The Press Box - Ep. 113: 'Jam Session' With Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins

Episode Date: May 18, 2016

The Ringer's Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins on Mariah Carey as an interviewee, the summer of Zac Efron (11:00), Greta Gerwig's likability (20:00), surprises in 'Scandal' Season 5 (28:00), and the return of 'Unreal.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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So drop your old site and experience buying and selling tickets the way it should be. Start using Seekkekeek on your phone by downloading the free Seekek out. app are going to seek geek.com. And don't forget to subscribe to our newest podcasts. Keeping at 1600, the Watch, the Ringer NFL show, and the Ringer NBA show on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Google Play Music. Welcome to Jam Session. I'm Juliet Litman.

I'm Amanda Dobbins. We're full of excitement and energy and jubilence today. We really are. The sun is shining. I was literally not to say. The sun is shining. So let me say a little bit about this. I moved to L.A. about three months ago.

Yeah. Over three months now, Amanda, I'm sure change yourself. three and a half every day. Every day it adds up. And I was not told about this phenomenon called June gloom until I arrived until it was too late to do anything. I would also point out that it is May. I think it's El Nino's fault.

I'm not blaming on El Nino. Which was cloudy every morning. Yeah, but it breaks. Today, it broke early. I mean, we just walked over to the new podcast studio and the sun was shining and we are full of enthusiasm. Yeah. And so we're going to talk about things we're excited about in the wonderful world of pop culture.

Yeah, we're just going to share joy. Yeah. Because it was, it was not a super, like, it was a pretty negative week in a kind of pop culture gossip stuff. I just, I want to go on record and say just Blake lively, no. Just a strong no. Just absolutely not. No. And that's all we're going to say on it.

But it was stuff like that. It's not. It's just people being idiots and saying things they shouldn't. And so we're going to do happy stuff. Everything related to Cannes also, I'm just like, eh, boring. Do people care about Cannes? I mean, movie people do. because I think it's still like walking on the red carpet,

they make a huge deal out of it and addresses, etc. It seems fun to attend. I'd like to attend. Yeah. The yacht life looks great. Do you watch not like the thing that it looks great with the yacht life and can is that it's like very close to shore. There's no like middle of the ocean action happening.

That's true. So it's really just like a hotel on the water. It's not like you're actually yachting. No, it seems great. Ideal yacht experience. I love a dramatic entrance from like a speedboat on the Mediterranean. I think that's great. I really am I'm pro-Mediterranean general.

Yeah, of course. First thing we want to talk about. We're each going to share three things that we are excited about. Yeah, maybe we'll just do like five because this first one is it is joint interest. Well, I was going to say number one, I'm excited about the Mediterranean. Oh, right. Okay, just in general. Things set there, films, film festivals, television shows, whatever.

We both have a Mediterranean in our near future as well. Yeah, that's very exciting. We keep talking about that. I know. We sound like assholes. I think we should just pass my first record. I will be going on my honeymoon there. It's not like I spend a lot of time.

I'm going to a wedding in the Mediterranean. It's true. So they're both very valid. Special occasions. Also a special occasion is when Mariah Carey drops by, watch What Happens Live. Mariah! So this week she went on the show. What she promoted?

I don't even know. I think she's a new TV show coming like a reality show or something. Mariah's World, I believe. Mariah's World. So she went on Andy Cohen's show to promote it. And like, I really admire Andy Cohen because he's solidified this space with celebrities. They just open up to him for no apparent reason. I think it's the alcohol.

That's a good point. I support anyone whose show involves a special bartender standing in the back, just like serving alcohol. Though, again, do you think anyone's actually drinking? Yes, I do. This is like every single time I see alcohol, like, consumed on television, I'm just skeptical because it seems so dumb. If you're a celebrity, here's what you should not do, drink a lot,

and then go on national television. Do you okay there, Julia? You got some emails. Sorry. It's my daily congey moment. Or weekly, I should say. Anyway, it's just like, do not mix alcohol on cameras. I know.

