The Press Box - Ep. 220: 'Jam Session' With Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins

Episode Date: December 14, 2016

The Ringer's Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins determine who is the biggest star in the 'Star Wars' canon (6:00), discuss the onscreen charisma of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in 'La La Land' (10:00), weight Meghan Markle's royal stardom (24:00), and examine John Mayer subtweeting Taylor Swift (30:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Bill Simmons. Today's episode of Channel 33 is brought to you by Seekkeek, the presenting sponsor for my podcast, as well as the only fan-friendly app for buying and selling tickets for sports and music. With just two taps on your phone, you can instantly buy Seekkeek tickets to an event and you can enter that event just using your phone. No paper tickets. Drop your old ticket app. Use one that's built for 2016. Download the free Seatgeek app or go to Seekgeek.com. Welcome to Jam Session. I'm Juliet Lippman. I'm Amanda Dobbins. Lots happening for us to get into. Lala Land is out. We both saw it. With major celebrities in it. So I have to discuss it. Hot button issue. Yes, the only two movie stars left. Maybe the only movie star left. That's true. Yeah.

We'll get there. Megan Markle. Still out here. Megan News. Shout out to Megan Markle. I'm so T. Markle. And this week on the ringer, we're doing Rogue One week. So we'll just start with Little Star Wars. It's like, The biggest thing in pop culture and the history of pop culture. That's true. Can we just, should we do disclaimers or should we go in? Neither of us know very much about it. I have seen the original Star Wars, which I'm told is Star Wars A New Hope.

Four, number four, yeah. Yes, I've seen it. That's it. You've only seen four? I think I actually saw the Tate Frazier's favorite Star Wars movie, the one with Hayden Christensen. Oh, that's number one. In theaters. But maybe I saw, like, is it the first one or the third one?

Well, number one has Jar Jar Jar Banks in it. I haven't seen that one. Okay. So then you probably saw three. Yeah. And I've seen clips of other important scenes throughout the franchise. There's also like a great viral video trend of little kids watching the Luke I Am your father video for the first time. So while I have not seen Luke I am your father, I have seen small children watch it and be really fucking freaked out.

Okay. So I understand the gravity of the situation. I've seen one four, five, six, seven. So I've seen five of seven. And I plan to see Rogue One, just to be part of it. Oh, and I saw the new one. I saw the new one and I liked it. You did already?

No, no, no, not Rogue One. A Force Awakens. Oh, yeah, seven. Yeah, I saw that one. Yeah, that was good. It was great. You know, the ship showed up and everyone started cheering. Okay, so this is what I want to talk about.

Just quickly, because we're not experts. Obviously, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamel and Carrie Fisher are very famous. Like, Harrison Ford is like one of the most famous celebrities of all time. Sure. Yeah. Like, even if not so much anymore. He is a legitimate movie star legend. Not only is he of Star Wars, he's Indiana Jones.

It's crazy. And my favorite Harrison Ford performance. Working Girl. Yeah, of course. Working Girl, one of the great movies. What about Witness? The Amish? Come on.

But the Fugitive is a good one. He's a very accomplished movie star. Also, Harrison Ford has my favorite appearance on a David Blaine Magic special. I really encourage you guys to seek out Harrison Ford's two-minute scene with David Blaine. It was on the original one. It's in Harrison Ford's kitchen. My man has been consuming some substances beforehand.

I don't want to speculate on which ones, but yeah, it's quite a, it's great. The worst thing about real Harrison Ford and not his character as Harrison Ford is his earring. I hate his earring so much. I kind of like it. Oh, my God, I hate it. I really appreciate his total curmudgeon personality. paired with like that weird dose of flare and the fact that he's in a committed

relationship with Callista Flackhart. It is very sweet. There are levels to have Harrison Ford and I like that I don't have access to all of them. You're right. That is a sign of a true celebrity. That's true. Yes. Okay.

So my question to you is those three barred and like really everyone from the original 4-5-6, who do you think is currently the most famous person affiliated with Star Wars and who will be the most famous person affiliated with Star Wars in 10 years? Okay. I feel this is a good question. Thank you. I think that Natalie Portman might be the most famous person currently. I mean, I guess she's probably mostly famous because she was in Star Wars and then also V for Vendetta, which like people on the internet love. I like it too.

