The Westies, Ann Droid, and The Five Star Weekend. With guests JK Simmons and Tom Brittney

5:14Tom Brittney:Well, I think it's still part of the... I don't think it is that. It's the tension of the show.

5:19J.K. Simmons:Really? I think it's all about how their brilliant friendship affects everyone around them.

5:24Tom Brittney:Yeah, maybe, maybe. I remember, didn't we review season two? One and two. It started with, have you got that far yet? No. There's a big wedding and he has to find wine. I remember that. I remember it being quite funny. It's funny.

5:36J.K. Simmons:It's really, it's a nice, easy comfort watch. It's really, it's nice. And then I've carried on with Running Point. Running Point, which is also, which nobody else cares about. Apart from me, it's also brilliant Justin Theroux is great in the season the basketball Kate Hudson basketball show

5:51Tom Brittney:Hudson yeah she's great it's brilliant

5:53J.K. Simmons:and that's what I've been watching oh I also can I no I watched a film sorry

5:58Tom Brittney:you're just going to tell us that as well I also watched a film

6:00J.K. Simmons:I'll tell you what it is because it's I watch Sheep Detectives the Sheep Detectives oh yeah it's on Prime Video

6:05Tom Brittney:oh my god

6:06J.K. Simmons:Brett Goldstein as the two plays the two the parts of the two two rams it's great

6:11Tom Brittney:yeah it's a really fun film

6:13J.K. Simmons:it's a brilliant film I kind of thought well this film's going to be rubbish but I watched it. Oh no, it's good. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, sorry, I'm not going to talk about films anymore. Over to you boys.

6:21Tom Brittney:It's a while to wait to get to me though, obviously. I mean, I just have to mention the World Cup, there's just no, I mean you don't have to mention it. I do, because it is what we've been watching, what we've been watching section I'd be lying if I said I wasn't spending every waking hour watching, in fact, every non-waking hour, because of course the England match, the England versus Mexico one of the greatest matches in the history of football

6:42J.K. Simmons:at the Aztecs, Teca Stadium

6:44Tom Brittney:It was on 2am on Sunday night till like 4.30am. And it was an absolute epic, just incredible viewing. And it got record ratings. View numbers, did it? Yeah, for a late night broadcast, biggest ever in history. Wow. So that's the news. There's a valid TV news discussion there, which I've just explained. But it meant that then I had to go and see The Odyssey that evening on no hours sleep pretty much. and I did nearly fall asleep about three or four times during it which I don't think it's maybe not the way Chris Nolan intended you to watch it yeah maybe not but he literally made a speech there were two premiere screenings one IMAX one not IMAX I'm not bitter but I was at the non-IMAX one oh you were at the

7:28J.K. Simmons:non-IMAX one he very much is bitter

7:30Tom Brittney:I am bitter oh it sounds bitter yeah I think it's a bit of a mistake to have you know when the whole film is filmed in IMAX famously I don't know how you coped to have a at the premiere that I was not invited to to be in the substandard screening I feel very very ungrateful, but I just think, it just looked like a normal film when I saw it, and I want to see the, I think it's just a completely different emotional experience, seeing it in IMAX, I'm guessing. Anyway, I was not the best, yeah. He, he in his speech said, if you stayed after watching the England match, please try to stay awake, during our film.

7:59Tom Brittney:And I did my best. I think I pretty much did, I think I almost nodded off once or twice, but then Charles Gant next to me, poked me. Yeah. So I had that whole experience, sorry, James, that I'm, partly includes a film, going against the whole remit and includes football which is even more against the whole remit but it's just factually what I have been watching I have managed to squeeze in squeeze in and I know this is also controversial because our listeners are divided into I think I'd be interested to know whether it's half people get annoyed when we say we've watched stuff far in advance that isn't available yet to the people on the ground the norm is as you call them

8:35J.K. Simmons:pox, pox

8:36Tom Brittney:or you know what percentage of them actually quite like it quite excited about it on our behalf and from I'm just going to say two words slow horses and I had only watched one episode I limited myself to one episode when we got them you've watched them all I have yes but then I thought do you know what I'm just going to dig in and it's oh my god it's the most addictive thing on television I mean that's you know obviously we'll review it properly but it's just it's the addictiveness of it it's not out till September I know I know but I've you know

9:05J.K. Simmons:it's not out till September

9:07Tom Brittney:it doesn't even start till September it finishes in whatever like November

9:10J.K. Simmons:Why have you guys got it so early?

9:11Tom Brittney:Because we're special. Because they know, I think Apple know what they're doing. They know they want to build up the excitement. Yeah. So, you know, we'll say on outlets like this. Okay. So how exciting it is. So, yeah, that has been pretty much it, I have to say.

9:25J.K. Simmons:Do you know what I'm watching loads of? Like, I just, I'm so addicted. I'm not really very big on social media, but I cannot stop. My social media feed is just full of like Gary Neville and like clips from him, of him talking. That's how I'm getting all of my, I keep taking pictures of him every time he's on the big screen because everything he says is brilliant. And I've been watching a lot of him on TV. Just saying, that's what I've been watching. That is true.

9:48Tom Brittney:Yeah, we've still got the... We're still trying to get Gary to come on the podcast.

9:51J.K. Simmons:Yeah, you said you were going to get him in for me.

9:53Tom Brittney:One day.

9:53J.K. Simmons:Okay. James, what have you been watching?

9:56Tom Brittney:I finished Spider Noir. Great. Three stars.

10:03J.K. Simmons:Three stars. It's good, but it's not great.

10:06Tom Brittney:No. I need to catch up with Alex. I haven't had a chance yet. You need to have a strong word.

10:11J.K. Simmons:I know, I think I asked you this before, but I can't remember the answer. Are you watching it in black and white or are you watching it in colour? Black and white.

10:15Tom Brittney:Black and white, yeah. I watched one episode in colour to see what it was like, and I was like, ew, make it die. So I didn't like that at all. But yeah, I thought it was fine. I just didn't love it. So, yeah. Sorry, Spider Noir. The other thing was, so next week on this very podcast, we will be reviewing The Crow Girl. Now, Steph, it strikes me that you will have seen, you're looking at me blankly, so this is making a nonsense of what I'm about to say, which is I assumed you were all over the Crow Girl really excited about it loved season one couldn't wait for season two would that be a lie?

10:44J.K. Simmons:That would be a lie. It is so up your alley.

10:47Tom Brittney:Yeah but remember she's not particularly into crime drama. She's into crime crime But this is this is extremely good crime drama.

10:55J.K. Simmons:No. Oh well. No I don't think this is for me.

10:58Tom Brittney:It's really dark. Have you started watching season two? Is that what you're telling us? Well so yes but crucially I sat down to watch season two and was like oh I love season one can't wait to watch season two and I was like I don't remember anything that happened. And so I literally spent... This is a big twist. I knew the twist. I remember the twist. But I couldn't remember any... Like, don't get me wrong, I remember the broad strokes. But it's quite knotty, and there's a lot that went on. And with multiple timelines and whatnot. And so I ended up having to spend an hour watching recaps of it, of every episode, so that I could fully remember who everyone was, what they were doing, before I could get back into the Grow Girl.

11:33Tom Brittney:I spent more time watching recaps than I did actually watching the new series.

11:36J.K. Simmons:Okay, so this is... DCI Jeanette Kilburn, an eminent psychotherapist, Dr. Sophia Craven joined forces to hunt the killer of young men. No, that does seem up my street, actually.

11:47Tom Brittney:It's a lot darker and more twisted than the synopsis implies.

11:50J.K. Simmons:Okay.

11:51Tom Brittney:Like a lot darker and more twisted.

11:53J.K. Simmons:How have I not... How is this part going? I don't know. It's really good.

11:56Tom Brittney:It's Eve Miles and Katherine Kelly so I need to know. Yeah. That's all you need. Two great Scots in it. Yeah, it's really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was really good. I got Kay to... Kay was furious because I got her to preview this. and she doesn't like crime

12:09J.K. Simmons:no no no it wasn't that

12:10Tom Brittney:I think she quite likes some crime so she's like female led you know she likes a crime she likes a female oh it's got a great Scott in it yes it's got a great cast I must have what happened to me I don't know you know like

12:25J.K. Simmons:at the end of the year when they do like all the famous people have died and you're like oh that was when I was on holiday because you didn't know that person had died do you know what I mean that happens you go oh well you've got a week to watch the whole

12:37Tom Brittney:first series

12:37J.K. Simmons:I would do it you will like it it's better than Little House

12:39Tom Brittney:on the Bloody Prairie let me tell you anyway I got Kate to preview the show and she was desperately waiting for the screeners and she actually she's gone to Inverness or something and she still hasn't got so I had to get her to preview without seeing the screeners so it's a whole saga but hopefully they'll have sent the so they have sent the screeners to you clearly oh no or have they oh they have you just watched your recaps oh I will then I mainly watch recaps but yeah fine yeah I love Eve Miles

13:04J.K. Simmons:yeah she's brilliant okay I'm definitely right okay do you know what that means it means Widow's pay Fernandes are going to be pushed back even further God I know this does look really really good okay so you've been watching that

13:17Tom Brittney:I've been watching that yes which is exciting but we'll talk about that next week when we are reviewing it and there was another show I watched

13:24J.K. Simmons:if it's fucking Dutton Ranch you're going to get absolutely booted the shit out of it

13:28Tom Brittney:I watched another show another show I watched seven episodes Dutton Ranch of another show so I'm only two away from the end of the season of this particular show. Is it dead in a rush? And it also means I am now, I think, pretty much on a par with where you are watching this particular show because I have watched...

13:49J.K. Simmons:Widows Bay!

13:50Tom Brittney:I have watched Widows Bay!

13:51J.K. Simmons:Oh my God, I love you!

13:55Tom Brittney:Hooray! Hooray! Never let it be said that I'm not prepared to explore whether or not I was maybe possibly mistaken. So I went back and I watched, I ploughed through the vast majority of this first season of Widow's Bay to see if I can get on board, to see if I could give it a second chance. And, oh God, this is going to be awkward. I may have been... I mean, wrong is a strong statement. This is not the most right I've ever been, is I guess. Well, that's about... Is I guess what I'm saying. That's about as big as a 180... Yeah, I've been more right... Reverse ferret. ...about other things. Yeah.

14:27Tom Brittney:As is reversing over the ferret. This is one of the big...

14:29J.K. Simmons:Hell has frozen over. So where are you up to?

14:32Tom Brittney:I've got two more to go. Oh, okay. So I've gone quite far. through it because the two from the end one is fantastic yeah so I've done the one with let's just say I've gone through the arc with Hamish Linklater and we've just come off a boat yes so yeah a lot has happened the party episode is genius yeah that is my favourite episode so far is that the one

14:52J.K. Simmons:that you thought was going to reel him in the party episode yeah that's really

14:56Tom Brittney:in the first chunk and then the real reel are in it in terms of admiring the the quality of this thing is the penultimate oh okay we haven't even watched that yet The party's genius, though. It's weird, because it's almost, almost like standalone episodes, because it feels like he deals with something entirely separate each episode. Yeah, but how I was all tied together is part of the whole genius as well. Yeah, because it felt weirdly episodic. I didn't quite understand it. But I do maintain that while I do think the show is good, the pilot is weak. I do think the first episode is the weakest by far.

15:31Tom Brittney:I don't disagree.

15:32J.K. Simmons:Do you know what's really annoying about this conversation? You are both trying to still be right about something that you were absolutely wrong about. Okay? You were wrong. Both of you were wrong.

15:45Tom Brittney:And let's just leave it there.

15:47J.K. Simmons:You were wrong. But do you know what? You've made good. Both of you have made good. We've made amends. I'm really proud of you. It is really good. It's really good. It is, isn't it?

15:53Tom Brittney:I think the reason why I didn't gel with the first episode is partly twofold. I think the mythology and the horror elements I don't think really feature in the first one. They don't really turn up until you get to the sea hag in episode two. No, that's episode three. Episode two is a haunting episode. Yeah. And that's creepy as well.

16:10J.K. Simmons:Yeah, the scurrying. Right. That bit.

16:11Tom Brittney:But also, the comedy gear shifts quite notably. Because the first episode, and this was Boyz's main complaint, it's trying too hard to be funny. Like, it's very large emotion, shouting, screaming, comedy, look at me, laugh, laugh. Whereas the further it goes on, the comedy becomes incredibly subtle and understated. And there's one particular scene where something horrific is happening. And a door opens, and a character comes in and goes, I left my handbag. Takes it, and then closes the door again. And that is just genius, because it's such a light touch to the comedy that makes it really funny.

16:40Tom Brittney:There is also a scene with a lazy boy that made me probably laugh out loud, which is very, very funny. But again, it's very, very well calibrated. And I think the first episode has none of that restraint. It's all over the fucking show. But it's a really good show. So I was wrong. And because also, I didn't just not enjoy Widow's Bay. I actively fucking hated it. That was insane. Yeah, I really, really didn't. I mean, I struggled to finish the first episode. Really did. Jesus Christ. Props to you.

17:10J.K. Simmons:Props to you. Absolutely. Widow's Bay.

17:13Tom Brittney:It's good.

17:13J.K. Simmons:Well done. Oh, my God. Maybe it's going to be up on your list.

17:16Tom Brittney:Maybe. Maybe. Because we are going to get to that. We are going to get to our shows of the year list. We're not going to have a listener question this week. Instead, we are going to deal with our shows of the year list. Now, if anyone doesn't remember from last week, the rule about this was everyone was going to submit a list in isolation they were allowed now to confer or discuss it or share it with anyone else there was to be no tactical voting so it was the shows that you liked the most so essentially the ones you have enjoyed the most so it's not like oh I think this is really worthy there had to have been the ones that you personally have had the best time with Yellowstone doesn't count didn't come out this year so and Slow Horses doesn't count because it's not out yet so how we can do this I'm going to read out So what I did was, I took your list, I took your list, I took my list.

18:02Tom Brittney:And I completed my list before looking at your lists as well.

18:05J.K. Simmons:How would we know that?

18:06Tom Brittney:You have no way of knowing whether or not I'm telling the truth. I could be lying. It probably is lying. Probably am. Probably. It's a big con. Might have made this list up. And what I did was, I just combined the numbers. So this is pure maths. So blame maths for this. But what I will say is, two things happened here. so what this list has essentially become is a weird confection of shows that the ones that are near the top are either ones that one of us for whatever insane reason put really high and that will give it the most points or, and this happened very rarely there was a conjunction of the spheres and two of us liked the same show and that happened a lot less than you would think a lot of these shows only appeared on one list

18:51J.K. Simmons:Really?

18:52Tom Brittney:There's not a lot of crossover between our three lists at all.

18:54J.K. Simmons:God, but we, I mean, do I feel like we generally agree on things, do we?

18:59Tom Brittney:Yeah, but there's a difference between picking your top ten when there have been at least like 20 to 25 good shows already. And I took ages to get narrowed down from them. I had a top 12 and I really found it hard to get rid of the two when I should have did in the end. One of which I think probably would have been higher. But I genuinely have issues with one of mine that nearly got in but didn't. Well, I think if we had also been trying to put together a pilot list, all of our lists would have been slightly different because we'd have probably weighed it slightly differently. I think there's a purity to these lists, I think, which speak to our own individual tastes.

19:35I did my list based on, you know, when I can't stop watching it.

19:39J.K. Simmons:So I've literally gone through and watched all of the episodes.

19:42Tom Brittney:That is also how I chose my list. Okay. Yes. It's just purely based on personal enjoyment. Now, there's a lot of joint ratings on this. And instead of doing like, oh, this is joint third, so then we skip four. I'm not doing it that way because the list becomes very short. We only have like four things on this. So we're going to start with number 10, and this is the combined list. Number 10, we have three joints at number 10. All of them with the same amount of points.

