

Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV
Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV
Join Tara Ariano, Sarah D. Bunting, David T. Cole and their valued guests each week for discussion of what's new on TV plus our hall of fame roundtable segment called The Canon, listen as we appoint Winners and Losers Of The Week and of course our ultra competitive TV trivia quiz: Game Time.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 6, 2025 โข 1h 8min
574: Gassing On About The King Of The Hill Revival
Fifteen years after its series finale on Fox, King Of The Hill is back with its fourteenth season, now at on Hulu. Is it worth yelling from the mountains about? We discuss. Around The Dial stops at The Yogurt Shop Murders and S21 of Project Runway. Tara pitches the Close Enough episode "Secret Horse" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close with a Non-Regulation Game Time that's on the level. Grab a can of Alamo and join us!
TOPICS
Lead Topic: ๐ค King Of The Hill
Around The Dial: ๐ฆ The Yogurt Shop Murders
Around The Dial: ๐ Project Runway
The Canon: ๐ด Close Enough S02.E16: Secret Horse
Winner & Loser: ๐ต The Tennessee high school forensic club that solves cold cases
Winner & Loser: ๐ Temuera Morrison
Game Time: โ๏ธ Oops! All Equalizer Challenge Zones
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐ง Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ฃ๏ธ Brian VanHooker's interview with King Of The Hill writer Norm Hiscock at Cracked
๐บ Tara's review of King Of The Hill S14 at Cracked
๐
Tara's ranking of the King Of The Hill's season premiere's most self-consciously 2025 jokes, at Cracked
๐ฆค Nicholas Quah's review of King Of The Hill S14 at Vulture
๐ฆ "The Yogurt Shop Murders Unpacks 'The Craziest Crime In Texas'" by Eve Batey at Vanity Fair
๐ "HBO's Smart New Docuseries Takes On The Yogurt Shop Murders -- And True Crime Itself" by Sam Adams at Slate
๐ฝ๏ธ "9 Clips To Remind You Why Kristen Johnston Is One Of The Greatest Living Comedic Actors" at Cracked
๐งโ๐ซ Classroom Essentials Lists at Donors Choose
๐ Secret Horse

Jul 30, 2025 โข 1h 17min
573: Is Hitmakers Out Of Tune?
Critic and podcaster Mark Blankenship returns to The Blankenship Chair to discuss Hitmakers, a reality show about songwriters that needs less contrived drama and more process -- but did appeal to a couple of our panelists as eye candy. Should you give it a try, or wait until one of its pop creations comes on in an elevator? We went Around The Dial with Happy Gilmore 2, Million Dollar Secret, The Challenge 41, and The Gilded Age spoilers before tapping our toes to a Canon pitch for Buffy's musical episode. A nepo Beatty won, Resident Alien lost, and Non-Regulation Game Time struck a chord with another round of Tube Tunes. We don't want to call it "fire," but it IS an all-new episode of Extra Hot Great!
GUESTS
๐ค Mark Blankenship
TOPICS
Announcement: โค๏ธโ๐ฅ EHG Club Update
Lead Topic: ๐คฉ Hitmakers
Around The Dial: ๐ Happy Gilmore 2
Around The Dial: ๐ค Million Dollar Secret
Around The Dial: ๐ The Challenge
Around The Dial: ๐ The Gilded Age
The Canon: ๐ฉ๐ปโ๐ค Buffy The Vampire Slayer S06.E07: Once More With Feeling
Winner & Loser: ๐ช Ella Beatty
Winner & Loser: ๐ฝ Resident Alien
Game Time: ๐ถ Tube Tunes XVI
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐ง Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ฟ Mark Blankenship's Lost Songs Project
โณ๏ธ The one Happy Gilmore 2 joke that made Tara laugh
๐ Tara's appreciation of Christopher McDonald
๐ณ A ranking of all the HG2 non-sports cameos
๐ช The latest true-crime reviews at Best Evidence
๐ท Photo: Netflix

