0:00

Hi, this is Rachel

0:04

McElroy. Hello,

0:19

this is Griffin McElroy. And this is

0:21

Wonderful. Welcome to Wonderful. It's a show where we talk

0:24

about things that is good, that

0:26

we do like, and that we are

0:28

into. If you've never listened

0:30

to the show before, welcome. We're so glad to

0:32

have you. If you have listened

0:35

to the show before, this one, this

0:37

one's going to be a repeat. Oh,

0:40

interesting. A clip show? This

0:42

is a clip show. We got

0:44

to get up. Once you hit

0:46

500 episodes of podcasts, you reach

0:48

syndication. We so badly want this

0:50

show to start airing on TBS.

0:54

God, we'd be perfect for TBS. God almighty,

0:56

we would be perfect for the

0:58

Turner Broadcasting. System. Up there, it

1:00

would be us. We would come

1:03

on after every Atlanta Braves

1:05

game. Oh, perfect. Yeah. Isn't

1:07

that weird to think about how there

1:09

used to be a channel that you could go

1:12

to watch Atlanta Braves, where you could go

1:14

to watch the baseball games of one team?

1:16

Isn't that kind of weird to think about? I

1:18

feel like in the Midwest, that was WGN.

1:21

Oh. And it

1:23

was like Chicago stuff. Okay.

1:26

I don't know if that's right. That's cool to

1:28

think about. I like that. Anyway.

1:32

You could pretend that you live there. That's

1:34

what it was like to live in that city.

1:37

Yeah, absolutely. Like, I'm just watching the things that

1:39

they watch. Do you

1:41

have any small wonders for me?

1:43

I do. I wanted to talk about

1:45

the fact that we brought little

1:48

son to the doctor and he

1:50

is perfectly average. He is average

1:52

in height and weight. This

1:55

is a boy who went from being

1:57

enormous as a baby. way

2:01

too small. Yeah. And

2:03

now just right. Yeah, he's

2:05

that perfect porridge, just how we

2:07

like it. Nothing considerable

2:10

or concerning about his

2:12

height and weight. Just

2:14

A-OK. He is

2:17

the model boy. He is the

2:19

perfect specimen child.

2:22

That's far from true. But that's true. He

2:24

could sleep better.

2:27

It is always nice to take your

2:29

child to a doctor's appointment and not

2:31

have them be like, ooh, yeah, you

2:34

have you. Oh, what? I

2:36

gotta refer him to my guy that handles

2:38

this. Yeah, absolutely. I'm

2:41

going to say I really

2:43

like when you go to get your haircut and

2:45

they shampoo your hair for you. Oh,

2:48

yeah. That's a really nice

2:50

feeling. You go like, oh,

2:53

no, I don't go. Oh,

2:55

yeah. Rachel, do you do

2:58

that? No. You understand

3:00

the best. To me, that is

3:02

the funniest thing in the world though, to

3:04

like go to a place where you're treating

3:06

yourself and just really let out some groans.

3:09

I have reflexively done that

3:12

once or twice during like a

3:14

massage where you can like particularly

3:17

sore or tense and then they

3:19

get up in there just right

3:21

where the pain lives. And it

3:23

just escapes mine. You go, oooh.

3:25

No, I don't. This could be

3:27

an issue where like maybe you

3:29

don't understand

3:33

that as a fella

3:35

if I make those noises. Yeah, that's true.

3:37

It's a little crazier. Yeah, it's way way

3:39

way. It's way way way way. It's

3:42

charming, I guess. Yeah. Yeah,

3:44

if you were to do that, it's cute.

3:46

If I were to do that, just gotta

3:49

fuck out of here. Yeah. You

3:51

go first this week on

3:54

the program. What have you got

3:57

prepared for the class? I'm

4:01

stalling as you open up your you

4:03

know you don't have to do that We have a lovely

4:05

editor that will just take out the time Between

4:08

you asking me and me bending

4:10

over to pick up my laptop.

4:12

Yes, that's true and yet You're

4:17

real, you know like you like to keep things

4:19

real Audience to know what

4:22

it's really like in the studio, right?