20:07J.K. Simmons:Okay.

20:08Tom Brittney:The first is Rivals season two.

20:11J.K. Simmons:Oh.

20:12Tom Brittney:The second is The Night Manager season two, which only appeared on one list. Spoiler, it was mine. Yeah, that was one of the two that nearly got in but didn't. Yeah. And the third one, insanely, is His and Hers on Netflix.

20:28J.K. Simmons:How is that so low? How is that so low? It's almost like it only appeared on your list. You didn't put that on your list? Of course not.

20:37Tom Brittney:No. On account of it not being good. It was absolute nonsense, but brilliantly. No, I really enjoyed it.

20:43J.K. Simmons:Okay, I'm just going to put my hand in front of his face. Okay, we loved that show.

20:48Tom Brittney:I mean, you didn't love it that much. I loved The Night Manager as well, but it just didn't squeeze in. I loved The Night Manager more than His and Hers.

20:54J.K. Simmons:I put it to you that His and Hers has given more people more enjoyment than The Night Manager.

21:03Tom Brittney:Put it out there. Globally. It was Netflix's biggest hit of the year and biggest new thing, I think, I read somewhere. So much so, I think they're trying to shoehorn a new series out of it somehow. I will take it. But in terms of pure quality, it was massively dodgy this is not about quality no it is a bit for me it is a bit

21:23J.K. Simmons:he's making up his own rules

21:24Tom Brittney:I enjoyed my entire top 10 massively and I enjoyed his and hers but it did not scrape into the top 10 no sorry but you should be happy that it's there I am happy go on we've acknowledged it at number 9 on the list and this is a solo one no joints it sits alone Amanda Land

21:42J.K. Simmons:you didn't put Amanda because it's going to be just me you didn't put Amanda Land on your list No. What? I know you didn't.

21:50Tom Brittney:Why not? No, I loved it. I love it. It's great. I think, why didn't I put it on my... Well, again... Did you forget about it? No, I didn't forget about it. It was very... I considered it very heavily. There were a couple of episodes I thought were weaker than others, to be honest, on The Land Land. When you're... For me, when we're in the stratosphere here, so part of the things that mine have judged them on are is every single episode, does every single episode stand up? And that's why a couple of shows, and Amanda Land's one of them. I like it in general. I love it in general. And at its best, it's absolutely brilliant.

22:22Tom Brittney:But I would say there's at least two episodes that I didn't think were amazing. And it's hard to maintain that level when they're written by especially two people who wrote almost the entire series, I think, this time around. Anyway, that's the explanation for me. Okay, well, I disagree.

22:37J.K. Simmons:Amanda Land is wonderful.

22:38Tom Brittney:Okay, okay. At number eight, we have two. Two. And they are... and only by the skin of its fucking teeth, because you'd forgotten about it until the last second when you made me revise your list. Oh, I see. Which very nearly didn't make the list. Wow. And heated rivalry.

22:57J.K. Simmons:Oh.

22:59Tom Brittney:So, yeah, I voted for heated rivalry. You did? Yeah, because it's better than, probably a show that will be in the top ten, I imagine. Needs to be, needs to be. Similar show, shall we say, involving hockey and sex.

23:12J.K. Simmons:So neither of you put shrinking on, because you don't care about shrinking.

23:15Tom Brittney:Again, I like shrinking, but not enough to...

23:19J.K. Simmons:I feel like yours is now going to be just full of prestige TV. Oh, apologies.

23:23Tom Brittney:It's just full of prestige TV. That's what this podcast is about.

23:26J.K. Simmons:This isn't a podcast. This is about a podcast where we can... I'm going to redefine this podcast. This is about us telling people what they should watch and enjoy. It can't just all be prestige, can we?

23:35Tom Brittney:Yes, it can. No, but mine isn't... I don't even know what that definition is, but I would say that that show is a very enjoyable entertaining very well done show but it doesn't mean that doesn't you know on it's fourth fifth season it's not going to be in my top ten no this is just turning

23:53J.K. Simmons:into a long running argument between me and Boyd now no no no

23:55Tom Brittney:but it's like you're employing because it's not in our top ten it's not I don't like it or enjoy it but I do but top ten it's a big thing it's a high bar to cross it's like giving five stars or something an empire you have to bleed for it practically unless it's that fucking spider show Spider-Man. Oh, yeah, Spider-Man. Five stars, Alex Godfrey. Right, at number seven, we have another split one. It is The Capture Series 3, which both Boydie and I put on our list, and Silo Series 3, which was quite high on my list. Of course. Of course it was.

24:29J.K. Simmons:Yeah, I forgot about The Capture, actually. That probably would have been on my list.

24:32Tom Brittney:See, on a show... Shows that you got... Yeah, I mean... The lack of preparation. Shows that Steph would have forgotten about.

24:37J.K. Simmons:Yeah, I did forget about that. I really loved that.

24:39Tom Brittney:I think The Capture, in my mind, beat the night manager and I know it shouldn't be yeah same yeah because it was so fucking god it was fucking brilliant although I'm sorry I think it's a great series really loved the first half of that series the second half is definitely not as good as the first half I agree there's another show that goes the same for that fact that shares the same device right there's a show we'll see if it's in the top I'm sure it's in the top 10 okay at number 6 Standing Solo it's my one the final season of the bear. Standing solo? What? I'm just me. No, no, no. As in it's not contested.

25:16Tom Brittney:It's not a split one. It's just on its own. Yeah. No, no. That was on multiple lists. Right, right. I was confused by your designation. Oh, okay. Yeah. I'm just saying it is alone at number six.

25:27J.K. Simmons:Yeah.

25:28Tom Brittney:Oh, right.

25:28J.K. Simmons:It is the only number six in this list.

25:31Tom Brittney:Possibly my favourite. She's got the bear. I think it's wonderful. Loved it. Yeah. Okay. We all love that. Okay. And right, Now we're into the top five and it gets messy. I'm not going to lie. It gets very messy.

25:43J.K. Simmons:Strapping.

25:44Tom Brittney:At number five, we have a three-way tie. Okay. A three-way tie. And they are House of the Dragon Season 3, which is very high on my list. You'd be unsurprised to hear. Of course it is. A Night of the Seven Kingdoms, which was on Steph's list as well.

26:01J.K. Simmons:Was that on your list?

26:02Tom Brittney:It was on my list and yours, which is why it came so high. I don't think A Night of the Seven Kingdoms

26:08J.K. Simmons:has been appreciated as much as it should have been? Would you? I think it was quite appreciated.

26:13Tom Brittney:Yeah, it was pretty much appreciated.

26:14J.K. Simmons:Every time I talk to people upstairs about it, they're like, yeah, all right. I'm like, no, it was really good.

26:19Tom Brittney:Well, I think it's one of these things where as an entry to the Game of Thrones universe, it's brilliantly accessible, but I think a lot of people were just put off by the fact that it was part of the Game of Thrones universe. Like, if you're not into that fantasy stuff, you might not go for it.

26:32J.K. Simmons:Get on board with the dragons, people. I agree. Okay.

26:36Tom Brittney:And the other one, at number five is Tiptoe. Ah. Okay. Which only appeared on one list but very high up. And I wrestled with this a little bit because I think Tiptoe is a magnificent piece of television but I can't say I enjoyed it because I don't think it's designed to be enjoyed.

26:55J.K. Simmons:That was the only reason. It was on my list and the only reason I took it off is because I absolutely for that exact reason the brilliance of it.

27:05Tom Brittney:I can't say all the things you've said to me. I can't believe you're taking off your list. And you should. I'm an arsehole. Yeah, absolutely. At least you're aware of it.

27:11J.K. Simmons:No, I'm very knowing. Yeah, no, you're totally right.

27:15Tom Brittney:You're almost punishing it for being so good at doing what he wants to do.

27:19J.K. Simmons:Absolutely. I take that all on board.

27:21Tom Brittney:James has a funny look on his face. Something has happened. Yes. What? There has been a mathematical error. Oh, dear.

27:31J.K. Simmons:James Maff. I've just noticed that the show...

27:34Tom Brittney:Hang on. I'm going to have to do some live tweaking here. All right, hold please while I have to re-evaluate the list. We've had a shock upset. I'm hearing from the judges. I'm hearing from the judges. We're having the, what do they call the camera thing? The automated thing? What's the thing? There you are. Yeah, we're using that. We're using that. Oh, no. We've got a controversial change in the order. What is going on? A change in the order is happening.

27:58J.K. Simmons:Do you think a president of the free world has been on the phone and asked people to change a decision? Yeah.

28:03Tom Brittney:This is literally what's happening. This is happening live. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. The upset. The upset. This is changing everything. What's it done?

28:14J.K. Simmons:I don't know. What are you talking about?

28:16Tom Brittney:So, while tallying the lists, I realised something which has now changed. So, now something that we've already talked about has disappeared. God. It's fine. It's all good. What a confusing moment.

28:30J.K. Simmons:I don't know what's going on.

28:32Tom Brittney:the next spot on the list. James is having a breakdown.

28:34J.K. Simmons:I'm glad you're not my accountant. Jesus.

28:37Tom Brittney:All right, all right. Shush, shush all of you. We're going to number five again. Number five has changed. Number five is now, wait for it, it's another three-way split.

28:46J.K. Simmons:Okay.

28:48Tom Brittney:Widow's Bay. All right. Tied with...

28:53J.K. Simmons:Yeah.

28:54Tom Brittney:Industry. Which, Boyd, he put a number one and that's the only reason this is high. Yeah, absolutely. 100%. Not tactical, it is number one. And another one that someone put very high, Babies.

29:06J.K. Simmons:Yes, Babies, my show of the year, 100%.

29:10Tom Brittney:Yeah, fair enough.

29:11J.K. Simmons:Did you not put that on your list?

29:12Tom Brittney:No, it didn't. It was the bubbling under, yeah. It was 13, 12 or 13.

29:17J.K. Simmons:Was it? Oh, I'm glad to know it was that. Oh, no, it was brilliant. It was considered.

29:20Tom Brittney:Yeah. But it didn't quite, but no, it's definitely fantastic. It's in the top 20, definitely. Absolutely.

29:27J.K. Simmons:Was it not on your list, James?

29:29Tom Brittney:Industry or Babies. Babies. Neither were on my list. I judge you.

29:33J.K. Simmons:I judge you.

29:34Tom Brittney:Yeah. Okay. Was Widows Bay on my list? Who knows?

29:37J.K. Simmons:I think it was.

29:40Tom Brittney:At number four, on its own, a show that I thought would be higher. Off Campus.

29:49J.K. Simmons:I'm happy with it at number four. Yeah, that's pretty high. I'm happy it's on my list.

29:53Tom Brittney:It wasn't on your list, and this is the reason why it wasn't higher. Yeah. It only appeared on two of our lists. Yeah. So there you go.

29:59J.K. Simmons:Well done, you.

29:59Tom Brittney:at number three Reddit people will be thrilled by the way they will be thrilled is there a Reddit

30:05J.K. Simmons:backlash

30:05Tom Brittney:there's not a lot of love for off campus on Reddit sorry guys at number three small profits

30:13J.K. Simmons:yes yes yes I'm so happy about that

30:16Tom Brittney:so we were in agreeance

30:17J.K. Simmons:yeah that was my number two

30:19Tom Brittney:that was my number six

30:22J.K. Simmons:did you have small profits

30:23Tom Brittney:oh fuck no right at number two we're getting it's getting exciting now at number two at number two it is the second season of The Pit which of course Boyd he hasn't seen well no no no I've seen half of it and also I actually you didn't specify because I'm talking about the whole thing series one and two because remember season one didn't arrive until this year for us okay I'll allow it yeah so it's the pit both it's the pit both it's like a pit double bill it's a double pit okay yeah okay a double pit stop yeah alright so that's at number two now that was number one before I had to do my mathematical reshuffle oh my god But that's now number two.

31:01Tom Brittney:And actually, coming up from the rear, it's like the last minute, you know, like in a race, one of the dogs runs to the front of the pack at number one now. And the only show, the only show that appeared on all three of our lists. Oh, my God, that's weird. Is the bear. Oh, okay. Because I realised that I had the bear in at number two and number eight, or number six, or wherever it was. And I was like, oh, no, I forgot to tally those, because I added two of our lists together, and I hadn't added the third one. Basically, I fucked it up, is what I'm saying. The Bear is on number one. What else have you fucked up?

31:29Tom Brittney:Right, no, so the new order, I'm going to run through it very quickly. Number 10, Rivals, His and Hers, and The Night Manager. At number nine, Amanda Land. At number eight, Heated Rivalry and Shrinking. At number seven, The Capture and Silo. At number six, Tiptoe, and Night of the Seven Kingdoms, House of the Dragon. At number five, Widow's Bay, Industry and Babies. At number four, Off Campus. At number three, Small Profits. At number two, The Pit. And at number one, The Bear.

31:54J.K. Simmons:I'm pleased with that list. I'm pleased with it.

31:56Tom Brittney:Oh, good. You changed your team, because you were furious about 10 minutes ago.

31:59J.K. Simmons:It's just because I want you to like the things I like.

32:02Tom Brittney:Well, Steph, your top five were, at number one, babies. Yes. At number two, small profits. At number three, off campus. At number four, the bear. And at number five, shrinking.

32:12J.K. Simmons:Yeah, and I stand by that till the end of time.

32:16Tom Brittney:Boydie's first five were industry, tiptoe, by contractual demand, the bear. Not by contractual demand. Just kidding. The pit and heated rivalry. And my top five were The Pit, House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Silo, and The Capture. I mean, it's exactly what you'd expect. Yeah, it's exactly what you would expect.

32:38J.K. Simmons:I think mine's what you'd expect as well. Oh, yeah.

32:40Tom Brittney:I think we're all very much in character. We're staying true to ourselves. Yes, I think so. So there we go. At our half-year point. I've got one in my top ten that didn't come anywhere near anyone else's, which I think is. More than one, I would say, Boydie. There's a few in your top ten that didn't come near anyone else's.

32:55J.K. Simmons:What did you have?

32:56Tom Brittney:No, I hate to rub it. Cape Fear. Cape Fear? Yeah, I don't know. Cape Fear was quite low on yours. I had Cape Fear ahead of all the ones you were furious about, for example, Steph. I preferred Cape Fear very much to, you know, what were the ones you... Amandaland? Amandaland, yeah. For me, that was a huge... Other things that fell off the bottom, Cape Fear, Undersault Marsh, Your Friends and Neighbours, and Paradise.

33:19J.K. Simmons:Yeah, see, I had Undersault Marsh.

33:20Tom Brittney:Now, Paradise is the one I'm surprised to make in the top tier, and that dropped off. That was literally number 11 for me. And when we do the Spoiler Special chat, I'll explain more. But for me, there are a couple of episodes of Paradise that are just not great. And again, I feel like it let the whole thing down with a couple of just... And one or two dodgy storylines. I was like, oh no, are you really taking us all the way there and you've used the same device that is in the capture and it's just so obvious. Oh no. Well, you can listen to all of that on our Spoiler Special. Oh no, of course you can't because we haven't done one because Boyd refused.

33:51J.K. Simmons:Do you know what I'm Upset didn't feature? And I can't remember if it was on my list or if it fell off at number 11, Rooster.

33:57Tom Brittney:I was surprised you didn't have that on your list. Do you know what I... Because you loved, what's his name and his bum?

34:03J.K. Simmons:Oh, God.

34:03Tom Brittney:Leo Woodall. Obsessed. No. He's not Leo Woodall? He's not. He's the guy from... Oh, it's Dr.

34:08J.K. Simmons:Cox. Phil Dunster.