She's won one Oscar. She's probably going to win a second one. Right. I think the Oscar push her over the edge. I would have disagreed with you except for the Oscar switch. Yeah, but I mean, that's still kind of a big deal. Yeah, definitely. And I don't think there's anyone, like Felicity Jones, I'm very sorry, not famous at all. In fact, there was a recent New York Times profile of Felicity Jones, which... I didn't even read it. Well, don't, because the lead is just someone, like Felicity Jones being stopped to identify a different person on the street. Like, random people don't recognize Felicity Jones, but they want to ask Felicity Jones who the other celebrities are. Like, that's how unfamous she is. So, yeah, I'm going to go with Natalie Porman for current.

Who do you get? It's hard to disagree with her. I mean, I guess it has to be her. I'm just, like, thinking in my head of, like, who else it could be. Adam Driver's more famous to us, but I don't think that he has, like, mass appeal yet. Okay, so who do you think will be more famous in 10 years? John Boyega or Adam Driver? Boyega.

I love Boyega. I hope it's him. He's irresistible. How can you not love him? I don't know. Do you think that Daisy Ridley will be really famous? No. She's too regular, right?

She's normal. Can you tell them apart, her and Felicity Jones? Only because Daisy Ridley reminds me of Kira Knightley. Like in my mind, I've linked them together. Yeah, it's a little bit of the jaw. Yeah. In the same, they have very similar smile. Yeah.

So I don't know. Like, it's just, to me, like, none of the new people are that famous, but I saw the, I saw the trailer for Patterson, the forthcoming Adam Driver movie. Right. And I was like, it's so weird. This guy's the new Darth Vader. Like, this is Adam from girls. This is a guy who was, like, in the movie.

the military and it's just like a dude and now he is like on on par with like the most famous people in the world. He's also in the Martin Scorsese movie Silence is coming out soon with Andrew Garfield. He's like the best actor who's also in Blockbusters now. Yes, until Ryan Gosling is in Blade, the new Blade Runner, which, okay, we'll come back to that. Anyway, yeah, I mean, was he was Kylo Ren, that was his character. And there was...

Darth Vader's child. I mean, he's a new Darth Vader, but he's the new Darth Vader, but he's the child of Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. Sorry, spoiler words. Yeah, we just... Whatever. He was also a meme. There was, like, emo, Kylo Ren, and all of that stuff,

which I do feel like... He's definitely internet famous, but internet famous and real-life famous are not the same thing. Because I don't have kids, and I'm also not deep into, like, nerd culture. It's hard for me to, like, really gauge what kind of bump the three stars of the Force Awakens. got from being in it?

From what I can tell, which is honestly just a spectator approach, like you and I take every day consuming celebrities up and now. They have not really done anything other than the particular franchise. And I think that it's kind of the phenomenon that we have with all movie stars at this point, where it is the brand and the franchise that is like the star and that the people in it are interchangeable. And it's why we don't have male movie stars anymore because they're all like wearing capes and masks.

and I think that they are all, listen, I'm sure that they can't go out in public. I'm sure that like five-year-olds are attacking them. Right. Or seven-year-olds or whatever or 25-year-old dudes. I don't know. There is like, I think, a thing of like 10 and unders who they are like really famous to them and therefore of their parents, I think, because of like all of the merchandise and such. We'll have more on that on the ring or tomorrow.

Yeah. Though at like what age are you watching Star Wars for the first time? I think people watch very young, like seven. Seven. But seven is different than like four. Sure. You still have the toys, I think, at four. Toys at four, movies at seven. Yeah.

Okay. But it is weird how it's like backward, you know? It's very weird. More on that soon. Yeah. All right. I just wanted, you know, just wanted to do a temperature check on Star Wars. It's such a weird.

It's like, it's crazy. It's like, it is the biggest thing. Like, what's bigger than Star Wars? Hmm. Nothing. Nothing. Yeah. It's amazing.