4:24

Yeah, it's a little bit

4:26

humid I'd love to

4:28

get that door open there, but there might be a little

4:30

bit too much outside noise. I Mean,

4:33

do you want me to open it? Do you mind? It's

4:35

raining out there and you know how I like that

4:37

petrichor funk It's

4:41

chilly yeah, this is me yeah

4:50

Wow, it's been a while it has

4:54

The wonderful thing I want to talk about this

4:56

week is string cheese excellent

4:59

stuff this stuff excellent stuff this

5:02

Perfection string cheese the

5:04

unfried mozzarella stick of my

5:06

heart. I love this guy I Think

5:11

I mean I've always enjoyed well. I don't

5:13

know that I've always enjoyed string cheese, but

5:15

as I became older and more mature I Started

5:19

to enjoy string cheese sure and Now

5:22

I like it because it is a thing that

5:25

our big son will eat. Yes, and

5:27

I know that it has vitamins

5:29

and nutrients and some

5:32

good things for him yes and Comparatively

5:36

compared to some other shit that he

5:38

might also eat. Yes one we can

5:40

feel pretty okay It's like oh you're

5:42

getting something from this that will help

5:44

your bones not big milk Drinkers

5:46

this fam. I would say as no

5:49

it's no well. Hmm. Yeah, I

5:51

mean Henry in a cereal Sometimes

5:54

on the side of a happy meal yeah, but

5:56

not not it not just you know just

5:59

just Cause not I like

6:01

as a Midwest or woman, I definitely did

6:03

grow up having a glass of milk with

6:05

dinner. Every night I definitely had

6:07

some dinner milk as well.

6:09

yeah she really do in

6:11

dinner milk. You know what?

6:13

for me now that the

6:15

shit. When I say we, I mean

6:17

should we be bringing that tradition to allow?

6:20

I mean I love them to have

6:22

like huge bones. like huge huge cases

6:24

bones. I'm I think

6:26

can whoop intuit? Okay, we should try

6:28

it out. Has become Milk Milk

6:31

Guys Milk. This. Ah

6:34

of history. Cheese Ah, This is another one

6:36

of those things that exists in the world

6:39

and to my knowledge has always exists in

6:41

the world. That that is very. Much

6:43

not true Now. Ah, Like somebody

6:45

had to invent string cheese. Invent:

6:48

His word that I find challenging

6:50

for string cheese. Somebody had to.

6:54

Make. That create. A new configuration

6:56

of cheese. Yes, Assessed that

6:58

someone had to breed x

7:00

Extrude cheese in a small.

7:03

From. A small circle. Exactly. I

7:05

mean give to some my whole segment. For

7:07

a solid yes, I imagine

7:09

extrusion. Said. A word I imagine

7:11

extrusion is the order of ah. There's.

7:13

No mold is no string cheese mold

7:15

that you. They liked suit Liquid

7:17

Season two year. Now you're right,

7:20

it's it's some kind is I'm.

7:22

I was a i get to squirting. But

7:24

I. Don't I don't wanna say it's

7:27

true since I'm not sure it's a words

7:29

okay. That all words come from somewhere and

7:31

this could be where this for ten cents how

7:33

I would be to. Put. Your

7:35

mouth rain friends as a little and

7:37

just catch yourself was a whole mouse

7:40

yourself. a rope of stream sees. Bow.

7:42

The so good that I only thing the

7:44

street is a sometimes I wish it was

7:46

like three to four times longer than or

7:49

like a like a nerds roper streets you

7:51

know well as wrong. As weird

7:53

know that way. Honor: Yeah, I'm just

7:55

picturing like the packaging of a Nerds

7:57

rope but string cheese in there and.

8:00

The Street to be tasteful. A.i'm

8:02

imagining it like hanging. Like.

8:04

A are you know like as fancy

8:06

dried sausage and ah you would just

8:08

go and you'd take it from. There

8:11

are teas and are like a sausage

8:13

on a rotating poll. I am bachelor

8:15

have fertility precisely. What?

8:18

An extremely specific Paul? Okay,

8:20

Since. He's. There is

8:22

no patent on. String cheese. So let's

8:25

go make some second street sees. get

8:27

rich quick then. So I'm the origin

8:29

of it as a little uncertain by

8:31

an Atlantic article from Twenty Fourteen called

8:33

the Secret Life of Strings. He

8:35

says of i always knew

8:37

I always suspected. Terrorists are

8:40

like a parody article like you would see

8:42

and like an episode of like a show

8:44

like oh this read the Secret Life of

8:46

String. Cheese in the Atlantic? Yeah, I'd say us

8:48

out. Yeah, that's a real I mean there's a

8:50

reason people say that shit about the Atlantic again.

8:53

They. Do right that stuff, man. So.

8:55

Baker Cheese is the outset that

8:57

Ah claims at least the origin

9:00

a string cheese in the Midwest.

9:02

Baker Teeth. Baker. Teeth the

9:04

last names the family. His. Eyes he has he

9:06

not. This is sees for breakers to you

9:08

specifically. Ah had initially

9:10

in Ah nineteen Sixteen, they

9:13

began selling cheddar Cheese and

9:15

St. Cloud, Wisconsin. Okay,

9:18

that's exactly what you want to hear,

9:20

sir. Yeah, no, it's guys. I assumed

9:22

this. Is something I always forget in

9:24

every time I read it. It blows

9:26

my mind. But the whole origin of

9:29

you know this mozzarella cheese phenomenon came

9:31

in the Nineteen sixties when the soldiers

9:33

came back and they were like we

9:35

love this thing called pizza. We can

9:37

find it anywhere I is that really?

