The Prestige TV Podcast - Season 2 of ‘The Morning Show’ Continues To Get More Baffling

Episode Date: October 18, 2021

Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Nora Princiotti get together to talk about Season 2 of ‘The Morning Show,’ which continues to make baffling, but fun, decisions. Hosts: Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Nora Princiotti Producer: Kaya McMullen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm here with Amanda Dobbins, North Prince,iani. Last night, Succession, Season 3 came back, and it was great, and it was exceptionally well-written and well acted and well crafted and made a ton of sense. And then on the flip side, there's the morning show, which is five episodes in. I think it's halfway

through its season two run. Nora has not been on. Amanda and I talked about the first two episodes. It got way more ridiculous since the last time we talked. Nora has not been on to talk about the show. Nora, what attracts and repels you with this show?

Nothing. repels me from it, even though I think heart of hearts, it's probably bad. It's probably not a well-constructed show in some fundamental ways. Nothing repels me, that said. I am so excited to watch this show every single week. When Apple TV, if I go on to watch like Ted Lasso or something, and I see the little thing where it's like coming soon, I am just, I am like filled with anticipation just to see what they can spend money on. I'm waiting for I think like the only things they have left are someone has to commit a crime on screen we haven't really seen that we haven't seen a drink being thrown in someone's face it's just what will they do next

it's fabulous I love it Amanda since the last time we talked they decided that Reese was going to have an affair with Juliana Margulis's new character Of course It felt like they were dropping some breadcrumbs during episode three, and I remember thinking,

nah, they won't do this. They dropped exactly one breadcrum, which I think is possibly the worst exposition line of, certainly of 2021, and maybe in my lifetime, they make poor Billy Crudips say, you put the L in LGBTQ plus. Do you remember this?

I do. And then they go to Iowa to the caucus, because sure, it's, you know, February 2020 in their mind, or January, I guess. And there's some flirting. And I will say the only thing is that I do feel like Reese and Julianna Margulis have like some chemistry or at least more chemistry than Reese has with either Jennifer Aniston or even Billy Crudeup. Love him though I do.

So maybe that's a tiny breadcrumb. But it all happens in the span of maybe 12 minutes of screen time. It's fast. It's the kind of thing that shouldn't usually happen unless there was just an incredible amount of alcohol. Right. It's a brook. It also relies on Margulies just like randomly calling Mayor Pete and getting an interview so that she could just like hop on the plane with them. Right.

Well, let's go. We'll go big picture in order. The first thing for me, we're halfway through this season. Reese, Reese kind of has control of herself on the show back. Rough first year for her. seemed slightly miscast, didn't have Reese's normal haircut, wasn't really sure

what was going on with their character last year. Now it's like, he's got the blonde hair back, she's got her sass back, she's in the most probably interesting storyline, has a little bit of control

of the show. Nora, do you like seeing Reese in the driver seat again? Or are you waiting for Aniston to make some sort of run at the steering wheel?

I, so I love the fundamental reason I watch the show is because I love both of these women. I love both of these actors. I would like to see Aniston regain some control. Now, I don't see this as a problem with the show that would prevent me from loving watching it. But I would like her to get her shit together, just like a smidge more.

I really liked in season one where Reese was sort of all over the place. And sometimes her naivete got exposed and you would just have a Jen moment where she would be like, even in the first episode where she was like, we weren't friends. You're ridiculous. weren't friends. Why would you think that we were friends? I like when there's that smidge of, okay, this is a troubled person who's made some moral compromises, but she kind of knows what she's doing. Like, she is a veteran presence in this industry and kind of has been battle tested. The full meltdown, like full physical manifestation of spiraling that is going on with Aniston

right now, like, I think Reese is filling in the negative space created by that well. I would like it if Jen just got it together a smidge more. Amanda, that was going to be my second question. So we might as well just thought about it. This is actually bad for Jennifer Anderson this show this season. It's a bad character. It's extremely unlikable. And the more I watch it, how frantic and exasperated and overwhelm she is, it makes me wonder, is that like, are you telling us this is what you're like in real life?

Or are you playing a character? Because there's no comedy at all. There's no quick wit, anything. It's just somebody who's constantly overwhelmed. I don't even understand what the appeal would be for her. Yeah, she's got two moves at this point, right? She's got the, like, I'm seasick, but I'm pretending that I'm fine look, you know. Was she that cold her head?

