The Press Box - Meryl Streep Joins ‘Big Little Lies,’ Ellen Pompeo’s Money Talk, and the Latest in Celeb Real Estate | Jam Session (Ep. 418)

Episode Date: January 25, 2018

The Ringer's Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins discuss the news about Meryl Streep joining the cast of ‘Big Little Lies’ (0:58), what Ellen Pompeo had to say about being the highest-paid woman in a prime-time drama (13:26), and the magical world of celebrity real estate and HGTV (24:26). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi, this is Juliet. We're about to do jam session, but first, now the college football season has ended, we've rebranded our Ringer University podcast feed to be Through the Ringer. This is your go-to place for our weekly wrap-ups of Ringer podcast called This Week in Ringer culture and this week in Ringer sports. Those come out on Saturday. It's also where you can hear some of our special projects, one-off stories, and new shows we're working on behind the scenes.

So if you want to hear all of our best culture and sports podcast moments and some of our special projects, subscribe through the Ringer on Apple Podcast, Stitchers. Spotify or wherever you listen to them. Let's jam. Welcome to Jam session. I'm Julietette Litman. I'm Amanda Dobbins. It's a week of passion.

We're just leaning into the things we love, namely real estate, which is coming at the end. Grace Anatomy, kind of. Coming in the middle. One member of Grace and Academy and all of the riches in the world. And first, big little lies news just broke. Luckily, pushed back our taping today. It's come to light. It's broken out to the news that Merrill,

Streep of she of 22 Oscar nominations will be starring in season two of Big Little Lies, or if not starring appearing. I think that she'll play a major role because she's Merrill Street. How much do you think she's getting paid? I'm so glad you asked because I have the facts right here, according to variety, she will make around $800,000 per episode. And there's 10 episodes. I don't know whether they've announced that there were seven of the first,

seven or eight of the first season. I can't imagine they would do 10. Making minimum $5 million off of her seven episodes. You have to assume that that. is kind of the asking rate for Merrill Street's time. I think that seems low, to be quite honest. Well, maybe she's doing it for fun. Or maybe the role's not that big.

Maybe Meryl Streep, like the rest of us, watched the first season of Big Little Lies, thought it looked like a great time, wanted to visit Monterey and look out on the ocean through some glass and decided to sign up. So, spoiler alert, she's playing the mother of the deceased Alexander Scarsguard character.

Yes. Can I read the description? Please do. Streep will play Mary Louise Wright. So they've thought this out enough to give her a character date. This is real. This is happening. The mother of Perry, right?

Who, spoiler, got pushed off a DED dead. Staircase? Down a staircase, yeah. Shout out Zoe Kravitz. So Merrill Streep will be concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son Perry's death. Mary Louise arrives in Monterey, searching for answers. She is going to be pitted against Nicole Kidd's.

and presumably the whole rest of the crew. So basically, Meryl Streep is the villain of Big Little Eye Season 2. Which is great. Which character from her past do you hope she most resembles on playing this? You said it best. She needs to be doing Devil Wears Prada, Merrill. Yeah.

Deeply skeptical. Yeah. Extremely cold. Holds you at a distance. Underminery. Yeah. Doesn't yell. What if she just thought it to go as Julia Child?

Well, she kind of did. I've been saying this a lot, but basically Meryl Streep in the Post is her Julia Child impression, but with slightly more gravitas. When she finally, have you seen the post? Yeah. No, sorry. No, I haven't.

Not to spoil anything. Go ahead and spoil it. I'm never seeing it. First of all, I had a great time. But the post revolves around whether the Washington Post should publish the Pentagon papers or not. And spoiler alert, they do decide to publish them because the Pentagon papers made it into the world.

Sure. So kind of the climactic scene when Merrill Streep is facing down a group of men and everyone's saying don't publish, don't publish. legal issues, blah, blah, blah. When she finally decides to publish, she just yells, like, we go. And she kind of, like, does the hands in the air, kind of like, she's like, butter, who.

Woo! Bon Appetit! And it's like basically the same Julia Child impression. That's really funny. Yeah. I loved it. I had a great time at the movies watching the post. I assume we'll be getting a lot of Kimmon and Street together then.

