591: 2025 Guest Thought Experiments

In what has become one of our most diabolical annual traditions, we're playing Mullendash again. This year, our guest contestants are: Stephen Falk, with whom the game was initially developed back in the 2000s, and Mullendash newcomers David J. Roth and Jeff Drake. Who can most craft the most convincing Mullenian punchlines? Who can divine the true Mullen from the counterfeits? All is revealed in our latest episode. GUESTS 👤 Stephen Falk 👤 Jeff Drake 👤 David J. Roth TOPICS Lead Topic: 🧠 Mullendash SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 😬 The first Mullendash episode from 2023 🫥 The second Mullendash episode from 2024 🏀 Defector 🤬 The 9 Chickweed Rage podcast 📸 Stephen Falk on Instagram 🫵 You're The Worst on Hulu

Once again again, we made some of our Valued Guests stick around after their tapings and muse about TV in our version of a What If? Find out where their imaginations took them in this very special yearly EHG tradition! GUESTS 👤 Sarah Baker 👤 Omar Gallaga 👤 Daniel D’Addario 👤 Kari Race 👤 Krystal Farmer 👤 Stephanie Green 👤 Adam Grosswirth 👤 Brandi Brown 👤 Taylor Cole 👤 Robert Krut 👤 Jessica Morgan 👤 Adam Sternbergh 👤 Mark Blankenship 👤 Eve Batey 👤 David Bunting 👤 Nick Rheinwald-Jones TOPICS Lead Topic: 🧠 Guest Thought Experiments SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 🤨 2024 Guest Thought Experiments 🧐 2023 Guest Thought Experiments 🤔 2022 Guest Thought Experiments

We are off this week for EHG Prime but present you with this EHG Club unlock of EEHG 360: Did Our Latest Meal At The Bear Give Us Gas? The Bear is back for its fourth season on (sigh) FX on Hulu. Was it a fully satisfying banquet, or did it repeat? We'll tell you everything. Ask EHG requires us to consider such matters as the post-Quibi shows that should have been Quibis, and the best food to eat in your car. Tara pitches Pace Picante's early 90s "New York City?!" spot for the Commercial division of the Tiny Canon. Then we crown the Not Quite Winners and Losers of the week before closing out on an Extra Credit power-ranking the hosts of Family Feud. Grab a napkin and tuck in! TOPICS Lead Topic: 🐻 The Bear Ask EHG: 👃 Smell You Later Tiny Canon: 💃 Winner & Loser: ⚽️ Twenty-Twelve Winner & Loser: 😤 Untitled McConaughey / Harrelson Comedy Winner & Loser: 🌬️ Dark Winds Winner & Loser: 🕵🏻‍♂️ Sherlock Winner & Loser: 💌 You're Cordially Invited Winner & Loser: 🤷‍♀️ Jameela Jamil KRTMATIWOTVLM: 🎡 Little House On The Prairie S04.E11: Meet Me At The Fair Extra Credit: 💁🏻‍♂️ Power Ranking The Hosts Of Family Feud Mini: 🇸🇪 Lost In Ikea (Apr 2018) SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 🚀 "How Much Must O'Brien Suffer?" at Reddit 🥫 Pace Picante "New York City!" 📷 Photo: FX

A Manhattan real estate scion is believed to have killed his first wife in The Beast In Me, the new entirely fictional Netflix thriller series that is NOT about Robert Durst. Durst you watch it? Stephanie Early Green returns to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge), the latest from Steve Coogan; S19 of Married At First Sight; and JFK: What The Doctors Saw. Stephanie pitches the "Dinner Party" episode of The Office for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close on a Beastly Game Time. Quit plotting out the jogging path you want to build and listen! TOPICS Lead Topic: 🏃🏻‍♂️ The Beast In Me Around The Dial: 🧠 How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) Around The Dial: 👰‍♀️ Married At First Sight Around The Dial: 🩻 JFK: What The Doctors Saw The Canon: 🍷 The Office (US) S04.E13: Dinner Party Winner & Loser: 🙋‍♂️ The Boys From Brazil Winner & Loser: 🤫 The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives Game Time: 🦊 The Beasts In Me, Me Being TV SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 🟢 Stephanie's website ✍🏻 Daniel Fienberg's review of The Beast In Me at The Hollywood Reporter 🤝 Street Forum ATX on Open Collective 🎥 The Zapruder film episode of Good Night America on Wikipedia 📚 Kennedy materials (and all other #majorcase) 20% off at Exhibit B. Books 📷 Photo: Netflix