I mean, also, don't talk to TMZ. That's a second rule of cameras. But we believe on Andy Cohen's show that they... By the way, I just want to say when people actually do mix alcohol on cameras, I'm delighted. I think it's always really great. It's the premise of many my favorite programs, like the challenge. And also my favorite celebrity moments, like Reese's Food Dancing at a wedding. Yeah, because he gets, just like Reese at the wedding, he gets people to really open up of like, of like, of their actual

opinions. So does the alcohol. Yes, exactly. He feeds him the alcohol until they're ready to be real. And Mariah Carey went on his show and she just kept it so 100. And it's really all she does at this point. That's kind of why we love Mariah. Yeah.

It's been a few, kind of a rough few years with her though. Yeah. Like, you know, her not being able to pull off singing all I want for Christmas on the NBC special two Christmases ago. Very, very upsetting. Yeah. I just like want the most and the best for her. Yeah.

her divorce, of course. But now she's engaged again to a billionaire. Yeah, so Mariah stays winning. So apparently she has a few to Jennifer Lopez. Did you know about this? I learned about it last night. I, again, I like Mariah, was like, oh, that's so long ago. Why are we still talking about this?

But I do vaguely remember that it happened a while ago. She was asked if she knew Jennifer Lopez, and she was like, no, I don't, basically. And then Jennifer Lopez called her out on it. And then this week on watch what happens, Mariah Carey explains that, like, yes, I know who she is, but no, I don't know her. And I love that distinction because that's, first of all, very real. Like, when if someone was like, do you know Reese Witherspoon, you would be like, no. Of course you know who she is.

And so Mariah explains, like, just because we're all in Hollywood doesn't know, doesn't even actually know each other. Yes, but of course, Mariah has definitely met Jennifer Lopez at some point. And it is definitely just the ultimate power move, which is why I'm so proud of her. It's incredible. It is incredible. Just be like, no, I don't know that person. if you've met that person, you are just, like, the power structure, you're enforcing it

so hard. Totally. And it's so incredible. It's an ultimate power move. And it's so dumb of J-Lo to, like, even enter the fray. If someone's like, yeah, I don't know that person, that you just go with it. Because, like, there's nothing that you can do to make yourself look better. Absolutely.

There's no situation in which J-Lo looks cool after being like, no, we've met. I think there's an alternate universe in which J-Lo had stayed an actress and never tried to be a overall entertainer where she could have been like best friends with Mariah Carey. Mariah could just be like the music star and J-Lo could be the superstar actress. I think it's like two large personalities that probably can't fit in one relationship. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if anyone can really fit in a relationship with Mariah Carey. That's a very good point. She, I, the thing is, her music is just like undeniably amazing. I, like, people who hate on Mariah, I'm just like, listen to her tunes and then get back to me. She's just so good. I also, can we also

talk about the other part of this show. And again, Aie Cohen, something of a genius. He plays, I Plead the Fifth. Yeah. With Mariah Carey. And so this structure is basically he asked her three questions and she can only like plead the fifth on one of them. Yeah. Um, one of the questions is just, can you say anything nice about Nikki Menach? Yeah. And like, please go find this video, watch Mariah's reaction. And then, she makes this incredible face and like holds the camera for like five seconds and then just goes can you what a legend I love it and I like that in particular because you're not really allowed to publicly dislike Nikki Minaj she no you aren't she's got a lot of people do yeah she's got

a lot of fans who are wrong but they do sure sure I forgot about their American Idol feud I kind of forgot that from between Mariah Carey and Nikki Minaj right I forgot Mariah was actually even on American Idol what she was for several years. Oh, right. I did forget that. And Jennifer Lopez was on it too, right? Yes. So they've got a lot of reasons to be. It's probably where they bet. I went back and I watched Jennifer Lopez's

watch what happens live interview from a few months ago. And when she was preparing for her Vegas show, she went to Celine Dion, Britney Spears, and Cirque duly. And she might have even gone to Shania, but she did not go to Mariah. And Andy was like, how do you explain that? And Jennifer Lopez with like some long, elaborate dancer, really busy, American Idol on the weekends.

I had, I was shooting, she was shooting her TV show during the week and, like, traveling. And I was like, okay, sure, sure, sure, sure. Jaylor scrambling. I mean, a lot of respect to Andy Cohen for asking that follow-up question. Absolutely. He's an interviewer. He doesn't shy away from the tough question. That's true.