They're good. I'd like to go to Skywalker Ranch. George Lucas very famously has bungalows for filmmakers to come and finish their projects or whatever. It's kind of like the McDowell colony of filmmakers. It's just interesting. It's like George Lucas is like not an autour, but sort of has like welcomed all these auctors into his life. It's interesting. Right.

Do you want to go to finish your own project? And what project would it be? Wow. If I were to make a movie, it would be a romantic comedy. Great. and it would be shot with one camera. And I would try to have done in one take, so then it would need a lot of editing because it would suck.

I don't know. He just made that up. It's not going to work. Okay, let's move on to a different movie. Okay. La La Land. Did you like it? I had a great time.

You did? Yeah. We haven't really discussed it. Okay, so, all right. I'm shocked to hear that, actually. Okay. You always say this, but then you forget I am a human being with a heart and feelings, and I had some hot takes.

I'm not afraid to share my really weird opinions, but like, yeah, come on. I'm not made of stone. And watching fucking Ryan Gosling tap dance, you can't say no to that. My only critique of Gosling is that it's not his fault. I just would never put him in brown ever again. I understand it's like a hipster color. It's like his character that he was playing would choose a brown three-piece suit, but that's just not his best color.

Give him a navy. Come on. I think that's a great point, especially given kind of the, the level of technical color in the film itself, which, like, you should go see in theaters. Very saturated colors. If you haven't, I know people always say that, and it's super annoying, but, like, trust me on this one. Totally. The other thing I would say is that everyone in that movie dressed horribly.

Yeah. Emma Stone, they just didn't really pick clothes that are flattering for her. But I actually think that this is, like, I don't mean to, like, body shame her, but I think she's too skinny now, and I think that she would benefit from a little bit more for some of her clothes. But that's sad. She's very charming, very winning. mostly positive on Emma Stone.

Yeah. So I thought that they were so charming, and, like, the song and dance numbers that they do are so irresistible that, like, I couldn't deny it. Here's what I want to say. Not a perfect film. No. Almost walked out after the opening sequence, which I found fucking insufferable. Also, my man, pick a spot, put your camera there, just let it rock. It's okay.

The zooming back and forth. I also saw it in a giant screen which made me like totally nauseous. Yeah, I don't think the plot, the character development was interesting. Like, did she not know he was in a band? Did she not understand that bands travel? Like, I don't get that. That was strange, that she was, like, confused about his touring schedule. Yeah, I'm also just over Damien Chazelle, like, blaming women for getting in the way of art.

Yeah. I know. The moral of the story was they could have been together. Although, I guess, this is really another spoiler alert. I guess the point was if he had not joined the band, they could have been together. She still could have been famous or something. But I don't know, because they have like at the end, they have like the redo sequence. Which was, I mean, so good and so lovely.

Again, you watch that and you walk out. Like, I was literally actually tap dancing around my home. I'm a trained tap dancer. I don't know if you know that. Really? Yeah, when I was like 12. Cool. But I can still do some things.

and I was moved to do that in my home because it was so delightful. A lot of it didn't make sense, but that doesn't totally matter. Yeah, so I loved the opening scene. I was bopping around in my seat. I was like, yeah, it's a big production. I love it.

And also, it's such an L.A. movie. I was just like, how do they film this? Where do they film this? I've got so many questions. I liked all of, like, the camera work and stuff. Like, he was just straight up flexing and, like, maybe it wasn't successful completely, but I liked it.

I was like, this is ambitious, this is different. and it was also like very, it was a very different from whiplash the opening scene, so I like that too, because it was like a differentiator. My biggest complaint about it was like, I just thought it was really in awe of like the artistic struggle in your, in your 20s in L.A. And I'm just like, come on, man. Yeah, I mean, the movie was about can you be in love and also be devoted to your art? Yeah.

And like, what sacrifices should you make for your art? Right. Which, it's so boring. Like, yeah. Everyone get it together, figure out what you want to do, figure out what you want, make your choices, feel good about your choices. Like, it's going to be fine. The plot itself wasn't great. But, like, I don't know, I just enjoy the music.

