Is ‘Stranger Things’ the Last Gasp of Blockbuster TV? Plus, Why Netflix’s ‘Death by Lightning’ Is Worth Your Time.

21:08Andy Greenwald:more common than you'd think. Peyronie's disease or PD for short. PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis. This can cause a curve or the bump during an erection and for some men, lead to pain during intimacy and may impact mental health. It may also lead to anger and frustration, depression, lower self-esteem, and even withdrawal from sexual activity and physical intimacy. Because of this, some men could feel embarrassed or reluctant to talk about PD. The actual cause of PD isn't always known. In some cases, it may be linked to a minor injury or repeated injuries during sex or other physical activity.

21:45Andy Greenwald:The good news is PD is treatable. If you notice a curve with a bump, a trusted urology specialist can help diagnose it and walk you through your options, including non-surgical treatment. To learn more about Peyronie's disease, visit talkaboutpd.com. This episode is brought to you by Boar's Head. What if we told you the taste of deep fried turkey is now available at your local deli? Well, Boar's Head just did that. Bursting with flavor, perfectly seasoned with that indulgent taste that usually means planning your whole day around it. Presenting the Friar's Turkey Breast only from Boar's Head. A backyard tradition now available behind the counter.

22:22Visit your local deli today. Discover the craftsmanship behind every bite. Boar's Head, committed to craft since 1905. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about Death by Lightning, the new series on Netflix. This one was released last week, I believe. Stars Michael Shannon, Matthew McFadden, and then just like an absolute list of hitters. Betty Gilpin, Shea Wiggum, Bradley Whitford. Really great to see him in this. I know that, I believe he's also in, is he in Diplomat as well? He's in The Diplomat. So yeah, great. A lot of rave reviews for Diplomat. I know. You know what? Honestly, Diplomat is the one that I'm like, but I have to start at the beginning.

23:03And so I just kind of, I should, maybe I should just like bang out some Diplomat. You got an 11 hour flight. I know. I was going to say, and then Nick Offerman this comes from a creator named Mike Mikowski who people may have seen his HBO film with Hugh Jackman called Bad Education he's written out a couple of features as well but he is creating this and I believe writing a lot of it under the EP I think he wrote the whole thing Shingle great good because I love the first episode so if he's writing the whole thing like I think it's and Matt Ross

23:32Andy Greenwald:who people might remember as an actor on Silicon Valley who is also a director he directed a great movie with Viggo Mortensen a few years ago So it's a name I'm absolutely blanking on, but I can call up. And he directed Gaslit, I believe it was called, The Sam Esmail Show. He directed all of it. So it is a four episode written and directed by all the same folks. Captain Fantastic was Matt Ross's movie. And this is based on the book Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard, which I believe Juliette Litman would say is one of her favorite recent books. Is it? Yes. She was very excited for this series.

24:05and I went in knowing about as much about this period or this specific president, which is James A. Garfield, his fate, which is decided by Charles Guiteau, who is played, or Guiteau, played by McFadden, and kind of like also about Chester A. Arthur and Ulysses S. Grant. Like I knew, I basically am like right there in the Civil War. I got it pretty. You're good. I'm pretty good. And then I go west. My interests go west. That's right. 1870s, 1880s. I'm much more interested in your lonesome doves or what have you than I am in what was going on in Washington, D.C. And I just never got taught this era.

24:44So I almost went into Death by Lightning about as blind as I went into Pluribus. I feel the same way. And I was just like, here's what happened when I turned on this first episode, written by Mikowski, directed by Ross, obviously. And it's set in the 1880s and largely in Chicago for this first episode, but around in and around the Midwest in that era. And then to D.C. Yes. And it's set during the Republican National Convention, which is supposed to be a layup re-nomination for Grant for his third term. Yeah. Good for him. I hope that never happens again. And, you know, there's just supposed to be a couple of sacrificial lambs who stand up and try to make some points, but they know that Grant's going to get his nomination.

