
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.
Latest episodes

May 15, 2024 • 1h 25min
511: Is This A Vampire Man?
We reached out once again to our Patreon supporters, asking whomst among them had the nerve and pop culture knowledge to participate in a Listener Game Time special. Brian, Lea, and Philip were chosen from our respondents, and face each other in Meredith's game My God, It's Full Of Guest Stars, and Mike's submission, TV CVs. Who vanquishes their foes? Listen and find out!
TOPICS
Game Time: 🤩 My God, It's Full Of Guest Stars
Game Time: 💼 TV CVs
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
📷 Photo: David T. Cole and his AI buddy

May 8, 2024 • 58min
510: Pigs, Batmans, And McDonald's
For this special episode, we're contemplating three TV episodes our listeners believe are among TV's very best. Mlle. Caroline has us watching the Poirot episode "Five Little Pigs," featuring way more future Game Of Thrones stars (and offspring of future Game Of Thrones stars) than any of us might expect. Then, Larra sends us to Dropout.tv for the second-ever episode of Game Changer -- which is also the first-ever "Make Some Noise." Finally, Elenore gets dialectical in her pitch on "START," the series finale of The Americans. Pull over for some McNuggets and join us!
TOPICS
The Canon: 🔪 Agatha Christie's Poirot S09.E01: Five Little Pigs
The Canon: 🧩 Game Changer S01.E02: Make Some Noise
The Canon: 🇺🇸 The Americans S06.E10: START
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 510 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
🗽 Tara's "START" recap, formerly at Previously.TV

May 1, 2024 • 1h 18min
509: Raising The Dead Boy Detectives
Dr. Dan Cassino is back to discuss Netflix's Sandman spinoff (of sorts), Dead Boy Detectives, a ghosty witchy horny procedural. We talked about its Gaiman (and Buffy) DNA, if it's better at being scary or horny, and which tools from the historical "magic on TV" kit it uses best. Later, we went Around The Dial with Hacks, This Old House, and Baby Reindeer before turning our attention to the UN-dead for a The Walking Dead Canon submission. Jason Ritter won, Peacock lost, and Game Time took us on a Roman holiday of sorts. No need to open a portal, just hit play on an all-new Extra Hot Great.
GUESTS
👤 Dan Cassino
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 💀 Dead Boy Detectives
Around The Dial: 😆 Hacks
Around The Dial: 🏚️ This Old House
Around The Dial: 🦌 Baby Reindeer
The Canon: 🧟♂️ The Walking Dead S10.E19: One More
Winner & Loser: 👍 Jason Ritter
Winner & Loser: 👎 Peacock
Game Time: ⛪️ Traditional Latin Mash
NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🤵🏻♂️ Dan Cassino on New Jersey Now
🦤 "Let's Disagree About Hacks" on Vulture
😆 Tara's Hacks S03 review for Cracked
✍🏻 Tara's round-up with Baby Reindeer and The Contestant
🦌 Sarah's Baby Reindeer review at Best Evidence
📷 Photo: Ed Araquel / Netflix

Apr 24, 2024 • 1h 3min
508: Fastening Our Seatbelts For Conan O'Brien Must Go
As a TV host, Conan O'Brien has moved on from a nightly interview and variety show on TBS to a comedy travel show on Max; as the whole season drops, Will Hines joins us to discuss how well it fits into the genre, and what it was like doing sketches during Conan's run of Late Night. Around The Dial takes us through Dinner With The Parents, X-Men '97, and The Jinx II. Kari pitches the "Heat Stroke" episode of Taskmaster NZ for induction into the Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, it's on to an extraordinarily resourceful Game Time. No passport needed to listen!
GUESTS
👤 Will Hines
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🗺️ Conan O'Brien Must Go
Around The Dial: 🍽️ Dinner With The Parents
Around The Dial: 🦸♀️ X-Men '97
Around The Dial: 🪦 The Jinx
The Canon: 🥝 Taskmaster New Zealand S02.E02: Heat Stroke
Winner & Loser: 👍 Oz
Winner & Loser: 👎 Tom Sandoval
Game Time: 🧰 MacGyver With Quotes
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 508 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
🕰️ Will Hines on TikTok
📸 Will on Instagram
🌎 Tara's review of Conan O'Brien Must Go at Cracked.com
🍽️ Tara's review of Dinner With The Parents at Cracked.com
👙 Tara's review of Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen at Cracked.com
🎼 The Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs podcast on Patreon
🫚 Ginger Crunch recipe at CarolinesCooking.com
📷 Photo: Conaco / Max

