Chapo Trap House - Bonus: This is Sus 3 – A Million Little Things feat. Jack Wagner

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

Felix and Yeah, But Still's Jack Wagner discuss ABC's hit dramedy "A Million Little Things". Why not check out Yeah, But Still: https://soundcloud.com/yeahbutstill or subscribe to their premium feed: https://www.patreon.com/yeahbutstill

When there's nowhere else to run Is there room for one more sun One more sun If you can't hold on If you can't hold on Hold on I was getting it mixed up with the fucking big drug addict Millions of little things

I was excited for this one because I thought it would be quite different than the council dads and this is us Yeah, those are NBC products and we're going to go into what makes this show different and why it's a different type of people But I'm joined by another cultural expert, a true cultural expert I think one of the best people to look at this show and look at these types of shows We're here with Jack Wagner Hello, I'm very honored to be a part of this, I've been listening This has been one of my favorite parts of the quarantine so far is the This Is Us series So I'm very honored to take a crack at this

We're honored to have you, I was very excited while watching this show that I would get your input on it Because I knew that you would have some special insight Both as someone who's familiar with production but also an expert reader of culture True, I mean you've covered some really good ones that I had not heard of this show So going into it, well first I looked up a million little pieces and I was like I can't find anything about this fucking show Yeah, I fucked up I'm like I hope this show is some good shit I was mostly worried about what if I accidentally liked it, that would be the funniest outcome of this whole thing

You told me that and it was like that was a weird enough outcome that I prepared for it happening One second into the show I knew we had some heat You know what I'm talking about? Of course I know what you're talking about So I'm just gonna do the same thing I did for last episode I'm gonna just go through my synopsis of the show, my notes and you jump in whenever you want Probably a similar synopsis, I'll try, this could easily turn into a 3 hour episode if you don't reign me in Oh it could, no yeah it could

So I'll follow you My content theories always have more than you need Alright, so I think it's the first thing I want to mention about the show What is the first thing we see in a million little things It's a very bad cover of The Killers, I got sold That's what I knew we were working with some heat Yeah, that's what I was like, this is some fucking serious action It comes on before you see anything from the show, it's black, black screen, titles start to fade up and you hear a cover of The Killers

Yeah that is like, that's how you know what type of thing you're working with It's the first character, it's the first character And I think that's important because this is very thematically different than the other shows we watch The other shows we watch, we're going to get into the key differences at the end of this I think because I think it's important But this has a different vibe, it's got a little bit of an edge, you know, The Killers But a cover of The Killers It's almost like the audience is the main character of the show in some ways because it panders so hard to a very specific type of person Which we will slowly get to know throughout the show

But like that song, I mean that's an old song by the way, it came out in like 2004 or something Yeah that song is like 20 years old It's not a contemporary song, so it's like, but yeah we'll get to know, I mean it's like very much for a specific audience and it's very funny Yeah, without saying too much, I think we agree on who the audience is, I'm going to get on with the synopsis But I think, here's the hint I'll give for who the intended audience for the show is I'm going to say Beto or Roy Okay, so we see Kyle Chandler, and Kyle Chandler is like the patron saint of serious adult drama He is, well it's because he's

Like with some production value, he's in everything, he's like the hard carry He's like, anytime you're putting together a roster, you're putting together a fantasy team, you're like, oh I want to make a Netflix show called like The Becoming Stance, or I want to make a network TV show that lasts two seasons It's like, get me Kyle Chandler, he fucking killed it in Friday Night Lights Get me this motherfucker and his bushy eyebrows and his serious voice and his stern but reassuring and like somewhat fun loving, uh, Gate And get him in here man He's been in a ton of shit, I think he probably started off his career as being like the guy you hire when you can't get John Husek In the late 90s, and then he was in Band of Brothers and that like, I think really legitimized him

He's like, yeah, no, he's the best role you could get where you play a guy who dies, spoiler alert, but like, you play a guy who's just like Like you're in every episode, so you're getting paid for it somehow, but like you only have to do like one day of acting Kyle Chandler has got to be like, he's going to be the first guy to become a billionaire just through being in shows He's a genius, respect to Kyle Chandler, respect to Friday Night Lights, one of the greatest network TV shows of all time Anyway, so Kyle Chandler, John, he's a business guy, and we know he's a business guy because he's walking around a giant office, like a giant very modern office Glass windows everywhere, open office setup, being like, hey, uh, tell, let me know if I could get this at least yesterday when I needed it, you know He's just like charming, but forceful business guy, he's pretty secretary, he's helping him out He's just really, he's really driving home that he needs this least

You're getting a taste from the show where it's like, the first 20 minutes of this, every single line of dialogue is just directly stating something about the character Or their intentions, with no finesse whatsoever Like, and I was cracking him immediately because he's like, now hold on, I want to close this business deal, I'm really successful in my whole career And it's important to me to close that, but in five minutes I have to do something really important It's like, kind of respectable in a way of like just the most direct screenwriting Just getting, people just, yeah, I think you mentioned that, there's a few trends in the show that you mentioned in earlier episodes of This Is Us Like, there's some tropes that come back, but that's a major one that we see is people just directly stating things about themselves And we see that immediately with him

How do you know a character's motivations in a network TV show? Don't worry, they'll tell you the first time Immediately And before we go ahead to, can I point one other thing out, is that in this phone call, he says a really funny thing that I kept laughing at throughout the show Is that he says, I always say, everything happens for a reason Which is so funny to me, because he's like, claiming that phrase as his own, like he came up with it Yes, I noticed that too, throughout the entire episode Throughout the entire episode, every character is like, John always said everything happens for a reason Bro, he's so smart that he thought of that

Yeah, if this is a better show, it would be about just this liar guy who convinced the three dumbest men alive that he invented the phrase, everything happens for a reason No, my boy came up with that Bro, he's the first guy to ever say that, bro No, yeah, my boy John, he came up with that shit And you hear it everywhere too, he's fucked up, he hasn't gotten paid for it or anything Yo, that's probably why he killed himself Well, he must have had a reason Yes, alright, so John's like, yes, we closed our non-specific business deal for a million dollars

We cut to Eddie, he's a hot guy, he's packing up Oh, he's married and he's having trouble with his marriage We know this because he's on the phone telling a woman, I want to leave my boy No, and Felix, I wrote down this exact line because they keep stepping it up This is one of his first lines of dialogue, he's on the phone, he goes, I want to get a divorce and be with you In 12 hours, Catherine will be home and she's gonna make me order Indian food He says that, like word for word, to the person he's cheating on her with Yeah, it was like there were script notes that just became dialogue

Yeah, it would be like the equivalent of me saying to you would be like, we're recording a podcast right now and having a great time You're one of my friends and you're also a podcaster Yes, yes, there's something I wrote down for this scene So when he's talking to the mystery woman he's having a affair with who we'll find out about later He goes, my people are from Milwaukee, I can't eat that much Indian food Implying that his wife, who's Korean, they're genetically predisposed to Indian food I couldn't figure it out Weird race science, yeah, I thought it was a Chekhov's gun where they would have a fight about Indian food

