The Kristian Harloff Show - How Does Amazon Gauge if The Rings Of Power is a Hit or a Bust? (w/ Guest Andrew Fried)

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

The Lord Of the Rings: The Rings of Power did very well for Amazon Prime. The ratings were good, great even, but how does Amazon make money off of a show that cost 50 million per episode? Is it just Prime subscriptions? What measures that success? We discuss that and more with producer extrodinare Andrew Fried. Even if you don't know his name, you def know one of the many things he has been responsoble for in creating and producing. With such hits such as Chef's Table, Cheer, Val, Last Chance U, We Need to Talk about Cosby and his most recent, Welcome To Wrexham. Andrew talks about getting started, how Wrexham came to be, being in the dumps and bouncing back to create a mega company in Boardwalk Pictures. Enjoy Kristian, Kate and Andrew on this ep! #lordoftherings #ringsofpower #chefstable #Welcometowrexham #Hulu #Netflix THANK YOU TO CARBON HEALTH FOR SPONSORING THE EPISODE! MY BOOKIE: Go to https://mybookie.website/BigThing or download the app and use code: BIGTHING JOYMODE: http://usejoymode.com/BigThing AMAZON WISHLIST: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1KPH42T0TP0PG?ref=cm_sw_em_r_un_un_djbxgIW5ZQMMg PATREON: http://www.patreon.com/thebigthingshow SCHMOEDOWN ARCHIVE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMovieTriviaSchmoedownArchives Ask Kristian questions for next time! https://facebook.com/harloff Become a Patreon of the Schmoedown: http://patreon.com/schmoedown OTHER GREAT CONTENT: REVIEWS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSJdE28YyUT368qY7sfE0nKE4c04CqGvu TV REVIEWS https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSJdE28YyUT1LU-t2Z9AD5UJDiWW4pS_E STAR WARS SHOW https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSJdE28YyUT0XmfpbblkF9PY7uO2qhbN6 THE BIG THING PODCAST https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSJdE28YyUT3KAwbzDsv6mdR-gwUiydQg - CM Punk Interview: https://youtu.be/R8Js8uj6GfE FOLLOW KRISTIAN + FIND HIM ON CAMEO https://cameo.com/kristianharloff https://twitter.com/kristianharloff https://facebook.com/harloff https://instagram.com/kristianharloff Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's going on, everybody? Happy Monday. Welcome back to the show. I'm excited to have you back on the show. I'm excited that you're here. And by the way, if you're just noticing, look at the bottom right. I'm so excited. Carbon health, everybody.

Carbon health. You remember the Carbon Health from the Shmodeown Spectacular? Well, they're presenting the show now, everybody. They are presenting the show, and I'm excited for that. Carbon Health, if you didn't know about carbon health, man, they have 110 locations nationwide. They have 80 locations in California, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Sacramento, I know north San Diego, it's amazing. So if you didn't know, they have so many different things.

They have urgent care needs at all locations, advanced care for most urgent care facilities. It's pretty great. We've had them. And for primary care in California, you can start a relationship with a professional that you can trust to take care of yourself before major issues arise. And think things like screenings we should start having performed when we approach our 40s especially.

And look, COVID's still a thing. But over two million people are tested and can minister. antivirals if qualified, you can buy it home, engine tests while you're in the clinics, all of it. So make sure you check it out. And what they believe is that everyone deserves a healthcare provider who is an active partner supporting you in your efforts to feel better and live healthier.

And their care teams have the support and resources they need to be able to focus in and build a relationship with you all. And I'm so excited to have them in. I'm excited that they're going to be presenting the shows for a little bit here. And we're excited to have them back. And if you're right into the show, please subscribe to this show. get us a $70,000 by the end of the year. We're going to try to take this sucker on the road, man.

Big thing, Sith Council, stand-up comedy. We're doing it all. So we're hoping you can do that with us. Apple Podcast, Spotify, everywhere podcasts are found. Make sure you check it out. We're excited today because not only I wanted to talk to you guys and figure out, Kate Mulligan's on the show, obviously, today. We were going to talk to her about, it's just Kate.

We're going to talk to her. I don't throw away. Whatever. Okay. They know you. We're going to talk about Amazon and Lord of the Rings. but what I want to know about Lord of the Rings is this. With the money that they spent and people are talking about it,

what does that show need to be a hit? Is it a bust? Is it a hit? What the hell is it? And not only do we have Kate here, I got my buddy Andrew Freed here. Andrew Freed, he is a mega producer. I mean a mega producer. He's got a new series out.

Welcome to Rexum. And it is on Hulu. We're going to talk about that. But there's so much other stuff, whether you saw chef's table or the Val doc. I mean, Kate's going to geek out about all of it anyway, so we'll get into it. But Andrew's a very close friend,

and I want to hear about all the stuff that he's working on. And it's going to blow your mind, especially for people out there who are always asking hope to get into the industry and producing and all that. Hopefully it's pretty fascinating. I think it will be. I like our chalk talks. So here it is, everybody.

It's the big thing. Let's do it. All right, everybody, welcome back to the Monday show. It's me, Christian Harlow. It's you. Next to me, Kate Mulligan. Oh, yeah. How are you?

But enough about you. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show. Mr. Andrew Fried. What's up, Andrew? Nice to be here. Nice to have you here. I'm just sort of getting my bearings here because I've seen this on the web screen and on our zooms. That's right.

But I like being here in person. It's awesome. And you caught it. I see you, Kate. Nice to see you. Did you think Chuckie was going to be as terrifying as he is? No, I actually really am scared of that stuff. I didn't realize.

You just pointed it out. I didn't realize how much Brett Sheridan would be here, which I love. The Christian headshot there in the back with the Yankees jersey, I knew you when that was your current headshot. Well, you knew that person. I was going to say, that's the guy we all knew. Yeah, well, you knew the little older version of that person. I knew the beanie. I guess I knew the beanie person.

I did not. I was not here during Beanie Christian phase. No, I was back in New York. Is that 2006, 2007? Christian, Christian Beanie phase, I was not, I was not a part of it.

Not a part of it. Well, there was a lot of stuff that Andrew was a part of it. We're going to talk about that and people are going to wonder about it. First of all, Andrew and I had a... I love the way I sound. You like it? It sounds good, right?

Yeah, it's really nice. Should I be leaning it? Do I want to deal the lily like that? Listen, as long as you can hear yourself, I just love the way it sounds. I like the way it sounds to listen to you. You sound sexy. I like that.

It's like, you almost, we come from that, like, the Howard Stern backer. We love, we love Howard Sterner. So, like, when you can just hear, like, Howard, when he would do this thing and he would talk sometimes and he would get, all right, listen to me. And you hear that and you're like, oh, my God, I can do that? And he was always slowing things. He still does, but he's very fast. But he's always slowing things down.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, listen to me. Wait, wait, I want you to go back. And I want you to tell me. What is it about that? Why did you start doing producing? Yeah. When you clearly were on Spin City. Oh, yeah.

Did you know he was on Spin City? Oh, my God. No. By the way, I would just like to say, I sound good in the microphone, too. Well, you look like you have Winston's penis in your mouth. You know what? Don't talk about him like that.

Sorry. He's much bigger than this. All right. So look, the first thing I want to do before we talked to, because we're going to talk about you a lot. Okay, great. I know. Yes.

That's why you're here. What I do want to ask you, I was talking to Kate about this because the Lord of the Rings, is this Amazon series that it's it cost 50 million dollars an episode to make that is the highest budget of a streaming show with the way streaming works now 50 million I'm so curious as a producer how in the world can you wind up because it's not you can't just be subscribers right how do you make that back how do you how do you classify that as a hit I honestly I wish that I knew but it's it's a I spend as much time thinking about it and talking about it as you do, right?

Like, I, I don't know what makes a hit for these subscribers or for these streamers, right? Like, at some, on some level, obviously, if it's zeitgeisty, if people are talking about it, if there's buzz, if it is the thing that people are talking about not only for a week, but maybe a month, maybe six weeks, like, there has to be some value in that. we, you know, my company's boardwalk pictures, we primarily do unscripted, um, TV shows, films, what have you. We always think of it this way, which is, look, an eyeball engagement isn't, you know, if you watch something for two hours, you watch something for two hours.