9:40

We've talked about pizza before on this

9:42

show and that is one hundred percent

9:44

true. It came to America because people

9:46

have been spending time abroad and were

9:48

like man, this stuff is. Is. I

9:51

had So good. Yeah, and I guess

9:53

mozzarella. We weren't like begun mozzarella before

9:55

While that's tragic, man, That's a

9:57

shame. I feel like this nation. Really?

10:00

Didn't get started until Mozzarella showed

10:02

up in ordinary. People alive today

10:04

who like can remember the pizza

10:06

invasions. right? It's like when I remember how

10:08

when the ipod came out is like chase

10:10

away we all listen to music is like

10:12

them for tea. With a cordless

10:14

telephone came out idea yeah

10:16

I remember that also Hills

10:19

Wilde. This. Is cordless cheese though

10:21

and as. Ah

10:24

Ok so ah pizzeria start blowing

10:26

up. Ah Pizza Hut. Nineteen Fifty

10:29

Eight Little Caesars Nineteen Sixty Nine

10:31

Dominoes Nineteen Sixty Wham Bam Bam

10:33

bam Ah. abandoned Realize I guess

10:36

that. The story of of mood

10:38

surround was so intrinsically linked to

10:40

to. Pete. Pizza Media

10:42

in The United States. So.

10:46

Let. Me Let me tell you

10:48

the story as told by Baker

10:50

Cheese. Ah they. Switched.

10:52

Over to mozzarella and they

10:54

would make six pound loaves

10:56

or twenty pound blocks of

10:58

cheese that restaurants that than

11:00

site. For their pizzas. Okay,

11:02

To sector. Six. Palaces

11:05

cheese. I. Mean of

11:07

mozzarella? I was. Mozzarella is

11:09

I think mozzarella. My favorites

11:11

sees an eyebrow. Even more than

11:13

like I like a Buddha, The or

11:16

whether you more than a Bree yeah

11:18

well I mean here's the thing I

11:20

love a breeze Specifically I would but

11:22

I've I yeah I put put some

11:25

has an apples with it the poor

11:27

honey or while not in there are

11:29

some bread whatever through. Exist

11:33

second. I mean that, but I

11:35

can eat mozzarella anytime. Anytime

11:37

any day, the weekend with threats the edge. And

11:40

what is the? It's exactly. Sees it

11:42

says inside she's I

11:45

call hunger. Like. I

11:47

tell me it's like an inside it. And

11:49

then I scratch with. With. This

11:51

cordless tease. Did. You

11:53

know, our friend is now living in Caesar

11:56

salads. Season. Two. With that. Is

11:58

a you like you? I said Cheez-itch

12:00

and it reminded me of Greenwich Village

12:03

in New York and so I

12:06

said Cheez-itch Village. Do we have a friend

12:08

who lives in Greenwich Village though? No. Okay.

12:11

So that confused me on two different levels. Well, I mean, I

12:13

don't know anyone that lives in Greenwich Village so I didn't

12:15

know how to structure the joke. Okay.

12:19

This is why I'm

12:23

not an improvisational comic. I

12:25

don't think that's true. I think you're very, very sharp.

12:28

Well, not in this case. Okay. So

12:31

we're talking about big blocks of cheese. At

12:35

this point, we are in the

12:37

third generation of baker cheese as

12:39

far as who is managing the business. But

12:43

Grandpa Frank is still around. I

12:49

feel like you needed to introduce Grandpa Frank

12:51

earlier so I could start

12:53

getting excited. Getting hyped for Grandpa

12:55

Frank. Well, so I love,

12:58

I just want

13:00

to quote this directly from the article.

13:02

So the interview is with Brian Baker

13:04

who is like current tip-top

13:06

when this article was written. Yeah.