But it's not like, if this was, this is us or Council of Dads, there would be like some sort of soy funny fight about food But because it's this show, it's just like, I think the difference between these shows, I want to go into it further later This show, those first two shows, the ones that we talked about, they're for poorer people Like it's to sort of beat down poorer people, but these shows are for tonier people So there's a lot of like just mindless bitching that a richer person would have Well, the Indian food thing too is, I think we're not picking up on that, but like to a more suburban guy that would watch this show Like never actually had Indian food, and like that's supposed to be a, it's like a clear signifier of like, oh, he makes me, she makes me get bad food, you know Yeah, yeah, exactly, alright, so next, next scene, killer song still going by

Cranked We're not even three minutes in, we're not even three minutes in and we got a cancer guy, it's Gary Two minutes and 22 seconds in, cancer Cancer, yeah We sort of figure out what kind of guy Gary is, because his doctor is ordering lunch while in, in the examination That was so weird The doctors, the doctors voice in this scene is very funny to me because it's very like great poop on, he doesn't sound like anyone in America Did you remember this part where the doctors like, and I would like a side is vinaigrette

Like he sounds like a bad impression of John Kerry There's like, there's like this weird like fake contempt for educated people I think in some of these shows Where like back to back they show the, the lawyer wife who comes in and she's just kind of like stressed And the audience was supposed to be like, what a dumb bitch, you know Yeah, yeah, yeah, when we're, yeah, there's this, early in this scene Eddie, the affair guy Who's a guitar teacher when he's on the phone being like, I love having an affair with you even though I'm married His wife comes back and she's like, Cy, I can't even get my period deal because I, because I'm doing too many business deals We never have sex, I'm a bitch

Yeah Yeah, yeah, but um, anyway, so we figured Then it goes to this where he's like answers the phone and he's like, it's like the salad company and they're like, hey, just confirming your salad And he's like, no, I didn't want edamame, like in the middle of the cancer It's this salad company, yeah, it's like a man cow prank call And we figured out what kind of guy Gary is because he's like, yeah, I'm sure your salad's interesting but I have freaking cancer Like he's, he's the cut up of the group Yep

Gary by the way, we're gonna get into Gary more later Gary is my least favorite character I've seen in any of these Oh really, I wasn't sure I fucking hate Gary I bounced around between who I liked in this show I like Eddie dude, Eddie, I relate to Eddie Eddie, which one is he, oh Okay, well we won't skip ahead

We won't skip ahead Yeah, yeah Yeah, why should I relate to him? I don't want to talk about it Alright, next guy we get is Rome, it's Romani, what's his last name? Um The guy, he was in 40-year-old version Romani Malko playing Rome Howard

Yeah Very similar names Yeah, super similar So he's, he's writing a suicide note and about to kill himself But then he gets a call from Gary Yes And he's like, Gary's like, you won't believe this And I'm, I was thinking like, we're gonna get some guys banter here

Like, was there a big sports trade? Before we figure that out, we go back to John He's looking pensively out his balcony And then he just jumps off and fucks himself I was laughing so hard Killers all over again This was some fucking heat Cancer and suicide, not even five minutes

And we get a cover of a killer's Cause he was like, about to commit suicide And then there's like, on the, by the way, like on the news They're talking about like the Flint water crisis for some reason Like he's watching like a broadcast about the Flint water crisis And it reminds him like, oh, I guess I shouldn't, I shouldn't drink tap water And so he like, is like brittling his suicide water And then it gets interrupted

Yeah, I don't know if this was like a joke or what But it was one of the most dis, that was part was quite disconcerting Anyway, so after John, after Coach Taylor takes a header in the pavement Gary calls, what he's calling Rome He's like, yeah, our friend killed herself So he's bombets out all the pills Title sequence, you know, damn, some real shit This is, by the way, this is, I guess it's like Big Little Lies for men, right?

Yeah, it's the same type of thing, yeah I could see in a way there are some themes to it I mean, but by the way, I want to go on record saying Big Little Lies is a fantastic show I love it Yeah, no, it's probably way better than this I haven't seen it Oh, it's definitely worth seeing But yeah, this is like definitely the ABC Big Little Lies, I could see that

I should mention, by the way, the Suicide Guy is actually played by Ron Livingston Which is, I think you're confusing him with a lookalike Oh, I thought it was Kyle Chandler All these notes are about Kyle Chandler Oh my God, thank you It's Ron Livingston, he was in office space and swingers They look, it's blind, they look super good No, they look so similar, but like, I wanted to correct you for the sake of the audience frustration

But also because it sort of speaks to this type of show where there's like, there's like, you know, vague A vague actor guy that you could easily, like you, you thought it was somebody else the entire time while watching the show Which is sort of amazing It could be anyone, it could be anyone Well, like I, okay, so I, I want to defend myself I thought Ron Livingston would look older now I guess he looks great He looks, but Ron, Kyle Chandler is like a better, I always thought of him as like a better looking guy than Ron Livingston

So Ron Livingston's been doing like chemical peel He looks fucking awesome, he hasn't aged today since like 2005 Credit to him I'm, I'm just kind of face what, I'm sorry, whatever Ignore, everyone ignore everything about Coach Taylor Also, what I said about Ron Livingston being a franchise, or Kyle Chandler being a franchise player is also a crew of Ron Livingston So whatever, everyone fucking sucked my dick You guys are the real drug addicts

It's like a, it's like a good, it's a swap out character At least I raised my kids He's probably the most high profile actor in the show, so it still works No, for sure, for sure But anyway And then Romani is the second highest profile Yeah Okay, so we get title sequence, then we get a flashback

It's all, all the friends, when, when John is still alive at a Bruins game They, we can tell what type of dudes they are because they're breaking balls And through their ball breaking, we find out that Eddie, the guitar guy He used to be a musician who opened for Kings of Leon, which I made a note of because it's so hilarious I was laughing so hard Yeah, his career fell apart He was an alcoholic Kipping the hat to the audience

Yes, yeah, hey, this is bullshit It didn't really have a place in the show, it was just out of nowhere, he's like, yeah, you opened for Kings of Leon in this very stadium years ago Yeah Well, I love that part because they've been friends for a really long time, but it's like, you know Like me, you and Brandon have known each other for what, like four or five years Yeah We wouldn't, we wouldn't ever be hanging out being like, oh yeah, you did a podcast show here But then it like didn't, you forgot your notes

Yeah We wouldn't do expository dialogue, I guess you needed to somewhere This was a weird part because It was very funny Ron Limington does another great thing where he like, just like literally states facts about the characters when he's handing out the beers He's like, and one, oh it's ice cold beer for the pizza commercial director and one for the stay at home mom And one for the guy who's the alcoholic, you know, and he's just like Yeah

And there's one part of it where it's clearly like an ADR line I don't know, it's not like, I don't, I guess people probably didn't watch this, but that was, threw me off as like There's this weird, he does this announcer voice and there's like an echo on it It's just a strange show, did you notice that? It's a very, it's like, it's like a show that I would watch in a dream Yeah, it felt I would think is real for the first hour of my death So, Kings of Leon cracked me up

There's That, no, that was a huge cultural signifier Yeah That was like, that was like when Trump talks about guns and rails Yeah, it's dog whistles for suburban white guys Exactly So, I'm assuming, by the way, Eddie, the recovering alcoholic I'm assuming over the course of the series, because this is going on for two seasons

Like people clearly watch this, he's probably like judging by the nature of the shows Probably gonna like do heroin and try to sell his son for crack Yeah Like just go and get crack cancer So, the guys are just breaking balls, like they're just, they're cracking each other up And I actually like this scene, it's very realistic because none of them are funny And they're all completely detestable Yes