You have to assume so. And you also have to assume that Rees Witherspoon will, her character will stick her nose in everyone's business and they will fight a lot. And kind of what I'm imagining is peak high strong grease yelling a lot versus ice cold Merrill. Right. I can't wait. Yeah, because you don't want them both yelling at each other but comes too much.

You kind of want Merrill to bring her scary reserved. Sure. Have I ever told you my personal anecdote about Merrill Street? No, you haven't. Please do. Just really reminded me of this. I went to see Gypsy on Burr's. Broadway with an ex-boyfriend's family.

And I wound up sitting literally next to Merrill Street. Oh, amazing. Like, me and the seat next to me was Merrill Street. Gypsy's a real classic. Yeah, but so here is Merrill's M.O. at the Broadway show. Every time there was a laugh line, the whole theater would laugh, pause, and then Merrill unleashes like her amazing low Merrill laugh that echoes through the theater. And everybody recognizes instantly that it's Merrill Streep.

and there's just a moment of letting Merrill laugh. Wow. And then the show goes on. Do you think it's like that everywhere she goes? Like, can she ever be just like a woman in a shop? Probably because then she goes into Nancy Myers mode, right? I guess so. You could imagine her being like, oh, this lavender ice cream, I can't sleep.

I don't know. Then I suppose you realize you're with Merrill Street. Back to Big Little Lies. Anyway. So let's address the controversy briefly. Sure. there are there are a group of people in the world who number one do not think that big little I should have a second season okay and number two are very dismayed that Meryl Streep is going

to be a part of big little lies because they think I honestly don't know what they think maybe they think it's beneath her maybe they think it's to movies maybe they think it's legitimizing a television show that shouldn't exist or something I don't really know because I think this is whack these people are wrong and I'm extremely annoyed with it stop your whining, you're getting seven to ten expensive episodes of television starring a bunch of women you like and they're going to yell and throw wine in each other and there will be oceans and probably a bad school play. In great tunes.

Why do we have to be so ungrateful? I don't know. It's the same people who are just immediately like, do you really want Oprah as president? Like, yes, we agree. Probably not as president. But let's just take a moment and have fun. But the stakes of that are kind of the future of the country. This is just a television show on HBO.

Like, who cares? Yeah. Why are we mad? Just accept the nice thing or don't watch it and keep watching your, like, you know, weird cartoon show or whatever you watch. I don't need this. I agree with you. Like, it's just great.

It's like this, if we're, I kind of understand they'll, like, give us one season and let's move on vibe. But assume we're getting a second season, why wouldn't you want Meryl Streep in it? I don't know. They make a lot more seasons of a lot. work shows with us. Oh, definitely. Kind of where I am on it. Definitely. Well, I wanted to ask you, like, how you're feeling about the, the award season tour that Big Little Lies is on right now. I can't believe it's still going.

I know. It's long. I was thinking about this recently. You pointed out in our last podcast that the Golden Globes are kind of awkwardly timed TV-wise, and it never really makes any sense. And that's true. But, you know, then they also shut up at SAG Awards because actors acting. And so... Great explanation. I mean, that's why it is. It's the Screen Actors Guild Award. They're a part of it.

So I was kind of thinking maybe the Emmys should move up. Oh. I like, award season is award season. Yeah. And it's fun to be able to compare them to each other and build the narratives or whatever nonsense, you know, you want to say. And the Emmys are kind of the outlier.

I think it was formerly in early September because there used to just be one TV season. Exactly. That started the end of September. and went to the end of May. Right, but that doesn't really make sense anymore. Right. It doesn't anymore. So it's a good note.

Like one of which, maybe like, maybe in non-Olympics years, it could be in March or something like that. I feel like the Oscars should still get the hammer. Sure. So maybe they should be late, late January. Yeah. That seems great. Globes and Emmys in January.

Grammys in February. Oscars at the end of February. That seems great with me. Okay. We've done it. Yeah. Award seasons, people. Let us know if you want us to weigh in on anything else.

Yeah, we're available for consults. You're known as a big Reese head. Yeah. Who's your second favorite? big little wise lady right now. You can include Streep if you'd like now that she's in the mix. My impulse was to say Kidman, but you really got to make some room for Dern there. Dern's killing it.

Yeah, I don't think Streep has urged it yet. Can we talk about Kidman for a moment? Sure. I have a secret to share. Yes, go. I don't get Nicole Kidman. Well, that's kind of the point, right? Is it?

