Hour 3:  Packers ‘4-Downs’ Preview, Browns QB Competition Latest, plus Chris Hardwick In-Studio

23:47lead with your left hand like that's your guiding and it and it i never pitched again but uh

23:54Rich Eisen:chris hardwick's uh a dodger stadium throwing career was one we're going to the dodger game taking my mom to the dodger game tonight is that right yes i know well i adore her and she's like she's the biggest dodger fan and i had mbc's invited me out to go and i was like i'll go if I can bring my mom and they're like absolutely so I'm taking my mom that's fantastic Chris Hardwick is here the radio audience has just returned the wall is celebrating its 100th episode on Monday August 24th every single Monday is where you can catch a new episode of the wall streams the next day on Peacock Chris Hardwick is here uh have you have you had any interaction with LeBron James whatsoever as the executive producer yeah initially when we when we first started doing the show uh We did some press stuff together, and he was so nice.

24:39And when we met, of course, I brought my mom. Nice. And, of course, I'd lead the same way that I led your show with, like, listen, of course I know who you are, but I don't know anything about sports. But then, of course, my mom, when I introduced my mom, she was, like, throwing out stats from his whole career going back to college. And he was so gracious and kind to her. But I think one of the first things he said to me was, like, hey, singled out. Like he remembered that I worked at MTV. I was like, oh my God, that's crazy that you remember that.

25:07Rich Eisen:Dude, I mean, LeBron, I mean, I'm just trying to put dates and times and birth dates together. Singled out for him. He must have been like a kid, teenager or something. I don't know. I'm 94 years old. When was singled out exactly? It was in the 1900s. No, late 80s, early 90s. No, no, it was 95 to 98. 95 to 98 were the peak singled out years. And we did like 320 some episodes in that period of time. Well, bro, it would have been 11 or 12. There you go. I mean, that's the MTV audience. Yeah. That's, I mean, I watched MTV from when it first launched in 81 and I was, you know, 10, 11 years old. And I, that was like MTV, like getting to work on MTV was like the most incredible experience because I grew up with it.

25:52Rich Eisen:Me too. Yeah. Yeah. We're right around the same age and I know I'm going to be dating myself as well, but I was just telling my wife the other day on a flight home for some reason um i just got the urge to want to watch unplugged oh that's great i don't know why i did i just did because it's it is available for streaming you can stream it great and i i watched hall and oats unplugged and it was one of the best half hours i've spent watching something in a long time i find out my friends because i'm i've been friends with all of the the state cast and you You know, Reno and so Tom Lennon, Carrie Kinney, you know, Ken Marino, Mike Black, all those, the whole.

26:30And I found Carrie just told me a couple of weeks ago that they were all at the Nirvana Unplugged taping and that you can kind of hear them in the background. I'm like, it's literally the defining, like one of the most important musical events of Gen X was the Nirvana Unplugged. and that whole series, a shout out to Alex Coletti who was a producer at MTV who created Unplugged.

26:54Rich Eisen:It's great. I mean, McCartney did it. Clapton did it. I was at Pearl Jam. Oh, you were? That must have been amazing. Pearl Jam was amazing. Had to be. Yeah. Why did they stop doing it? Yeah. You could do it today. You could still do it. I don't know. I think people still do it. Well, now there's social media. There wasn't social media. Like back in the old days, if you wanted to see something, you had to go and find it. It didn't just exist in your pocket at all times. Or find it on a plane. Or find it on a plane. Or find it on a plane. Like I did, you know, like that is, but, you know, singled out is the fact that LeBron threw that at you.

27:27Rich Eisen:I know. That totally blew me away. I was like, oh, my God, that's amazing that he knew that. Yeah, so he was super, super nice. And it's just a fun, it's just a really sweet, wonderful show to get to do. And I've done, I've gotten to do a lot of different shows in the past, you know, 30 years or whatever. and I'm sure we cannot not mention that you are an At Midnight champion. I think a two-time At Midnight champion. That's pretty great. I mean, Ron Funches got a piece of it, I think, when I was on. Oh, Funches is so funny. You said, who else? Kevin Nealon, I think, was on maybe when you were on, who's also a genius.

28:04Rich Eisen:That was fun. Listen, I did stand-up comedy in college. So to be on a show where the writers are so talented and they're sitting in the back beforehand and they're walking you through what the questions are and here are some suggested answers you can use them you cannot use them it it it it was just a tip of the cap to comedy and and comedians and the ability to deliver a line and be able to play off each other it was just a blast it was kind of my nerdy dream show it's basically just like making dumb jokes with your friends and people and also people that were going to be your friends because you all connected it just had such a friendly vibe and we were uh just making fun of just basically like making fart jokes about the internet like it was the best it was so much my soul was that show and getting to riff with people and and and and again it worked because we had amazing comedians on the show there was an incredible staff on the show the writers the social media team like everyone it was just like a perfect uh ecosystem of of talented people who was the listen and and and it is also a platform for up-and-coming comedians or people that you might not have heard of and go wait a minute i need to find out more about this like ron funchess who was amazing yeah for sure who was the most famous one that came on that was outstanding at it the person like someone who ended up becoming famous or someone who was famous at the time either one so like uh the first time tiffany haddish came on she destroyed like she destroyed every time she was on and i remember saying to her like after like the second or third time she was on, I was like, I'm so grateful that you're coming on the show because at a certain point you're going to be too famous to come on the show.

