629: Putting Heads Together On Blood Sacrifice

We are off this week for Labor Day but present an episode from inside the Club vault. AppleTV’s newest dramedy pairs The Heat screenwriter Katie Dippold with Matthew Rhys as the beleaguered mayor of a dying island town; we tell you whether you should book your stay at the creepy local inn. Ask EHG invites us to share, among other things, which current show desperately needs a zombie apocalypse and the words we find aesthetically pleasing. Sarah pitches Omar Little’s first rendition of “The Farmer In The Dell” from The Wire for the Tiny Whistling Canon. We name the week’s Not Quite Winners And Losers. Finally, we end on our picks for the Sky Mall gifts our favorite TV characters most need to receive. Settle in to your table at The Salty Whale and join us!TOPICSAnnouncement: 📢 Ask & Answer Ask EHG Without DiscordLead Topic: 🧙‍♀️ Widow's Bay Ask EHG: 🇨🇦 Canadian GladiatorsTiny Canon: 😗 The Wire S01.E05: The PagerWinner & Loser: 👶 Nick OffermanWinner & Loser: ✍️ Friends writersWinner & Loser: 🩳 Michael BeachWinner & Loser: 🐻‍❄️ Lost producersWinner & Loser: 👦🏻 Adolescence Winner & Loser: 😤 Aimee Lou WoodExtra Credit: ✈️ SkyMalledMini: 😚 Whistling (Oct 2011)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🎺 "What's Jazz Doing In A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms?" on YouTube😙 "Omar Comin'" on YouTube🙊 "Lost Actor Harold Perrineau Says Former Co-Star Still Won't Talk To Him" at IGN [subscription required]✈️ SkyMall📷 Photo: Apple

Labor Day is nearly here, and with it the unofficial start of fall. With dozens of new shows premiering or returning, which are we actually planning to watch…and planning even harder to avoid? Eve Batey returns so that we can all share our picks and P.U.s. Eve presents the Widow’s Bay episode “Your Baggage” for induction into The Canon. Then, after we name the week’s Winner and Loser, we close with a Ted-y bear of a Non-Regulation Game Time. Take a break from burning your dead leaves to listen!GUESTS👤 Eve BateyTOPICSLead Topic: 🍂 Fall TV PreviewThe Canon: ⛽️ Widow's Bay S01.E08: Your BaggageWinner & Loser: ⚖️ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Winner & Loser: 📡 CNNGame Time: 🔪 Ted Like MeSUPPORT 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🦋 Eve Batey on Bluesky‼️ “The Cozy-Looking Sweaters In ‘Reds,’ Ranked” at Defector📰 The Vanity Fair Daily newsletter🌁 Eve’s piece on Under Story at the San Francisco Chronicle [subscription required]👶 Sarah’s review of Baby Doe at Best Evidence [subscription required]🖼️ “CNN Apologizes For Mistakenly Airing Photo Of Dolly Parton Impersonator In Report On Late Singer” at Variety

Five-part Swedish serial-killer cop show Blood Sacrifice just hit Netflix, and Sarah Baker is back to talk about scratching the Scandi-noir itch, mapping overseas procedurals onto B-B-B-B-Bosch, and what uniquely Swedish crimes a second season could incorporate. We went Around The Dial with My Brilliant Career, Big Brother, This Is A Gardening Show, and a Djokovic djokumentary on Prime Video before Tara very truthfully pitched Would I Lie To You? for another Canon spot. Line Of Fire won; Lost, um, you know; and we had to dive deep into our NCISknowledge for Game Time. Throw a couple cans of sparkling wine in the Volvo and join us!GUESTS👤 Sarah BakerTOPICSLead Topic: 🩸 Blood Sacrifice Around The Dial: 👷🏻‍♀️ My Brilliant Career Around The Dial: 👁️ Big Brother Around The Dial: 👨‍🌾 This Is A Gardening Show Around The Dial: 🎾 Novak Djokovic: The Wolf In Winter The Canon: 🤥 Would I Lie To You S19.E05Winner & Loser: 🔫 Line Of Fire Winner & Loser: 🐻‍❄️ Lost Game Time: ⚓️ NavallySUPPORT 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🍔 Listen to Sarah Baker on Bob's Burgers💝 And keep an eye out for Loves Company🏦 Contact Sarah about the EHG Mutual Aid Vault📷 Photo: Netflix / Jörgen Johansson