I've been listening to it a lot. It's just, it's good background noise. I saw it with my friend who was like all the songs sounded the same, which is true. That's true. But I didn't mind. It was like continuity. Two musical themes that are throughout the entire film. Yeah.

Gossing is incredible. He's just like so, so charming. I cannot believe he's real human. I know. I genuinely, I just, I cannot not grin when he's on screen. I saw it next to my husband, which was just like, at some point I was just like holding my face because it was just grinning up any time he was around. I can't believe he exists.

What a human. I know. Also, I was really happy that he was just a full-on brunette, and there's a lot of close shots of his hair, so I thought about it a lot. But Gossling is better as a brunette than like an aspirational blonde. I'm just like, yeah, lean into it, man. Plus, it's a little bit older. I don't know.

I just thought I was really happy that he'd made that turn. So charming. Yeah. It's like he's a charisma machine. It's so interesting also. Did you happen to read the, he's on the cover of DQ? Oh, cool. And there was a profile of him.

It's honestly just like stories about him as a kid. He doesn't really, Ryan Gosling in person does not seem to want to turn out the charisma on the level that Ryan Gosling. It's not effortless for him. I think he's making a constant, he's making a conscious choice to like turn on the charm. Sure. But it's amazing that he can just do that. It's literally a superpower. Yeah, he's like a pro.

He turns it out when he needs to. I really liked it. Like, I'm really not in the Ryan Gosling Hives. Like, I'm not like, oh, I love him. Like, the hey girl thing never really took off in my personal world. So I was just, I was like, yeah, this guy's really great to watch. Like, the only thing is I would, I would like less singing and more dancing from him. I completely agree.

It was the dancing. Because, as you know, I hate life singing. Yeah, that's why I thought you weren't going to like it. The singing's not that good. The first 20 minutes was really dark for me until he showed up. And it's honestly, it all turned. There's like the first scene that, well, the first scene they have together is a party and it's very cute, but they're not dancing. But their first dance sequence together, it was when I was like, great.

I would literally watch that for an hour. They were so charming. It was great. There was also, you know, the New York Times does like the behind the scene narration. And they did that first scene of them to have dancing. I actually watched that. I was really surprised. that they only had five takes.

I know. Shocking, actually. And it's one take. So I honestly, they must have practiced a lot. A ton. A shit ton. Because only five takes, you have to think that one of them is just going to fuck it up. Oh, definitely.

I mean, they also just obviously have such great chemistry together that it's really fun to watch. And, like, when I watch basketball, I like watching teams that, like, playing with each other. Like, it's fun. They have camaraderie. And, like, watching joy, like, interpersonal joy is one of my favorite things. Like when sports championships are won, even if I don't care about the sport or the championship. Yeah, the celebrating. I love it.

Zach always walks away and then I'm like, no, no, no, keep it on. I want to see the trophy. Like watching happiness is fun. It's true. Alson Herman, who works for The Ringer, made a very good point about La Lottlin, which is that it was just like an extremely enjoyable movie. And we have not had a lot of really, like, enjoyable. Like, I went to the movies and I fucking watched something and I walked. feeling great.

And there have been, I think, actually, a lot of really excellent movies this year. Like, Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea are also, like, those are technically perfect. And I think much better whole movies than La La Land. But Manchester in particular is, like, the most depressing thing you've ever seen. I haven't seen it yet. I don't think I can handle it. I feel like I'm already living in a fugue state. So I don't know if I can be pushed further into it.

When you're ready. Here's the thing. If you don't go see it and then you will never sit in your home and be like, now it's time. for me to watch Manchester. I've been mean to watch Domelisa for like a year and I just can't bring myself to do it. Yeah.

Moonlight is not depressing. It's not entirely depressing. It's just like emotional. Right. That one I'll definitely see. Yeah. And it's great.

And I'm trying to think. Everything else is just like blowing up machines. Like shitstorm terrible. So Lala Land was nice and that, and I think spoke to both of us because we just actually like

going, watching culture to enjoy it. Yeah, I'm just, I know, I was like, I'm having fun. I'm bopping a long year. Exactly. Like, what happened to fun? Even the John Legend performance scene. Man. That was the worst song in the movie, and I was just like, did John Legend pay to be in this,

or did they pay John Legend? I was really wondering, even that song, which was bad, I was like, you know what, I'm still having fun. You know what I liked about that? Gosling is literally, he's playing piano with one hand, and the other hand is in his pocket. God bless him. His hand should always be in his pocket. One hand in pocket at all times.