29:45Nikki Glaser was another person who like right out of the gate, just destroyed. We had so many great, uh, you know, like I said, Ron Funches, Kyle Kinane, you know, just like so many comedy superstars now. Um, you could see on at midnight, they just crushed. And that was really fun as a comedy nerd to just be a part of it. Like just to, just to be hosting and also an audience member, a front row seat for this really fun, you know, uh, exploration of comedy where you're not burning through your material, which is really important for comedian. No, for sure. And, uh, and, and being able to use it as a credit, you know, that was important to me.

30:27Like I used to do the Chelsea Lately all the time and it really helped on the road. You could use it as a credit. It would help you sell tickets. And so I knew that had value and that was really important to me. And I love that people were able to use that to help their ticket sales.

30:38Rich Eisen:You're talking bad. I wasn't much of a, you know, a zombie show guy. So I didn't, I didn't really do talking dead. Yeah. It was awesome. I know it was, trust me. I, I, I know, but the talking bad stuff, I was all over. You have the same Gus Fring poster in your green room that I have. Well, I'm telling you, Vince Gilligan, as I told you before, the first ever in-studio guest in the history of this show back when we launched in 2014. And literally one of the nicest people in the world. Was Vince Gilligan. Yeah. And the reason why, it's because I know you've already professed to not know much about sports.

31:15Rich Eisen:You know more than Vince Gilligan. And he would admit that. And I saw him as I was flying out to Tampa Bay for a Thursday night football game to host for NFL Network at the very tail end of Breaking Bad. I knew who he was. He had no idea who I was. I went up and I fanboyed him. Yep. And I stopped him. And I had a great conversation with him. And I'm like, I've got a podcast. I'd love to have you on. And he's like, well, I don't know much football. Don't worry about it. We're not going to talk football. We're just going to talk about Breaking Bad. And he gave me his information. i reached out he said yes and the time that he said yes was the week after breaking bad finished oh wow i gotta have a like an exit interview with him oh my gosh that's amazing so generous chris oh i know he's the best so generous so then when it was time to have him you know just for this show to start i i reached out to him and he left the the the writer's room for he's like my new show it's about saul goodman yeah he left the better call saul writer's room before that launch to come here and he brought every Breaking Bad item that you see here, he brought.

32:21He's the sweetest man and so unbelievably talented and such a gift to television. When you look, when you go back and you see like, you know, he was a writer on X-Files, but then kind of ended up, I think, executive producing the show and then went from X-Files, which my wife and I still watch X-Files. And then, you know, of course, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Pluribus. It was like he would be the first person to say like, oh, I don't know. You know, we're just all trying to figure it out. It's like, dude, you're literally one of the most talented writer showrunners in the history of television.

32:53Rich Eisen:Sweetheart and totally unassuming. And clearly, clearly there's a dark side in there. Seriously, how do you come up with all of this stuff and green light it and have a writer's room to basically create more of it? Yeah. And then these characters that are all flawed, but it's also, you know, a window into maybe our souls as people. But Breaking Bad is like the perfect show. It's like a perfect five season arc. It has a perfect, you know, because he would just say like, look, I just wanted to explore what would happen if like, what was it that he said? Like, Mr. Chips becomes Scarface. Yes. You know, where it's like and you go, yeah, that's exactly what it is.

33:30And then you start really unpacking Walter White and you're like, oh my gosh, was he always this? Was this underneath or did this manifest as a result of the condition that he had based on his fight for survival in his last remaining time or whatever? but um i i always think that every episode of that show is like a stressful math problem that has to be solved and not only do they solve it but they solve it in a way where you're like yeah i guess that they need a big magnet i guess that's how they got out of that and even though on paper it might seem kind of far-fetched it doesn't play that way it's one of the most grounded

34:08Rich Eisen:incredible like breaking bad is and saul you know that's right uh it it it is perfect and i'm i'm trying to as you're describing it walter white watching brian cranson is walter white um the only character where i would root for and then alternately root against yeah in the same hour of television or the same scene of an hour of television was maybe tony soprano right where you're watching a show and you're just like this is a real rat sob and or like you go sob like i'm rooting for you and it it would toy with you you're like you'd sit there and you'd think to yourself is this a window into the way i'm thinking and the way i go about business like what if this did happen to me what would i do to try and leave a legacy or anything well sure yeah but you kind of look at like uh television i just keep saying the 1900s but but but in the inside of in the older media era the protagonist always had to be a kind of a little more one-dimensional like they're the good guy and then in the early 2000s you know we start seeing you know uh walter white We see Tony Soprano.

