

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

May 16, 2018 β’ 1h 2min
203: Patrick Melrose Is Best In Small Doses
We hope Nick Rheinwald-Jones won't hold it against us that we invited him back to discuss Patrick Melrose, the Cinnamon Toastencrunch vanity proje-- er, "Benedict Cumberbatch-starring miniseries based on the St. Aubyn novel series." Because y'all, we haaaaated it, and we've got the extended remix of fart noises to prove it. It won't take a Sherlock to deduce that we moved smartly along to our Around The Dial section, with stops at the newest Little Women adaptation, Claws, and some Netflix comedy specials of note before Nick tried to prank the Canon with a third-season Happy Endings episode. Adopted series won, former headliners lost, and we made crossover events out of actors in a character-conflating Game Time. No need to go through Extra Hot Great withdrawal: an all-new episode is right here.
GUESTS
π€ Nick Rheinwald-Jones
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π Patrick Melrose
Around The Dial: π§π» Little Women
Around The Dial: π€£ Netflix stand-up specials
Around The Dial: π
Claws
The Canon: π Happy Endings S03.E12: The Marry Prankster
Winner & Loser: π Orphaned/Rehomed Shows
Winner & Loser: π Former Headliners
Game Time: π§ Concise Character Conflation
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 203 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
πΊ The ATX Festival lineup as of this writing
π Ian Parker's St. Aubyn profile from The New Yorker

May 9, 2018 β’ 1h 53min
202: Having A Bunch Of Different Kinds Of Balls With Dancing With The Stars: Athletes
Will Leitch is a renowned sports journalist, so did we have him on to talk about 30 For 30 or something similarly thoughtful and incisive about the world of athletics? No, he's joining us to talk about the very special all-athletes season of Dancing With The Stars! Around The Dial rolls through Good Girls, Gotham, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dear White People, and Myths And Monsters. Will presents Better Call Saul's "Chicanery" for submission to The Canon, and after identifying the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to a Game Time that's got a lot of stamps on its passport. Trade your Under Armor for Danskins and join us!
GUESTS
π€ Will Leitch
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π Dancing With The Stars
Around The Dial: π§π» Good Girls
Around The Dial: π½ Gotham
Around The Dial: π Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Around The Dial: π Dear White People
Around The Dial: π§ Myths And Monsters
The Canon: π Better Call Saul S03.E05: Chicanery
Winner & Loser: π Criminal Justice
Winner & Loser: π Joe Piscopo
Game Time: π Lost In Translation
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 202 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
πΊ The Will Leitch Show on SI.com
π€ The Grierson & Leitch podcast
π¬ Will Leitch's Tinyletter

Apr 25, 2018 β’ 1h 21min
201: Now Re-Entering Westworld
As HBO's obsession-inducing dystopia returns for a second season, Eve Batey also returns to discuss reflections on capitalism; college-dorm philosophizing; why wigs are still shite in the future; and whether Ed Harris is using a stunt double. Eve claimed not to be a crackpot for calling for a Simpsons cancellation -- with a surprising hatchet man -- and the Bosch theme may have been deemed Worse Than Jazz before we went Around The Dial with The Handmaid's Tale, Splitting Up Together, and Unforgotten on Masterpiece Mystery. Then we were Flipping Out over Eve's Canon submission. Frankenstein's author won, Rectify's antagonist lost, and it all added up on a very mathy Game Time, in an all-new Extra Hot Great.
GUESTS
π€ Eve Batey
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π€ Westworld
I Am Not A Crackpot: π€ͺ The Simpsons
Is This Worse Than Jazz?: π· Bosch
Around The Dial: βͺοΈ The Handmaid's Tale
Around The Dial: π Splitting Up Together
Around The Dial: πͺ¦ Unforgotten
The Canon: π Flipping Out S03.E07: Irreconcilable Differences
Winner & Loser: π Mary Shelley
Winner & Loser: π Rectify
Game Time: π§ I Was Told There Would Be No Math
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 201 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π The Inside SF newsletter
π³ Help The Ruth Bowler Ginsbergs and the Gateway Women's Access Fund