As these guys in real life would be We, we cut back to the president, it turns out they were watching a video this game Like a perfect 1080p video they took of themselves in a bridge On tape A week ago, and they're On a EV tape We're gonna get that Psycho shit

There's like, well, psycho Discuss it now or not, but like, Rome's character Or the character Rome is like, the whole show he's trying to get his movie off the ground But it's like unclear what the movie is, so far it's like just footage of his friends hanging out Like these adult men And he's like, always references like my movie and he's like, yeah, there's gonna be a psychiatrist in the movie I'm gonna need to interview you, like to get some inspiration But his movie is just like footage of him and his adult friends chilling

That is, it's funny to be a 40 year old and not like a 20, like every 20 year old Committee and it's like, there should be a show just about being my friends, but to be a 40 year old It's awesome Just like, I'm confused what the movie is, because he's like always putting in and he's shooting it on tape So like right then he was filming on a cell phone And then it shows the flashback and he's like, popping a DV tape out of a camera It's like, wait, like, what are you filming this on? Like, why do you have a DV camera from the 90s? Like, you just shot that footage on a phone. Why are you playing it back on a camera, a tape, you know?

Yeah And what is this movie? Yeah, so we're back, we're back in the present Like they're like, oh, how could he kill himself? He was having so much fun in this video record at the Bruins game Um, we also, also, uh, you know, Gary and, uh, Regina, whose Rome's wife are there And Gary is just, we're saying that Gary, like, he holds in emotions by cracking jokes And he's talking about how good these meatballs for the funeral are And there's a line between like, sort of cracking jokes and being a Galax humor type character and just being a socio, a detective sociopath

Yeah, just mind you, their best friend just killed himself And he's like, just fucking killed himself Hey, people are good That's like, you're either just like a 70 IQ oaf or you're a sociopath But we find out that Gary told Delilah, John's widow, about the suicide And then he goes, one of the most insane lines I've ever heard If any of you have delivering horrific news on your bucket list, it's not as fun as you think I wanted to shoot my fucking TV

Yeah, what? It just made no sense, the line, at all Your best friend killed himself and you told his wife and his surviving children And you're like, uh, yeah, that's about a 10 on the awkward scale Awkward turtle alert, okay? And by the way, socially awkward banquet, socially awkward banquet You go to tell your best friend's widow about his tragic suicide and your flies unzipped That's a fail

That's a straight up bra moment, you know? Yeah, having a bra moment with the friend who killed himself Crying children By the way, did you think it was insane? Like, why did he have to tell his wife? Like, why did his boys find out he killed himself before his wife? And like, how? You know what I'm saying?

Like, how did his, cause they all got to call? That makes no sense Yeah, I guess Like, the cops were like, yo, let me call his boys for a while Call his crew Yeah, well, okay, this show takes place in Boston And the cops are probably like, bar school rules We got to call the boys before the big day

Yeah, they just know who his boys are Saturdays and suicides are for the boys Yeah Yeah, he had a card in his jacket that's like, in case of death, called my boys Yeah, call my boys first, go tell my wife Yeah And hide all the porno posters in my office Yeah

Okay So that psychotic scene ends, we get our next scene, which is Gary at a breast cancer support group And there's, it's all women Of course And there's actually a sort of like, a cute younger woman there, like in her 30s And she yells at Gary for being there She's like, why are you here? And Gary just claps back with the clap back of the year And as you can imagine, it's detestable

He's like, uh, yeah Guys get breast cancer too Like, he's right, but just because of how hateable this character is I would, if I was there, or like his friend or something, I would be like, no, he's actually lying, he's a sex person Well, I mean, I, I try to find out some like, why the fuck is he at a women's breast cancer group meeting? Because it's like, like, oh, well, first of all, this scene is definitely hilarious for, like the nature of this scene is hilarious for the intended audience, right? Like, oh, it's a guy who has boob cancer? Yo, that shit's funny Yeah, yeah

Like, what the heck? Yeah Yo, I didn't even know that was for real that a guy could get that, but like, but in, in the real world, I'm wondering like, okay, like, yeah Guys do get breast cancer, but like, the support group for it is obviously for women dealing with, like, losing their breasts, usually That's a good point Why is he in this, like, why is he in this therapy group in the first place, you know? Like, he could easily go to a, like, a general cancer group meeting, or like, you know, like, any normal person would get in there and be like, yeah, I'm not, I'm not supposed to be here Like, I didn't

Yeah Yeah It's just a, it's a very good point It's just a dumb throwaway joke Well, but it's also to introduce something later that I'm going to see every next Which is, so Rome is watching another seamless 1080p, like, 60 frames video of the boys, you know, featuring John before he went splat It's just insane how many great videos they have His wife, he's in his bedroom, like, going to bed with his wife, Vegeta

And they're talking about John, and she goes, I just don't know how he could do this, you know, leaving two kids to go behind And Rome almost, he almost alludes to himself being suicidal He goes, well, sometimes people, and then he cuts himself off And then he goes back to a topic of conversation that they were talking about while he was watching the video That they should go on vacation to get away from this pain He's like, she goes, wait, what do you mean? And he goes, I think we should go on vacation Scene ends, Gary and Maggie, Maggie, the woman from the cancer support group, they're just fucking group

Instantly She's like, hey, you're, hey, there's kind of like chubby annoying guy in the group Yeah, there's like no connection, they made no connection Zero connection, they just, yeah, just zero And there's nothing likable about Gary, but she's just like, I need, I need to ride his cock Like, I can't even take a, I can't even go to his house or my house We have to fucking this bathroom Well, dude, yeah, I mean, it's obviously he was in the group to get some pussy, bro

Yeah Otherwise it would be gay for him to go to therapy, dude It would be low key, it would be low key sus for him to be in therapy, you know, to be sad Which is a theme in this show that I have written to my notes a few times Is that this show doesn't let anything serious or emotional hang for more than like 10 seconds before like cracking some dumb, dumb ass joke And it's like, the show itself is afraid of being gay Like, afraid of being called gay That's what, well, that's what's weird about it, because it front loads with emotion

Like, there's suicide, cancer, like a funeral that I'm gonna get through for the next scene Like, all in the show, so much psycho shit It's all emotions, but it's like everything, everything after that psychotic just dumping all the shit on you is like Uh, yeah, so that, that, yeah, that was a moment Uh, yeah, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gay Yeah It's like, it has the same effect of like someone you barely know, DME you or calling you and being like Hey, can I get some shit off the chest and then just talking for two hours about like their relationship problems and being like

Yeah, I'm, yeah, no, I usually don't bitch about this shit And it's like, well if you, if this was this easy for you just to dump all this shit on a random person You clearly do, but you're just like mildly uncomfortable Yeah It's like, it's somehow like a narcissistic TV show Well, the weird thing too, the final thought on that is that like a lot of shows, I mean everything has a mix of genre You know, so like normally dramaities, like the drama would be interrupted by gags that like take place Within the universe of the show, like just something a coincidence, a funny coincidence happens or like something falls or something like this

But in this show, it's the characters themselves like making the jokes Like to interrupt their own emotional moments, you know, it's usually the person that like is saying something sad And they'll let it linger for like five seconds and then they'll be like cracking some dumbass joke, you know Or it's like the guy joking about his dead friend Yeah, like the first like 15 minutes of the show are like several lines from the main characters that are like I just don't know how he could kill himself, he was the best guy I ever knew He was so kind, like I don't know how he could leave his kids behind And then he'll be like, yeah, maybe it's fantasy teens all the time