I just feel like men love Nicole Kidman. Well, she's beautiful. I have just never really thought that. I certainly haven't thought it in the last 10 years. I guess far and away, Nicole Kinman. Kidman, yes, absolutely. Beautiful. But like, plastic surgery, Nicole Kidman less into it. Well, and I don't want to be, like, judging for plastic surgery. I don't know what's like to be a famous woman in Hollywood. But like, I just feel like there's so much fawning over Nicole Kidman and I don't really get it. She has a kind of cold, distant beauty that a certain type of person, and I'm not, I won't even say men. I think there are a lot of women who think she's the most beautiful woman in the world. Okay. My money is still elsewhere. I actually don't know who I think the most beautiful woman in the world. But I know what you're saying. I also appreciate that she is attractive to a certain group of person.

And I also think kind of her demeanor and reserved nature appeals to certain people. Not you and me. No. You and I like big personalities. Yeah, totally. I also just feel like whenever she wears a prosthetic or a wig of any kind, it never looks convincing. Maybe because she's so specific looking. But like when she was in the hours, I was just like, this is a joke.

Well, that was... That was ridiculous. That was insane. Her wig on Big Little Lies, I also find weird. Yeah. I don't know. I just... I'm always so aware that I'm watching Nicole Kidman.

It's like never a character. I wish she's not my number one. I think that's my own problem with Big Little Lies to the extent that I even have ones. And just like, yeah, Nicole Kidman, don't need it. I thought she was great on the show. I don't know. She's just not for me.

So it'll be interesting to see her with Merrill, I guess. Yeah. I mean, I think that that'll be really fun. It's also nice that, Alexander Scars Garden will just won't be a part of it. And it really will just be about a bunch of women this point. At this point, I hope it will be. Me too.

Yeah. I also would like more Zoe Kravitz. I think that they have to do. If they don't fully explore the Zoe Kravitz character, then this season is doomed. That was the biggest problem with last season, in part because if I recall correctly, spoiler again, but also this show was on a year ago. So get your act together. She was the one who actually pushed him.

Yes. That's certainly true in the book, and I believe they did that in the TV show as well. So you have to then give that character a life or else that it makes no sense. Did she see the rumors that she's dating Drake? Is she? Again. I feel like Drake is dating someone every day. Yeah, that's exciting. We can move on to her next topic.

We just want to mention. Yeah. Never enough mentions the fact that Lisa Bonnet is now married to Jason Momoa, and Jason Momoa is like legitimately obsessed with her. Wow. It's so wild. This is why Jason Mamo is the best. I love him. Here's what I have to say. The Big Little Lies universe is rich and complicated and has many different avenues that we can explore.

I'm glad you put it that way because I'm so tired of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, here we go. There's so many other universes I'd prefer. That's great. On screen and off. It's fascinating. Big Lel Lies universe, Lisa Vanderpump universe. Like there's just so many other ones that I'm more interested in. And now Meryl's involved. Yeah, I know. It's just getting better and better. Just whole worlds we can explore. This does feel like the real like antidote to like the Marvel movie world is like the big little eyes TV world. Yes. And like let's just go to like other coastal towns and, you know, Jane can keep on moving.

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Okay, Amanda, we didn't record last. week. What a big story draft. One that I spent approximately five days discussing. Yes. And it was an as told to piece and the Hollywood reporter from the one and only Dr. Meredith Gray, known to many as Ellen Pompeo. And it's all about how Shonda Rimes empowered her and inspired her to get the best deal possible. And that deal means $20 million a year from ABC points on the back end of Grey's Anatomy and her own production outfit with the office on the Burbank lot of Disney Studios. Fuck yeah. And you want to know why I say fuck yeah?