25:26And he is being essentially managed by Shea Wiggum's New York senator who seems like a real character. Roscoe Conkling. And he is kind of old party politics style. Like, you know, everybody gets a job, but then they deliver their votes. Michael Shannon, playing James A. Garfield, stands up, gives a very stirring speech about how they're the party of Lincoln. They should be the party of the working man of the every fireplace in America matters. And the people lying in bed at night need to know that the people in in Washington, care about them and have the same principles, etc. He talks about affordability,

26:00Andy Greenwald:he talks about his favorite halal carts in Queens. Buses are free, you know. It's pretty inspiring stuff. First we got to invent the bus, then we're not going to charge for it. The horseless bus. Wouldn't you know it, throughout an amazing series of events, and I got to admit, one thing I do really love. Say it. 19th century conventions. No, dude, go bigger. I fucking love conclaves. Yeah. I actually love a conclave. I didn't understand this about myself because frankly, we have not been given enough conclaves. And I will include the film Conclave, which I was mixed on, but the part of it I liked most, the titular conclave.

26:34Andy Greenwald:You get me a scene of a bunch of people in a room talking about who should win, and then you lock them in, and it gets a little hot, gets a little tight in there, nerves are frayed, backroom deals are happening, and one hero rises to meet the moment. And it's always that, why did he get one vote, guy? Yes, and you know what else? He doesn't want it. he doesn't want it but heavy is the head yes heavy destiny's calling i think that uh every vote should count for sure great but here we go this is how it starts pretty fun to watch them decide you know it's pretty fun to watch like a group of 12 dudes decide another good example of this uh was uh the film lincoln where they have to get the votes for the amendment um and but there's a lot of backstabbing and lying and like Strathairn's just absolutely, you know, and David Costa Beal are like, you lied to us.

27:27Can you imagine like, and that's how we ended up

27:29Andy Greenwald:with Democratic nominee Dick Durbin. Because a bunch of guys went in a room and we're like, everybody likes Dick. Nobody likes Dick. All right. So this show, you start it, you start watching it. And here's what I felt. Yeah. I want to talk about the opening specifically. Is that where you're going? As we got into arrivals in Chicago and deals being made, I felt myself have multiple generations of sons and become a grandfather who just sits around reading history books. Oh, yeah. Well, first of all, we're closer to that than you may realize. Sons aside. Like, I don't think... I was prepping a joke about how, like, one day I'll become a guy that just has a thousand-page doorstopper book about Congress next to me.

28:13then I'm like, the numbers are the numbers.

28:15Andy Greenwald:You know what I mean? Like, I got about five more years of cool spy books before that just becomes my identity. We're getting there. I just found this to be very fleet of foot. Yes. And not, despite the fact that it was obviously doing a lot of exposition and everybody is like, do you mean President Grant, the Civil War hero, one piece at Appomattox? Like, that's how they are introducing people? Not mad at it. Dude, it moved. It had a great tempo and a great pace. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about ways to make... Let's just rap about history, kids. What's up? I got some TikToks to show you about reconstruction.

28:58Andy Greenwald:I joke, but also, the show opens in a relatively surprising way that started to feel worrisome, which is it starts with 1960s soul music playing. And I was like, oh, okay. immediately my brain leapt to this is a post-Steven Knight historical drama. And we talked about Stephen Knight dramas. Yes, we talked about Stephen Knight recently. He is one of the most prolific TV creators of our time. He is often brilliant and we often, very often, like his shows. Yes. Rogue Heroes and Peaky Blinders, two of my favorite shows of recent memory. I struggled with and did not really engage with House of Guinness for the reason I'm about to repeat, which is it's Fontaine's DC version of history, which everything is an anachronistic needle drop set punch up with glossy images.

29:55Yeah, and every heuristic rat is also a bare knuckle boxer who loves to do snuff.