35:13We see Don Draper. We see all these deeply flawed protagonists that are sort of like, oh, yes, everyone's flawed. You know, these guys are a little more deeply flawed. But, you know, but that that type of protagonist is a really interesting. And even a Walking Dead where you start to, you know, you go, OK, well, we're rooting for these characters because we know them. But if you were in a different survivor group, they would seem like total villains to you, you know? So it's like, where do you place your loyalty and how do you like, what is, what is protagonism in terms of like, you know, our, our pop culture heroes.

35:50So it is, it is interesting that you say that. Yeah. Walter White is like, oh, do you root form or do you not? Or like, what do you, what's the thing? I mean, what's your favorite scene from Breaking Bad? Oh, my. Well, my favorite. So there are a lot of incredible scenes in terms of like acting and in terms of the impact, like insane impact scenes. Like, you know, well, I don't want to give anything away. But I mean. But like Hank, you know, the character of Hank or like finding leaves of grass. It's just like these moments. But one of the things that I think Vince was and the team was so flawless at was something could have occurred like three seasons ago that just seemed like a relatively nonchalant, like not even a thing that ultimately would have a massive payoff like a couple of scenes, a couple of seasons later.

36:40So it was – they were so expert at tying things together in ways that were so satisfying or even just like the recurring bear in the swimming pool and then how that ends up paying off and the domino effect of how it gets to that with what happens with a certain character and her father.

37:03Rich Eisen:and so we've we've had uh cranston here talking about that scene about him again uh we go back and forth about spoiler alerts and anything like that but we're talking about stuff that's 10 years old in a way but we talked with cranston about the scene with i believe it's kristin ritter where he was amazing on the show she needs medical attention yes he lets he's standing in the room because she can rat him out well and also and she's and she's pulling jesse away correct and And so it's like that was that was I think that might have been one of the first moments where you're like, oh, well, he's really over the line over the line.

37:40And this is like that where you see like pure selfishness on his part.

37:45Rich Eisen:The scene in the garage with Hank where Hank's got him. Hank's got him. And, you know, he closes the garage on Walter to basically say, we're going to have this thing out right now where you're busted. I see you. And I don't care about family anymore. And that's the tread lightly line that leads to that. That's the one for me. I'll never forget that one when he said, I think that might have been a season finale too, where he's like, I think your best course, if you think I'm capable of doing this, is to tread lightly. I'm like, that is... Those little lines like that are when he's talking to Skylar and he's talking about the danger that knocks on the door and he's like, I'm the one who knocks.

38:26And you're seeing this character who for so much of his life has felt so powerless and he's finally like, of course, going way over the line with it, but that's him saying, you know, I am now the danger, you know? And so this just makes me wish that you you had been on breaking on talking bad i wanted to be on that in the worst way i just

38:47Rich Eisen:didn't i i don't know if my career was at a certain point i don't know i don't know but i watched i'm like i i would kill but i also love that like i loved it i loved every second i guess you and i would be considered like now old school podcasters you know what i mean like hey man the fact that i love it are still doing something i mean isn't it nice it is great um i i'm blessed every day i just i i really appreciate that you do what you do and i'm glad that we've been able to be pals for so long right right back at you and you know obviously saul too on top of it we had uh we had odenkirk here the other day talking about some of some of the old days and how he he basically hadn't seen breaking bad when he got hired yeah the point where cranston called him out in a in like a table read just like you haven't seen this show have you and he's like no i haven't you know and then he studied up and now look at what what that that that show too on top Well, also like going back to Vince is like having and also the casting for these shows of having the eye.

39:47When you look at the number of people with strong comedy backgrounds. Bill Burr. Bill. I'm sorry. Bill Odenkirk. You know, Cranston was on Malcolm in the Middle. He had primarily done sitcoms. Right. You know, and so you see all these characters who are comedians. laval crawford like all these different characters who are comedians who then play dramatic roles and then you kind of go like oh that's really interesting a comedian has a certain depth or something that allows them to play really amazing dramatic characters or villainous characters or you know so it's it is you see the recurrence of that across the the vince verse because there was

40:28Rich Eisen:there are times where they just laugh out loud funny stuff yeah i mean it is he's trying to get the pizza and the pizza goes up on the, I mean, it's like those. Well, apparently that was one take, like apparently that he, he did that and there, he had no idea he was going to get the pizza on the roof. And they're like, let's use that. Unbelievable. This has been a blast, man. The wall celebrating its 100th episode coming up on Monday, August 24th. Every single Monday, you can catch a new episode at 10 PM Eastern on NBC currently in season six. It is executive produced by LeBron James, a big singled out fan.

