Staff Meeting: Fun-Sized Spookies Part II (Halloween Television Specials)

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome listener to the return slot, a podcast recorded in the basement of our video store. After hours, when the doors are locked, the VHS cassettes are rewound and the moon is glowing pale blue on a brisk and breezy autumn night, we like to hang out in the basement, light a pumpkin scented candle, crack open a drink and discuss our beloved genre, horror. This is a special episode. This is a staff meeting episode. Chris, my lovely co host. Yes, this is. This is your first Halloween bite sized episode. [00:00:54] Speaker B: I don't think there's enough explainers in that. [00:00:58] Speaker A: Okay, so let me. So this is bite size. But I gotta say this real quick. We've been calling them bite size, but it really should be called fun sized. So I think in a parenthesis, yeah, I will say fun size. So from here this is bite sized spookies part two. But really fun size spookies part two. Now let me explain what this is because obviously you don't know Chris. [00:01:25] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:01:28] Speaker A: You don't know what you're doing in the basement tonight. [00:01:30] Speaker B: I got no idea what I'm doing. [00:01:31] Speaker A: By the way, Chris, is, are you. What's, what's. [00:01:38] Speaker B: I'm an adorable bear buddy. Look at that little bear hood I got on. Isn't that adorable? [00:01:44] Speaker A: If you're a constant listener. You know, Chris is very earth sign and he's wearing this very furry wonderful like hoodie that is. I, I think it gives off Ewok energy. Like I want to snuggle you, I want to love you forever. But that's true with or without the hoodie. [00:02:04] Speaker B: Yeah, there you go. No, I, I think, you know, this is the first Halloween costume I think I've had in you know like 30 years or something like that. And but we decided, my wife and I decided to do a little pull the trigger. We're both bears, got little bear onesies. And I think this is my first step to becoming a furry. I think that's clearly that's first step where this is going. Oh, this is opening something for me very much. [00:02:34] Speaker A: Me too. It's a night of Halloween 2024. A Night of discovery. [00:02:41] Speaker B: Snake size explorations. Wink. [00:02:45] Speaker A: He winked. He winked for the listener. Do you like my costume? [00:02:50] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. A barely there T shirt. You never do that about. [00:02:57] Speaker A: About to disintegrate at any fall apart. [00:03:01] Speaker B: All you need is that like one moth that's like holding the two strands together to let go. It's just going to fall apart. [00:03:11] Speaker A: So we got that out of the way. This beautiful. God, it's been beautiful. What a Beautiful autumn this year. Warm and sunny and the leaves are changing and it's just gorgeous. So what is fun sized or bite sized? Spookies Part two. So growing up in the era before streaming services, finding Halloween themed content was a bit of a scavenger hunt. You had to rely on the TV Guide, catch ads during commercial breaks of your favorite television shows or simply stumble upon spooky content by sheer luck. Which is mostly how I did it. I could never, could you figure? I could never figure out the TV Guide when I was a kid. I just like, it was like how. Oh, I, I just never knew when something was on. I just had to get lucky during my allotted TV time. [00:04:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like I never like, I, I think to your point, anytime, like pre, like you know, like 12 or something like that, like when I was really like conscious and able to like use like, oh, I want to watch this show and it's on at this time or something like that, it was all just a crapshoot, you know what I mean? Like you'd like channel surf and you would find something. The one caveat to be like, I remember being a kid being very knowledgeable of like, oh, you know, 3:30 or 4:00 meant like Batman on channel 62 or whatever. You know what I mean? Like it was like, I knew that but outside of that Animated series. Yeah, yeah, sorry, yeah. Batman, the Animated series. But beyond that though, yeah, I was just a crapshooter, I think. Thankfully. I think my mom was kind enough to be like, Chris really likes the Garfield Halloween special. And I know it's going to be at like 7pm on CBS. So like make sure I like could watch that, that type of thing. [00:04:54] Speaker A: But yeah, yeah, that. See, I did. That's interesting. I didn't, I didn't list. Or your parents helping you because my dad was working like three jobs and my mom was full time in school. So like they just. [00:05:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, they weren't there. You're on your own. [00:05:09] Speaker A: We were on our own a lot. They were there. They provided. [00:05:12] Speaker B: You were abandoned, raised by tv. That's the, that's why the monster that. [00:05:16] Speaker A: You are today in many ways. Y so for those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s, curating Halloween playlists meant collecting all these eerie and delightful Halloween songs, movies and television specials. For me, nothing stirs up more Halloween nostalgia in my jack o Lantern soul than revisiting these Halloween themed TV specials and episodes from my youth. So tonight we're doing just one episode each. We'll probably talk about some of the things we've been watching, but we're basically focusing on one Halloween special or television episode this evening. So, Chris, do you want to start out with what your pick is, or do you want to. Or would you rather talk kind of some of the things you've been watching and maybe some obvious things that you do like to watch every year? [00:06:16] Speaker B: Sure. I. You know, I don't have a hard set of, like, oh, I definitely watch, like, this thing because I feel like whenever I am that way, like, I get kind of burned out on it, that type of thing. [00:06:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:26] Speaker B: So it kind of goes through, like, eras and phases now. Like, I might still throw on something like a. A Charlie Brown, you know, the Great Pumpkin, and have that, like, be in the background while I'm doing something. But, like, I'm not, like, watching it, watching it, that type of thing. So I. I would say more than anything else, though, like, I'm always tied to definitely those, like, Halloween episodes from, like, a lot of different TV shows, like your American dad, your Simpsons, of course, loves, you know, Treehouse of Horror, especially the older ones, obviously, stuff like that. You know, I think. I guess I was, like, kind of going into that, right. Like, I wanted to pick something that was a little bit different, a little bit, you know, maybe not in a regular rotation. And also, too, like, I kind of wanted to talk about this. Like, I was kind of thinking about this, right. Like, older television. Right. It's like there's, like, 24 episodes in a season. 26 episodes. You know, it's like 26 weeks. A lot. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:27] Speaker B: So you kind of have this, like, half life, you. Half a year, like, in effect, that you're spending with these characters. And so, like, that's kind of something I think is really cool about, like, the older Halloween episodes when it comes to that. Like, it's like. It's a lot like your life. You know what I mean? Like, Halloween kind of comes into your life, like, this period of time, and then it's like you move on. And then it's like, you know, the feelings that you're kind of going at these different times of your life, whether it's like. Like different holidays or different events or different activities, that type of thing. Like, I kind of miss that, you know, it's a thing that I think is not a. Not a part of our life anymore, which kind of stinks. [00:08:01] Speaker A: I don't know. Like, I don't know if it's, like, still happening. I mean, there are shows who do Halloween episodes. I Know, Modern Family did a ton of them. Fresh off the boat has a lot of them. But I wonder if it's like you, you don't have cable, right? [00:08:19] Speaker B: No, like, I just. [00:08:20] Speaker A: Basically everything you watch is either something you own or something that's streaming. So I think that that is still possible. [00:08:29] Speaker B: I guess that's true. [00:08:30] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:31] Speaker B: I know. You make a good point. [00:08:32] Speaker A: No, but. [00:08:33] Speaker B: No, I do. [00:08:34] Speaker A: Like, I sympathize and understand because it's like I also like, I don't have. Everything I watch is either dvd, Blu Ray, vhs, ced, laserdisc that I own or. [00:08:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:46] Speaker A: Or it like through streaming. Right. Sure. Now I'm so for your Charlie Brown and your Simpsons. I want, I do want to know what fun size candy you would eat with. But before we get to that, hold on. We both have fun size candies this evening. What are you, what are you having as your fun size candy this evening? Meaning your adult beverage that you're drinking that looks like a very festive can. [00:09:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am drinking a Wild Onion Brewery Pumpkin Ale. They are. Where is Wild Onion? Out of Lake Barrington, Illinois. There is a liquor store anytime I'm going down to Chicago in Schaumburg, Illinois, that I love Schaumburg. It has tons of beers that I cannot ever find anywhere else. And I can't remember the name of this place or else I give them shout out. [00:09:42] Speaker A: But this place I always go to whenever I can, but I don't remember the name. It's. [00:09:49] Speaker B: It's. [00:09:50] Speaker A: We're going back again. This is, this is. I think this might be indicative of our generation of people who are like, okay, I just, I just, I just figured