Yeah, and she's like at the, she's like, angry the morning show. And she's just like, I'm moving, but it's, I'm being strong on the outside. And then she has like the full loss control of her body. almost slapstick thing that Nora was talking about. And it's funny because in a different world, you could see her having back problems actually play into the comedy that Aniston is known for and that, you know, Bill,

I know you and I have talked about how we think she's really good at that and doesn't get to do it. But instead, she is just playing it at full soap opera meltdown. And there's just also, she's not served by the character because at this point, Like, are you supposed to be rooting for the character? It's one note.

She just keeps going on and on. Like, there's not a lot for her to work with. But, yeah, it's not good. It's not a good look. They've written in all those anecdotes about how she was sort of conniving and on her race to the top in the past and how she maybe outed Laura Peterson and then crossed the street to get away from her. And then there was the Mindy Kaling incident where she's like, I was always generous. to you and Mindy Kaling's like, you actually believe that. I feel like that character is the one that she wanted to do.

I will bowl over anybody in my way on my race to the top to become the number one morning show anchor. Like that character who's kind of terrible, but also has a lot in front of her and is sort of getting what she wants, like that is kind of what I want to see her do. But this just doesn't serve that at all. Yeah, she's supposed to be a succession character. So it's like if we're watching Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal Lecter's like,

oh my God, I don't know if I should kill more people. Like she should just be an assassin. And what's weird about it is, I think she knows that, but she's also Jennifer Aniston and she wants to be liked, right? Ultimately, she's an actor who over the years has pick parts that she wants to be liked.

And even if she's doing like horrible bosses, it's like, it's so campy. You know I'm not really like this. So this character, she's tiptoeing around that the fact that this person's a horrible person. And Amanda, this is basically the Katie Couric character, right, that we're seeing revealed in the book. Like, that's what this is supposed to be. Yes. Once again, real life has eclipsed the morning show and they can't keep up with the news.

It gives you have not been reading page six as frequently as I have, which congratulations to you. Katie Couric has a memoir coming out at the end of this month. I have not read it. I've only read the tabloid coverage, which makes it seems like real. scorchers. She's Alex. She's Alex in the book. But like with real juice and heat and, you know, maybe like some conflict between like her public image and her ambition, but really just someone who's over it and is like, here is what I have to say. And every time I watch Anderson now, I'm like, no, no, I don't want your sort of like quiet moral crisis and your back pain. I want Katie

Couric. If we're going to do this, let's do it. Yeah. It's like, are you a bad person or not? Because the show has basically said over 15 episodes, you're a bad person. Right. But the show is also trying to pretend coming into the start of season two that she's become this feminist icon, which we couldn't figure that part out either, why she got all the credit for that.

And then as it's going along, I have no feel for it. What's her personal life like Nora? So just men are out? And she's, where's her daughter? Who are the people in her life that actually give a shit about it? They're just all gone. What's going on?

Right. We need, I would like, particularly as the, um, the chip situation. Thank you. From the end of the first season has been completely erased from the conversation. Wait. So can I ask you guys something? Because I read a recap that suggested that it's very clear that chip, a.k.k.a. Mark Duplas is in unrequited love with Alex.

That, not. Jennifer Anderson. Not set up raw. Nothing about this show is clear. My mind was blown. I was like, am I missing this? Do you guys also feel that he is like desperately in love with Jennifer Aniston on the show? There hasn't been one moment that suggested this.

Thank you. I'm really relieved. I'm sorry. I do feel as though the show has attempted to communicate this to me. But I also feel that the show has like attempted to communicate to me that Corey Ellison is somehow a good morally conflicted person. Like there are some things that they're selling that I am not buying. And I think that falls into that category.

Yeah, it's weird because there's all of these unrequited relationships that they've kind of advanced past. It's like there are these backstory scenes, but I didn't see the episode somehow. Like, Billy Crudip and Reese, I guess they're supposed to have, I guess they're setting up some sort of love triangle thing. I can't remember like four moments with these two where I're like, oh man, these two belong together. I don't remember one moment. But then they set it up in like 30 seconds where now, I mean, are we? we think they hooked up, right? Yeah.