It can either be something like the Lord of the Rings or a $100 million movie on Netflix or whatever else, or it could be something that we make, which is pennies on the dollar compared to that. So as our titles start to become more zeitgeisty, more just sort of known, you know, documentaries in many ways has sort of gone mainstream, I would think, in the last several years. And so when you look just at some of the titles that we've made, like Chef's Table, like cheer, like Last Chance You, where it's, you know, those, hopefully they're getting the views that our partners need for those to be successes for them, you know, whatever the sort of algorithm them in the data says.

Right. But what I feel confident in is that the value of what they're getting for, you know, name recognition, relevant conversations that we're starting, entertainment that is in the mainstream for so much less than our scripted counterparts, that feels like value. Of course. And for you guys, I mean, that, from what you just, you break that down, that's why it's so fascinating to me when you get something like lower the rings. When you looked at, I don't know if either one of you guys got a chance to watch either

one of the episodes. saw it and we both hated it. Oh, yeah. It was, well, I'll say this. I'll say this. Lord of the Rings,

yes, I'm also thinking of the football that's happening on Amazon as well, right? Like, those are the two things that are happening on my, when I pop up Amazon now, it's telling me about those things. But football makes a lot of sense

to spend that kind of money because you figure you're going to get people in there to tune in. I'm just saying like when you look at the production quality of Lord of the Rings. Yeah. It's the one, because TV, because of traditionally, you pull back a little bit on the budget and it looks like TV. And you're like, okay, there's sometimes, this does not look like TV.

When I looked at this, I mean, this, regardless of we do the story. They're also, they're content catalogs, right? So these things last forever. Obviously, you need to get some of the value from it, I presume. Again, I'm a content creator. I don't work at the streamers or the networks. And so you'd have to ask them. And I would think that,

it's a little different than it was when we were younger, where the things on Thursday, and if you missed it, maybe you catch it in summer reruns, these shows last forever. And so Amazon's investment in something like Lord of the Rings, I don't know that it's just an opening weekend, you know, number.

I think that it's bigger than that. Word of mouth, people coming back and all that. And it's forever. Just $50 million in episodes a lot for TV. You don't have to tell me. I don't know. It seems like a lot. It's a lot.

But either way to... But the world is changing, right? We're going to be watching football on Amazon. We're going to be watching these big things. Are they TV shows? Are they movies? You know, I don't know. But the world is obviously rapidly evolving from a content standpoint and a storytelling

standpoint. I'm very curious about it because like I said, when I was looking at it, it's very theatrical. It looks beautiful. And I didn't love the first episode, but I certainly was more invested in a second. And people, as Andrew said, people are. talking about the show. So I wonder exactly how they view their metrics. Netflix is famous for not letting their numbers be known. I don't know if Amazon does that. I know that I've heard that whether this is kind of a make or break thing for them. They're going to look at their numbers,

decide to want to put this kind of production in there. I don't know. I mean, you look at like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon after seeing what they did in that kind of massive number that they had. So who knows? Maybe they, maybe they can. Did you see though? So this is where the numbers can't tell the story, right? I'm sure you've all seen because you're online. far more than I am, but the New York City apartment building that had all the TVs watching House of Dragons at the same time. So that's a thing when it is actually just in a time where nobody watches anything by appointment anymore, that the entire or a big chunk of the world was watching that show when it was released

at that moment. Like that's another kind of value. I don't know how you compare those things. but well there you go so before what I do want to talk to you about something that people are definitely watching and talking about I feel like every single time I

mention one of your shows you can say that welcome to Rexum now this is something you told me about a while ago that you were working on and now and that's that's the beauty of again Andrew and I have been friends for over 22 years now and I have had a chance to hear about us

we have a lot of chance chances to hear some of the things that he's been working on And remember when you told me about the Val Doc. Yeah. And I was able to watch that earlier and I couldn't say anything. I was like, I just wasn't, and I had seen it. I was like, I fell in love with it. You don't miss.

Do you know what I've been calling you right now? I know that you'll, you'll be humble on the air about it. And maybe you won't because I just said that. I've been calling you Midas lately. I've been calling you Midas lately. I was literally, you did not tell me that about it. But I think that too. When you look at the catalog of what your name has been hitched to.

I'm going to read some of this stuff. There's something for everyone. Yeah, read my, read my credits. I'm going to read your credits because, as I read your credits, though, I'm also going to tell the story about how we were sitting in a Beverly Hills restaurant, right? Not that long ago. It was like four or five years ago. It was longer than that.

Was it? Okay. But it was not like ages ago. No. And I still have not gone through all your credits here. It's absurd. But if you look, so when I really see that, they see what you're. No, they can't see this.

Oh, okay. But I can make, I can make them see that. But right now. No, you don't have to make them. Chef's table. Yeah. Chef's table is kind of that was... Full stop.

Just right there. Chef's table. It's the one that built, but it's the one that really built out boardwalk. I know you did other stuff obviously before that. No.

Yes, but here's the point that I want to make because it is true and it's not like a... Maybe it sounds humble, but it is accurate, which is if I have a golden touch, if I am Midas in any way, which I, that's good.

You know, that's like what happens right in the movie before like everything goes to shit. Okay. So I just gave you. Yeah, sorry. He just like gave me.

You're Midas. You got a shit touch. And it's like I'm supposed to do blow off a hooker in there. I don't know. I don't know what's supposed to happen. But we had one lined up. I know. Yeah. Sorry. But I like when I met Christian 22 years ago, whenever it was, I am attracted to people who I think like just have something and I can help. And so chef's table is I met David Gelb. I met Brian McGinn. David had made Giro James of sushi, and I was just like, okay, what do we do now? And so I'm happy for you to go through all of those credits, though I don't think that's the best use of our time. But because each one of them is like somebody awesome along the way

who ignited me to just want to support them. Very few of those things are, and there are some, but very few of those credits are things that I sat in a room dreamed up and then made by myself. I mean, none of it's made by myself, but even was like the lead creative on, most of them are like this awesome situation and these awesome people and I was able to support that. Well, that's still, I was going to say that still speaks to you because I feel like people that collect great people that then create great products. I mean, when you, for me, I loved cheer.

I didn't know that was you. I think that the game changer, yeah, the game changer of all game changers for me is that last chance you, the basketball season, that that will, I think, live on as an actual timepiece from COVID. Right. I think that for generations to come, if anybody wants to see, you were just, you just, I mean, that's just luck that you happen to be shooting a season that ends the way that did. but that to me is it's that is timeless that that I get chills even talking about it because I don't know if you saw that but like

just the way and then to be have just lived through it and to watch it that is going to be something I show my grandkids that's I'm going to say like if you want to know what it was if you want to capture the feeling of it not to mention welcome to Wrexham same sort of situation here and that's what I wanted to talk about too because like you as you mentioned because thank you for saying all those

things those it's all true Well, I brought up, I brought up Val because the reason why when you told me how that story came to be, and as you just, as you just said, though, like, it's being in the room, you're very good people in the room. And in general, you always have been, even when you were, when you were acting. Like just, no, seriously. Like, and I remember first meeting you all those years ago and just like, oh, this guy just controls a room, but not in like, an aggressive way, but in a way that you want to hear what he's saying. So I can see how that transfers over to production. Tell me about Rexam, though. How did that come to be?

because the stuff going on, you get chills. It's like, I feel like there was a room, like, it's like real-life Ted Lassau with the famous actors. It was before Ted Lassau. Oh, was it really? Okay. It didn't get released until after. So I actually wanted to ask you about that.

Did you feel like Ted Lassow being the hit it was sort of sneaking in before you guys even released? Did it help or hurt? So I don't watch a ton of TV. I watch, you know, cuts of our shows, right? So, and I watch some things. And the things that I watch I love. I love Ted Lasso.

Like, love it. Like, it is one of maybe four shows that I've watched in the last year. And when it comes out next, it will be like, yeah, immediate. Like it was West Wing for you? The way you were for West Wing? Yeah. But even another step, which is with Ted Lasso last season, I saved them.