30:00Andy Greenwald:I completely respect it. I have enjoyed it in doses and I see why that fits Netflix's strategy to make the history go down like cheeseburgers. But I didn't know if I wanted an American version of that necessarily. And what was very clever about the beginning is that it isn't that. The music is actually period appropriate because the show begins in the 60s with some people moving a house, a building of records and presidential stuff. And it's our boy, Ramin Djawadi from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon doing the score. Doing the score, which I didn't know about that. Let's circle back to that.

30:31Andy Greenwald:They find a brain in a jar, as one does. I mean and this is the 1960s scene yeah but it's a hallmark of I mean there's a lot of different genres that begin with people going in some sort of government archives and there's a brain in the jar you know I feel like they could get a little wait are you pulling my leg no I just feel like that would be the beginning of like an invasion movie or something okay yeah but there's not like a lot of shows that start that way funny story Chris what been my time as TV critic for Graham the first episode Chandler Bing no did you know the first episode of the Seinfeld Chronicles did not have Julia Louis Dreyfus, but it did have a brain in the jar.

31:06I did not know that. I know.

31:09Andy Greenwald:And then it transitioned. They go like, who the fuck is this? And then we go back into the past. And what that communicated in a really fun way was that we were not going to be somber. We were not going to be overly reverential about tone or history. We were going to be lively, but we are also not going to be glib, which I really, really appreciated. And then it just went into, as you said, something that just moves. it didn't feel the need to narratively explain itself, which I think was one of the reasons why I didn't stick with, I bet this is a theme for me, I guess. Not sticking with this.

31:41Andy Greenwald:Yeah. Was Manhunt, the Apple. Yes, I was going to bring Manhunt up. Another thing, who knows, I think the fact that this is a short series is very attractive. Sure. But I think with Manhunt, it was, I admired it and did not feel the need to finish it. Again, I would like to know more about the genesis of the show and maybe we could talk to people involved in it because Mike Mikowski, if you look at he's very he's a very young writer and creator is 34 years old. If I would not have guessed his CV, you know, as the person who would make the show. So I don't know if he's passionate about the book or if it was a really, really successful marriage made in a general meeting where where Benioff and Weiss and their company or Netflix had the rights to this and they were just taking meetings.

32:29Andy Greenwald:It seems like someone who was really fleet of foot and not too reverential. And maybe the book's written in that spirit. I don't know. But immediately I was like, I'm really excited that these people are telling me this story. And it happens to be a story that I know literally nothing about. Well, and then you get into the performances. Because I think that is kind of like the dice roll for all of these shows. This also kind of fits into a Netflix tradition of what I would very lovingly call Wikipedia shows. which is, even for as much as I adore almost every iteration of Narcos, has a little bit of like, that there was Pablo Escobar, you know?

33:04Sure. Voice over and, you know, just make sure you know. And that's the year that old Ronnie Reagan decided to declare war on drugs. Well, we had fun with that one.

33:13Andy Greenwald:I feel like you should do this for a lot of our recaps. Have Boyd Holbrook or just narrate history? Like last week when we were talking about I Love LA, you were like, you know, Rachel Sennett plays Maya. An up-and-coming manager who also sometimes does ketamine and cares about skin care. There is the Silver Lake Reservoir. That's what I'm looking for. Guys like to walk around with water bottles. That's what I'm saying. They called it Erewhon. They sold a smothie. A$25 confection. That's like, now you're sounding like Woodrow from Lonesome Dove. So? Because I'm trying to stick to Boyd Albrook.

33:47Oh, I'm messing with your imitation? A minute ago you were like, I only read Lonesome Dove. That's not what I said. I just said that like once we get after the Civil War, I go west like Horatio Alger. I don't stay over in the East Coast.

34:00Andy Greenwald:You're not a creature of the swamp town of Washington. I get it. That said, do you think Boyd Holbrook in character as a 1980s DEA agent sees the word smoothie for the first fucking time and nails it? You don't think it's possible that he garbles it? Wouldn't he just be like, it's much like an orange Julius. That's exactly right. sherbet in a cup for 30 American dollars. Designed by the wife of a pop star, Justin Bleiber. Although this wife does do quite well in the makeup space and wellness. I believe she's what's called an influencer. Pablo Escobar liked wellness of another kind. Knows wellness.