I mean, they suggested. It's been communicated to us that that happened. The show is also now trying to tell story and flashback form, which I just like, we're not there. That's an advanced timeline storytelling technique. We've bitten off more than we can chew morning show. I don't know the order in which these are supposed to go together. It's a double flashback because we're already in, like, February, March, 2020,

and then we're going backwards again. It's like lost. Oh, my God. Now we're in 1976. This is just now, this is just an incredibly glossy series of vignettes about people loosely associated with a television program. Absolutely losing their minds. The thing that's on the table now, like we're 15 episodes saying we have five left, like, I'm prepared for anything. Because this is a show that would absolutely be like, let's have like a flashback to 2001 when Alex was coming through and now we're going to deage her with some weird wig.

and then Steve Carrell's going to shave and we're going to dye his hair and we're going to pretend. Like, I really think they might do something like that. This is how crazy the show is. Everything's on the table. And they'll spend like, they'll get the Irishman de-aging stuff

and spend like $10 million for the scene. Like when they had the Anniston private plane scene, I'm sure they were just flying around. Like, oh, we need this more on that day. Let's just fly around for eight hours. Can I pause it just, can I just enter into the conversation, the possibility that this is all a massive money laundering? scheme that the morning show is just in service of some.

For the Hello Sunshine Company? Yeah. I have enjoyed like the winking like Corey trying to launch a streaming service, but nobody wants the streaming service, but like just don't subscribe, which is like almost meta Apple Plus commentary, but they don't really have their heart in it. No. Well, that's the whole show. They don't really totally have the heart in anything.

So we have the innocent character has been a disaster. Yes. The crude-up character, I mean, he's still great. Every time he's on screen, I'm excited. And has this great scene when he goes to Hannah's father's bar that if we thought he was a better person would have rang really authentic. But they can't decide if this is a good person or not. But then in this scene, David Pamer was really good as the dad. And it's just like a really well-written scene.

It's well-filmed. And it's kind of the reason I think we keep watching the show because it will have these four or five minutes. moments where you're like, oh, that was good. And then it falls apart again. You're not with me on this? No, I mean, I was taken aback by it and it was effective. I still am just like in the same way that I'm not convinced that the characters in the show will like land the plane respectfully for the Hannah Schoenfeld character.

I'm just sort of like we are dragging this along and pretending like a lot of people are advocating for her and they're given a lot more time to Billy Crudeup or dare I bring him up, Steve Carell's character. Oh, boy. To examine every side of this except for, you know, the actual woman in question. So I like they're trying to do something, but their efforts don't always work out. We got to talk about Italy. Nora, any last thoughts on that one?

I really struggled with the with the, um, Corey goes to visit Hannah's father scene just because I don't, I don't believe in, I felt like the show was trying to tell me that he had an honest, authentic motivation there that I just do not believe that he has. I do think that it was a great way for them to spend, I don't know, $3,000 on Green Bay Packers memorabilia. Great work. Great stuff.

But that's the thing about the show is if you just took that scene out, out in a vacuum. You'd be like, wow, that was a really well-acted, effective scene. But you would also have to remove everything in your brain that has all the backstory of this Corey character who I'm still not sure as a good person. And for that scene to work, ultimately, you have to feel like he's a good person. And we already kind of know he's not. He's definitely not.

He's totally, but he at least seems like he's struggling morally with something, unlike everyone else in this show. Right? Yes. I mean, that's what they're trying to get us to think. I'm just not fully, I'm not fully bought in on that. I completely agree that that is what the show is attempting. Yeah, I'm just saying this is what they're trying to do.

I think the show wants him to be a good person who's struggling with bad decisions that he's made. But they're both like, the show wants to have you know that he's good or that you're rooting for him while also like trying to do all the moral complexity stuff that it thinks like Prestige TV does. but it's already staked its position on like every single character. So then it's just people shrieking at each other. It's also just what is the evidence that Corey Allison is a good person, right? Like that he goes to Green Bay to like clean up a mess that he was part of creating. It just doesn't. We have no evidence.

The only evidence is that we all like Billy Crudip. Right. So we're kind of rooting for Corey to be a good person because we like him as an actor. There are worst reasons. I will say he, my favorite, there's just. one line, at least one line every episode where I'm just so happy to hear him say it. And my one for this one was, nobody likes a gossip, Kyle. Would you want to more Packers talk, Nora, in the bar scene?