It was so good. So good. What did you think about John Legend's acting? I thought that he played his role very well. I love John Legend. I don't want to spoil it, but the way that they introduced John Legend on the screen, like it made me laugh so hard. Like when they cut to him, I just cackled.

I was the only person in the arc like dumb who was cackling. No one else thought it was as funny as I did. but yeah I thought he was game I like him and Chrissy I do too shout out to them Rob Harvilla actually wrote a really interesting piece that made me actually respect John Legend in ways I had not previously I like really like him I the first time I saw Kanye he was it was like just Kanye and John Legend on stage basically and so that was like in 2003 yeah and ever since then I've just loved that guy I don't know and I like I said like his relationship with Chrissy he was once at a party and they were just they were dancing together and they were just like so clear

in love and having a great time. It was so sweet. I don't know. I just really like him. And I was like, yeah, let's get him in the mix. Why not? But I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he, like, asked to be in the movie or something. For some reason, just seems like something he would do. Product placement? Yeah. Or just like, I don't know. He also has, like, a deep respect for jazz. Like, can't you just imagine him and Damien Chazelle, like, just like hitting it off or something? Yeah, probably. But one piece of intrigue related to La La Land that caught both of our eye was that and like a fairly unprecedented move, Damien Chazel's ex-wife got a executive producer credit

after all the festival showings, like for the final printing that went to movie theaters, which was really unusual, which just made me kind of go, huh, wonder about that. And this, he famously wrote the screenplay before Whiplash, like he wrote it like six years ago. And so I was just like, oh, interesting.

Wonder what kind of a litigious situation he's been dealing with the last few months. I assume it has something to do with his belief that women in art can. not coexist. So we'll just leave it there. What do you think it would take for us to get Step Up 7 with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone? Can you think of a better movie?

I don't know what I would do. I mean neither. It would be amazing. Also, here's another idea. Okay. Those stupid one-time, not stupid I like them, but the one-time movie musicals on NBC and Fox, yes. Let's cast one with Gosling and Emma Stone right now.

Yeah, here's the thing, though. I don't know whether they can do that live. I don't know. Live on a mic is way different than five takes with, like, the post-recording to make sure that you get your vocals right. Sure. Well, how about just dancing and we can do some dubbing for the singing? I think that Ryan Gosling should be legally obligated to go on a talk show once a week and tap dance.

Oh, my God. They should just, I know they just did it, but like how amazing would he be as Captain Von Trapp and her as Maria? Come on. That would be great. Yeah, that would be pretty good. That would be amazing. Him as Surly and then Turning Sweet. What are they going to remake side of music?

Well, they just did it with What's Her Face? I know, but like the movie. Oh, the movie? I mean, they're coming for everything. Listen, they don't need to remake it. It's the perfect movie. I can't wait until. I'm watching it Friday night because I watch it every Christmas.

Oh, you do? That's nice. Yeah. I said this on the podcast so that it has to come true in my home now. Nice. I really like Mary Poppins, which I watched last Saturday. Oh, great. I haven't seen that in forever, but I also loved it as a kid.

It's really good. It's really, really, really good. And it made me excited for the Emily Blunt, Linden and Miranda movies. I'm excited and nervous, as you know. Yeah. Because I want good things for them. Totally.

And I want good things for Mary Poppins, and I know how reboots go. It's true. I believe in Lynn. I just do. Yeah, that's true. While I was watching, I was like,

what if Miles Teller was in this? It would not be as good. Yeah. Okay. So this is interesting, right? He wrote this screenplay. He originally wanted Gosling and Emma. They weren't available.

so for a while they were going to make La La Land with Miles Teller and Emma Watson. Yes. I thought about this a lot, too. I think that of the many career mistakes that Miles Teller has made, refusing to do La La La Land over salary negotiations, which is I think how it eventually broke down, is one of his greatest mistakes. It would not have been as good because no one is as good as Ryan Gosling. We've seen Miles dance, and it's not as good.