out that Batman, the Animated Series was on at 3:30 after school. And then, you know what I mean? Like, I don't. You know what I mean? Like, it just happened. I caught it one day and I was like, I got to get it again, you know? [00:10:09] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, really? I went down there one time, wandered in, and then ever since then, anytime I'm down that way, I'm like, oh, go check that place out, see if I can find some cool beer. But I don't remember their name. But anyway. But how do you know. [00:10:20] Speaker A: Hold on, hold on. How do you know where it's at? Do you just, you know, in your mind or you have it saved on like Google Maps or something? [00:10:27] Speaker B: You know, it'd be smart if I saved in Google Maps instead of always like, okay, it was the liquor store that was in the shopping center with this. And I'm looking at the map and I'm like, no, that's not it. No, that's not it. Oh, yeah. Okay. This is it. It's really dumb. It's a very stupid thing to do, but that's how I do it. [00:10:48] Speaker A: I kind of like it. It's like you make making your brain work. I like that. I like. You have to think it out. It's. You're not relying on technology. You're relying on yourself to like, figure it out. [00:10:57] Speaker B: Yep, that's what that is. [00:11:00] Speaker A: What's. What is laziness. [00:11:03] Speaker B: It's really good. You know we discussed this numerous times, right? Like, I always buy a few different pumpkin beers and a few different Oktoberfest every year. And generally speaking, it's really hit and miss on if I like it or not. [00:11:14] Speaker A: I would say I was like, 5% is good. [00:11:19] Speaker B: I'm a little higher than you, but. But I. But we're aligned that, like, a lot of them just don't taste that good. This one's actually really nice. It's really sweet and creamy up front. It doesn't have that like, taste of like fake pumpkin and like those fake spices that a lot of them have. I feel like it's got that light taste of like nutmeg and clove without being like overbearing. But it definitely has more of just a straight lager with like a little bit of that. So I feel like it's. I feel like it's a really good beer. [00:11:44] Speaker A: That's delicious. [00:11:46] Speaker B: Yeah, that sounds great. What are you drinking? What do you got in your festive glass over there? [00:11:51] Speaker A: So, okay, this is gonna be an interesting night. Last year, last year I saw this cocktail that was like this like apple infused, like kind of old fashioned type of drink where it was like, you infuse apples with whiskey, apple brandy, cinnamon, right? I made this. Remember this? I made this y. I made this last year. It has some orange bitters in it. It was really good. So I made a huge jar of this, right? Because I had to buy all that stuff. And then it sat in the back corner of my fridge for a year and I was like, holy. Because I'm like, I'm like cleaning things out and like reorganizing. I'm like, oh, my God. I have this stuff from last year. I'm assuming it's safe to drink because it's a lot of alcohol. [00:12:40] Speaker B: I have to assume. I mean, it might not be good, but it's definitely safe, right? [00:12:45] Speaker A: I mean, probably. Like, I gotta look to this listener. Let me Know if I should. Should I eat the apples that are inside of this or do they need to be tossed? I don't know. It's been sealed in a mason jar. [00:12:59] Speaker B: Okay. [00:12:59] Speaker A: For like a year. And it's been, they've been, you know, it's, it's. It's brandy and whiskey with maple syrup and cinnamon sticks and things like that. So it's like. I honestly don't know. I'll. I'll look, I'll look it up. What do you think, man? You, you do a lot of this stuff? Chris has a garden. He harvests a lot of things. You jar and de. Dehydrate and do all this stuff. [00:13:21] Speaker B: I mean the liquid, definitely, you're fine. The, like the food, you should be fine. But like, I don't know. I guess like I'd have to double check. Like. Yeah. And then also too, like, I assume that the liquor content, like, because you mentioned the majority, like 90, 95% of this is liquor then, right? [00:13:40] Speaker A: It's almost entirely liquor except for the. Okay, then cinnamon sticks and the maple syrup and the. [00:13:46] Speaker B: There's no, like. I guess the maple syrup was the one. I was like, well, like, you could introduce mold if it's enough of that, but I don't think so. I think you're fine. Funny you say that though. Actually, this year we just harvested our second round of apple trees here at the house and I decided to try my hand at that of like, I jarred a whole bunch of whiskey with like apple cores and apple chunks with like cinnamon sticks and stuff just to infuse it. So like from everything I've been reading, it's my first time doing it. Like, just you leave it like to infuse for like a few weeks and then you strain it and then you've got like, you know, apple whiskey and that type of thing. [00:14:23] Speaker A: So that's great. I can't wait to try that. [00:14:25] Speaker B: Give it a shot. You gotta come over, buddy. [00:14:27] Speaker A: I'm moving into your place. [00:14:29] Speaker B: Yeah, come on over. [00:14:31] Speaker A: I do have a lot of comic books that I don't want to get rid of that I am trying to pawn off on somebody's. Somebody who has space to be like. [00:14:38] Speaker B: Hey, oh, there you go. [00:14:39] Speaker A: All these comic books you can read and enjoy for a couple of years while I figure things out. I have that and then like as a, as a, like a something to wash it down. I have a Talaya female or woman owned company brewery. They're festy. It's an Oktoberfest. It's very drinkable it's delicious. Yeah, it's great. [00:15:04] Speaker B: You really like them a lot, that brewery? [00:15:07] Speaker A: They do some. They're. The truth is I like that it's a woman owned company. Right. And there are like a small percentage of their beers that I like, absolutely adore and I think they're perfect. And then there's a larger percentage of the beers that are like, not my taste. [00:15:27] Speaker B: Okay. [00:15:28] Speaker A: But I'm sure they like excel at those. It's just like a cool company. I like them. [00:15:34] Speaker B: Nice. Real quick, your mix, you're just drinking that straight, right? Your. I don't know what you want to call it. [00:15:41] Speaker A: I mean it's. I mean it's set up as the cock. It's. Everything's in there already. It's like so it's like essentially like a cocktail ready to go. Yeah. So I just pour out like a little bit and sip on it. It's nice. It's very warming and appley. [00:15:56] Speaker B: Oh, boy. [00:15:58] Speaker A: So for Charlie Brown, what's your fun sized candy that you're going to eat with Charlie Brown? [00:16:02] Speaker B: Greg, Pumpkin, I tell you what, I think for Charlie Brown you got to go with a classic. And I'm talking you buy one of those little mixed bags of Hershey's and those little, the little yellow Mr. Good bars. [00:16:15] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:16:16] Speaker B: No one wants you eat those because that's an old man candy. An old man show like Charlie Brown. [00:16:25] Speaker A: You don't know old man candy unless you're talking with Mickey, who's who's away right now. We love him. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Well, that's fair. [00:16:31] Speaker A: Mickey really pulls some shit out of the fucking bag. That's from like the 1920s, you know. [00:16:37] Speaker B: That's true. Yeah, no, that's a good point. I guess that's an old man candy that you can actually buy off of store shelves today. I don't know where. [00:16:48] Speaker A: Like 50s themed candy shop with like a weird greaser guy working the counter. Like, that's an experience I've had. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Can I get you some candy lips? You want some Douchey Whackers? What? [00:17:02] Speaker A: What? No Douchey backers. What's that? Did you make that? [00:17:06] Speaker B: I don't know. I just made that. [00:17:07] Speaker A: I like that. You don't like Doogie Bockers? I always eat my doucheybackers when I watch the Halloween episode of Doogie Howser. [00:17:18] Speaker B: They taste like rubbing alcohol and clove. [00:17:22] Speaker A: Oh, clove. We're gonna come back to clove and Simpsons. What's your go to Simpsons candy? [00:17:29] Speaker B: That's a hard one because I mean we're talking like 30 years. [00:17:33] Speaker A: I know, but I think there's three. [00:17:34] Speaker B: House of Horror episodes. [00:17:36] Speaker A: There's an obvious. [00:17:37] Speaker B: I'm very curious. Is it. Do you mean Butterfinger? [00:17:40] Speaker A: Yes, of course. Especially the bb. Remember the BB Butterfingers? You would. [00:17:44] Speaker B: You could load. [00:17:47] Speaker A: A rifle full of Butterfinger bbs and just shoot them in the back of your throat. It's great. You're simulating suicide. Sorry. I'm joking. It's a joke. Sorry. For those of you who might be feeling. [00:17:59] Speaker B: Fine. For me, I don't mind it. [00:18:01] Speaker A: It's a bit of a dark. What is the word I'm looking for? Not morbid. [00:18:08] Speaker B: Morbid. [00:18:09] Speaker A: Not morbid, but like, there's a different word like gal. Gallows humor there, but. Treehouse of Horror Simpsons. What's your candy? [00:18:20] Speaker B: Yeah, this year. I mean, this year. [00:18:23] Speaker A: When you were kid. When you were a kid, maybe. [00:18:25] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Okay. I mean, I think you can kind of go classic like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. You know what I mean? Like, it was my candy that I love growing up. I think that it's quintessential. It's like your old standby. Same with Treehouse of Horror, you know what I mean? Like, it's been there for, you know, three quarters of my life. So just like the Reese's Peanut Butter cup. [00:18:46] Speaker A: And Chris has a conspiracy theory that the quality. [00:18:51] Speaker B: I think you mean factual truth. That is undoubtable. [00:18:55] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you're not wrong in that. Like, like chocolate is going essentially extinct. Just like coffee and like, just all these natural resources we're losing and we're not going to have anymore. [00:19:06] Speaker B: If you have the taste of Reese's Peanut Butter chocolates gone downhill or deteriorated, you'll find many Reddits of people that are just like me telling you, it's. [00:19:21] Speaker A: Like the New York Times candy, big candy. [00:19:26] Speaker B: Screwing us, the consumer, out of our quality Reese's Peanut Butter chocolate cups by using cheap, waxy, crappy chocolate. So I say to you, the common working man, grab your pitchforks, grab your torches. Let's go to the Mars Candy offices, wherever those are. [00:19:47] Speaker A: We're going to Mars. We're going. We're hooking up with Elon Musk. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Going to Mars. [00:19:51] Speaker A: And we're going to Mars. [00:19:52] Speaker B: Nice. Nice. I gotta say, I hear he's a dipshit. [00:19:58] Speaker A: Moving on. Real quick. Rundown of some of the stuff I love. You can't do that on television. They're Halloween episodes. A Nickelodeon sketch comedy show from my youth. [00:20:14] Speaker B: The adventures never was into it, by the way. [00:20:16] Speaker A: That's okay. The adventures of Pete and Pete Halloweeny, aired Oct. 30, 1994. That's probably one of the greatest Halloween Halloween specials of all time. And then are you afraid of the dark? The tale of the midnight ride, which is like a modern for 1994 adaptation of the legend of Sleepy Hollow, which, by the way, I gotta tell you, last night I watched. So Murder She Wrote has a bunch of Halloween episodes. I've never watched Murder She Wrote. [00:20:46] Speaker B: Really? [00:20:46] Speaker A: I love Angela Lansbury a little bit. [00:20:48] Speaker B: When I was a kid, but I don't remember any of it. [00:20:50] Speaker A: Yeah, she has. She has like seven or eight Halloween episodes, and I watched one of them was a interpretation of the legend of Sleepy Hollow. Yeah, it was great to fall asleep, too. That's all I can say about it. [00:21:08] Speaker B: I'll check it out. Yeah, what about. Wait, so how about. What's your, like, candies for? Like, there's a lot of shows you called out, but what's like, some of your candies for this? [00:21:17] Speaker A: You can't do that on television. That's definitely a Now and later. If you've listened to previous episodes, you will know that the adventures of. We do have the first. The first part of this. Go listen to the first part of this. [00:21:29] Speaker B: I was gonna say, you're just recanted from that first episode. You try to relive your old glory. [00:21:34] Speaker A: Yes, I am. The adventures in Pete and Pete. And are you afraid of the dark? I actually don't remember what I said for those, but, man, the adventures of Pete and Pete. I'm gonna go with the classic. I'm gonna go with Reese's Pieces, Peanut butter cups. Not the fun size. The fun size ones are not as good as the regular size ones because the chocolate to peanut butter ratio is off. It's like. [00:21:54] Speaker B: Okay, wait, are we talking about Reese's Peanut Butter cups? You said Reese's Pieces. [00:21:59] Speaker A: No, I said Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. [00:22:02] Speaker B: You said Reese's Pieces. [00:22:04] Speaker A: Oh, I'm so sorry. [00:22:05] Speaker B: How dare you? [00:22:07] Speaker A: I did. You know, I. You know, it's the. It's the whiskey. Whiskey, bourbon cocktail mix, but the tale of the midnight ride. Are you afraid of the dark? Definitely. Reese's Pieces. Reese's Pizzas. [00:22:20] Speaker B: Ah, there you go. There you go. [00:22:23] Speaker A: And. Yeah. So, Chris, this year. [00:22:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:28] Speaker A: What's your. What's the. What's the episode we're going to talk about tonight? [00:22:33] Speaker B: All right, so we're going to talk. [00:22:35] Speaker A: About episode or television special? Special. [00:22:39] Speaker B: Special. We're going to talk about an old show That I love that I do revisit here, you know, now and again, especially whenever I need, like, you know, a little bit of that cozy feeling from an old show that I like. But we're going to talk about Community and an episode from second season. Woo. Second season aired October 28, 2010 epidemiology on NBA, which is their Halloween episode about the study group is left to fend for themselves by Dean Pelton during a rabies outbreak due to a tainted food at Greendale's Halloween party. So says the tagline on IMDb. [00:23:22] Speaker A: So why this episode? [00:23:26] Speaker B: You know, so I think you and I were talking about it, you know, originally I told you something else and I kind of took it back and was like, no, no, no. I kind of want to do this because I rewatched like a handful of old Halloween episodes. I like the honking Futurama American dad episode. I can't think of the name of now. That's all about them doing haunted houses. And I decided to go with this because of the fact that, like, not only is it very funny, very amusing, it also, it hits on so many films that we've talked about as well. There's clearly references to Return to Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, tons of stuff. And I love this film. It's got great. It's got a great film, great show, it's got great vibes. I feel like this episode gives a lot of moments as well. Like you've got, like, you, you know, the beginning. It's got some good Joel McHale and Jillian Jacobs going back and forth, interacting. Some excellent Donald Glover. And I always forget his name. Danny Putty, them going back and forth. I also, like, I'm a big Donald Glover fan and don't get me wrong, he's still great. I love older Donald Glover when he was being a lot more silly. [00:24:46] Speaker A: Yeah, silly Donald Glover. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:24:48] Speaker B: I like sillier Donald Glover, but he's still awesome. But he is, like, super cool and great. [00:24:53] Speaker A: Probably one of the greatest. I mean, Donald Glover as Troy Barnes is probably one of the greatest television characters of all time. He is fucking brilliant. [00:25:06] Speaker B: I'm a big fan. [00:25:07] Speaker A: He's brilliant overall. I mean, he's a phenomenal. You look into it like he was like riding on 30 Rock when he was an RA at NYU. [00:25:15] Speaker B: I know, yeah, he's like 18, 19, something like that. [00:25:18] Speaker A: Crazy talented, like, master of the craft. But yes, he is awesome on this show. And this character is so fucking funny. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. We'll get into the Moments. But, oh, my gosh, he's so funny in this episode, for sure. [00:25:34] Speaker B: But yeah, that's why I picked this episode. I think it's great. I think it's a great one for the Halloween season. Yeah. What did you think? You kind of revisited it. [00:25:45] Speaker A: So I watched it and then I had such a good time, I ended up watching all the Community Halloween episodes. And I gotta tell you, this one, they really hit their peak, I think. [00:25:54] Speaker B: I agree. [00:25:55] Speaker A: This is their second Halloween episode and, like, I mean, it's just, you know, we have a Return of the Living Dead episode out that you can listen to. I love all the references. The cat is hilarious. Did you notice that the cat is very similar to the cat? And aliens are alien, rather. [00:26:24] Speaker B: That totally makes sense. [00:26:25] Speaker A: That fucking cat's name. I can't remember that cat's name right now. [00:26:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I know what you're talking about, but. [00:26:31] Speaker A: But it's the same, you know, to fit in with Abed and Troy's costume choices. God damn. By the way, yeah. This has been said a lot, obviously, at this point, but. But fucking Donald Glover's just like, ripped, so. [00:26:55] Speaker B: Jesus Christ. He was in good shape back then. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure. Still today, but I mean. Yeah, I bet you. [00:27:01] Speaker A: I bet you like barely any working out. I bet you he was naturally. He was young and he's just naturally ripped like that, like. [00:27:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:11] Speaker A: You know, especially being a writer, like he is and a musician. Like, when does he have time to do anything other than like, you know, know, write and be amazing? [00:27:21] Speaker B: No, absolutely. Yeah. I love the alien references, like you said. I love his sexy vampire outfit made out of the toilet. Toilet paper. Sexy Dracula. [00:27:34] Speaker A: I'm sorry, I don't know which Dracula I am. [00:27:43] Speaker B: Also, I love the character of Rich that shows up in a handful of episodes in Community. Yes. [00:27:48] Speaker A: Greg Kromer. Yes. [00:27:49] Speaker B: He serves as a great foil to Joel McHale's Jeff. And I really like even his delivery of whenever the whole thing is the people who get the food poison, who get this rabies disease, their voice lowers. And when he says that line of that I thought of special. That's a great line. Delivery. [00:28:11] Speaker A: And then Britta later, it's been ten minutes and I'm. I'm fine. I do love if all of her Halloween costumes. When she wears a Halloween costumes, they're. They're never sexy. They're always like, like comfortable and silly. You know what I mean? She's a squirrel. She's. What is she in this one? [00:28:34] Speaker B: A Tyrannosaurus rex? [00:28:35] Speaker A: Yes. Which calls back to a past trauma she had with her stepfather or her father, who dressed up like a T. Rex. And like, there's something there. [00:28:46] Speaker B: Oh, really? I didn't know that. [00:28:48] Speaker A: I