Jul 24, 2025 โข 1h 35min
572: Bringing Honesty To Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Well, we all have a face that we hide away forever, and we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone -- even Billy Joel, who has decided to take his out for Billy Joel: And So It Goes, a two-part HBO docu-series about his life and work. Should he have kept it to himself (it's his life)? Daniel Blau Rogge returns to talk about it. Around The Dial takes us through S02 of Digman!, The Comeback, and Billionaire Boys' Club. Dan presents the Hacks episode "The Roast Of Deborah Vance" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to Game Time, in which we're listeningโฆto celebrity Frasier callers. Say Goodbye To Hollywood and hello to a new episode!
GUESTS
๐ค Dan Blau Rogge
TOPICS
Announcement: ๐ EHG Apple Podcast Subscription
Lead Topic: ๐น Billy Joel: And So It Goes
Around The Dial: ๐ช Digman!
Around The Dial: ๐ฅ The Comeback
Around The Dial: ๐ฐ Billionaire Boys' Club
The Canon: ๐ค Hacks S03.E03: The Roast Of Deborah Vance
Winner & Loser: ๐ฉ๐ผโโค๏ธโ๐จ๐ป High-Concept Dating Shows
Winner & Loser: ๐ Happy Face
Game Time: ๐ป Notable Residents of Seattle
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐ง Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ฆ Daniel Blau Rogge on Bluesky
๐ช Tara's Digman! S02 review at Cracked
๐๏ธ EHG 336, including our discussion of Shangri-La Plaza
๐ชจ Dan on the Glass Houses ranking episode of Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs
๐๐ปโโ๏ธ Listen To Sassy 141, featuring Dan
๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ Listen To Sassy 142, also featuring Dan
๐จ๐ปโ๐ป Dan's website
๐ช Adopt A (PBS) Station
๐ท Photo: Courtesy of Art Maillett / Sony Music Archives / HBO

Jul 16, 2025 โข 1h 23min
571: Is Too Much Not Enough, Or Just Right?
Lena Dunham is back with Netflix romcom Too Much -- and so is Maris Kreizman, to discuss Dunham's return to the discourse, whether we can separate the creator from the show, and what the panelists who didn't care for it still think it did really well. We went Around The Dial with American Horror Stories's third season, Veronica Mars's FIRST season, and Ballard, and Tara hoped we'd come to praise AND bury "the Giamatti episode" of Black Mirror for the Canon. Richard Gadd won, Today's Craig Melvin lost (while letting Rick Springfield also win), and getting "home free" proved a challenge in a tagline-based Game Time. Throw a nightie on your favorite pet and join us!
GUESTS
๐ค Maris Kreizman
TOPICS
Lead Topic: ๐๐ป Too Much
Around The Dial: ๐ฑ American Horror Stories
Around The Dial: ๐ต๐ปโโ๏ธ Veronica Mars
Around The Dial: ๐
ฑ๏ธ Ballard
The Canon: ๐ช Black Mirror S07.E05: Eulogy
Winner & Loser: ๐ฆ Richard Gadd
Winner & Loser: ๐ฅฑ Craig Melvin
Game Time: ๐ Tag, You're It
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐ง Subscribe to EHG on Apple Podcasts for bonus episodes and no ads!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ Maris Kreizman's website
๐งจ An excerpt from Maris's new book, I Want To Burn This Place Down, at Rolling Stone
๐ฆ Maris on Bluesky
๐ช Extra Hot Great 558 on Black Mirror S07
๐ฌ๐ง Tara's review of Too Much
๐ Kerr County Flood Relief Fund
โ๐ป ProPublica's local reporting network
๐ท Photo: Ana Blumenkron / Netflix

Jul 9, 2025 โข 1h 23min
570: Bradying Down To The ER Draft
In the grand tradition of our drafts for Law & Order and the Star Trek franchise, we're using this special episode to draft teams of staff, patients, loved ones, and inanimate shows from ER -- and who better to join us than Laura Hampton, a PA known to us from our Discord as an ER superfan who recently completed a full rewatch of the entire series? No one, which is why she's here picking a team AND organized the draft with the correct number of each category of character for us to choose from. Now we're going to need YOU to vote for which team reigns supreme! Laura also presents Doug saving Ben from a flooding storm drain in "Hell And High Water" for induction into the Hero category of the Tiny Canon. Finally, we close with an on-theme game about body parts in the names of TV shows and actors. Get listening, STAT!
GUESTS
๐ค Laura Hampton
TOPICS
Lead Topic: ๐ฅ ER Draft
Tiny Canon: ๐ ER S02.E07: Hell and High Water
Game Time: ๐ซ The Body Keeps The Score
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ฉป Final ER draft picks from Laura, Tara and Sarah
๐ Poll: Best ER Lineup
๐ Poll: Hospital You'd Most Want To Be A Patient At
๐ต Donate to the National Network of Abortion Funds
๐ Your Local Epidemiologist on Substack
๐ LibraryFinder