Apr 17, 2024 • 1h 10min
507: Inventing Reasons To Watch Franklin
It's yet another expensive-looking and ambitious limited series from Apple TV+ -- this time, Franklin, starring Michael "Gordon Gekko" Douglas as the flatulence-forward inventor of electricity. Is this limited series focused on the wrong thing? Is Franklin as a colonial weirdo better in smaller doses? And why isn't there more farting? Later, we went Around The Dial with Loot's second season, Top Chef's Wisconsin season, and Carol & The End of the World, and then we took cover for an incoming Canon pitch about the Justified S01 finale. Cold Case won, Billy Joel fans lost, and Tara ran the numbers with us in a non-regulation Game Time. Pin a scale-model tall ship to your head and get ready for an all-new Extra Hot Great!
GUESTS
👤 Krystal Farmer
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🪁 Franklin
Around The Dial: 👑 Loot
Around The Dial: 🤯 Carol & The End of the World
Around The Dial: 🔪 Top Chef
The Canon: 🤠 S01.E13: Bulletville
Winner & Loser: 🥶 Cold Case
Winner & Loser: 🎹 Billy Joel
Game Time: 💯 Keeping Everything 100
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 507 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
🪙 Krystal Farmer's podcast, Two Cents Plus Tax
🤫 Anne Hathaway quieting a crowd in Italy
👑 Tara's Loot S02 review at Cracked
📚 The "as seen on TV" sale at Exhibit B. Books
📷 Photo: Apple
CLUB-ONLY NOTES
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💬 Get On Our Community Discord

Apr 11, 2024 • 1h 37min
506: Telling The Truth About Ripley
Tom Ripley, a Talented character we already saw on screen in his namesake movie in 1999, is back, now in a limited series on Netflix; Dan Rogge joins us to discuss how this version compares to Anthony Minghella's film, what we thought of its use of black and white, and how it works to age up the character so he can be played by Andrew Scott. Around The Dial takes us through Monsters At Work S02, Only Murders In The Building S03, and Space Show (aka For All Mankind). Britt pitches the Moonlighting episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" for induction into the Canon; then we name the week's Winner and Loser and move on to a Game Time about TV therapists: how does that make you feel? Row out into the middle of the open sea and listen!
GUESTS
👤 Dan Rogge
TOPICS
Announcement: 📢 Patreon Update
Lead Topic: ⛵️ Ripley
Around The Dial: 🧌 Monsters At Work
Around The Dial: 🏙️ Only Murders In The Building
Around The Dial: 🚀 For All Mankind
The Canon: 🌛 Moonlighting S02.E04: The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice
Winner & Loser: 👍 The NCIS franchise
Winner & Loser: 👎 Homophobic 9-1-1 viewers
Game Time: 🧠 TV Head Shrinkers (Brought To You By BetterHelp)
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 506 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
⛱️ All Summer In A Day (1982) on YouTube
📹 Michael Penn's “Try” video on YouTube
🧌 Tara's essay on Monsters At Work S02 at Cracked
🔗 Dan Rogge on LinkedIn
🎶 The Mark And Sarah Talk About Songs podcast on Patreon
📷 Photo: Philippe Antonello / Netflix
CLUB-ONLY NOTES
🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To
💬 Get On Our Community Discord

Apr 3, 2024 • 1h 33min
505: Should You Let Parish Take The Wheel?
AMC's latest prestige drama, Parish, features Giancarlo Esposito as a retired wheelman trying to do former associate Skeet Ulrich a favor, and we're thrilled Omar Gallaga is parking it on the panel to talk about the show. Does the show do anything with 2010s crime-show cliches? Who has notes on car-chase credibility? And on a scale of one to ten plastic babies, how "Nawlins" is the show? Later, we're going Around The Dial with Taskmaster's seventeenth season, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, and how to rewatch Boardwalk Empire; and finding out whether Tara's Canon pitch for This Fool is worth one MEEELLION dollars. RHONY won, Tori Spelling lost, and we obeyed a VERY strict speed limit for Game Time -- so buckle your seatbelt for an all-new Extra Hot Great!
GUESTS
👤 Omar Gallaga
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🚗 Parish
Around The Dial: 💌 Taskmaster
Around The Dial: 😬 Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show
Around The Dial: 🍾 Boardwalk Empire
The Canon: 🕺 This Fool S01.E05: Sandy Says
Winner & Loser: 👍 The Real Housewives Of New York City
Winner & Loser: 👎 Tori Spelling
Game Time: 🐢 Slowly At First II
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 505 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
💻 Omar Gallaga at CNET
🎞️ Omar Gallaga at Book & Film Globe
💌 Tara's interview with Alex and Greg of Taskmaster at Cracked.com
🪄 Tara's interview with Justin Willman of The Magic Prank Show
⚾️ Ottawa University's Baseball in Literature and Culture Conference
🔎 Best Evidence
📷 Photo: AMC
CLUB-ONLY NOTES
🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To
💬 Get On Our Community Discord