Because Ellen Pompeo said fuck several times and this I was told you. I just did a control F and it came up 10 times. Yes. So in addition to a nice story about asking for more and your value on a woman, which we'll come back to. This is just an extremely candid interview. extremely candid with cursing and some side references to the fact that Faye Dunaway drives a Prius and the kind of frankness that you do not get from a celebrity really in any context, but certainly

when talking about money. Yeah. And everyone got really excited about it. Um, there was a lot of like cheering. Yes. On social media. A lot of like, yes, queen, which is something I don't ever say, but I felt the same way. And I was like really excited. What did you think about her Fay Dunaway comment, which I will read to you before we get to it? Yes, go ahead. So she's talking about how she,

why she feels important to get this deal. And she's talking about like other precedent in Hollywood. She says, quote, I mean, Fay Dunaway is driving a fucking Prius today. Now there's nothing wrong with the Prius. My point is she had no financial power. We're going to invoke change that has to be a part of it. And so I believe you used the Faye Dunaway quote to ask whether she fully understood how this interview was going to run.

Yeah. And whether it was going to just be a monologue from Ellen Pompeo. I'm not sure she knew as an as told to, is my point. I think that's a valid point. The Fade downaway quote is we're starting with the least flattering part of the article. And please know that we will go back to the more flattering parts. I just want to address the controversy up top. It's not great.

It's definitely, I don't know whether I would say. say this, but I might say something like this. Sure. And I know what she means by it. And it also is something that I would say in private and then feel bad about because I was being a little snotty. She just means that Faye Dunaway is not getting the same treatment as other people. And she uses like a particularly ubiquitous LA vehicle to paint that image.

It's, I agree with you. I don't think she really thought through what it would sound like. I don't, yeah. And I think the reason that's got so much attention was. because of the way she delivered it. Like, she is really, she's really direct about this. Like,

she talks openly about how she knows she's not going to get movie offers when Grace Anatomy is presumably over in two years when she'll be 50. She talks openly about how she felt like her career was ending when she was 24 and Grace was like, something she didn't even want to do. And she's just really pragmatic about being a working actress.

Like, my mom points out to me, there's like not like a lot of like craft or art in here. And I was like, mom, like, it's a job. She's done over 300. episodes of this show for 15 years. Like anyone who does anything of that much repetition, like they treat it like a, like a job. And I think a lot of, there's just like so many things that this crystallized for me.

Like when an athlete is like, it's a job. I'm just trying to be a professional. Like we applaud them. There's not like for, like for love of the game all the time. So like let's applaud Ellen Pompeo for being like a shrewd business woman who's also like, you know, who happens to be an actress. Yes. She says at some point she's explaining that the decisions,

that she made may not be for everyone. She says you have to be more interested in business than you are in acting, which you don't get that awareness from a lot of people of that what they do is also, well, some people just want to do it for the money. And some people kind of want to be an artist, but also want to be rewarded for it. And she seems to have like a very solid perspective of where she is in the industry. Yeah, absolutely.

I thought one of the coolest things about this was how much credit she gives Shonda. Like, that's awesome. Yeah, can I read this? Yeah, please do. So she says, maybe it's my Irish Catholic upbringing, but you never want to be perceived as too greedy. Or maybe it's just that as women, that's our problem. A guy wouldn't have any problem asking for $600,000 an episode.

And his women were like, oh, can I ask for that? Is that okay? Which if you take out the $600,000 figure, which I have no familiarity with, that that is a feeling that I personally have familiarity with. I have watched a lot of women in professional settings, worry about the same thing, and watched a lot of dudes not have that problem. So I related to this part. And then she brings in Shonda.

She says, I'd call Shana and say, am I being greedy? But CAA compiled a list of stats for me. And Graze has generated nearly $3 billion for Disney. When your face and your voice have been part of something that's generated $3 billion for one of the biggest corporations in the world, you start to feel like, okay, maybe I do deserve a piece of this. Absolutely. Yeah.

And I read that line. And I was like, oh, it's very shrewd of CIA, both empowering its client and also getting money for itself. But that's what, you know, that's what being an agency is. And CIA is a particularly precarious moment, I think, tied to all the Harvey stuff. But, you know, that's doing right by its client, I think. Another, like, particularly interesting part of this to me was it came out that she writes, she talks about how she approached Patrick Dempsey to negotiate together and he never, he never wanted to. And she doesn't know how much he made.

It definitely made it seem like they did not have a particularly cordial relationship by the end. And when he was killed off the show, it was like a pretty fraught moment for her because of the way the repressionalized were so intertwined. And I was like, damn, they're good actors. They don't like each other. And I deeply believe in Meredith and Derek's love.