Jul 2, 2025 โข 1h 5min
569: Should You Sign On To With Love, Meghan?
We are off this week but present you with this EHG Club unlock of EEHG 343: Should You Sign On To With Love, Meghan?
It's clear the former Meghan Markle wants to do something significant with her British-royal influence; it's also clear her new Netflix homekeeping show, With Love, Meghan, isn't that. Stephanie Early Green is back to talk about why it's so dull, what might have helped, and how Martha Stewart succeeded where Meghan Sussex fails. Ask EHG wondered who would replace Noel Fielding on GBBO and which characters we'd want on our bar-trivia teams, and then Tara pitched a lyrical SNL sketch for the Tiny Canon. And after we listed our Not Quite Winners and Losers of the week, Sarah's Extra Credit polled the panel on important princesses of television. Throw on a $300 linen apron and join us!
GUESTS
๐ค Stephanie Green
TOPICS
15s Of Fame: ๐คฌ The Good Swear
Lead Topic: ๐ฏ๏ธ With Love, Meghan
Ask EHG: ๐ Replacing Noel Fielding
Tiny Canon: ๐ Saturday Night Live S38.E18: Vince Vaughn
Winner & Loser: ๐ Poker Face
Winner & Loser: ๐ Tracy Morgan
Winner & Loser: ๐ The Last Of Us
Winner & Loser: ๐ข Keegan-Michael Key
Winner & Loser: ๐ Prince's estate
Winner & Loser: โน๏ธโโ๏ธ Running Point
Winner & Loser: ๐ The Recruit
Winner & Loser: ๐ฅ Arrested Development
Winner & Loser: ๐ฅ Bachelor co-EPs Michael Margolis and Keely Booth
Extra Credit: ๐ซ
Important TV Princesses
Mini: ๐ The Royal Them
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ More from Stephanie Early Green at her website
๐ Vanity Fair's Harry 'n' Meghan cover story
๐คจ โMeghan Markle Pioneers New Frontiers in Unrelatabilityโ by Kathryn VanArendonk at Vulture
๐ฃ๏ธ โThe Meghan Interviewโ at People
๐ท Photo: Netflix

Jun 25, 2025 โข 1h 18min
568: We Cover The Waterfront
Like a lot of family-owned businesses, Havenport, North Carolina's Buckley Fishery is having a rough go of it lately. If they can't make their nut and pay all their employees on fish alone, maybe...smuggling cocaine will make up the shortfall? What could go wrong?! Jessica Morgan returns to talk about the ways Kevin Williamson's new show crosses over with the one we know him for best (Dawson's Creek), and the ways it doesn't but that we WISH it would. Around The Dial takes us through Season 3 of The Gilded Age, The Valley, and Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy. Sarah pitches the Law & Order episode "Empire" -- aka "The Julia Roberts One" -- for induction into The Canon. Then, after identifying the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a game that's naming names -- lots of them. Grab a serving of fresh oysters and join us!
GUESTS
๐ค Jessica Morgan
TOPICS
Announcement: ๐ฆ EHG Mutual Aid Vault
Lead Topic: ๐ The Waterfront
Around The Dial: ๐ The Gilded Age
Around The Dial: ๐ The Valley
Around The Dial: ๐๏ธ Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
The Canon: โ๏ธ Law & Order S09.E20: Empire
Winner & Loser: โญ๏ธ Five-Star Weekend
Winner & Loser: ๐ฑ Ryan Murphy
Game Time: ๐ช Same Name Game
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ฆ Jessica Morgan on Bluesky
๐ฅ Extra Hot Great Club
๐ฆ Contact Sarah about making a deposit to or withdrawal from the Extra Hot Great Mutual Aid Vault at bunting@tomatonation.com
๐ซ "Kevin Williamson Reveals How His Dad's Sordid Past Inspired New Crime Drama 'The Waterfront': 'He Paid The Price'" at the New York Post
๐คฐ๐ป "'Adults' Takes A Strong Stance On Abortion: Everyone Deserves Access, Including Jerks" at Cracked
๐ด Again With This's Membership Campaign
๐ Go Fug Yourself
๐น The Drinks With Broads Newsletter
๐ Save On True-Crime Paperbacks at Exhibit B. Books
๐ท Photo: Dana Hawley / Netflix