I feel like we could have like dove into the Rogers saga. I guess it was 2020. Maybe it could have been a little Matt LaFleur. Maybe when the guy comes in and they're like, we're closed, we're closed. And then he leaves. Maybe he could have thrown in some line about what, was going on with the Packers. I do, I will say, when this show is incredibly on the nose, just like absurdly on the nose,

it really works for me. Like, I think the UBA plus jokes are really, they get me every time. I also think the title of the book. Yeah, what was the title? The other side of the bed. The wrong side of the bed. It's really good. Corruption coverups at a crisis of culture at America's number one morning show.

Like, that is some chef's kiss stuff. this is the kind of show that they would have hired Brian Stelter, the guy who wrote the book based on the thing, to write an entire other book about all the fake characters and this and paid him like a million and a half dollars to just release this fake book. I would not have been surprised by that. All right, Steve Carell. Yeah. I don't know what to say. Seems like you'd have to have like a relative level of intelligence to rise to the top.

in some sort of industry and TV, you'd have to be able to read people at least a tiny bit. You'd have to be able to know how to navigate certain things. And if you're in this situation with this Italian documentarian, documentarian, just randomly was having coffee, she's made friends with you. And now it's like, hey, let's just turn the camera on. I'm not going to use this. I just don't think anyone over the age of like 11 years old would be dumb enough to be like, yeah, let's do it. We'll just do a rough run here. What's the worst thing that could happen?

It's so stupid. I was staggered. I actually paused and I just looked at my wife and I'm like, why? But yeah. Can we also just add in that the opportunity for them to be doing this fake on-camera interview is created by the fact that they both are exposed to COVID-19 and decide to quarantine together in Steve Correll's like Lake Como Palace. That was our episode for Cliffhanger. It's like, oh, are we going to have a Steve Correll COVID death? It's like, no, they're fine. No, they're fine.

But again, this show is like, oh, the world outside exists. How should we incorporate COVID? And it's like, well, oh, they did, you know, Italy. Great. Now we'll just put these two people in quarantine in order for them to make nonsensical decisions. It has also been established for us that he is still in, some communication with his wife and his family, I would really love the scene where he gets on Zoom with his wife and kids.

And they're like, hey, what's up? What's you doing? Where are you? Who's that? Why does she have a camera? Was there not enough coughing and sneezing for you to bang home the COVID subpot? Or would you have had a couple more sneezes maybe? What would you have added?

No, I felt like it was perfect morning show because they said COVID-19 and they completely abandoned it, you know? It's like there's the scare, but then no symptoms, nothing. We're not actually going to give one of them COVID. We're just going to like name check it and then move on with our ridiculous plot. I got to say, I was actually rooting for him to die of COVID by like episode five. Like I really was when it was like, oh, COVID, I'm like, this is really smart. This is a good way to get rid of Steve Currell's character who shouldn't be on the show anymore.

Just wipe him out. It was like, all right, this arc actually makes sense. He gets hit by COVID. But no, he's fine. everyone's fine. There's no symptoms, even though nobody really knows what's going on. They also did the new character, the new executive who has the racial incident that the weatherman oversees and the weatherman then starts throwing punches, which somebody miraculously videotapes only the last part of. And they just threw that in too as well, because they were like, hey, what are we missing?

What, Nora's going to say something? It is so insane. What is, so Yanko. It's just, it's like, it's like if you're at a restaurant and you're ordering some already really rich, like, you've got like yoki and a cream sauce and they're like, let's put some gold shavings and truffle and just go all the way in. Oysters. You know what this show needs is a weatherman who's having an absolute breakdown along with everybody else. The elements of the storyline are that he's allegedly more conservative than most people involved in this show. So then he says the phrase spirit animal.

So then he's asked to go to Florida and meet with members of the Seminole tribe, offers an insincere apology on air. And then says something like he had a great line when he was like, I won't genuflect at the altar of Stella's progressive demands or whatever. But then, yeah, just punches someone. Like, where was the meeting where someone was like, you know what else we need to do? Have the weatherman go totally off of his rocker. It is amazing.

The weatherman is always the most essential part of any of these shows, right? And they're like, we need more backstory of this guy. Right. Let's get him in a controversy. Then we'll, let's get him in two controversies. This was a character we didn't need. We had enough characters. I don't know what they're doing.

Right. It's also just how many viral videos, like fake viral videos can this show stuff into like every season. It's also gotten pretty much unaddressed that Daniel did the Neil Diamond situation and burst into song on air. Oh my God. That was bad. That was probably the worst moment of this season, I think. So, all right, so winners and losers, I think Margulies is a winner. I actually think she's been good on this show.