I knew that they had come out, and I knew that I couldn't just deal with 30 minutes at a time. And so I waited until halfway through the season, at least, to start watching them. But, like, that's how much. goes into it like it's it I love it yeah um you mentioned last chance you I want to talk about all the things which is last chance you basketball for me again on the periphery I'm not sitting on the bus with the basketball team as they're learning that their season is canceled but um COVID was this thing that we were all living through Greg Whiteley was you know directing two shows

at that time one being last chance you basketball and one being cheer and both of them just sort of came to this crazy inflection point that then for the whole year in the editing, it was like, oh, is anybody really going to want to watch a thing about COVID? So there was just a lot of debates that go into all of that. And ultimately, I think you're right. I agree with you because as I watch it, it's like, wow, this is a real moment in time that the further we have, the more distance we have from it, the more it will act as sort of this, this marker, this, this time capsule of like what it was like,

because we'll forget it, right? It's not like the Kennedy assassination. It's not like 9-11. It's, those are moments and we remember exactly where we were in that precise moment. The fog of those two years will sort of just. It's true. It'll just all. It already does.

I already sort of forget. It does. Like I was even thinking about like when it all, I could place three years ago as if it was yesterday and like it feels like it was yesterday as opposed to like when you even met those other events sure you remember them but it feels like so long ago some of them in some they are but but it's also it's so precise like where were you when the challenger happened like right i can tell you exactly where right right right but why was it your school library watching it everybody was right right but this is just sort of this foggy malaise and yet you know it's it's interesting to be reminded in a

story like last into basketball, you know, spoiler alerts, COVID happens. But like, I remember when they, when being told the story secondhand, but that they were on the bus getting ready to go. They were dealing with the fact that it was an empty gym. And then it was just like, yeah, we're not gone. Because that's also not how documentaries usually end. There usually is like some sort of hope. There's usually some. And this was like, no, wait, but we wanted to see them. And that's the way it was like. Right. And that's what happened. Exactly. Yeah. Um, yeah. Um, So to your question, COVID was this weird time? And many, many actors, TV stars, movie stars were sort of doing things outside of their normal schedule.

I had a Zoom scheduled with Rob McElaney. Did you know him beforehand or no, just set up? No, just the way you know him from watching. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's always sunny. So it was set up and he said, I've been watching all these, you know, documentary TV shows. And you seem to be the guy that makes all of them. Midas.

His name is Midas. Uh-huh. Yep, that's correct. He didn't say that. Well, he meant to. Uh, it was obvious that he meant to. Um, and he said, uh, I think I'm going to buy a soccer team. And do you think like we can make a documentary about that?

Do you automatically go, yes? Well, in your head. Yeah. Yeah. Because I'm also, I'm a business owner. Yeah, yeah. Like, I recognize the opportunity. But it was, it was Rob.

And Rob is a very, very famous. successful, awesome, hilarious, talented guy. Yeah. But then, and I remember the next conversation because I was like in the supermarket, grocery shopping for the kids and me and like hazmat suit, gloves, masks. It was that era. Yeah, yeah. Back then. Yeah. And I got a call from Rob. And I like put an earpiece in under my hazmat suit. And he said, I was talking to my friend Ryan Reynolds about maybe sponsoring this and we thought maybe we should just do it together.

You're like, no, Ryan Reynolds never heard of him. No, thanks. And so I remember what I said to him, which was, you know, our charming little documentary about a little football club, which we had not, we didn't know what it was going to be, but our charming little documentary about a little football club has just gotten a whole lot less charming, but it's, it's big.

That's a massive, that's a massive, massive idea. And, yeah, I mean, that's it. That's it. But that's kind of old school too, right? How he used to work even with movies. Like you have an idea, you have them. But once you get big name talent involved, it certainly moves the needle.

But you have to have the idea. You have to have everything too. But that moves the needle, even more so, doesn't it? I mean, let's be honest about it, right? Like a movie star on TV, being himself in intimate, vulnerable setting, caring about what the hell they're doing. Right. Yeah, whatever that is.

Give me an environment where somebody who I want to watch cares about what they're doing, and I'm sort of cool. Well, it is also a peek behind the curtain to show more so than just the movie star, as you said, to show him as both of them, who they are, the fact that Rob is this big sports fan and what it meant to him and the fact, you know, they have this, just this relationship where you're like, oh, these are just, these are human beings who just really enjoy this and they have the, and they're trying to help this town. And Reynolds even says,

that it's an underdog story and all that. I think that that's what makes it pretty special and the fact that they're both really likable, likable dudes. And what you'll see as the story continues, Wednesday nights on FX. I mean, I got to tell you, I really should not have been watching because I'm like, I need the next one now.

I need it now. So that's the thing is that like you will really start to know this team, this town, and their owners. Yeah. And that's not to say that like you're not going to get enough of Robin Ryan. Robin Ryan haven't even been to Wales yet in the show. Right. So like there was a whole lot of Robin Ryan to come and a whole lot of just like all the goodness to come.

But it's amazing to me like everything about that series that is the things that make me cry. Yeah. Are not what I would have thought would have made me cry. I have to say that to me, I find myself so deeply invested in that. town in those people, the dad that has gone through a divorce. And it's just, and sometimes it's the Welsh accent maybe that I'm like, why are they just so much better than us? But he's just like, that's life, isn't it? Like it. And he's like heartbroken. You can just see the man's life has come to a full stop. And he's just like, so I got these for my boys. Like I got to go to. Like, and it's just,

he's just one of the fans. And so those moments where like Ryan and Rob aren't in it, I don't feel like, oh, come on. Get back. Those are the ones. moments I end up love. Absolutely. And when I like it. It's for them. It's for Sean Winter. When he says everyday Magnolia, right, that's like the color. The color. The paint color.

I know him. And Rob makes the point in the series like he knows them because it is Philadelphia. It is Josh McCougo texted me and said, this is Pittsburgh. You know, like, the more universal the more universal it is, the more specific. It's what I was going to say.

was the fact that, like, by bringing in, you know, the two American actors, although Ryan around is Canadian, but, but still, you, and you bring them in, you talk about these sports fans, these towns, but even though football, even though is one of the biggest sports in the world, if not the biggest, America, it's not, but it doesn't matter because of what you're doing, you're projecting that, and, and I think Ted Lassow does help, to be completely honest with you, too. It does. So, again, a very good break for, even though it's a similar thing, it's a, it's so different,

We knew that Ted Lasso was existing through most of this, but at the initial inception, we didn't. Okay. But, yeah, no, and these things sort of happen. It's weird that the world unfold. It's not some master strategy all the time, but the world does unfold such that, like, thematically, everyone's talking about something right now,

and right now, you know. I love that they're talking about this because this is a... Football is hot. But it's also the show is something that people need, I think, too, because it's also, there's a lot of things on TV that are not uplifting and they're not, and they're not, you know, and there's certainly things that kind of break your heart in the show, but there's, but there's things that I think that give you that that nice feeling that you need sometimes. So it's, but the other thing you need sometimes in my life is, I eat all the time, and chef's table pizza. That's, that's why he's the pro. That's why I'm behind the camera. Oh, look at that transition.

He's in front of it. When you told me about shift. Because that is a seamless. Now, I was happy and mad at the same time. I was happy and mad at the same time about chef's table. pizza. Do you want to guess why I was happy? Because it's pizza and you love pizza. And do you want to know why I was upset? Because there's no pizza from New York. No, because you did not invite me to the cell. That is why.

What a smart idea that was to do this for the people. They didn't have you in the budget. That's true. I was sent, but this wasn't from you. I was from Netflix. I was sent the episodes. Is it out yet? September 7th.

September 7th. I think. So we're about, yeah. Okay, so we're right around. So tell me about that one. So this is just an extension now of Chef's Table. These are six more Chef's Table episodes all about pizza. You know, with Chef's Table, we've sort of opened the aperture a little bit

in that we did the pastry season a few years ago, which was all desserts. And then we did barbecue. I think it's now like two years ago, which was all barbecue. That was like a little different for us. And so pizza seemed like the next logical. The other thing I will say is that like pizza comes up. Like I directed the episode with Nancy Silverton. Yeah.

Oh my God. Did you direct anything with Rexham, by the way? Did you direct anything? No. John Henion is the lead executive producer, showrunner. John Henion doesn't even get his haircuts in the U.S. anymore because his barber is in Wales. That is where he has been for the last like two years.