Vince Gilligan returns to the prestige airwaves with Pluribus, an apocalyptic Rhea Seehorn vehicle that's getting uniformly great reviews -- and Jeff Drake returns to the podcast to talk about why WE aren't all on the same page with its world-building, self-consciously beautiful shot compositions, and more (though we all DO agree that Seehorn is the President of Acting). We went Around The Dial with Stumble, The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling, and Who Hired The Hitman? before Jeff went nuts with a Canon pitch from The Dick Van Dyke Show. All's Fair won, Kim Kardashian's bar-exam support team lost, and we reeled in the years with a historical-TV Game Time. Polish off that rosé and join us! GUESTS 👤 Jeff Drake TOPICS Lead Topic: 📡 Pluribus Around The Dial: 🩼 Stumble Around The Dial: 📔 The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling Around The Dial: 🔫 Who Hired The Hitman? The Canon: 🥜 The Dick Van Dyke Show S02.E20: It May Look Like a Walnut Winner & Loser: ⚖️ All's Fair Winner & Loser: 😩 Kim Kardashian Game Time: 📅 Which Came First? SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 🦋 Jeff Drake on Bluesky 🚧 Jeff's podcast about "9 Chickweed Lane" 💌 Paul F. Tompkins on the Taskmaster podcast 🤔 Get those Would You Rather? prompts to Tara 💵 Sarah's Who Hired The Hitman? review 😿 Get (or give) some assistance with pet expenses at Pet Help Finder 📷 Photo: Apple

Bottoms star and co-writer Rachel Sennott has created a new sitcom star vehicle, I Love L.A., for HBO, all about the world of Zoomer influencers. How much could we take? L.A.'s own Nick Rheinwald-Jones joins us to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through Nobody Wants This S02, Wayward, Aileen: Queen Of The Serial Killers, and Down Cemetery Road. Dave pitched "Those Old Scientists" from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a new season of Game Time, kicking off with a Cassino special. Grab your limited-edition Chipotle bowl and listen! GUESTS 👤 Nick Rheinwald-Jones TOPICS Lead Topic: 🤳 I Love LA Around The Dial: 🕍 Nobody Wants This Around The Dial: 🗺️ Wayward Around The Dial: 😵 Aileen: Queen Of The Serial Killers The Canon: ⏳ Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S02.E07: Those Old Scientists Winner & Loser: 🛟 Dave Foley Winner & Loser: 💸 Ridiculousness Game Time: 👵🏻 Odd Age Out SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 🦋 Nick Rheinwald-Jones on Bluesky 🙅🏽‍♀️ The bad Nobody Wants This thinkpiece 🌮 Donate to Street Forum ATX 🥨 The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank 👑 Sarah's review of Aileen: Queen Of The Serial Killers at Best Evidence 📍 Find a Little Free Pantry near you 😬 Yo, Is This Racist? on Apple Podcasts 📷 Photo: Kenny Laubbacher / HBO

TV returns to the King-verse with HBO's It: Welcome To Derry, a prequel (or side...show?) of sorts for various characters from Stephen King's It -- and Josh Gondelman also returns to accept our apologies before talking about doing gory bits, using your best actors wisely, and the different kinds of tension. We're going Around The Dial with the nineteenth seasons of Married At First Sight and Taskmaster, plus Nightmares & Dreamscapes and The Lowdown, and Tara hopes we have Great News about her Canon pitch. The Pitt wins, various Nobody Wants This actors lose, and we're filling our pillowcases with points in a candy-based Non-Regulation Game Time. Grab a jar of pickles and join us! GUESTS 👤 Josh Gondelman TOPICS Lead Topic: 🤡 It: Welcome To Derry Around The Dial: 💍 Married At First Sight Around The Dial: 🤠 The Lowdown Around The Dial: 💌 Taskmaster Around The Dial: 😴 Nightmares & Dreamscapes The Canon: 📰 Great News S02.E05: Night Of The Living Screen Winner & Loser: 🕳️ The Pitt Winner & Loser: 😑 Nobody Wants This Game Time: 🍫 Trick Or Treat Williams SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 👍 Josh Gondelman's comedy special, Positive Reinforcement 🙌 Josh's newsletter, That's Marvelous! 🥱 Nightmares & Dreamscapes E05 🧭 The text of "The Road Virus Heads North" 🔥 The Extra Hot Great Club page 🌀 Hurricane Melissa resource and donation links 📷 Photo: Brooke Palmer / HBO