Here's what I would like to say about Mariah's performance last night. It's just that it's like the incredible amount of just being really mean to someone without actually saying anything mean. Which is beautiful. Like she didn't get down in the dirt with anyone. She wasn't like calling names. She wasn't like starting any vicious rumors. She's just like in telegraphing her intense dislike for people with no explanation, which is such a strong, admirable decision.

I know. I loved it. She's like, she's a powerful woman. That's great. And you're not to dislike people. Of course you are. And you don't need to answer and explain why. In fact, I dislike people who like everyone.

It's just not possible. Take a stand. It's true. It's everyone's too nice. I think this is generally a complaint. and I have about men more than women. Can you just be a little bit more discriminating who you like and don't like?

Yeah, that's a really good point. They'll just, they make room for everyone. Yeah, and just like, you don't need to. And I think that, I don't know, I think men, they have like, there's always one dude in the friend group that none of them like, but they keep them around. I guess that's true for women too.

Sure. I try not to. Let's be more positive. Sorry. Do you a favorite Mariah Carey song before we move on from her? Always be my baby. Yeah.

There's just no content. It's a top five pop. song, like, of all time, in my opinion. And she looks beautiful in the video. She's wearing denim on denim before it's popular. She's on a tire swing. It's incredible. Yeah.

There's no arguing with that one. I know. When I... Do not at me and argue about that. That video was filmed at Camp Mariah, which is like her camp for like for kids or whatever. And my school did like a three day like overnight at Camp Moriah like one year after that video came out.

And I was obsessed the whole time with like, locating all the different locations. Like where was the, where was the campfire? Where was the tire swing? Did you find them? Um, yeah, there's like a like a lake in the middle. Okay. That's obviously what the tire swing was. It was very exciting. I did that once with the sound of music. In Austria? Yeah, I was somehow in Salzburg and then I just like spent the whole time being like, this is where they do Del Rey Me and like jump over the hedges. And this is where the nuns like dismantled the Nazi cars. Very weird. There's just so much great pop culture tourism out there. That's true. We should start a company. Yeah. All right. Next. What else are you

excited about? My thing that I'm excited about. So I want to be really specific. I'm, I was excited about neighbors too, a couple ringer staffers, Lindsay Zolads and Allison Davis. Shout out to them. Who are lovely writers and they're not as excited about it. So we'll talk more about that on the ringer in the newsletter. Okay, great. Keep an eye out for that. I do support Zach Afron. Yeah, of course. And so I'm very excited about the summer of Zach Efron because he has another movie coming out. The wedding dates movie?

The wedding dates movie. With Adam Devine. Yes. I love Adam Devine. I have hope for that. Me too. I just, I hope that one day Hollywood can figure out a vehicle that is worthy of Zach Efron's talents. I mean, did you see the movie Hairspray?

I mean, yes. Another one. I know it's a musical, so you might not like it, but that was really good. You know what? 17 again was not that bad. Yeah. Okay. I want to put that out there.

Tate's nodding. Tate's up here. for 17 again. I watched Matthew Perry. Yeah. I watched Summerland on the WB.

Did you watch that? I did not. Young Zach Efron, pre-high school musical, Jesse McCartney. Wow. Beautiful soul. And Lori Loughlin,

aka Aunt Becky. I mean, okay, I'll check that out. I watched every show on the WB and CW from the years like 1997 to 2008. Did you do your homework?

Yes. Oh, wow. I just was a huge loser. Okay. So no, just had time for TV in for school. Okay.

All right. Sorry. So I'm excited about the summer of Zach Afron and I'm specifically excited about this interview that Zach Afron gave an L magazine.

Okay. Tell me more. I would just, I'm interested in the end of the interview when Zach Efron talks about sharks. And I just like to do

a dramatic reenactment. Sharks are kind of in the zeitgeist right now. I mean, when are they not? It's true. Ever since Shark Week. You're right. Yeah.

Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your reenactment. So we're coming into this interview a little bit late. and Zach Afron is saying, crossing the line of fear is what leads to greatness, which is just a great motto for everyone's life.