Okay. Sorry. So you were saying you directed for. When I directed the Nancy Silverton episode of Chef's Table, she talked about Chris Bianco's pizza. Like, she, I was like, you know, you'd done bread, you had done this, like, what got you into pizza? She said that, you know, I had all this great pizza in Italy, but I didn't know what pizza I would want to make here. And then I tasted Chris Bianco's pizza, and that's what I wanted to do. So Chris Bianco, who's in Phoenix, and now I guess has a restaurant in L.A. as well.

But these six episodes of Chef's Table, you know, they're getting better. Yeah. We've now done, this represents episodes up to 54. Wow. This is the 54th episode of Chef's Table. And the people who are making them now, Danny O'Malley is one of our directors this season, Danny came up the ranks of Chef's Table.

Danny was, I don't remember what his first job was, but eventually he became a, he was a story producer and then a producer. And then, you know, and now he's directing an episode. and like the chef's table is as much his voice as any of ours. And so as those voices start to come up and have new opportunities, the shows are getting better. Yeah. Well, go ahead, Kate.

I was going to say, I feel like that is sort of a byproduct of you being Midas, and I'm not being silly here. First of all, really good use of the word aperture. Not really recovered from that yet, if I'm being honest. But also, I just feel like that's the whole premise behind Google, right? Like if we have the best things to offer, then we will attract the best employees. We're going to make lunches free. We're going to make 20% of your time, your personal time.

And I got to believe when your roster, like when your roster, I call it a roster, because I'm thinking of soccer now. But like it is what it is, which is chef's table and cheer. And like there's, there's nobody listening to this who has not seen one of your doc. I guarantee you. Also did the Cosby doc, which is not an easy watch, but it's not an easy watch. But we need to talk about Cosby. But so to me, I feel like what happens.

happens is you then become a person that Rob McElennie is calling and saying so I just feel like you're saying the chef's table keeps getting better yeah because like you you the rep it's the rep it's reputation that comes with it so you you're just going to attract better and better you're just going to get you're you are the cream of the crop so now you're getting the cream of the crop well let me ask you though when it comes to that though with Netflix right because it's it is the business that we're in is what have you done for me lately and you keep doing things for them lately so you've got to be like the golden child over there, right? I'm sure you're...

I imagine they're pretty happy. Right. It's a lot of our work. So you don't have an exclusive deal, though, with Netflix. No. And in fact, we need to talk about Cosby. Yes. Yes.

Is with Showtime. Right. We do... You know, welcome to Rex and was with FX. And so, yeah, we work with everybody. We've made a lot with Netflix through the year. Chef's Table was Netflix's first unscripted original. Yeah.

And so... Wild. When you talk early... early days of Netflix. Like, you know, there was an office over on Maple in Beverly Hills and like a little reception area. Yeah. I used to work at Lake Show over there.

Yes. On third in Maple. So we were in the conference room behind reception when we did that first chef's table meeting. And, yeah, the interesting thing is that we have different partners over there, right? Like, it's not that we make every show for the same set of people. There are so many, you know, Netflix. in my mind is not one of like a competitor of the networks it's all the networks there's a comedy

central in Netflix you know they don't call it that but there is that sort of so there's a joke yeah so there so there's a lot of um so there's a lot of different people who we work with over there well let me ask you then for this because when it comes down to because obviously Netflix was the was the king of the crop or the king of the hill excuse me when it when it came to streaming before the streaming wars kind of really happened before Disney got into the game and then HBO Max and then all these things, right? So in the beginning of the year, there's a big story about Netflix where they lose all the subscribers, but then they're in, they're in trouble at one point. But I would assume that the stuff that is really working for them is stuff that you, the kind of stuff that you do, right?

So like it's, it's a lot of the scripted stuff I feel is harder to find on Netflix. It's not the comedy specials. It's not this type of shows. Those are the shows, I think, are easy to find on Netflix. And so that's probably obviously beneficial to your business. But did that, Netflix stuff? I don't think the answer is yes, but does it affect you at all when all that stuff is going to? All of it affects creative people everywhere. Yeah.

It just does. CNN Plus, I didn't have a show. We had a show sort of in development over there, but I didn't have a series at CNN Plus, but CNN Plus going away is like a huge hit to the community and a bunch of people who are going to, we're going to tell stories over there. We have a show coming out on HBO Max called The Big Brunch

that we're doing with Dan Levy. That comes out. this fall. Change over there and, you know, what's going on with HBO Max and candidly, most of, if not all of the people who we dealt with on that show are not there anymore.

And so it's just like, so it's all. Does that continue on? The show? Yeah. I hope that you make a hit show that there's room to do more of it. Sure. I got a big expensive set that we built that's in storage that's just waiting to be taken out

and shoot a second season. Do you deal with Zazloff at all? I've never, I don't know him. Okay. I'm not that. I may be Midas. No, but I don't, I'm not that big. I deal with the people I make shows with. Yeah, but I'm just,

I'm curious about how that works in general, like, because, you know, but I've never had shows there. Right. Like, I have a really nice relationship with Ted Sarandos. I mean, we're not like hanging out all the time, but like he is someone who I've been making shows for for a long time. Is that how you flew here today?

Yeah, exactly. But, but, But I don't know David Zazlov because I haven't made shows at Discovery. Right. All right. So before, because I know we're going to lose you in a second.

So what, obviously we know that the show is on Hulu and that comes out. Wednesday nights? FX on Wednesdays. Then Hulu and the next day. Okay. So then we have the Dan Levy show. What else can we,

and the pizza show for chef's table? Pizza. Let's not call it the pizza show. Well, we just said the pizza show. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. It's a pizza show.

It's a good pizza show. It's a chef. It's a chef. It is. It is. What if all those subscribers come back? Hold on. Chef's table. Chef's table.

Yeah. Chef's table pizza. Chef's table pizza. Chef's table pizza. Did you? Street food just came out on Netflix, Street Food USA. You see what I mean?

Yeah. And he also did. So the thing that I was in before, what I got you for another 10 minutes? Yeah. You got to talk about. Like brunch? Did we talk about the brunch on HBO?

Yeah, we just did. Well, you said, but I want to know what that's about. Because you said, Big brunch. Yeah, Dan Levy. That's the first time that we've, but this was another thing. I think Dan Levy, during COVID, there was a lot of energy of like people looking in different creative directions during COVID.

Right. So that was true for those types of people too. No, I was just drinking. Sorry. Dan Levy wanted to do a food competition show. And he had a very clear idea about a lot of it. And we had never done anything like that. at like, you know, we've never, like, 10 chefs and three judges and a big prize at the end,

that's very much outside of our comfort zone. But Dan's amazing. I don't know if you have, yeah, he's great and a creative force. And so we just decided to do it our way. And it's, I'm really excited about it. And he said that comes out in spring, is it? In the fall. In the fall.

November. September. Oh, great. Okay. So, yeah. All right. The big brunch. The big brunch.

And so you have all. those coming out and then the thing though as I mentioned beforehand if we can we talked so can we go over that story of what happened because it was before Tyson right what what what story when we sat at the restaurant yeah together as you remember it I you tell me what you tell me and I say I thought it was right after you had done I thought was it was after I think it was before Tyson it was before Tyson yeah that's what I mean so it was right whatever you just finished I I was uh I I often say that I was fired, but maybe it was that I had come to the end of a contract, the show was not done, and I was not extended along with the show.

Maybe that's the more accurate description. And at the time, yeah, at the time you looked at it as a defeat at the time, right? I was fired from a Bravo show. I had been a showrunner on a Bravo show. It turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. Well, it happened. And now I'm here, so I don't know if it was the best thing, but it is certainly part of the journey of getting here.

A lot of people have jobs that would say it was a good. good thing that that happened to you. Sure. Yeah. All right. So. But I was, I had gone to Dallas to be the showrunner on a Bravo show called Courtney loves Dallas, which was not about Courtney Love.

Yeah. But it was about Courtney Kerr. And she loved Dallas. She likes Dallas. And she's great. Yeah. And she's still great. And that show could have been great.

Yeah. If I'm being honest. I think the show was fine. But I wanted to make this version of this show. This was about Courtney Kerr had been on a Bravo reality show. most eligible Dallas. And now she was getting her spin-off. And she was quitting her job in retail

and really going on her own as a fashion blogger, which at the time was like, what even is that? Nobody even knew what she was talking about that she was going to be like a full-time influencer. And we captured it really as it happened. There was one scene I remember where her Wi-Fi went down. So this is a story about a woman who has quit her job.