34:09Tom Brittney:Phil Dunster. Oh, it's not him. Okay, no, it's not Leo Woodall. Why am I thinking it's Leo Woodall? What's the one when Leo Woodall was in... He's in that other very similar show, isn't he? He's in that terrible Rachel Weisz one. The Rachel Weisz one was terrible. Yes, you're right, it's Phil Dunster. What's the Russian name?

34:22J.K. Simmons:We've got to think of what that show's called. Vladimir. Vladimir. Yes.

34:25Tom Brittney:That's right.

34:26J.K. Simmons:That was terrible.

34:27Tom Brittney:If we should do a list of our worst, that might be. We should, we should.

34:32J.K. Simmons:Yeah, no, that rooster was great. I think I really, because I wanted a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in there, and I think that was on the...

34:39Tom Brittney:It's such a Game of Thrones nerd. Just having two Game of Thrones nerds in the panel is too much.

34:44J.K. Simmons:I love Game of Thrones.

34:45Tom Brittney:Yeah, I... Boy, tolerate. I can stand back and see it, you know, it's not like that quite.

34:50J.K. Simmons:Hold on a minute. I think Game of Thrones is one of those shows is that even if you don't like, and I'm probably repeating myself for the 700th time, is even if you are not like a fantasy nerd, or you can access Game of Thrones and you can still love it, just as a brilliant show.

35:07Tom Brittney:I agree with all of that, but it doesn't mean that, you know... We should talk about it. No, no, it doesn't mean that the House of the Dragon and the other one is both top 10 worthy, in my opinion. I believe you're fine. That's maths, Boyd. Although, frankly, my maths has been called into question quite heavily. You've redefined maths, I believe. I might have just fucked it all up.

35:23J.K. Simmons:I think Rooster, yeah, is the one I'm sad about having not appeared.

35:28Tom Brittney:The one, I think, the show that I think we may have all underestimated is the one with Jason Bateman, right? Oh, DTF St. Louis. DTF St. Louis, which if you look at, because I was looking at all the publications that have done, like The Guardian have done one, and The Variety, and they've all got DTF St. Louis in very high. And I didn't finish it, I have to admit. and I feel there's a little bit of the effect of other shows where we watch the beginning of it it's the Widow's Bay effect it might be the Widow's Bay effect exactly whereby I didn't like the first episode for various reasons but apparently it gets incredible so I need that needs to be rewatched I haven't finished it

36:09J.K. Simmons:but I know I've watched much more of it than you guys and you guys I seem to remember you all had a bit of a problem with the pacing

36:15Tom Brittney:I did have a problem with the pacing and I thought

36:17J.K. Simmons:it was deliberate

36:18Tom Brittney:I thought it took too long over everything this is my critique of particularly the first couple of episodes

36:22J.K. Simmons:I thought that was the whole point of it. God, we're really at war today. No, no, no. We really are.

36:26Tom Brittney:But I'm really aware that that is a show that I need to re-evaluate because everyone's so... Yeah, let's go back and watch that properly.

36:33J.K. Simmons:Let's do it.

36:33Tom Brittney:In between doing the spoiler special for three or four different shows. Absolutely. Okay, well, that was our half-year review. Wasn't that exciting? It was for me. Shall we move on to a guest? Let's have a guest. We do have a guest, of course, this week. In fact, we have two guests on the show this week. and they are J.K. Simmons and Tom Brittany they are stars of the Westies on MGM Plus which takes us back to 80s New York City and Simmons is Eamon Sweeney he's the head of an Irish crime family Tom Brittany is Jimmy who's kind of like his right hand man and infighting breaks out within the ranks as they chafe against the Italian mob and J.K.

37:08Tom Brittney:and Tom came in and spoke to the radiant the effervescent Miss Helen O 'Hara the legendary Helen O 'Hara indeed and here they are

37:19J.K. Simmons:J.K. Simmons and Tom Brittany, welcome to Pilot and to the hottest London has been, I think, all year. How are you coping? How are you doing?

37:26Tom Brittney:We're very lucky because we have been in air-conditioned hotel rooms all day and I've been explaining to most of the Americans about the fact that no other buildings really have air conditioning and so we are very lucky. We are indeed. Very, very lucky. In so many ways, honestly. In so many ways. But mainly the air conditioning.

37:44J.K. Simmons:In terms of this show even, because I've seen the entire season now. I binged it all in about two days. It's a fascinating sort of time period and a slightly different, like, approach to kind of maybe gangsters than we've seen before. So was that a big part of the attraction for you guys?

38:00Tom Brittney:It certainly was for me, yeah. I mean, it's always what's on the page that draws me in. And Chris and Michael wrote these great characters. And I lived in Hell's Kitchen in the early 80s in a variety of crappy little sublets. So I had some life experience homework done ahead of time. Ray. That's really dedicated method acting. As well. Our director. Not in Hell's Kitchen. Did he not? Okay. No, but our producer, Ray. Ray Quinlan. Ray Quinlan. Ray Quinlan, our producer, who actually used to run with the real Westies as well. So, yeah, he was an interesting character to have on set. Yeah.

38:41J.K. Simmons:Was he a source of information? I mean, are you guys research guys? Do you very much stick to the script?

38:47Tom Brittney:I think with this, because similar to shows like Peaky Blinders, where Peaky Blinders is a real life gang, but the Shelbys weren't a real life family within that. And the time periods are different. With us, the Westies were a real gang, but Sweeney's gang are fictional. So it's historical fiction. But there's real characters in it. You know, Paul Castellano, the head of the Gambino side of the, you know, the Italian side of the gang culture. He was real. John Gotti. There's some other characters that come up later in the season that are real But yeah, the script was just the thing that led us it was it was great to be able to kind of invent our own characters rather being distracted too much by real people inspired by But not but not held back by Yeah, absolutely Yeah, it's still a modicum of research just to understand the vibe and the structure and all of that But yeah because because our characters were not specific guys that was freeing.

39:46J.K. Simmons:So how did you go about creating these characters and sort of, you know, building that relationship between the two of you as well? Because for those who haven't seen the show yet, you know, Eamon, Sweeney, your character, JK, is kind of the boss of these Westies. And then you've got essentially one of his right-hand men and one of his most loyal lieutenants in Jimmy Rourke, your character, Tom. So, you know, did you have rehearsal time to build that or was it a matter of just jumping in and trusting the script?

40:09Tom Brittney:I think we kind of, I mean, me and JK, like we met up Just to kind of get to know each other, we chatted a little bit about backstory because, you know, this show starts explosively. The first scene, you are straight into conflict, which I think is just it instantly attracted me to this script. It wasn't trying to spend episodes and episodes of trying to build up exposition or anything. It was a boom, we're in with these people. And I think that kind of mystery about who they are, it meant for us, it gave us like JK said, the freedom to invent our backstories. And as the season progresses, we find out more about certain characters' backstories.

40:44Tom Brittney:Some are left more mysterious for the audience to fill in the gaps. But we kind of then just developed our relationship. It just kind of naturally, I think, fell into something that felt real and had history to it. I hope. I think we did it pretty well. Yeah, and so many relationships in the show. I mean, Jimmy's got his plot at home with Bridget and his whole sort of group of young Westies that are perhaps becoming a bit rebellious against my regime and some of the rules that are in place. And my sidekick, Vincent Walsh, who plays Eddie Breen, a really disparate cast of characters. And then, plus, yeah, as you mentioned, dealing with the Italians who are, at least at the beginning of the show, the only actual historical characters played by Hamish Allen Headley and Ron Lee, who are both fantastic as well.

41:46J.K. Simmons:Yeah, they really are. I'm actually, Jake, I'm actually a Sweeney on my mother's side. So it's great to see a Sweeney as the leader of the show. But what is it about Eamon that makes him so charismatic, so effective, and let's be honest, so right most of the time? Is it being a Sweeney?

42:02Tom Brittney:Yeah, right? Oh, I hear some bias here in the room. No, no, no. I mean, he's been around. He's been around the block a while. I mean, Eamon Sweeney is a lot older than any of the actual leaders of the Westies, you know, live to be and still be running the Westies. So he's a survivor, and he's like an alley cat in that way. but he's the alpha of the alley cats.

42:33J.K. Simmons:I was fascinated to know that one of the leaders, at least, is still alive and in prison. That's crazy to me. It's quite recent history when you think about it that way.

42:41Tom Brittney:And I think being let out quite soon. Yes, 2030, I think. Yes, right, I know. There's two, I think, kind of major characters within the real-life Westies who, one, I think Mickey Featherstone potentially is out. It's Jimmy Coonan who I think is still in prison, but Mickey Featherstone is out and roaming around the world somewhere. Great. It's great to know.

43:04J.K. Simmons:It's great to be aware of constantly. Are you worried? Are you feeling okay? No, not at all.

43:07Tom Brittney:Not at all. And if you're listening, guys, you know, let's meet for a coffee. You have any plot ideas, aren't we? You know, talk to Brancato. We're wide open. Looking forward to season two, fingers crossed.

43:22J.K. Simmons:And, Tom, can you tell us about Jimmy? Because he seems like the most loyal, very competent guy when we meet him. But I think there's a limit maybe to that loyalty and there's a limit to how far he'll sort of be unquestioning at least in the following Aime is Ordered.

43:36Tom Brittney:Like he's been steadfast in his loyalty to Sweeney, to this kind of family, this surrogate family that he's got around him of these people who he's, you know, a lot of them he's grown up with, gone to school with the people that are part of his gang and he'd protect them with his life. And Sweeney as well is a kind of surrogate father figure to him who he's looked up to as long as he can really remember. And he didn't have a father figure to look up to, so Sweeney comes along and becomes that. And as you'll see in the season, that does get tested incredibly quickly and incredibly brutally. And it makes this character who's kind of been an idealist and really, despite the kind kind of maybe morally gray things that he does, is trying to have a moral code within that, and it gets broken, and that kind of starts to break him.

44:36Tom Brittney:Morally very, very dark gray. Yeah, very dark gray. Yeah, yeah. It's like a real charcoal here, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good.

44:46J.K. Simmons:I want to just ask about that and that brutality, because, you know, one of the ways that the Westies exercised control out of all proportion to their numbers was that they were one of the more brutal, ruthless, violent gangs around. So you guys have some of that to play on the show, either you're bystanders or you're right in the middle of it. What are those scenes like to play? Are they just, you know, with blood splatter and death and all the rest, are they sort of just technically complicated? Can it be sometimes upsetting? Like, how does that work with this kind of show?

45:17Tom Brittney:Yeah, they're kind of, I mean, it feels very wrong to say that they're quite fun. because you know that they're make-believe, but you're playing, and also you're playing someone who's not bothered by this as much. Sometimes, to a certain degree, there are some of the things that we do that are quite distasteful that even push our kind of limits as a character, but you're playing someone who's not bothered by the sight of blood or shooting someone. It's become their kind of norm in some ways. So that's an interesting thing to kind of play because it does, as an actor, there's some scenes that we have in this that, But yeah, technically really hard and visually very gruesome and brutal.

45:56Tom Brittney:And, you know, again, with the real life people that, like you said, like the thing, because there were so few of these guys, they had to resort to something a lot harsher than the other gangs who, there was more of them. They didn't need to do, they still did violent things. But yeah, the Irish got a real reputation for being the kind of toughest of the tough, really.

46:17J.K. Simmons:sorry that's sorry about that that's not great on our part um um well tell me as well about just like you know getting involved with this and and you know what chris and michael sort of pitched it to you as were they sort of pitching that slightly sort of extraordinary side of these gang gangsters what was the what was the sort of selling point for you guys uh i mean there was no need for a real pitch on my part i i as is my want i just i read the script and i thought this is

46:45Tom Brittney:really good. I obviously knew the track record, you know, Chris from back in Narcos and he and Michael with Godfather of Harlem. So I had confidence that that end of things, you know, would be really well done as it turned out to be. And I mean, we got together, we had a lunch in New York and, you know, by the end of that, I, you know, short of hamstringing my agent, And in terms of being able to negotiate a deal, I basically said, I'm in. Let's just work out the details and I want to be a part of this. Mine was me pitching to them, actually. I had a meeting after my first couple of auditions.

47:30Tom Brittney:I met over Zoom with Alan Taylor, a wonderful first block director who's done some of the most incredible TV. and I was just, I mean, to know that I could work with JK, that that was a possibility, I kind of had nothing to lose because it was such an extraordinary kind of thing that I thought there's no way. I just went into that Zoom with Michael and Chris and Alan and just went, I can do this. There's something about this character that I really think I can get to. And for me, it was, you know, we can talk about the brutality and the violence and that, but it was about the human side of these people.

48:07Tom Brittney:It was going, okay, we're not just going, we're not glorifying violence. We're showing that these people are having to resort to these kind of means because of the world that they inhabit. And that was really interesting to me.

48:19J.K. Simmons:Yeah, because they both have upstanding qualities as well. It's not just the violence and the brutality.

48:23Tom Brittney:They're lovely, wonderful, kind people who occasionally... Who occasionally kill each other, but... Yeah!

48:31J.K. Simmons:Nobody's perfect. It's fine. I mean, you mentioned the scripts there. There is one thing I wanted to ask about, and that is the language and the swearing. Now, casual swearing is very much an Irish cultural thing, a right almost, I think, that's very important. But I'm interested in terms of American TV shows. I have not heard the C word as much in many shows as I did here. I mean, was that kind of a surprise to you, just the length that the show goes to?

48:57Tom Brittney:It was a pleasant surprise to me that, because again, I'm old. I've been around. I was around. I mean, there are really no holds barred. Any of those words that you can say, the C word, the N word, the this word, the that word, we say all those words because these people said all those words. You know, the people that we're, again, not strictly playing, but, you know, loosely based on. And that's the world in which they lived. And I actually, as an audience and sometimes as an actor when I'm reading something, I find it distracting when people don't go there. Like, well, this is why would you why would you be saying, you know, you gosh darn meanie, you know, when that's.

49:48Tom Brittney:You know, it's funny, isn't it? If you've got a scene where you're shooting someone in the head and you're just like, you know, you're not saying You're not saying a sweat, you know, like we're not gonna swear because that's too far But you can shoot someone in the head So I agree. I think I I remember we had two producers to a Canadian producers who were Hadn't heard it read out loud for the first time and they came up to us and they were saying Oh, what do you think of the show? They said it's a lot of swearing It's a lot of swearing I said, oh, it's good, but it's good. No, it's too much swearing But for us, we were like, great.

50:20Tom Brittney:Because it didn't feel gratuitous. It's like JK said. It just felt real. And we all swear a lot in our own lives. And yes, I think as you've said it, I can say it as well. A lot of the Irish people I know like swearing a lot. And I love it. It is conceivable that there was a bit more swearing that ended up on camera than was ever on the page. Just putting that out there. If we ever forgot a line, we'd probably just swear. Just swear. Yeah.

50:47J.K. Simmons:It's a very handy placeholder. Well, listen, I've got to wrap up, but thank you guys so much and best of luck with the show. Hopefully you survived to season two.

50:54Tom Brittney:Thank you. Thank you very much. From your mouth. That was J.K. Simmons and Tom Brittany. Shall we discuss in excruciating detail this week's news? Yes.

51:05J.K. Simmons:Yes, but let's start with Boyd because I feel like I don't have a very good news. Not that it's bad news.

51:11Tom Brittney:You have some bad news. Yeah, well, I think we should probably start with this whole Sky buying ITV scenario.

51:18J.K. Simmons:Oh, Lisa.