34:42Anyway, Death by Lightning. Quick, say something controversial about a bagel store.

34:46Andy Greenwald:Let's go mega viral. Yeah. the cast of this show and what the cast is doing. One thing that's sometimes difficult with any show that you're going to start with two people on a collision course, but they're not going to have a ton of interaction, at least early on, is making sure... This was an issue I was always kind of curious with Task. Yeah. Ruffalo and Pelfrey kind of famously did not have very many scenes together and barely saw each other during production because they were shooting on different ends of the city or because they were shooting in different locales or whatever. And they were like, yeah, you know, it was kind of always wondering, you know, making sure that we're in the same show, making sure that we're doing tonally something that is in the same show.

35:30Andy Greenwald:And complimentary. And I think that this show so far is doing something wonderful with its two leads. McFadden is incredible in this first episode. Playing someone who is essentially, looks like a small-time hustler who's been in and out of prison and in and out of scams and deals that fall through and is always looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, but in his mind is a man of ambition and is a man of big dreams and is looking for someone to recognize that in him and give him the opportunity. He's constantly going up to people and saying, I have an opportunity to give you if you give me the opportunity to make some money.

36:04And to be seen by you. Exactly. And he is essentially banging around Chicago, living with his sister, but is, I think, before we -

36:15Andy Greenwald:from prison at the beginning of the season. Before we had a diagnosis for it, it would probably be bipolar or something. Obviously it just has episodes of darkness, episodes where there's a moment later in the first episode where he is chopping wood manically and nearly swings the axe at his sister, who is pretty much the only person in the world looking out for him. Played by Paula Malcolmson, you might remember. Paula Deadwood, which is worth mentioning as an influence on this show because I think if If you wanted to know the equation of this series, it would be basically Gilded Age by way of Deadwood.

36:51And I just thought that the energy that he was emitting was absolutely electric. And if Michael Shannon had been doing the same thing, it would have been too much. But Shannon is doing stock still, man of Lincoln, farmer, has a great family, cares about the right kind of thing.

37:10Andy Greenwald:Decent but unambitious. Yeah, and it allows Shea Wiggum and Bradley Whitford to eat scenery. And Wiggum has this great scene in the first episode where he takes a piss and then he takes off all of his rings before he washes his hand. And I think that was my favorite scene in the episode. He's just sort of like, you should have stayed on that farm. So look, this is, to me, honestly, a pretty easy recommend. Very easy. Did you have any other thoughts on it before we go? Oh, I had one more I wanted to give you. Well, I think the performances are just great. I think it's just great to see, first of all, elite facial hair acting by everyone involved.

37:49Andy Greenwald:Can't possibly do better. It is an example of something that is just clearly elevated by the actors who are available to it. Because when you cast Shea Whigham, and as you said, everyone is perfectly cast. It kind of reminds me of American Masterpiece Theater. Everyone is perfectly cast. Everyone is... firmly in their bag. Yeah. But there is a directorial and producerial hand here because I think you characterized it well that like you can only spin Shea Wiggum at that velocity if other people aren't spinning as fast. You know, it's really artfully done that everyone is complimenting each other depending on the gradation of their spin.

38:33Andy Greenwald:I'd also say it is, you know, we have, when the names David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have come up on this podcast, in the last year or so. It was a combination of optimism or incredulity about Three Body Problem, which was like the fruit of their massive, massive post-Game of Thrones Netflix deal. We've also just kind of talked about the deal and how challenging it is to get the Albert Pujols deal after you've been an MVP elsewhere and you rarely get return on investment to that degree. It is worth celebrating then that however it got there, this came into Netflix through their deal and has to be considered, I think, go win as part of that deal.