See, foot loose. Yeah, that's true. But I think that an opportunity for Miles Teller to do something charming and old school and prove, like, I can be a leading guy and I can, you know, I have charisma and I'm likable, which I think this role kind of, you can't play this role and not do that to an extent. He wouldn't be as good as Ryan Gosling, but I think it would have, he would have been okay and it would have been a good move for him. I think Emma Watson would have been a disaster. Yeah, totally. Because, yeah, there's not. She's low energy.

How about that? She's like Jeb. Low energy. Yeah, I know. I'm happy we ended up with those two. What great chemistry. I wish they would date just because it's so fun on screen. But, you know?

I actually thought, this is a real thought I had watching the movie, which was like I felt sympathy for Emma Stone because it must be so hard to be in that situation with Ryan Gosling in a fictional setting all of the time. and then he goes home at the end of the day and it's over. You've got two kids and he's got Eva. Right. That would be so heartbreaking. It would be a lot to go through.

It's hard. Can we imagine Ryan Gosling with the baby? This was actually in the GQ article. One of the babies is on set. And the older kid interrupted a take between Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford are fighting. And at some point she just yells, you're winning, like while they're filming, which is very cute. Oh, man. I forgot he's going to be on Blade Runner.

I will see it. When's it coming out? Not until, like, 2018 or something? I think it might be this year. Oh, great. I'm sorry, in 2017. Right. Yeah, it's 2017. Oh, phenomenal.

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Yeah. Everyone knows like, oh, man. That's propercloth.com slash jam, give code jam, J.I.M for $20 off your first shirt. Always interested in the royal family, and they continue to deliver news. Thank you to Megan Markle, who did not go to Patrick J. Adams' wedding over the weekend to his pretty little liar's now wife. That's okay. I read an Us Weekly story that was like, they agreed that it sucks that she can't go, but she didn't want to distract from the couple. Right.

Which is ridiculous. By the way, that's a thing that Kate Middleton does from three. time to time. She doesn't attend weddings because she doesn't want to distract from the bride's day. I guess that's nice. I think it's nice. I just don't believe that as an excuse, though. I think that's fake. I think it's just more like it was inconvenient. There are a lot of people following Megan Markle at this point. I know. A lot. A lot. It's really, really gotten big. In addition to being followed by the paparazzi, Megan Markle also recently wrote a really lovely, thoughtful essay for L.U.K. about being a biracial woman in the spotlight.

And it's just, it's really nice. I'm not going to read the whole thing. You can Google it. It has some cute pictures of her. She's really pretty. She's handling, like, the exposure and all of the negative attention that goes with the exposure

and all of the trolls incredibly well. I know. She's got so much poise. I really respect her. Totally. Also, she hasn't, like, done any, no crazy rants, nothing. Yeah, she's, I haven't been following her on Instagram.

Do you have any updates from that scare? No, she just doesn't post that. much. That's good. Yeah, it's smart. It's a good, good strat, as they say. Yeah. It's just really measured and thoughtful and I admire people who talk about hard things in public. It's not an easy thing to talk about. Yeah, absolutely. Also, she's just getting like an insane amount of hate. Like, it's crazy and she's handled it so well. And they're like a lovely couple. I don't know. It's pretty, it's pretty crazy. This is such a like a shocking turn of events just because there's a random couple. Like, I don't know. I love it, though. It's great. They're still together. I'm reading an

article on the Daily Mail right now that reads, have Harry and Megan got secretly engaged, which, by the way, I love how British people write headlines. No answers in this, but we are... Be a little premature. How long do you think... Here's the thing. Well, I guess Kate Middleton, it took her like seven years. Sure. They're older, though. I was going to say she's 35. He's 32. Yeah. Doesn't take that long. But... Joining the royal family is a really big deal, not because, like, I mean, all marriages are, but, like, you're signing up for a very specific life. And so I feel like that doesn't just, like, happen as quickly as, like, any other mid-30s couple, you know? I wonder whether she wants to.