51:19Tom Brittney:Which we mentioned on Pilot Plus. Lisa Nandy. Yes. Lisa Nandy slot. Regular listeners may be aware. The Nandy segment, as we like to call it. It's not really the Nandy. She was investigating the American merger thing. Oh, is it not? The whole Sky buyout of Paramount, NBC News, Comcast. It's all involved. But this is Sky, as owned by Comcast, which owns loads of stuff um is acquiring itv their media and entertainment business not their production business so what it means is all the stuff that we watch on screen pretty much that's on itv is now going to be owned by sky and um the the deal itself how the kind of the interesting thing about it is how it will affect viewers and how will it affect staff i mean staff i think are the ones who I'm sure are feeling in a state of distress because they just don't know what it means to them in certain key areas.

52:20Tom Brittney:But in terms of the deal itself, ITV Studios will sign a long-term content supply agreement with ITV and Sky covering shows including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island. These are the iconic hits. I'm a slave to get me out of here. All the daytime stuff, which means that there's a huge amount immediately, a massive amount of content that's suddenly going to be part of this merger between these two huge forces. Andrew Koslitz, chair of ITV PLC, said, for over seven decades, ITV's played an important and cherished role in the public life of the nation at a time of rapid change in the industry with securing ITV's crucial role as a public service broadcaster and this transaction achieves this with ITV's media and entertainment division combining with Sky to create a UK champion with the scale and resources to better compete with global streaming platforms.

53:09J.K. Simmons:Oh, right. Steph. Right. But it's a giant,

53:12Tom Brittney:it's going to be a giant of a thing because Sky's got the football, spends billions and billions on Premier League football, among other things. And the ITV has to, has to fulfil its remit, its public service broadcasting remit. So it can't just like not run the news anymore or, you know, all the stuff, all, you know, all the stuff that's running, the content it's running that must be, must fulfil the public service.

53:34J.K. Simmons:So within that, saying about the news, this might be a really boring question. So, you know, they obviously have the nightly news. will it have to still be scheduled like that or can they get away with doing it on a news channel?

53:43Tom Brittney:No, they'll have to carry out.

53:43J.K. Simmons:So it'll have to be within ITV1 and then they'll break the news. It's a good question.

53:49Tom Brittney:But yeah, I think that's the important thing to remember is that ITV still has, is still public service broadcasters like the BBC and Channel 4 and like those, we used to call them, I would call it terrestrial channels. It still has to fulfil that remand. I think until at least 2034 or something. Okay. Including the weather. Well, they did, yeah, including the weather.

54:06J.K. Simmons:So they have to, that is public service.

54:08Tom Brittney:Yeah, no, no, all that stuff they have to do after for it. So it's not going to, I think it won't change on-screen ITV that much immediately. I think you'll see some things, you know, like I bet Saturday Night Live UK, for example, will be on ITV. I guarantee almost that that will be on ITV at the same time as Sky, and you'll get an immediate, you know, ratings boost from that. I think that's an example of, there'll be certain shows that obviously, why wouldn't they be on ITV if they're on Sky at the same time? because you're fulfilling they're on different platforms and why not let ITV viewers watch the stuff can I just throw us back to Pilot Plus when we mentioned this and one of my favourite exchanges where you were like Sky gonna buy ITV and Steph's just response was why?

54:52Tom Brittney:which I thought was I didn't even need to say anything and I thought that was thank you Steph for

54:59Tom Brittney:the incredulity that Sky might want to buy ITV exactly like Lisa Nandy's response I presume The Lisa Nandy thing is, because also, just to confuse matters, Comcast, which is the parent company that owns Sky, right, that's doing this whole thing, Comcast and Paramount Skydance may still on, still might merge to bolster their platforms as well, which makes this whole thing an even bigger thing. That's where Lisa Nandy might have to investigate.

55:25J.K. Simmons:Oh, Nandy.

55:26Tom Brittney:I think Nandy Investigates is a show that should be greenlit by Sky slash ITV. Absolutely. Slash Comcast slash Paramount slash Skydance. Yes, completely. I've got some Widow's Bay news. Oh. Not that it's been renewed, obviously. We know it's been renewed. But Katie Dippold was talking about the origins of the show. And people may know this, but obviously as a new member of the Widow's Bay flock, she said that the whole idea of this was a spec script for Parks and Rec. It was written as an episode of Parks and Rec. That's where it came from. Which actually weirdly makes so much sense now.

56:01J.K. Simmons:It makes so much sense with the first episode as well and all the things that you guys didn't like, because I know I've said this before, I'm a massive Parks and Rec. I am not. But that whole office-based, it's, God, of course it's that.

56:12Tom Brittney:Yeah, it started out as Parks and Rec, and then she pivoted to more of a kind of a horror, mystery, comedy thing. So that, I think, explains a lot.

56:18J.K. Simmons:That is an absolutely fantastic bit of information news. Can I read you, this is not necessarily news, but it's interesting. Every Taylor Sheridan TV show and movie currently in development, we've talked, I know we've talked now, we've gone from never ever talking about Taylor Sheridan to only talking about Taylor Sheridan to only talking but just listen to this okay This is crazy. Lioness Season 3. The Madison Season 2. Landman Season 3. Mayor of Kingsdown Season 5. Tulsa King Season 4. Frisco King. Marshall Season 2.

56:54Tom Brittney:Frisco King? Have you just made that one up?

56:56J.K. Simmons:Frisco King, Samuel L. Jackson. That's a new one on me. Samuel L. Jackson. There's a picture that looks really exciting.

57:02Tom Brittney:So they're doing for that what they did with...

57:03J.K. Simmons:So his character, Russell Lee Washington Jr. so that he's he's from Tulsa King so he's getting it yeah Marshall season 2 Dutton Ranch season 2 1944 6666

57:18Tom Brittney:yay 4 sixes yeah Jimmy returns

57:21J.K. Simmons:Call of Duty Fast F.A.S.T which is like oh that's just crazy yeah that's insane all of that in production for Taylor Sheridan he's basically the king of TV if you need some money

57:35Tom Brittney:you can probably hit him up for a loan, I'm saying. Are you two going to do like spoiler special episodes of the podcast for all of those shows? Yeah. It's going to be called like the Sheridan universe and we're just going to do everything telegram. Imagine if you go home on the podcast. Taylor. And he is outspoken because I did a news story last week where he basically called everyone in the industry a bunch of twats who just leave him alone and let him do what he wants. No one day, he can say he needs to be left alone doing what's and not taking notes from any of these fucking TV executives.

58:02Tom Brittney:Because he just does what he wants. Because he's got 59 million shows. all of which, by the way, will do really well.

58:08J.K. Simmons:They'll all do really well.

58:09Tom Brittney:He's rapidly becoming the new Ryan Murphy, just in terms of sheer ubiquity. Oh, I think he's surpassed.

58:14J.K. Simmons:I mean, but Ryan Murphy feels like he's working on 100 projects

58:19Tom Brittney:that wants it to be fantastic. It isn't far off, you're right. But yeah, it's extraordinary.

58:23J.K. Simmons:Yeah, no, Dutton Branch is now a thing. We just do that now. Let's just start our little side hustle.

58:26Tom Brittney:Talking of Ryan Murphy, segue.

58:29J.K. Simmons:Yeah.

58:30Tom Brittney:The more news on The Shards, which is my most highly anticipated show of the year. Really? really? Pray tell. The Brett Easton Ellis novel, on which it's based, is my favourite novel of the last five years. Praise indeed. It's fantastic. I absolutely love it. And he was talking about it on his own podcast the other night. I was listening to him and he complained that. He said, he had the guest on who's like a writer saying, were you allowed to talk about the Shards and what you think of it? He said, I'm not allowed to talk about what I think of it, but I will say, I have no issues with it. He's seen two episodes and he had to go to a screening room to see them for, for, you know, reasons of security and confidentiality.

59:08Tom Brittney:And he was like, why can't they just send me a link? Why can't Ryan Murphy just send me a link? And even Brayson and Lennon had to go somewhere to watch the thing. That's wild. Now I can't complain the fact that I haven't got a link yet for the show. But what they announced this week is that, so the show starts on August 6th on Disney Plus in the UK, and it's going to include original music by Troy Sivan, Leland, and Haynes Warner. And I'm presuming as a representative of young people, Steph, on this show. I'm 45. You might have heard of some of those people.

59:36J.K. Simmons:I represent no young people. No. I've heard of Troye Sivan,

59:40Tom Brittney:but I haven't heard of Leland and Haynes. Well, I've heard of none of them.

59:43J.K. Simmons:Can you, for people who don't know, just give us an idea of what The Shards is about?

59:47Tom Brittney:The Shards is set in the 80s, and it's about a character called Bret Easton Ellis who went to posh private school in the 80s and his circle as friends. At the same time, and it's all about the kind of the love, romance and sex in this group of friends. in mid-80s LA where the real Brayson Ness did all that and at the same time there's a serial killer on the loose and they're trying to work out who the serial killer is.

1:00:15J.K. Simmons:I'm going to read it.

1:00:16Tom Brittney:Yeah. But the key to it is he created it all off the cuff and he read it all. He read the whole thing every week on his podcast and week in, week out he'd start the podcast with like a 15, 20 minute... He read the whole book. The whole book. And he didn't even write it to be published. he didn't make any deal with any publisher about it and his agent said you are a fucking idiot you've got to get this thing published because it's amazing and he was like alright then and then it was published as a normal book but it's like a 550 page epic

1:00:46J.K. Simmons:how long did it take you to read?

1:00:48Tom Brittney:oh like a few days like three or four days I would say

1:00:51J.K. Simmons:I reckon if four days for you is like a month for me okay fine

1:00:55Tom Brittney:I'm going to do it and in this case the merging of talents Ryan Murphy is precisely the right person because of his audacity, I think, as much as anything. And I hated Ryan Murphy's last thing, except that he didn't actually... Yeah, I mean, it's only hit him by associations. Yeah, exactly. But all of his stuff generally I think is really good for... I love the American Horror Story and most of them. Anyway, so him being the producer of this slash creator of this show for me fits perfectly. So I'm very excited.

1:01:24J.K. Simmons:Oh, you've made me really excited about that.

1:01:26Tom Brittney:Yeah, we'll see what happens.

1:01:27J.K. Simmons:Do you guys care about Ludwig? Yeah.

1:01:30Tom Brittney:A lot of people do, yeah.

1:01:31J.K. Simmons:So it's renewed for a third season.

1:01:33Tom Brittney:Before the second season's even aired.

1:01:35J.K. Simmons:Which I find, this is my point about this new story, I find this so interesting. So before, like it returns this summer and it's already been renewed. How does that work? Like what?

1:01:45Tom Brittney:Because they know, it was such a hit, the first series.

1:01:49J.K. Simmons:So Anna Maxwell Martin, obviously everything she's in is brilliant. David Mitchell. Yeah, and David Mitchell. Yes, of course.

1:01:53Tom Brittney:Let's not forget.

1:01:54J.K. Simmons:Sorry, I wouldn't.

1:01:55Tom Brittney:Who is literally Ludwig. Literally the start. Yeah, I know,

1:01:57J.K. Simmons:but I'm just saying, everything she's in is amazing oh yeah she's brilliant

1:02:00Tom Brittney:they're both brilliant him from of course what I lied to you the greatest

1:02:04J.K. Simmons:panel show on TV

1:02:07Tom Brittney:the greatest panel show I said not the greatest show if you could name me a better panel show I'd be interested James as a connoisseur of the format do love a panel yeah I think it's completely unexpected to be expected because it was a massive massive hit they know anticipation for series 2 is huge it's going to be a huge hit why wouldn't they commission series 3 so yeah

1:02:27J.K. Simmons:do you think they do that you know they get in early and yeah it's a little boost

1:02:33Tom Brittney:it's a little it's a nice it happens quite a lot and when it does happen it's no coincidence that it's announced a couple of weeks before the next series because it's a little everyone's going oh it's that exciting it's that good they've already commissioned the next series okay so a little trick yeah it's a quite common device I think but great for the creative people yeah because yeah they know they're coming back do we have any other news no that's my news that's all the news we have or the only thing I would say is there's a host that's been announced for the Emmys this year

1:03:02J.K. Simmons:do you know who it is

1:03:03Tom Brittney:no Mariska Hargitay

1:03:05J.K. Simmons:oh yes thought you'd like that oh I do like that oh my god Olivia Benson

1:03:10Tom Brittney:investigates the Emmys yes oh she's going to be great

1:03:13J.K. Simmons:oh no you're not pleased with that

1:03:15Tom Brittney:well you know what I always say though about all awards ceremonies comedians not actors comedians you've got to go for comedians she's the first woman to host the Emmys since Jane Lynch did it wow that's interesting it's a bold choice and she is a legend and you know that's her you know law and order it's like you know been going on for 59 million series but you've got to have a comedian

1:03:35J.K. Simmons:I don't know she's Jane Mansfield's daughter for God's sake come on and she's a legend she's a legend

1:03:40Tom Brittney:a total legend but it's just misguided remember when they had Anne Hathaway and who was it hosting the fucker Joe Franco that was historically terrible not as bad as Seth MacFarlane who I maintain was the all time he was the pits

1:03:51J.K. Simmons:I can't remember why you hate Seth MacFarlane

1:03:54Tom Brittney:he hates that kind of stupid It's stupid humour. It's stupid humour. Yeah, it's totally... It's stupid humour. So I don't like any of his stuff. I mean, I don't like... When he opened the Oscars with that song, We Saw Your Boobs. And then when the camera paled across, the actress's stony face. He's like, fucking judge your crowd. Like, what on earth?

1:04:14J.K. Simmons:Do you not like Ted at all?

1:04:16Tom Brittney:No. I hate Ted. I can't stand Ted. The one thing that he's done that I quite liked, and I can't remember what it was, what's the thing he did? He did that terrible Western film, which was before. or what did you do before that? He did one thing that I quite liked. What, like Family Guy or something? Family Guy. You may have heard of it. My Family Guy. But I remember because I was on the Oscars show, of course, the live show when he hosted and we were like, the whole boob thing was like, well, how do we react to that? It's like, what are you doing? What are you doing?

1:04:43J.K. Simmons:I think he's funny.

1:04:44Tom Brittney:Do you?

1:04:45J.K. Simmons:Yeah.

1:04:45Tom Brittney:Okay.

1:04:46J.K. Simmons:I can't believe you don't like Ted.

1:04:48Tom Brittney:Well, there are moments in Ted that are quite funny, to be fair.

1:04:51J.K. Simmons:Until the show is funny.

1:04:52Tom Brittney:Yeah, not in the show. The second film is awful. The second film is not good.

1:04:56J.K. Simmons:The first film is brilliant.

1:04:57Tom Brittney:The first film is one of the best things it's done, I would say, yeah.

1:05:02J.K. Simmons:Okay.

1:05:02Tom Brittney:Although the bar is low. Anyway, anyway, anyway, the animation lot will be going to be baying for our blood after that, unfortunately. I don't think our X-Men 97 evisceration went out particularly well. You know what?

1:05:14J.K. Simmons:Someone contacted me, actually, to talk about Maul Shadow Lord, and we had a little bit of a discussion about how excellent that animation is.

1:05:23Tom Brittney:Did you find it to be excellent, Steph?

1:05:25J.K. Simmons:I did find it to be excellent. Did you watch all of Maul Shadow? No, and I was just saying, I've only watched one episode, but I really enjoyed it. It's good, Maul Shadow. It's good if you like animation, which I do, because obviously I am the animation expert. You are the animation correspondent. What people are not happy about, X-Men, what we said about X-Men.

1:05:41Tom Brittney:It was probably me, because I'm...