It's like that, it's so weird, it's so fucking weird But so we're now treated to a funeral scene Greg shows up late with his new slam piece, Maggie Yeah, he brought her to the funeral Yeah, Eddie, he gives a funeral speech which I think like, I think the show, the writing of the show started with a funeral speech Because it's the perfect expository dialogue vehicle Absolutely We just find out everything

Yeah, we find out that these characters met being stuck in an elevator, identified them as never Trump conservative Which is insane Yeah, they dropped that, like they met in an elevator The story goes that they met in an elevator, they got stuck And like through that, he gives them this speech Like John, is it John, the one who killed himself? Like convinces one to stop being an alcoholic And then he gets them to like all get Bruins tickets together

Season tickets Yeah, they have no positive qualities, so they bond over being Bruins fans And then John, I love the funeral speech because Eddie spends, I'd say, over half of it bragging about his sobriety Yes, and dude, did you notice, I have a big note about this too Because I realize in this moment that it's not, this show's not told through the male gaze It's through the boys' gaze Because like everything takes place through the lens of the boys as if they're like the most important part of a human being's life Because the way the funeral scene takes place in a way that's like a bachelor party or something

He's giving this speech like he's doing a toast, like the best man doing a toast And his boys are like whooping in the crowd, he's like cracking jokes and like people are like chiming in Did you notice this? Yeah, yeah, no, it was, that was really fucking weird And I almost think that like that's a product, I think that's the product of the writers of the show Just like being life long, like not life long, but like for like 30 years they've been TV writers and they don't have any actual friends So they're like oh what are guys like, so they read Barstool for a month and wrote the show I thought that was so strange because they're like, there's several jokes but he's like doing these like, it's like a routine almost

And then he's, yeah, he's talking about himself and people are like yeah, suck it idiot, you know, like from the crowd Yeah, you suck it, like in the reality of the funeral, it's just like the guy's family, they probably wouldn't know any of the people there No, yeah, they'd be like oh we're gonna have his best friend's give a speech where it's like, yeah, he was a pretty good friend for a fucking game moron Just kidding, I miss you bro And then the chubby guy shows up late with the girl Yeah, and they're like oh what a cut up, not you fucking asshole Why is he late, how did he miss that? There's an insane part after that like action based

Yeah, John's daughter goes up to play a song, like the daughter of this beloved man, this girl who loved her dad A teenage girl, like what are the worst times to lose something, like just like a catastrophic thing that alters the course of your life And colors every relationship you have when you lose someone of that age, especially a parent And she goes up to play this song, this incredibly emotional thing and Gary to his like new woman, he's been fucking for three hours Oh, she doesn't play a Bruno Mars He goes, dude the line was, if she plays something by Bruno Mars, I'll burn this place down I wanted a sniper to kill this character, like your best friend killed himself and his daughter is weeping giving a song and you're like, Justin Bieber is gay, fuck you Also like what Bruno Mars song would she play like Uptown Funk, like their dad's

Why would she play Bruno Mars Yeah, she's clearly like an already like solemn moody thing, like she's like kind of like a rocker and he's like oh she's probably playing some ghetto thug like Bruno Mars Oh my god, she's not like picking up an acoustic guitar at a party to entertain you, like it's like you're expecting me Her dad died, you cunt Yeah, like during what I wrote in my notes, I am hoping that Gary gives Eddie another chance to brag about his sobriety So the daughter just does a full song, meaning that the actor is probably like Henry Kissinger's great-granddaughter or like saw a Bob Iger devour an infant But we're thankfully done with the funeral scene, we get Gary and Maggie driving to the reception for the funeral at Delilah's And Maggie is mad that Gary isn't talking to her

And she's like just being quirky like going through his glove box making Gary mad and this scene reminds me, it reminds me of like those posts by a girl on Twitter that makes 6,600,000 tweet long threads about like the 50 different type of bad guys that they've dated It's like you just fucked an annoying guy you found in a high school gym and then went to his best friend's funeral with him and you're like uh yeah you kinda got issues Like they're the perfect match for each other because they're the two most annoying fucking detestable characters I've seen in any one of these shows And I was wishing that a Gurkha soldier was positioned down the road from them with an anti-materials apple but this unfortunately sort of lays the groundwork for some shitty part that comes in the next season where he's gonna become more in touch with his emotions And we'll probably find out in season two that he was abused as a child but this girl will give a speech about how he overcame the abuse to become a Bruins fan and he'll start to Yeah what was she was like going through his glove compartment right and she's like oh I love Charleston shoes is that the scene? She brought a tampon and she's like who's this belong to and he's like I don't know probably whoever owned the Charleston shoes you know They were like kind of flirting

Was that part supposed to imply that he's like Yeah he was supposed to imply that he's kind of like a you know a slick hound barking up all the wrong trees You know he's the most annoying man who's ever lived and like not particularly attractive Yeah he's like you know Doesn't even have a cool job he's an insurance actuary Dude all of them have like five jobs I'm like confused Yeah

Even though they're explicitly stated I still can't figure out like who does what And then there's another car scene that I want to skip because it's like it's um what's the guy's name the alcoholic guy Eddie Yeah so he's like we get another taste of him like why his life is so bad and it's like his wife wants to work She's like I didn't know this was gonna go all day I had work to do you know That part yeah that part's hilarious Like there are obviously people like that and like women who are like yeah they like the work life balance or whatever like they spend much time Like they sacrifice things for career and it's like you know it exists but this character is so ham-fisted it's like

Like Catholic League propaganda against women of the workplace Like she's at a funeral and she's like uh yeah I needed to be at the business deal yesterday Yeah and he's like how it is so hard but we already know he's cheating on her So it's like desperately trying to make him not the bad guy like rationalize it Yeah But I'm watching it I'm like dude well first of all he's like a guitar teacher or something Once again he has like five jobs but he's like Recovering alcoholic who you who one time opened for Kings of Leon once

It's like those are his achievements and it's like oh bro I'm sorry your life is so hard being married to a smoking hot Asian lawyer who's rich And you're a total fuck up Yeah you have no positive quality Yeah you have do nothing You besides go to Bruins games and like teach guitar lessons Like bro your life sucks yeah I feel so bad for you dude you should definitely You deserve to cheat on her actually This guy's made he's the most beta work character

Yeah uh so we're yeah now we're we're at the reception We have a talk talk between uh Delilah and John secretary Ashley and it's sort of like There's some weird tension like Delilah asks if she has any idea why John killed himself and she kind of falters and walks away They've been painting her as like a mysterious figure since the beginning the secretary Yeah yeah yeah Gary then goes up to Delilah and goes I don't want to be here in a very great group strong tone and it's like Imagine your fucking husband the love of your life kills yourself and then his annoying friend is like yeah this party's a fail Yeah maybe not even like like supposedly best friend but it's like quite possible like in real life

These dudes might be like the random guys he goes to the Bruins games with exclusively and he has other friends you know And then they're just there like causing a ruckus you know Yeah yeah so the whole crew including Maggie and Regina like the wives of friends just about five minutes of insufferable interplay They're sitting on a couch and Maggie explains how John yeah they're talking about like how could John kill himself and Maggie goes Well it's like he couldn't see their horizon and she explains that this is an analogy to JFK junior who he was flying a plane And his instruments told him he was flying too low but he didn't trust them and thought he was fine and then it killed him And that's what depression is like and they're like oh what are you a therapist and she's like actually I'm the best psychiatrist