13:09

And he said, my grandfather Frank was playing

13:11

around with mozzarella in the plant. That's

13:15

cool. Yeah, I mean, I imagine if you have

13:17

that much cheese on hand, eventually you

13:19

do start just mucking around with it. Like we

13:21

got to set aside a few pounds. Grandpa Frank's coming

13:23

in today and you know how he loves to play

13:25

with this stuff. Yeah, I mean, it's moldable,

13:27

it's pliable. You can

13:29

play with that. You play with cheese, sure. So

13:32

Frank started creating these one-pound

13:34

packages. So

13:36

taking this continuous flow of mozzarella and

13:39

chopping them into strips. He

13:41

would cut off strips by hand and

13:43

roll them and cut them into ropes

13:45

into these little three, four, five inch

13:48

pieces. He'd soak them in salt

13:50

brine and

13:52

that would give the cheese the stringing

13:54

characteristic. That's what,

13:56

okay. This is interesting because here's something

13:59

I forget about stringing. cheese that you

14:01

don't just grab it and I

14:05

would say that that is exactly what our son does. Is

14:07

peel it or he like chomps it right? He chomps

14:09

it. Yeah, I chomp it too. I don't

14:12

peel it. You don't peel it? No, I chomp

14:14

it. I'm busy. I have one

14:16

hand that's doing business. I

14:18

don't have the luxury of

14:20

using two hands to peel my cheese and

14:23

for one thing, that's not enough cheese. What if

14:25

it came pre-peeled? What

14:28

are you talking about? So it's

14:30

like a string cheese but deconstructed and peeled

14:32

for you. You know what I always

14:34

really liked? I'm about to go so fucking

14:37

far down a rabbit hole and I apologize

14:40

for this in advance. But

14:42

in the hit Nathan Lane

14:44

comedy, Mouse Trap, in which

14:46

two brothers own a cheese business and are thwarted

14:48

by a mouse who lives in the cheese business,

14:50

they try to kill the mouse a lot. Is

14:52

this the film based on the board game? No,

14:55

maybe. No, I don't think so. At

14:57

the end of the movie, spoilers, they

14:59

befriend the mouse, which is what happens

15:02

in most mouse-based sort of media.

15:05

They realize that they can use their old yarn

15:08

weaving equipment and then they can make

15:11

balls of actual strings of cheese that

15:13

you roll into a ball. How dope

15:15

is that? I do like that. You

15:17

don't have a ball of string cheese

15:20

in one hand and you can just

15:22

sort of, you know, thread

15:24

it in your mouth and just like... Like

15:26

bubble tape. Like a big ball

15:28

of bubble tape. But that's not real.

15:31

It doesn't exist. Now it doesn't yet. Yeah.

15:34

There's no patent out there. We could start that today. We

15:36

could. Sorry about that. Just

15:38

use some old bubble tape containers. Yeah.

15:40

Put cheese in there. That

15:42

would be dope. So Baker Cheese began

15:45

testing this string cheese by just going

15:47

to parties and bars and asking people,

15:49

what do you think? They

15:52

should have string cheese at bars though. I

15:54

know. Maybe we just roll up with

15:56

I guess a big, I don't know, what

15:58

would it be? Like a big tray of

16:00

cheese? cheese, maybe like a bag that you

16:02

like pull newspapers out of except it's cheese.

16:04

Yes, a sling that are a bandolier

16:06

of string cheese. No, I like

16:09

that too. That's cool. So

16:12

originally, it wasn't like we're making this for

16:14

kids. It was like, we're making this for

16:16

people. I stand by this is an

16:18

adult snack that we are that we

16:20

loaned to children sometimes. So

16:22

they took this three to

16:25

five inch model but made

16:27

it a thinner more holdable

16:29

and lighter option. Apparently,

16:31

so the average string cheese now is

16:33

28 grams. Back then it was

16:35

40 to 45. Now we're

16:37

fucking talking baby. It was thicker. It was

16:39

like a can of beer. Yeah, absolutely. Can

16:42

of beer on one hand. And then your string

16:44

cheese in the other. That's perfect for me. That's

16:46

actually great. That's too much cheese. I don't think

16:48

so. I don't think so. Because I do need

16:50

to down two of these puppies to even

16:53

feel it to even feel something. You

16:55

know what I mean? God, I want

16:57

me double cheese. I mean, we

16:59

have that downstairs right now. I know I'm going to eat string

17:01

cheese. Well, we're going out to dinner. We're going out to dinner. I

17:04

don't want you to pregame one cheese. Okay,

17:10

so so that was the that was the 1970s. A

17:12

few years later, when

17:16

string cheese had become a cylindrified,

17:19

instead of the twisted rope status,

17:21

and there were retail opportunities. That's

17:25

when they started looking at putting

17:27

it in the individually wrapped tubes, because people

17:29

would buy these like one pound bags and

17:31

then have to throw a chunk

17:34

of it away. So that is I

17:36

mean, that's string cheese. I love

17:38

it. There's not more to say I enjoy the

17:40

peeling. No, I am of

17:43

the leisure class. Right.

17:45

I have the time to peel. I

17:48

genuinely do feel like there's

17:50

several different kinds of like, snack

17:53

cravings that I can have. Sometimes it's

17:55

like I want fruity, gummy, chewy. Sometimes

17:57

it's why I like I want salty.

18:00

But sometimes I want. Something kind of like

18:02

mellow and a little bit selling. like

18:04

mellow and a little bit feeling. And

18:06

string cheese is like the only thing

18:08

that can scratch now. I started to

18:10

get really excited. Casino or his sons

18:12

have a series of snacks that come

18:15

in no particular. Order throughout the evening.