39:11I fist bump both of those guys because when you really think about it, the two things that they have done, and really, would you consider, what was the Sandra Oh show, The Chair? Yeah. Oh, that's right. Would you consider that part of their deal? Well, it's probably why it ended up at Netflix. Yeah. I would say - Good stuff. They have done well because I know people have like, many people might think Three Body Problem fell short of their expectations either as fans of the books or is ridiculous. And I understand that, but I I thought it was a big swing and I liked a lot of it.

39:41Andy Greenwald:I liked it too. But the story of it is not as forgiving as we were about that first season. And I think generally when you hire big talent off the back of something very successful, it's hit or miss, unless it's someone with a proven massive output, like a Ryan Murphy or a Shonda Rhimes. An example I was thinking of was when the Glover brothers left FX at the end of Atlanta and went to Amazon, we got Mr. and Mrs. Smith from it, which I adored. but that was Glover dependent because Donald was the star of it. And then I believe the only other thing we've gotten from that deal is Swarm which was an incredibly bold and kind of brilliantly executed show that was a very challenging watch made by Janine Neighbors, their collaborator.

40:25Andy Greenwald:And Amazon wasn't making that show without the deal. So kudos to the Glovers for lifting something up. But this is just feels, this is obviously a much more mainstream swing but it is a, I think it's just a win. We'll have this same conversation if we're still doing this. a couple of years about the Duffer brothers at Paramount and about Taylor Sheridan at Universal. Absolutely. I pledge to you to keep potting with you until we get the first Taylor Sheridan Peacock show. That's beautiful. Will you still be here? Was it in Jeopardy? It's like in 28 though. Will I still be here? Like what sense?

40:55Andy Greenwald:Like I got a lot of history books to read starting around then. So I might really die with my retirement. Also, Kai is out here trying to get me just put on the IR. like I don't know if I'm going to be free to give takes okay so big watch recommend to this I will just say if I to not glaze this thing the entire time yeah I could tell it was Budapest because of the regressive politics off camera well I think it did a wise job of I enjoyed the convention hall shot even if it's obviously like digitally replicating the first 50 guys into eternity there and apparently what? Just replicating the first 50 guys into infinity.

41:40Andy Greenwald:My time in the post-AI Hollywood trenches. Like I just feel like this is a memoir. This is pre-AI they've been doing that where it's just like you know the Battle of Troy and it's like hey there's a million people here somehow. It's incredible the way they did that. I don't think Wolfgang Peterson had that budget but okay. I just would say there are a couple of scenes where I was just like well that's not really like a thing. It's not a real place but I find that the diorama nature of it to be effective. And they're not doing too much like epic sweeping shot of a city that we made in a computer.

42:11It's like pretty medium shot, medium kind of.

42:14Andy Greenwald:And again, we don't, we're not in the edit bay. I don't know what's always what's vis-effect and what's not. I'm sure we get some things wrong just watching this as we are on iPads or whatever. Maybe they really had a thousand extras in a convention hall, but they all stood exactly the same way. And they all spoke Magyar. So it's a little challenging to get them to cheer at the right moments. No, but that was one of my issues with Manhunt, which was, it really felt CGI-y. It was filmed in Georgia. I think it filmed in Savannah. There were some beautiful locations, but the old-timiness felt digitally added in a way that this show, I'm sure there are moments, but it was more tightly focused.

42:50Andy Greenwald:And also, because the writing is the way it is and the performances are the way they are, it's just making aesthetic choices in a more consistent way. I have to tell you something. You don't know shit about CGI until you watch this season of Morning Show. Just in terms of actors being in the same room or what? I'll get to that. Yeah, yeah, okay. But there are also multiple scenes where it's like a rooftop bar in New York City and I'm like, there's an overhead shot of Reese Witherspoon and Billy Crudup slow dancing on a rooftop bar in NYC to a jazz band. No noise coming from below the streets. No, that's because everything's free now.

43:27And then either they have chosen to shoot it in a way that makes it look like it's shot in the volume or they shot it in the volume. It's one or the other. But I am also like, why? You know, like also, why are they slow dancing on a rooftop hotel?