You are famously on the record as believing that characters should not be killed off. They should be recast. I thought he should have been recast. Do you, having read this, do you still stand by that? It would have been an even bigger fuck you to him. I guess that's a good point. Yes. There's nothing. If I'm an actor, like, and they decide, I mean, that's just saying,

like, yeah, you're replaceable. Like, we'll just replace you with a different actor. It would have been completely crazy, but I think they should have done it. I mean, like, Grays has so many crazy things. I know, but there's no way they could have pulled it off, practically speaking. I guess. That's the thing I like about this is how practical it is. And like, it does on one, I didn't mean to cut you off, but I feel the same way.

Like, on the one hand, like, you know, this is a show that I deeply love and, like, I'm so invested in. But I also, like, admire the frankness with what she talks about her job. And, like, what it's like to be a woman in her 40s in this industry. and I always like when Jennifer Lawrence like wrote that thing about like unequal pay I was like whatever you're a rich actress or whatever but I definitely

felt emotional reading this being like yeah good for you like ask what you're what you deserve and like at every level of employment women should do that these conversations of Hollywood pay are always tricky because the money is so astronomical yeah you know for example the Mark Wahlberg Michelle Williams her fuffle that happened recently

which is that they were both on the film all the money in the world that had reshoots because they recast Kevin Spacey. And it came out that for the reshoot portion of that film, Mark Wahlberg negotiated and was paid $1.5 million, and Michelle Williams was paid nothing. Right. So, which is just a galling sum on its own,

but it's also just kind of like if someone's being paid $1.5 million for 11 days of work, it's just, it's the same thing with $600,000 an episode. The sums are so large that they become unrelatable at some point. You can't imagine it. And there is a danger of talking about these things of suddenly feeling like we've saved the whole world because the TV star got paid $300,000 more than they were being paid. And that doesn't really solve a lot of the problems. But I thought what was really helpful and what made this article so important is that she really does talk about the psychology behind so much of it and how she felt about it. And as much about the attitudes and practical.

thinking that a woman needs to have in order and the hurdles that a woman has to get over in order to ask for a raise or ask for how much they're worth. And I think like this is an interview that you can't apply the sums and the situations, but you can supply the attitude and the empowerment, which is not a word I hate usually using, but I felt the same way of just like, oh, right, I can go ask for what I'm worth as well. Yeah, I think there's like some sentiment behind it. And to the point about the research for all the money in the world, like we don't know what was in Michelle Williams contract versus Mark Wahlberg. But the point

is, and Ellen Pompeo gets at this, is that, like, it's standard that he has either more leverage or a different kind of negotiating tactic to get more money, and that speaks to the system. And that's what she's speaking to as well. The system, as it currently exists, doesn't work for Alan Pompeo and doesn't work

for Michelle Williams the way that it does work for Mark Wahlberg or maybe Patrick Dempsey. And, like, that's the point is, like, the important upshot to me from like all the times up stuff is is not only um voicing sexual harassment and abuse when it happens but also finding structures and systems that do work because the ones that we have so clearly do not and like that's why it was it's really cool and like even even what she says about like she you know let's read this part about negotiating with regards to Patrick Dempsey she says there are many times where I reached out about

joining together to negotiate but he was never interested in that at one point I asked for 5,000 more than him just on principle because the show is Grey's Anatomy and I'm Meredith Gray. They wouldn't give it to me and I could have walked away. So why didn't I? It's my show. I'm the number one. I'm sure I felt what a lot of these other actresses feel.

Why should I walk away from a great part because of a guy? You feel conflicted, but then you figure I'm not going to let a guy drive me out of my own house. And even that when she's still not even getting what she asked for is empowering. Like again, like it's like it's that word is so overused. But it's true. It's like she's taking ownership. This is her fucking show. And she's like going to do it her way.

I don't know. I just found it to be exciting. And also, I support people speaking in honest ways that make people uncomfortable because, just because it's uncommon. Yeah, absolutely. We don't talk about these things. And we certainly don't talk about them this way with figures and frankness and talking about feeling anxious and not knowing how to get over, get around these problems.