So the L magazine, I believe it's Mickey Racken, who did this interview, asks, follows up, when did you cross that line? What was the answer? I'd love to tell you. This is me as Zach Afron right now. I was in Hawaii recently, and I went shark diving with some researchers. I came face to face with a shark. I could either turn and try to beat the shark to the boat,

or I could look at in the eyes and let it know I'm present and I'm not afraid. It went right past me, and I put my hand out, and I actually rode the shark for 10 to 15 seconds. Hold on, there's more, because Elle magazine dutifully asks, wait, what? What? Yes, what. After that, it came back, and it swam under my legs,

and I just kind of touched it from the nose all the way to the teeth. tail. The researcher said that's a sign of respect. It goes back to that Bruce Lee quote. Be like water. If you pour water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put it into a teapot. It becomes the teapot. And there ends the interview. Zach Efron, my man, what a legend. Okay. Let's talk about the shark business first. Yeah, great. Let's do it. Number one, that doesn't seem safe. No. So if you were the insurance company for Zach Efron, I would discourage him from riding sharks. Yeah, there is someone like at a studio just being like, this was not okay. Number two, that just does not seem real. Okay, so here's the, I mean, obviously it's not real. Let's,

let's talk about this. Okay, first of all, 10 to 15 seconds is not a reasonable length to write a shark. If you're writing a shark, you're writing it for five seconds max. Yeah. But obviously, also writing the shark presents some difficulties. So I want to unpack this. He says he was with some researchers. Okay. So tranquilized sharks perhaps? Yeah. Like, these are, sharks that are in an environment where they're used to interacting with humans. Right. Good point. Good point. They're not letting Zach Efron just like go into the wild. Sounds like a great white. It sounds like jaws. Yeah. He doesn't specify what type of shark also. So like maybe there's a secret like happy sharks that we don't know about. We've had some

hammerhead sharks in the Southern California area last summer. Watch out of Amanda. Don't tell me that. And I'm going to leave California. Stop it. People seem to like touch those sometimes without dying. So there's that. Okay. Maybe it was a hammerhead. And, you know, you have to, also, with researchers is important here. So, like, there are possibly other humans, kind of more experienced humans in the mix, like, guarding this situation. Or also, maybe they were, like, muzzled. Like, who knows?

That's a good point. He doesn't say. Yeah. Like, this, it sounds like Zach Rangelo is selling the shark story with missing a lot of key information. I mean, it's a pretty good story to sell. As far as, like, anecdotes that you have to give on press tour, this is. is a very great one. I mean, we're talking about it right now. Yeah. Also, I like the image of Zach F. F. Rond underwater and like a scuba suit with a shark. A hundred percent. That sounds like a

great movie. Do you think that he was actually wearing a full wetsuit or is it just like half web suit because he always has to be shirtless at all times? Great question. Do you think the sharks were also impressed by like his physique and were just like, sure. That's probably why they didn't eat him. They're like, oh, he's too fine of a specimen. Um, did you see the movie, we are your friends? No. Okay. I know a lot of people. I did. I saw an opening weekend. Yeah. It is by far one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. I thought you were going to say it's like your secret favorite movie of the past five years. I just based on talking to other people about We Are Your Friends, sort of believe that it is going to become a cult favorite.

I think it might. That's a good point. And we'll definitely write a piece at some point that's just like reconsidering We Are Your Friends. Why did it do so badly? Because I think my reasons are not most people's reasons. Well, I mean, it was dumped in August. That's true. That normally means that it's not that great a movie.

people don't, you don't have that many, like, huge box office hits in August. Right. And then also, it's not a superhero movie, so that means that it doesn't do well. Like, that's basically, that's how things work in Hollywood right now. You know, I would say also that possibly the fact that it was Zach Efron playing a DJ had something to do with why it didn't do that well. That's true. Not a lot of wide appeal there.

Yeah. Also, just like, it was an EDM movie, right? The DJ moment's kind of over, I think. Well, I also just think kind of the EDM audience and the moviegoing audience are opposed. It was written by Max from Catfish or directed by him or something. Well, good luck to him. Yeah. And whatever.

But Zeph recovered, you know? He's got so many movies in the can. He has made an amazing number of bad movies. Yeah. And people are still rooting for him. I know. All of us included. I think, I think Zach Efron is like a ringer.

