0:00

When it comes to weight loss, no two

0:02

people are the same. That's why

0:04

Noom builds personalized plans based on

0:06

your unique psychology and biology. Take

0:08

Brittany. After years of unsustainable diets,

0:11

Noom helped her lose 20 pounds

0:13

and keep it off. I was

0:15

definitely in a yo-yo cycle for

0:17

years of just losing weight gaining

0:19

weight and it was exhausting. And

0:21

Stephanie, she's a former D1 athlete

0:23

who knew she couldn't outtrain her

0:26

diet and she lost 38 pounds.

0:28

My relationship to food before Noom

0:30

was never consistent. And Evan, he

0:32

can't stand salads, but he still

0:34

lost 50 pounds with Noom. I've

0:36

never really was a salad guy. That's

0:38

just not who I am. Even through

0:41

the pickiness, Noom taught me that building

0:43

better habits builds a healthier lifestyle. I'm

0:45

not doing this to feel better. Get

0:47

your personalized plan today at Noom.com. Real

0:50

Noom users compensated to provide their

0:52

story. In four weeks, the typical

0:54

new user can expect to lose

0:56

one to two pounds per week.

0:58

Individual results may vary.

1:00

Over the last 75 years, over

1:02

10,000 chemicals have been introduced to

1:04

our food supply. Yet the EU

1:07

only allows 300 food additives. But

1:09

at Thrive Market, we bring our

1:11

members the highest quality brands and

1:13

restrict more than 1,000 ingredients found

1:15

at conventional grocery stores. Making the

1:17

switch is easy with our Healthy

1:20

Swaps scanner, which finds better versions

1:22

of all your favorite pantry, snacking,

1:24

and home essentials, without the

1:26

added junk, dyes, and fillers. Plus, it's

1:28

all delivered straight to your door. So

1:31

if you're looking to shop at a

1:33

grocery store that actually cares about your

1:35

health, go to Thrivemarket.com/podcast, and you'll

1:37

get 30% off your first order

1:40

and a free gift. I

1:45

don't know if you can tell. I'm a

1:48

little worried. Can you get that? Do you

1:50

get that? I mean a little bit. I

1:52

feel you're usually like, aha. And

1:54

right now, you're more like, hmm.

1:56

Because, and I just, I need you

1:58

to tell me honestly. and Eden I

2:01

can handle it. Is Jonathan

2:03

Bennett replacing me

2:05

in your life? I just I

2:07

need to know because I've been

2:10

filled with anxiety ever since I

2:12

saw you guys post that dance

2:14

video of you doing the

2:17

the wicked music and that

2:19

that dance I've been worried

2:21

sick. I am, I get, I don't know

2:23

if it'll, I don't know if it will

2:25

make you feel better or worse

2:27

that I, my first instinct was

2:29

to say, oh I cannot wait

2:31

to tell him that you said

2:33

this. Because truly all we do, I

2:36

mean not all we do, clearly you

2:38

can tell from that video we

2:40

do a lot more, but we

2:42

talked about you so much. No

2:44

you didn't, don't line up my things

2:46

like this. It was his idea to

2:48

facetime you. Wait, okay, wait, yes, just,

2:50

everyone knows. I got, I'm in the

2:53

middle of a cop job, it's 8

2:55

a.m. 8 p.m. where you are, and

2:57

I get a facetime from Sweet Little

2:59

Gorgeous Baby Eden, and... Jonathan Bennett, Aaron

3:02

Samuels himself. He's obsessed with you.

3:04

He thinks you're so cute. All

3:06

I could do was talk about

3:08

how amazing you were. And he

3:11

was like, because I was like,

3:13

oh my God, like, Brock, you'd

3:15

love him. You'd try. I literally,

3:18

I couldn't stop talking about you.

3:20

In fact, I was like, oh

3:22

my God, like, Brock, you'd love

3:25

him. I literally, I couldn't stop

3:27

talking about you. somewhere a little

3:29

bit. Yeah, not quite LA, but

3:32

he lives somewhere fun and

3:34

but like Like Disneyland we made

3:36

a whole plan because he lives in this like

3:38

nice little house and this nice little neighborhood He's

3:40

got a fun little like a great big like

3:42

backyard and he was like and it'll be like

3:45

a little day trip It's not like super close

3:47

to us in our area of LA Got it

3:49

got it. He was like we made this whole

3:51

plan that you and camp and me are gonna

3:53

go and visit him and James his husband and

3:55

we're gonna have the best best best best time.

3:57

Oh my god. He loves you he loves you

4:00

he loves replacing you. Honestly, he

4:02

doesn't have time. Okay, good.

4:04

He doesn't have time to

4:06

replace you. Okay, well, okay,

4:09

so my worry has gone

4:11

away, but that's that's all

4:13

fitting because we're recapping episode

4:15

121, worry duty, and Eden.

4:18

It's true. You just now

4:20

connected the dots. I had

4:22

no idea. That's how we're

4:24

going to segue. I love

4:27

it. Oh, worry appeased. We're

4:29

worry alleviated. No need to

4:31

worry anymore. Thank God. Okay,

4:33

Eden. And it's just us

4:36

today. Yes, it is. Well,

4:38

us and Jonathan Bennett and

4:40

the good on the spirit

4:42

of Jonathan Bennett. All that

4:45

and so much more. So

4:47

let's get to middling. Welcome

4:55

to Middling with Eden and Brock where Eden, Cher and

4:57

I, well, Critics Choice Award winner, Eden, Cher and I.

4:59

Thank you. Yes, break down an episode of the middle.

5:01

Each and every week, Eden, it's January 1st, Happy New

5:04

Year, Happy End of Hanukkah. How are you? I'm good,

5:06

I'm fine, you know. Okay, so, this will have, this

5:08

will be airing. After your birthday, we're recording before your

5:10

birthday, your birthday is December 26th, right in the thick

5:13

of Christmas, mayhem, post-Christmas mayhem, and Hanukkah mayhem. What are

5:15

you doing? So here's the thing. I don't understand why.

5:17

I think this whole season, this whole Christmas season, and

5:19

my birthday should be outlawed. Uh-huh. That's what I think.

5:21

And maybe I'm like, right, like, I don't know how

5:24

I'm going to be feeling, because we're recording this, like,

5:26

hmm, like, secret, spoiler alert. We're recording this before New

5:28

Year's. Right. So I don't know how I'm going to

5:30

be feeling afterwards, but I just got back from a

5:32

big trip. I took a big trip. I was away.

5:35

working very far away for

5:37

a couple weeks and it

5:39

was the longest I've ever

5:41

been away from my kids.

5:44

Boy oh boy, did I

5:46

have some complex feelings. Sure,

5:48

sure. it felt so good

5:50

to be creatively fulfilled. I

5:52

was working on something that

5:55

you will know about soon

5:57

enough, but oh boy oh

5:59

boy, did I just go

6:01

to sleep crying every single

6:03

night? Sweet thing. I just

6:06

miss them. I was so,

6:08

being in a completely different

6:10

time zone, like not just

6:12

like a couple hours ahead,

6:15

but like 10 hours ahead,

6:17

you know? And I, so

6:19

I was never, I was

6:21

just never in sync with

6:23

them and it was just

6:26

like, I'm bad mom and

6:28

I know I'm doing this

6:30

for them and I know

6:32

it's important for me to

6:35

have my own stuff going

6:37

on and it's important for

6:39

them to see me being

6:41

happy, like fulfilled outside of

6:43

them, but oh my God,

6:46

am I like, I'm not

6:48

allowed to have any fulfillment

6:50

outside of them. What am

6:52

I doing? I'm

6:54

an absentee mom. And

6:57

so then coming home,

6:59

they're sick. Sure.

7:01

Okay, home to just like newly

7:03

sick children, have not slept one

7:05

single night. And guess what? You're

7:07

sick too. Yes, and they got

7:09

me sick. Just like this homecoming

7:11

has been, and so now, and

7:13

now I have to deal with

7:15

Christmas. I don't even, I don't

7:17

celebrate Christmas, brah. I know, I

7:19

know. I'm such a cringe. I

7:21

know. But I don't, so it's

7:23

not my thing. Now I have

7:25

to like celebrate Christmas. And

7:28

I love when you're in the

7:30

festive spirit. It's so, it's so heartwarming

7:32

to see. And I have to

7:34

deal with my birthday. Sure. God, it's

7:36

so what are you doing? Nothing.