HBO’s getting in the superhero game with Lanterns, a take on a DC Comics superhero with theories about aliens, and lore expert Kate Sánchez returns to walk us through why John Stewart is an interesting apprentice, what she’d do with glowing-ring powers, and whether we buy Coach Taylor in this role. We went Around The Dial with The Dink, Hard Knocks, and the return of The Challenge, and our esteemed colleague John Ramos hoped we’d represent an episode of Heartstoppers for the Canon. Only Murders casting won, Dylan Walsh lost, and we waded into the Simpsons–One Piece plot Venn in Game Time. While away that flight to Nebraska with an all-new Extra Hot Great!GUESTS👤 Kate SánchezTOPICSLead Topic: 💍 Lanterns Around The Dial: 🏓 The Dink Around The Dial: 🏈 Hard Knocks Around The Dial: 🤾🏻‍♂️ The Challenge The Canon: 💗 Heartstopper S02.E08: PerfectWinner & Loser: 🏢 Only Murders In The Building Winner & Loser: 🏒 Dylan WalshGame Time: 🏴‍☠️ One Piece Did ItSUPPORT 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🤨 Kate Sánchez's online community, But Why Tho🦋 Kate on Bluesky💪 Tara explains why you should be watching Reacher S04, at GQ🤳 More on Reacher S04 from us in EEHG 424📚 The virtual concierge at Exhibit B. Books, Sarah's true-crime bookshop📷 Photo: HBO

In Anna Pigeon, the USA Network’s new Canadian import, the titular character is a cop whose beat is Glacier National Park. Did it make us want to abandon our TVs for the great outdoors? Famed National Parks Omar Gallaga returns to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through The Last House, S02 of X-Men ’97, and Game Day Murders. Omar presents the Primal episode “Plague Of Madness” for induction into the Canon. Then, after we name the week’s Winner and Loser, we get out our credit cards for a Game Time that dares us to shop (TV) ’til we drop. Put on your sunscreen and bug spray and listen!GUESTS👤 Omar GallagaTOPICSLead Topic: 🐦 Anna Pigeon Around The Dial: 🏘️ The Last House Around The Dial: 🎆 X-Men '97 Around The Dial: 🏟️ Game Day Murders The Canon: 🦕 Primal S01.E07: Plague Of MadnessWinner & Loser: 🕳️ Stars of The PittWinner & Loser: 🦶 Ego NwodimGame Time: 💸 Shop The ShowNOTES🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site🦋 Omar on Bluesky🫥 The Cold Vanish by John Billman on Bookshop🧗‍♂️ “No Return” (about “alpine divorce”) at The New Yorker💄 The Listen To Sassy Club🦸🏻‍♂️ “A Wunderkind Showrunner Was Put In Charge Of Marvel’s X-Men ’97. Then Something Went Terribly Wrong” at Vanity Fair👨🏽‍💻 Omar at CNET🏸 Sarah’s review of Game Day Murders at Best Evidence🧼 Info on and tickets for The Bathroom Attendant📷 Photo: Michelle Faye / USACLUB-ONLY NOTES🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To💬 Get On Our Community Discord

Extra Extra Hot Great music-on-TV correspondent Kari Race is back to discuss Sterling Point, in which Manhattan rich kids head to a wifi-free island in Canada to uncover secrets, draw love triangles, and make out with their friends’ moms. The panel was divided on whether it was charming and sweet, or unrealistic and annoying; see if we think it’ll make you smile, or just feel old. We went Around The Dial with Unacceptable, Heartstopper: Forever, and the BBC’s Jared Leto investigation, and Dave asserted that a seventh-season X-Filesepisode was ass. Task won, Wonder Man lost, and Game Time turned X-Files guest-star deaths into blind items. Grab a handful of illegally stored acorns and join us.GUESTS👤 Kari RaceTOPICSLead Topic: 👉 Sterling Point Around The Dial: 🫨 Unacceptable Around The Dial: 💕 Heartstopper Around The Dial: 😬 Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret The Nonac: 🔫 The X-Files S07.E13: First Person ShooterWinner & Loser: 👮🏻‍♂️ Task Winner & Loser: 🤷‍♂️ Wonder Man Game Time: 👽 The Ex-FilesSUPPORT 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🎧 Kari Race's Hey Remember the 80s podcast🛬 Tara's "Why Can't TV Finales Stick a Landing" piece at GQ😬 Sarah's review of JL:HDS at Best Evidence✉️ Mo Ryan's "Jared Leto And Hollywood's Open Secrets" essay at NYT🧯 Mo Ryan's Burn It Down at Exhibit B. Books📰 Last week's guest Tim Grierson's profile of Wonder Man star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for the L.A. Times📷 Photo: Prime Video

New Girl creator and The Dropout adapter Elizabeth Meriwether is back on TV with Furious, VERY loosely adapted from the 1987 erotic thriller Black Widow. Were we mad about watching it? Tim Grierson returns to join the discussion. Around The Dial takes us through Married At First Sight S20, The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience, and The Westies. Tara pitches the Documentary Now! two-parter “Soldier Of Illusion” for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week’s Winner and Loser, it’s on to a nomenclatural Game Time. Pour some vodka into your water bottle (we don’t judge) and join us!GUESTS👤 Tim GriersonTOPICSAnnouncement: 🌡️ New Club Milestones HitLead Topic: 💉 Furious Around The Dial: 💍 Married At First Sight Around The Dial: ⚾️ The Lonely Island Presents The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience Around The Dial: 🧭 The Westies The Canon: 🏔️ Documentary Now! S04.E01 & E02: Soldier Of IllusionWinner & Loser: 🚔 On Patrol: Live Winner & Loser: 🗯️ Mary Beth BaroneGame Time: 👯‍♂️ Name & NameSUPPORT 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🦋 Tim Grierson on Bluesky🌴 Again With This Club🗣️ The L.A. Times, where Tim’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II interview will be published in August🎞️ Richard Roeper’s review of The Westies at Roger Ebert🔥 The EHG FAQ, including information on the Mutual Aid Vault🤑 “July 27, 1986 commercials” on YouTube, which we’ll be discussing on EEHG this week🎧 List of Dear Media shows📷 Photo: Disney