looked this up on, like, a wiki fandom. Like, some interesting facts about, like, the canonical nature of all the stuff. And. But there's. There's something along that lines. Chevy Chase is. I love the callback as Spock or not Spock. Kirk from Star Trek. He has a famous SNL sketch where he plays Kirk. [00:29:14] Speaker B: Yeah. No. And then I like that we also do a guy. I call it Jim Rash, who I love throughout the whole arc of Community as Dean Pelton. He's so good. [00:29:25] Speaker A: All his costumes are another. Another, like, God, that guy has a great body. You know what I mean? [00:29:32] Speaker B: So you're just looking at this show for the eye candy? Pretty much, yeah. [00:29:35] Speaker A: Pretty much. Pretty much, yeah. [00:29:36] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. But no, obviously too love the use of ABBA as the music episode. Yeah, it's great. [00:29:48] Speaker A: Originally supposed to be Ghostbusters. It was supposed to be like Ghostbusters, but, like, I think it worked out. [00:29:54] Speaker B: I love. Good. It's not Ghostbusters. Yeah. I think that's a lot more fun that it's abba. Yeah. [00:30:02] Speaker A: I love when Starburns gets bitten by Pierce and the reaction is very believable. You know what I mean? Like, they're screaming and it's just like. [00:30:18] Speaker B: Just screaming and looking at it and looking at each other. Yeah. Yeah. That's really good. Oh, man. I'm trying to remember what's his name. I like that whenever he's, like, kind of freaking out after he's been bit, and they're like, even got bit. Starbirds. And goes, my name's Alex. Right? My name's Alex. Like that. Like, I'm really pathetic. Be like, if I'm dying, please call me by my real name. [00:30:41] Speaker A: Yeah. There is something that's great about the show. There's so many, like, little things you could, like, that feed into it. And, like, I mean, this. This does a thing that I. That I like where it's like, the Halloween episode isn't a standalone thing necessarily. There are things that end up shaping the rest of it. Like Chang. [00:31:06] Speaker B: They tied into the whole arc. [00:31:09] Speaker A: Shirley. Oh, hooking up in the bathroom. [00:31:12] Speaker B: Yeah. You've At Nicole Brown and Ken Jung. [00:31:15] Speaker A: Yeah. I love that they're the only ones who know what their costume is. [00:31:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which. But funny enough, I. Did you see that thing about, like, you. So Chang is supposed to be Peggy Fleming? Yeah, but he has the. It's not even the right medals. Like, he's, like, wearing a silver and a gold, but Peggy Fleming never wore. Won a silver, so it's like. It's probably just trying to play gotcha by naming, like, you know, people. [00:31:43] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:31:45] Speaker B: Skaters. Yeah. It's funny. Good stuff. It's good stuff. [00:31:51] Speaker A: Good stuff. [00:31:52] Speaker B: Good stuff. Good enough. Good stuff. [00:31:53] Speaker A: What is wrong with that cat? [00:31:57] Speaker B: It's great that. It's great. What about. What about you? Oh, sorry. You want to say more of this? I'm sorry. I was trying to keep it moving. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. [00:32:07] Speaker A: I love it when Abed, like, and Troy say they love you. Like, I love you. Yeah, I know. [00:32:16] Speaker B: I know. [00:32:17] Speaker A: It's so good. It's. [00:32:19] Speaker B: That's really good. [00:32:20] Speaker A: There's. There's some. There's some character arc in development happening in this that kind of shapes it. You know, Troy's dealing with, like, letting go of his jock past. [00:32:34] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:34] Speaker A: Right. [00:32:35] Speaker B: Well. And, like, that struggle of, like, wanting to be, like, silly and maybe be seen as being a child and being with your friend, but then also wanting to be, like, you know, the cool guy and get the girls kind of thing and struggling with, like, those kinds of two things. Yeah. You know, it's struggling with those two kinds of things which, like, considering the age of the character would have been, like, probably 20. Let's say 19. 20. That's a. That's a common problem I think I ran into in that age. [00:33:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:05] Speaker B: Not you being the cool, sexy guy. I get it. [00:33:09] Speaker A: Cool, sexy guy. As long as I don't open my mouth. He's. Yeah. And I gotta say, I think, like, the girls, like, I don't. This is the thing I have no concept of, but I feel like now a guy going that hard at a Halloween costume. Right. I think that would be more enticing to women. Or I guess the type depends on the audience. I guess. [00:33:41] Speaker B: I guess it'd be the type of. [00:33:42] Speaker A: Girl I would actually want attention from. [00:33:44] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, exactly. Yeah. It depends on the audience. Right. Like, I agree. Like, yeah. If you do that in front of the right crowd. Oh. I think that, you know, that's a. That's an in. But if you do it in the wrong crowd, then that's. That's an out. [00:33:56] Speaker A: It's an out. What's in and what's out? [00:33:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:00] Speaker A: I do love the joke of, like, when Troy is like, I'm gonna save everybody by. By. By lowering the AC temperature. Right. And then he puts the suit on, and it immediately does not work because you're having that thought as the, like, well, there's a lot of stuff to grab onto. This doesn't seem. And it's like, yep, yep. And then he gets bitten immediately. [00:34:26] Speaker B: And him talking his whole way through, like, you know that like a punch, you be in the face. He punches the girl. There's a bee in the face and all that. Like, him talking his way through as he's getting to the thermostat is fantastic. It's. It's at, like. That's a great example of, like, that goofy tunnel Glover that I love. Like, I love, like, that A Mystery Team, the film that he did and his old comedy trip back, like, when he was, like, breaking through. Like, I love that film. Oh, tons of people in that. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, I love that, like, just goofy, dumb Donald Glover humor. [00:35:03] Speaker A: Now, are you aware of the, like, the groundwork theory that's possibly being laid for his eventual development into these sort of, like, ac. [00:35:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:35:16] Speaker A: H VAC unit thing? Because it's, like, where they watch. Were they watching the whole time and they lowered the temperature, or did he just know what. How to press the buttons perfectly that one time in order to get the temperature to lower down without hitting it multiple times? I thought there was some. Some cool lure happening there. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it certainly fits in in a interesting way. [00:35:41] Speaker B: Same. Because it's funny you say that too, because, like, back, like, when I used to watch the show, like, before I, like, look at anything on the Internet. You know, back when it was on originally, I always kind of thought, like, it doesn't look like he actually even barely touches that thing. Like, how do you get to go all the way down, you know, and then to find out, like, some stuff like that, like, oh, maybe he knew the secret or maybe. Yeah, they were helping him out. Yeah, it's interesting and it's funny. [00:36:06] Speaker A: Oh, go ahead. [00:36:06] Speaker B: No, you. [00:36:07] Speaker A: No, no, you go. Go. [00:36:08] Speaker B: I was gonna. I was gonna jump ahead a bit, so if you want to touch base on that. [00:36:11] Speaker A: No, no, no, go. [00:36:12] Speaker B: Oh, I love at the end, whenever the army shows up, how, like, they clearly, like, the, like, almost Men in Black type, like, CIA type guys. They're definitely gonna kill Dean Pelton until they realize that everyone's okay. I like the darkness of that joke. [00:36:28] Speaker A: A bit of, like. [00:36:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:31] Speaker A: Anyway, I really enjoy Joe MC's arc in the. Shows up wearing his jacket. It's like, you're gonna stretch it out as he's like getting devoured by the zombies and then it's like sort of like zombie. I. I like that. The. The sort of Romero concept with the zombies of like. Oh, they. You kind of like emulate the things you do in real life. So like Troy and Aba do their. Their handshake with the. Their secret handshake with. [00:37:08] Speaker B: Allison Bree studying in the library, like over a book. She's like the bookworm kind of type. Yeah, Jeff's. [00:37:14] Speaker A: Jeff's like on his phone. [00:37:16] Speaker B: On his phone. [00:37:16] Speaker A: And I love his transition into normal. Back to normal because he just like. [00:37:21] Speaker B: Kind of shakes it off. [00:37:23] Speaker A: He just like continues on his phone. I don't remember what Brita was doing. [00:37:28] Speaker B: I don't know if they show her there. Yeah, I think. I don't think they really show her at all at that point. Point. [00:37:36] Speaker A: But yeah, I also love Pierce stroking Rich's the bottom of his banana costume earlier in the episode. It's just great. I love the red. It's like, what a wonder. Like, thank you for picking this, cuz Like, I had such a good time watching it and then I ended up watching all the other ones and it was like. It was a fun. It was a fun night, you know? [00:37:57] Speaker B: That's awesome. [00:37:58] Speaker A: What. What fun size candy do you. Would you recommend pairing with this episode of Community? What's the name again? [00:38:11] Speaker B: This is epidemiology. [00:38:14] Speaker A: Do you know what epidemiology is? [00:38:18] Speaker B: The study of man. Isn't that it? [00:38:21] Speaker A: Epidemiology is a study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why. Epidemiological information is used to plan and