1:05:42J.K. Simmons:I think we said it was great. I think there is an understanding

1:05:46Tom Brittney:that the animation fans who listen to this podcast, whenever we tackle an animation, I think they take a deep breath and just wait for us to get it wrong which is my fault

1:05:58J.K. Simmons:I think that's fine I think that we're not animation experts and we can accept that

1:06:02Tom Brittney:I'll tell you what we've got coming out though because it's just popped into my oh AliCats I'm off that week so I look forward to hearing boy did you do a massive reverse animated ferret you're going to love AliCats be like oh it's amazing oh the animation is extraordinary yeah

1:06:17J.K. Simmons:like I think you said before if you go by the trailer it's going to be great yeah

1:06:21Tom Brittney:Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm sure there'll be complaints one way or another. It's fine. I can deal with that. I don't look at them anyway, so it's fine. Yeah. I can't advise no one to. The birds are singing. The sweat is sweating. The heat is pounding. It is, checks temperature, about 32 degrees. It is Thursday morning, the day after the 2026 primetime Emmy nominations were announced. And we thought, you know, we could let it go. We could leave it unheralded. We could not acknowledge it in any way, shape or form, given that we've already recorded the podcast for Monday. But no, no, we are professionals.

1:06:55Tom Brittney:So, Boyd, Steph, we are up here in the heat, back on the podcast to talk about the Emmys. And look, Weirdos Bay may have done quite well.

1:07:09J.K. Simmons:What I think is so brilliant about this Emmys list, okay, had you not just in time reprieved yourself with your awful, awful, awful review of Widow's Bay when we first did it, then I would be putting this right in your face and saying...

1:07:26Tom Brittney:Dodged the bullet there, didn't I?

1:07:27J.K. Simmons:Yeah, you really did. And saying, look, everybody else loves Widow's Bay. Okay.

1:07:33Tom Brittney:Yes, that is absolutely marvellous. I think it's, is it 19, 19 nominations for Widow's Bay? 19. Which is extraordinary. What have we got? We've got 25 nominations for The Pit. Hacks got 24 nominations in its final season and Widows Bay got 19, edging ahead of Pluribus, which got 18, also for Apple. Apple had a very good year at the Emmys this year. But Widows Bay got the most number for a comedy. It's true. And you know what? Even though the bear routinely and again gets nominated as a comedy, despite not being a comedy, Widows Bay genuinely is a comedy. And dare I say it, oh God, this causes me actual physical pain.

1:08:12Tom Brittney:It's genuinely very funny. I think it's really interesting when you're looking at the most nominated shows that three of those, no, four of those shows did not feature in any of our lists.

1:08:23J.K. Simmons:So Hacks didn't feature in our mid-year list.

1:08:26Tom Brittney:Yeah, Hacks should have been in it.

1:08:26J.K. Simmons:But Pluribus didn't feature. Beef didn't feature. Hang on.

1:08:29Tom Brittney:No, no, no. Hang on. Pluribus isn't this year. Pluribus isn't this year. Oh, no. Okay, fine. So that would have been on my list if it was this year. The glaring omission was Hacks, above all else, which we didn't mention at all in our top tens of the year so far. And I blame you two, because I don't think you two really watch Hacks, do you? No, no. Yeah, you see, this is the problem. Our system falls apart, because if you two don't have the common decency to watch one of the best shows on TV, you know, what can I do? So, yeah, I blame you guys for the Hacks omission, because Hacks was brilliant.

1:09:02J.K. Simmons:Okay, so the other thing is, right, so DTF St. Louis, which none of us have finished has got 13 nominations and Boyd did point this out that we this is also a glaring omission from us really isn't it? Is it St. Louis or St. Louis?

1:09:15Tom Brittney:What did we decide on in the name? Louis, it's St. Louis It's St. Louis Did I say St.

1:09:19J.K. Simmons:Louis?

1:09:19Tom Brittney:I think so As English people I think we're allowed to get it wrong I think it's because

1:09:23J.K. Simmons:I always think of me at St. Louis and then it doesn't you don't think she says Louis does she? I don't think she's I don't think Judy Gardner says Louis I don't know anyway it is St. Louis Anyway

1:09:35Tom Brittney:It's fine It's fine We know We digress But that show That ETF show As I'm calling it Yeah Yes Is probably a glaring Emission on our part I'm vowing to watch The rest of that series Because

1:09:46J.K. Simmons:I too am vowing To watch it Because

1:09:48Tom Brittney:I am not making that vow

1:09:48J.K. Simmons:I love Jason Bateman And we I really loved it At the time And we're repeating Ourselves When we say again Boyd you had pacing issues Yeah yeah yeah It was my fault Yeah

1:09:58Tom Brittney:Definitely Boyd's fault I reckon he For me like Boyd Just coloured my whole view Of the whole thing So really it was It was all down to I'm sorry. Now, we should mention a couple of things here, which is that Connor Story got an Emmy nomination, but for his hosting of Saturday Night Live, no mention of Heated Rivalry. A lot of people mention that, but it's because Heated Rivalry is literally not eligible for the Emmys. So that's the reason it has been nominated. It's fully Canadian funded. So it is only eligible for the international Emmys, not the primetime Emmy. So that's why that has been quote unquote snubbed.

1:10:27Tom Brittney:As for off campus, I've no idea why that didn't sweep the board. I think it's probably a reminder that in the real world. Yeah, I know. You know, Off Campus isn't quite as revered as these, but like, oh, guys.

1:10:39J.K. Simmons:I would say the opposite. I would say that actually the Emmys nominations isn't really the real world. And actually the real world, in the real world nominations, Off Campus would be up there. You know? Yes!

1:10:50Tom Brittney:I think it's great, don't get me wrong, for many, many reasons. But I understand why it's not getting Emmy nominations.

1:10:55J.K. Simmons:Okay. Are you surprised by any of these noms?

1:10:59Tom Brittney:Am I surprised by them? I'm honestly surprised by the sheer volume of Pitt acting nominations. Now, I haven't checked the list, but I believe the Pitt is nominated. If you look in the, I think it's Supporting Actors category, they've got four nominations in that category. And I think Supporting Actor, they've got three nominations. So they are dominating the acting categories. The stat you're looking for is that it's got 13 acting nominations. Fucking hell. If you're an actor, my response is, if you're an actor in the Pitt and you haven't been nominated, you're devastated long hard look at yourself yeah you're absolutely gutted like what would I do to deserve not being nominated for the pit it's wild isn't it I mean look the acting in the pit is incredible as you will of course know from our spoiler special oh no sorry sorry we haven't been able to do one because Boydie hasn't finished it oh I'm sorry sorry my mistake my mistake carry on oh let's not get

1:11:53J.K. Simmons:please god let's not get into the HBO subscription thing again we can't we just can't

1:11:58Tom Brittney:Boydie fix it because we need to do Paradise Spoiler Special we need to do Pit Spoiler Special and I'm telling you now next week on Pilot Plus we are doing a Widow's Bay Spoiler Special yes we are doing a Widow's Bay anyway anyway yes anyway yes noted

1:12:11J.K. Simmons:I am really really hoping that Ayo Debrey wins for lead actress yes hardly any nominations

1:12:19Tom Brittney:for the pit for the bear which is which is distressing yeah Jeremy Allen White got nothing Ebermoth's background got nothing yeah yeah I think this is Ayo's year.

1:12:29J.K. Simmons:I really, really do.

1:12:30Tom Brittney:It's her series, definitely.

1:12:31J.K. Simmons:The thing is, I know Jean Smart wins every year and I love her. Even though I don't watch Hacks, I really do love her. But I just think this year, come on, Ayo's got to get it. She's got to.

1:12:43Tom Brittney:Jean Smart will win.

1:12:44J.K. Simmons:Oh, will she?

1:12:45Tom Brittney:Yeah, of course she will. Final season. Everyone loves her. She's showbiz. She's pure showbiz.

1:12:51J.K. Simmons:Yeah, she's an industry darling, isn't she? Everybody loves her.

1:12:54Tom Brittney:That's exactly the phrase. She is an industry darling. The other show, can I just mention, that I think we've neglected a bit is Beef. And the second season of Beef has got 16 nominations, which is huge.

1:13:08J.K. Simmons:Yeah, and Oscar and Kerry have both got acting nominations as well for it.

1:13:12Tom Brittney:Yeah, and I really like Beef. Again, I didn't finish it. I haven't finished it yet. I mean, this is just a litany of shows we haven't finished. But I really like the first half of it, which I watched and which we reviewed. But that's interesting how strong. only got two fewer than Pluribus, of course, which is like, you know, the greatest show on Earth, which again, isn't in our, that was last year for us. Yeah, yeah, that's right.

1:13:32J.K. Simmons:Was the comeback this year for us? Because that didn't feature in Olysses. Good point.

1:13:36Tom Brittney:The comeback is nominated and has got a few nominations, Emmys, and it was in my top 20. It was bubbling under for me. I'm surprised that didn't make your top 10. I know, I probably should have done. Do you know what partly I'm affected by was that one of my close friends who loves the show was disappointed by it, and I wondered whether I was too complimentary to it or whether, yeah, yeah, but I don't know. You were swayed by your time with Lisa Goodrow. I think I've been swayed, yeah. You know what, Steph? Taylor Sheridan, complete shutout. Yes. Complete shutout. You knew that was going to happen.

1:14:10J.K. Simmons:One nomination for stunt person or something.

1:14:13Tom Brittney:I'm bearing in mind, Taylor Sheridan, who basically runs every show on television. Yeah, that is astonishing. And got absolutely nothing. So let me have a look. So yeah, one nod and it was a third stunt co-ordination and that was for Tulsa King. Michelle Pfeiffer, of course, did get nominated, but not for the Madison, but for Margot's Got Money Trouble.

1:14:29J.K. Simmons:The thing is, right, this is kind of what I'm alluding to, use that word too, right? This, yes, the Emmys is wonderful, blah, blah, blah, but he is the opposite of an industry, darling. He's an industry cowboy, right? Yeah, he is. The thing is, is that he has not pleased the right people because he doesn't need to because he's got his own money, right? So he doesn't need to. And it feels like he's being punished because everybody watches those bloody shows. So it isn't necessarily represent what everybody's watching and enjoying. I would just say that about this list.

1:15:02Tom Brittney:But the needless is the Oscars, right? That's just the nature of awards. But I'm surprised because Landman, I mean, look, Yellowstone is its own thing and it's not around anymore anyway. But Landman and the Madison, I thought, might get something. I'm quite surprised that it got a total shutout. Also, like you should point out, Outlander, which I know we don't really talk about in this podcast, but it's massively popular. It was its final season and it got absolutely nothing as well. Industry got completely snubbed. Yeah, that was stunning, yeah. I was furious about that, yeah. Stranger Things didn't really get much.

1:15:28Tom Brittney:Stranger Things, yeah, got largely ignored. Half Man got Richard Gad, like he got an acting nomination, but that didn't really get much cut through at all.

1:15:36J.K. Simmons:I'm really surprised that Michelle Pfeiffer didn't get nominated for the Madison because she is, I mean, everyone loves Michelle Pfeiffer. but that does surprise me. If he was going to get an in, it would have been with her.

1:15:46Tom Brittney:But if she hadn't done Margot's Got Money Troubles, maybe she would have done. I wonder whether, you know, that kind of, that eclipsed it slightly. So, possibly. And nobody wants this, which is back in comedy, but no acting nods for that. So, clearly, they watched the second season.

1:16:01J.K. Simmons:Okay. I like the second season. I know you didn't like it. I like the second season. It was because it was basically just the same. Like it was, like I said at the time, the first season.

1:16:10Tom Brittney:Except not as good or funny.

1:16:11J.K. Simmons:Well, the first season was, will they get together? And the second reason was, can they endure it? And, you know, that's kind of what it was.

1:16:19Tom Brittney:And I couldn't endure it, so I don't know if they did. It was interesting as well that your friends and neighbours got included in the best drama category, but nothing else whatsoever. Like one nomination. It's a shame. It's a really good show. I think that's a very under-watched and under-appreciated show. I think it's great. Yeah.

1:16:38J.K. Simmons:Yeah, and I think there was one Rooster nomination, and I can't remember where it was.

1:16:41Tom Brittney:Yes, Rooster was nominated, I think, for comedy performance off the top of my head.

1:16:47J.K. Simmons:Steve Carell, lead actor in a comedy series. Yeah.

1:16:50Tom Brittney:You know who else got one? Go on. Yaya Abdul-Mateen II for Wonder Man. And obviously Marvel getting an Emmy nomination is unusual. That's man. Yeah.

1:16:59J.K. Simmons:That is such a tough category. That category is lead actor in a comedy series, Yaya Abdul-Mateen II, Steve Carell, Matthew Reese, Jason Segel, Martin Short. I could not pick one of those at all. I really couldn't. Maybe you could, Boyd.

1:17:13Tom Brittney:I think it's the era of Matthew Rhys. I think he'll go there. Widow's Bay. Yeah, Widow's Bay. Yeah, he's so good in it. Now, since we recorded, by the way, since we recorded the main podcast, I pressed on. I'm now towards the end of the penultimate episode. It is all kicked off. I just have to say, these last two episodes are really going fucking hell for leather. Yeah. And even the previous one, and again, for the sake of spoilers, I can't really get into the details why. I love the fact that it riffs on different horror genres and properties. That's the one that Boyd thought you'd love. That's the one I was talking about that I thought you'd love, yeah.

1:17:45Tom Brittney:But what's really good about it is, and we're going off on a, we should really save this for the Widow's Baseball special, but it does everything right that Scary Movie does wrong. It is satirising these things, but it does it with such a lightness of touch and such a delicate, very carefully precise sense of satirical humour. whereas like fucking it's like it's like the rapier to like scary movies fucking comedy sledgehammer mallet when it's just like it's so well observed and i think you know if scary movie were that kind of franchise that kind of satire were more subtle and more direct i think it would be so much that's like comparing holly oaks with admittedly with the sopranos i mean you're right it is but also they are both in their own way trying to kind of well they're both tv yeah they're both trying to satirise horror movies right they're both trying to almost spoof them a little bit and there are spoofy moments in that episode i'm talking about which you can imagine being in a scary movie film but just being being done a lot worse anyway saved us a spoiler special have you got to the bit yet where the where the painting falls on him which is one of the great slapstick i have yes stop talking about it stop talking about it yeah i want to mention i want to mention a show that i don't think i don't think all of us will like particularly enjoyed

1:18:59J.K. Simmons:but Riz Ahmed has been nominated as lead actor, which I'm happy about because I love Riz Ahmed. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, for Bait, which I wasn't 100 % on. Bait was good.

1:19:10Tom Brittney:I really liked Bait, but again, we didn't like it as much as some other shows. Go on.

1:19:17J.K. Simmons:Can I ask a question? No. Television movie. Did you see this category? Oh, don't. Oh, go on. I'm just going to very quickly get into television movie. So the category television movie, which has Heads of State, Prime Video, Miss You, Love You, HBO Max, People We Meet on Vacation, Netflix, which is actually a great show, a great film, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Netflix, and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Ghost War, Prime Video. Yeah, it's a film. Right. But what I'm saying is, okay, this is the Emmys and they have this category for television movies. So I'm just saying from now on, we can 100 % talk about those things in the pilot podcast.

1:19:56J.K. Simmons:And that would be the end of that special program. No, we can't. Because they're films.

1:20:00Tom Brittney:I believe you know what I'm like. What?

1:20:03J.K. Simmons:No, the category is called television movie.

1:20:06Tom Brittney:The category is literally just for feature films, which only, which have no theatrical window and only appear on television slash streaming. Yeah. But that's a lot of films these days. A lot of stuff we review on Empire is only for streaming.