43:41Andy Greenwald:Is there a moment that they were like they wanted to prove like holding up like a newspaper in a hostage video? They want to prove they were in New York. So they had Amy Sedaris in the frame. but she's Amy Sedaris in her Mandalorian costume because they shot on the same volume in Manhattan Beach. Like, yay or nay? Yeah. There is also, I have to admit that one of the major draws to me for watching this series continually is analyzing scenes where major characters, hugely famous people, or moderately famous people in the case of the example I'm about to give, are just simply clearly not in the same set together.

44:19And I'm not saying that it's a good wife thing where they're beefing. Which was never confirmed. It's a scheduling thing and I think that they are doing their best to be like, we can get Greta for these days in between Tron Aries reshoots. So we will have her do this stuff. But this is a scene where Billy Crudup is also in the scene and they just can't do, they can't make it work but they're going to do it. There is a scene in an episode I watched recently. This is the fifth season, fourth season of the morning show, fifth season of the morning.

44:47Andy Greenwald:You're going to have to tell me that one, Doug. I think it's season four. Okay. I want to say. No way to find out. I'll find out while you talk. It's fine. Yeah, you'll find out while I talk. Where Billy Crudup and something very crucial has happened in the UBN world. Season four, dog. And they're walking past each other. Two ships passing a night and also up and down the corporate ladder past each other. It's like walking and he's looking at her, but it's a single of him. And she's looking at him, but single of her. Single of him, single of her. And at the very last second, a woman with an amazing Greta Lee wig walks out of the frame for two frames, walks out of the shot past Billy Crudup.

45:28But I'm like, she wasn't there. I just want to know. I want somebody, please, if you worked on Morning Show, the watch at Spotify.com. Please tell me she wasn't there. And that I'm not spending all of my time being like, why is there only one shots of these people and not them together in a room together?

45:43Andy Greenwald:You know who we really should have one day on the show as a guest would be a first AD. Oh, the anonymous first AD. Just to be like a monster voice. But not to get dirt specifically about a show, although obviously we'll take dirt. What's the email address? The watch at Spotify. Because of scheduling. Like what a modern nightmare it is to schedule stuff. Now that everybody's working on lots of things. now that everybody has positions that they're supposed to be delivering on and that because of the nature of TV shows, there are very few shows that have their cast under contract for multiple seasons in first position anymore.

46:23Yes. And one of my favorite examples of this is Aaron Pierre is on this season. Great. He plays Marion Cotillard, who is sort of the Sherry Redstone-esque figure running the network or who owns the network or family, the Dumont family.

46:38Andy Greenwald:More like Sherry Redstone. Every once in a while. Okay. You look up from your Robert Caro book and you're like, more like Cherie, am I right? Still got it. He plays her husband. He is a art dealer, like art world connector for rich guys who want to get into art. Such a sick job. His scenes are almost exclusively shot in a gorgeous loft somewhere where women routinely walk in and say, make me a drink. and his drink setup is like better than most bars. So like he starts just pulling out Campari and gin and like making Negronis, but has like all this fresh fruit to peel. And I'm like, how many women are coming by asking for Negronis that these oranges wouldn't go bad?

47:25Andy Greenwald:Oh, interesting question. You don't think the oranges are replaced regularly? Also oranges are shelf stable for a while. Are they? I mean, I don't really have any oranges at my house. You also have scurvy. Go on. There's also a major plot line in this season about Greta Lee's character developing an AI to translate and to replicate the personal images and voices of the newscasters so that people can watch the Olympics in any language and Bradley Jackson will still be their host or whatever. Right. But then that AI goes bad on her. Oh, no. Wait. How? Throughout the season, she's been like... She went bad faster than those oranges.

48:05there's been all this like voiceover from from Gretel's character Stella and you're like I don't know this seems like an excessive amount of like random monologuing from her and it turns out she's been talking to her AI all season and then the AI is like the true reflection of her like insecurities and it's like a crazy racist AI not that racist but a little bit like racist enough to get elected to congress but it was really crazy because she's giving this huge presentation where she's like this AI is going to take us like they have a problem at a presentation. And so she's like, I'll just debut the AI.