Mar 27, 2024 • 1h 33min
504: Punching Up At Road House
Doug Liman has taken Rowdy Herrington's glorious 1989 feature Road House and remade it for Prime Video with Jake Gyllenhaal as a Dalton for the 21st century; Taylor S. Cole joins us to discuss whether it's a hard slap in the face to our memories of the original. Around The Dial takes us through Girls5eva, Lost, Homicide: New York, and Chicken Nugget. Taylor makes the case for inducting Andor's "One Way Out" into the Canon; then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we close up with a game about who's at whose throat. No throats are ripped out in the course of this episode, so feel free to listen!
GUESTS
👤 Taylor Cole
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 👊 Road House
Around The Dial: 🎙️ Girls5Eva
Around The Dial: 🗺️ Lost
Around The Dial: 🗽 Homicide: New York
Around The Dial: 🟠 Chicken Nugget
The Canon: ➡️ Andor S01.E10: One Way Out
Winner & Loser: 👍 Cypress Hill
Winner & Loser: 👎 Brian Austin Green
Game Time: 😡 Nemeses
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 504 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
🐦 Taylor S. Cole on Twitter
💾 "Original 'Road House' Writer Sues Amazon, Alleges Streamer Used AI to Replicate Actors' Voices" at Variety.com
🎬 "The New 'Road House' Shows the Perils of Adapting Ridiculous 80s Movies" at DecodingEverything.com
✍🏻 Tara's interview with Girls5eva creator Meredith Scardino at Cracked
🍹 Tara's Palm Royale review at Cracked
🏙️ The Docket on Homicide: New York
📷 Photo: Laura Radford / Prime Video

Mar 20, 2024 • 45min
503: Extra Credit Bonanza
Time was, the Extra Credit segment regularly appeared in the main episode. But with the expansion of the Patreon-exclusive Friday bonus episode, a lot of them snuck over there. We also just fell behind. So we're catching up: in this very special episode, we're addressing not one, not two, but NINE Extra Credit submissions with answers as considered as they are ridiculous. Cha-ching!
TOPICS
Extra Credit: 🎣 Hook Line And Sinker
Extra Credit: 😮💨 Creative Compromise
Extra Credit: 🏺 Historical Absurdity
Extra Credit: 🫥 Insert Yourselves
Extra Credit: 🗺️ Keoghan's Heroes
Extra Credit: 🔪 New Benedict Arnolds
Extra Credit: ✍🏻 Initial Similarities
Extra Credit: 👵🏻 Everything Old Is Old Again
Extra Credit: 🟤 Great TV Bezoars
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 503 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
🚬 NewsRadio: "Smoking" clip on YouTube

Mar 13, 2024 • 1h 14min
502: Getting Rough With The Gentlemen
Guy Ritchie's 2019 movie has spun off a vaguely related drama series on Netflix; Will Leitch returns to discuss where it ranks in his filmography. Around The Dial takes us through Animal Control, The Curse, and As We Speak: Rap Music On Trial. Sarah makes the case for the Law & Order episode "Trophy" to be inducted into the Canon. Then, after naming the week's Winner and Loser, we play BALL (sometimes; sometimes not) with a sportsy Non-Regulation Game Time. Get to your club, pour some 18-year-old scotch, and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Will Leitch
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🎩 The Gentlemen
Around The Dial: 🦝 Animal Control
Around The Dial: 😈 The Curse
Around The Dial: 🎤 As We Speak: Rap Music On Trial
Around The Dial: 🏯 Shōgun
The Canon: 🏆 Law & Order S06.E12: Trophy
Winner & Loser: 👍 James Wolk
Winner & Loser: 👎 Gary Goldsmith
Game Time: 🙋🏼♀️ The World Series Of 19 Questions
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on the episode 502 page on ExtraHotGreat.com
🦋 Will Leitch on Bluesky
🥇 Will and Tim Grierson's Guy Ritchie movie ranking, at Vulture
🤣 Tara at Cracked.com
📚 Will's books at HarperCollins
🕺 The Will Leitch Experience
🎤 Sarah's review of As We Speak: Rap Music On Trial at Best Evidence
🔫 Best Evidence, where Sarah's interview with Manhunt author James L. Swanson will run later this week
📷 Photo: Kevin Baker / Netflix