She's taking all the risks and she's sitting at home and her Wi-Fi has gone down. And that seemed like the most interesting thing to me. That like for as fabulous as her life was, if the fucking Wi-Fi doesn't work, like that's pressure. That's stakes. That's like everything to me. And so we cut this like long sequence of her talking to nobody, just frustrated that the Wi-Fi wouldn't work.

And it was so interesting to me. and they didn't want it. Yeah, everybody else who saw it was like, you're crazy. And so I really tried to hold on to something that was that. They wanted something that was not that. Yeah. They excused me of my duties. And yeah, you and I went to lunch at South Beverly Grill.

Yeah, we did. And I said, I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do. I remember you, like, I don't think, I don't think it's going to happen. And I go, we've had this. So Andrew and I met through friends. and then we did stand-up comedy together. And Andrew was an actor, and I was, and Andrew, I talked to many times on my, on WWE, you got the job.

Andrew was very instrumental in helping me with writing the letter that I, that I did, and we worked together and all that stuff. And we've just been really close friends, so we know each other really well when we get to those places. And Andrew moved back to New York for a little bit, working for his grandfather. Quite a tale. But he comes back, and then I remember that you've been like, we were sitting at that place, and the food was really good.

I remember that. but um and you saying it's over and i looked at you and i go stop you were very dismissive very of my moment very and i was just i go i go stop i go look you're fucking and you're going to wind up just finding the next thing and you're going to be fine i don't know i don't know i don't think it's going to happen i go yeah i can't wait to hear when how much how much longer after that conversation did you get a gig soon you know you're right and i'm emotional as i'm thinking about it because that really really you're really you're really, really did happen.

Yeah. Like, I was done. Yeah. I was done. Well, and I, and I, and it was real. Yeah. I had no money. I had no job.

And I, and I had just really stuck to my guns creatively, thinking, like, if I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down on my own terms. You sure did. But I did. And it was like, okay, on the other side of that, because I recognize that in the storytelling that we do, whether it's on chef's table, whether it's on Last Chance You, you know, a lot of the different things that we do. We've reinforced this narrative of like, everybody thought I was crazy, but I went for it anyway. And that's true. Every chef that we've profiled on chef's table could absolutely tell that story. It's the story of, you know, finding one's creative voice, right? So it's true.

I also sort of feel this responsibility to say that it doesn't always work out. Yeah. You know, like, we're celebrating the ones that did, but, and my story is one that it did work out. And I'm saying that it was real in that moment. Yeah, it was. I had no money. I had no job. And I had a new wife. Yeah.

And I was trying to figure out what the hell to do next. And again, though it was a very real moment for me, you were just sort of like, yeah, you're going to be fun. I just, well, because the thing that I've, look, I'm going on, this, people know that watching the channel, I'm, I was, I had a cushy job for the last three years with Skybout. I'm going on in my own doing my thing, but I built out as much of a name as I could in this space, doing my thing, taking that leap. But it's also what I've done very well is I know people. And I know things that I know, like what people are capable of. And I've always been since the day we met. I've been in all your, you sometimes when you lock in and you know, then you know. And you know. And as much as we're saying, like, I know you well enough that we're calling you might and I said, well, I deserve a little bit of that because I fucking did because I kicked my fucking own ass to make it happen. And I did what I had to do. And I mean, you can't read that slate off and say it. But you can also, I've been there, dude. And I was there three months ago when I was walking around going, what the fuck am I going to do? And just bummed and like in this space. But you do find that road. And that's why I wanted you on the show as well today, because I want people to hear that story knowing that it's not just, oh, well, this is just a guy who just. You just had it all handed to him. Fuck, no, you had to fight and you had to make it work. And you were in a spot where you had to make it work. Well, thank you.

And I also had to be responsive to what was going on around me, right? Which is stubborn at times, creatively stubborn certainly. But actually pretty flexible in terms of what sparks excitement, different people who come into my life that it's like, oh, that, that, really has inspired me. And now I'm, I'm off in a whole other different direction. I don't know if that makes sense, but again,

I think that there's so much of this like, and I stuck with my guns, and I stuck with my guns, and I stuck with my guns, and there is a part of that that is a part of my story and a lot of the stories that we end up telling. Is that why you make stories like that as well? Because you can relate to it so much?

Maybe. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe. Subconsciously good. I once was sitting watching something with my mom early, like years ago, and I was like, I have no idea what draws me to any of these stories. Like, I don't know how I choose them.

Yeah. And she said, it's obvious. You were telling stories about people who are at the top of their game. And it was like, oh, I didn't even, and I don't know if that's still true, but I never realized that that was like a common thread. But, but yeah, there's just this thing of you got a bob and weave through it. But those low moment, that low moment is real. And a friend to tell you that it's going to be okay is real.

And then the work that is like, okay, where are my opportunities? Where do they present? The Tyson thing comes. That's one that kind of got you back. Because I don't feel like there was that dip after that. It seemed like you were off and running after that Tyson doc. Yeah. Right.

I mean, when you look at the graph from far and off away, it wasn't like that. Because as we're talking about, right, because we're talking about that conversation that we had at dinner, at lunch, that was a down moment. And I'm sure there were, of course, and anybody has down moments, but not like that. Like that was like a, that was a career standpoint. Right.

That was, um, that was a real nadir. Right. And now, but now you move, you get Tyson. I don't know how many stories you, I mean, I hate that. I got to lose you because I got to lose you now because you got, you got, you got, five more minutes. I just, I know I need to get in the car at some point. Which makes sense.

You tell me when you got to go and we'll wrap it up. I don't see the clock, but it's 11. five. You need to go? Five more minutes. All right. Five more minutes. You were right. I told you. I said you got a low ball. You got a low ball. He's going to. Unbelievable. We're good at this. We're good at this. So, um, but the Tyson stuff, there's so many, I could talk to you about Mike Tyson for three hours. Yeah. I think he's a fascinating human being. Yes. Um, there's a particular story that you told me that. I don't know if you can't talk about it. Something like, you know what I'm like, no. He got nervous. He got nervous. He got nervous. He got nervous.

How did you? Don't say it. I know you guys got a lot. I know you guys got a very well. Were there any moments that you were ever scared? Yes. Can you tell that moment or no? I could tell it vaguely, which is that it's, yeah, I guess enough time has passed. And Mike Tyson is like real, real good dude. I know that that's a weird thing to hear.

You spent a lot of time with him. I spent a lot of time with him. And he is somebody that like when I went through my divorce, I reached out to him. Oh, that's great. And he sat with me for a couple of hours and just, like, said all the things that I don't have a big brother, but like, wow. Yeah.

Mike Tyson is. You're not getting more raw and honest than. And he has lived a life and he has seen a lot of things. And he's not proud of all of them. You can trade me in for Tyson. I was going to say he traded, he traded you out for Tyson for the next crisis. No, he got plenty of that, those talks, too. But, but, but, yeah.

Yeah, so anyway, so the story was, you know, when you're making these documentaries, you're, on one level, you are putting a lens on on the world and hoping that it reveals its truest self, right? That is, that, that's, that's the desire. You also do need to nudge people emotionally to places that they don't want to go on their own, right? Even in a chef's table episode, if I come back on an episode I'm directing, I'll say to the editor, okay, what is the story that she and I are telling together here? And then what's the story she doesn't realize she's telling? Right. There is a healthy tension that exists in nudging people to places that they don't, you know that as an interviewer. I had nudged Mike to a place that was a little bit uncomfortable for him.

and he got in my face. He nudged you back, didn't he? But did you hear that? Mike Tyson got in his face. How many shits did you have in your pants? He really did. Well, you know, life happened so fast that like you don't, it's just happening. Yeah.

But I'm standing there and Mike Tyson is standing in front of me. And I'm saying I have pushed him and I have placed him somewhere that he was uncomfortable being. Yeah, yeah. And I'm like, he's like, what do you want me to do? What do you want? Now what do you want for me? What do you want for me, Andrew? What do you want for me, Andrew? What do you want for me, Andrew? What do you want for me, Andrew? And I would be like, well, what do you want to do, Mike?