And I don't know how many shows she's been on at this point. But her character, it's like, what is this? Why are they doing this? But it's actually like a decent character. I'm the most interested in her and Crudup at this point for scenes. Like if they're just popping on TV, you guys agree or disagree? Yeah, she has a little bit of the edge that I want Jennifer Anderson to have of like I something she she both has some points but it's also like a little bit calculating and I'm like kind of like I don't actually know where her character is going to go which which is good right because every other character on this show I'm like oh I see how we're setting this up yeah I'm a big fan of her I don't who she's supposed to be like news anchor wise I what is her job it seems like sort of like the Diane Sawyer style like even

special, you know. So she's like a gay Diane Sawyer, basically? Or like a gay Barbara Walters possibly? Yeah. I don't think they established that she's famous enough. Did you guys feel like, I mean, they basically gloss over it, but I guess the senses she's supposed to be this A plus list interviewer, right? What I've, the sense that I've gotten is that her, and I don't, I've never gotten the

sense that there was a direct real life comparison for that character. But it's like maybe she never quite rose to the level. of ubiquitous fame that someone hosting that show would. But she sort of has gravitas and four times a year, you know, interviews Obama and like gets a massive 60 minute deal. But couldn't you argue that that person in the 2020s would, that's a better job and you'd actually be more famous doing that job than hosting a morning show? Oh, yeah.

I don't even know who the, you could, the three networks. I couldn't even name all the morning anchors on those. three shows at this point. I don't think that show is as relevant. That's another problem with this show. Morning shows aren't as relevant as they used to be because there's just too many things to do in the morning. This show wanted to do a show about a morning show like 10, 15 years ago. Even in terms of like who Aniston's character would have been there, but also just sort of what it would have meant. It's also like the belief in the power of the networks that keep saying like UBA and YBA and all of these acronyms, like I'm supposed to remember all of them as I would CNN and, you know, or ABC and

CBS. But like no one, there, UBA plus is the worst name for a streaming service of all of the streaming services. Yeah, UBA sounds like something that you would have to go to the doctor for because it hurts when you pee and you have UBS. IBS. Yes. IBS plus.

It's funny because this is trying to be like this incredibly smart show about TV networks. But nobody has made the point, like a TV network like this, which is like a basic network, the three things they would make money from are the morning show, whatever late night show they have in sports. Right. Right. Everything else, they're just frantically trying to figure out or trying to do spinoffs of spin-offs of blank Chicago or blank, you know, CSI or whatever.

And then the streaming piece of it, none of them can figure out. And they've all done it really clumsily. This show barely even addresses that. So, yeah, when they do the UBA plus thing, that's part. probably the most interesting thing Billy Crudip would have to figure out. It's kind of way more important than the morning show, but yet it makes it seem like all he cares about is the morning show. Even on like the newsroom, they spent some time just throwing in lines about like, you guys make up for, you know, very little of revenue, but account for all this time. Like,

there's none of that. Yeah. Well, what do we think about the debate stuff? Because that's been pretty clumsy too. I don't know if they're trying to reflect real life and we're in like, February, March range, my guess is they're going to ride out the election, which I think would be a mistake? This season, you mean? Yeah, maybe. Oh, God. I hope not.

Is Trump become a character? Or do they give him like a proxy name? Like, I don't even know. They reference him in the very strange debate prep, right? When Alex is yelling at people about like why, you know, she should ask Bernie Sanders about so-and-so's electability or something. and then they just let some poor writer, like do a Bernie Sanders imitation that's very bad for two minutes.

Do we need cameos? Like, should Bernie Sanders be on the show for four minutes? Would you have AOC on? Like, how far do you go? Or somebody playing AOC? I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. But if they're already on episode five,

if we're halfway through, and they've only made it through, like, February, I think, because this debate's like a Valentine's Day debate, right? Because that's why Juliana Markis. release gets on the plane. If they try to go from February to November 2020 in the span of five episodes, that would be like an all-time terrible decision, even within like the bad decisions of the morning show. I'm ready for it. I think it's in play. I think it's in play. I want to see them do it. Nora, how do you feel about the Marsha Gayhard and author character? Because I actually

like that character too. That was the other one that I think strong. She's not on a lot, but it's a good character. I really like her. I really like her. So she and I will offer a caveat to my assessment that there is not a single character in this show who has their act together. She's got her act together. Margles has her act together. And that is very, it is like grounding and satisfying just to see someone stand there. And even if I wish that Aniston was spiraling a little bit less, when you have that solid person for her to sort of play off. And Marcia Gay-Hardons just standing there and being like, Sue me if you want, Alex, like, do what you got to do.