7:38

Okay, you're just truly chilling. Are you

7:40

just a normal day? Yeah, no.

7:42

It is what it is. Don't worry,

7:44

I'm not hiding anything from you,

7:46

brah. What if I

7:48

was like having a huge party and

7:50

I was like, ha ha, nothing. You're

7:52

like, it's so funny. I keep checking

7:55

my mailbox and no rotation. No, literally,

7:57

Nick last night was like, so wait,

7:59

is there anything you wanna, like I

8:01

can plan something. of course, because usually I'm like, I just

8:03

don't want to plan anything. And I was

8:05

like, look, I don't want to take

8:08

this away from you if you want

8:10

to do something. If that is something

8:12

that is like, if you were, if it will

8:14

make you happy, I'm not going to

8:16

stop you. But don't do it on

8:19

my account. I'm serious. We have a

8:21

very like, you know, say what we

8:23

mean, mean what we say in a

8:25

relationship. I'm not one of those people.

8:27

Yeah, absolutely not. I was like,

8:29

I literally need nothing. I don't

8:31

want to do anything. I mean,

8:34

I can treat it like a

8:36

normal day. I just don't care. It

8:38

was just a good sign that he's,

8:40

I think, a wonderful enough partner that

8:42

I genuinely feel like he does so

8:45

much for me. every day. Like if

8:47

he, you know, we're very very in

8:49

sync with each other. I was like,

8:52

I don't want, you know, added stress

8:54

and maybe like you can pick up

8:56

a little more of the slack with,

8:59

uh, like maybe with the kids stuff,

9:01

do a little more heavy lifting.

9:03

But in terms of like activity,

9:06

no, I literally, I don't need

9:08

anything. I don't even need to

9:10

go out to dinner. I just want

9:12

it to be a normal day. I'm

9:14

too tired. A little bit of housekeeping,

9:16

a little bit of housekeeping before

9:19

we get into this episode. So

9:21

we're kind of in our final

9:23

stretch. We're about to do 121

9:25

worry duty. So we have 121,

9:27

two, three, and 124 left of

9:29

season one, where I can't believe

9:31

we're already nearing the end of

9:33

season one. That is baffling to

9:35

me, by the way. That being said.

9:37

We're going to take a little just at

9:40

the tiniest shortest little break after season

9:42

one It's not a full like summer

9:44

that you're used to when you were

9:46

watching the middle on ABC just a

9:48

one month off to reset Reorganized re-shuffle

9:50

revamp retool just a little bit We've

9:52

noticed things that have been working things

9:54

that were like oh we could use

9:56

more of that because we want to

9:59

make this experience as great as possible,

10:01

especially for all of you wonderful listeners.

10:03

Yeah, we need a little break, we

10:05

need a, we need a, we need

10:08

a, we need a re, we're gonna

10:10

be come back refreshed. Yeah. And we

10:12

want, we would love to hear from

10:14

you. If there's anything that, in this

10:17

time that you, that you, that you

10:19

love, that maybe it's not working so

10:21

much for you, that you want to

10:23

hear more of, you want to hear

10:26

less of whatever. Yeah. Let us know.

10:28

Because like some of our earliest conversations

10:30

Eden and I had when we were

10:32

like, we should do this, how do

10:35

we want this to look, what are

10:37

we trying to like do with this

10:39

podcast? One of the first things out

10:41

of our mouths is like we want

10:44

the listeners, the fans, the viewers of

10:46

the middle to be as involved and

10:48

integrated as possible into this podcast, into

10:50

this experience. Yeah. Did you say the

10:53

thing about Patreon? Or is that? No,

10:55

would you please, I was just about

10:57

to, please, please, please. Patriot! Patriot subscribers!

10:59

Do not fret. We're taking this pause

11:02

for a month and so are you.

11:04

You do not need to do a

11:06

thing. Your billing cycle will be paused.

11:09

Will we pause for the month? You

11:11

will not be charged because there will

11:13

be no content released. And it will

11:15

resume. It will resume just automatically once

11:18

we start releasing more of that content

11:20

that you know and love. So your

11:22

billing cycle will literally stay the same.

11:24

like date if you get billed I

11:27

don't know you signed up on the

11:29

15th and that you get charged the

11:31

15th every month you won't get charged

11:33

on the 15th when we take our

11:36

little sabbatical but then that following month

11:38

it'll pick back up again so we're

11:40

just taking four weeks off no new

11:42

content on patron but you'll still have

11:45

access to the back catalog if you're

11:47

like I'm a few episodes behind let

11:49

me catch up you still can go

11:51

back and look there's not new stuff

11:54

released and as a result we're not

11:56

going to charge you're not going to

11:58

charge you. No, Hollywood won't hire us.

12:00

But on that note, let's do our

12:03

middle minutes. We're middle, middle, middle. So,

12:05

middle, minitting. We're middle, minitting. Okay. Take

12:07

four. Middle minutes. Okay. So, here we

12:09

are, episode 121, worry duty. Here's the

12:12

summary. Frankie is worried that Axle is

12:14

going to get his heart crushed again

12:16

when his on again off again girlfriend

12:18

Morgan reenters his life and tries to

12:21

mold him into the man she wants

12:23

him to be. Meanwhile, Brick learns what

12:25

it means to be a mother hen

12:28

when he has to watch over a

12:30

baby chick. I have a lot of

12:32

thoughts. Oh, me too, me too, me

12:34

too. I also have questions about the

12:37

chick, I have questions about, I have

12:39

a lot of things. Written by Bruce

12:41

Rasmussen and directed by Lee Charlotte Shemo.

12:43

Also, even at the Speed, you and

12:46

I listened the other day to back

12:48

for, you know, quality control. To the

12:50

episode with Neil, the way he talks

12:52

at a normal... pace and you and

12:55

I are fighting for our lives also

12:57

matching him in that case. It's the

12:59

funniest thing because he talks at a

13:01

normal rate and you and I always

13:04

talk like this so we're trying to

13:06

balance it out the funniest thing to

13:08

me. Brock that is the one thing

13:10

that Neil has always said to me.

13:13

He's like if I can give you

13:15

any advice or like just tell you

13:17

any piece of information from as an

13:19

older person. You and it goes it's

13:22

like a young person thing it's not

13:24

just like you and me although we

13:26

do we talk particularly fast yeah yeah

13:28

but he was like as you get

13:31

older I he says like I remember

13:33

older people would say to me like

13:35

slow down or I can't understand you

13:37

and he was like I thought it

13:40

was ridiculous And as he's gotten older,

13:42

he's like, you talk so fast. Did

13:44

I tell you this? Did I say

13:46

this on a bike? We got some

13:49

comment. This is right when we first

13:51

started. And some girl said, I usually

13:53

listened to podcasts at 1.5 speed. But

13:56

with you two, I have to listen

13:58

to it at points. 7 5 speed

14:00

I have to slow you to down

14:02

I mean I've gotten that note before

14:05

that's the note that I've gotten

14:07

on lines where it's usually like

14:09

can you just like speed it

14:11

up or can you like you

14:13

have you have to be almost

14:15

unintelligible I've got literally like

14:18

you can just take it down or

14:20

not. Like you can have some breathing

14:22

room. Yeah. Oh my god. That's funny.

14:24

Yeah. Anyway. Anyway. The guest cast.

14:26

The guest cast is The Fabulous,

14:28

Alexa Panavega again. Her unfortunate final

14:31

episode. That's sad. She was such

14:33

a, as I've said, as we

14:35

said last time, such a joy

14:37

to have on set. Chris Catan,

14:39

as Bob, Brian Doyle Murray, as

14:42

Mr. Ellert, Peter Brightmire, all the

14:44

Ellerts people, as Pete, and Jillian

14:46

Nelson, as Inga. Oh, that's the

14:48

foreign exchanges at the end. Can

14:51

I just tell you really fast?

14:53

Yeah. at the, so I watched this

14:55

with, uh, Nick, my husband last night,

14:57

and at the end, he goes, Alexa

15:00

Vega. I feel like that name sounds

15:02

kind of familiar. And I was like,

15:04

oh, well, yeah, I mean, you might

15:06

have seen her. She was like, oh,

15:08

what would I have seen her? And

15:10

I was like, oh, what would I

15:13

have seen her? And I was like, he

15:15

was probably thinking of her

15:17

from dancing with the stars.

15:20

I know he voted. What if

15:22

my husband was like closeted dancing

15:24

with the stars stand? Honestly, I'd

15:27

be pissed. I wouldn't be surprised.