1:20:19J.K. Simmons:Yeah. Okay. so i'm just saying that that argument's over now okay brilliant it's only just begun right look

1:20:25Tom Brittney:before we wrap this up should we go through the categories we will skip the obviously tedious ones who do you want to do it do you want me to do it or boy did you want to do it i don't i think

1:20:34J.K. Simmons:boydy needs to do it because boydy is like the list king go on the list king okay hit us have

1:20:39Tom Brittney:it do you have it in front of you i have it in front of me thank you yes yes i'm not okay i'm fully equipped. Good. Best drama series, let's face it, is the, you know, is the big category that everyone wants to win, right? Okay, and we have to pick a winner in each category. Oh, okay. Great. The Diplomat. That's fun. Yes. Pilot favourite, The Diplomat. Yes. The Gilded Age. And by the way, just to say, The Gilded Age is getting a lot more attention. I think for a show in, it's what, like third, full season? It's no Downton Abbey, Boydie. Yeah, well, it's almost Downton Abbey. Is it? A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

1:21:09Tom Brittney:Yes. Paradise. Now, look, I love Paradise. I really do. But is it a great show? I'm not sure it is. I agree. The Pit.

1:21:17J.K. Simmons:Save that for your Paradise spoiler special.

1:21:19Tom Brittney:Pluribus. Yes. Slow Horses. Yes. And Your Friends and Neighbours. Yes. So, eight nominees. Oh, that's a hard one.

1:21:28J.K. Simmons:Well, The Pit will win, but I would like A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to win.

1:21:33Tom Brittney:Oh, this is so. The Pit will win. I think The Pit will win. I would go for Pluribus. I would also go for Pluribus. Slow horses I love, but I think the pit will win, but I would probably go for Cluribus. Yeah. Best comedy series. Abbott Elementary, a show, again, which, you know, slightly gone by the wayside for us, I think. Kay's a big fan of that show. Yeah, she is. Abbott Elementary, yeah, she is. The Bear. Fuck off. Comedy. Not a comedy. Well, but you can't penalise it because it's just in the wrong category. I mean, anyway. I fucking can. Right. Hacks. Margot's Got Money Troubles. Nobody Wants This.

1:22:08Tom Brittney:also comedy nobody does want this Only Murders in the Building still Only Murders in the Building still going clinging to life every year it gets nominated massively Shrinking you may have heard of it Steph's favourite as it's known and Widow's Bay a little show for Widow's Bay what I'm going for Widow's Bay

1:22:27J.K. Simmons:this is the hardest category this is absolutely because I want the bear to win something but not this but not this because because Widow's Bay and shrinking are, you know, outstanding. I think Widow's Bay will win.

1:22:45Tom Brittney:I think the bear will win, but it should be Widow's Bay because the bear is, and I cannot emphasize this enough, not a fucking comedy. Okay. Best limited or anthology series, All Her Fault. Do you remember that one? Yes, All Her Fault, which was the, you know, Playdate Gone Awry show with the incredibly generic title with Sarah Snook.

1:23:03J.K. Simmons:Oh, the one where she takes her kid to the house and then the kid's not there anymore. Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:23:08Tom Brittney:Okay. The Beast in Me, which was Matthew Rhys' other big hit show, which was a fantastic role. Very different role for him. Very different role, but incredibly entertaining that was. Remember that, Steph? Did you watch The Beast in Me?

1:23:20J.K. Simmons:Yeah, I didn't watch it, but it is definitely on my sofa list, as James would say.

1:23:24Tom Brittney:Yeah, yeah. Beef, as I mentioned earlier, Beef Season 2, DTF St. Louis, and Love Story, John F. Kennedy and Caroline Bessette. Now, that's a show we literally did not even mention. I don't think I think we mentioned it we definitely didn't cover it we definitely didn't review it and it's not our fault by the way that this is I have to say you know this is part of the whole slightly unreliable Disney Plus situation where a show will land on Disney Plus and without barely any advance warning and by which point it's too late or it's been embargoed so yeah that went by the way so for us but I have watched I've watched a lot of it by the way and I love it it is fantastic isn't it

1:24:01J.K. Simmons:do you know what I love anything to do with absolutely anything to do with the Kennedy family So John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bissett story. It is really good. It is really good, but I can't see it. I can't see it beating. I can't see it beating The Beast in Me, which everybody seems to love, or The Beef.

1:24:21Tom Brittney:I actually think DTF will win.

1:24:24J.K. Simmons:Do you?

1:24:25Tom Brittney:Yeah, because it's got a lot of critical acclaim, but I would like The Beast in Me to win, yeah. I haven't watched Beef Season 2 because I was off the week that you reviewed it, so I can't include that in that.

1:24:37J.K. Simmons:Oh, you wouldn't like it. It's too distressing. It's very stressful, I know. I remember from season one. It's really stressful, yeah.

1:24:42Tom Brittney:The Beast in Me would probably be, might be either that or DTS St. Louis, which obviously I didn't finish, but yeah, I'm slightly out of my depth in that category. Lead actor in a drama series, Sterling K. Brown for Paradise, Gary Oldman for Slow Horses, Mark Ruffalo for Task, which we haven't mentioned yet, which was great. So good in there. We love Task. Rufus Sewell in The Diplomat, which I love. Again, brilliant. Being Rufus Sewell, being Rufus Sewell. and Noah Wiley for The Pit.

1:25:09J.K. Simmons:Well, Noah will win it, 100%. Noah will win it, and should win it. But I would love Sterling K. Brown to win. I would really love him to win. I love him.

1:25:19Tom Brittney:There's nothing wrong with his performance, but also, it's Noah Wiley. And if it's not Noah Wiley, it could be Gary Oldman, Mark Ruffalo, or Rufus Sewell. I think if it's not Noah, much as I love Gary Oldman, I think Mark Ruffalo was the one. He's so good at task. Yeah, I mean, okay. Lead actress in a drama series, Carrie Coon for The Gilded Age, Chase Infinity for The Testaments. That's a surprise and a good one. She's really good in that. Harry Russell for The Diplomat. I love all the Diplomat love, by the way. Ray Seahorn for Pluribus, and Zendaya for Euphoria, the world's worst TV show. It's got to be.

1:25:52Tom Brittney:It's got to be Ray Seahorn. It has to be Ray Seahorn. It may not be. I know, and given how snubbed she has been historically at the Emmys, but it's basically a one-woman show, and she's fucking brilliant in it. She has to win. Yeah, I agree.

1:26:05J.K. Simmons:As you know, I don't watch Pluribus, so I'm going to just have to go with you.

1:26:09Tom Brittney:You like it. You should. Add it to your list. Lead actor in a comedy, Yahya Abdul-Mateen in The Wonder Man, Steve Carell, Rooster, Matthew Rhys, Widows Bay, Jason Seagal for Shrinking. I don't know why I said it like that. Seagal? Seagal. And Martin Short, yes, for only murders in the building every single year.

1:26:30J.K. Simmons:This is, for me, the absolute, who is going to win in this category who knows this is an amazing category Matthew Rhys I want him to win I think

1:26:40Tom Brittney:Yaya's pretty fucking good in Wonder Man that's a really good comedy performance

1:26:44J.K. Simmons:actually that's what I don't want I'd want Yaya to win

1:26:47Tom Brittney:but I'd be happy with Matthew Rhys as well except for the first episode he's got the shouting out of his system

1:26:55J.K. Simmons:oh for god's sake I'm flippy flopping on this category I don't know I would be happy with Flippy Flopping. Oh, Flippy Flopping. I would be happy with all of them. I love them.

1:27:04Tom Brittney:I'm sure the Emmy people would be delighted to know. Steph has confirmed. She is happy for any of those people to win. Right. Lead actress in the comedy. Lead actress in the comedy. Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary. Ayo Adebiri for The Bear. Elle Fanning for Margot's Got Money Choubles. Very good. Lisa Kudrow for The Comeback. And Jean Smart for Hacks. This is actually really... You mentioned the Hacks versus The Bear battle. Go on.

1:27:30J.K. Simmons:Yeah, I mean, we've already said about this category, Jean Smart's going to win, but I want it to be Io.

1:27:34Tom Brittney:I want it to be Io as well, even though the whole comedy thing aside, I just think she deserves recognition for this season in particular. But Elle Fanning is great as well. Lisa Kudrow obviously is amazing in the comeback. And Quinta Brunson's very good in that elementary. So it's, yeah, a hard category. And should we do finally lead actor in a limited... Yeah. Can we do lead actresses as well, not to be massively misogynist? I meant those two, yes. I meant these last two categories. Thank you very much. Yes Lead actor In a limited or anthology series Or movie The aforementioned Rhys Ahmed For Bait Yeah Bait Jason Bateman For Black Rabbit Remember I forgot Black Rabbit

1:28:09J.K. Simmons:Black Rabbit is a show That we haven't talked about Which is Was really good A lot of people did like it

1:28:15Tom Brittney:We didn't love it It was too long though It was so long It was ridiculous

1:28:18J.K. Simmons:No I liked it But yeah

1:28:19Tom Brittney:It didn't season Now this is This is A nomination Charlie Hunnam You're not happy Well I mean No he's great in it for Monster, the Ed Gein story. What's that coming over the hill? Is it Monster? Yes, it is. It is. Well done. Oscar Isaac for Beef. Yeah. And Matthew Rhys for The Beast in Me. Multiplically nominated Matthew Rhys.

1:28:41J.K. Simmons:I'm getting the feeling this is Matthew Rhys' year, actually. Now, I really am. Okay.

1:28:46Tom Brittney:This might split the vote, though. This might harm him because he's in both categories. Yeah, maybe. I still think he'll win. I think he'll win because that's such a good juicy part as well. Maybe. Maybe so. Who do you want to win, James? In that particular one, oh, that's difficult. I thought Riz Ahmed was great in Bait, but I'm going to go with Matthew Rhys because he was terrifying in The Beast in Me.

1:29:06J.K. Simmons:I'm going to go for Jason Bateman. I think I want him to win.

1:29:09Tom Brittney:I love the Bateman, yeah. And finally, lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie, Claire Danes for The Beast in Me. Obviously, Claire Danes' expert crying was coming to full force. Sally Field. Yes, Sally Field. Yes. We love her. We really love her for Remarkably Bright Creatures, which I don't really remember what that was. What was that?

1:29:31J.K. Simmons:It was a film. It was a television film, Remarkably Bright Creatures.

1:29:35Tom Brittney:Okay, because it's a limited anthology series or movie. Okay. Carrie Mulligan for Beef. Sarah Pidgeon for Love Story, John F. Kennedy and Caroline Bessette.

1:29:45J.K. Simmons:Caroline. Caroline Bessette.

1:29:47Tom Brittney:All right. And Sarah Snook. Yes. For all her thoughts. For all her fouled.

1:29:58Tom Brittney:Claire Danes I don't know maybe Claire Danes maybe Karen Mulligan fuck knows it'll be fucking Sally Field obviously it'll be Sally Field she'll get the Sally Field award for being Sally Field that's what she'll get I mean she should

1:30:11J.K. Simmons:I want her to win it's been like 17 years

1:30:14Tom Brittney:since she's been nominated for an Emmy like that's quite the comeback yeah she's 79 so yeah

1:30:20J.K. Simmons:oh she's definitely winning yeah she's gonna win she's definitely gonna win give her an award

1:30:23Tom Brittney:while you can yes absolutely for sure I'm just going to very quickly say, and we won't spend long on this, just very quickly in the supporting categories, you know, for the pit, Patrick Ball, Sean Hatozi, Garen Howell as well for the pit, Jack Loudon for Slow Horses, Tom Pelfrey for Task, he was very good in that, Carlos Manuel Vesga, Vesga, I think it is in Pluribus, Billy Crude up for The Morning Show, also in the pit, Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, Catherine Lanassa, Sepide Moafi, loads and loads of pit love there, Julianne Nicholson for Paradise, carolina waja for pluribus uh alison janny for the diplomat colman domingo for the four seasons oh god loads of good people harrison ford for shrink he must have been happy about that that would be great stephen root for widow's bay he's fucking great in that who else michael uri for

1:31:09J.K. Simmons:shrinking steph happy yeah i'm very happy because you know i just love shrinking and they're all

1:31:14Tom Brittney:absolutely brilliant uh dale dickey for widow's bay kato flynn for widow's bay hannah einbinder for Hacks Megan Stoltz for Hacks yes lots and lots of good people you know what

1:31:23J.K. Simmons:I'm pleased about Nick Offerman for Margot's Got Money Troubles as well because he makes that show for me he makes that show I really love his character he's the wrestler in Margot's Got Money Troubles the wrestler dad yeah

1:31:33Tom Brittney:okay well I think we have at length gone on about the Emmys enough we'll obviously talk more about the Emmys when the winners are announced and the night when is the Emmys boy when will people find out the winners I won't just bring that on me oh no 14th of September yes hosted by Mariska Hargitay yeah

1:31:52J.K. Simmons:it's going to be fantastic

1:31:54Tom Brittney:I think she's more comedic again Steph has promised all of us it's going to be fantastic sorry

1:31:59J.K. Simmons:I think she's more comedic than you realise

1:32:01Tom Brittney:she's more comedic she's more comedic than we'll find out won't we she's not a alien but yeah okay that is the end of our Emmys dropping back to the show shall we move on to this week's reviews let's do it let's do it as you have already heard The Westies is a crime drama and it pits the mob against the Irish and the Irish kind of against themselves in a struggle for turf in 80s New York. And of course, the person to tell us about this is of course someone who I'm pretty sure was in New York in the 80s. And that's not even an age joke. I literally think you were in New York in the 80s. Yeah, that's accurate.

1:32:34Tom Brittney:Tell us about it, Boydie. Do you remember it being like this? Yes, what's interesting is in the incredibly clunky exposition that you get at the beginning of this series, J.K. Simmons' character, Eamon Sweeney, explains at great length at the Djakovic Centre.

1:32:49J.K. Simmons:No, stop right there because this is one of the things that I was so excited about. It's the Javits Centre. Javits Centre. Reason why, sorry, I'm going to digress. No, no, you're quite right to correct me. I bloody love the Javits Centre. Reason why, I lived opposite the Javits Centre. So it was a central part of my life for a whole year when I lived in New York and everything happens at the Javits Centre. So to have a show where everything was kind of centred around the building of the Jarrett Centre. I know this is very specific to me. I was like, this is really exciting. It's where they hold, you know, like, you know, Hillary Clinton was going to have her in the presidential thing, you know, there afterwards.

1:33:27J.K. Simmons:Events, they do events. Oh, because it has a glass ceiling. It's all glass. It's an absolutely magnificent building. So one, I don't want you to get the name wrong and two, I want you to give it the respect it deserves. Carry on.

1:33:38Tom Brittney:Can I say, because you lived in New York, as you said, for a year, I came to visit Steph when she was in New York because I was in New York for the leftovers. leftovers. I did the leftovers press event. And me and Steph went for a walk around Central Park.

1:33:49J.K. Simmons:It was lovely. I visited you as well. You did visit me and we had the call. It was so nice. Yeah, with our lovely Pete, Alison.

1:33:56Tom Brittney:Yeah, so we, I too have...

1:33:58J.K. Simmons:You two are such good friends.

1:34:00Tom Brittney:Yeah, and Steph took me shopping and she stopped me from buying anything light-coloured such as this because she said, what is it you said, Steph?

1:34:09J.K. Simmons:You look translucent.

1:34:10Tom Brittney:I look translucent, therefore I'm not allowed to wear light-coloured. Obviously, true.

1:34:13J.K. Simmons:And you took no notice of me. And here we are, yeah.

1:34:16Tom Brittney:So yes, they are heavily involved in the building of the Javits Centre. And basically you've got the Irish mafia type people, Irish organised crime people, who are taking that as an opportunity to get involved with security people and basically use it as a big, you know, part of their big racket. And there's conflict between the Irish gangster community and the Italian gangster community who outnumber the Irish gangster community. And this is all about, the whole show is kind of about, you know, one versus the other. In the mid-80s, as you say, I was there. I did, you know, I wasn't there as much.