Yeah, he's universally beloved. Everyone loves him. Yeah. It makes no sense. I don't even know why, really. For me, it's like the combination of high school musical, Summerland, and Hairspring. Like, those are three things that I have like a ranging level of interest, but I like all of them. Yeah. For me, I would say he's a really compelling, he has a very compelling specific presence, like a physicality that no one else has. And yes, I just mean part of that is just he's really good at dancing. And also, I guess, he's musley. Though it's more of the dancing. for me. And then also, do you remember the time that he was, like, on the red carpet for the Lorax or something and a condom accidentally dropped out of his pocket onto the red carpet? For a child. I think it was it was an orange carpet perhaps. Yes, it was. That's why I think it was the Lorax, because I vividly remember the Lorax orange carpet.

And it was definitely a kid's movie anyway. And then I do think he turned into, like, someone asked him about it. And he was like, well, you got to be safe or something. And, like, did a proper, like, PSA for a safe. Safe Sacks. Shout out to Saka. I know. I love it. All right. Well, we're rooting for you. And for the Sharks, I guess. Yes. All right. I'm speaking of press tours. Yes. Your second favorite thing. My second favorite thing this week also comes from late night. Yeah. And it's also a great interview. And this is with Greta Gerwig on late night with Seth

Myers. Greta Gerwig, the legend. She's a legend. So she's on doing a press tour for Maggie's plan, which is a movie from Rebecca Miller, who's Daniel Day Lewis's wife and the granddaughter of Arthur Miller. So that's a big. deal. Yes, not to define her in terms of men. No, but she's an accomplished writer and director in her own right. She is, you're right. Sorry. You're completely right. No, but it's also relevant because speaking of men,

Greta Gerwig, like a lot of my favorite performances of her have come in Noah Bomback movies. He was like both her creative partner and her romantic partner. Yes. So I'm excited that she's in a movie made by someone else. This is great news for fans of Greta Gerwig. That's true. She's breaking out. Also,

this movie has Julianne Moore and Ethan Hawk, which is phenomenal because they're both great. All people I love. Yeah. And it looks like it looks like a screwbell comedy. And it basically it's about Ethan Hawk and Julianne Moore were dating. Ethan Hawk leaves Julianne Moore for Greta Gerwig. And Greta Gerwig decided she doesn't want him anymore. So she and Julian Moore scheme to get him back with Julian Moore. Did you follow that? That's great. That's fantastic. So it's sort of like the other woman, but with revenge. Yeah. Not but without revenge and with indie actors who we actually like. Totally.

So I just want to say Kate Upton's performance and the other woman was transcendent. I didn't see it. Tate is also nodding, just FYI. I saw that Tate. I'm so surprised at Tate. Don't think I didn't catch that. Anyway, I love Greta Gerwig. Me too.

Frances High is one of my favorite movies in the last five years. I'm still recovering from it emotionally. And I was very, very charmed by this Fallon clip that you sent me. So she goes on Fallon and she talks about how when she was 13, she was in love with Leonardo DiCaprio. Which weren't we all? Yeah, weren't we all? She was like, I was the right age for the, for Titanic.

And like, yeah. Also for Romeo and Juliet. Romeo plus Juliet. Which she makes a big point to point out. Which I think was a shared transformative experience for both of us. Sure. For any woman our age. Desireasing and kissing you with the fish tank.

Oh my God, if the fish tanks. Yeah. Yeah, it was really important. And to Greta Gerwig, she just tells this long story about how she loved Leonardo DiCaprio and thought about the logistics of like if she married him, who she would be. And printing up pictures of the internet off the internet, like on the, on the, the sad, like, laser printer that runs out of ink halfway through, which was a definite 1996 teenage experience. Oh, totally. Absolutely. It was just so illatable. Tate is now nodding his

head like he was alive in 1996 and knows anything about printing things on laser printers. I was alive. Yeah, you were not printing out pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio. I was not. Yeah. I have a very good friend who had all of the Leonardo DiCaprio books. Oh. Because you remember at this point, like pre-internet, there was an industry of, like, like Tiger Beat Plus. Sure. And they would do completely unauthorized. And like, it was basically like a Wikipedia page with photographs that you could buy at the bookstore.