15:29

This episode aired on Wednesday, April

15:31

28th, 2010 at 83730 Central. We

15:33

were off last week and they

15:35

played two repeats of the middle,

15:38

two repeats of Modern Family. So

15:40

in the 8 o'clock slot on

15:42

the 21st was the breakup, the first

15:44

one with Miss Pena Vega. And then

15:47

the 830 slot was the B. And

15:49

then this week, obviously, we had

15:51

a new episode. And we had

15:53

7.1 million viewers. Wow, people were

15:55

excited. They were. We were thrilled to

15:58

have us back. The top movie. the

16:00

week, wow, time really just does repeat

16:02

itself. This is crazy. Top movie the

16:04

week in 2010, just a mere 14

16:07

years ago, was How to Train Your

16:09

Dragon. Because it dipped to number two

16:11

and then this past weekend it went

16:13

back up to number one, which I

16:16

didn't really realize was a thing that

16:18

happened with movies. Okay, I didn't realize

16:20

that was a thing at all, but

16:23

I was just thinking that we've, like,

16:25

it's what we're living in a time

16:27

loop. Like we're in 2024 and we're

16:29

about to have. How to Change Your

16:32

Dragon, probably be the number one spot

16:34

again? Again, yeah. Because I guess we

16:36

just, yeah, we got no ideas anymore,

16:39

but I will say I'm really excited

16:41

for the new How to Ginger Dragon,

16:43

so I can't explain. Yeah, Human Animal

16:45

story, I know you love. I do,

16:48

I really do. And then the top

16:50

song of the week is nothing

16:52

on you by BOB, FET, Bruno

16:55

Mars. Where's BOB? B-O-B, isn't B-B,

16:57

B-O-B, right? Yeah, where do you

16:59

go? I think you still in

17:02

2011, I'm not sure. Okay. Let's

17:04

break down this episode. Hi, who

17:07

here loves when their nails are

17:09

perfectly done? Me. I'm Sarah Gibson

17:11

Tuttle and I started Olive in

17:14

June because, let's be real, we

17:16

all deserve to have gorgeous nails,

17:18

but who wants to spend a

17:21

fortune or half their day at

17:23

the salon? And that's why I

17:25

created the Manny system. So you

17:28

can have that salon perfect manicure

17:30

right at home. And guess what?

17:33

The best part? Each Manny only

17:35

costs $2. Yep, you heard me.

17:37

No more 30, 40, 50 dollar

17:40

salon trips that eat up your

17:42

day. Now you can paint your

17:44

nails whenever you want, wherever you

17:47

want, and trust me, you're going

17:49

to be obsessed with your nails

17:51

and everyone is going to ask

17:54

you, where did you get your

17:56

nails done? And here's a little

17:59

something extra. Head over to Olive

18:01

and June.com and get 20. You're

18:03

all set for a nail glow-up.

18:06

Let's get those nails

18:08

looking fabulous, shall

18:10

we? Hi, this is

18:12

Freddie Wong from Dungeons and Daddies and

18:15

this episode is sponsored by Rocket Money

18:17

Blast Off. That's right. Rocket Money is

18:19

a personal finance app that empowers you

18:21

to save more, spend less, and take

18:24

control of your financial life. Basically, you

18:26

can see all of your checking savings,

18:28

credit cards, and investments in one convenient

18:30

place. You can understand your spending trends,

18:33

and most importantly, you can categorize those

18:35

expenses and set up a custom budget

18:37

by identifying top spending categories. Listen, you

18:39

want track, bank statements. It's very difficult.

18:41

That's Rocket Money to help keep

18:44

track of all your finances. Rocket

18:46

Money is over 5 million happy

18:48

members and it's saved its users

18:50

over $1 billion across all of

18:52

the app's premium features. Let Rocket

18:54

Money help you reach your financial

18:56

goals faster. Get Rocket Money Today

18:59

at Rocketmoney.com/ All in One. Over the

19:01

last 75 years, over 10,000 chemicals

19:03

have been introduced to our food

19:05

supply. Yet the EU only allows

19:07

300 food additives, but at Thrive

19:09

Market we bring our members the

19:11

highest quality brands and restrict more

19:13

than 1,000 ingredients found at conventional

19:16

grocery stores. Making the switch is

19:18

easy with our healthy swap scanner,

19:20

which finds better versions of all

19:22

your favorite pantry, snacking and home

19:24

essentials, without the added junk, dyes and

19:26

fillers. Plus it's all delivered straight to your

19:29

door. So if you're looking to shop

19:31

at a grocery store that actually cares

19:33

about your health, Go to Thrivemarket.com/podcast

19:35

and you'll get 30%

19:38

off your first order

19:40

and a free gift. I need

19:42

to center myself because I

19:44

loved this. This is one of

19:46

my, I didn't realize, I don't

19:48

know if I'd seen this since

19:50

it aired originally, back in 2010.

19:52

This, I texted you yesterday, I

19:54

was at LAX, 71B, United Terminal.

19:57

Of course. I was sitting next

19:59

to a fly. light attendant. He was swiping

20:01

on tinder. He apparently likes bald men.

20:03

When I tell you I was tee

20:06

heing out loud at this episode, there

20:08

were so many things that I laughed

20:10

out loud when there's things that took

20:13

me by surprise. This this episode has

20:15

become one of my favorites from season

20:17

one. And I didn't even remember a

20:20

lick of it, which I think made

20:22

it so much more fun. I forgot,

20:24

or I knew that Alexa came back

20:27

and I couldn't remember how. I was

20:29

like, wait, I didn't realize they fully

20:31

broke up in that first episode. I

20:33

was like, how are they going to

20:36

bring her back? And so, yeah, when

20:38

I was like, I know she comes

20:40

back because there's an iconic scene, just

20:43

the whole, there's a whole, it was

20:45

all super ingrained in my memory. So

20:47

same, I was like, oh, what is

20:50

this episode? And then I was like,

20:52

oh, right, this, it was, it was

20:54

a journey watching it was a journey

20:57

watching it. Okay, okay, good. Okay, so

20:59

in our first scene, in our opening

21:01

voiceover, Frankie divides people into warriors and

21:03

non-wrears. At alerts Bob, a warrior, tells

21:06

Frankie he stole a customer from Pete,

21:08

and Frankie shares a relief that axle

21:10

is finally done with Morgan. Ellert then

21:13

announces a company picnic, which is actually

21:15

his granddaughter's ninth birthday, that he's going

21:17

to write off. the line. Patty, there's

21:20

a button, Bob has a button at

21:22

the end of this that... Oh I

21:24

don't remember. Gives her a look, or

21:27

he gives him a look, like, oh

21:29

wait, when he says that, that, he's

21:31

like, yeah, that's why I didn't date

21:33

in high school. That's why I never

21:36

dated in high school. Spare my mom

21:38

the pain. Get around, minions! She goes

21:40

through like five beats in that one

21:43

like hmm and they really stayed on

21:45

it for longer than I thought yeah

21:47

now we are in the heck kitchen

21:50

brick brings home an unhatched egg from

21:52

his school science project he is determined

21:54

to reassure Scout that the world is

21:57

a great place and that he'll be

21:59

here for him when he's ready to

22:01

emerge. I kind of liked that little,

22:03

I don't know if that was on

22:06

purpose, but like you know his name

22:08

is Atticus and the thing is Scout. Oh

22:10

my god. Right? I don't know if that was

22:12

on purpose. It made me so stressed

22:14

out thinking of like they don't do

22:16

that anymore right? They couldn't. I

22:19

don't think so. They don't give just

22:21

like random, they don't give like

22:23

farm animals to random civilians in

22:25

school, right? No, no, no, no, no.

22:28

They can't anymore. Well, I have no

22:30

idea. You'll let me know when your

22:32

kids go through school. Oh my gosh,

22:34

I couldn't even, I, I'll bet you

22:37

a million bucks, Scout, and Atticus, there's

22:39

a reason for that. I love that.

22:41

Loses the egg and when

22:43

he and Frank Of course

22:46

and of course and when

22:48

he and Frankie search the

22:50

house Frankie finds a calculus

22:52

textbook and a tube of

22:55

lip gloss in Axel's room

22:57

and deduces Morgan is back

22:59

in the picture Would you

23:01

like my first? Yelp of

23:04

the episode Yes, do you know

23:06

what I'm gonna say when you

23:08

said Brad? That's favorite Yeah, same

23:10

as Brad. Because I didn't know

23:13

where that was like weirdly specific. I

23:15

was like, what is what is this

23:17

suit line? Because that's the thing again,

23:19

I was like this episode. So sometimes

23:21

that's the funnest because I just come

23:23

in for punch lines like come in

23:26

do a punch line get out. And

23:28

I was like, where is this joke going? Like

23:30

I only wear why? And then I was like.