41:04we're learning that's what we've learned that was the big time that was my sport i actually contributed something sporty you did to the show that you didn't know some sports trivia there you

41:12Rich Eisen:go and then your mom thank goodness she's just like why did you pass that one up in this the uh eastern conference finals man i'm taking that shot i don't i don't know do that uh have fun with your mom tonight at dodger stadium i really appreciate that do you mind i have a my i have another comedy special coming out in october do you mind if i plug it please go it's called the middle ages uh and it's going to come out on 800-pound gorilla, and it was really fun, and it comes out in October. Okay, 800-pound gorilla. I think, was that we had Patton Oswalt? I think he's got something that's on there.

41:45Rich Eisen:Oh, that's amazing. I think so. I might be just saying the wrong stuff, just being name-droppy, which I've got to get out of that habit. It's pretty terrible. But this is the tapestry of your life, though. That's not unreasonable for you to say that. You have guests on your show. You have people that you know. That's your life. That's not, that's not. It was Patton Oswalt, right? You're right. Okay. Very good. Look at you. And look at me, my life tapestry, right? Chris Hardwick, everybody at Hardwick on Instagram for those who wish to follow on. Thanks everyone. That's Chris Hardwick. Thank you.

42:21The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

42:53Rich Eisen:We'll be right back. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen. Terms and conditions apply. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities.

43:25Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by.

43:34Rich Eisen:Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow, and the challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eyes and terms and conditions apply. The newest owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jackson Jr.

44:07Rich Eisen:You and your dad just bought it from Bob Iger, right? They just flipped it? 100%. They just had it flipped to them and they just flipped it. $12.1? $22 billion. The Lakers are like a spec house now, huh? Just keep flipping it. It's crazy, man. It's madness. I was having a good day, you know? And then I go on Twitter. My phone is blowing up because obviously everyone thinks when something in the Lakers happens, they have to hit Shea to get his input. Well, you're so vocal. Why not? I know. I am great. But it is frustrating. You always have an opinion. That's one of your many terrific attributes.

44:41I thought you were the first person to tell me that. That's the truth.

44:45Rich Eisen:who the hell by the way um why do you have an undertow amount of water in a bottle next year what the hell because i am that i am completely miserable uh i am on a uh i'm getting back into my my my goal my fitness goal shape yeah dude and it is uh but i just think about how sexy i'm gonna be there you go and then i'm i'm all right you just trying to thirst trap if you're going to share a screen with Gerard Butler again. You gotta be drinking a lot of that water. Listen, man, Gerard, he better be prepared to be in Den of Thieves 7 and 8. I need him locked in for the rest of his life. Because my goal is if I can get when my dad is writing last Friday, my whole goal was if I get to 4 before my dad could have a 4, I'd be happy.

45:35But now I gotta get to 5.

45:36Rich Eisen:When's last Friday coming? You know, he'd be writing. I don't know, man. It's just when, you know, a lot of things happen. We lost a lot of people from the original cast, so stories have to bend and twist now, you know. So it's in progress. How was the Idiots premiere? How was that? Oh, I crushed. I crushed. TJ would probably throw a little salt. At the premiere or in the film? Oh, in the film, crushed. Got laughs. What I love is I got different laughs than I got at Sundance, which means that when people rewatch, they're going to pick up on new things every time. And 90 minutes, super rewatchable.

46:13It is a great time. And I will go out on a limb. And this is just off the top of my head. I'm sure the list is prestigious. But we will have the best comedy of the year.

46:24Rich Eisen:And it premieres when? What's the premiere date? Oh, my God. Or it is on the shirt. Oh, 8, 28, 26. August 28th. Why were you about to say I'd throw some salt in it? Because, like, that's how we communicate. It's our love language. Yeah, but not when it comes to your work. Like, I came in the next day because I was up all night. You got a Cowboys meeting y 'all? Yeah, man. We had Sean Gary was here. All right. Okay. You know, we had a fantasy draft that I missed out on because, you know, we were in the lobby, you know, chopping it up. So Rich was getting on my nerves. Why y 'all leave him out? Listen, there's not enough.

46:55Rich Eisen:No, I was in. Rich was mad that I didn't do the draft, but I was chopping it up with you. There's not enough time to get into it because the end of the show is near. And the Lakers have just been sold again. Yeah. I guess we'll lead tomorrow with a Del Tufo bought him I will say this every ring is a Mickey Mouse ring now baby

47:21Rich Eisen:Bob Iger certainly knows how to run things that's for damn sure yeah but it just feels like we're evil money now no stop it we're back to wrap on the Disney Plus in a second thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

48:05From beyond the logo. Every did you see that moment? You bet. What records are going to be broken this season? All of it right here. Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN. All season long.