48:39And she hits play and the AI just loses it immediately.

48:42Andy Greenwald:Could you describe that scene the way Boyd Holbrook would describe it? I can do you one better. One of the major characters of this season is a podcaster named Bro Hartman played by Boyd Holbrook. Stop it. It's like a Joe Rogan slash Morning Zoo guy who is speaking to the Manosphere. I never want to watch the show. I only want you to tell me about it. And he, at one point, is asked after, I can't remember who falls through, Chris, who's like one of the other newscasters, gets accused of using steroids during her Olympics. So Boyd Holbrook's character is going to have to step in and like host the Olympics.

49:20Okay.

49:21Andy Greenwald:Okay, listen. And then he says, I'll do it, but only if you let me host the presidential debate. And they're like, okay. And then. Okay. Can I stop you for a second? Can you name the current news anchors for the major broadcast network? Because this show seems like it really puts a lot of pressure on. David Muir. He's now the eminence grease of newscasters. Nora O'Donnell. Where's she? She's CBS, isn't she? I think she left. Hold on. The problem is. She was just interviewing Trump like five weeks ago. Listen, news travels fast. On 60 Minutes, but I thought she was the night person. By the way, here's also what's kind of incredible.

50:01Andy Greenwald:This is like when we got to get home. because a few weeks ago we were talking about Down Cemetery Road and I have not kept, I've got to watch the new episodes. We'll talk about it next week. And we were like, man, that one actor, again, no way of knowing who he is, is really tall. And you were like, how tall is he? I was like, I bet he's tall enough, Google, Google, Google, that he's like 1.12 meters or whatever. And we were like, no way of knowing how tall that is. I was going to do a bit just now where I was going to quiz you on the newsreaders, but I have to tell you, we remain in England. So I have a list of BBC, ITV, and Sky.

50:31Andy Greenwald:Jonah Bruce, Justin Webb, Ali Khan, and Stephen Dixon and Ann Diamond on GB News. Oh, well, all those guys are going to be working for Trump tomorrow. Nailed it. Anyway. So I just wanted to let you know that's where we're at. Also, in the meantime, Tom Llamas. Bradley Jackson, who's played by Reese Witherspoon, who has been in like four scenes with other actors this season, is working with Mark Duplass' Chip Black character, who used to be a producer on The Morning Show but is now a documentary filmmaker. and they're getting after a controversy where there was this whole Michael Clayton situation with a pharmaceutical or like agricultural company called Wolf River.

51:10Nice. And people got poisoned. They're trying to get to the bottom of that. It might go all the way to the top. So just wanted to let you know what was going on on the morning show. A week or two ago, you were like,

51:18Andy Greenwald:I got to tell you, I don't remember if this was on mic or just as we were walking into the studio, you were like, morning show might actually be good this year. And I was like, cool, I'll check it out. Do you stand by that? or is it just more like, wow, Morning Show exists this year? It's entertaining. Okay, I'm entertained. You're entertained just hearing about it. Do you have any notes on I Love LA or Chair Company before we get out of here? Just to say that we touched on it last week, second episode of I Love LA. I think we'd both watched it in advance. I really liked the second episode. That was very funny.

51:45Andy Greenwald:I really, I thought it was very funny. The second episode did have that moment that gave me my one note last week, which was the end where they are being like held coke hostage by the evil influencer. Yes. And Maya pretends to go crazy to chase her out, but then she comes back and sees that she's been made fun of and excluded and then goes live on whatever the fuck to like talk shit about Tallulah. I, my eyes glazed over at that point. Oh, because of influencer drama? Yeah, mainly because, and I could be wrong about this, and I also just could generally be wrong about the arc of the season, but it did feel to me like the kind of thing that is suggested or noted or even like dreamed up in a writer's room when everyone's like, you're in series, you've done the pilot, you're in series, and it's just like, well, how are we going to get some stakes here?