And they were always like much smaller than normal books for some reason. Sure. It was like a chat book. Yeah. But my friend Katie had the full collection and we found them recently. Amazing. Like 10 of them. I love that stuff.

I was like that with the Backsheet boys. That was my one true passion. I had like all their merchandise. But to Greta Gora, like she just voices this experience. that like as we were attesting to it was like very universal and makes her even more lovable. It also, it reminded me a lot of something Lena Dunham would say, but she delivers the story in such a different way that it's interesting to me that like they aren't discussed more together because they have a lot of similarities like same age. For sure. But their delivery and like their personalities are just so, so different.

Or even that kind of the nature of their celebrity performance is extremely different. Greta Gerwig is like pretty awkward. But in an incredibly charming way. I think she has a great smile. She does. She has like a large mouth for her smile in a great way. I don't know. I like, I love her movies.

Like she just seems like someone I could know, which I know is like the annoying being like, yeah, I like her because she seems like a friend. But like she does. And this story just prove the point. No, she absolutely does. And I feel like the movies that use her well tap into that and kind of like, I think no Obama movies do that especially well.

Did you like Mistress America? I liked her in Mistress America. Can I say that? Sure. The scene in Mistress America, Greta Gerwig, plays like, a kind of a character who is, like, a really diluted sense of self and, like, her place in the world, basically. And she, like, she takes, like, a college freshman under her wing. She's, like, cool, like, older step-sister, who's 30-ish.

And who's not cool, but thinks she's really cool. Yeah. And there's one scene, or there's, like, one set piece in the movie where they go to Connecticut and it kind of turned into like a screwball play, which is really fun and awesome, which makes me excited for Maggie's playing because I think it seems like it taps into a similar kind of Greta. Yeah, I'm really excited about it. I would like for her to be able to find a career outside of Bobback movies.

Yeah, me too. Not that they aren't great and I hope they keep making them forever, but I think she deserves a lot. I'm just, I'm looking forward to the movie and I was happy that she's like getting some national press. I also learned something about late night with Seth Myers, which is I didn't know that he did this like Second Chance Theater thing. Did you know about that? No.

Tell me. So he has guests of people who, like, were on Saturday Night Live or still are, and they do, they act out or they perform sketches that were cut from Saturday Night Live. Oh, that's fun. Yeah. So they did. So the Lonely Island was also on the show the same night as her. So they did a lonely, like, Andy Sandberg sketch that I guess was cut in 2006.

And then they do like an after show for the web about like performing the sketch. And that's like fascinating to me that, like, I think it's a, you know, obviously Lauren Michaels, like, runs the late night stuff at NBC in general. And I know he's involved with Jimmy Fallon's show. But, like, the explicit Saturday Night Live connection between Seth Meyer's show is, like, fascinating to me. Like, it's like an extension of the show he used to be on almost. I don't know. It's like a spin-off.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's interesting. Can I ask you a question? Sure. Are the extras good? Or do you understand why they were cut from Saturday Life? This one was very obvious why it was cut.

Okay. But it was kind of funny because, like, I, you know, I forgot about Saturday Night Live Andy Sandberg, which is a little bit different than like Lonely Island or actor Andy Sandberg. So it was like funny to go back to that. I'm like a really big Lonely Island fan. I love their music. So I like listen to Go Kindergarten all the time. Are you excited for Pop Star? Kind of. I like that. I listened to the song of Adam Levine. I liked it. Wow. That's a, that's a sentence. Sorry. I like YOLO. I'm sorry. This is a podcast about it. enthusiasm, and I will be quiet now. I liked Yolo, the other Adam Levine Lonely Island song. Okay. Also, in retrospect, it's crazy that Kendra Gomer is on that song. It's, yes. Though I think, you know, Kendrick will do anything.

Sure. On any one song, as I think we learned from bad blood. That's a good point. Anyway. I don't know. I just like, the Greta Gerwig Lonely Island thing was funny. I'm just happy to see her expanding her public persona. Me too.