She goes she goes actually I am a Boston general of a psychologist at Boston general specializing in depression Which is like specializing in depression Yeah I'm actually a professional researcher Which by the way we went over it a little quick there's like it's a really funny back and forth of dialogue Because she goes they're like how could she have done that and she goes um yeah maybe you know sometimes people just lose sight of the horizon And the whole room they show a cut of everybody's face being like huh what wait what does that mean like they don't understand the phrase Lose sight of the horizon which is hilarious and then she goes into like literally three minutes of screen time with this JFK reference All to explain the idiom losing sight of the horizon

And then they're like oh kind of get it oh like life you know Horizons the future in your life and it's like you're flying a plane and you lose sight you can't see it Yeah and then they're like damn do you like have a job Yeah it's like oh wait whoa how'd you know all that shit are you a doctor or something That's what I love about these characters they're like as stupid as everyone in the mom's basement video Like they have as much intake of reality and ability to process it as little as hand or face banks But they're all like upper class professionals like it's all upper class suburban signaling So after that awful scene and wasted time

We the imbeciles the group of male imbeciles they get an alert on their phone for a Bruins game which means that John knew they were so stupid That they would have to be reminded of the only thing they actually do And so Delilah see is that she's like hey why don't you guys go like John wouldn't have wanted it and it'll give me quality time with my best friend Regina Rome's wife and Maggie for some insane reason it's like hey you just got fucked by one of my husband's friends and you're here for some reason I love you now. Come hang out my husband just killed himself please hang out with me Like instant connection for no reason So the idiot Brigade they go to John's office to pick up the tickets from Ashley But they're sort of stuck by seeing the police tape on the balcony like it's too real for them now

Eddie asks Ashley the secretary again like if she knows why he did it which is just it's such a 70 IQ question It's like oh what if she knew and didn't tell us but would just tell me if I asked once There's like there's some sort of weird tension and Gary actually gets Ashley to unlock John's phone And then we find out that the last call John made was to Eddie Yeah this is a weird scene Yeah and Eddie's like Eddie says I was at a recital and I missed the call and he feels shitty about it I was at a guitar recital Yeah a guitar recital

So we're back at, then we go back to the gals They're at the Lila's house and they're talking about Gary and Maggie's breast cancer There's some like weird tension there Because they're sort of, cancer seems to be the only thing that these writers know about Presumably there's like a cancer class you take Two people on the show have cancer A writer, a skilled person Which is so funny

So we have an alcoholic, we have two people with cancer We have two suicidal guys I mean dude these guys love trying to kill themselves Like how are there, these guys were, the boys were killing themselves at the same time That's crazy If you believe this show, you would think that for people that make over $500,000 a year None of them make it to $40,000 They're just all fucking murking themselves and dying

But the fellas are now, they're at a bar before the game They decide to have a toast And Gary's like, this is bullshit basically Gary goes on a rant I don't even get what they're arguing about in this scene, did you know? Yeah they're like, yeah I did, I figured it out So like Eddie is like, let's have this toast to John Like to John, we had so many great times together

And Gary goes, no Gary goes on a rant basically against toxic masculinity Where he's like, we hung out with John for 10 years, we didn't know he was suicidal It's because guys don't talk, we hold everything in He's just going in, he's a Gillette commercial But he's also the most detestable and toxic character So it's weird to have him deliver that I guess with Gary, they imagine that you're supposed to like him

So it's like, oh, he's an asshole but he tells the truth But really, because this is like sort of poorly written It's just like, no, he's just socks But you had him deliver a sort of revenge I was confused, it was like such a drunk guy argument Or like debate, you know Well I was confused like, who was on what side What were the arguments even being made

It was just like, it was like a straight guy like beer argument Where you have enough and then you start disagreeing about things It was like aimless But we did get another... I think I skipped a couple of times in my notes where they quote it But this is another time where they mention John's famous quote They're like, listen, that was a big point of the argument They're like, yo, John always said everything happened for a reason

And then what's his face is like, well, what, name one good reason One good reason this could have happened, name one, you know Oh, that's in the next scene Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I have those written down each time Sorry for skipping ahead, but like, because they keep quoting it Yeah, no problem And we actually see him say it too

Because he says in The Elevator, he's like, everything happens for a reason A famous quote That I invented Maybe John's just a fucking liar We also skipped over the titular line was 11 minutes in Where I forget the context of it, but he says a million little things Yeah, yeah, which he defines friendship as a million little things But so back at the Gals Club, Delilah is like, all right, let's take a road trip

I'm going to show you the last thing John ever did So, you know, big, exciting road trip I'm glad the Gals are getting a road trip It's the two wives And then like the girl from therapy that was his face just recently banged Yeah, that Gary just fucked She's still dripping with Gary Wives and serious girlfriends

Famously love becoming fast friends with like your homies Some girl that your homie just banged once They love meeting men No, that's a big thing about women They love it when your boy brings over some Tinder date that he met two hours ago Yeah, to your husband's funeral So we're back with the fellas, you know We're done with, if we're, I'm just going to divide this into barstool products

I would say we're done with chicks in the office And now we're doing, you know, Dave's Pizza Reviews Because fellas are at a Bruins game And Eddie is basically, to me Eddie is just begging Gary to be less than sufferable But really it's a moronic debate about optimism versus pessimism in the universe Over the praise, everything happens for a reason It's just like the Lincoln Douglas debate of guys who have an ADIQ but make $500,000 a year And have zero, zero qualities

Um, they're, you know, like Gary's just like Gary's, there's also a weird part of this argument where Eddie's like You can't be this negative because like I feel like I could have done more for John And Gary goes, oh like what? But it's like the entire point you're having this argument is because you, Gary, said That men don't do enough emotionally and that's why John killed himself There's just no consistency or point in this I guess Rome has enough... Bro you skipped, I'm sorry, we're leading into something

But you skipped probably one of the weirdest moments in the entire show, in my opinion And I think it's when they're outside ordering beer right before they sat down Do you remember this? Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah It's when Eddie goes, I'm in love with one of my student moms Eddie confesses to cheating on his wife with some student's mom And it's like this emotional moment where the music actually starts to swell And you're like, oh, this is great, like this argument's finally coming to a head

And like they're gonna have this breakthrough moment where one friend's confessing something And then all of a sudden this random dude appears behind them Not five seconds after he said this and the music's swelling And it's some bearded guy and he's like, yeah, and I'm in love with beer Can you guys move aside? No, that was... I really enjoyed this part, this very Ferrari-ish That was when I wrote down that this show is afraid of being gay Because like...