18:17

Yeah, Anytime Henry says he's like

18:19

a string cheese, I feel like yeah,

18:21

yeah, we're doing it. But then there's

18:23

is gone because I it all up. Because

18:26

I also need my bones to. it's

18:28

actually a more important for me where

18:30

I man you're still growing the game.

18:32

Well, I don't know about that, but

18:34

now it's more sort of like reinforcing

18:36

what's already there. With. The power.

18:39

And I feel you know. We

18:47

all that needs. And to

18:49

satisfy those needs, we subscribe to

18:51

different services to fulfill those the summer.

18:53

Pretty dang good at if I do

18:55

say so myself. but then you

18:58

put away your childish things you say

19:00

I don't have a need for as

19:02

stream T subscription service for. I see

19:04

perceiving this huge box a string cheese

19:07

every month and immediately throwing it away.

19:09

Yeah, maybe I should not receive this

19:11

huge. Box a string cheese every month

19:13

you forget don't shoot so easily.

19:15

Nine and many subscriptions you scattered like

19:17

Johnny Appleseed to his. Six.

19:20

Apple seeds. Well

19:22

rock the is here to help. Rocket

19:24

Money is a personal finance app that

19:26

fines and cancels your unwanted subscriptions, monitors

19:28

you're spending and helps you lower your

19:30

bill so you can grow your savings.

19:32

Ah, ideas Rocket Money before and a

19:35

found not a joke. Maybe six things

19:37

that I had completely forgotten about. like

19:39

know, maybe about fifty bucks a month

19:41

worth of the shit that I just

19:43

completely did not. Ah, did not know,

19:45

nor did I interface with the things

19:47

that I was subscribing to. Yeah, it's

19:49

like that. We got that one app

19:51

that promises show us hockey and than

19:53

almost entirely stop showing as hockey? Yes,

19:55

Ah! and rocket my was like you're not

19:58

watching to sit at the blues last not

20:00

in the playoffs. Anyway, Rocket

20:02

Money is fantastic and we

20:06

recommend using it if you

20:08

think you might have some

20:10

of those phantom subs. Cancel

20:13

your unwanted subscriptions by going

20:15

to rocketmoney.com/wonderful. That's rocketmoney.com/wonderful. One

20:17

last time, rocketmoney.com/wonderful. Hello,

20:23

teachers and faculty. This is

20:25

Janet Varney. I'm here to

20:27

remind you that listening to

20:29

my podcast, The JV Club

20:31

with Janet Varney, is part

20:33

of the curriculum for the

20:35

school year. Learning about the

20:37

teenage years of such guests

20:39

as Allison Brie, Vicki Peterson,

20:41

John Hodgman, and so many

20:43

more is a valuable and

20:45

enriching experience, one you

20:47

have no choice but to

20:49

embrace because, yes, listening is

20:51

mandatory. The JV Club with Janet

20:53

Varney is available every Thursday on

20:56

Maximum Fun or wherever you get

20:58

your podcasts. Thank you, and remember,

21:00

no running in the halls. If

21:08

you need a laugh and you're on the

21:11

go, try S-T-O-P-P-O-D-C-A-S-T-I-R. Hmm, are you trying to

21:13

put the name of the podcast there? Yeah,

21:15

I'm trying to spell it, but it's tricky.

21:17

Let me give it a try. Okay.

21:21

If you need a laugh and

21:23

you're on the go, call S-T-O-P-P-P-A-D-I.

21:26

It'll never fit. No, it will. Let

21:28

me try. If

21:30

you need a laugh and you're

21:32

on the go, try S-T-O-P-P-P-D-C-O-O. Ah!

21:36

We are so close. Stop

21:38

podcasting yourself. A podcast

21:40

from maximumfun.org. If

21:43

you need a laugh and you're on the go. Can

21:49

I do my segment? Please. Please.

21:52

Because it's one I bet you'll like. I'm going to

21:54

talk about a television show that we talked about last

21:56

night, and now we're going to talk about it for

21:59

podcast, for conversation. And that is the

22:01

good place. Oh my gosh.