And he got right up in my face. And he goes, I want to say, fuck you, motherfucker. And, like, I could feel his breath on my face. And, like, no, of course not. Yeah, you're shit in your fan. But it's all happened so quickly that, like, it is him. Yes. and that is happening and it is his face like out of a nightmare

like out of a nightmare but you gotta hold your ground all like I am not tactical like that I was just frozen yeah what am I gonna do yeah right like I was just like okay

of course you were okay right okay that happened okay he ended up ripping off his microphone throwing it and leaving in the car the next day we were shooting and he he apologized to me in the morning almost like in a very very respectful way saying i understand what it must feel like for that to happen you know like yeah and so i apologize and he's the sweetest i mean we're

friends you and i have i don't know that we've ever gotten in each other's face like that but that's what happens right there's intensity emotional intensity, and so that's just part of it. Later that day, we were shooting on a rooftop in Brooklyn. We were with his pigeons in Brooklyn on a roof. Classic. On a roof, on a roof in Brooklyn, okay? We have climbed up a ladder.

You're thinking, thank God this wasn't yesterday. On to a roof, onto a roof in Brooklyn. And he, I'm standing on a roof, and he not runs, because he's not someone who runs, but he sort of gains some momentum and is coming towards me on a roof. And I remember like, oh, like what is happening? And he just hugged me.

And he apologized again. On a roof. That's a great story, though. It's great. I hate that I got a illusion. But we'll do this again. Invite me back. You invite it.

That's why I make all the shows. That's why I'm as prolific as I am. Just to have reasons. I'm not on other podcasts. I come here. Yeah. Well, you do. And that's why yesterday.

It was funny because I didn't tell Andrew that we don't do the Zoom anymore. It's well, what's the link? And I go, isn't the link? You got to get over here. You get it come. And I would much rather do that because I think you get the real conversation.

You get the feel of it. So it's good to have you on here for sure. Thank you. And once again, tell people, I'll give you the camera here. Tell people everything that what they need to do. Where do I look? Is this right? Nope, wrong one.

Look at the other one. Is this right? Look up in the air. You got it. You got to check. Yeah, you're good. You're good. Okay.

So we got, you know what? I'll make it easy for you. Welcome to Wrexham. Ladies and gentlemen, make sure you check it out. And as Andrew said, it's Wednesday night. It's on FX and then Thursday on Hulu. Make sure you check that out. Chef's Table Pizza.

The pizza show. Make sure that you watch the pizza show. It's a pizza show to me. I can't wait to eat all that pizza. So make sure you check that as well. He's got tons of stuff. Literally go on his IMDB and look at all the stuff that he's done. You can go in the back catalog and check it out.

Andrew Freed, ladies and gentlemen, is a pleasure, my friend to have you, and we'll definitely have you on again. I am so happy to be here. I have loved every second. Thank you. But really, it's so cool to be here after all this time. I know, it's been a while, especially after. But I mean after all this time, like you and I really go back to the Yankees headshot. So it's real.

It's real. Well, we were on a, and it was when we started the Schmo's No podcast, when it was just Mark and I with really bad microphones or anything, Andrew was like one of our first guests and he came and sat down with us. So come back again, please. Now go make a lot of money. Just what you're going to go to do. We've come a long way since that. We've closed no first one.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, so once again, Andrew Freed, and let me tell you guys about our next sponsor. All right, everybody, has the bills and the Rams prepare to kick off the NFL regular season? Now is the time to prepare for your winning season at MyBooky. Now, it doesn't matter if you're a veteran better or first-timer. my bookie gets you the most for your money with a double deposit bonus. It's pretty quick and it's easy. $250 deposit puts $500 in your account.

That alone, not what a deal that is. And you can use your funds to bet instantly on as many games, contests, and props as you want. To claim your bonus, register today and use that promo code, big thing. Designed to add more excitement to the games and sports that you love. Now, bet on team totals, predict the Super Bowl winner, or use the MyBooky prop builder and secure the bag. Your winning season begins today. Now that's exclusively at my bookie. Now make sure you use that code. Use that code big thing. Very happy to have my bookie back. And ladies and gentlemen, if you didn't know, people have been asking this for a while

now and now that I am on my own, people are saying, how do I support you? First of all, I want to thank every single person. I didn't mention this at the beginning of the show. We put an Amazon gift list up on the channel and we said some people donate great and the amount of support and the people whether it was first rate Nate Thrawn so many different people I'm going to

and I'm going to read out everybody who sent the notes we just haven't said anything up yet we have all the notes and everything so thank you but if people are asking how can we help I can't join Patreon or I can join Patreon right that's great you put a like you put a comment awesome or you find a sponsor that's right for you

You're going to put some bets down on the games? Use MyBooky and use our code and help yourself out. Go to MyBooky and use that code. Big thing. All right, Kate. How great is Andrew? I love him. He's great, isn't he?

I got to tell you, I spent seven and a half years working with producers at a big production company. And maybe it's just that he was, you know, he was just totally himself because he's around a friend from a long time ago. but there's something very genuine about him. Yeah, he is. I think that's why he's as successful that he's. Yeah, but sometimes producers are successful without being genuine. What I love about him, though, he can also, as nice as he is, he can also turn it on and you just like, similar to what we just said with Tyson.

Yeah, yeah, he can turn it on and just like, you don't, you don't fuck with that guy. And there's a reason why he's successful. He's as successful as he is. And that's why like you, but that's why I wanted him to tell that story when he and I were sitting down. because you look at what that guy has done and you look at what he has accomplished in his life and he was in that spot that maybe you are today right there's a way out of the spot there's always a way out of the spot it's just a matter of how you choose to get yourself out of that spot and realize and I said this to my buddy once comedian he was in a shits and I said to him I go look you can't

really he's going through the worst thing in his life at the time and I go you can't judge whether or not this is a bad moment or not you can't it feels bad but you can't judge if it's a bad moment but it's true though it's like you can look at because you can't judge because you can't see the future yeah and it's like the worst thing in the world like and that's why it's so fucking heartbreaking and devastating when people take a way out when they're in the worst spot in their war because they think that's it they think that's it and it's like it's not it it's not it There's a way out and there's a way to do it. It's just it's easier said than done.

It's easier said than done. Because you look at, look at, and now this is a very different situation. I understand this one. I'm going to bring this up, but I'm using it so everybody can relate to it. Look at Robert Downey Jr. Yeah. Okay. Now, granted, Robert Danny Jr. has a lot of friends.

And Robert Downey Jr. had a lot of support and everything too. But he was in a spot that was just rock bottom. Yep. In jail, numerous times, losing jobs, left and right meets his wife or now wife Susan and his life turns around nobody wanted to ensure him for Ironman had the backing of his friend John Favreau had the backing of his wife and I understand again we're using the example of a famous celebrity I understand that but I but I'm just showing you that it applies to it applies to it applies to everyone yeah and think about other people that had not

even some of the family look at core look at core heyne yeah cori haem never made it back look at han haish never made it back never made it back so and it's and it's just these it's so all I'm saying is there and and it's certainly not the situation that Andrew was in when I was talking but I'm just saying that everybody gets into moments when you're you think this is the worst moment of my life there are ways out and I can tell you like recently I was I and I'll be frank about so I called you recently and I probably was four months ago and I was in a really bad spot. And I got myself out of that spot. And it's just like, and I just like, I was going to

quit. I was going to stop doing this. I wasn't going to do it anymore. I was going to, everything. And you just, you have to, you stay the course. And clearly that's what happened with Andrew. It's funny. That's funny because that conversation that you and I had without giving any details, of course, but I felt like I, I felt like I got to, uh, I got to do for you what, what you did for Andrew, which was, I was sort of like, Christian, you're going to be fine. Like, I just, believed like you just you will like and and you are you're going to be fine like everybody's everybody you're going to be fine and i appreciate that very much so and that's what we've been we've been friends for quite a while and and similar to what we just talked about like with andrew so lean on your friends

lean on people have conversations with them and you know i hope that andrew is a is a story of hope for sure because you look at what what he's able to accomplish in his life and what he's able to do so Anyway, okay. So other things I wanted to talk about today, there was this, I mean, again, we talked about the Lord of the Rings thing. Have you been watching? What have you been watching besides? I've been watching. I started watching House of Drag.