Sure. I've spent so many years being like, wow, that Ari Gold on entourage. Like, let's talk about money. What a lovable asshole or like, what an entertaining asshole. Can Ellen Pompeo be like an entertaining asshole and that's enough? Like, why does she have, she's a woman? Like, so that just makes it different. for you? I don't know. I just, I thought

this was really cool and like to the extent that there was any like backlash. I was just like, yeah, I don't care. I had a great time reading it. Me too. I really did. It was fun. Grace and Adamie came back last week and it was a great episode. Man-oh-Man, I love it. Meredith saved the day. It was great. Okay. And for the final section of today's podcast, let's discuss our other favorite topic

other than Big Little Lies and the Shonda universe. That's another cinematic universe I'm here for. It's Sean does. Real estate. Just a couple of news. There's a note in our celebrity real estate corner. Did you want to start with Hillary Duff? I would love to start with Hillary Duff. Please do.

There's news say that she's playing Sharon Tate in a movie, so I was looking at like this weird Hillary Duff. Right. Twitter fan account, which then... To clarify, not in the Tarantino Manson movie, in a different movie about Sharon Tate. Bad beat to be in the other Sharon Tate movie. Yeah.

That really sticks. Right. Through this weird Hillary Duff fan account, which I should maybe follow because I'm a new recent devotee of the television show Younger. Great. I came to see this art, is better homes and gardens spread about Hillary Duff's vibrant Los Angeles home.

Yeah. First note about it, a lot of muted pinks, a lot of like millennial pink and a lot of like blush colors. Yeah. Which puts her very firmly in like the I'm 29 years old category. The I'm 29 and I've been on Pinterest. Yes. And she admits that. She says she makes boards all day long.

And I'm taking Pinterest literally. Yes. So she's got some highs, one of which she's got a really nice front double door, which she painted to be like a blush color. Okay. The door is extremely wide. It's a double door side by side. Yeah. So that's weird.

It's not like this is like some palace and it's not like she's a really wide human. So I don't know why you need such a wide door. And I've actually been looking at a lot of LA real estate lately just because I'm obsessed. And there's a lot of like wide door frames. I don't really get it. It's inviting. You've got the space. Why not?

Also makes it easier to get furniture in and out of the home, which is like a practical concern. That's a really good point. I think that like I just would like she has very narrow. windows next to the doors, I'd go larger windows. I assumed that that was some sort of, what's the golden ratio, you know, architectural principles, etc. I don't know. There was some sort of blog devoted to the study of McMansions and why they were good and bad. I mean, it was just like someone with some architectural knowledge and a lot of free time, but there is some sort of ratio with window and closed space to open space. So I assume that it's about balance. Oh, okay. Thanks, Amanda.

I mean, that's a real full of shit answer, but that's my best guess. Okay. And then things kind of devolve a little bit once we enter the home. I got to say, this is not the worst celebrity home I've ever seen. Certainly better than Mindy Kailen's. I was thinking that and not going to say it, but then you said it, and I agree. And it's worth mentioning because they both have a lot of, like, busyness going on. A lot of bright colors.

Yeah. A lot of bright patterns. Yes, she's a lot of patterns. One high is that she found three vintage sort of pink-inflicted rugs, cut them up, and sewed them together to be a runner for like her statement staircase. Yeah. And I actually really like that. I think it looks really nice.

Also, it's cool. They're vintage and already, like, worn in rugs so that when you walk on them, you won't feel bad like you're wearing them out. That's true. The other thing to note here is they work because the rest of the room is muted. It's white and wood. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay. I also like that you went for white and wood, not black and wood. I agree completely. Black and wood is, I like it. It's just kind of overused. It's also just so dark. Don't you want your room to be? I think it's better for a city, like, a city, like, urban environment.

because it's already dark, but like in California where there's so much light, it's just a weird look. Okay, moving on. I want to talk about her living room because she explicitly says that she was going, she wanted to be, quote unquote, cozy and lived in vibe, even though it was so stylized. And she picked legitimately the most uncomfortable looking furniture that like they should have in a hotel in Palm Springs and never in someone's house. Like in a home Springs hotel lobby, replete with a cactus. Kind of art deco.

They're a velvet plush vibe. I actually like the chairs, to be honest. I think with a more comfortable looking couch, I would be more into them. But the couch looks really uncomfortable. Can I ask you, does anyone ever sit in an armchair in a living room ever? Has anyone ever actually used an armchair for the purposes of sitting in it? I have a recliner. Does that count?

