Crowning Around

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss the series finale of The Crown - Season 6, Episode 10: Sleep, Dearie, Sleep. Together, they break down the series conclusion, the returns of Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, and the way that the finale grappled with death without actually killing anyone. Plus, Carlyn and Ivan give Sam a gift.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 9: Hope Street. Together, they break down the episode's rom-com ending and eulogize all the various different versions of the Queen Mother that they saw throughout the series. Plus, does Peter Morgan like Tony Blair?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 8: Ritz and realize wait... so A Royal Night Out could have been real?! Lesley Manville finally has an opportunity to put her full range on display. Plus, Ivan shares his conspiracy about Peter Morgan's depiction of the Queen Mother.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 7: Alma Mater. Does Kate Middleton's mother deserve her own spin-off show? Perhaps, if it means more Eve Best. Plus, Carlyn breaks down which came first - the art or the fart.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 6: Ruritania, an episode with some nostalgic and recognizable beats from The Crown of old. Together, they break down the differences between The Crown's portrayal of Tony Blair and the Michael Sheen (not Martin Sheen) version that they saw in The Queen. Plus, they try to guess what will be the next early aughts song featured in The Crown.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 5: Willsmania. Together, they break down the interesting decision to recast what arguably could have been the Season 6, Part 1 finale, and discuss whether this episode represents a quiet return to form. Plus, is Charles trying to tell us something through the lyrics of Natalie Imbruglia?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 4: The Aftermath. Together, they compare and contrast this episode to The Queen, also written by Peter Morgan, and discuss how the two portrayals approach the days following Diana's death very differently. They also take a look ahead at what may be coming in the back half of Season 6. Plus, what's William listening to on those headphones of his?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 3: Dis-Moi Oui. Together, they break down the return of the dog from the season premiere, analyze the blame pie chart, and dive into why The Crown may have decided to lean into Mohammed's narrative. Plus, Ivan has some thoughts on young Harry's PlayStation.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 2: Two Photographs. Sam addresses the fact that The Crown chose to address him. Carlyn is a little disappointed in the maid's gossip game (or lack thereof). Plus, Ivan takes a look at the Royal Family website in the Way Back Machine.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 6, Episode 1: Persona Non Grata. Together, they break down the shift that The Crown has taken away from Queen Elizabeth, and speculate as to what a more Queen Elizabeth-focused final season would look like. Plus, sponsors?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, dive into the 2006 Oscar nominee The Queen, written by none other than Peter Morgan. Together, they ponder how the events depicted in The Queen will unfold in the upcoming final season of The Crown. Ivan breaks down his own death plan, Ghost Protocol, while Carlyn remembers her time at cotillion. Plus, the bar has never been lower to finally abolish the Kinky Crown Award.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, watch the garden of love that is Oliver Hirschbiegel's 2013 film Diana, starring Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews, Charles Edwards, and Geraldine James. The film boasts a 7% Rotten Tomatoes score, but it can't be that bad, right? Plus, some Razzie Award trivia.

While waiting for the return of The Crown, Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, watch Jean-Marc Vallée's 2009 film The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Mark Strong, and Harriet Walter. Was this a political drama, a low-stakes romance, or a pseudo-thriller? Why not all three! Plus, Ivan shares which movie has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score that he still enjoyed.

Marisa and Sam discuss Hulu's How I Met Your Father Episode 212: Not a Mama Mia, which premiered on May 23, 2023. Has the show finally found its groove? And what are the odds that three people from the first Lollapalooza all end up in the New York metropolitan area. Plus, will Taylor return?

