to you. Can't wait. All right, that is a wrap talking with Jason, which means it is finally time to announce our next movie.

52:33Jason Mantzoukas:Next week, we'll be going from gun shooting to parachuting. That's right. We'll be watching the 1994 skydiving action film Drop Zone, oh, I love this movie, starring Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey, and Yancey Butler. IMDb describes it like this, a tough cop teams up with a professional skydiver to capture a renegade computer hacker on the run from the law. Rotten Tomatoes rates Drop Zone 41 % rotten on the tomato meter, and Letterboxd user Justin LaLiberty says, where some see a poor man's point break, I see a rich man's terminal velocity, which released a mere three months prior. Let's take Go listen to the trailer.

53:10Jason Mantzoukas:Two million dollars a month for the operations and names of every undercover agent in the world. In a world of high-tech espionage. These people are killers. All that stands between lawlessness and justice. You leave the cop stuff to me. Is one man. Stage one is complete. Right on schedule. Wesley Snipes. Schedule's gonna change. Drop Zone. Rated R. Starts Friday, December 9th. That data's everywhere. If you want to watch Drop Zone, you can stream it for free on Hoopla or rent it at all the usual places that you rent movies. That is it for Last Looks. If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, please rate and review us and make sure you are following us and have automatic downloads turned on.

53:52Jason Mantzoukas:It helps the show and we appreciate it. You can visit us on social media at HDTGM. And a big thank you to our producers, Scott Sonny, Molly Reynolds, and our engineer, Casey Holford, as well as our social media manager, Zoe Applebaum. And of course, we will forever be thankful to the one and only Averill Halley. We will see you next week for Drop Zone.

54:41Hey, what's going on over there? It's me, Trevor Noah. You know me. You don't know me? Oh, you do? I was worried there for a second. Well, if you know anything about me, you'll know I love having interesting conversations. Conversations where we scratch beneath the surface. Like, what's really going on in the news? or what is that celebrity really thinking about that scandal that they had or what's the worst way to be a parent? I mean, you want to find that out so you can be the best parent, right? Well, regardless of what it is, this podcast is all about figuring that out, talking to interesting people who have interesting ideas that give us an interesting perspective on the world that we're living in.

55:24So make sure you tune in. Check out What Now with Trevor Noah, available now on the SiriusXM app. Ready?