I'm welcome to Rexham and I'm not. So here's the thing. You know this about me. There are very few things you can say to me. Like, have you watched? And I'll be like, yes. When you tell me, Andrew Fried. And I don't know.

And you're like, well, this is so he did the VAL documentary. I'm like, what? You love all this stuff. I truly, it is all stuff I had watched. I'm not kidding you. And we sort of ruined the surprise on Last Chance You basketball, but it is wild. You don't know.

I didn't know when I was watching it, like what year they were filming it. And then when the thing happens, it is so, I was like devastating. I felt like I couldn't. I was like, wait, wait, wait, but how are we going to end this documentary? Wait, wait, wait, wait, they got to go play, they got to go play.

So I just, so to me, when you're like, So, you know, what are you watching? I'm like, well, I'm watching. I'm actually legitimately watching welcome to Wrexham. It's, you know, like, it's, I'm not just saying that to blow smoke up the ass of your fret. Well, that's why I had John. But that's why I had John, because I figured that you could talk about it in depth because I know you watch all that stuff, whether it's cheer and less chance and cheer all this stuff. But you are watching House of the Dragon?

Yes. I got to say. Yeah. I don't even have a problem with the first episode. I love the first episode. I love the first episode. It feels like Game of Thrones from. jump even yep even

like just being woven in but like in different keys and stuff I love I love it thought the second episode was incredible loved the first episode so it's like two episodes in it's like must watch TV and I hate doing the thing where like comparing because you like everyone's comparing Lord of the Rings and and you just I guess it's well yeah yeah

there's fantasy shows and it's one of those things where you just enjoy it all but I am Absolutely. House of the Dragon to me right now. To the shows that are on TV, there's House of the Dragon. If you look at Marvel, House of the Dragon, or Sheihull, rather. And Lord of the Rings. Right now, if I was going to rank them, I'd probably put, I'd put Game of Thrones. That's hard to rank the other two.

But I'd say Lord of the Rings. I'd say, I'm a fantasy person. But I am enjoying Sheehulk. Yeah. I'll let you in on the joke also. Yeah. Because you'll laugh at me too, because I know, because you definitely keep up with this stuff. I had the biggest dad moment for sure on the air because no clue who Megan,

Meg the Stallion was. I had no idea. No clue. And I was like, I don't know that I will have. No, okay, Meg the Stallion. I had no idea. Yeah, everybody. Is it the De Stallion?

Yeah. I didn't, I didn't know. I thought she was great in the show. Have you watched the show yet? No. No, you got a kick out of it. I think I would too. I love the bus ads.

There's bus ads running all over L.A. where they're like, you need a, superheroes need a super lawyer. And it looks just like an ad like for a lawyer, but it's all in green and it's her. It's funny because it's great. Yeah, there's a lot of, I mean, there's discourse with everything no matter what. I think there's not as much with Game of Thrones, which I'm, I guess, surprised with because the last season was so divisive. But it seems like more people are on board with that one and everything.

Lord of the Rings, obviously, people are, they were hating that show before even came out. Oh, I know. Well, it's, I'm on, I'm on this weird side with it, right? It's like, if you're like a hardcore Tolkien fan, I even ask, because I sent a text to Rachel Cushing. Yeah. Because it paints Galadriel who was, what's the name, Kate Blanchett's character.

And it paints her as like this major warrior who was on the hunt for Sauron the entire time, 3,000 years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My first question of Rachel was like, well, if she had all this information, and she was, well, why didn't she lend that in the original trilogy? Instead, she just talked like this. And why didn't she fight? like with them.

Yeah. Why didn't she go with them if she was such a fucking badass? Yeah, great question. And she, but she's still kind of a badass in the show. She's a scary as shit in the movie, right? But in the show and she did, I guess, fight on the guard at some point.

But like they definitely, I think are going to a place of what she fought this way. And again, it's 3,000 years beforehand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So people change in 10 years. Yes. So, you know.

But 3,000 years. And Elf time is just three years. Three years. But look, I understand if you're a Tolkien fan. You're like, it's just not what I responded to. I think that's fair. And I think it's unfair to tell those people, oh, just deal with it, enjoy it. That's unfair.

What is also unfair to the Tolkien fans is to yell and scream at people that are just watching the fantasy show that they have to be some purists when they're not on the same page. Yeah. Like that's to me, this is the silliest stuff. That's why I said in every review. that I do. I know the Tolkien fans are going to come in and I know that people are going to come in. They're going to go, hey, you're fucking shell, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's just like, okay, but your price is you have to subscribe to the channel. Yeah, that's right. You want to yell and scream. That's what you, you've got to pay. And what you pay is you subscribe and you can scream and

yell and do whatever you want. Have a blast. And, you know, sniff your own asshole while you're at. I don't care. But it's like, but that's the, that's the price you pay. But it's just, it's so silly now. Like I'm so, it's almost like numb to it. Yeah. Where it used to like, back when it was all happening, I was like, why is everyone fighting with each other all the time and you try to it's okay buddy and just like no matter what it is she Hulk they're fighting uh

Lord of the Rings they're fighting Star Wars they're fighting it's like Sebastian it's there's fucking elves with bow and arrows and you're worried if it's real go outside and throw a

tennis ball it's like what are you doing sometimes you do sebastian better than sebastian i feel but it's like what yeah it's it would make me as a crew if i was a content creator which i'm not but if i was it would make me nervous to do anything that was not original an original uh i p like i just because like for the right did you ever did you watch the bear oh no no no but i hear good things it's i hear good things astonishing how good that show is but also there's i don't know that there's people fighting about it because There's nothing that it's supposed to. It's just, you know, I think like when you're just watching, like,

an original, original content, you're sort of like, oh, yeah. But once you get into, like, lore and these books and the voice of Tolkien and that, it just gets so contentious. Like, Star Wars, like. It's, well, that's why I'm saying. What's canon, what's not? But I don't tell you. It doesn't, it.

What? I mean, you're yelling about a lawyer. because she's green go to a restaurant and sit outside and order a coffee I could tell it was going to be good because you had to look at it.

You're like, but I'm just like, I don't, I don't, it's hilarious. But it's hilarious. But it's hilarious. He's Chicago, so you could probably do it. Why would it matter? if the dragons are accurate or not, just go take a walk with a puppy.

You got to go one step over. You're complaining that a dragon looks fake. Fucking dragons aren't real. And neither is. Is your girlfriend? Oh, the Manteo? Speaking of girlfriends that aren't real? Did you watch that?

Oh, Roxy talked about it. Roxy talked about it on the, did you watch the? Yes. You know, I love a documentary. And before you do that, before you do that, you're speaking about, you're speaking about girlfriends. Oh, yeah. If you got girlfriends, you got a real girlfriend.

Or boyfriend or whatever you got. It's joy mode, baby. Joy mode. And boy, does it put you in a joy mode? I'll tell you that. I got to give some of this to Kate's husband. because we got to get a review on the air. I'm telling you, man.

I'm telling you, because here's the thing. You go to a gas station, you look around, and you feel like, you feel weird. He's looking around. You look at these branded, like, erection pills. And I know that they're tempting. I'm going to get some of those. They're not good for you. And the same goes for a lot of the products that are on the market that claim to help men in the bed.

But you don't want a four-hour hard on walking around knocking over potted plants when you're just trying to go to the bathroom. It's horrible. You get heart problems and a possible trip to the hospital to get rid of that. thing. Joy mode, it's here to save the day. And I'm not bullshin. This stuff where I was talking about it with Kate before she came in. It's like, it's like that pre-workout stuff. And it's, it's legit. I was like, I'm going to not lie to you when they said, well, Joy mode wants to come back. And I said, send it away. Send it right to me. And Winston and Coy, yeah, we want to try it too. And it's not for people that are like,

well, I can't, it is for you if you can't, if it's harder for you to perform. But it's not just for you. Joy mode makes natural and science-backed sexual wellness products for men, and their boosters. It's like a pre-workout, as I said. It's designed to support erection quality and firmness and sex drive. That's the thing right there, especially when you're exhausted with two kids. It's like, well, fuck watching Lord of the Rings right now. I'll tell you that.