Jun 18, 2025 โข 1h 16min
567: Telling The Truth About We Were Liars
And that truth is: none of us thinks you should bother, including returning guest Will Leitch, who agrees that We Were Liars moves too slowly; shows AND tells too fart-sniffily; wastes the talents of an impressive cast, including Mamie Gummer and David Morse; and is based on a property whose author sounds fake. We went Around The Dial with the very real The Chicken Sisters, Untold, and The Mortician before Tara's Canon pitch reunited us with Party Down's third-season premiere. General Hospital won, Doctor Odyssey (maybe??) lost, and Dan Cassino got us all a volume discount on long-running shows in Game Time. Cannonball verrrrrry sloooowwwly into our all-new episode now!
GUESTS
๐ค Will Leitch
TOPICS
Lead Topic: ๐คฅ We Were Liars
Around The Dial: ๐ The Chicken Sisters
Around The Dial: ๐๏ธ Untold
Around The Dial: ๐ชฆ The Mortician
Around The Dial: ๐บ The Devil's Plan
The Canon: ๐ Party Down S03.E01: Kyle Bradway Is Nitromancer
Winner & Loser: ๐ฅ General Hospital
Winner & Loser: ๐ข Doctor Odyssey
Game Time: ๐บ Intermittent FASTing
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ถ Will Leitch on the Rick Astley/popularity conundrum
๐๏ธ Will at NYMag
๐ฐ Will at WaPo
๐ Buy Will's books
๐ EHG 448 on the return of Party Down
๐ Tara runs down the best non-Daily Show comedic performances by TDS cast on Cracked
๐ Sarah reviews The Mortician
๐ Exhibit B.'s paperback sale
๐ท Photo: Amazon Content Services LLC

Jun 11, 2025 โข 1h 30min
566: Burning Through The 2025 Summer TV Preview
Summer is upon us, but what are we going to watch? Robert Krut joins us to help make our traditional lists of what we're into; what we should be into but aren't; what NO ONE should be into; and what's fine for others but not for us. Dave pitches the South Side episode "Treat Yourself" for induction into The Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close out with a Game Time that's pure poetry. Find a spot directly in front of a fan and join us!
GUESTS
๐ค Robert Krut
TOPICS
Announcement: ๐ฆ EHG Mutual Aid Vault
Lead Topic: ๐๏ธ 2025 Summer TV Preview
The Canon: ๐ฆ South Side S02.E01: Treat Yourself
Winner & Loser: ๐จโ๐ณ Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Winner & Loser: ๐ฉฐ รtoile
Game Time: โ๏ธ There Once Was A Man From TV
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐ชถ Robert Krut's website
๐ด The Again With This Club campaign
โ CHIRLA / Coalition For Humane Immigrant Rights
๐ Sarah's review of Ask Not at Best Evidence
๐ฆ How to reach Sarah for Mutual Aid Vault withdrawals
๐ฅฎ EEHG 323, including Dave's "Treat Yourself" pitch for the Anger Tiny Canon
๐๏ธ Tara's interview with Bashir Salahuddin at Cracked

Jun 4, 2025 โข 1h 15min
565: Taking The Down Elevator To Dept. Q
David T.'s beautiful son Taylor S. Cole is back to discuss Dept. Q, a Scottish take on a Nordic-noir book series that has the good sense not to mess with star Matthew Goode's face. Chemistry in trope-y scenes, why Scandi crime stories often have a submarine, whether the mystery needed so many episodes to solve -- we're talking about all of that AND recommending actually Nordic Nordic-noir TV if you liked Dept. Q. Then we're going Around The Dial with Mountainhead, The Rehearsal, and The Last Of Us S01 before seeing whether Taylor can do his entire The Studio Canon pitch before we lose the light. True-crime actors won, late night lost some more, and three was the magic number for one of us in Game Time. Throw on a nubbly sweater and join us!
GUESTS
๐ค Taylor Cole
TOPICS
Announcement: ๐ Club Campaign
Announcement: ๐ง Incoming Apple Podcast Changes
Lead Topic: ๐ Dept. Q
Around The Dial: ๐๏ธ Mountainhead
Around The Dial: ๐จโโ๏ธ The Rehearsal
Around The Dial: ๐ The Last Of Us
The Canon: ๐ฅ The Studio S01.E02: The Oner
Winner & Loser: ๐ช Anthony Boyle and Julia Garner
Winner & Loser: ๐ Late-night prestige
Game Time: 3๏ธโฃ
SUPPORT THE SHOW
๐ฅ Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
๐๏ธ Shop our merch store!
NOTES
๐ Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
๐๏ธ Hear more Taylor S. Cole at the G&T Podcast
๐ Taylor's also headed to the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast
๐ช And the Demi Myself and I podcast
๐ธ AND the Muppeturgy podcast
โฐ๏ธ Tara's Mountainhead review and ATX Festival coverage at Cracked
๐ป Support Bookstore Cats
๐ฅ The Extra Hot Great Patreon
๐ท Photo: Netflix