Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV

We were counting on The Hollywood Reporter’s chief television critic Dan Fienberg to help us diagnose the issues with the thirteenth season of American Horror Story, and luckily he came through in a discussion that covered excessive fan service, when the “ew” and the “…huh” don’t balance each other, and the sin of wasting John Waters. We went Around The Dial with the new A Different World, My Brilliant Career, and American Hostage before Seth served up a Canon pitch for Hannibal‘s second-season finale. Mary Poppins won, Brandi Glanville lost, and we didn’t wait ’til the middle of the night to step on a Lego-based Game Time. Grab a handful of swabs and have a listen!
GUESTS
👤 Daniel Fienberg
TOPICS
Announcement: 🔥 Club Stickers!
Lead Topic: 🇺🇸 American Horror Story
Around The Dial: 🌎 A Different World
Around The Dial: 🧟‍♀️ Women In Horror TV
Around The Dial: 👔 My Brilliant Career
Around The Dial: 😓 American Hostage
The Canon: 🍱 Hannibal S02.E13: Mizumono
Winner & Loser: ☂️ Mary Poppins
Winner & Loser: 💥 Brandi Glanville
Game Time: 🧱 Lego My Game Time
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
📊 EHG Club Sticker Poll
📰 Subscribe to Dan's THR newsletter, Now See This
🦋 Dan Fienberg on Bluesky
🤩 And at The Hollywood Reporter...
🔫 ...including his review of American Hostage
🇺🇸 Sarah's review of American Hostage for Best Evidence
🔥 Extra Hot Great Club
🏦 Ask Sarah about the Mutual Aid Vault
🪓 Angie Han's Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story review at The Hollywood Reporter
🌴 Again With Again With This
📷 Photo: Eric Liebowitz / FX
CLUB-ONLY NOTES
🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To
💬 Get On Our Community Discord

We’re thrilled Santiago Melli-Huber could return to discuss the inter-agency copaganda — and, to be fair, the realistic sibling interactions — of Line Of Fire, a puzzle-box-ish network procedural full of cop tropes, unrealistic travel times, and actors we had trouble reconciling with relatively likable characters. We went Around The Dial with Best Of The Best, Dropout content, and Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story before Sarah bellied up to the Canon with a pitch for Drunk History. The Savant won, Taylor Frankie Paul lost, and Game Time was so on-brand with its acting-through-the-generations concept that it took nearly a generation to complete. Pocket an origami swan and join us for an all-new Extra Hot Great!
GUESTS
👤 Santiago Melli-Huber
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🔫 Line Of Fire
Around The Dial: 🕺 Best Of The Best
Around The Dial: 👵🏻 Matlock (2024)
Around The Dial: 🍚 Game Changer
Around The Dial: 🪓 Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
The Canon: 🥴 Drunk History S05.E07: Drunk Mystery
Winner & Loser: 🪦 The Savant
Winner & Loser: 🤦‍♀️ Taylor Frankie Paul
Game Time: 🍼 Return Of The TV Nepo Babies
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!
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
📱 Ridiculous large iPhone text
🦋 Follow Santiago Melli-Huber on Bluesky
🎙️ Mari Cohn and Dolly Parton Tribute Night at The Edge
💄 The Listen To Sassy Club
🪓 Sarah's Monster: Lizzie review at Best Evidence
🏦 Make a withdrawal from (or deposit in!) the EHG Mutual Aid Vault
📷 Photo: Spencer Pazer / NBC

The great Josh Gondelman returns to discuss the not-so-great High Value Target: The Hunt For Saddam, a tiresome limited series on TNT starring Joel Kinnaman as a CIA analyst/non-credible nerd and Tom Berenger as his crusty veteran dad. We’re talking about who it’s for (crusty veteran dads, lbr), why you wouldn’t just read John Nixon’s book, and whether other series have unpacked this era’s baggage more efficiently. We went Around The Dial with Coin From Accounts, Reggie Dinkins, and OJ Unseen before Dave wondered if the first-thought ring recharging on Lanterns is Worse Than Jazz?, and we contemplated a meta game-changer episode of Game Game Changer for the Canon. Point Break won, Entourage lost, and we sharpened our No. 2 pencils for an analogy-forward Game Time from Seth. We’re not in Kansas anymore either — it’s an all-new EHG!
GUESTS
👤 Josh Gondelman
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🎯 High Value Target: The Hunt For Saddam
Around The Dial: 🦮 Colin From Accounts
Around The Dial: 🏈 The Fall And Rise Of Reggie Dinkins
Around The Dial: 🍊 OJ Unseen: Exploitation Of Evil
Is This Worse Than Jazz?: 💍 The Lantern From Lanterns
The Canon: 🏰 Game Changer S07.E11: Samalamadingdong
Winner & Loser: 🏄‍♂️ Point Break
Winner & Loser: 😡 Entourage creator Doug Ellin
Lead Topic: 🧠 All About The D
SUPPORT THE SHOW
🔥 Join the EHG Club for bonus episodes, no ads, community Discord and more!
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NOTES
🗒 Full episode notes can be found on this episode's page on our site
🗓️ More from Josh Gondelman, including his tour schedule
📰 Josh's newsletter, That's Marvelous
🕵🏻‍♂️ "Not My Job: We Quiz A Retired CIA Analyst On Briefs (The Underwear)" from Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
🌴 Again With This Club
🍊 Sarah's review of OJ Unseen at Best Evidence
📷 Photo: TNT
CLUB-ONLY NOTES
🔥 EHG Club Perk Links & How-To
💬 Get On Our Community Discord

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!
TOPICS
Announcement: 📢 Ask & Answer Ask EHG Without Discord
Lead Topic: 🧙‍♀️ Widow's Bay
Ask EHG: 🇨🇦 Canadian Gladiators
Tiny Canon: 😗 The Wire S01.E05: The Pager
Winner & Loser: 👶 Nick Offerman
Winner & Loser: ✍️ Friends writers
Winner & Loser: 🩳 Michael Beach
Winner & Loser: 🐻‍❄️ Lost producers
Winner & Loser: 👦🏻 Adolescence
Winner & Loser: 😤 Aimee Lou Wood
Extra Credit: ✈️ SkyMalled
Mini: 😚 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 Batey
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🍂 Fall TV Preview
The Canon: ⛽️ Widow's Bay S01.E08: Your Baggage
Winner & Loser: ⚖️ Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Winner & Loser: 📡 CNN
Game Time: 🔪 Ted Like Me
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
🦋 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