1:34:53Tom Brittney:If you look really carefully, you can actually see him in episode three. I was more there in the 90s. I got into New York more in the 90s. But I am, you're right, I am fascinated by, do you remember that Benedict Cumberbatch show that was kind of roughly set in?

1:35:03J.K. Simmons:Oh, yeah, yeah. What was that called? Hang on, we need to number crunch that.

1:35:06Tom Brittney:What, the one with the imaginary monster thing? Yeah, yeah, which has literally just come into my head, which is why I haven't got it. Yeah, I'm going to number crush it.

1:35:13J.K. Simmons:You keep going.

1:35:14Tom Brittney:So the setting, yes, the setting is absolute catnip to me. I love the idea of anything set in New York in the mid-80s. It's an absolute intrinsic interest. I like gangster movies and TV shows. And I enjoyed... Eric. Eric, thank you, Eric. Excellent. Excellent, memorable title. Excellent, memorable title. Fantastic 80s set American show. The thing about this is, it's just I think it's very mid you know it's very I think if you're going to do a gangster drama and you have cops going undercover and you have one group versus the other and you have and you open with a big imagine the actor by the way who got sent this script and his agent goes oh yeah you can get a role in this big new amazing gangster thing for MGM plus and he goes oh brilliant and you get killed in the first minute it's It's doing everything that all these stories always do, and I'm not convinced it's doing them in any particularly interesting or different way.

1:36:15Tom Brittney:It's fun. You know, it's good to see J.K. Simmons chewing the scenery in the lead role. It's interesting to see Titus Welliver, you know, Bosch himself doing it in a different role, still a cop, but, you know, a different kind of cop. He has a moustache. He has a moustache, looks great. But everything in it is very predictable. Alan Leach is in it as kind of like an IRA, gun runner type of guy. But it's all very, very predictable to the point where I almost knew what was going to happen from one scene to the next. Like I knew what was going to happen in the first scene. I knew in the very, and then kind of goes full circle and there's a climactic scene, which is very similar, literally in the same place as the first scene.

1:36:56Tom Brittney:And I knew what was going to happen in that first scene as well. Certain elements of it, like what happens to Titus Welliver's character, who is a cop? I just thought this is so first base like why wouldn't you do what J.K. Simmons is telling you today it's so the obvious thing to do and then you go back afterwards and the person he talks to goes oh yeah fine great you're back on board now hold on a minute what's going on no discussion no thoughts to why is he doing this what motive could he possibly have for suddenly changing his mind stuff like that I thought was ludicrous so it's fine it's kind of quite lavishly put together and it's quite clever and it's it's a period piece you know 1980s New York is now is literally a period piece and there are some shots there are some kind of slightly cheesy shots where they recreate what Times Square looked like back then as opposed to what it looks like now but that's not enough to make me carry on watching the show which is very very predictable

1:37:57J.K. Simmons:Wow okay

1:37:58Tom Brittney:Steph's going to be like it was no Little House in the Prairie

1:38:00J.K. Simmons:No I'm going to agree absolutely with everything you said.

1:38:03Tom Brittney:I thought you were stealing to disagree.

1:38:05J.K. Simmons:No, no. I mean, OCGs, I'm absolutely down for them and I love it. I love an organised crime group. I really do. But I think it is super mid. I think the reason to watch this show is if you want to watch J.K. Simmons and Titus Wellifer. And who doesn't? And that is a point and I think it will do well because people want to watch them and I enjoyed it. But it is outstandingly predictable. You know, even to the point of the, where you see one of J.K. Simmons' drug runners and then you see Titus Welliver's character and you're like, oh, what's going to be the link here? This young drug... I think you're watching it for Old New York, Hell's Kitchen.

1:38:46J.K. Simmons:I love that they've recreated that. It's nice to see, but it is super... Good scaffolding from the Javits Centre. Good scaffolding. I'm excited about the Javits Centre. It's super mid. It really is. There's nothing in it. You know everything that's going to happen. I say all this, I do think, I think people will like it. I don't think you're ever going to love it. No. But it's just, you can, it's just, I hate to say this, it's just another OCG drama for me. Elevated, going to use the word, by J.K. Simmons and Titus Williver, but it's no, there's no fireworks here. I do like the opening credits though.

1:39:26J.K. Simmons:The opening credits were good.

1:39:27Tom Brittney:Oh yeah, they were good, yeah.

1:39:28J.K. Simmons:I'm not saying it's not enjoyable. It's enjoyable, but it's

1:39:30Tom Brittney:just not that enjoyable

1:39:33J.K. Simmons:no it's just not surprising it's just not surprising enough but then maybe you think differently

1:39:39Tom Brittney:no not really it was fine again I love Titus Weller and I love J.K. Simmons and that that's what I'm saying that was a lot of goodwill from me because of that if they had not been in it I think my patience would have evaporated quite quickly right

1:39:54J.K. Simmons:that you've hit on the key point without those two is anyone watching this no no probably not

1:40:02Tom Brittney:but they are there and they are both very good although if you're going to watch a J.K. Simmons TV show may I introduce you to The Counterpart which is fabulous but yeah I mean it was fine I don't plan to watch any more of it like it was okay I have no objection to it but I have some objection to it really I just think they could have tried harder just tried a bit harder to make it less predictable to make it it's so full of tired gangster war tropes and, you know, storylines and plotlines. It's like, really, come on, just come up with something vaguely different than original. And characters don't behave in what I would describe as organic ways.

1:40:39Tom Brittney:There's a thing in a bar where one character's being wound up by another character, but they're members of different organised crime groups. It's like, yes, I get that you are offended here, but you're not an idiot. Like, it's so obvious that you're just going to have to suck this up because of the nature. But of course they can't because for the plot you need to have discord and you need to have a disagreement and it has to escalate. It's like, I don't believe it. I just, I didn't buy it. I didn't buy that it would happen in that way at all. Do you know what I also

1:41:07J.K. Simmons:kind of took issue with? I didn't sort of like that subplot about Bellevue and the, you know, there's that ECGC and I was kind of like, and then he's saying, oh, do you, did you see the,

1:41:17Tom Brittney:did you see? Yeah, that character doesn't make any sense.

1:41:19J.K. Simmons:That's what I mean. I was like, what is this about? It's really weird. I don't, yeah, no.

1:41:24Tom Brittney:Yeah, I know exactly what you're referring to. Yeah. So, I don't know. I mean, there's like John Gotti's in it. So, there's little bits of like it touches on real life, 80s New York. Yeah, but it's not enough.

1:41:34J.K. Simmons:It doesn't feel enough.

1:41:36Tom Brittney:It's like we've got The Irishman. Do you know what I mean? We've got four hours of The Irishman covering very similar territory. In fact, even Gotti might even be in The Irishman. I can't remember. He's definitely one of the schools. Talking about deliberately paced, but yes. I mean, yeah. But, you know, you've got that. You don't need this as well, is my feeling. when it's covering such similar detail. Anyway. The Westies, then. Less fun than a West Highland Terrier, is what we're saying.

1:42:01J.K. Simmons:West Highland Terriers are fun.

1:42:02Tom Brittney:Yeah, they are quite fun. Okay, but this is on MGM Plus. When, Boydie? I think it's already started. I think it started on... It has already started. Saturday or Sunday. Yes. Look to the West, but not the Westies. Next up, we have Android on BBC One, and this is a show created by and starring Diane Morgan as the eponymous robot, although she goes by Linda. And she is leased to Sue Johnston's retiree to kind of help her around the house, principally, it seems, by playing Cotton Eye Joe at an ear-splitting volume. Something I think we've all done at one point or another. Yes?

1:42:38J.K. Simmons:No?

1:42:38Tom Brittney:Yes, of course. I think Steph has, haven't you, Steph? Listen, every Saturday. Tell us your experience with it and indeed the show.

1:42:44J.K. Simmons:Okay, I feel... Right. I feel like I'm probably... I love Diane Morgan, right? I am a huge fan of Diane Morgan. And I want, more than anything, to really like this show.

1:42:58Tom Brittney:Yeah. This has been... We know where this is going.

1:43:01J.K. Simmons:I didn't like it.

1:43:02Tom Brittney:Ooh. I know. Tell us why.

1:43:04J.K. Simmons:I'll tell you why. Okay. So it's also got Paul Reddy in it, who's Kevin, plays Kevin in Motherland.

1:43:08Tom Brittney:That's right, in Motherland Reunion.

1:43:10J.K. Simmons:Yeah, which... Yeah, he's great. And he's basically playing Kevin in this.

1:43:14Tom Brittney:A little bit. He is. Slightly different.

1:43:16J.K. Simmons:Okay.

1:43:17Tom Brittney:So he's Sue Johnson's son and he's a little bit self-involved and a little bit, you know, he's a terrible son. And kowtowing to his unseen partner. That's the Kevin-ness.

1:43:27J.K. Simmons:He's kowtowing to his unseen partner and who his mother takes issue with.

1:43:32Tom Brittney:And he wears a terrible beanie hat.

1:43:33J.K. Simmons:Yeah. So, again, a huge Motherland fan. So I was like, you know, from that point of view, this is nice, but this is just Kevin with more facial hair for me. Okay?

1:43:43Tom Brittney:Yeah.

1:43:46J.K. Simmons:I love British humour I like the fact that I think little touches like her kitchen this is millions of British people's homes and this is also lots of British people's relationships with their mother which I enjoyed that I wanted it to be funny and I didn't find it funny at all which really upset me because I wanted to get so behind this there's a scene where they go into a charity shop so a Diane Morgan who's playing the robot and I just didn't find it funny what I did quite like was the at the end I don't know if this is really a spoiler but kind of at the end of the first episode when she realises that you know Android is actually more than just a robot that's nice and then I thought oh okay well this is this is actually really about a robot finding out about humans rather than anything else so I could get on board with this being the robot's exploration of of human nature and that I enjoyed that part of it and and there were some nice touches in it like when they deliver the robot and the line was we have a call centre if you have any problems it's open from one to two on the third Saturday of every month so It has glimmers and glimpses of exactly what I want.

1:45:14J.K. Simmons:But overall, for that kind of half an hour, 27 minutes, it didn't make me laugh. It wasn't the Diane Morgan show that I really want. And I really want to like it.

1:45:29Tom Brittney:Yeah, I was disappointed.

1:45:31J.K. Simmons:Were you? Yeah. Okay.

1:45:33Tom Brittney:I'm really reluctant to say it out loud because I love Diane Morgan.

1:45:37J.K. Simmons:Me too. I love Sue Johnson.

1:45:38Tom Brittney:I mean, she wants to love even more, you know, to match the royal family. She is brilliant in it, by the way. I think she is the secret weapon at its heart. And she, it tries to be moving quite early on for a six-part, you know, sitcom, effectively. It, you know, goes for the emotion really quickly in terms of underlying, you know, her talking about loneliness, et cetera. But she pulls it off because she's just a legend. Diane Morgan is funny once the robot is unveiled. kind of like what she thinks her name is Sue Johnson's name yeah that's funny and as you say the little interaction she has with the woman from the company who of course is Sarah Kendall who co-created it with Diane Morgan by the way Sarah Kendall's brilliant I love Freight absolutely brilliant show all the talents you know Paul Reddy's you're right the character's very similar but they're all funny but there just isn't there aren't enough jokes there just aren't enough jokes and And my note would have been if I'm pompously putting myself out there as a, you know, if I was an executive working on this show, I would have said, come on, you need some more funny bits in this opening.

1:46:46Tom Brittney:It ends up being more of a dramatic than comedic, I think, all in all. And that's fine. That's a creative choice. And, you know, it's like I hate critics who go, oh, I want it to be this and not that. But this is being billed as a comedy. And it's got Diane Morgan and Sarah Kendall and Sue Johnston and Paul Reddy. And I think we have a right to expect it to be funny. But it's just not that funny. Every now and then, every 10 minutes, there's a funny thing happening. That's really not enough. And I think it erred way too much to the sad and melancholic. And, you know, small profits, right, did sad and melancholic.

1:47:20Tom Brittney:But much funnier. Yes. And that's the genius of it. It's a difficult thing to pull off. It's hard. It's really hard work. But I just don't think they work hard enough to get the funny stuff in there. And it's a real shame. I'll carry on watching it probably because I love everyone in it so much and I do think she's fun and remember she doesn't really arrive Diane Morgan you don't really see her fully until over halfway through so it takes too long to get to her by the way I would say but what she does she is really funny she has some really funny moments but not enough and I would hope that for the rest of the series that there are more funny moments that arrive quicker than they do in that first episode

1:47:57J.K. Simmons:I mean I I speak as someone who is now in a deeply committed relationship with my robot vacuum. So, you know. Yeah, you're... I mean, just the expression on her face is funny. She's intrinsically got funny bones. But I need more. She has got funny bones. I agree. I totally agree. But this is not Diane Morgan at her best. That's what I would say.

1:48:19Tom Brittney:I think it's the script that's for, not her performance.

1:48:22J.K. Simmons:Yeah. Not her performance. No, no, no. But for what, I suppose, what she's capable of, we know what she's capable of. And this doesn't feel like at this stage of her career, I expect, what I expect from her is I expect jokes. I expect, like you say, there's not enough jokes in it. Yeah. But maybe if we continue watching it, it will get better. But I'm so scared. If you and I didn't like it, I'm so scared of what James thinks.

1:48:47Tom Brittney:I had no idea where you'd land on this because it's very common for me to watch a comedy and be like, this is just not funny. And then you two are like, rolling in the aisles. It's hilarious. I don't really understand it. So it's quite gratifying to me to feel that this is, you now know how I feel when I watch so many of the shows that we review. I think it succeeds more admirably when it deals with the dramatic subject matter. I think when it's dealing with loneliness and grief and aging, you know, I think that stuff actually lands. But as you say, the jokes aren't funny at all. And the concept, I don't know if we quite said, is that so Linda plays, or Linda plays, Diane Morgan plays Linda and she is an older model of these sort of helper robots.

1:49:30Tom Brittney:So she's an old, obsolete, defunct model, so she's not as advanced as a lot of the other robots. And obviously that, in some ways, is her secret weapon because she's not quite as polished and she's quite blunt and she kind of gets to the point. But she's also completely chaotic and stupid. And I think, you know, they are almost in different shows, I think. I think Sue Johnson is in a non-comedy, quite serious, quite, you know, touching look at what it feels like to age in isolation without a touchpoint, without a partner. without, you know, because they talk about she only has one son and he's barely around.

1:50:03Tom Brittney:She doesn't have any grandchildren. She feels completely isolated from the world and she's just waiting to die. And that's really tragic. But then you've got Anne Morgan mugging it up as a robot and doing robot movements and silly voices. Boyd, he's doing impressions. Which are not hugely funny. It's scary. And it does feel like you're watching two shows that are kind of taped together and don't really naturally sit alongside each other. So, yeah, I definitely don't think the comedy thread lands. Maybe it hits its stride much like Widow's Bay after the first episode, but it certainly doesn't early on.

1:50:36J.K. Simmons:Do you know what, though? I do want to mention the fact that at the end it left me very happy because Alice and Moyet, Only You. I was like, oh my God.

1:50:46Tom Brittney:You're right. The use of that song is phenomenal. Also used, of course, in The Office Christmas special, the finale. But even then I thought, yeah, that montage needs to be, It's not quite as good as the soul. But yeah, I love that song. It was nice to hear it. I feel I'm being overly harsh because I didn't hate it.

1:51:06J.K. Simmons:No, I think you've... Mild disappointment. Yeah, mild disappointment. Okay, fine.