Where's my lady or whoever? Well, not for me, whoever, but for my lady, yes. You know what I'm saying? What's he doing? He's banging a pillow for what? Joy mode, baby. You tear it open, that satchit, and mix with six to eight ounces of water, just like your favorite electroly packet.

For best use, you consume it anywhere from 45 minutes to four hours prior to sexual activity. You're going to notice better blood flow, better erection quality and firmness, and increase sexual energy and drive. If you want to spice things up in the bedroom and boost you sexual performance and do it naturally without any nasty prescription drugs, we have a special offer for you guys. The Big Thing audience. Come on.

What a perfect sponsor. big thing. Go to usejoymoad.com slash big thing or enter big thing at checkout for 20% of your first order. That is use joy mode. com slash big thing. Get 20% off your first order. Thank you to Joy Mode for sponsoring the show. How often is it that you genuinely are like this sponsor?

I mean, probably pretty often, but this sponsor, you love this sponsor. Yeah. I mean, look, I love. So what I have said, though, and I have told the audience this, And I say it again, we get a lot of offers that come in and say, hey, this company wants to sponsor. I don't think the audience is going to like that. Yeah. I don't think the audience is going to like that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Give it a shot. Back the truck up in the driveway. Give it a shot. And let's see. Because that's what sold me on it when they said is like it's like it's the pre-workout, but for sex. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a great pitch.

Yeah. It's like, okay. and it doesn't make you, like, it doesn't make it, when you're done, you're done. That's massive. You're not like standing here four hours later going, looking around just trying to bang it at desk. I'm not running away for four hours.

No, you're just like, get over here. Hey, you ain't done yet. You get your ass over here. I got something to prove. Can you do it, Sebastian? and just pop a joy mode. You're going to go to a gas station and get something that can blow your asshole out?

Put some fuck powder in a glass, shake it up, and then go on your way, then watch your dragons. Fuck powder. me out. Fuck powder took me out. Speaking of which, I got to play this bit

if I can find it real quick. Oh my God. This is from Thursday, this Thursday show, you're going to love it if I can find it. It's Brett, and so Sadie and made these cookies. Okay.

And she gave one to- You had me at Sadie. Yeah, she gave one to Roxy and one to Brett. Okay. Brett said, I'm going to have both of them. She loved them.

Yes. Brett was on a class. I got to, yeah, I have to, I got to find, where the fuck is it? Oh, it killed him not to have that cookie, too, I'm sure. Yeah, but I got a, I call, shit, where the hell is it? I have to find this, because it's so freaking funny, and it's just natural bread stuff. I was going to say, is it, is it a certified comedic genius without having any effort? Did I not?

Let me find it. I have to find it. Yeah, yeah, find it. Because I want the audience to hear it, too, if they missed it from the show. and now my internet's working again. I can... That was a scary couple minutes there, huh? Yeah, but I held it together, aren't you proud of me?

You really did. I did not have to look for the flash drops at all. Not this time. That was hilarious, too. All right, so this will be the last thing, and then we'll move on. What would you do if I started wearing bucket hats like stuff? Would you be like, nice try? Yeah.

Yeah, me too. Yeah, I would say nice. I also wouldn't let me wear bucket hats. No, but it's hilarious. Well, this goes into kind of the clip. The clip is, the clip is, is bread is at his best. Let me bring this up.

So for anybody who didn't hear the show, big thing, this is, oh, did I not? Oh, I didn't even put the damn thing on there? I never put it on there, you stupid asshole that I am. That's one. Well, good. This is great television. I might even have cut out some of this,

but I'm going to try to play. I have it on the time code, and I'll play it for you guys because now that I've sold it, I can't, like, not play it. Yeah, no, you have to play. for you. So it's, it was this one here. I did do the time. I did the time code for sure. Okay. So let me just get the time. You just time stamping your own stuff. I do everything. Yeah. Um, oh, this is it. Okay. Here we go.

So good. Brendan, you're not fat. Good at it. It always stops right as a slab happens. Yeah. Look at all. His. Okay. Need that cookie. Yeah. You want it? Need that cookie. Yeah. Need that cookie. This will be on the clips channel as well. So if you are brand new to the clips channel, you just find in us now. Make sure you subscribe. But also, find us on the main channel. All right. Thank you to Roxy on that one. All right, let's get back to reality. Oh, there goes gravity. Jokes. So Mabbitz. Won't give up that easy. Nope. Stop this. You got it. You got it. I'm going to eat that cookie. Yeah. You want it? You should go for it. Go. What the hell is. Hold on. Can I tell you something, though? I'm going to get your review.

That's super fucking rude of him. Why? Because you know what happened to me? You brought the two and I said, oh I'm going to wait till after and then there was another one for me and then I was like great so I'll have one before what after and now he ate it so he ate that he was getting I didn't here no no too late now you got your freaking dirty saliva all over it yeah so what's your review of the cooking that's good and it seems healthy it's like pumpkin right it's it's it's not pumpkin it's oatmeal it's got a little bit of salt in there which I like

yeah it's yum chocolate yeah that's good it's good stuff I just broke my for somebody who stole my cookie, you don't seem to be so fucking happy about it. Well, I've had your cookies before. Oh. Rob. So your big, uh, your big cookie. This is going deeper into the cookie.

You know that one, that big fat cookie. You let me taste. Ladies and gentlemen, this will be my life. Fucking cookie now. Get over here with that fat-ass cookie here. The truth is. You have had my big ass cookie. You both have.

You're welcome. Oh, man. Interesting. Yeah, I have a good cookie. Oh, man. Luttery. Two sticks. Sweet.

Takes two sticks to fill that cookie. Oh, my good Lord. All right, let's try to get it just some more before we both all get divorced. Before we all get divorced. Oh, yes. I'm so scared my husband will divorce me. Not you. All right, here we go.

So Peel, Teases are turned in the Nope universe. I'm trying to turn it all off. Anyway. Discard. Oh, my God. Anyway, so that. Brett and Roxy have actually spent a lot of time together because he's been over in her house, like, working. I turned off the wine shot, too.

Perfect. Anyway, look, this is a disaster now, but I held it together for a while. Look, thank you guys. I appreciate you all. Thank you to Andrew Freed for coming in. Thank you for Kate for being here today. and thank you to you guys. And if I didn't thank you yet,

if anybody contributed to the Amazon gift list, I will. Thank you again to Nate. Thank you to Thron. Thank you to everybody who's been sending those in. If you want to take a look at the list, it's still there. If people are how can I help in general?

Well, there's that. The Patreon, it has been launched. And the Patreon, by the way, if you didn't know, a lot of good tiers over there now, too. I'm doing a thing. I don't know if I told you this kid, but so I'm only limited it to five per month, but at the, it's like a $50 tier.

I'm doing like a half an hour session with me and somebody and like a patron where I can interview somebody, can talk to somebody and have the, and I'm only doing five of them a month because they're schedule-wise and time was. But that's available at the 50. We're creating a $25 tier, PLDs over there, but we have the rewatches. We're doing, we're releasing old schmose. No, Tereo Brett and Kate's Play Date is available. S-E-N live. So a lot of great things.

So check it out. It's patreon.com slash the big. thing show. The link is in the description. Check it on and see if you just want to support the show and be at the lower tier. It's like $2. That there's the how about how about if we don't spend any money? Totally. You can do it. Subscribe to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, leave comments. And then the other way, if you just want to do one time, look at one of the sponsors that we talked about here today. And I also wanted to thank once again, Carbon Health for sponsoring the show. I'm sure you check them out as well. Very happy to be working with Carbon Health again. All right, everybody.

Peace out. We love you. See you on the flip side. Peace. The RAM Declaration of Deals, we're pledging our allegiance to the American people with great deals on the RAM 1500. Back with the legendary Hemi V8 and the RAM heavy duty. With the available Cummins Turbo Diesel delivering 1,075 pound feet of torque, all backed by a 10-year-hour 100,000 mile power drain limited warranty

because nothing stops RAM. Hurry in for the Declaration of Deals. Excludes BED, the Plaza, 2026-mile gear vehicles, non-transferable, visit mopar.com for complete details and a copy of the PowerDrain Limited Warranty. Cummings is a registered trademark of Cummins and Graham and Hemmy are registered trademarks of FCAUS LLC.