23:33

Perfect. Yes. Oh, it

23:35

is. Ding, ding, ding.

23:37

It is. I'm surprised.

23:39

And I'm going to

23:41

reenact the flight attendant.

23:44

So he's swiping. Okay,

23:46

no. He had a man

23:48

with man with hair. No

23:50

man with hair. Yes, bald

23:53

man. I yell. He just

23:55

looked and he's back.

23:57

It's a it's a it's a

24:00

You're in these scenes that are large, right?

24:02

For the most part, you're not that

24:04

first pop that we talked about right at

24:06

the beginning of the episode in that

24:08

Frankie voiceover. But for a scene like this,

24:10

which probably takes, I don't know, four

24:12

hours to shoot with all the coverage, but

24:14

you only have one line. What did

24:16

you do in these early days to like

24:18

fill in your time on set? Cause

24:20

like eventually you would bring things to do.

24:23

What did you do to fill your

24:25

time on set of the middle when you

24:27

had these lighter episodes? Cause you still

24:29

have to be there for all four hours.

24:31

Yeah, go to Charlie's trailer. Hang

24:34

out to chat. Truly, no, I mean,

24:36

like if he wasn't there that day, then

24:38

I don't, I don't know. We

24:40

were I want oneself pretty probably. But

24:43

you just sit in a corner and

24:45

that's what actors do. They're actually just

24:47

a half robot. They just go to

24:49

court and like, mm, power down, power

24:51

down. I don't know. I did a

24:53

lot of crosswords. Literally,

24:55

I think you were a Sudoku queen

24:57

at one point, right? Yeah,

24:59

definitely. I wouldn't call myself a

25:01

Sudoku queen. I would call myself

25:03

maybe a Duke, Duchess. Sure, a

25:05

Jester. Yeah, Sudoku Duchess. I was

25:08

like 12th in line probably. Okay,

25:10

okay. Like I did it, but

25:12

I wasn't, it crosswords. I do

25:14

religiously. I'll do the New York

25:16

Times crossword every single day. I

25:19

was probably doing something with, or I

25:21

was literally, I think to myself, and

25:23

this is different because I was like at

25:25

work, but it's still the same. I'm

25:27

like, I don't need, how did I

25:29

fill my time? I must have had so

25:31

much time before kids. Totally, yeah. So

25:34

like when I was on set, like now

25:36

when I'm not, when I'm working and

25:38

I am not filming. You're learning the

25:40

wicked dance. I'm

25:42

sorry, go, go, go, go, go.

25:44

I mean, honestly, I was probably,

25:46

there was a period of time.

25:48

I think it was season three

25:50

though. I got really into tap.

25:52

Oh yes. You saw me in

25:54

the video a couple months ago.

25:56

Of course. But Jeff, just like

25:58

God bless, he got, God, everyone

26:01

was so amazing on that set.

26:03

Cause I think it is. I don't

26:05

want me to ruin my trailer floor. He got like transpo, someone

26:07

to get me a block of wood and put it down in

26:09

my trailer so that I could tap. I could like practice tap.

26:11

I was doing that. We should get Jeff on here.

26:13

You'd be great. We should get Jeff. I

26:15

would love to get him on. Jeff

26:17

was the glue. Jeff was really the mortar,

26:20

what is it, like brick and like between

26:22

the bricks. The ground. The grout, he, there

26:24

was no show without Jeff Pilata. Um, shout out

26:26

Jeff, hope you're listening. So Frankie charges into the

26:28

parents' bedroom lip gloss in hand to tell Mike

26:30

about her discovery. But Frankie is shocked to find

26:33

out that Axel already told Mike about Morgan

26:35

and intentionally didn't tell Frankie, which I really

26:37

respected. I was like, that was a perfect

26:39

middle, like, bada, bada, bada, bada, bada, bada,

26:41

bada, bada, bada, bada, bada, bada, bam, bam, bam, bam,

26:43

bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,

26:45

bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,

26:47

bam, bam, bah, bam, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, You

26:50

know what I'm talking about? I do, I do. You know

26:52

what I'm saying? Where she's like, you

26:54

did this and didn't tell me? Like,

26:56

oh, you did this and didn't tell

26:58

me? And I didn't tell you. Yeah.

27:00

And, and of course, write on Q.

27:02

Brick exclaims that his egg hatched.

27:05

Okay, so, to prove to Axel that

27:07

if you're happy, I'm happy, Frankie

27:09

insists that Morgan should come over

27:12

for dinner. During dinner. This is

27:14

the iconic scene. During dinner, Frankie

27:16

fights tooth and nail to rein

27:18

it in as Morgan recites a

27:21

laundry list of things she tells

27:23

Axle to do. And finally, when

27:25

it comes to the broccoli, Frankie

27:27

dives over the table, tackles Morgan

27:29

to the ground, and strangles

27:32

her. But it's only a

27:34

fantasy. Okay, I have to, this is where

27:36

I'm jumping in. Please. This scene

27:38

took two, count them two full days

27:40

to shoot. This was a

27:42

two-day shoot because around the table

27:44

scenes already take forever right but

27:47

this was so long and there

27:49

was a stunt involved I cannot

27:51

remember if it was supposed to

27:53

take two days like if they

27:55

had that scheduled or if We

27:57

just we're like well Here we go

28:00

days over, can't come into much more

28:02

overtime when we didn't finish, so we

28:04

gotta do more. Whoa, I didn't realize,

28:06

I knew it would have taken a

28:08

long time, I did not realize two

28:10

full days, because it is a lot,

28:13

there's a lot of camera angles, one

28:15

in general, you're doing a whole extra

28:17

one because there's a whole other human

28:19

there, with Morgan. And we're still getting

28:21

into our, like, exactly, we're, sort of

28:23

figuring out our groove with like dinner

28:26

table, you know, the standard, the angles

28:28

of coverage that we are going to

28:30

use, that we're not going to use,

28:32

but yes, like now bringing another factor

28:34

into it, it just, it's like we,

28:37

the clock reset, we started Square One

28:39

in terms of like knowing where we

28:41

were, you know, what we're going to

28:43

use, it's like I was saying how

28:45

like, if when you're just stuck on

28:47

set with, you're just stuck in a

28:50

little small room with people, keep it

28:52

hidden in your pocket or something. But

28:54

like when you're sitting on set in

28:56

between setups or whatever, you're just, you

28:58

have nothing. You don't, you don't, you're

29:01

not, like you have to just commute,

29:03

you really just are spending time with

29:05

the person. And that felt like a

29:07

solidifying like, oh, these are all really

29:09

great people. We're just, we're getting, we're

29:12

bonding. And I, when I think about

29:14

like, like, I feel like I know

29:16

her so well, and I know her

29:18

so well. And I spent very little

29:20

time. was just speaking to each other.

29:22

Of course. And some of the best

29:25

conversations you can have are in between

29:27

setups and you're sitting on your chairs

29:29

and you don't have your phone with

29:31

you or it's put away and you

29:33

have nothing but time to talk. But

29:36

I have to say, the scene finished

29:38

and Nick was like, did you have

29:40

a line that was cut? had to

29:42

have. There's no way. I'm almost positive.

29:44

I think I remember I had at

29:46

least one line and it was one

29:49

of those things where it was like

29:51

every time I was like I got

29:53

to wait for my one sentence and

29:55

then I watched the episode when it

29:57

aired like originally and I was like

30:00

It was cut? It was cut? You

30:03

did have your opening line

30:05

where you're collecting the cups

30:07

and you're like, I can't

30:09

believe the head cheerleader's coming

30:11

over to our house for

30:13

dinner. And then, yeah, you

30:15

didn't speak. You had some

30:17

great looks when they popped to

30:19

you. I, did I? I don't

30:21

remember. I was so, you know

30:23

what, hold on a second. I

30:25

just want to do one thing really

30:28

fast, Brog. Okay. Okay, we're

30:30

back. I just said to Brock,

30:32

I took a pause and I

30:34

said wait a second and I

30:36

made him just sit there for

30:38

like five, five whole minutes. No,

30:41

I looked up the script.