22:03

I guess this this has probably been a small

22:05

one. It has been a small wonder We

22:08

I cuz I got on Wonderful.fyi to like make

22:10

sure we had not done a big wonder on

22:12

it first of all We haven't talked about it

22:15

in several years Also the context

22:17

in which we spoke about it is that the

22:19

official good place Twitter account tweeted at us I

22:21

guess once and we were like fucking stoked. Oh

22:23

my god. I do not remember that for the

22:25

life of me I don't either So

22:28

the good place I mean

22:30

we were talking about it in the context of like is it

22:33

time for a rewatch and

22:35

like I don't know man the further we get

22:38

from the ending of the good place the

22:40

more I Have

22:42

felt like it deserves its own topic here

22:44

because it is such a very very special

22:47

television program If you did

22:49

not watch the good place, it is a fantasy

22:51

comedy series It ran for four seasons starting in

22:53

2016 and it was created

22:55

by Michael Schurr whose hit rate Is

22:58

kind of bonkers. Yeah, he wrote and

23:00

produced some of the office He co-created

23:02

Brooklyn 99 and Parks and Rec, but

23:04

this show was like his baby Yeah,

23:07

no was like he was at the the

23:09

spearhead of it and it is without a

23:11

doubt like the weirdest show I feel like

23:13

that his name has been involved

23:16

with So

23:18

the good place it follows Eleanor played

23:20

by Kristen Bell who has

23:22

died Before the show even starts

23:25

and has gone to the good place, which is

23:27

basically an analog for

23:29

heaven Important to note

23:32

that a lot of the maybe

23:34

traditional Judeo-Christian kind

23:37

of Heaven stuff is

23:39

hugely absent from how this show

23:41

depicts. Yeah the afterlife it is

23:43

very sort of it's more like presented

23:46

as like a What a

23:48

lot of people think which is like this like

23:50

utopia a modern utopian Yeah, I'd be where

23:52

all of your needs are catered to and

23:55

everything is is perfect However, very

23:57

quickly Eleanor realizes that due to

23:59

it clerical error, she has taken

24:01

the place of another Eleanor. I don't

24:03

remember her last name. I feel like

24:05

I don't either. And her

24:07

unearned presence here in the good place

24:10

starts causing all kinds of weird chaos

24:12

and like glitches that is kind of

24:14

like ruining the experience for everybody else

24:16

in the good place. As

24:19

she kind of tries to reconcile this, she

24:21

meets other humans who are starting to kind

24:23

of struggle to settle in, including

24:26

Tahani and Cheetie and

24:28

Jason. She befriends this

24:30

omnipotent intelligence named

24:32

Janet and has frequent

24:34

run-ins with Michael, who

24:36

is the good places administrator. Michael,

24:39

of course, played by Ted Danson. Maybe

24:42

the I

24:44

don't know that I adored

24:47

Ted Danson and tell this because

24:49

I didn't watch Cheers or like

24:51

a lot of other. He's incredible

24:53

on Cheers. He's like one of

24:55

the most likable humans. Yes.

24:57

You know, it's like watching

25:00

him on screen, you can't imagine anyone else

25:02

playing that role. No, absolutely not. Yeah, I

25:04

would say that's true of everyone on this

25:06

show. I can't fathom anyone else.

25:09

Everybody turns in a pitch perfect

25:11

performance. And

25:14

it is it is it's so much so that

25:16

this is a show where like now whenever I

25:18

see anyone else, you know, whenever

25:20

I see Jamila Jamila and something else, I'm like,

25:22

Oh, hell yeah. Like, yeah, because I've gotten excited

25:24

about this person because they were in this show,

25:26

which is one of my favorite shows ever. So

25:28

like, I just described the plot of

25:30

season one of The Good Place

25:32

at the end of season one,

25:34

something happens that flips the show

25:36

completely on its ear. And then

25:38

it's about some completely different shit

25:40

from that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which

25:43

is interesting. I feel like that is, I don't

25:46

know, in a much, much smaller way true of

25:48

Parks and Rec. You think about Parks and Rec

25:50

as a show that like after season one, like

25:52

it kind of turns and it's sort of about

25:55

a different thing. This is this is that times

25:57

a million, the entire premise of

25:59

the first season. is not really

26:01

upheld from that point on. Yeah, which is

26:03

wild because I remember watching that first season and feeling

26:06

like I could be okay with this show for a

26:08

while. You know, like I didn't feel like, oh, thank

26:10

God they switched it. Yeah. In

26:12

so doing, in changing the show as dramatically as they

26:14

do, it evolves from this like situation

26:17

comedy about this woman wrestling

26:19

with this cosmic guilt for

26:21

getting into heaven and seemingly

26:24

ruining it. And it

26:26

becomes so much more.

26:28

It becomes this lovely meditation

26:31

on morality and

26:34

mortality and existentialism that like

26:36

you do not necessarily expect

26:39

from a 30 minute

26:41

sort of comedy. Yeah. And it's

26:43

so smart because they, you know,

26:45

they present these characters as kind

26:47

of like these archetypes, you know, there's

26:50

like a professor type and, and

26:52

then like a, like a fancy,

26:54

like upper crust woman type. And

26:58

then they really like really dig into kind

27:00

of the humanity and struggle of each of

27:02

those characters. And it's, it's just so lovely

27:04

and surprising. I am

27:07

a sucker for what this show does.

27:10

I think specifically maybe because

27:13

like growing up in the

27:15

church really filled me

27:17

with this kind of inextricable

27:19

curiosity about like the afterlife.