I don't know. She'd have to move. I mean, like, how? She'd have to move, but then I, you should have to, this level of public scrutiny would be permanent. Plus, then you have to, like, do all the weird things where you have to, like, visit a random fish factory and check, just shake everyone's hand. you have to like go with Harry to the Caribbean as he's giving speeches to their former lands. It's weird. It would just be so incredibly different. It's crazy. It would certainly be the biggest thing to happen to Northwestern University in quite some time. So on that hand, how would you guys

celebrate? I don't know. I think we'd have to like have some kind of mass on campus and alumni viewing of their wedding, obviously. Okay. I mean, I would organize it if necessary alumni association. Let me know. It would just be really big. We have a lot of. out of Northwestern's alumni at the Ringer, so I would certainly force them to watch it with me. Okay. I don't know. It would just be huge for us. I hope it happens.

It would be nice if Prince Harry finally found love. I know. With someone who is not part of the same boring-ass socialite English world. Are you watching Ladies of London? That reminds me. Oh, fuck. I meant to. I forgot.

Well, I just want you to consider it. There's a lot of like a state management and like, Lady of the Manor drama happening this season. It's so incredible because an American woman, Julie Montague, is like married the heir to the Earl of Sandwich, like, seat. Right. And so now she's in charge of Maperton, their estate. It's very hard to maintain a British estate.

She's really stressed about it. As Downabby and everyone else has taught us, it costs a shitload of money. It really does. And she has like this, you know, it's like managing village. It's like becoming the mayor, like inheriting a mayorship, basically. That's really crazy. I know. It's so weird.

It's so weird. But I think you would love it. It's like it's central to this season so far. I meant it's just I forgot that it was on. I should have meant to investigate. It's really my fault. Okay. I'll check.

You'll check it out. Yeah. And it'll just even give you more insight into the Megan Markle world. It's great stuff. Last item of the day, John Mayer posted and then deleted on Twitter yesterday, December 13th. Tuesday, December 13th, maybe the lamest day of the year conceptually. And it happens to be the birthday of his ex-girlfriend, Taylor Swift. And he tweeted that and then deleted it.

it and the Taylor Swift Hive went after him. And I fucking love it for so many reasons. First of all, John Mayer, you guys broke up seven years ago. Get over it. Also like did that how real was the relationship, but whatever. Great point. Yeah. Um, tweeting and deleting, just never tweet, but really never delete. Come on. You can't delete tweets if you're at John Mayer. I sort of think you can. I don't know. They've got this page six story, not going to let you get rid of it. Yeah, that's, I mean, you can't, like, you tweet, it's out there forever, someone is screenshoting it. If you put a tweet in Slack, by the way, it stays in Slack even if someone deleted it. So that's just like a hack for everyone out there or a warning. I don't really know. It's something. I think that in his case that I thought

better of this and I'm deleting it, that's not nothing. It's a gesture. You raised a point that maybe it wasn't only about Taylor. Well, I was going to ask, what are the other, so here's interesting note to really go to the textual analysis, Tuesday, December 13th is the worst day conceptually, right? So the Tuesday would indicate that he was talking about yesterday specifically, as opposed to the idea of December 13th. Now, listen, he 100% is sub-treating Taylor Swift. Like, I'm not gullible, and I'm not here defending John Mayer. But I am interested in whether there other components of yesterday that led him to believe that it was a truly terrible day. Like really upset about something happening with Donald Trump?

Yeah, I mean, I assume. I'm just kidding. Well, I mean, I wondered whether the Kanye, yeah. That's true. The Kanye Trump stuff. That's a good point. I forgot about that happening yesterday. I blocked it out.

Yeah, that was just like a tough day. We're not going there. Seriously. Please read Justin Charity's piece on the ringer.com for our thoughts on that. Absolutely check it out. Yeah. I just like John Mayer staying in the news because like really, what has he done? lately.

Nothing. He has the watches and I think some jewelry also. Okay, he's got those bracelets as discussed on jam session. Yeah, like, this is incredible. Like, he's just staying out here. He's just such, he's just a loser. He's just like, he reminds me. I really like his music and I think he's a very talented guitar player.