30:43

I went back into my

30:45

mouth. You did. Did you have a

30:47

line? I did have a line.

30:49

Okay, let's hear it. Can you

30:52

perform it for me real quick?

30:54

Sure. Well, I'm going to do

30:56

the stage directions also. Great,

30:59

great delivery, great, great,

31:01

great, great, great, great riding.

31:03

Sue leans in close and

31:05

snaps a picture of her and

31:08

Morgan together for my locker. Wait,

31:10

no! And then Axle goes, dial

31:12

it down, Sue. Wait, that is funny.

31:14

I knew it. I knew I was like, I

31:17

knew I did something. For my

31:19

locker. Oh, and I had another one

31:21

too. Okay, let's hear it. Wait

31:24

a second. There is a ton, actually.

31:26

That's why this took two days because

31:28

I was like how did this take two

31:30

full days? So it wasn't even longer

31:32

since it's a long scene Yeah, it's a

31:34

such a long scene Wow, yeah, oh, this is

31:36

funny Okay, can you go actually while you

31:39

have it here when? Brick puts the chick

31:41

on the table does the script say Mike

31:43

waves the chicken wing at the chick to

31:45

say get off the table or was that

31:48

or was that meal? Yeah, wow brick

31:50

get that thing off the table shooing

31:52

it with a chicken leg. Come on That

31:54

is so funny to me. It was very funny.

31:56

I, well, I, of course, my little vegan

31:58

heart was like... Oh my god, this

32:01

is terrible! But yes, they knew

32:03

it. But they knew. Okay, so

32:05

I have questions. So do you

32:07

want me to? Oh, do you

32:09

want me to? Oh, do you

32:11

want me to tell you the

32:13

other cut lines? Oh, please, please,

32:15

please, and perform them too. Okay.

32:17

Look, he imprinted, that's brick, after

32:19

he goes, look, he imprinted on

32:21

me, he follows me everywhere. Sets

32:23

the chick the chick on the

32:25

floor, starts, well, am I allowed

32:27

to do. Am I allowed to

32:29

do. Am I allowed to do.

32:31

I don't care. Okay, he sets

32:33

the chick on the floor, starts

32:35

walking around the table, the chick

32:37

follows, BRIC continues to go round

32:39

and round throughout the following. I

32:41

know why, I see why they

32:43

cut this actually. Sue, I turn

32:45

to Morgan. Morgan, my friend Carly's

32:48

on the phone, could you talk

32:50

to her for one second? She

32:52

doesn't believe you're here. Morgan, taking

32:54

the phone. Okay, hello? We here

32:56

and ah! On the other end.

32:58

BRIC. Are you watching? Are you

33:00

watching? No one's watching. Brick, stop.

33:02

You're annoying, Morgan. I made you

33:04

a friendship bracelet. Do you want

33:06

to wear it? I'm wearing mine.

33:08

They're matching. And then Agla goes,

33:10

you know, stocking is a federal

33:12

offense. This is an eight-page scene.

33:14

I understand why all this is

33:16

cut. Wow. How long was this?

33:18

I want to count these pages.

33:20

I want to see if, and

33:22

we'll put it into respect for

33:24

how long an average scene is.

33:26

Average scene I'm going to say

33:28

probably is about a page. So

33:30

this is, once we're at the

33:32

table, it's, I think it's probably

33:34

six and one-eighth. Oh

33:37

my god. So many. And also,

33:39

but then you have the setup

33:41

of you coming to the table,

33:43

Morgan entering right even before that,

33:45

into the house. Yeah, because that

33:47

is all, it is all one

33:49

continuous scene. That's probably almost seven

33:51

pages, the whole thing. Because I

33:53

assume you would have shot Morgan

33:56

entering or like you coming in

33:58

with the cups, more. and then

34:00

you sit down for that table

34:02

seeing which takes forever. Okay, wait,

34:04

we need to pull out scripts

34:06

more often. I really do like this.

34:08

Yeah, that was actually really fun.

34:10

That was very interesting.

34:13

Okay, let me give me all

34:15

the details about the tackle. You

34:17

were right there. So we have

34:19

obviously two stunt doubles, one's for

34:21

Patty, and one is obviously for

34:23

Alexa, and you can tell. You know

34:25

that's a wig and it's a different

34:27

person, but because you never see the

34:29

face, but to a blind eye, you

34:31

know, who doesn't really understand what they're

34:33

looking at, it does feel like it's

34:35

patty heaten. It's so hard for me

34:38

to mentally divorce from. It looks, because

34:40

I know, she had the same stunt

34:42

double for like pretty much all nine

34:44

years, and so I was like. Oh,

34:46

I reckon that's a, you get to

34:48

know, like, I can see the differences.

34:50

I was like, that's 100% not her.

34:52

That is, that is her double, whose

34:54

name I cannot remember at this time.

34:56

And I feel so, I'm gonna remember the

34:59

second we turn up. We turn

35:01

off the board. Yeah. But I was

35:03

like, that's not, that is absolutely

35:05

not her. But there is something

35:07

in my mind, there's something like

35:09

kind of fun, there's something fun

35:12

and funny to me to me.

35:14

It's kind of a wink to the

35:16

audience when you can really tell. You

35:18

can tell, like, that's a stunt double.

35:21

But the, like, broadness of it is

35:23

just, like, you get away with, like,

35:25

yeah, that would be a, like, oh,

35:27

they did a stunt. They did a

35:29

funny, you know, inner imagination. I don't

35:31

know. It was crazy to me, though,

35:34

what I was, because I watched it

35:36

twice, the tackle, in particular,

35:38

when the double, like, Patty

35:40

gets up and they probably cut and

35:42

they did a reset and then the

35:44

stunt double goes and when the stunt

35:46

double finally crosses the table and Tackles

35:49

stunt Morgan There wasn't a pad under

35:51

there. I don't think unless they did

35:53

something to the floor and they like

35:55

really really were able to hide it,

35:57

but it really truly looked like the

35:59

chair Wunk onto the hard ground

36:01

and I was like, whoa, that's

36:03

that's a professional stunt double for

36:05

you. I told Axel. Well, that's

36:08

how it went in my head

36:10

anyway, in reality. No, stunt doubles

36:12

are genuinely, so they are like

36:14

on another level. I doubt there

36:16

was a pad there with something

36:18

like that. They're just, they're so,

36:20

they do things. Like they're so

36:22

skilled. They do things with a

36:24

big fake thing. That was the

36:26

most basic thing that they could

36:28

have ever done for a day

36:30

of work. I know, I know,

36:32

I know. They weren't jumping off

36:34

any any bridges. There was no

36:36

water involved. No. But yeah, no,

36:38

it was. There probably, maybe there

36:40

was like the back of the

36:42

chair was padded a little more

36:45

than normal just to like get

36:47

the shock, like absorb the shock

36:49

a little. But no, there was

36:51

no, like that's exactly why there

36:53

was. stuck doubles. And so it's

36:55

not only that, then you also

36:57

have the baby chick. Now do

36:59

you remember, I was like, how

37:01

many chicks were there actually like

37:03

at the ready? There had to

37:05

be a bajillion. That I don't

37:07

remember, but I do remember, I

37:09

do, like, because we had a

37:11

lot of animals on set over

37:13

the nine years, and like, having

37:15

dogs and cats is such a

37:17

different. Actually, I don't even know

37:19

if we had any. Oh, we

37:22

did have a cat, but I

37:24

wasn't in that storyline. But having,

37:26

like, very easily trainable animals, compared

37:28

to having a baby chicken. An

37:30

infant hatched yesterday? Like, these are

37:32

completely different experiences. Yeah. the job

37:34

of acting is like so close

37:36

to just working with a human

37:38

yeah like it's so it's really

37:40

you just you've got a co-worker

37:42

and they know their job and

37:44

you have a handler and they

37:46

have a trainer and like they

37:48

just get the job done it

37:50

is so much more it's stressful

37:52

working with an animal that's like

37:54

the handler is so close because

37:56

they have to be because that

37:59

that chick would wonder. Well that's

38:01

the thing is that like I was like he

38:03

sets it on the table and I said they

38:05

had to have multiple because what if

38:07

they have a squirmer what if they

38:09

you don't have one that does I

38:11

don't know like they just have to

38:13

have so many because they just have

38:15

to have so many because they need

38:17

them that chick to be in that spot

38:20

at that particular moment to capture it.

38:22

It's really it is like it's

38:24

kind of like working with a

38:26

human infant where you're just what

38:28

we want it to do. There's gonna

38:30

be some animal trainer who's like,

38:33

that's actually not how it works.