27:22

And so like, I have always been kind

27:24

of fascinated with, with

27:26

depictions of that in media,

27:30

like anything right from like dead like

27:32

me or like

27:34

fucking Beetlejuice or what

27:37

dreams may come with Robin Williams,

27:39

like anything that like shows like

27:41

here's what the afterlife is like.

27:44

I don't know. I've always found that very, very

27:46

interesting. And I think

27:48

that probably resonates from a very deep and existential

27:50

part of my, my being. Yeah.

27:54

And this idea, I mean, the very relatable idea that you would

27:56

end up in a place like that and not feel good enough

27:58

for it. You know? Like like

28:00

I found that just really compelling like

28:03

even though Eleanor is this like cartoonish

28:05

like a character at the

28:07

beginning You feel

28:09

like yeah No, I mean it would be

28:11

weird to be in this place where everybody

28:14

seems so admirable right and you're so

28:16

certain that that's not you Yeah, I I

28:18

feel like the good place is my favorite

28:20

version of this like here's here's what we

28:22

think the afterlife could be like Or you

28:24

know not that explicit But here's a version

28:26

of the afterlife that you've probably never seen

28:29

before and and you have not the amount

28:31

of world building that takes place Across this

28:33

shows 53 episodes is

28:35

fucking bananas. A

28:38

lot of it is played for laughs

28:40

and usually that circles

28:43

around like these These

28:46

humans encountering some aspect of

28:48

the infinite divine that their

28:51

mind cannot comprehend The

28:53

my favorite of which the most memorable of

28:55

which is in one episode Cheetie accidentally like

28:57

falls through a portal and it's just kind

29:00

of like floating through the ether for like

29:02

a few seconds before someone pulls him out

29:04

and he talks about how he sees infinite

29:07

realities collapsing upon themselves like

29:11

like infinite sheets

29:13

of metal until forming a

29:15

blade in existence and then Michael's like, oh,

29:17

yeah, you saw the time knife Yeah Yeah,

29:21

yeah, that's nice That

29:23

kind of like element of like

29:26

humans seeing things that they cannot

29:28

possibly comprehend Yeah, because of the

29:30

you know, they're infinitesimal nature and

29:32

in comparison with eternity

29:37

It also gets into Like

29:39

heavier stuff too. Like I feel like this show

29:41

has a lot to say and how it presents

29:44

Heaven and hell and particularly like eternity

29:46

you could argue that like the way

29:49

it depicts hell is this like cartoonish

29:51

torture factory Demons are

29:53

like, yeah, it's time for your six

29:55

o'clock red hot poker in

29:58

your eyes stuff But like Also,

30:00

that is kind of how the

30:02

Bible also sort of talks about health sometimes. But

30:05

it has a lot more to say than just

30:07

that. This idea

30:09

of how do humans comprehend

30:11

their place inside of infinity?

30:15

How does a human work in eternal

30:17

life? That

30:20

is like a super heady kind

30:23

of scary concept. The

30:26

gentleness and thoughtfulness and cleverness

30:28

with which this show treats

30:30

that subject is just beautiful

30:32

and remarkable and really makes

30:35

this show stand

30:37

out from being like a great

30:39

comedy with great characters and really

30:41

touching stories and great moments. It

30:43

also has this thing to say

30:45

about existence and that's fucking huge,

30:47

man. Yeah, that is. The

30:50

ending of this show is one of my favorite

30:52

finales, maybe in the history

30:54

of television, just because how tricky a

30:56

needle it is to thread to end

30:58

a show about eternity. How

31:01

do you give characters good send offs?

31:03

How do you give the story a good send off

31:06

when like, I don't know,

31:08

you're talking about this infinite space.

31:11

I remember watching the finale of this

31:14

show anxious, like filled

31:16

with dread that this thing I have loved, there's

31:18

no way that they're going to be able to

31:20

do it and they absolutely do. And

31:22

it is truly beautiful beyond compare. I have

31:25

tried very hard in this segment not to

31:27

like talk about any kind of specifics about

31:29

like the things that actually happened on the

31:31

show because I think. I think there are

31:33

a lot of people that probably missed it. I think there are too,

31:35

because here's the thing I will say, I think

31:37

I was late to it because I

31:39

think the premise of the first season

31:42

is a little bit single faceted,

31:44

right? It's like, oh, this woman's in heaven

31:46

and she's not supposed to be and everything's

31:48

going wrong. And I hope she gets

31:50

to the bottom of it, but it really, I mean,

31:53

you could make the argument that that is what the first

31:55

season is about. I don't think you could make An

31:58

argument that any of the three following. These

32:00

and are about any one thing.

32:02

Yeah, I really really really. Each

32:04

episode really delivers a lot of

32:06

really interesting stuff. ah and so

32:08

like yeah I can see there

32:10

being people who watched a few

32:12

episodes in the like I get

32:14

it has always advances, probably handsome

32:16

but it just kind of seems

32:18

like I I get it, I

32:20

promise you. It is.