Apr 18, 2018 β’ 1h 43min
200: Finding Our Way Through Lost In Space
Netflix having successfully adapted House Of Cards (*********) and remade One Day At A Time, it's reached back into the archives of classic TV to bring us an all-new take on Lost In Space -- and new guest Jeb Lund is here to talk about all the Robinsons' extraterrestrial meanderings. Around The Dial stops at that bad episode of The Simpsons, Patriot, and Season 4 of Bosch. Jeb presents the Connections episode "Death In The Morning" for induction into the Canon, and then after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we mark our 200th episode with a special 200th episode-themed Game Time. Grab your interstellar GPS and listen!
GUESTS
π€ Jeb Lund
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π Lost In Space
Around The Dial: π© The Simpsons
Around The Dial: πΊπΈ Patriot
Around The Dial: π· Bosch
The Canon: π§Ά Connections
Winner & Loser: π Bravo
Winner & Loser: π John Mulaney
Game Time: π§ The Self-Indulgent 200th Episode Spectacular
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 200 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π¦ Jeb Lund on Twitter
π§ Jeb's podcast, This Week In Atrocity
πΈ This Week In Atrocity on Patreon
π§ The History Of English Podcast

Apr 11, 2018 β’ 1h 23min
199: Does The Howards End Justify The Means?
Buzzfeed's Doree Shafrir joins the panel this week for the latest filmed take on E.M. Forster's Howards End, and while we liked some things -- the casting; the memories of Witches Of East End occasioned by Julia Ormond -- not everything about the new iteration worked for us. We went Around The Dial with New Girl, Billions, Paterno, and Killing Eve before sinking our teeth into Big Little Lies S01.E05, "Once Bitten." Renewed shows won, cretins lost, and Tara put a song in our hearts with the next chapter of Tube Tunes for Game Time. Hail a carriage with wifi; it's an all-new Extra Hot Great.
GUESTS
π€ Doree Shafrir
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π© Howards End
Around The Dial: π§ New Girl
Around The Dial: π° Billions
Around The Dial: π Paterno
Around The Dial: πͺ Killing Eve
The Canon: π€« Big Little Lies
Winner & Loser: π Killing Eve
Winner & Loser: π Deep State
Winner & Loser: π Pure
Winner & Loser: π Harvey Weinstein, T.J. Miller
Game Time: π§ Tube Tunes II
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 199 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π¦ Doree Shafrir on Twitter
π§ The Forever 35 podcast
π Doree's novel Startup on Amazon

Apr 4, 2018 β’ 1h 33min
198: Gathering The Comrades For The Americans
The Americans is wrapping up its spy mission in the U.S., and You're The Worst creator Stephen Falk has crammed his viewing of the previous two seasons to prepare for our discussion of the Season 6 premiere! Around The Dial takes us through Alex, Inc.; an update on Here And Now; HBO's latest doc The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling; and the fourth season of the Swedish/Danish crime drama Bron/Broen. Stephen makes the case for us to induct Archer's "Skytanic" into The Canon, before we name the week's Winner and Loser and then roll into a Game Time that Could! Change! EVERYTHING!!! Put on your headphones in the Secret Basement Of Spycraft and see if you can crack our code! (JK, we don't have the patience to make you a code.)
GUESTS
π€ Stephen Falk
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π½ The Americans
Tiny Triumph: π Margo Martindale interacts with Tara on Twitter
Around The Dial: π§ Alex Inc.
Around The Dial: β° Here And Now
Around The Dial: πͺΆ The Zen Diaries Of Garry Shandling
Around The Dial: π Bron
The Canon: π― Archer S01.E07: Skytanic
Winner & Loser: π The Wendy Williams Show
Winner & Loser: π John Kricfalusi
Game Time: π§ Hot Potato
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 198 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π¦ Stephen Falk on Twitter
π Margo Martindale's appreciative response to Tara's tweet

Mar 28, 2018 β’ 1h 49min
197: Should Silicon Valley Get Another Round Of Funding?
Silicon Valley returns for its fifth season on HBO, and a Who Weekly podcast host returns to the panel -- this time, Jezebel's Bobby Finger, and we're all wondering how much battery the show has left. How many times can it repeat the same cycles? How much longer can it really expect to keep Kumail Nanjiani? And seriously, what's with all the barfing? After Sarah celebrated a Real Housewife Tiny Triumph, we went Around The Dial with Roseanne, Splitting Up Together, the new Queer Eye, grandpa show American Experience, Barry, and a Will Dave Hate This? update on The Terror, before our guest pitched a first-season Leftovers episode, "Guest," for the Canon. Dirty John was a winner, another gross man was our loser, and Dan Cassino's Italianate pronunciation vincit omnia in a Latin-geek-nip Game Time. Grab a mug of your favored office coffee and have a listen to an all-new Extra Hot Great.
GUESTS
π€ Bobby Finger
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π» Silicon Valley
Tiny Triumph: π
Around The Dial: π§Ί Roseanne
Around The Dial: π Splitting Up Together
Around The Dial: π§£ The Handmaid's Tale
Around The Dial: π³οΈβπ Queer Eye
Around The Dial: πΊπΈ American Experience
Around The Dial: π Barry
Around The Dial: π± The Terror
The Canon: π«₯ The Leftovers
Winner & Loser: π Dirty John Connie Britton
Winner & Loser: π Dan Schneider
Game Time: π§ Will Dave Say This?
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 197 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π¦ Bobby Finger on Twitter
π§ The Who? Weekly podcast