38:35

And you know what? Tell us. If

38:37

you're like, if you're the one listening,

38:39

if you were on set that day

38:41

and you're listening, let me know. This is

38:44

my memory, but I don't, are you kidding

38:46

me? I have two kids, I don't

38:48

remember anything. Again, so glad we're doing

38:50

this podcast. So back to the

38:52

episode, that night, Frankie cannot sleep.

38:54

She wakes Mike up to express

38:57

Mike up to express her worry

38:59

that they're. Who? This scene? They

39:01

did so much of this scene

39:03

in one take. Did you notice

39:05

that? That's literally

39:07

my bullet point right under

39:09

there. I, Frank, uh, Patty

39:11

just whipping it out. There

39:14

are certain moments where it,

39:16

she did. She whipped out

39:18

the like, you know, she,

39:20

sometimes she would, it was like,

39:22

great take, Patty. And she would just like,

39:24

Are they really gonna, oh my god, they're gonna

39:27

do this the whole thing without cutting? Oh my

39:29

god, they are! And they did. And I... And

39:31

a two shot, I loved it. And she tells him

39:33

what friends he can have, what college he should

39:35

go to, he should go to a college near

39:37

her. So he moves there, and when he does,

39:39

she breaks up with him again. And then she

39:41

takes him back, and they get married and have

39:43

kids, and then she gets bored, which is her

39:45

pattern. So then they get divorced and Axles living

39:47

in our basement. She's moved with the kids to

39:49

Florida because that's where her parents have retired. They

39:51

get to see the grandkids all the time and

39:53

get to be called Nana and Pop Pop and

39:55

we have to be born grandma and grandpa. We

39:57

only get to see them once a year and

39:59

when we try to hug them they're all stiff.

40:01

awkward because we're strangers to our

40:04

own grandkids. It all starts

40:06

with broccoli. It all starts

40:08

with broccoli. So to recap,

40:10

we're cutting the price of

40:12

Mint unlimited from $30 a

40:15

month to just $15 a

40:17

month. Give it a try

40:19

at MintMobile.com/switch. $45 up front

40:21

payment equivalent to $15 per

40:24

month. New customers on first

40:26

three months plan only. Taxes

40:28

and fees extra. Speets lower

40:30

about 40 gigabyte details. Over

40:32

the last 75 years, over

40:35

10,000 chemicals have been introduced

40:37

to our food supply. Yet

40:39

the EU only allows 300

40:41

food additives, but at Thrive

40:43

Market we bring our members

40:46

the highest quality brands and

40:48

restrict more than 1,000 ingredients

40:50

found at conventional grocery stores.

40:52

Making the switch is easy

40:55

with our healthy swap scanner,

40:57

which finds better versions of

40:59

all your favorite pantry, snacking

41:01

and home essentials, without the

41:03

added junk, dyes and fillers.

41:06

Plus it's all delivered straight

41:08

to your door. So if

41:10

you're looking to shop at

41:12

a grocery store that actually

41:14

cares about your health, Go

41:17

to Thrivemarket.com/podcast and you'll get

41:19

30% off your first order

41:21

and a free gift. Hold

41:25

that, sir. There's no time for

41:28

Pickleball, because you're going to want

41:30

to hear this. Noom now has

41:32

G.L.P. once. No way! Oh, yes

41:34

way, Fred. Psychology and meds. That's

41:37

how Newm helps you lose the

41:39

weight and keep it off. That's

41:41

really smart. Oh, Danny. It's Newm

41:44

smart. It's Newm's. It's newm. It's

41:46

really smart. It's Newm. It's Newm.

41:48

It's Newm. It's Newm. It's really

41:50

smart. It's Newm. It's Newm. It's

41:53

Newm. It's Newm. It's Newm. It's

41:55

Newm. It's Newm. It's Newm. As

41:57

the days go by, in full

41:59

parent mode and he's run ragged

42:02

from the baby chick. And on

42:04

the day of alerts company picnic

42:06

slash granddaughter's birthday, Frankie

42:09

begrudgingly invites Morgan to come.

42:11

But surprise, she actually feels

42:13

good about making the gesture.

42:15

The good feeling doesn't last

42:18

too long when Frankie overhears

42:20

Morgan complaining about going to the

42:22

picnic through the bathroom wall. Which

42:24

I did not remember. I have a

42:26

couple things to say and there about

42:29

you. Because they're sitting on the

42:31

couch and you I'm gonna reenact

42:33

your crazed look you had in

42:35

your eye as you like by

42:37

the table Because you see her and

42:39

you're like That's my chance to talk

42:41

It oh baby that made you didn't

42:44

have a lot, but you had a

42:46

lot I did I did a lot

42:48

with a little okay and then I

42:50

would argue too much you I'm gonna send

42:52

you I'm gonna send you this because talking

42:54

about the speed in which you and I

42:57

talk I need you to recite that because

42:59

the speed at which you said that in this episode

43:01

took my breath away and I need to see if you can do

43:03

it faster. So we're going to put in, right, we're going to put

43:05

in the clip of you saying it from the episode right here. I

43:07

just want to put in the clip of you saying it from the

43:10

episode right here. I just want to tell you that from the clip

43:12

of you saying it from the episode right here. I just want

43:14

to tell you to recite it from the clip of you saying

43:16

it from the episode right. Can you go faster? Can you to

43:18

recite right? Can you to recite right? Can you to recite right?

43:20

Can you to recite right? Can you to recite right? Can you to

43:22

recite right? Can you to recite right? Can you to recite right? Can

43:24

you. Can you. Can you. Can you. Can you. Can you. Can you.

43:26

Can you. Can you. Can you. Can you. That is so

43:28

good. And honestly, I can actually do it

43:30

faster, but it's not going to be intelligible.

43:33

No, and it's, I need the

43:35

precision of the comedy, and you

43:37

gave me the precision of the

43:39

comedy. Exactly. Also, comedic genius, patty,

43:41

because. Comedy you need the stakes

43:43

to be high and so Patty it's

43:45

not funny if Patty just pulls back

43:47

the shower curtain and steps up to

43:49

the tub to listen She needs to

43:51

rip that curtain open hike herself over

43:54

the lid of the the ledge of

43:56

the tub and Press your ear against

43:58

the wall is so funny to me.

44:00

It's like those little things that separate

44:02

people because they're not writing that in

44:04

the script. It's Patty knowing that like

44:06

in order for that moment to be

44:09

funny it has to be so full

44:11

of stakes the most important thing to

44:13

her at that moment to listen to

44:15

the wall. Totally, totally. I want to

44:17

see one other thing really fast. Wow

44:19

they bumped that that was such a

44:22

good rewrite. I just looked up was

44:24

like what was the original line because

44:26

I thought it was a little and

44:28

it there was a whole bit. that

44:30

is so much better with just one

44:32

that was such a good wow wow

44:35

wow sorry care to fill in the

44:37

audience real quick I the original bit

44:39

between the like me the interaction there

44:41

with Morgan yeah was a bit about

44:43

my scrunchy I was like, I like,

44:45

oh my God, you're wearing my scrunchy.

44:47

And she says, oh, I'm sorry, my

44:50

hair was totally annoying me. And I

44:52

saw it in the bathroom, you can

44:54

have it back. And I say, no,

44:56

keep it, I would be honored. It

44:58

doesn't even, I would be honored. It

45:00

doesn't even matter. Actually, that's all I

45:03

want to like, and then I walk

45:05

past is a, oh my God, if

45:07

Morgan wears my scrunch, my scrunchy during

45:09

a game, it, it's my scrunchy during

45:11

a game. It's almost like I'm a

45:13

cheerleader. It's like I'm a cheerleader. I'm

45:16

a cheerleader. I'm a cheerleader. I'm a

45:18

cheerleader. I'm a cheerleader. I'm a cheerleader.

45:20

their punch up with their revision was

45:22

so much better. Yeah, wait, and also

45:24

it's so funny too, the thing that

45:26

I caught was, and because I just

45:29

did this last week with Brittany and

45:31

Natalie, the episode that came out for

45:33

the Ellis exclusive members, where you audition

45:35

to be a cheerleader in the episode

45:37

that we recapped in front of Brittany

45:39

and Natalie, and you have this fixation

45:41

with cheerleading, which now I'm discovering in

45:44

season one that You love cheerleading and

45:46

you wanted to be a cheerleader just

45:48

like Morgan. Wow. Wow. Kept it consistent.