No, that is true, that is so true You're finally getting the payoff, the whole show is like, you just want there to be a real moment for one second And you're finally kind of getting it, you're like, oh, okay, these guys might have some kind of meaningful dramatic moment together And it's literally interrupted by a throwaway extra He's like, actually, can I have some beer? I kind of want one, you know? Excuse me, almost, can you guys see that? Which is like... I guess he was behind them eavesdropping and heard him confessing to cheating on his wife And he's like, yeah, this is a good thing to interrupt with a wisecrack

But they're like totally... these guys are actually like complete cuckolds And they're like, I'm sorry, sir Like they're not yet Oh, sorry for getting gay by talking to you Like this... no, this show is so insecure It's weird Yeah, it's the most... it's so weird So they're sitting down and Rome is like, alright, I was going to kill myself before you called me

And told me John had killed themselves and they all have an emotional moment That isn't... this emotional moment is not interrupted Yes So Delilah, we go back to the girls, the women Delilah takes Maggie and Regina on the car trip, she promised And during the course of this, we find out that Regina's dream is opening a restaurant Which is just like the perfect, like, upper class Of course

Well, we had to meet, you know, form the perfect circle We have like the alcoholic, the cancer We need the restaurant tour Yes You're an exciting movie maker So they're showing them the last thing they ever did And it was a real estate deal that John was doing for some old-ass building in Boston And his last deal was to secure a restaurant space in that building for Delilah

It was going to be a surprise for her And he actually worked on it and secured it and then basically killed himself, it turns out And then after that, big flashback scene, we find out that Eddie wasn't having an affair with one of his students' moms It was with Delilah His friend's wife, the wife of the man who committed suicide This fucking blew my mind The whole premise of the show is about, like, good friends And, like, just good guys, hearty guys, the meaning of friendships

And, like, that's the only theme I see going through this show And it's just shattered, but it's like, dude, you're fucking your friend's wife Literally, it's unforgivable And they keep having these moments And he seems to show no guilt about this, too In that scene, he's like, there's a moment where he's talking to Delilah and he's like, we have to tell him soon Not even in a guilty way Just kind of like, we need to tell the kids that we're getting a divorce

Like, an inevitable fact He's like, yeah, we need to tell him soon, as if he's going to understand Yeah, and he seems to show no actual guilt throughout this Yeah It's like, even if you cheat with someone, like, you're not cheating on your own relationship But, like, you're with somebody who's dating someone Like, you do feel really bad about it Even if they don't kill themselves

No, and mind you, like, not your best friend He's not just cheating He's going to leave his wife for her Which you have to assume she is going to do the same Otherwise, why would he, you know? Yeah, so they weren't gonna never be friends again Yes, allegedly, you know That you can't be

Oh, I mean, he would probably fucking kill him Like Yeah, yeah, no, yeah So Eddie, deciding now is a great time, shows up to fucking Delilah's And Delilah says, we can't do this now like my husband Yo, can I have some pussy please, actually? Yeah, bro, bro, my best friend died, your husband I don't want to be alone tonight

And, yeah, they do great network TV, a fair dialogue Which is like, if you don't, say you don't love me And then you'll never see me again Which, I think, like, alright, I'll admit, done that one But I'm not going to say, I'm not going to say it when I'm 40 I'm not going to say it when I'm 40, I promise, I promise When I'm 40 years old, I won't fucking say it What are you saying?

It was like two days ago, you probably said it too Yeah, yeah, maybe I did You let that one slide casually Oh, boy No, I did not say it two days ago Well, you revealed a really funny childhood one in a previous episode of this that I enjoyed Right, that was childhood It was like an ambulance messenger telling somebody, what was it?

Yeah, when I was 13, I was like telling a girl, I just don't want to become my father When I was 13 That's so funny Oh, boy Alright, well, I'm not going to say any of that stuff when I'm 40 I just want to make clear So now, yeah, they just, they're having a moment there We actually find out that Eddie was with Delilah when John called

And they have a thing about like Oh, I missed that, I didn't pick up on that Oh, yeah, they're like, do you think he knew, like you were the last person he called and Eddie's like, no way he knew And so that's sort of the cliffhanger The show ends with a montage of a lot of Well, I was hoping you A montage of hoping you saw it Yeah, Ashley, go ahead

Yeah, Ashley, the leading files of John's computer, which is interesting Maggie getting a call from her doctor, admonishing her for skipping her chemo schedule It's almost relapsing in front of his like toddlers Yeah And Rome watching a video of John giving some motivational bullshit about how everything happens for a reason Which is interesting for us throughout Of course, it was from the elevator which was being filmed somehow So funny

Yes, somehow, like a perfect 1080p video It shows Rome popping, once again, popping a tape into a camera which is hooked up by like An old DV cable into his USB port And he's like playing it back Which is so funny because it's like, dude, is he carrying around this handy cam? Like this camcorder? Did he have it in the elevator, the camcorder? And then just like filming the whole time

Imagine being stuck in an elevator with like three guys and one of them just starts recording the whole thing Like, yo, I'm sorry, it's from my movie You know? Yeah Alright Leave me alone So I'm gonna, I'm gonna give my immediate thoughts on this show And then you can give yours

So here's what I wrote right after The class composition, the production value and the writing is far different at ABC than NBC The show is way better looking It actually has a lot of traits in common with watchable entertainment that NBC does not in any of his offerings What's interesting is that they make every single character unabashedly rich There's no pretense of them being middle class These are rich people This isn't NBC schlock about middle class people

Enduring struggle and like how anything's fine if you, if you just, you know, be good with your friends And how you shouldn't want universal healthcare It's about rich Americans and how they actually can be 40 year old And still lead these like sexy, dramatic and tragic lives And like just throughout their suburban lives It isn't so much like the foie gras stuffing of positivity into the maus of Ativan addicted Ohio Dolards That NBC does It's a tonier audience and it's telling this tonier audience that their lives are still potent for struggle and excitement

If this is us and council dads are frictionless tragedy These shows are about how unjustifiably rich people can feel anguish They aren't just bugs slurping up chopped salad and spitting out similarly addicted children They're as dramatic and sexy as the characters on Gossip Girl or Riverdale And their lives do have meaning They're not just sort of, you know, at worst little like men's or at best like just pointlessly rich people living pointlessly rich lives They're basically like teen drama characters I thought that was very interesting

Yeah, I didn't, so I didn't really write down anything from my like overall reaction to it I mean, I have plenty of them I agree, one thing that you said that I do really agree with is that this is like big little lies for men on ABC Because I do think that's what their intentions are with this show Is that like for me, like my girlfriend was watching episode one of Big Little Lies And I saw it and got like sucked in and turned it on and I ended up loving it I think that's like their angle here is to hook guys into watching NBC dramas Like I think that's the target audience, we've been hinting at it the whole time

But they want like middle-aged white guys to watch this, you know Yes, yes, yes Like after they tuck in their two-year-olds, you know, that are named Jaren and Caden They're like, they tuck in their kids, their wife's watching the show And then they like, it's like it becomes the one show they watch together when he's not watching the game, you know Um, yes But yeah, this is weird, it's weird that the characters are either just blatantly rich or just like incidentally rich Like, um, Rome lives in like this huge sick-ass loft and they don't really explain it

Well, he's a commercial director Oh, he's a commercial director They imply that he makes like millions of dollars for being a commercial director Well, you can, I mean that's accurate, I don't like, why is he making this movie? Like he also has this like struggling like movie guy career It's like, okay, so he's the pizza commercial director By the way, JFK Jr. reference, he's directing pizza commercials QAnon

There's a few, talk about dog whistles No, this is so QAnon, this is so QAnon Talk about dog whistles, the JFK Jr. thing when they brought that up I was dying No, yeah, I made a note of it QAnon thing But, so I also agree with your prescription of it that this is like a, it's his show to help like sort of very separate There's a type of suburban guy, right? There's a type of suburban guy who's like, he's obsessed with fantasy sports He like, he's married to a woman who has like blonde hair