I know that it's true. It's going to be in the book. Like, that's, there's a nice sort of, okay, this person is operating within the bounds of reality. And I feel like I know what their motivations are and what they will do next. That's a nice little thing to throw in the gumbo here. You know, the thing about the innocent character, Nora will appreciate this, even though I've never talked about it. Nord, where do you stand on Just Go With It, the Adam Sandler movie?

Damn. Nobody, I thought this. I thought you'd be on this. I've seen it multiple times. I'll give you that. I've seen it multiple times. It's a favorite of my kids. And Aniston's really good in it because she's playing a dental hygienist,

working for a dentist, Adam Sandler, who then goes on a trip with him, but he's in love with supermodels and never realized. as is true loves right in front of them. But she's on autopilot the whole movie, but she's kind of an observer and sarcastic. And I think that's who she is when she works on TV. Anytime she's part of something but can kind of observe and comment

and just make little barbs, that's what she was really good at at friends. Anytime friends went off the rails, it was always if it was like this her and Ross soap opera, it was like, all right. But she was really good in a room with people. And they haven't figured that out at all on this show. I don't understand why this person has no sense of humor and is just such a pill.

It bothers me. Yeah. I want her to have a little bit more. I mean, they talk about how much juice she has. Like, she should actually have some juice. She should.

Or be a monster. Yeah, or just go the other way and you're a monster and that's it. Amanda, five episodes left. What's your biggest hope for the last five? Oh, boy.

I would like to see Aniston and Reese Witherspoon actually go at each other. as we were promised, aside from the one hallway scene where they yell each other. And Nora, you pointed out, it's like when Aniston is the most grounded, when she's like, we weren't friends. And they're actually fighting. I mean, Bill, you just said something interesting, which is like Jennifer Aniston is good around people. And it made me think this is probably a COVID thing.

But every character is just in their own room this season. They don't all interact with each other. And that probably is a little bit because this was filmed during COVID and you couldn't have like crowd scenes. Like succession where they love having people gathering. Yeah. But I would like more. If I'm supposed to care about this dumb show,

which I don't, like the actual morning show within the show, then I want to see these two people who, like I agree with Nora. I like them like at the desk actually going at each other. Yeah. Okay. What do you got, Nora? So I would like to see crime.

I just think that they should just go in for it. This is a soap opera now. I just, so I want to be incredibly clear because we're talking about all the things that are sort of wrong or just make no sense with the show. I am all the way in. I am still, like, I am excited for these remaining episodes. I love watching every episode and wondering what's going on. So, Aniston killing. I just want to see them do as much as they can possibly do.

Alex killing the book author? So we could do, I would, I would rather like she tries to do some hacking and get a call. Incredible. Or like I think I want some white collar crime. Okay. You know, I don't want it to be like really sad. So maybe this is an embezzlement.

That would be fun. It's an excuse for her daughter to be back on the show, which apparently she has. Her daughter hacks Marche Gay Hardin. The other thing I really want is, um, I do want to see, uh, crude up and Margulies go at it. I want him to, I mean, it's clearly it's setting up for him to leak her and Bradley's relationship. and I want the fallout of that and I want to see those two characters.

That's great. Here are my three picks. I wanted Aniston to kill the book author, Marsha Gayharden, and then have Chip cover it up. I think would have been great. The weatherman, I think, is just sitting there to, let's make him a cartoon character. He might do some crime.

Get him into some QAnon stuff and some super duper truck stuff. And just, let's have. him go completely off the rails. I'm good with that. And then the crew dip just continue to try to have him on screen in ways that make me root for him, even though he's a bad person. Yeah. I think if you can hit those three things, it's tough because they've laid so much groundwork

that he's a bad person, but I'm still rooting for him and I don't, I'm not ashamed of it. Can I give you one more? Yeah. I would like some politician to monumentally embarrass themselves by agreeing to a cameo in this television program. That would be great. That would be great. I wonder who that would be.