45:50

So, finally, we are at the picnic

45:52

slash birthday party right off. Tax right

45:54

off. And we've got all sorts of

45:57

happenings. Alerts, charging for drinks, of course,

45:59

could have seen that one coming. Frankie

46:01

and brick commiserate together. and Bob and

46:03

Pete are partnered for the three-legged race

46:05

that ends up turning into a

46:07

brawl. I was like, oh

46:10

right, this storyline? I thought it

46:12

was just a fun like thing

46:14

that Bob said. I wouldn't, I

46:16

didn't anticipate it to be

46:18

like a C or a

46:20

D storyline. I couldn't, I

46:22

was like, they must have,

46:25

there must have been like

46:27

an uncuttable thing somewhere. Because

46:29

there was, like, what, what's the

46:31

payoff of this? Why is this still

46:33

here? I, I got, I got a

46:35

new giggle. Okay, that's true. I mean,

46:37

it was well done. Well done. I

46:39

was like, oh God, I forgot.

46:42

I'm really invested in this

46:44

Morgan thing. Okay, so I think,

46:46

think, think, remind me. This is

46:48

in the fountain that's in the

46:50

park. is the friends found famously

46:52

from the friends intro and what

46:55

we don't see they strategically shot

46:57

it the bright on one side

46:59

you see like the New York

47:01

apartment so that's where you see

47:03

the famous intro that facade and

47:05

that's like where they shot hitch

47:07

and all these different different things

47:09

that looks like New York. It's so

47:12

crazy that I can't Unsee it though?

47:14

Like I was like, wow, they didn't even

47:16

try to hide it. Like this looks exactly

47:18

like, like it looks like we're shooting at

47:20

the Friends Fountain. And maybe people, maybe it's

47:23

not, maybe it really does just look like

47:25

a fountain, but go back and watch it

47:27

because it is so... Clearly the

47:29

Friends Fountain. Yeah. Like it's

47:31

so crazy. It's so weird

47:34

when it's just bizarre when

47:36

stuff like that happens. I love

47:38

it. I love it. And like

47:41

they, I was watching this in

47:43

particular, you can see the. they put up

47:45

these like they're like six foot like fake

47:47

hedges or whatever they are and that's blocking

47:50

because this park that we're shooting at it's

47:52

within the Warner Brothers Ranch or sound stage

47:54

and where we park or you had a

47:56

special workings about where I parked my car

47:58

as a guest star. It's just like

48:00

feet away. So they're covering the little

48:03

security gate. They're covering the street. They're

48:05

covering all these different like houses that

48:07

are there buildings and stuff like that.

48:10

So they're really able to kind of

48:12

transform that space. But truly on the

48:14

other side of those six head, that

48:17

six foot hedge is the security guy

48:19

who would check my license every time

48:21

I drive on the lot. It's true.

48:23

They did a really good job. Really

48:26

good job disgu disguising everything. Props to

48:28

everyone. Everyone. Cornhole Frankie's anxiety hits a

48:30

breaking point and she throws her beanbag

48:33

right at Morgan's face Only this time

48:35

it wasn't a fantasy, but not to

48:37

worry Sue breaks through the crowd to

48:40

Shepard Morgan to safety Okay, that made

48:42

me laugh, but also so something like

48:44

that When like Frankie and Mike are

48:46

actually like tossing the beanback like trying

48:49

to play that's a real beanbag But

48:51

then what they do when the they

48:53

do the close-up of Morgan's face and

48:56

this happened to this happens all the

48:58

time in TV and film but happened

49:00

a couple times with us as well

49:03

So when something like that happens they

49:05

take that same I think was yellow

49:07

fabric from the beanbag they stuff it

49:09

with I don't know, fiber filling, and

49:12

that's what they use when they actually,

49:14

there's probably, it's probably the stunt guy

49:16

who's off camera and throwing it right

49:19

directly at Alexa Panavega with the fiber

49:21

filled beanbag and some of the actual

49:23

beanbag. Yeah, that's exactly, that's exactly correct.

49:26

And it is a fine, it's an

49:28

art form because it can't look too

49:30

much not like, like sometimes if something

49:32

is filled, like if you're supposed to

49:35

be hit with a bowling ball or

49:37

something, and then obviously they make it

49:39

like a foam ball, you still have

49:42

to fake it in a way that

49:44

makes it look like the weight of

49:46

a real, of the real thing. And

49:49

so. There are all these like strategies.

49:51

There are all these like the way

49:53

to when you make stunt things. It's

49:55

not just you don't just fill it

49:58

with you know. You don't just have

50:00

like an air, it can't be like

50:02

an air pocket in the middle. Like

50:05

it has to look like it has

50:07

the heft, but it cannot, it absolutely

50:09

cannot hurt you. So there's

50:11

a whole, there's so many industries

50:14

that go into making a Hollywood television

50:16

show. Yeah. And I feel like

50:18

making stunt items is one of

50:20

them. And because also too, like

50:22

those stunt items, if they don't

50:24

work, then this. moment that we've

50:26

been building to for the entire at this

50:29

point 19 20 minutes washes away if it

50:31

doesn't work right because they don't want the

50:33

audience to be like oh that was

50:35

fake it has to look real because

50:37

that's the moment we're building to it's

50:39

always usually something big and funny and

50:41

humorous and all the things yeah and there's

50:43

also this was a big episode this

50:46

took forever to this took so long

50:48

to shoot because something like something like

50:50

this is like you have the beginning

50:52

where again you see Frankie and brick

50:55

talking and the alert or excuse me

50:57

and the Bob and the Pete thing

50:59

and so but then everyone has to

51:02

stay around because then when Alexa gets

51:04

knocked down everyone slots to be there

51:06

to like surround her. So it's not

51:09

like you do your little vignette and

51:11

then you're gone. You just have to

51:13

stay there all day because they're going

51:15

to need you in six hours when

51:18

it's time to surround Alexa Panabaga. Yeah,

51:20

yeah. And I did laugh at

51:22

myself. I remember thinking like this

51:24

is my moment to shine. Like

51:26

it was very metto. Like eat it.

51:28

I was like, I've got my big moment for

51:30

this. I thought that was pretty good to

51:33

pay off for a little, for a

51:35

little suit story also. She has to

51:37

be okay! Make a whole people! My

51:39

friend Morgan is coming through! So,

51:41

finally, we're back at home. Break

51:43

has decided to return the chick

51:46

to his classroom, because he has to,

51:48

because he has to, right? I would

51:50

assume, yeah. I would assume, okay. And

51:52

just as Frankie accepts that losing

51:55

control over your kids is

51:57

part of the parenting life

51:59

cycle. I love this. Mike is

52:01

now the warrior when Axel

52:03

announces he's giving up football

52:05

for Morgan. Because now it's

52:07

something that Mike cares about.

52:10

Right. But not long after,

52:12

Morgan is out and a

52:14

new foreign exchange student is

52:16

right around the corner. I

52:18

was like, this came in.

52:20

I was like, okay. And

52:22

Nick was like, what? I

52:24

was like, that is a

52:26

28-year-old woman. I thought I

52:28

was like, there's no way

52:30

she was 16. And I

52:32

guess, to be fair, I

52:34

mean, we were all in

52:36

our 20s and I think

52:38

Alexa was, was also, was

52:40

like closer to 30 than

52:42

not, like, that's just Hollywood.

52:45

But I, I was like,

52:47

okay, this is a classic

52:49

on logic, I guess. a

52:51

big to-do type of resolution,

52:53

but I was like, that's

52:55

very realistic to high school

52:57

though. Oh, well yeah, and

52:59

then again, it's, it's, absolutely,

53:01

that's how it is, they're,

53:03

you know, you don't, you're

53:05

never in high school with,

53:07

unless you're the rare exception,

53:09

you're never with the same

53:11

person for too long because

53:13

you're dating around in high

53:15

school and all this kind

53:17

of stuff. Yeah. So that's

53:20

our episode. I think we

53:22

need to get out of

53:24

here. I think we need

53:26

to get out of here.

53:28

And after we come back,

53:30

we've got our listener question.

53:32

So I lied before. I

53:34

said we had a listener

53:36

question. It's actually a listener

53:38

email. And this week's listener

53:40

email comes from Kerris. Subject.

53:42

Already I'm on board with

53:44

this email. Love in all

53:46

caps. Love the middle. I

53:48

usually don't leave comments or

53:50

send messages like this because

53:52

I figure they won't be

53:55

seen, but here it goes.