But like very bold dark eyebrows and has a bunch of live laugh, love shit around their house They have a kid named like, not like a trashy name like Buxley or some shit But it's like, it's like a more classic trashy name like Hunter Yeah, they have that or it's like the made up ones Yeah, they're very, they're decidedly like upper middle class or upper class And they, they probably met in some, you know, Tony or Sports Bar in somewhere in the Minnesota or Michigan suburbs But their defining issue is like the guy's just, he's too much of a guy, he's so suppressed and he's a great provider But it's like, sometimes I wish he would open up, this is his show for couples like

Yeah, that's why they, I would imagine it's on the depression, explaining depression, you know It's for people who don't even know what that is, like wait, Ketchum, what is that again? Yeah I have a direct explanation with multiple analogies explaining it Yeah, I know who this is us is for and I know who Council of Dads is for Like those shows are for people who live in Ohio or anywhere else and they're just, they're basically, their doctors have gotten them addicted to pharmaceuticals They're just fucking popping out of bands and maybe, maybe even some type of opiate for a pain condition they got on the job They're like, they're middle class but highly in debt and the show is just telling them, hey, like, don't ever want anything more in life, just be grateful

But this show is, it's sort of class solidarity, it's these rich Hollywood people telling their rich equivalents in the middle of the country Like, hey, it's not gay to look for help I do, I still don't know the moral of the show, I guess that's it, but like, they kind of canceled out all of the other morals they're implying, you know Because it sort of revealed at least one of these dudes is a super bad guy and it's kind of strongly implied that the guy who killed himself, Ron Livingston, also might have been a bad guy, up to no good But that is class solidarity because it's like, in the middle class shows on network TV, all the middle class characters have to be perfect people Down to even, like on Council of Dads, down to even like a trans five-year-old has to be perfectly accepting of his grandmother's like vicious, cruel trans people Like everyone has to be perfect for them to be a reasonable character But if a character is rich in these shows, they can be as shitty as whatever

Actually, like, some of them are really bad people, Gary's an awful fucking guy, fucking Eddie's a terrible selfish asshole But because they're rich, it's just, you're just supposed to accept that they're good and the thing that makes them good is that their lives are dramatic Yeah, more than anything, it's a bizarre show I honestly was predicting to walk into something completely different from this Because I weirdly, I had, I made notes before I watched the show and they didn't work I had, like, all these little notes about, like, who I thought the show would be for and, like, I was prepared to, like, spend some time talking about that type of person Before we even got into the show itself, but it ended up being wrong, you know, a little bit But it was weird and then the other thing, I got a little too deep into, like, kind of, like, looking back into

I went way too deep into, like, preparing for this show before I watched it I knew you would, I knew you would That's why you were selected for this mission So most of these shows are kind of like, it's like a simulacra of, like, American life, you know And I was kind of looking back into, like, Baudrillard's five degrees of copies and simulation, yeah So I was thinking it was going to, I was going to have use for that and I kind of don't Actually, so the first degree of that would be, like, a copy that sort of resembles the real thing But then the fifth degree would be one where it, like, no longer, the copy and imitation no longer resembles the original whatsoever

Which is, I think, what we're dealing with in this show where it's, like, it's telling a story of just regular people living their lives getting along But it's so bizarre and completely unhinged from the rules of the universe as we know it, you know It's supposed to be about regular people, but it's so bizarre in the weirdest ways that it's, like, uncanny valley level interactions Does that make sense? Yeah, it's unrecognizable from anyone's life It is, like, the world of... I don't even think the writers of the show think that would be a weird coincidence If, like, for example, Rome and John killing themselves at the same time

Which almost... No, yeah, that was bizarre I mean, so I was expecting to walk into a show that was, like, sort of, I didn't watch Council of Dads or This Is Us But I would describe those as, like, they're, like, a Disneyland-type hyper-reality Where it's, like, they're portraying a lifestyle that you never had the opportunity to live You know, like this middle-American, average Joe lifestyle where you go to the Crab Shack and everybody knows who you are Like, that life never existed There was never a time you could live that life, really

It's, like, painting, it's recreating something that's only existed in older TV shows, right? Whereas this one... And it's also a lifestyle that doesn't exist in America anymore Like, you can have what's technically middle-class income But if you have as many, like, children and illnesses as are portrayed in this show You will be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt Like, it's a brutal country Like, something I've been talking about a lot recently is how one of the downfalls of the American Empire

Will be that people literally won't be able to afford having kids anymore And that's just totally absent from these This Is Us Council of Dads shows Those type of shows... But it's like, it's an identifiable desire Like, I think that the goal of those shows is more evil than anyone would admit Like, I have my own conspiracy theory for it that I've gone into That it's just beating down normal Americans until I'm like, look, these people figured it out, you fucking piece of shit But I also think it does display something that people wish they had

Which is a sense of community, like, love of their family Like, the ability to make it through all these things And a better life But this show, like, the desirable thing is more abstracted Like, the object of the desire for richer people in this show Is a life that is interesting at all And has, like, drama And not just, like, sometimes you endure a tragedy

Or, like, sometimes maybe you have a cancer scare Or, like, you have a divorce But it's mostly dull Your life is mostly dull and fucking pointless You very rarely have a chance to make any type of moral stand You're just going through the motions And you are actually quite frictionless And quite dull, and there is no point to any of this

Yeah, and the weird thing about this is that they present this They present these characters as people who are currently going through bad times, right? They're dealing with shit And you would think that, like, by the end of the show They would realize, like, hey, we actually don't have it that bad We actually have a pretty good, and I learned a valuable lesson By my friend, killing himself Which they don't, they don't even acknowledge that

Like, and they constantly paint the worst version of these people's lives So you can look at, like, you're looking, the show is pessimistic, right? And I don't remember any of the guy's names, I keep forgetting them But I'm just going to keep calling them how I know them So, Cancer Guy They're painting him as this guy who unfortunately has to deal with his cancer In reality, he's a guy who survived cancer, right? Like, that's great

He survived cancer, and he has his friends He beat it It's awesome That's a good thing, you know? He's over it The alcoholic guy, like, he dodged a bullet He's sober now He has a hot wife, and he can be a fucking loser guitar teacher

And he opened for Kings of Leon Like, that's a pretty good situation He shouldn't be cheating on his wife Who provides for him, right? Right, right, he should either, like, you know, be like, alright, we're either going to stick it together for a sign Or I'm going to talk about problems in his marriage But instead, he's just, like, does the worst thing Yeah, or if he was going to cheat on his wife, he should not cheat with his best friend's wife

Yeah, she probably fucking, his wife probably fucking hates him, you know? She's like this lawyer who's crushing it, who's probably not cheating on him Despite being married to a total loser, who, like, literally teaches guitar and, like, only leaves the house to go to the Bruins games Every three nights a week, probably Doesn't do anything Doesn't, we've never seen any scenes of him, like, raising their son No, yeah, he was in the end Yeah, watching him almost relapse

Why are you in our house? Oh, my God, yeah, yeah Oh, it's you, man No, yeah, this is, this, you know what this show, it's like, one of the funniest things I thought in The Sopranos And this was, like, a purposeful thing The Sopranos did that I thought was fucking brilliant And it was how Tony actually did have, like, in some way, all the stress in Tony's life was pretty much his fault, most of it Like, his choice to be, to pursue power in organized crime His choice to have several ongoing complicated affairs, like, his interpersonal affect, his desire to be dominant