That was a great positive note. Thanks. Your turn. Okay. My second thing that I'm really excited about, so this is, we're going retro to last week a little. Okay. Ooh. A time warp. A time warp. I would like to talk a little bit about the fifth season of scandal. Ooh. Are you a scandal person? I was and then I stopped. Yeah. I feel like that is true for a lot of people. I don't like Fitz is a main problem for me. In fact, I hate him and I like the character. I have no problem with Tony Goldwyn. But I just feel like he's a like totally like impotent president in a non-sexual.

way. Like, I just feel like he... Possibly also a sexual way. Who knows? But like, why is he always available to be in her apartment in Washington, D.C.? I think that there are many reasonable complaints about the characters on the show and how they have been sustained over time and their motivations and the central love triangle, which, like, they just do the same scene every five episodes. Like, I still love him. No, I love him. Like, that's a major plot of scandal. And that's, you know, you either have room in your life for that or you don't and that's fine. I like scandal is like to me what I think of as like a warm blanket show where it's like it like washes over you as like a warm blanket if you're into it.

Like it's like it's like pure pleasure. Yeah. So I completely agree and it has been it's so warm blanket to me that I keep watching it. And I've kept watching it through the fifth season, which is when I learned that they have done a really, they did a really smart job with the election this season. And with political stuff in general. at the end of the winter finale, which, by the way, that's not a thing. No.

But in an episode. Who invented the winter finale? Who invented the winter finale? I think like Shonda Rimes did. Was like, that's pretty crazy. Okay. Or the marketing department. I think probably the marketing department is the correct answer.

They had a really long, they had a plot line that resulted in the first lady character. Melly? Who is essentially the Hillary Clinton stand in. She was a first lady and then she became a senator or not. She's running for president. But she, like, filibusters for Planned Parenthood, Wendy Davis style. Cool. For like a long time.

And meanwhile, Olivia, the Carrie Washington character, gets an abortion. That they don't, like, put in any sort of, like, dramatic. It's just like, it's a thing that happens. I remember when Sandra O's character on Grace had an abortion, it was just like, that happened. Yeah. Which is not something that you see on television. Never.

It's amazing that they do that. And you definitely don't see that on, like, primetime network television. So I was really impressed by that episode. And then kind of in the second half of the season, they invented a Donald Trump character. That's awesome. Who played it? This is really interesting. Logan Huntsberger's dad.

Really? Yes. Huh. He is Donald Trump. That guy's a dick. Yeah. He was a total dick. And so they talked a lot about all the Donald Trump issues and running against.

They had Hillary and another woman running for Melly, who's the Hillary character. And then another female candidate as well. And so they talked a lot about it like second. sexism in the election. And that's cool. They're handling it, you know, scandal is an absolutely ridiculous show with like nonsense terrorist plot lines. And every five seconds, someone's like, wait, I want to go sleep with the other dude.

And like everyone is just having, it's nonsense. It's a soap opera. But I think that they have handled this so well. And also in a arena where you would like not expect to see it. That's cool. So how did the season end? Like has the election been resolved? No, the election has not been resolved.

The primary stuff has not been resolved. And I don't want to spoil it for everyone. Okay. I was only asking because it's been revealed this week at Upfronts that the show's not coming back until January next year. Right. So I wonder if they kind of knew that they needed to get out of front of the election stuff. They probably didn't.

I don't think they did. And, you know, they made some, they brought the Trump thing in, and it was very interesting to watch them, watch how they handled the Trump plotline, knowing that it was written three or four months in advance. And it was clearly written with the assumption that this is a man who would be gone and that this was not a thing that would be continuing. Interesting.

And I did wonder a little how they felt about handling it that way. And I did even wonder a little whether that decision was because the show wouldn't be able to kind of mirror what was happening in the right way. I think it's also probably extremely hard to do a show now that's supposed to go up at the same time of the election and have them be. It must be so hard. Contemporaneous. But, you know, they pulled it off really well in season five.

That's cool. I was really impressed. So if you're one of those people who, like, gave up on scandal, but maybe still has it on your DVR, like, go back. If, you know. I think also it's like a testament to, like, the power of network television. Yeah. That, like, cable TV has become, like, the home for prestige TV. But network TV can respond in a way that cable shows can't because they are, they, like, their production schedule is different.