1:51:11Tom Brittney:Android then on BBC One. Android is on BBC One. People who like me rifling through the pages of Pete. A classic Russell. Friday, 17th of July, 2026 at 9.30pm.

1:51:23J.K. Simmons:Oh, we're going to start calling that a Russell T. Davis, aren't we? because someone who wrote Interplus said we should.

1:51:29Tom Brittney:It was Russell T. Pages. Oh, Russell T.

1:51:31J.K. Simmons:Pages. Oh, God, sorry. Bordy's doing the Russell T. Pages. Russell T. Pages. That's right. Okay.

1:51:36Tom Brittney:All right, finally, we're on the home stretch. We can go soon, don't worry. Finally this week, Boyd's just wasting away here. And Steph was just yawning loudly into the microphone while Boyd was talking. Was I?

1:51:47J.K. Simmons:Did I yawn?

1:51:48Tom Brittney:Oh, we don't even know what we're doing now. Did I yawn?

1:51:50J.K. Simmons:I didn't even notice.

1:51:51Tom Brittney:Everyone needs oxygen, so, you know.

1:51:53J.K. Simmons:Oh, my God. It's fine, it's fine.

1:51:55Tom Brittney:We were all feeling it. Anyway, look, finally this week, we've got the Five Star Weekend. It's on Sky Atlantic. It is based on the 2023 novel by Ellen Hildebrand, and it stars Jennifer Garner as Hollis, and she's a foodstagrammer who is reeling from the recent death of her husband, and in an attempt to deal with her grief, stages a girls' weekend with a group of five friends, each chosen from a different stage of her life. And anyone who has ever tried to cross the streams with friendship groups knows that is a terrible idea. who wants to see if the five star weekend lives up to its title it's dealer's choice who wants to do it I don't mind

1:52:31J.K. Simmons:go on you

1:52:32Tom Brittney:okay well do you remember the previous Elin Hildebrand adaptation was the perfect couple do you remember on Netflix Nicole Kidman with Nicole Kidman

1:52:40J.K. Simmons:Liev Schreiber

1:52:41Tom Brittney:Liev Schreiber a family everyone's got secrets and lies hidden in their closets they're all living this incredibly privileged life in a massive mansion in Nantucket and there's There's a murder. There's been a murder. So there's an investigation. Now, this is like exactly the same story. In Nantucket. Exactly the same setting in Nantucket. In fact, even to the point where the house looked the same. I was wondering if it is just the same house. It might just be the same house. I don't know. But without the murder, and I have to say, or at least so far, there isn't a murder. It's almost like a spoiler to say there isn't a murder.

1:53:14Tom Brittney:It's not even crime, really. I don't know if...

1:53:17J.K. Simmons:It started with a death. So that's why... Well, yeah, but that's different.

1:53:20Tom Brittney:I mean, she's recovering. So, yeah, Jennifer Garner's character, who's like a Martha Stewart, isn't she, for the ages?

1:53:25J.K. Simmons:She is, so she's like a TV chef. So without the tax issues.

1:53:28Tom Brittney:Exactly, yeah. Hopefully she won't end up in jail. But there's no murder in this, which I kind of think is refreshing and quite clever. So they kind of build this scenario, scenario, of course, really. I'm joking when I say it like that. It's great that you had to explain the joke. Yeah, well, listeners may not always know that you say scenario when it's obviously scenario. I used to say scenario. I've weaned myself off. You've learned. Oh my gosh. The whole concept of Jennifer Gunn's character recovering from the trauma of her husband dying, which is right at the beginning, it's not a spoiler, and bringing not only, not only as you say, James, the representatives from different key moments in her life mingling together in the most horrific way.

1:54:11Tom Brittney:Clary Savini's character is really funny. She cannot stand any of the others that she brings to. She's also got her own daughter to deal with, her teenage daughter who's at university but decides as a surprise because she feels like she's feeling a bit sorry for her own mum having to deal with the loss of her dad slash husband that she's going to join in and succumb to the weekend as well which adds another level of awkwardness to an already awkward situation. And for me, I like the whole genre of privileged white women having the time of their lives and it being ruined by them all doing stuff that's really awkward and difficult.

1:54:48Tom Brittney:We should say not everyone is white.

1:54:48J.K. Simmons:No.

1:54:49Tom Brittney:No, no, no. Regina Hall. Right, but the main protagonists, generally, the Kidman, Garner, I'm talking about those characters who drive the shows. But you're right, it's got a great cast of Chloe Sevigny, Gemma Chan, of course, of one time of, I was going to say, of Humans, talking of similar shows, similar concept to Androids. I was thinking of Humans quite a lot when I was watching Androids. In fact, I meant to mention it, because the creator of Androids, what's her name? Diane Morgan was talking about how she used the same movement specialist from humans, actually, to help in that portrayal.

1:55:25Tom Brittney:Anyway, I digress. Great cast. And those characters, I did believe in them. Now, this is a glossy, slightly cheesy, slightly, what's the word, over the top. But I enjoyed it. I do enjoy this kind of stuff. I really liked the Nicole Kidman one, and I'm really enjoying this. I've only watched... Were you enjoying it before the big reveal in the first episode? Yes. Because there is a big reveal that we won't spoil. I think the big reveal really worked. So I think what's clever about it is that the reveals, and I watched episode two, because I wanted to know what happened after that, it's really entertaining.

1:56:06Tom Brittney:The bottom line is, this stuff is really, really entertaining. And when it's done well, and I think this is done well, and the fact that it doesn't rely on a murder, at least not yet. I haven't seen two episodes. Have you seen the whole thing?

1:56:18J.K. Simmons:Not yet, but I'm well on my way.

1:56:20Tom Brittney:Okay. I think it's really clever and I think it's quite a smart thing to do by, you know, Elin Hildebrand, the writer of the original novel, to come up with a kind of like, we expect it to be a crime mystery thing, but it actually isn't really. There are dodgy, people get up to dodgy stuff, don't get me wrong. There's questions of morality and amorality and people doing, and everyone has secrets and lies like they did in the other one. Yeah. but it makes it a little bit different to have it not being a murder mystery type thing. So I really enjoyed it. Right.

1:56:51J.K. Simmons:God, I love this kind of shit. I absolutely laugh it up. I've got so many things to say about why this is brilliant. Okay, so you guys know I love any kind of assemble scene where they get people from different places. Oh, God. All the different friends, like a childhood friend. One's just an Instagram friend. One's like a mum friend. Oh, God. one's her college friend and they're all coming together. I'm absolutely down for it. There were some really, really humorous things in it where Regina Hall's character, who is a sports agent, gets... This is not a spoiler, I don't think. I don't think it gets...

1:57:28J.K. Simmons:Is this a spoiler? I don't know. I don't know what you're going to say. With her daughter. She gets cancelled because she gets cancelled, which is how she can go and she gets cancelled for being a mental health denier. So there were some really nice touches in it. needle drops in this are outstanding cranberries Florence and the Machine I was like that cranberries song

1:57:47Tom Brittney:by the way it's used in everything I know but still perfect house

1:57:52J.K. Simmons:perfect hair perfect outfits I felt like I was I felt like this was actually Jennifer Garner's life though because she is so wonderful and beautiful and amazing Chloe Seven Years character is again I feel like that's what Chloe Seven Years is like in real life I love her unfiltered The script is unfiltered for her, which is outstanding. I really, really, what I love most about it, which is something that you guys will not know, 2006 Jennifer Garner film, Catch and Release. In this film, have you seen it?

1:58:29Tom Brittney:Yeah, I've seen it, Catch and Release, yeah.

1:58:30J.K. Simmons:So you know what happens in the film. Her fiancé dies, and who comes to her rescue? Timothy Olyphant. So, okay. Incredible. And so for me, this is really exciting. The Olyphant is back. The Olyphant's featured in this with her.

1:58:44Tom Brittney:This is the catch and release-iverse. Yeah, it is. So, yeah.

1:58:49J.K. Simmons:Even the conversations they have, the script at the dinner table, where they're having a bit of a chat about porn. I just lapped all of this. Oh, the porn chat was brilliant.

1:58:57Tom Brittney:That was genuinely very funny. Yeah, fantastic. But also felt tonally like, it was a bit like, ooh, like it didn't fit with the rest of the show, but in a good way. It actually worked very well. Close to Vinny's whole character, isn't she? She's a disruptor. She wants to challenge everyone. And so she comes up with that topic. Although I think Gemma Chan has the best line in that particular discussion. But yes.

1:59:14J.K. Simmons:And even when the daughter says there, like, oh, sorry to interrupt your Golden Girls weekend. Every line in this speaks to me. This is the kind of thing.

1:59:22Tom Brittney:Go on. As opposed to the boring gangster drama, which I've already forgotten about. The Westies. They've worked hard to get the script. It's a good script. It's good. The dialogue's funny. It's sharp. It's different. It's not predictable. That porn chat is an exact example of it. where they're trying hard to make it a bit different, and I think it really works.

1:59:40J.K. Simmons:And you feel uncomfortable. You feel uncomfortable, like you were saying. I completely agree with you. Every single line delivers something and moves the story forward. I can't get enough of it. I absolutely can't get enough of it. It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

1:59:52Tom Brittney:Do you agree with me that it's clever that it's not a crime thing?

1:59:54J.K. Simmons:I do think it's very clever, but it's got elements of mystery in it which are exciting. But I have to say, I knew what the twist was going to be. Oh, did you? Yeah, I knew it straight away. I knew it within, as soon as that other character was introduced, I was like, it's going to be that. Because what else would it be? But then I think that's because I'm a woman.

2:00:13Tom Brittney:But there's a lot more twists to come. Yes, I know, I know.

2:00:16J.K. Simmons:Yeah, like I said, can't get enough of this shit, it's great.

2:00:19Tom Brittney:Yeah, I didn't expect this to be, let's be honest, the show of the week, which it kind of is, at all. I would not have given you good odds on that in the slightest. But here we are. It kind of is. It does exactly what it sets out to do very, very well. I think you're right. I think the performance is good, but I think the script is what pushes it over the top. But even early on, there's a bit where she's doing a cooking thing on a TV show. And the way that resolves itself, it's real, but it's also really touching. And it kind of gets you in the right emotional space for this incredibly wrong-headed idea of crossing the streams, as I said, and bringing together different groups of friends, which just doesn't work, ever.

2:00:57Tom Brittney:Don't do it. But yeah, it makes for good drama.

2:01:00J.K. Simmons:I have to just say, my favourite scene in the first episode is a scene between Electra and Brooke, the characters of Electra and Brooke, on the boat. And she says, you ruined my life. And she goes, yeah, but we can get past it because we're adults. And I howled. Yes. I howled at that. I howled at it. I thought it was, yeah.

2:01:22Tom Brittney:She's really good, the one who plays Brooke, Darcy Carden. Darcy Carden from, obviously, The Good Place. Yes. And again, she has a great line. And when she turns up and they have a conversation in the doorway, that's a great, great... Tell you what it does brilliant. Passive aggression.

2:01:38J.K. Simmons:Oh, pass-ag-central.

2:01:39Tom Brittney:There are levels of passive aggression and there are different styles of passive aggression, but they've all got passive aggression, except Chloe Savini, who's just aggressive.

2:01:48J.K. Simmons:Yeah. Completely unfiltered, isn't it?

2:01:50Tom Brittney:It's adapted by a woman with a brilliant name of Becca Brinstetter, who's a proper playwright, who's written and plays including one called Fucking Art. So I think we can see where the dialogue comes from.

2:02:03J.K. Simmons:And we should say also that they have all said they had the time of their lives making this and they were all genuine. And you can tell that there's genuine relationship between them. It really, I think it plays out really well. Loved it. Absolutely, yeah.

2:02:15Tom Brittney:And so did James, so there you go. Who'd have thought? Five Star Weekend then, which is on the Sky Atlantic. Yes, and now on Thursday, the 16th of July at 9pm. 9pm what else is out this week Boydie well it's quite a good week considering you know all the water all spoo and it's the summer and everything Ride or Die starts on Wednesday Prime Video it's heavily embargoed that's the one with Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham and Bill Nighy yeah what a fucking cast that is there's a thing called The Hairdresser Mysteries on Friday on BBC One written by Jim Carrow who's a great playwright and that's got Sally Phillips in it as a hairdresser crime investigator.

2:03:01Tom Brittney:Love it. Yes, please. I mean, that's what you want. Lucky, which the aforementioned, which we may... We'll do it on Pilot Plus. Of course. We will review that on Pilot Plus. Actually starts Wednesday, 15th of July. Yes, with Anya Taylor-Joy, our new close personal friend. Anya Total-Joy, as we're calling her from now on. The West is... Oh, we've already covered that. That started on Sunday, by the way. Yes, we've already dismissed that one. Oh, The Hawk is a golfing comedy. Yes. starring Will Ferrell. And can I just say, do you know the thing to know about this show? Tell me. It's a Netflix show.

2:03:30Tom Brittney:It's co-produced by the Professional Golf Association of America, the PGA. So it's like an official endorsement of golf, professional golf. It's like doing Ted Lasso being officially produced by FIFA or the FA or something. It's weird. It's a bit weird, I think.

2:03:47J.K. Simmons:Is it? Is it going to be brilliant? Because Will Ferrell is amazing.

2:03:49Tom Brittney:It starts on Thursday. Netflix, it was heavily in bargain as well, so it couldn't do that either. Under suspicion, Tracy Andrews is a from the same team who did under suspicion Kate McCann so that's a true crime drama which I thought you'll be all over

2:04:01J.K. Simmons:oh my god I'll be all over that's going to be brilliant

2:04:03Tom Brittney:so you know there's loads of stuff this week some of those things we might end up doing on next week's show because next week is actually a quiet week because out next week Star Trek Strange New Worlds returns and the Crow Girl is obviously back but other than that there's actually not a lot out next week and obviously we can ignore Star Trek absolutely not

2:04:19J.K. Simmons:no we shouldn't ignore we can't ignore Star Trek

2:04:21Tom Brittney:also arriving on Friday by the way the 17th is Heartstopper Forever which is the feature length but it is a film so you know we'll our release of the classic Heartstopper franchise and instead of a full series you get a two hour film Heartstopper is delightful is delightful so I just wanted to alert everyone to that fact Friday 17th of July Heartstopper the movie effectively what is our pick of the oh I mean hands down there's not even a competition the five star weekend yes it is I'll be honest it's probably more of a three and a half star weekend for me. But I enjoyed it more than the other two shows and I think it's good.

2:04:56Tom Brittney:Oh, it's at least a four star. It's at least a four star. It's an easy four star weekend ever. Right, so that is it for this week's show. You can have lunch now, buddy. Oh my God, honestly. You can get something to eat. I'm probably a bit hungry, yeah.

2:05:09J.K. Simmons:Your tummy rumbles really loudly.

2:05:11Tom Brittney:I'm really, really hungry because we've not had lunch. We do record pilot, which is just before lunch. In fact, now, as we record, it's quarter past two. So no wonder we're starving. Right, anyway. Anyway, I want to have a sandwich. so let's wrap this thing up. Oh, rap. Sorry. We need to finish the podcast. Thank you very much for listening to the podcast. Please subscribe to Pilot Plus because you want to hear our review of Lucky and the long-promised spoiler specials for Paradise and The Pit, which Boyd is even now thinking about. But yes, please do that plus you get all sorts of other bonuses as well and it's well worth it.

2:05:42Tom Brittney:We'll be back in your ears on Monday with, among other things, Star Trek Strange New Worlds. Yeah. Yeah.

2:05:47J.K. Simmons:We're going to have a load of Star Trek chat.

2:05:52Tom Brittney:Oh, God, I'm going to get some lunch. Thank you very much. Pilots out.