But his actual work life was incredibly easy, he just sat around in a pork store strip club all day and told the guys But Tony was always alluding to how he busted his ass for his family when he really didn't do much but hang out And really, like, he was very stressed out, but it was mostly because of things that were his fault And I thought that was, The Sopranos sort of telling a joke about, like, the way the sort of per class Americans are That they will come up with infinite justifications for their unearned resources And point to a lot of problems that they have to foist upon themselves But this show is the inverse of that It's characters doing that, but it's never played as, like, they're bad or it would be unquestionable that they're, it would be out of the question to wonder if they're bad people

It's, it's own proof that these characters' lives are exciting and worth living Because the biggest fear for the actual audience of the show, the audience that's richer than the audience of the NBC viewers Is that their lives are meaningless and have nothing interesting happen They, it's sort of like a Straussian show, that there's this eternal struggle of, like, love and meaning and all this shit And not that these things are just totally alienated from most Americans Yeah, it's um, it's a, it's such a weird show, even the pizza guy, like, you don't really know why he's unhappy You only know it because he tries to kill himself immediately But even him, it's like, yeah, he's like allegedly a successful commercial director, but like, you don't really see any evidence of it

Because he's also on the flip side, like this goofball that's like trying to sell a movie about his friends talking, you know Like, presumably, like, literally it's like his friends at Bruins games, like chit-chatting Um, yeah, yeah, it's a very weird show, but I think I was bringing up the hyper-real thing because, you know A lot of these shows, and what I was expecting would be that they're kind of like painting the, this like portrait of American life That never really existed, they're sort of just imitations of like previous shows And like, I think a lot of shows now are sort of recreating shows from the late 90s and early 2000s Which are kind of like, you know, the format for those is like, it's a divorced dad Like a happily divorced or widowed dad raising like quirky, a quirky family that the show really focuses on

And they live in like this huge house, even though he's like a substitute teacher or something, you know Always have like this massive house and it's like kind of about their extended family and, you know, family really matters But it's like that you can allegedly achieve that life where you live in this huge fucking house in San Francisco somehow As a substitute teacher and like feed six people including like a kooky uncle, you know Like that's the lifestyle they're sort of painting And that just like doesn't exist and it never really existed, there was never a time you could do that, you know But this shows like, I was expecting that this like goes a step beyond where it reflects nothing It's like not even, it's not even an imitation of a previous piece of media that people perceive to be real, you know

This exists in its own universe with its own rules that make no sense to us Which is why there's like guys that interrupt them to say that he's in love with beer to like interrupt emotional moments, you know That's a great way to put it, that's a great way to put it It was our watch, I don't know what the show's about at the end of it I think I might keep watching this one because it's so weird to me And it's actually like infinitely more watchable than the other two How are there gonna be two seasons? I will say that

Like what else are they gonna have in this show? Okay, okay, I mean like so it is funny, like the first episode they sort of like one attempted suicide, one carried out suicide, two people with cancer An insane effect, like I don't know what more they can do, but we'll see, I'm kind of interested I think I'm gonna put a poll up for the listeners and see which one, which show they want me to keep going with I'm kind of, I'm like definitely gonna return to, I'm gonna return to Council of Dads with my sister I'm still figuring out kind of what I'm doing with this show Because it's like, I keep like, okay, I guess I would like listeners to sound off in the comments Because like, I did think I was just gonna keep watching This Is Us

But I think like if you keep watching the same thing, you repeat yourself a lot And I think it's sort of interesting to keep going with different network TV shows And I've had fun doing that But if people want to hear more Council of Dads or more This Is Us I want to know Yeah, if you're listening to this, definitely sound off in the comments This could be a whole podcast on its own, honestly That's kind of the direction I'm going with it Like I was, I decided that I always wanted to do this

Not always wanted to do this, but I wanted to do this for a little while And quarantine's been the perfect opportunity to do it Yeah And I guess we're still figuring out what it is I'm actually learning, I learned from watching this show actually a little bit about writing Like I did learn some things because it was amazing The first half where every single line of dialogue was like a direct exposition of a character trait or intentions, you know And then at the end of it, I was like, what's gonna keep people like watching this?

They like already explained everything Yeah, you already gave them, you already put them on The only thing they have that's gonna keep people watching it is the mystery of what was that phone call That Ron Livingston placed to an alcoholic guy Or yeah, why was that, why was that actually deleted? There's two questions, and that's like the basics of TV writing I guess Is like, watch the next episode because you don't know what happened with these two things And people will watch it, it's like, it's just kind of funny

No, people watch this show People watch it and it's like, that's what they're left, like everything else you don't really care about Or there's no reason to People will watch it because there's just two dumb little things that might mean something and you don't know it So it's like, the writing is really, really, really, really bad But you see it and it's so point where you're like, oh, I could just do that but make it a little bit better And I might be able to write a sitcom or something Or an ABC drama and then become one of these guys

Where I just start buying Bruin season's tickets for guys I meet in the elevator and become best friends Yeah, we should all be like, we should all be like, that's the goal It's a dream to get rich enough where you can just meet dudes in an elevator and be like, hey man, you want to be friends for 11 years? I'll buy the Bruins tickets It is funny because like, who were they friends with before? I guess no one Or like, they were just trash friends compared to these ones The show ends with a great song, another heavy hitter

I'll say that, I don't want to skip it, they end with Riptide by Vance Joy I guarantee everybody who's listening right now has heard this song Most people don't know the name of it though But yeah, I don't know, maybe we could try to end the episode with this banger Yeah, let's do that, Chris Jack, before we go, is there anything you want to plug in the episode description? I'll plug my own podcast, yeah, but still I mean, currently my only job now during coronavirus

But I guess my podcast, I'm not really doing much else dude, I'm isolated Everyone, welcome to the new economy Well, thank you so much for watching the show I think I have to use you again if we go back to the show You'd be an honor to come back No, we'd love to have you, this is such an expert More specific plug by the way would be that I did recently interview the singer of Trapped That's on our Patreon, so that's a good thing to plug

Check out, yeah, but still, it's a great show I don't know if I'm the most returning guest You're high up there for sure I'm high up there, Johnny Wardell might have one Yes, but you did play at the prestigious Kennedy Center with us That's true, that's true Thank you for having me on man No, thank you for doing this, this was great and we'll definitely have you back as a series

Absolutely, I might end up watching more of this show Oh wait, no, there's one last thing I had to pirate this because I couldn't get it on the ABC app or whatever I was actually watching a live TV version and it included a preview from the next episode I'm going to send you this clip, but there's this line where they're talking in the next episode And they're trying to figure out who's going to take care of his family now that he killed himself And he's like, we need to form some kind of alliance, an alliance of dads Not kidding

Wait, so they took the council of dads? Not kidding, in the next episode they propose a council of dads We have to be there to say, wait John, we're the band of dads I'm going to send you this clip right now Yeah, we have to watch this again Chris, play that song to play us out Everyone, we'll see you next week Everyone just sound off in the comments what show you want next week, we'll figure it out

Jack, thank you so much Thank you for watching this crap And yeah, now we'll do this again soon Thank you so much for watching this crap