Marisa and Sam discuss Hulu's How I Met Your Father Episode 201: Cool and Chill, which premiered January 24, 2023. Sam wonders why Sid picked literally the worst line dance as his favorite, and Marisa is fully on board for the chaos to come that this episode teases. Plus, how likely are we to see more Sex and the City alumni show up on How I Met Your Father?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 10: Decommissioned, and to look back at Season 5 as a whole. Then, they look ahead to Season 6 and make predictions about what's likely to come. Plus, which American Idol winner would Carlyn have voted for?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 9: Couple 31. Ivan shares the secret to making a great omelet, while Carlyn again questions why The Crown refuses to introduce Darren to us. Plus, what did Diana do to make Ivan so angry?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 8: Gunpowder. Ivan has a new favorite character, and Sam is still not a fan of Martin Bashir. Plus, the three of them try to gauge what level of involvement Queen Elizabeth and John Birt would have had in the conception of Mr. Bean.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 7: No Woman's Land. Carlyn shares some of her favorite vending machine snacks and tries to explain how California's Lemon Law works. Plus, was Apollo 13 really the best choice for Diana and Dr. Khan?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 6: Ipatiev House, and come away with more questions than answers. Where is this Elizabeth and Philip disconnect coming from? Who else did Philip convince to be in his companionship gang? And why does King George V have a parrot? The world may never know...

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 5: The Way Ahead, which might just be the kinkiest episode of The Crown yet. Together, they break down why Charles doesn't get Camilla a cell phone, does the revenge dress scene make sense, and if this is the best version of Anne we've gotten so far. Plus, why is Carlyn stroking her microphone?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 4: Annus Horribilus. Was 1992 actually a horrible year? And do these flashbacks to Claire Foy and Vanessa Kirby work? Plus, how is this episode of The Crown similar to Grey's Anatomy?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 3: Mou Mou. Ivan's cameo prediction is proven false once again by some surprising but familiar faces. Also, serious question, do they now need to check out Chariots of Fire?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 2: The System, and largely feel a disappointing sense of deja vu along the way. Should this episode actually have been the Season 4 finale? Was there a conspiracy or not? Plus, a familiar face from the King Charles III movie.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 1: Queen Victoria Syndrome, along the way, providing their first impressions of the new cast and breaking down the transition from Season 4 into Season 5. Plus, Ivan provides his HMS Britannia expertise once again.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, watch the 2017 BBC film King Charles III, which later aired on PBS as a Masterpiece. Everything is strange, from the blank verse to the breaking of the fourth wall to the random POV shift from Charles to Kate Middleton, making this a fascinating film to dissect. Plus, it features a familiar face from The Crown Season 4.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 10: War. This may have been the most fan-fictiony episode of The Crown yet, but there is something captivating about watching Elizabeth just go off on Charles. Plus, looking back, Sam, Carlyn, and Ivan each share which episode of Season 4 was their favorite, and look ahead to Season 5.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 9: Avalanche. How long is too long for a standing ovation? And are Charles and Diana just bad at giving gifts? Plus, breaking down Liz discovering Billy Jo-el.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 8: 48:1. Is it the best episode of Season 4 so far? Sam thinks so, but Ivan isn't convinced. Plus, did Edward just serve us this line of the season? Ouch.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 7: The Hereditary Principle. Ivan recaps highlights from his recent trip to London, which included a tour of Buckingham Palace and an audio tour of Westminster Abbey narrated by (not Sir) Jeremy Irons. Plus, Carlyn's dentist is fancier than yours.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 6: Terra Nullius. Together, they try to determine which Olivia Rodrigo song best encapsulates the episode, and Carlyn shares the circumstances which led to her knowledge of Ayers Rock.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 5: Fagan. It's a fairly straightforward episode, but there's plenty of room for some detours about electric toothbrushes, floorplan logistics, and superhuman fight moves. Plus, Ivan recounts the times he's contacted his local representatives.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 4: Favourites. It's the first Queen Elizabeth focused episode of Season 4, and she has definitely been missed. Somehow, though, it's the second time this season someone has just decided to recite a poem at her...