Blue Bloods is dead, but its spirit lives on (along with however many actors don't have anything better to do) in Boston Blue, CBS's new Beantown-set spinoff. How authentic is it to the Boston a Bostonian would know? Boston's own Margaret H. Willison returns to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through Downey Wrote That, The Good Wife, The Good Fight, Love Is Blind, and Task. Never Not Mike pitches the Mad Men episode "The Suitcase" for induction into The Canon -- because no, it wasn't in there already, and we were surprised about that too. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that only has a little bit to say. Park yourself at the Green Monster and join us! GUESTS 👤 Margaret H. Willison TOPICS Lead Topic: 🦞 Boston Blue Around The Dial: ✍🏻 Downey Wrote That Around The Dial: 😇 The Good Wife Around The Dial: 👨‍🦯 Love Is Blind Around The Dial: 🛩️ Task The Canon: 🧳 Mad Men S04.E07: The Suitcase Winner & Loser: 🏛️ Michael Fassbender Winner & Loser: 😷 Rockmond Dunbar Game Time: 😶 Get Margaret There SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 📸 Margaret H. Willison on Instagram 🦋 Margaret on Bluesky 🌴 Again With Again With This ✈️ EEHG 372 [in which we talked about Task] 🕵🏻‍♀️ Best Evidence 👀 Game Time answers: Streaming, Westeros, Neilsen, Pivot, Showrunner, Dharma, Crossover, Wednesday, Chyron, Maggie 📷 Photo: John Medland / CBS

Tim Robinson is back with The Chair Company, a cringe-com with a mystery (or is it??) at its center, and Variety's Alison Herman is also back to talk about it: the little self-flagellating moments the show gets right, whether it's the Tim Robinson property for people who usually don't enjoy Tim Robinson, and why Robinson is like David Lynch. We went Around The Dial with 9-1-1s old and new, Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, and The Alabama Solution, and Tara busted out her see! cret! skill! at Canon pitching for a first-season episode of Platonic. Julio Torres won, Yellowjackets lost, and the panel tried to hit IMDb episode-count bulls-eyes in the second half of the 30 Under 30 Game Time. Leave that deviled-egg remnant right where it is and come join us! GUESTS 👤 Alison Herman TOPICS Lead Topic: 🪑 The Chair Company Around The Dial: 🧑‍🚒 9-1-1: Nashville Around The Dial: 🚒 9-1-1 Around The Dial: 🤡 Devil In Disguise Around The Dial: 😮‍💨 The Alabama Solution The Canon: 🏟️ Platonic S01.E05: My Wife's Boyfriend Winner & Loser: 🔷 Julio Torres Winner & Loser: 🐝 Yellowjackets Game Time: ⬇️ 30 Under 30 Part 2 SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site ✍️ Alison Herman at Variety 💺 Alison's review of The Chair Company for Variety 📜 Sarah's review of The Alabama Solution at Best Evidence 📚 Exhibit B. Books 🍆 Tara's interview with Platonic's Luke Macfarlane 🤝 Alison's review of Platonic S01 📷 Photo: Sarah Shatz / HBO

The fourth season of Monster, Netflix's true crime anthology, concerns itself with Wisconsin serial killer (or was he? (he probably was)) Ed Gein, played by former Queer As Folk cutie Charlie Hunnam. Did it get under our skin? Richard Lawson returns to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, Only Connect, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Richard presents the Season 2 finale of The Traitors Australia for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time about the shows select actors did for up to but NOT more than 30 episodes. Take a break from wood chopping and join us! GUESTS 👤 Richard Lawson TOPICS Lead Topic: 🔪 Monster: The Ed Gein Story Around The Dial: ⛄️ Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Around The Dial: 🔌 Only Connect Around The Dial: 🖖 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds The Canon: 🪃 The Traitors (AU) S02.E09 Winner & Loser: 🅱️ Ballard Winner & Loser: 🌴 Beverly Hills, 90210 Game Time: ⬇️ 30 Under 30: Part 1 SUPPORT THE SHOW 🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more! 🎧 Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads! 🛍️ Shop our merch store! NOTES 🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site 🦋 Richard Lawson on Bluesky ✍🏻 Sarah's review of Monster: The Ed Gein Story at Best Evidence 💂🏻 Richard's profile page (including his Monster: The Ed Gein Story review) at The Guardian 💄 The Listen To Sassy Club 🎹 The Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs ranking of the tracks on Billy Joel's The Stranger, with Dan Rogge 📷 Photo: Netflix