Extra Hot Great: This Week In TV

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
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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

Five-part Swedish serial-killer cop show Blood Sacrifice just hit Netflix, and Sarah Baker is back to talk about scratching the Scandi-noir itch, mapping overseas procedurals onto B-B-B-B-Bosch, and what uniquely Swedish crimes a second season could incorporate. We went Around The Dial with My Brilliant Career, Big Brother, This Is A Gardening Show, and a Djokovic djokumentary on Prime Video before Tara very truthfully pitched Would I Lie To You? for another Canon spot. Line Of Fire won; Lost, um, you know; and we had to dive deep into our NCISknowledge for Game Time. Throw a couple cans of sparkling wine in the Volvo and join us!
GUESTS
👤 Sarah Baker
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 🩸 Blood Sacrifice
Around The Dial: 👷🏻‍♀️ My Brilliant Career
Around The Dial: 👁️ Big Brother
Around The Dial: 👨‍🌾 This Is A Gardening Show
Around The Dial: 🎾 Novak Djokovic: The Wolf In Winter
The Canon: 🤥 Would I Lie To You S19.E05
Winner & Loser: 🔫 Line Of Fire
Winner & Loser: 🐻‍❄️ Lost
Game Time: ⚓️ Navally
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
🍔 Listen to Sarah Baker on Bob's Burgers
💝 And keep an eye out for Loves Company
🏦 Contact Sarah about the EHG Mutual Aid Vault
📷 Photo: Netflix / Jörgen Johansson

HBO’s getting in the superhero game with Lanterns, a take on a DC Comics superhero with theories about aliens, and lore expert Kate Sánchez returns to walk us through why John Stewart is an interesting apprentice, what she’d do with glowing-ring powers, and whether we buy Coach Taylor in this role. We went Around The Dial with The Dink, Hard Knocks, and the return of The Challenge, and our esteemed colleague John Ramos hoped we’d represent an episode of Heartstoppers for the Canon. Only Murders casting won, Dylan Walsh lost, and we waded into the Simpsons–One Piece plot Venn in Game Time. While away that flight to Nebraska with an all-new Extra Hot Great!
GUESTS
👤 Kate Sánchez
TOPICS
Lead Topic: 💍 Lanterns
Around The Dial: 🏓 The Dink
Around The Dial: 🏈 Hard Knocks
Around The Dial: 🤾🏻‍♂️ The Challenge
The Canon: 💗 Heartstopper S02.E08: Perfect
Winner & Loser: 🏢 Only Murders In The Building
Winner & Loser: 🏒 Dylan Walsh
Game Time: 🏴‍☠️ One Piece Did It
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
🤨 Kate Sánchez's online community, But Why Tho
🦋 Kate on Bluesky
💪 Tara explains why you should be watching Reacher S04, at GQ
🤳 More on Reacher S04 from us in EEHG 424
📚 The virtual concierge at Exhibit B. Books, Sarah's true-crime bookshop
📷 Photo: HBO