evaluate strategies. Strategies to prevent illness and as a guide to manage of the management of patients in whom disease has already developed. That was perfectly said by me, not read off of a piece of paper that's right in front of me for sure. [00:38:46] Speaker B: No, no, you did off the dome. I could tell you were making. It was weird. You didn't blink and stare into my eyes the whole time you were saying that it was weird. [00:38:54] Speaker A: And I have an erection now. So. What Candy, do you. Do you pair with this? [00:39:02] Speaker B: Oh, man, that's a hard one. This is. This is. This is difficult. I feel like, because it's given me a lot of, like, you know, it's a lot of nostalgia. But then also I feel like, do I want something maybe a little newer, a little more interesting? I'm gonna go with, you know, okay, I'm gonna go with. With a KitKat because it's snappy, it's crunchy. Just like the writing of this TV show. [00:39:32] Speaker A: I love it. Can I do a witch's brew? KitKat? [00:39:36] Speaker B: You know, I was thinking about it, but I feel like I haven't seen him in the stores this year. Have you seen witches? [00:39:42] Speaker A: No. You gotta have it. You gotta have leftovers. They're doing. It's like a ghost. Yeah, Something with the ghost. Yeah, or the ghost. And maybe the bones. They did bones last year too, which is. I think the ghost and the bones is the same candy just. I mean, they're all the same. I think the witch is just with the green dye. I think the bone. [00:40:01] Speaker B: Well, it's white chocolate too, right? [00:40:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I think. [00:40:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. [00:40:06] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [00:40:07] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. All right, well, Alice, do you have anything else that you want to say about it? [00:40:23] Speaker A: Okay, good. [00:40:24] Speaker B: Okay. So, Michelangelo, that was my selection. What about yours? What did you choose this festive year? [00:40:31] Speaker A: Well, I came across this. I watched it. I loved it. It's Monk, a show I used to absolutely love. I still enjoy it, but I was obsessed with it for a while. And this is Mr. Monk Goes Home Again, season four, episode two. Aired July 15th, interestingly. Oh, really? Halloween episode, July 15th, 2005 on the USA Network. It was directed by Randy Zis and it was written by Andy Breckman and Tony Sharp. I gotta say what I love about this episode is that it is both a Halloween episode and a Monk episode. They flawlessly incorporate Halloween into the typical Monk storyline without deviating from the show's formula. And at the same time, it builds the show's world and we get character development and canonical storyline expansion. I watched this and I was just like, wow, this is. This is like, like brilliant. The production designer, Chuck Parker, I think he did an excellent job of realistically decorating locations and sets with the Halloween vibe. The grocery store at the beginning looks amazing and authentic. I grew up working in grocery stores and I found the decorating in there to be spot on for the time period. I don't know if they filmed this around Hallo or if they set all this up. I have. I have no idea. And then, let's see here. Sorry, I lost my place. I love that Monk's family home has that scary house in the neighborhood feel to it. It used to be inhabited by weird children and now a shut in lives there. It has an almost haunted mansion vibe, which is perfect. I also appreciate that everything is not overproduced. The costumes and decorations to me are realistic, not like the ones you see in Disney movies. Don't be wrong I love Disney movies, but this feels more authentic, you know, kind of like in. And I think mostly of like Hocus Pocus when at the parents the dance they go to. [00:42:45] Speaker B: Oh sure. [00:42:46] Speaker A: Where it's like this is like a costume designer having a lot of fun with putting people in these costumes that in real life you never really see. I found the costumes and the set decorations to like to be very authentic and realistic for me. [00:43:03] Speaker B: No, that makes sense, I guess. So. Okay, you're. You're going to have to help me out a little bit on this one because like I watched a handful of Monk episodes back in the day. I didn't watch ton. Like I thought admittedly going into watch this, it was going to be a little more like silly. I guess. No might be the best way to say this like, because I guess that's kind of how I remember them being a little more like not silly. Like I always rather being a murderer and like that, you know, monks got to figure it out. But like I always thought it was going to like a little more light hearted. I feel like this was a little like a little heavy at points with the whole family thing, his brother and all that. [00:43:43] Speaker A: There is heavy scenes and it kind of, kind of goes into some of. [00:43:47] Speaker B: The themes most Monk episodes. Or is that like I was misremembering or is this episode like a little of a misnomer in that regard? [00:43:57] Speaker A: The show definitely vacillates between humorous and very, very dramatic. I mean, okay, he. He is a. He is. He's a widower. You know, it's like there are very serious things. Like he's, he's. He's. He has mental health issues. Right. And like, I think the times is when it's. That when it's silly is when you're dealing with like Lieutenant Randy, you know, when like Julie, Natalie's daughter is like, you know, Natalie's like, you can't go trick or treating. And she's like, well, what if Lieutenant Randy comes with me and like Lieutenant Randy legitimately wants to go trick or treating with her and then Leland is like, no, you can't. You can't go. So it's like there, there is, there's humor there, but like the backbone of the show is like a very serious backbone bone. [00:44:51] Speaker B: Okay. [00:44:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:51] Speaker B: I must just be like a little, just like misremembering it a little bit because I like, admittedly, like I thought this was def. Definitely going to be a little more like hai. And it was a little more like, oh, I think especially with John Turo and all that, like never leaving the. [00:45:05] Speaker A: House and then, yeah, we'll get into this more. But like to me this is like the Haunting of Hill House meets Frankenstein's meets episode of Monk. The themes from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and the themes of the Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. All of those themes come into play in this storyline. And I do not think it's a mistake that our killer, a Paul Gilstrap played by David Weisenberg, who is fantastic in this, I think it's no mistake that he is has disguised himself as Frankenstein's monster in this episode. [00:45:50] Speaker B: You don't think it's irony because he's a little guy? [00:45:53] Speaker A: I think that's also there that, I mean that's, that goes, that goes into like we have some serious themes within the show. Right. But then it's like, yeah, he's a little guy. It's funny that he is dressed up like Frankenstein. You know what I mean? Big mistake with the, with those hands. Like I could see he's leave fingerprints and stuff like that, but you can't. Your dexterity man. Speaking of him, I think it's hilarious that the guy, and if you're a Monk fan, you know what the guy means. But Paul Gilstrap, he manages to kill a security guard with a gun, shooting him multiple times in a credit grocery store parking lot and doesn't get identified or caught right away. Nevertheless. Nevertheless. Or nevertheless, nevertheless. [00:46:41] Speaker B: Never. Never. [00:46:43] Speaker A: I can suspend my disbelief and go along with the storyline. You know, crazier things have happened in real life. [00:46:53] Speaker B: He's kind of a non descript white guy. Maybe. I don't know. [00:46:57] Speaker A: Hey, hey, go back and listen to this boys episode because there is a Kiefer Sutherland connection here. [00:47:05] Speaker B: Oh really? [00:47:05] Speaker A: Speaking of non descript. Yeah. Because the, the, the clerk is like when she's at the police station later and she's talking with. [00:47:15] Speaker B: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That whole. [00:47:17] Speaker A: Yeah, she's like, yeah, Randy thinks it looks like Kiefer Sutherland. Yeah, that's a no, no. I, I, So I watched this episode twice. You look at the drawing, the sketch that, that comes thumbs up and I gotta say, like it's, it's, it does not. It looks more like Kiefer Southern than it does David Weisenberg. [00:47:41] Speaker B: That's yeah. Weird. [00:47:43] Speaker A: I don't even think in the picture, I don't even think it has glasses. [00:47:48] Speaker B: So you think that that's a testament to creators of Monk or the showrunner had on the fallacy of the eyewitness and that whole thing about how unreliable. Yeah, yeah, this is. So this is like more of a case about, like, the issues of, like, you know, bad evidence and that type of thing. Yes. [00:48:11] Speaker A: It'S a comment. It's a commentary on that for sure. [00:48:13] Speaker B: Yeah, no, it's great. That's. That's progressive. Hey, okay, wait. What year is this again? [00:48:20] Speaker A: This is. [00:48:21] Speaker B: I was trying to, like, think about what year? [00:48:24] Speaker A: Five. 2005. [00:48:25] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. I feel like that's. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. Like, you know what I mean? I think that, like, something like that, like a parking lot shooting, I think would be easier to happen back then. Right. Like, less security cameras, little less, like, you know, phones type of thing. [00:48:42] Speaker A: No smartphones. [00:48:43] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:48:43] Speaker A: No smartphones in 2000. No smartphones in 2005. I think most people there. There are. Cell phones are a pretty normal thing, but, like, not like cameras and recording video. Yeah. Or like the brick Nokia. You know what I mean? [00:49:01] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [00:49:04] Speaker A: Which is evident in this when Natalie gives Julie her cell phone when she goes off trick or treating with her friend that she finds when they show up at the door. Now, I gotta ask you, did you ever smoke clove cigarettes? [00:49:18] Speaker B: Never. You, of course. I bet you did. You. [00:49:24] Speaker A: I tried them. I didn't smoke them. I never. I never bought a. [00:49:28] Speaker B: With your little. You had your. You're probably a successful one. Showing of Our Town or something like that with your little high school friends smoking your clove cigarettes afterwards, thinking you're real fucking cool. [00:49:44] Speaker A: No, I did have a lot of. When I was living in Chicago in my early 20s, I did know a few people who smoked the clove cigarettes thinking that. And I thought they were pretty douchey. [00:49:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So does it taste like Club Clove? Like, what does it taste like? [00:50:00] Speaker A: Yeah, it tastes like clove. [00:50:04] Speaker B: Accurate advertising. [00:50:08] Speaker A: I mean, this time of year, smoking a clove cigarette. You know what I mean? Clove is one of those, like, autumn, you know, scents and flavors. For sure. [00:50:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. [00:50:18] Speaker A: I love when Mo. When moke. When Monk and Ambrose plays. Played perfectly by John Turo. I love that they cast those two guys as brothers. I love when they see each other for the first time. I love how it captures that sibling relationship. It doesn't matter how long it's been since you've seen or talked to that sibling, you immediately just fall into where you left off, for better or worse, you know? [00:50:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, yeah, I agree. Yeah. Yeah. It's not like a. It's not like a. A incredible loving relationship, but also too, it's not antagonistic or anything like that. It's like that. Like, you know, that give and take that a lot of times brothers can have. [00:51:04] Speaker A: I. I love the haunted office and the ghosts of our past. I mean, what's scarier than family trauma? I love how Paul is committed to playing Frankenstein's monster throughout. He's dressed up like that. And this. This episode was definitely ahead of the curve of correcting people about Frankenstein versus Frankenstein's monster. [00:51:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:29] Speaker A: Turturro is like, no, people will be very confused if you don't say Frankenstein monsters. What do you think happened with Ms. Fagan? [00:51:42] Speaker B: Yeah, they don't really show. I think. I think she lived. I think it was a botch all the way around. Wait, and the wife. [00:51:51] Speaker A: No, not. Not miss. Not Mrs. Gilstrap. Ms. Fagan, Monk's teacher, Rem, when they go up in the attic. And Ambrose is like, I know, the girls were always calling. And like, he was like, those were our teachers. He was like, yeah, but what about Ms. Fagan? And it was like, whoa, what happened with Ms. Fagan? Did Ms. Was Ms. Fagan into monk? Like, I wonder what happened there. [00:52:12] Speaker B: So I think that's. I think Ambrose had a poor read on things that didn't really understand. Like, Yeah, I don't know. [00:52:20] Speaker A: Ambrose has, like, a very accurate read on things. Things he knew that he had to learn to laugh to fit in with society. Like, he. He. He knows why did the kid. [00:52:32] Speaker B: Okay, the father. Yeah, the father taught them that. [00:52:35] Speaker A: No, the mother wanted to make. No, no, no. The father didn't have time to teach him to laugh. The mother taught. Taught them. Right. He. He's aware that it's because of how clingy. Ambrose says how. How clingy I was that dad left. You know, I forget what happens. I don't remember all the lure. But I think. I think that's what happens to her. But the father leaves, right, because he can't handle the kids with all their specific needs, so to speak. [00:53:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, we're kind of jumping a bit to the end, so if you want to pause me on that, but what do you think about the whole leaving the note thing? [00:53:15] Speaker A: Leaving the note? [00:53:17] Speaker B: What do you mean, the dad left the note? [00:53:20] Speaker A: What do you. What. What do you. Yeah, yeah, I understand. What. Yeah. [00:53:25] Speaker B: What do you think about that? Like. Like, you know, I was like. I mean, he was supposed to show up a lot earlier and leaves a note whenever, like, am. The one time Ambrose is, like, rushed out of the house, you know, to go to the hospital. And it's kind of like, you know, kind of takes in stripe. I think that's like, that's pretty shitty. You know what I mean? [00:53:42] Speaker A: Well, he's a shitty guy. Well, he's obviously, he's obviously like, I think the dad comes into play lately later, but obviously he has his own. That has gotten in the way of him being a good father. Right. And I think it's obviously, you have to fit this into the format of the show. Right. So I, I do. I mean, I love that he is late. Especially with these two kids who are obsessed. Like specific things. [00:54:16] Speaker B: Right, okay. [00:54:17] Speaker A: And he shows up late and he's, they're not there. And I, I like it. I, I, I thought it was perfectly fitting for it, you know, it's like, I'm glad Ambrose got out of the house. [00:54:29] Speaker B: Yeah, that was nice. That was a nice little moment that like, I'm proud of you for leaving the house. At the same time though, I was like, man, that's kind of shitty. Like, you know, it's one thing to leave your kids. It's one thing to leave your kids for 30 years. It's another thing to show up an hour late for an appointment, man. [00:54:44] Speaker A: Nothing drives me insane, them being late or when someone else is late. [00:54:49] Speaker B: Oh, I know. I can not stand it. I wanted to get into this a little bit. [00:54:53] Speaker A: Okay, okay. You wanted to trigger me. You wanted to trigger me. Okay. I gotta say, like, like I had, I had to stop watching Monk. Right. Because I have some OCD tendencies. And when I watched this, it really exacerbated them. Right. When I, because I watched this when I was in my, my early 20s. Sure. And I will say there is, there is a lot of peace I get when I do fall into my OCD tendencies because I have control. I feel like I have control over something. Everything's neat, everything's in its place. Don't touch it, don't move it. You know what I mean? And when you have like a partner and you have cats, like those things like test those tendencies within me and I, you have to, you have to let go of them. Sure. [00:55:42] Speaker B: Right. [00:55:43] Speaker A: Because they cannot coexist. [00:55:45] Speaker B: I was going to say also too. Did you pick Monk because like, you know, black haired guy, probably a little Italian descent, got some OCD qualities. Claire has a blonde haired woman in his life who needs to give him some order and functionality. Is that maybe sound a little familiar? [00:56:02] Speaker A: Yeah, a little bit. I didn't even think about that. But yeah, you're not wrong. You're not wrong. Speaking of silly humor within the show. I love that monk like, like thinks the hippie kid, the kid dressed up as a hippie. He thinks he's like maybe high. It's like, it's just the costume. And I love how sweet the kids are in this episode. Like the little girl who's like. You mean the special man who lives in the gray house? [00:56:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought the same thing too. [00:56:36] Speaker A: Like I grew up in an era where like one of my brothers would have said like, you mean that R word, F word, P word. Who lives in the big dumb gray. [00:56:45] Speaker B: House, you know, Agree. Yep. Same. Yep. Much more kinder and gentler these San Francisco kids. In the mid aughts. [00:57:01] Speaker A: We talked about Ambrose learning to laugh and the masks we wear in society. I, I, I love the Neighbo neighborhood they're trick or treating in. It seems very real and authentic. Especially. [00:57:14] Speaker B: Is this like a suburb of San Francisco or is it supposed to be San Francisco? [00:57:18] Speaker A: I mean the show is set in San Francisco, so it has to be somewhere. Have you ever been to San Francisco? [00:57:23] Speaker B: No, I haven't. [00:57:23] Speaker A: It definitely like it's got this feel. It's, it San Francisco, there's a reason why it's like one of the most expensive places in the world to live. Whereas I, I feel like, like New York is one of those places, right. Where it's one of the most expensive places in the world to live. Right. But like it's gross for the most part. I love New York, but it's kind of gross. But San Francisco is beautiful and charming and like, like gorgeous. It's, it's I, they, they like, I, I don't know all the layouts of everything. I'm sure some sort of suburb right next to San Francisco or within San Francisco. But it's gorgeous. Like it's very authentic experiences of going to San Francisco. And the Gil Strap house is, I love like that, like they went all out. It seems to probably be the wife. Oh yeah, I love her Neptune bars that she has to have every night. What a shitty piece of Paul is where he's like, I'm so desperate to kill her that I'm going to create a like Tylenol sort of like murder. [00:58:38] Speaker B: Type situations in the 80s. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean I like where they went with that. I also like the fact, I don't like the fact that I like the fact that they don't give him like any motive. You know what I mean? Like yeah, he wants to kill his wife and then that's this whole setup but, like, there's no. Like, he wants to kill his wife because of life insurance policy or he hates her or whatever. I like the fact that they don't even dive into that. You know what I mean? I think necessarily necessary. [00:59:04] Speaker A: Yeah. And I, like, usually they would give that some. Some. Some details, but I think there's so much going on in the episode that they wisely and efficiently, like, were economical with, like, he wants to kill his wife. There's so many reasons why you want to kill your wife. She just wants to kill her like that. That's the background of, like, the familiar drama that's happening within this. With the theme of Halloween. [00:59:35] Speaker B: Yeah. I like the fact that. Oh, go, please. No, no, no. [00:59:40] Speaker A: Go, go, go. [00:59:41] Speaker B: I was gonna say, I like, like the thematic way that they catch him too. Like, he's like, oh, I wasn't able to get that last Neptune bar in the way. Like, what's the. I can't think of the two cop. [00:59:51] Speaker A: Names, but Randy and Stollmeyer, Captain, like. [00:59:55] Speaker B: Slide out from, like, the corners of the patio to be like, oh, FR. Forgot something. It's just really funny. [01:00:06] Speaker A: I. I do love that Ted Levine, who kind of made his mark in a big way in Silence of the Lambs, went on to become, like, this, like. Like, really great, like, cop type figure. [01:00:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:20] Speaker A: I mean, on this show, he's in heat, of course. Crushes it in heat. I love a Taylor Trailer. Trailer. What a weird name. Trailer. Trailer Howard as Natalie. I love her on the show. This is her, I believe, her first season on the show. Replacing. Man. I didn't write it down, but replacing Monk's previous assistant. [01:00:46] Speaker B: I was gonna say, I didn't realize that it wasn't the original woman. So, like, whenever the first episode came on, I was like, what? [01:00:54] Speaker A: I looked into this a long time ago. I think it was, like, some sort of issue with, like, contract dispute or payment or something like that. I mean, it's. It's. It's a big part, you know? [01:01:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. She was, wasn't she? Yeah. Star of. That's what I thought. I thought so. Star of two girls, a guy in a pizza place. [01:01:18] Speaker A: Trailer Howard. Yeah. [01:01:19] Speaker B: Yeah. Trailer Howard. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, hey, I don't remember from that. Yeah. [01:01:24] Speaker A: I love how she handles Ambrose's affection. [01:01:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:29] Speaker A: Very sweet. Very sweet. Very soft, you know? Do you think they went out on that date? [01:01:37] Speaker B: Yes. But I'm sure it was like a very, like, cordial, like, nice. Like, she's just. Just being nice. [01:01:44] Speaker A: Yeah. I love that she's like, her excuses. Not that I think you're weird. It's that I work for your brother. [01:01:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:01:56] Speaker A: You know, not that sweet. It was gentle. [01:01:59] Speaker B: Leave the house. [01:02:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:02] Speaker B: Freak. [01:02:04] Speaker A: I love how they tie the here's what happened segment into a very emotional scene. So at the end of every Monk episode, here's what happened, right? They do the montage, and it's like he's dying, as far as we know at the time, Right? [01:02:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:02:21] Speaker A: It's gorgeous. Like, they're so. I mean, I. It's like Tony Shalhoub and John Turo. They're New York actors. You know what I mean? They bring a lot of pathos to their parts. And, like, man, they just. They just. I just buy. I just. I. There's so much weight to their relationship. Relationship. [01:02:41] Speaker B: Yeah. No, they're. They're excellent. [01:02:45] Speaker A: What was your. Like, we kind of talked about this, but, like, overall, were you able to, like, sit back, enjoy it and have a Halloweeny good time? [01:02:56] Speaker B: You know, it was. It was good, I thought. I think because I had a little bit of those preconceived notions that I was. It was going to be a little bit of a sillier experience. It wasn't quite as satisfying as I thought it might be, but I totally get why you picked it. And, like, I. You know, like, I. I think it does. It fits what this is, for sure, and is. I think it's a good pick. It just, you know, like, sometimes you think you're going to watch something and turns out to be something else. It was kind of one of those experiences for myself, but it was good. Yeah. [01:03:29] Speaker A: This is. I. What I love about it, why this. Why this is, like, such a great Halloween pick for me, is that this is a ghost story as much as it is a Frankenstein morality tale about the responsibility one has when one gives life. It's not enough to create. One must also raise and nurture life with patience, joy, and understanding. Like, there's a. There's a quote from a book that I love called the Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson. And it's like my. I read it often in August, preparing for Halloween. And a quote from the father in that, referring to the protagonist who is his son, he says, our boy owes us nothing. No boy owes his parents. Parents owe their children everything, always and unconditionally. And that's just the way it goes. Like, I, you know, you. You come into this world. World, and you had no choice in the matter, right? And, oh, yeah, the weight, like, you could have. You can have these strained Relationships with your parents. Right. The weight they carry, whether they were good to you or not, whether they're in your life or not is, like, insurmountable. It's like, the most important thing in the world. You can. You can intellectually understand. Like. Like, my father did not raise me. This isn't me. I'm just. I'm just, you know. [01:05:01] Speaker B: Sure. [01:05:01] Speaker A: I'm just talking right now. My father raised me. My father was a good father. My father did not raise me. But, like, that person comes back into your life, they do carry a certain amount of weight, regardless of whether you wanted to or not, in a certain way. You know what I mean? Sure. You know what I'm saying? [01:05:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:05:19] Speaker A: Like, did it. Did you. Did it make you think about your relationship with your parents at all? [01:05:23] Speaker B: No. Sorry. [01:05:28] Speaker A: Do you think maybe that's because you, like, shut that down? You got some bricks up? You got a wall up, protecting yourself? [01:05:35] Speaker B: No. I just don't really see the corollary for myself. [01:05:39] Speaker A: Okay. I'm gonna write that down in the notes. [01:05:41] Speaker B: Yeah, Put that in my. [01:05:43] Speaker A: My folder goes in your file. Yeah, my file. The return slot file. Video store or is Chris going to continue to be employed here? [01:05:53] Speaker B: Chris can't connect with his father via Monk or Mother. Side note, my parents loved Monk. [01:06:03] Speaker A: Of course they did. Because they're smart. [01:06:04] Speaker B: They're Monk fans. Is Monk a show for smart people? [01:06:09] Speaker A: Yep. [01:06:09] Speaker B: Is that what this is? [01:06:10] Speaker A: Yep. Now, what candy would I have with this? Yeah, you might ask. [01:06:17] Speaker B: Well, I would if you'd let me ask it. God. [01:06:23] Speaker A: Well, I prefer to eat eight Neptune bars laced with tetracholergene. [01:06:29] Speaker B: Well, I think, like, you're kind of skipping over the most important question of all, right? Like, what do you think a Neptune bar is? Like, you think it's crunchy, you think it's caramel, you think it's peanutty? [01:06:40] Speaker A: Peanut butter. [01:06:41] Speaker B: What do you think? [01:06:42] Speaker A: Like, I think it's a cross between a Milky Way and a Baby Ruth. [01:06:49] Speaker B: I think because it's in San Francisco, it's just a piece of kelp or seaweed that's just covered in chocolate. [01:07:01] Speaker A: Mickey, please add a lap track there. [01:07:09] Speaker B: Sorry. What kind of candy would you eat with this episode? [01:07:12] Speaker A: I just told you. Neptune. A Neptune bar, Bro. [01:07:15] Speaker B: Those aren't real. Bro, you got him a real candy. Come on. [01:07:19] Speaker A: I'm gonna stick with I'm a Reese's guy and I gotta say, the Franken. [01:07:29] Speaker B: Franken Hooker. [01:07:30] Speaker A: Yep. I'm gonna eat a VHS copy of Frankenhooker. [01:07:37] Speaker B: It's crunchy. But delicious. [01:07:40] Speaker A: No, they don't have them this year. This year. It's. It's the. It's. I can't. I'm so frustrated with. Look it up while I talk, please. [01:07:48] Speaker B: Okay. [01:07:48] Speaker A: Sorry. It's the Frankenstein themed Reese's Peanut Butter cup where it's basically white chocolate on the top part that's dyed green. [01:07:58] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:07:59] Speaker A: And then the regular chocolate. Yeah, they. They're called wolf tracks this year. And they. It's vanilla as opposed to the green color. So it's white on top. I don't quite get the wolf tracks concept. I think they're just like. Stick with the Frank Franken cup. I think it's just called Frank. [01:08:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Franken cup set. [01:08:18] Speaker A: Yeah, they were great. Mickey loves the ghosts. The Reese's Peanut Butter ghosts. The white chocolate ghosts. Not the. Not the chocolate ghost, the white chocolate ghost. They are, according to him, divine. That's what he would say. Divine. So I would go with the Franken cups for this. If you have some leftover from last year which fits into. Into it in multiple ways because we. [01:08:47] Speaker B: Can'T let go, move on. [01:08:49] Speaker A: There's. Okay, so even more. Can't let go and move on. Frankenstein and candy from last year. [01:08:57] Speaker B: There you go. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Because the Neptune bar is from last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. [01:09:02] Speaker A: It's so good. It's such a good. Such a well acted, well written episode of television. I would be interested if you were to go back and watch some more and then rewatch this with new eyes, how you would feel about it. Because I just had the best time watching it. I love so much. [01:09:23] Speaker B: Nice. [01:09:25] Speaker A: Unfortunately, this is their only Halloween themed episode. I would have watched more. Now, Ambrose does show up a total of three times in the series. This being one of them. [01:09:41] Speaker B: I was gonna say he makes. And the dad makes like an appearance eventually, right? [01:09:45] Speaker A: Yes. And the events of this episode are not referred to in Mr. Monk Meets his dad. The poison in this episode, tetra chloride, is a fictional poison. Does not exist. And then of course, Paul's scheme to murder his wife seems to take some inspiration for what the reason might have been behind the Tylenol murders that happened in Chicago 1982. Which you should look up. That's interesting. We net. We don't know. We don't know. This fucking psycho piece of shit poisoned some Tylenol, but don't know why. And that's now why. There are these lies. Locks, though. Like. Yeah, those like, like. Oh, the. The whole. By the way. [01:10:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:10:36] Speaker A: I don't know what it's like in your neighborhood, but in my neighborhood right now, I like to see what happened. It was a visual thing. I go to the CVS and everything. Like, every month there's more stuff locked up. [01:10:51] Speaker B: Yep. I know. Not. Not like around here, but, man, we live in two very different places. You know what I mean? Yes, but, like. But I know that's a national problem. Like, I don't know if you heard or not, but, like, yeah, like. Like Walgreens announced it's going to close, like, 20 of their stores or something like that. And that's. It's like, because. Because, I mean, why would you go to some of these places? Right? It's like it's just all under lock and key. Like, why not just buy it from Amazon, have it shipped to your door? It's supposed to deal with that. [01:11:19] Speaker A: This is the story of all this. [01:11:21] Speaker B: Dystopian, Dystopian capitalistic society going extinct. [01:11:26] Speaker A: Coffee's going extinct. [01:11:27] Speaker B: Yep. I'm. I got my hockey mask bought. I'm ready to start yelling at some small villages about giving me their oil and gas. I'm ready. Let's do this. [01:11:35] Speaker A: I'm into it. I'm going to be the, like, little, like, twink guy on the bike who gets a boomerang in the head. [01:11:43] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I don't like that. Yeah, you die quick. Let's not do that. [01:11:46] Speaker A: I could be the feral kid. [01:11:49] Speaker B: You got feral kid energy, I feel. [01:11:51] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I do. I was. And I was. [01:11:55] Speaker B: I bet you were. [01:11:58] Speaker A: In many ways, I still am. Listener. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this Halloween episode and spending your Halloween season with us. It's my favorite time of year. It's a magical time of year. It reminds me of everything that I love about life. [01:12:21] Speaker B: Death, death. [01:12:25] Speaker A: How my parents, me up, how everything's going. Going to. I'm just gonna. Chris, I'm just gonna sleep with you tonight. [01:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah. Come on in. [01:12:40] Speaker A: You put on. Put on the bear onesie and just let me. Just let me sleep next to you in between you and Ra. [01:12:47] Speaker B: Time to get cozy. [01:12:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna just eat up. Do you like? I. This is. This is a me thing. Thing. Okay, but, like, I don't, like. I don't eat any regular candy throughout the year. I. I do eat. I do eat, like, you know, fancy chocolates. I love chocolate. [01:13:08] Speaker B: Sure. [01:13:08] Speaker A: Yeah. But, like, candy. Once a year, I buy some candy. [01:13:13] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:13:13] Speaker A: I don't really have trick or treaters. You gotta, you know, according to the rules of Sam from trick or treat. You gotta have candy on hand. That's one of the rules. Gotta have it. Even though I never have trick or treaters, I have it. And so I end up just eating a fucking like Halloween Eve, Devil's night, whatever you want to call it. And Halloween, I end up eating like just so much candy, I make myself sick. [01:13:42] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, no, same like we buy, like we always have chocolate on hand, but it's always like, you know, like nice, like crap, like, you know, 70% cocoa, dark chocolate kind of stuff. This is the only time of the year I have like, you know, Hershey's and Reese's and Milky Ways and all that. And normally, like buy the giant bags at Costco and have it sitting in our bowl, like right now. So of course, like, as I walk by it, I'm like, oh, you know, take a little treat for me. Take a little treat here, take a little treat there. And then like, you know, you look in the trash and there's 20 candy wrappers sitting in there because you've just been treating yourself over and over, over again. [01:14:19] Speaker A: I remember one year you came to visit me. [01:14:21] Speaker B: Huh? [01:14:22] Speaker A: Right? And like I had like my, my jack o'lantern pail filled with candy out. [01:14:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:14:28] Speaker A: And I remember you were just, you were doing, you were just eating all this candy. [01:14:32] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:14:32] Speaker A: I remember like, like the duality of my personality, of part of me being like, this guy is eating so much candy. What the is wrong with this guy? He's eating all my goddamn candy. And then the other part, and you'd be like, well, you put it out. It's this time let him eat it. What are you going to do with it? You don't have trick or treaters and you don't want to eat all that candy because you're going to make yourself sick. But you'd, you'd wake up and you'd eat like five or six pieces. [01:14:57] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [01:14:58] Speaker A: And I'm like, what is this? What is he doing with his life? And then I'd become envious. Chris is just living his life the way he wants to live it. I should be doing that. [01:15:08] Speaker B: Join me, Michelangelo. Eat Halloween candy whenever you like. In the morning, in the midday, in. [01:15:14] Speaker A: The evening, in the evening. I become a werewolf at night and I consume mass quantities of food because I starve myself throughout the day. [01:15:21] Speaker B: That's in generally true. I've seen you eat an impressive amount of food in like a two hour period late in the evening. [01:15:26] Speaker A: You say impressive, but when I'm at Chris's house and I start going through your cabinet, it's less impressive and more fucking annoying. [01:15:37] Speaker B: I mean, you can be impressed and annoyed at the same time. [01:15:40] Speaker A: You can have two conflicting emotions, like aroused and disgusting. Yes, Yes. [01:15:45] Speaker B: I mean, that's the only way I can get there. [01:15:49] Speaker A: Oh, God. God bless you, listener. God bless you. Because God is a very major part of Halloween. Like Yvette's character and I think the third episode of Community where they're doing the different story lines because the tests and one of them is crazy and like Yvette is like, I'm going to heaven. Bye. And it's like the dean is dressed up like the devil and his sexy outfit. [01:16:24] Speaker B: Y. [01:16:25] Speaker A: Okay, we're. We're going on and on. I. I've had too much of this whiskey. Mickey, we love you. We miss you. Thank you. [01:16:33] Speaker B: For you, Mickey. [01:16:35] Speaker A: Happy Halloween to you in the foreign country you're in. Happy Halloween to our listeners. We love you. [01:16:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:16:45] Speaker A: Come to store whenever you want and rent, you know, rent Halloween 3 season of the Witch. Chris, what do you recommend? [01:16:54] Speaker B: Oh, ooh, Rent Session nine. [01:17:02] Speaker A: That's a. That's. I mean it's a fun one. That's a, that's a. That we, we. That's one of our episodes that have never been released. [01:17:10] Speaker B: Oh, really? [01:17:10] Speaker A: Session nine. Yeah, it's a good one. [01:17:12] Speaker B: I haven't seen it. [01:17:13] Speaker A: It's great. [01:17:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I remember I always really liked it a lot when. Back when I was growing up. [01:17:17] Speaker A: Well, I like you and I like you Halloween and I love you and I love the listeners and I love Mickey. [01:17:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:24] Speaker A: And I love Ally and I love. [01:17:25] Speaker B: Molly and if you want to take part in this, love, you should probably go to the return slot of horror pod on Instagram and Threads and on youtubes and see us and enjoy us. [01:17:42] Speaker A: Where would it be in your mouth? [01:17:43] Speaker B: Like a snack size? Well, I mean, probably if you were to go to YouTube, let's say, and you click on maybe a couple of buttons, it probably be the return slide of Horror podcast on YouTube. [01:18:00] Speaker A: Subscribe rate us. Review us. We appreciate you. We love you, listener. Have a very spooky and fun Halloween. And you know, post on our Instagram what your favorite fun sized Halloween specials are. Okay. [01:18:19] Speaker B: Okay. [01:18:19] Speaker A: We need to blow out the candles and get the out of hearing. Like I need to put on my costume. [01:18:26] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's going to look great. Bye.