And like, I was just like, well, I will pop on some John Mayer tunes of like, there's different ones for every mood, you know? But he's a loser. Wait, can we go back to what song for what mood? You're feeling happy. It's Friday. His Jimmy Buffett album. Okay.

It's called like Ida Wild or something like that. Oh my God, I'm really excited that I ask this. Okay. It's Sunday afternoon and you're feeling just like, you're home. Room for squares or whatever it's called. The moodyest song is definitely Daughters. Okay. And what about his cover of Free Fallen?

That's also a great sort of like working late, like just viving out. Okay. I don't know. I also love the 90-second Frank. ocean track on the country album. Okay. It's just, there's a lot of goodness there for me. I like John Mayer's music.

I had no idea that you were also this familiar with the discography, which I'm just, I'm not. Yes. I also, I like neon. I like a lot of John Mayer's music. I really do. That's great. So do a lot of people in America.

He's popular. But I consider him a loser. He reminds me of the Jerry O'Connell character from Can Hardly Wait, who like peaked as in high school. For John Mayer, high school was like 2003. and he did okay in college, but now he's, like, deep into his 30s and he's just a loser, losing his hair. Is he losing his hair? Not actually, but like the caricature I'm drawing right now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I love it. I think it's hilarious. I mean, as you put it, he has millions of dollars and has nothing better to do but to sub-tweet Taylor Swift. He's incredibly rich, and he has tons of riches. Yeah. Cool, John Mayer. Do what you want. I guess.

Taylor Swift probably just, like, doesn't even care. Do you think she knows? Where is she right now? I bet she does know. Well, she has that nude song with Zane Malick, which I listened to a few times yesterday to really get down with it. What do you think?

Bad look for her. It's like a song well-tailored for Zane. It's like a pop R&B song, but really not in Taylor's Zone. I don't know where she should go from here musically. She worked with Jack Antonoff on it, right? Yeah. So, like, I think that they designed the song for her

because he obviously, he produced a couple of songs on 1989. Yeah. So she thinks this is a direction that she should be going in. Do you want to know what's interesting? I don't think, none of his songs really took off. Like, out of the woods, like his big song on that record, right? Yeah. And that was like, they, like, released it, but then it never got the full single treatment.

And I just feel like he's actually not a pop songwriter. Like, he just doesn't write hits. I'm great with that opinion. I don't, like, what should she do next, though? I'm afraid, and I feel like you pointed this out, I'm afraid that the 50 shade stuff is that she thinks she needs to be sexy now. Yeah. It's tough.

I don't think that that needs to happen. Just a bad look. Like, if Ellie Golding warms a spot, do you want to come in second as, like, doing the 50 Shade song? Ouch. Like, I don't know. I just think it's a weird move. Also, she doesn't come in, like, it's very similar to the Miguel Mariah Carey song, where it's a Mariah Carey song, but Miguel sings like the first, like, 90 seconds. Yeah.

There's no Taylor for, like, until the second verse. I assume this was just a money thing. I guess so. I mean, just weird thing doing her all time. She's done touring. She doesn't have a new album yet. Has she done a soundtrack song before? Not that I can recall.

Yeah, we neither. The other night, Taylor Swift's early country version of Silent Night came on the radio, which I had never heard before. So there are apparently many Taylor. There are deep cuts that even I'm not aware of. Have you ever watched the video for tear drops of my guitar? Yes. She gets in bed with a good.

guitar. Yes. It's very awkward. It's weird to think about that. And now she's doing 50 Shades darker songs. Yeah. It's really weird. That song is a real Taylor Hive song because Zane's dating Gigi. She's in the squad. Right. Jack Antonoff's dating Lena. She's on the squad. Right. And we've got Taylor. Surprising that Dakota Johnson's not in her squad, actually. I think that they hung out together. Oh, there you go. Yeah. I think that like four for four. Yeah. There you go. Well, let's leave Taylor in 2016. This will probably be our last podcast of the year. Yeah, it is. Happy holidays, everyone.

Happy holidays. See you in, yeah. Go see LaLand and we'll see you in 2017. Thanks for proper cloth.