A recliner is a usable piece of furniture. These are clearly statement chairs. That's true. They're statement chairs. You know, and there's like a whole mid-century modern category of the velvet statement chair. And I love them and they look great. And they come in many shapes and sizes and colors. And has anyone ever used them for the purpose?

basis of sitting. No. Okay. So in this sense, I kind of like them as structural pieces. Okay. Fair enough. Yeah. It's not cozy and lived in. I guess if you have a big enough home, your living room doesn't have to also be your TV room. Because like, because for I judge just as like, well, what I want to sit on that couch for hours and watch five episodes of the Crown. But there's no TV in here. Yeah. So I guess she's not watching TV in here. I guess this is like, would you have a glass of wine and some hors d'oeuvres when you have people over for dinner in this room? I guess, but this couch is just not going to be kind to crumbs. It's not going to go well. It's true. One wine's fill. and the whole game's over.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I just, I don't know, bad living room. And then it gets kind of worse. She has, then she has like a bar, like a, I can't tell this is like her main kitchen or a bar. It looks like the kitchen. She has like that, what's that pattern called? Like, is cat?

Icat, yeah. She has like I cut tile for her backslash and also for like the kitchen bar. It's just a lot. She has really nice blue wood cabinets that I happen to love. Right. And those would be great if that was like a feature wall with white subway tile. or a cream or even like a very light yellow of some kind. But the I-Cat is like just so overwhelming.

I can't. I just can't. She's got five accent walls instead of the one. Yes. It's like it's called a feature wall for a reason. You have one of it. Which again, which is just Pinterest. Yeah, it's a problem.

And then our dining room I actually like a ton of light. She went pretty classic. It's like kind of like an art deco, chandelier type of thing. Fine. Have fun with your light fixtures. I don't want any part of that. But anyway, it's fine. And then her.

bedroom also has a crazy feature wall. And like a bedroom is just not is not the place for the feature wall. That's for your living room. So she just has a very busy wallpaper choice behind the bed. Yeah. And it looks like a vampire weekend cover or something. Yeah. And I just want to say then she has an outdoor bar. Oh my god. The eye cat comes back. There's more eye cat tile. Yeah. Hillary. Let me, you want to know what? This is very younger. This is like it. They do a ton of patterns on younger. Yeah. Here's my 22nd pitch. Great. Go. You got some free time. And I know you do. because you've probably finished watching the crown. Oh, this is a pitch to me personally.

I thought it was to the people of the, I thought it was to the jam session community. You are the jam session community. Thank you so much. Please watch Younger. It's so entertaining and fun and easy. And there's two great guys on it who are like respectful and wonderful and like really make you like want to cheer for them. Yeah.

And Sutton Foster is like the most underrated actress on television. I fucking love her. All of this sounds great. How many seasons do I have at this point? You've got four seasons of 12 episodes, but they're 20 minutes each. Oh, it's 20. Okay, I can do that. 21 minutes per episode, basically. Four is a lot. I wish it were three. I got to be honest.

I'm going to do it. It's only 16 hours. Come on. Oh, my God. I did it over the course of like six days. Yeah, no, I know. When you like something, it's easy to do that. Okay. All right. So the other thing we want to talk about is that I have been watching a lot of fixer opera recently. Yes. And Juliet has been cooking some opinions about HGTV for a long time. Yes. And you wanted to share that. They're only half baked right now. This is a great testing ground.

Okay. Well, first of all, give me, like, your top three bullet points about the television show fix your upper. Which is, of course, the Chip and Joanna Gaines show. Magnolia Seed and Supply.

Yes. I find Chip and Joanna very likable, and I understand why they got a TV show. I was like, oh, I get it. I understand why some home renovation shows, you know, I understand why some shows work

and some shows don't. It's because personality. So I like them. Texas seems very flat. Yes, it is. It's like every single home that they show. You understand where the farmhouse comes from when you watch that show. Yeah, but it's just kind of like everything is just, it looks like the same lot.

And then three, and this is kind of, this is the transition, but I know Juliet's philosophies or Juliette's feelings about an open plan home. Yeah. And Chip and Joanna love them an open plan home. I have a conspiracy theory about the rise of the open plan floor. Open plan home on television. Yes. so much easier to film in. So much easier.