Mar 21, 2018 β’ 1h 28min
196: Raising Our Voices On Rise
NBC having lined up the showrunner from Friday Night Lights, a producer of Hamilton, and the former Ted Mosby for a weekly drama series about a high school putting on a musical, it was made very clear to us that we had better not think of having any guest on to talk about it other than Adam Grosswirth -- and since we can take a hint, we were happy to have him on to discuss whether the show hits all the right notes. Around The Dial takes us through The Arrangement, Slings & Arrows and Nailed It! before we ponder the induction of The West Wing's "In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen" to the Canon. Then it's on to the week's Winner and Loser, and a Game Time that's a real banger. Warm up your instrument and join us!
GUESTS
π€ Adam Grosswirth
TOPICS
Lead Topic: πΆ Rise
Around The Dial: π The Arrangement
Around The Dial: πΉ Slings & Arrows
Around The Dial: π§ Nailed It
The Canon: πΊπΈ The West Wing
Winner & Loser: π Cagney And Lacey Sarah Drew, Michelle Hurd
Winner & Loser: π The Crown
Winner & Loser: π The Man In The High Castle
Game Time: π§ Tube Tunes
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 196 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π¦ Adam Grosswirth on Twitter
πΉ Slings And Arrows on YouTube
π Americans For The Arts

Mar 14, 2018 β’ 1h 43min
195: Hitting The High Points Of Jessica Jones Season 2
S2 of Netflix Marvel anti-heroine joint Jessica Jones was a long time coming -- and unfortunately it took a long time to get going. Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton joins the panel to discuss the absence of Kilgrave malice, whether thirteen episodes is five too many, and the evident female gaze of the season's directorial corps. Around The Dial recommended Champions, Altered Carbon, and the second season of The Good Fight, and Dave wondered if the Is This Worse Than Jazz theme is worse than jazz. This week's Canon submission is -- surprise! -- the second in a row from submitter Lauren, as she aims for a two-fer with BoJack Horseman S02.E04, "After The Party." And Dan Cassino hopes we get lucky with another mash-up Game Time, Before & After II. Don't punch a hole in your car; an all-new Extra Hot Great to the rescue!
GUESTS
π€ Kirk Hamilton
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π₯ Jessica Jones
Around The Dial: ποΈββοΈ Champions
Around The Dial: π€ Altered Carbon
Around The Dial: πΌ The Good Fight
Is This Worse Than Jazz?: π· Joel Kinnaman
The Canon: π΄ Bojack Horseman S02.E04: After The Party
Winner & Loser: π Kim Kardashian, out-earning Kanye West
Winner & Loser: π Grey's Anatomy Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew, abruptly fired
Game Time: π§ Before & After Yet Again
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 195 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π¦ Kirk Hamilton on Twitter
π₯ Our first go-round with Jessica Jones in EHG 96
π§ The Splitscreen podcast

Mar 7, 2018 β’ 1h 13min
194: Filling Our Plates With MasterChef Junior
It's time once again for Gordon Ramsay to take a break from screaming at adults and spend a few weeks gently critiquing kids: that's right, MasterChef Junior is back for Season 6. To talk about the premiere, we welcome first-time guest Lindsey Weber of the Who Weekly podcast to talk about the half-sized hash slingers. Around The Dial takes us to Atlanta, Vanderpump Rules, Drunk History, and NightMan, before we ponder whether the series premiere of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, "Josh Just Happens To Live Here!," should be inducted into The Canon. From there, it's on to the week's Winner and Loser, and to a Game Time built on Sound Foundations. Fill some ramekins with snacks and join us!
GUESTS
π€ Lindsey Weber
TOPICS
Lead Topic: π½ Masterchef Junior
Around The Dial: π Atlanta
Around The Dial: πΈ Vanderpump Rules
Around The Dial: π₯΄ Drunk History
Around The Dial: π· Nightman
The Canon: π€ͺ Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Winner & Loser: π Gina Rodriguez
Winner & Loser: π The Walking Dead
Winner & Loser: π The Oscars
Game Time: π§ Sound Foundations
NOTES
π Full episode notes can be found on the episode 194 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
π¦ Lindsey Weber on Twitter
π§ The Who Weekly podcast
π» Lindsey's UnREAL recaps on Vulture