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 3: Fairytale, along the way discovering the origin of smoothies, reliving positive chain restaurant memories, and trying to figure out the Adeane family tree.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 2: The Balmoral Test, in the process breaking down how they think they would fair at it. There's no protocol sheet for this podcast, so everything is fair game. Ivan laughably attempts once again to cancel the Kinky Crown Award.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 1: Gold Stick, in the process answering the very important question: would you rather find a nickel on the ground, or have your local hunter-rider team win a championship?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, watch the 2005 film Whatever Love Means to try and get a deeper understanding of Charles' and Camilla's relationship, and about love in general. It turns out, love means giving yourselves couply nicknames based on old radio shows, getting married to other people, and watching your significant other fish. Who knew?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, attempt to supplement their experience watching The Other Boleyn Girl by watching the first half of the two-part mini-series Elizabeth I starring Helen Mirren, Jeremy Irons, and Hugh Dancy, directed by Tom Hooper. They quickly learn that someone in the prosthetics department must have also been in charge of the financial department, and struggle to contextualize how this 2005 mini-series fits into the filmography of its stars. A vote is held on whether to watch Part Two.

We're between seasons, which means it's time once again for some supplemental content! This time, Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, go farther back in royal history than they've ever gone before as they talk about The Other Boleyn Girl. The star power in this movie is overpowering, but where was Andrew Garfield? And also, who even is the other Boleyn girl anyway? And why does everyone have the same name?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, convene on the Queen's birthday to recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 10: Cri de Coeur. After breaking down Helena Bonham Carter's For Your Consideration episode, they take a step back and evaluate Season 3 of The Crown overall. Is it possible that the third season neglected Elizabeth?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 9: Imbroglio. Together, they break down a packed episode that includes a classic royal scheme, a princess taking after her father, and the return of Wallis Simpson. Plus. Ivan shares highlights from his trip to Scotland.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 8: Dangling Man. Together, they mourn some on and off-screen losses of some favorite (and least favorite) characters, and they analyze the Charles/Camilla/Anne/Andrew quadruple situation that is happening. Plus, can you date someone with a similar name as you?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 7: Moondust. Together, they watch The Crown's depiction of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and the other one landing on the moon, and decide there's no way that Neil Armstrong came up with his famous line on his own. Also, what's up with Philip's polo cage?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 6: Tywysog Cymru. They finally meet Josh O'Connor's Charles and fail to learn basic Welsh. Plus, a comparison of university libraries.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 5: Coup. Dickie and Porchey both return, having aged dramatically differently. Sam, Carlyn, and Ivan attempt to learn "Horse Science."

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 4: Bubbikins. Ivan begins the episode skeptical of the newsroom depiction based upon his own experience in a newsroom some years ago, and tries to turn that energy into discontinuing the Kinky Crown Award. Will he succeed?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 3: Aberfan, which, according to the people on IMDb, is the best episode of television that The Crown has to offer. Unfortunately, it's such a downer that there may or may not be tangents involving grocery stores and aliens to try and lighten the mood.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 2: Margaretology. They start off optimistic that that since this episode takes place in the United States, they might be a little more knowledgeable about what's going on. That optimism quickly fades.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, recap The Crown Season 3, Episode 1: Olding, and in the process meet a brand new cast of characters including Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, and Helena Bonham Carter. Oh, and Winston is back, too. Plus, a surprise Crown cameo from a former Kinky Crown Award winner!

Happy Christmas everyone! Grab your KFC, your orange juice, and your headphones for a special holiday edition of Crowning Around! In this episode, Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, sit down to talk about the 2021 biopic Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, with Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, and Sean Harris. And if you choose to not listen, may the ghost of Anne Boleyn force you to eat a pearl necklace and then push you down the stairs of your childhood home! Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme... maybe she'll just sew your curtains shut...

God save...the Queen's sister? In this episode, Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, sit down to talk about the 2005 Channel 4 made-for-tv film The Queen's Sister, a film all about the life and times of Princess Margaret. In a movie from which Queen Elizabeth is largely absent, a perpetually old Philip steps in to shit all over Margaret's life, eventually driving her all the way to a 1970s commune. You have no idea the lengths to which we went to track this movie down. If at any point this podcast becomes overwhelming, just do your favorite animal noise and we can take a break.