53:57

Mm-hmm. Kares, Gary. Jokes on

53:59

you, Kares. Get jokes on

54:01

you! Who's getting lost?

54:03

Lost, no! Okay, I'm not

54:05

kidding when I say I

54:07

live for new episodes every

54:09

Wednesday. Oh my god, thank

54:11

you. I'm a, oh my

54:13

god, I'm a mom of

54:15

identical twins. Oh, there's six

54:17

months old now, named Zara

54:20

and Eden? That is

54:22

incredible. Oh, there's so

54:24

much to unpack here

54:26

already. Eden as a fellow twin

54:28

mom if you have any advice please

54:30

send it my way also anytime someone

54:33

asks oh I love this also anytime

54:35

someone anytime someone asks me the difference

54:37

between identical and fraternal twins I always

54:39

send them that amazing video explanation you

54:41

posted on social media such a great

54:44

video have you seen have you seen this

54:46

video I made Brock? Oh, yes, absolutely I

54:48

can't believe to I hope all my Tikk videos

54:50

will be saved when Tic-toc gets banned

54:52

or whatever because that video is my

54:54

shining like is my magnum opus I

54:56

love that video I'm so happy that

54:58

it I'm so happy carers you continue to

55:01

say the middle has been a huge

55:03

part of my life I discovered it

55:05

right before starting high school during a

55:07

really hard time when my parents were

55:09

divorcing I watched it every night it

55:12

felt like an escape and honestly you

55:14

all felt like my family as mine

55:16

was falling apart Oh, Carol, we love

55:18

you. Years later, when I started dating

55:20

my husband, I introduced him to the

55:22

show, and now, he's obsessed too. We

55:25

watch every night and can literally quote

55:27

most of the episodes. Oh, that is,

55:29

that's great. I love that. It's a

55:31

bit bitter sweet watching it as an

55:33

adult now, and with my own little

55:36

family, it's funny how much, it's funny

55:38

how much my husband and I relate

55:40

to the parents these days. Carols, you and

55:42

me, you and me both. Snaps, like,

55:44

yes. Thank you both so much for

55:46

doing this podcast. It's exactly what I

55:48

needed in this season of life, Karas.

55:50

Piaz, I can't wait for the day

55:52

my girls are old enough to watch the

55:54

middle with me. Again, you and me both. I

55:57

cannot believe her, one of her identical

55:59

twins is named. Eden! Like, was

56:01

it after me? Who knows? Who

56:03

knows? Oh my gosh, how sweet

56:05

though. I feel like you guys

56:08

are connected on so many levels.

56:10

There is an implicit, like with

56:12

twin parents, there is, you just

56:15

can't deny, like there is a

56:17

common understanding. that just goes into

56:19

it. You can't explain it. You

56:21

can't, it's like being a war

56:24

buddy with someone you weren't actually

56:26

at battle with, but you both

56:28

were there and you're like, you

56:31

know, I know, I know. You

56:33

can talk about it, you can

56:35

watch a movie about it, you

56:38

can explain to someone, but you

56:40

don't know until you're up in

56:42

the middle of the night and

56:44

one of them is trying to,

56:47

one of them won't latch on

56:49

and the other ones won't take

56:51

the formula bottle, and then both

56:54

parents are, you know. No, no,

56:56

one newborn is not that hard.

56:58

Here's what I will say to

57:01

you, Karas. Your twins are six

57:03

months. I don't know how it's

57:05

been for you. So far, what,

57:07

yeah, I don't know how it's

57:10

been, for me, people said this

57:12

to me, people were like, it

57:14

gets easier, I swear. It gets

57:17

so much easier. Absolutely, I am

57:19

not nostalgic for, I don't know,

57:21

pre-9 months. Absolutely not keep it.

57:23

You can keep it pre-9 month

57:26

old twins. Life is so much

57:28

better. I do not miss them

57:30

being little. It was so hard.

57:33

I did so hard. I did

57:35

not enjoy it. I truly, I

57:37

have just no nostalgia for it.

57:40

So if you do, if you

57:42

are enjoying it, Cara's amazing. And

57:44

if you are hating it. And

57:46

if you are hating it. better.

57:49

Oh it's very sweet. Keras, I

57:51

think you're very sweet and I

57:53

know you're raising them right because

57:56

you're raising them on a diet

57:58

of ABC's the middle. Fantastic.

58:00

Okay, Eden. The sun is going down.

58:03

My ring light is blinding me. We

58:05

have dinner reservations at seasons 52. I'm

58:07

gonna get the scallups. Season 52 I

58:09

would go there with my grandma. No,

58:12

you didn't. Absolutely. I don't know it

58:14

was like a chain. Oh, yeah. There's

58:16

like a few of them, right? It

58:18

was sprinkled around. They at the very

58:20

least have one in West Palm

58:22

Beach, Florida. And that's sort

58:24

of with my grandparents. Okay,

58:26

I love it. So we have

58:29

we have reservations for that. Happy,

58:31

happy new year. Happy new

58:33

year. Happy, Monica. Bring in

58:35

2025 with you. Yes, me too.

58:37

You, me and Jonathan Bennett.

58:39

Yes. And next week, we're

58:42

talking all about, I haven't

58:44

seen this since it aired, but

58:46

I do remember me loving it

58:48

back in 2010, 122 Mother's Day.

58:51

I think this is the footback

58:53

if I recall. Is it?

58:55

Premier? I don't know. I don't know.

58:57

We'll see you. Check it next week. Okay,

58:59

we'll find out. We will find out

59:01

as well. Exactly. Oh, sweet thing. I

59:04

love you so much. I love you more.

59:06

I'm so happy to be seeing you. Oh,

59:08

me too. Okay. Bye, sweetie. Bye. Renew

59:28

your health and wellness purpose this

59:30

new year with the reset on

59:33

aloe moves. A curated weekly program

59:35

of Pilates, strength, and step goals

59:37

to kick-start your fitness journey. It's

59:39

a 30-day week-by-week program. Three days

59:42

of Pilates, two days of strength,

59:44

and 8,000 daily steps. Plus bonus

59:46

nutrition tips from Sakara. Plus, for

59:48

only $99, you get a year's

59:50

worth of access to aloe moves

59:53

on demand full studio experience wherever

59:55

you are. Get Moving today at

59:57

aloe moves.com. Hi, this is Freddie

59:59

Waugh. from Dungeons and Daddies and

1:00:01

this episode is sponsored by Rocket

1:00:03

Money Blast Off Houston we have

1:00:05

a problem and that's too many

1:00:07

subscriptions that I don't know about

1:00:09

because I like to put my

1:00:11

credit card number into sites. Just

1:00:14

for the sheer thrill of it.

1:00:16

That's the fundamental problem of the

1:00:18

internet and money and rocket money

1:00:20

is here to solve that. Rocket

1:00:22

Money is a personal finance app

1:00:24

that helps find and cancel your

1:00:26

unwanted subscriptions. Mondered your spending and

1:00:28

helps lower your bills. All those

1:00:30

subscriptions that you've accrued over a

1:00:32

lifetime of putting your credit card

1:00:34

in on the internet in one

1:00:36

place. If you don't want them,

1:00:39

just cancel them. With a few

1:00:41

taps, Rockin Money can help with

1:00:43

that. Rockin Money is over 5

1:00:45

million users and it's saved the

1:00:47

total of $500 million in canceled

1:00:49

subscriptions, saving members up to $740

1:00:52

a year when using all the

1:00:54

apps premium features. Stop wasting money

1:00:56

on things you don't use. Over

1:00:58

the last 75 years, over 10,000

1:01:00

chemicals have been introduced to our

1:01:02

food supply. Yet the EU only

1:01:05

allows 300 food additives. But at

1:01:07

Thrive Market, we bring our members

1:01:09

the highest quality brands and restrict

1:01:11

more than 1,000 ingredients found at

1:01:13

conventional grocery stores. Making the switch

1:01:15

is easy with our healthy swap

1:01:18

scanner, which finds better versions of

1:01:20

all your favorite pantry, snacking and

1:01:22

home essentials, without the added junk

1:01:24

dies and fillers. Plus, it's all

1:01:26

delivered straight to your door. So

1:01:28

if you're looking to shop at

1:01:30

a grocery store that actually cares

1:01:33

about your health, go to Thrivemarket.com/podcast,

1:01:35

and you'll get 30% off your

1:01:37

first order and a free gift.