It's a great point. If you have an open home with like just like with walls of varying heights and like a, you know, a really like easy pass through, you get way better shots. And it's a lot easier to film inside that home. Yeah. And the light's better. Yeah. Yeah.

And so it's like it's almost like it's for television because it looks better. Right. But it is not for watching television. Right. That's my number one complaint about an open floor plan. So the reason we talked about it and Juliette knows is that I currently live in an open plan home. I didn't build it. I'm just renting. You have a little bit of a like a cut off. We have a divider wall and it's like too tall to see over. They're kind of like two feet between the

ceiling and the top of the wall and just enough room for a lamp that my husband has decided to place there, which drives me absolutely bonkers, but it's still there. I don't know. It's really weird. But the television is not in the kitchen. You can certainly hear the television from the kitchen. And if you stand at one corner of the counter, you can see the television. But it's not close enough for me to be like following what's going on in a program and also be cooking. That's why it's perfect for sports. It's perfect for shows I've already seen. It's perfect for movies that I have to watch or television shows that I have to watch for work purposes and like really don't care about.

And then just kind of like can hear a piece of dialogue every 15 minutes and someone can fill me in. But I want to invest in younger. So I'm not close enough. Okay, fair enough. Um, how do you feel about the kitchens of, of Chip and Joanna Gaines in general? I like them. I mean, I just, I think that's what they're best at is kitchens. Yeah, they're good at kitchens and they're good at natural light.

Yes. They really do. And again, this is part of the open plan. It makes it much easier, but they do open up these kind of. It makes sense for a fixer offer. I think like, yeah, if I'm just talking like, if you are really on it, I mean, I will be when I finally own a home on a tight budget, then like I kind of understand how people consider it. But I just don't think it's really, like, that functional. I also like, I like to have separate spaces.

Like, this is where I eat. This is where I watch TV. This is where I sleep or whatever. So would you have, if you didn't have an open plan home, would you have a television in the kitchen? I think I would have, like, 10 years ago. But now I'm like, I'll just get an iPad. Oh, interesting. Like, a big iPad or something.

Yeah. Watch it that way. It's, like, becomes a communal. You can, like, watch sports while you're cooking or, like, I think it's actually best for watching sports. That's what we do. Yeah. And that's kind of, and I, like, basically, don't really watch them.

and so I can kind of hear what's going on. One thing that I always find so funny about Chip and Joanna is the, like, is, I love when they just like, oh, we're just going to pull over on the side of the road for this random yard sale it's happening. Right. How lucky we found it. Like, okay, cool. Like, it's the worst, the most egregious example of that is always on I know.

And she was like, wow, I've come to this great market to pick up some beautiful. It's ridiculous. In Ida's defense, at least she's like, this is the place that I go and this is my best friend. and it's not like we randomly found this like beautiful. Chip and Joanna do a lot of the random though. Yeah. And I'm like, okay, so you just happen to have your pickup truck with you the day that you buy this like 500 tonne vintage wood door that you'll be gifting to someone in their renno? Right.

Okay, sure. I'm like both so dubious and incredibly envious of their warehouse space where they keep all the trinkets. So they have a very specific design style, which is the West Elm design style as well. And which because of West Elm and Urban Outfit. and I suppose all the HDV shows has kind of taken over a certain market. Yes. There was a good piece last year or a couple years, I guess,

in Atlas Obscura by Kate Wagner and it was about how beige took over American homes and it talks about how the first round of HGTV really pushed the beige and then it showed up in all our parents' homes. But I feel like now we're on round two, which is the succulence, the West Elm, kind of half mid-century. Yeah. It's kind of like mid-century cottage.

Splash wall, Hillary Duff, his clearly been watching fixer upper. Completely. Yeah. It is like there is like a real just monochrome. Yeah. Except in Hillary Duff's house of interior design in America. A lot of it's kind of VHGTV. I swear I'm going to write about this. Okay. Well, that's great. I look forward to it. It's coming. Particularly because I just was a huge while you were outhead. I used to rush home from school to watch it. Great show. Love real estate. Thanks to listen to Jam Session. Thank you to Merrill Street. Thanks to Merrill. Thanks to Merrill. Thank you to Hillary

Duff. And Joined again. And Chip, too. great guy. Thanks for listening. And of course, thank you to hotel tonight. We will be back in two weeks.