52:35Andy Greenwald:How are we going to really like have the rubber hit the road and get some momentum here so that the network understands that this is a show, not a hangout? I actually think it's a positive that it didn't need it. Now, maybe it's going to fuel all this. Oh, so you almost would prefer like a more episodic, like the crazy adventures of these two women in LA rather than like a long-running influencer beef that needs to get worked out over the course of some episodes. I just, This might also be my Robert Caro in my Eames chair era talking, but I find that uninteresting and uncompelling as stakes. I don't actually care about that.

53:09Andy Greenwald:I would have been fine with the episode if it ended with them just hanging. But I'm curious about what the balancing act is going to be going forward, and often a first season is figuring that out in real time. Yeah, I love the Roger and Munchie bit. That was really funny. The show's really funny. I can't wait to watch the next episode. Jordan Firstman and Io being in scenes together was great. They're great. What is going on with Chair Company? I can't do Chair Company justice the way that you just did. Do it like Boyd Ol' Park. The Morning Show. I can't. It's just that what occurred at the end of this week's episode, which basically involves tracking down a little person actor who makes his living playing Scrooge in prisons and also posing for headshots for like bar memory games.

54:00Andy Greenwald:They track him down at a bar where Ron warns a guy with a long braided ponytail and a massive dent in his head from some sort of metal plate surgery that he's about to accidentally dip his white sleeve in some cheddar soup. And then the guy gets really mad at him for doing that. And then the little guy's like, you shouldn't have pissed him off. this is a coke bar and then everyone in the bar is on cocaine and then the little guy says i'll show you what i have on the chair company but i have to go do some cocaine first and then he robs the cocaine and then they run away from a mass of people including the guy who has now been staring at ron dipping his elbow in the cheese soup saying is this what you were afraid of is this what you were afraid of and ron hits him in the dent to escape and then like night of the walking dead they all follow Ron and the little person and Mike to the little guy's house where there's also a squatter in one room, an old woman who's yelling.

54:59Wait, not the woman, not the mother they threw popcorn at a couple weeks ago. Nope, this is just that he opens another door and there's just an old woman in there going,

55:06Andy Greenwald:no, I'm not leaving. And Ron gets an iPad to the neck and head. And also there's a very, very large man with a very unique torso having an affair in the basement. When Ron walks in on them, says the only way we're getting out of this is that if you have an affair with her too, when I film it? Does he say an affair? I think so. Or you cheat too. He's like, I'm a married man. He goes, you cheat too. I can't do it justice. I can't bring Boyd into this. I have to admit, for 10 seconds, I was like, this is kind of why I fell off chair company, but now I'm back in. It is so unique, and I have not even, and I won't for our beautiful listeners who need to see this themselves, it ends with something that I can't describe.

55:47Andy Greenwald:And frankly, I've never seen on television before. it is a very very very special show that uh we may never see again honestly because like the whole network might get shut down after this episode god bless it um that was a great description thank you um when you run out of words to say it's time to end the podcast episode that's probably right thank you to kaya and kai thank you for you guys putting andy in the er again and again thanks to larissa for setting us up today here in london we'll be back in los Angeles next week and I think what we've decided is no no second episode this week yeah we're and then we'll go hards uh Monday and Thursday next week I think that's really smart because our circadian rhythms are going to be so I'm not worried about about the other way around I am I do well that way like just for the record I've been away for six weeks yeah and I immediately have to take my children to a school play that goes until 9 p.m.

56:43Andy Greenwald:like Friday or or uh Saturday Saturday. So I think it's going to be interesting. I would just like to pre-apologize to the cast of this youth production if there is just a man snoring. You think they're listening? Do you recap little people doing cocaine? Kaya, clip this. I'm so sorry to the cast of Agatha Christie's. I don't know what it is. Okay. Yeah, I'll do my best. Thank you for listening to The Watch. We'll be back next week. God save the king.

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