32:22

if you if you get to that moment at the end

32:24

of the first season. That's. Like

32:26

that that moment at the end of the

32:29

first season as they all watch every episode

32:31

of this that day care of. yeah yeah

32:33

it's ah I think this is I think

32:35

the any this, oh specifically some incidents like

32:38

greatest Pieces. Created.

32:40

Ah, and it is it is. One other says

32:42

that like any time a clip of it pops

32:44

up in any of my algorithms and any my

32:46

feeds them like. The. I'm gonna go

32:49

and watch this club and I i I do accident I

32:51

would be down for me watch I do think. There

32:53

are yeah we don't typically do that anymore.

32:55

It's a really tended to be are saying

32:57

if we were like kind of stuck in

33:00

limbo period like have you had a new

33:02

baby. You know or like nothing

33:04

going on yes ah well balanced in make

33:06

the playoffs and we don't have no babies

33:08

the yeah I'm but I do think I

33:10

do think our our be dumped me angry

33:13

upset to that's nice and in the grand

33:15

scheme of they serve as pretty tight. Yeah,

33:18

you could easily get to that the couple. Months sir.

33:20

Ah, you're not offense at home or talked

33:22

about. Alex says my office is about half

33:24

a mile away from the Spice Factory also

33:27

known as the Mccormick Flavor Manufacturing. Oh I

33:29

didn't even think of fact that like I've

33:31

heard of that that God exists somewhere. Yeah,

33:33

promised that I'm a test stuff somewhere or

33:36

it's surreal and wonderful to roll have to

33:38

work at the start of the day and

33:40

smell coriander, pepper, cinnamon or Old Bay in

33:42

the air. Almost like an old factory horoscope.

33:45

And. Like that a lot. Alex As

33:47

beautiful as beautiful Alex I do like.

33:51

Ah, On the west end of High

33:53

Sinister Painters Bread Factory. Any time

33:55

I drive by on my way to to work a

33:57

try data. Under. The oppresses some of

33:59

times. Are all. That

34:01

good bad smell because it just always smelled

34:03

like freshly baked bread like with an of

34:05

apart and that's also. Part. Of this for like

34:07

cookies for a while I can't remember what it was. I

34:10

was up to the great cookie fire to

34:12

that it's ever. Sadly, Jeremy says, dry wall

34:14

anchors these little guys pack a punch and

34:16

let me put herself wherever I freaking once

34:18

and that's wonderful to me. It makes my

34:21

apartment just feel a little bit more like

34:23

my own space for my stuff is exactly

34:25

where I wanted to be. Yeah, I like

34:27

or. Yeah, now I mean

34:30

as brilliant as successor like

34:32

seemingly innocent little pieces of

34:35

nino plastic. I remember watch I

34:37

got pulled into tool talks at some

34:39

point the tool talk algorithm ah and

34:41

of as a comparison of different drywall

34:43

anchors and so is like screwing these

34:45

anchors through the woods and sometimes as

34:48

I crazy gizmos and I'm like a

34:50

bar that pops out as he screwed

34:52

it in and swiss well is dry

34:54

like or technologies Pretty fucking wild man

34:56

and I got a lot to say

34:58

ah thank you to go in and

35:00

augustus these for theme song Money Won't

35:03

Peasants and said since ah and thank

35:05

you to Maximum. Fun prominence on the network.

35:07

ah but a maximum fun.org A check out

35:09

all the shows that they got their when

35:11

you're listening to this we're onto are doing

35:13

my been bam It's as if this is

35:15

out on Wednesday. We're doing Taz tonight in

35:17

Tacoma and another man I thursday really be

35:19

dumb of embayment committee live in the Seattle

35:21

Tacoma Pacific Northwest area. Come see us! Can

35:24

we have Ansel. Ah we have

35:26

new March over a macro much.com including

35:28

us dj some sticker front as versus

35:30

Dracula on some other stuff that was

35:33

December Lucas has to minus it's great.

35:35

Ah, That's can do for us

35:37

for this episode. Thank you so much

35:39

for listening to Dismiss for being here.

35:41

Thank you for your attention! There.

35:44

Will there will be a test? But. If

35:46

we did have a test. know

35:48

well as the on it. And be

35:50

like I mean time seeds they reference been

35:52

a quantum leap in this episode. Like.

35:56

A A R G not that is now. Saw.

35:59

It with. Alternate. I think an alternate reality actual

36:01

reality game or alternate reality game. It's like

36:04

when I'll explain it is is a book.

36:06

So boring. Who's like the most boring summer

36:08

Go. Back to talking about drywall and encouraged because

36:10

I really feel like there's. More their why

36:13

can't they do. Maximum

36:51

Fun. A work network

36:53

of artist own shows supported

36:55

directly. Are you.