Like, I mean, clearly it wasn't Mayor Pete. Yeah, probably. Someone along those lives. Oh my God, Mayor Pete. Man, any other wishes before we go? Do you want Steve Corona still be alive at the end of this season? I was about to say I would like him to become the COVID correspondent from Italy for the

morning show. I want them to be like, you know what? This has become more important than our past. And so we are going lots. to our experienced journalist. And then somehow during the live feed, this has to be the finale, by the way, when he is reporting from Italy,

the tape that was made of the documentary gets substituted onto the morning show instead of his COVID report. And that's how we go out. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good one. I also,

I'd love to find out if they can make that UBA plus work. Yeah. Really love to say maybe a merger. Sure. can merge with STD plus or one of the other things that are out there. Really competitive pricing. Yeah. Listen, the most important thing is they have to save the anesthetic.

Like, really fundamentally, they have to save this Aniston character because I think this is actually becoming bad for her to this show. I think she is coming off badly. This is a quarter to NFL analogy. This is a quarterback on the bad team and the wrong offense. and it's actually now frustrated to watch. And maybe this is just who she is at this point of her career.

But I just feel like there's a little bit more. And I can't, I'm surprised she'd let this happen. Reese is in good shape. We're fine. Right. Our queen Reese, Amanda.

She turned it around. She turned it around. She got rid of the wig. We're good. She's doing a great job. I think her character is probably a really bad person, but I'm just like, yay,

Reese, I'm rooting for you. Maybe they get Anniston a boyfriend fling something, anything? Younger guy? I mean, that was just like working on the show, like an AP in the show. They just kind of start sneaking around. She should have the thing that they tried to get for Chip where he all of a sudden it's like,

oh, Chip has a nice fiancee now. So this, this demonstrates like stability and growth. Alex should have someone like that. And I agree. It should be someone who's sort of subservient. is an awful way to put that, especially in the context of this show. But someone who's like not a celebrity on her level, but who kind of makes her not give a shit. No, a Stedman.

Like, and it just relaxes her a little bit and she's all of a sudden a little bit less anxious. It's like how Amanda has Zach Barron. Same thing. He's not like that one. But also, Nora, you just like, I feel like you're predicting that she sleeps with Chip. And I was thinking in my head just now, like, no. I agree because I'm like trying to think of. threats that I can make publicly that I would follow through on because I won't stop watching

the show if she sleeps with Chip. Obviously, I won't. Let's be real. But I'll be really mad. Because that's like dark and twisty. Like, she needs to have fun. Why is Chip on the show? I don't like him. It's also completely, it makes absolutely no sense why he's on the show within making a good television show for us to watch anymore. Also, within the storyline here. Correct. Chip getting hired back and agreeing to come back makes literally not a fragment of sense in the world. But I also, I don't want that to come up with him and Aniston again because I want to see her have fun. Yeah. Like, I want her to be in a good mood at least 12% of the time.

So if we can accomplish that with some, you know, start dating a waiter. Like something. Duplas power rankings, the guy from the chair just cry. I don't remember which one is. Is that Jay on the chair? That's Jay, I believe. Jay is in the number one spot now. Then Mark on the morning show, I think, has taken a big step back.

I'm rooting for more really expensive cameos from celebrities like Mindy Kaling that have, I don't know why they're on the show and they clearly were completely overpaid to be in like four scenes. I don't know who else could be out there for that. But like, can we get like a Chase Crawford for what as like a fit, Weatherman-Pillian. The Anniston boyfriend. Oh, that would be great. Yeah. But maybe he's like he's probably not.

even famous enough. Maybe it's like Penn Badgley, younger guy. He's trying to think of random names. He's pretty basic on you, isn't he? Could it be like Chris Evans just for like two scenes, a little Apple plus synergy? Right. Yeah. Yeah. That would be great. Honestly, I would be delighted to see Ryan Reynolds is just on for one of them. I'm delighted to see Chris, Chris Evans at any possible turn. So support that wholeheartedly. Um, the morning show. Wow. Nor, I'm with you. Don't be ashamed. This is one of the best watches on television. even though it's mostly really, really terrible and inexorable and incoherent.

But I think we all love it. This podcast was produced by Kai McBullin. And I don't know, Amanda, do we come back just for the season finale? We come back with like episode nine. What do we do? We let this ride. Unless there's like a crazy episode, we wait until the finale. I think if someone dies of COVID, we're going to have to come back.

All right. COVID emergency path. Otherwise, we can go for the finale. Yeah. Okay. All right. All right. It was great to see both of you. Thank you. Thanks, Phil.