Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV

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 Race
TOPICS
Lead 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 Shooter
Winner & Loser: 👮🏻‍♂️ Task
Winner & Loser: 🤷‍♂️ Wonder Man
Game Time: 👽 The Ex-Files
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
🎧 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 Grierson
TOPICS
Announcement: 🌡️ New Club Milestones Hit
Lead 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 Illusion
Winner & Loser: 🚔 On Patrol: Live
Winner & Loser: 🗯️ Mary Beth Barone
Game Time: 👯‍♂️ Name & Name
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
🦋 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 Leitch
TOPICS
Announcement: 🧑‍💼 Salesperson Draft Results
Lead 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: Sally
Winner & Loser: 🌲 Paige Williams
Winner & Loser: 🙄 Jim Parsons
Game Time: 🎧 Leave It To The Professionals
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
📕 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 Reed
TOPICS
Announcement: 🤷‍♀️ Non-Announcement Announcement
Lead 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: Bedfellows
Winner & Loser: 🫆 Task
Winner & Loser: ✈️ Kristin Cavallari
Game 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!
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🤑 Commercial Pitchman Draft II
Tiny Canon: 🥊
Game Time: 🗯️ Talk Isn't Cheap
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
📊 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