Yeah, absolutely. episodes. They can like work in a current event, like the good wife always used to do this. And that's like a cool thing that I think is underrated about network television. I totally agree. And I thought this was a really great example of it. Yeah. I'm looking forward to some of the NBC shows. Our trailers looked really good for next year. I'm all in on network TV. I've always happened. I'm never leaving. Positivity has taken a real turn on this podcast. Just sort of the worst. All right. My final note, and this is kind of a smaller one, but I think it's a useful entry point into something else, which is the TV show Unreal is coming back soon.

First trailer just dropped. Really excited. That's the show on Lifetime. That's like about the making of The Bachelor, but it's a drama. It's very good. Films on the same lot is where we work, which makes me like it even more. Yes. Actually, I think I learned that they, the writing is here.

Oh. And the filming is elsewhere. And it's in Canada, right? Yeah. I know that because I saw a picture of this, of Johanna Brady and Freddie Stroma, who were on this show last year. And it was a picture of them in Canada. It's like, oh, they must have been filming there because he's British and she's American, I think.

Right. So why would you go to Canada? Yeah. Anyway, the point is she almost won the Bachelor. Like, he played The Bachelor and she was one of the suitors. And she could have won, but she, like, embarrassed him. It was, like, very dramatic. She gave a feminist speech at the end.

It was great. Yeah, it was great. And now they're engaged in real life. And I just love when TV relationships turn real. This is a particularly interesting one because they played dating. show contestants who did not end up together. But like a fake dating show created true real life love. I love. I love it. I don't even know what the levels are on that. It just like confirms my hunch that people who pretend to be dating each other on TV and movies, like if it works, it's usually

because you actually like each other. Like it just must be so confusing. I completely agree. Like I just don't get it. But I don't know. I'm just excited about them. She was on the TV show Greek that I loved. So the underrated Greek. She's also on Quantico, which I tried to be a fan of and just didn't happen. Right. We saw them watch it once at breakfast? Yeah. We were first day working for the ringer.

We saw them at breakfast at Republic. That is the LA I was promised seeing random celebrities at breakfast. What happened? Yeah. I'm just excited with this couple. And I'm really excited at Unreal's coming back. So it was kind of like good timing to remind me that there's like summer TV is coming and summer sneakily the best season for television.

And also if you did not watch Unreal, that's a jam session endorsement, 100%. Catch up. That is some of the best binge viewing that I have done in my life. Totally. And it totally recommended. Just great work from Sharia Abelby. She's fantastic. Yeah. I love her jacket in that show. The green one, she always wears. Just love it. What a ball. Sorry. So much positivity. All right, Amanda. Okay. I have one quick positive, more positivity thing. Oscar Isaac is in Rolling Stone this week. It's a, it's a really charming profile by Brian Hyatt. It's mostly charming because Oscar Isaac is a charming. is shit and says amazing stuff. But the most exciting thing about this that I just want to,

that I'm really excited about is that the writer points out that Oscar Isaac was photographed wearing an Atlas Shrugged t-shirt at some point. And the internet was very upset. And so we have a response from Oscar Isaac. Okay. All right. Here's his official response. I liked the design, he says. I didn't think wearing the shirt was saying. I agreed with all her politics. I'm not a libertarian. Great. Good news.

I feel great about this. What a relief, because we're going to be with him for several more Star Wars movies, so I can watch those happily. He's the best. He's so great. And I'm just really glad to know that he's not a secret Einran head. After last week, when you suggested that Ryan Gosling might be really into the fam head, I've just been questioning everything and whether all the men in my life love Einran,

and it's very good to know that Oscar Isaac is A, charming, and B, not a libertarian. If you're going to watch all six episodes of Show Me a Hero, you deserve to know that he does not support Ayn Rand necessarily. I like Show Me a Hero, but it's a little bit of a tough watch at certain times. Come on. Yeah. Well, here are the things that we love. Mariah Carey, Scandal, Oscar Isaac, Greta Gerwig, Unreal, and the couple from Unreal. And Zach Efron and his sharks.

And Sunshine. Thanks for listening to Jamstosh, everyone. Remember to sign up for the other ringer podcast, the NBA show, the NFL show, the watch, Keep you at 1600, Channel 3,000. 33 and of course the BS pod