Will Leitch is back for a very sportsy episode, as we contemplate Will Ferrell’s new golf sitcom, The Hawk — as well as when Ferrell got in a rut and how he could get out, why the universe thinks we need TWO golf shows right now, and what the show could have done to avoid wasting talented co-stars (“been a movie instead” is probably the answer). We went Around The Dial with The Five Star Weekend, Breaking Bad, and High Potentialbefore Sarah teed up a first-season Sports Night for Canon consideration. The New Yorker won, Big Bang Theorylost, and we waded into the ever-proliferating recap-podcast water hazard for Game Time. Crank the speakers on your golf cart and have a listen!GUESTS👤 Will LeitchTOPICSAnnouncement: 🧑‍💼 Salesperson Draft ResultsLead Topic: ⛳️ The Hawk Around The Dial: 🗓️ The Five-Star Weekend Around The Dial: 👨🏻‍🔬 Breaking Bad Around The Dial: 🫆 High Potential The Canon: 🥌 Sports Night S01.E16: SallyWinner & Loser: 🌲 Paige WilliamsWinner & Loser: 🙄 Jim ParsonsGame Time: 🎧 Leave It To The ProfessionalsSUPPORT 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📕 Get Will Leitch's book, Lloyd McNeil's Last Ride, in paperback🏌️‍♂️ Talking about Stick in EEHG 357🤑 The second Commercial Pitchman Draft from EHG 622💄 Listen To Sassy Club🧠 Our original discussion of High Potential in EHG 528📚 Speaking of paperbacks, they're on sale at Exhibit B. Books📷 Photo: Colleen E. Hayes / Netflix

Little House On The Prairie has been one in a series of historical memoirs and a TV series that premiered in 1974, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more adaptations: Kim Reed, possibly the world’s biggest franchise fan (or at least the biggest in our acquaintance) returns to talk about Netflix’s new version, which has already been renewed for a second season. Around The Dial takes us through The Other Bennet Sister, Big Brother S28, House Of The Dragon, Squatters, and Human Vapor. Tara pitches the Mad About You episode “Bedfellows” for induction into the Canon. Then, after naming the week’s Winner and Loser, it’s on to a Game Time with an extensive bibliography. Grab a peppermint stick and listen!GUESTS👤 Kim ReedTOPICSAnnouncement: 🤷‍♀️ Non-Announcement AnnouncementLead Topic: 🌾 Little House On The Prairie (2026) Around The Dial: 👒 The Other Bennet Sister Around The Dial: 👁️ Big Brother Around The Dial: 🐲 House Of The Dragon Around The Dial: 🏚️ Squatters Around The Dial: 🧖‍♂️ Human Vapor The Canon: 🏥 Mad About You S02.E03: BedfellowsWinner & Loser: 🫆 Task Winner & Loser: ✈️ Kristin CavallariGame Time: 📖 Hey! It's That Author!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🦋 Kim Reed on Bluesky🌴 The Again With This Club🏚️ Sarah on Squatters🫱🏻‍🫲🏽 Information on the EHG Mutual Aid Vault at our FAQ📷 Photo: Eric Zachanowich / Netflix

Though it’s never been easier to avoid commercials if that’s what you prefer, some do deserve applause. That’s why we’ve assembled to choose our favorite TV commercial characters in product categories from fast food to hard drinks to drugstores and beyond. We also stay on-theme with a pitch for the Tiny Catchy Commercial Jingle With Punchable Child Canon AND a Non-Regulation Game Time all about the stars who’ve used their celebrity to promote everything from worthy non-profits to hands-free toilet cleaners. We’ll be right back after these messages!TOPICSLead Topic: 🤑 Commercial Pitchman Draft IITiny Canon: 🥊 Game Time: 🗯️ Talk Isn't CheapSUPPORT 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📊 Vote for your favorite commercial pitch lineup🔥 Commercial Pitchman Draft in EEHG 098🐑 "Volkswagen Tiguan - Commercial: Sheep 'Break Free' (2022; 0:30)" on YouTube😴 "Nathan Lane 1990 NyQuil Commercial" on YouTube🌴 Again With Again With This💄 The Listen To Sassy Club🥣 "Quaker Ready To Serve Oatmeal Commercial 1987 With Timmy" on YouTube