Podcast appearances and mentions of ken fuchs

Have you placed your bets for the weekend yet? Nate Lundy chats with Caesars Sportsbook's Ken Fuchs on Radio Row as the world prepares for the Kansas City/San Francisco match up this weekend.

No guest this week as we answer questions from our mail bag. We welcome your questions - send them to us at gamblingwithanedge@gmail.com, or you can find me at @RWM21 on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/GamblingWithAnEdge.Show Notes[00:00] Introduction[00:54] MegaBucks[03:07] Can fans show support for GWAE by donating to charity?[04:10] Progressive slots, earning EV[12:07] DB versus DBB video poker[16:46] Books for aspiring card counters[18:19] Networking with other APs[19:56] Vulturing video poker[24:57] Playing blackjack for comps[29:27] Video poker line questions[31:33] Do video poker players get banned?[33:28] Playing as a recreational player in Reno[35:35] Risk of ruin in 9/6 Jacks or Better $125 hands with $100k bankroll[37:17] http://SouthPointCasino.com[38:02] http://BlackjackApprenticeship.com[38:31] http://VideoPoker.com/gwae[39:22] http://Unabated.com[40:05] Returning to a casino after being trespassed[41:39] Using a bearded account for sports betting[44:52] Traveling for sports betting sign up bonuses?[47:00] W2G tax implications[50:20] Counting cards against CSMs[52:35] Vulturing Ultimate X[54:30] Do all Mega-Millions machines lock after the jackpot is hit?[55:52] Stories from Bob's plays at MGM in the late 1990sSponsored Links:http://SouthPointCasino.comhttp://BlackjackApprenticeship.comhttp://VideoPoker.com/gwaehttp://Unabated.comBooks Referenced:Knockout Blackjack by Olaf Vancura and Ken Fuchs https://amzn.to/3QNln4XBlackjack Blueprint by Rick Blaine - https://amzn.to/3UglWqQ21st Century Card Counter by Colin Jones - https://amzn.to/3xr2fD5Video Poker for Winners by Bob Dancer https://amzn.to/3Bk7dCTSoftware Referenced:http://Lasvegasadvisor.com/shop/products/dunbars-risk-analyzer-for-video-poker-v-2-0-download/Episodes Referenced:http://Lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/podcast-captain-jack-andrews/http://Lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/podcast-captain-jack-andrews-and-rufus-peabody/http://Lasvegasadvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/podcast-captain-jack-andrews-and-rufus-peabody-part-2/

Scoot talks to Ken Fuchs from Caesar's Sportsbook about how sports gaming works for beginners and what's new this season for pros.

Ken Fuchs describes the model for attracting and retaining customers for Caesars Digital in the competitive sports gambling/entertainment marketplace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ken Fuchs describes the model for attracting and retaining customers for Caesars Digital in the competitive sports gambling/entertainment marketplace.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After just one day on a television set, Ken Fuchs knew that he had found his career path. He was assigned the job of stopping traffic while the director shot scenes, listening for “action!” and “cut!” cues from his walkie talkie. When he returned to the studio at the end of the day, he was asked to come back the following day–and he's worked in television ever since. Now, decades later, Ken is a renowned television director.Ken has spent his career directing unscripted reality TV shows, such as Shark Tank, Family Feud, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Ken is a three-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, five-time Daytime Emmy Award nominee and the 2019 Daytime Emmy award winner for Outstanding Directing for a Gameshow. Ken's jobs have taken him around the globe; he's been to more than sixty-five countries with The Bachelor  franchise. But being a director isn't all award shows and tropical locations–it's all-consuming work.This week on the Experience Podcast, Ken takes us behind the scenes to unpack what it's really like to direct reality TV. He also answers questions from Experience Podcast listeners about The Bachelor franchise: Is it really unscripted? Are the romantic connections authentic? Do contestants do their own makeup? Tune in to learn more about Ken's experience – and to get your reality TV questions answered!Want to know more about Ken?find him on Facebook: ken.fuchs.1follow him on Instagram: ken.fuchsfind him on Twitter: @kennyfuchsWant to know more about The Experience Podcast?Sign up to be on our Insiders' List to receive our newsletters and insiders' information! Go to theexperiencepodcast.net (sign-ups are at the bottom of the page)Follow us on social media:InstagramFacebookTwitterLinkedIn

Penderecki in Memoriam Podcast is produced and hosted by Max Horowitz, Crossover Media. Created by Anna Perzanowska and Klaudia Ofwona Draber, and presented by Polish Cultural Institute New York. Penderecki in Memoriam Podcast unveils a multifaceted portrait of Krzysztof Penderecki, with commentary from musicians, colleagues, radio programmers, and writers who lend insight and memories of Poland's greatest modern composer. This podcast is part of Penderecki in Memoriam Worldwide project, honoring the life and legacy of the great composer. Thank you to project partners DUX, NAXOS, Ludwig van Beethoven Association, and Schott EAM for sharing Krzysztof Penderecki's music with the world. GRAMMY-winning conductor JoAnn Falletta serves as Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center and Artistic Adviser of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. Hailed for having ‘Toscanini's tight control over ensemble, Walter's affectionate balancing of inner voices, Stokowski's gutsy showmanship, and a controlled frenzy worthy of Bernstein', she is a leading force for the music of our time. JoAnn with composer Ken Fuchs at the GRAMMY Awards in 2019Her recent and upcoming North American guest conducting includes the National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Milwaukee Symphony; and further north, the Toronto Symphony and Orchestre metropolitain. Internationally, she has conducted many of the most prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, and South America. Pending further national and international guidance on the current COVID-19 pandemic, she is looking forward to guest conducting appearances in Canada, Poland, Sweden, and Spain in 2021. The pieces included: Penderecki Adagio: Symphony No 3 - Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Penderecki - Concerto Doppio - Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Penderecki Horn Concerto - Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

No guest this week as we once again dip into our mail bag.We welcome your questions - send them to us at gamblingwithanedge@gmail.com, or you can find me at @RWM21 on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/GamblingWithAnEdge.podcastClick to listen - Alt click to downloadShow Notes[00:00] Introduction and a few corrections[02:15] Video Poker for Winners and Adobe Flash Player[04:04] Covid-19 vaccine[07:44] Wonging into blackjack, ASM, and CSM games[09:51] Chip banks, spreading bets, and risk of ruin[11:47] How are GWAE guests vetted?[14:09] Beatable blackjack games with no spread[14:48] Building a bankroll with video poker[17:27] Not paying change on TITOs[18:56] Bans that occurred before Caesars and El Dorado merger[21:38] Availability of Bob's Video Poker classes [22:35] Optimal use of casino free play[24:06] Tipping on a large hand pay[27:58] Video poker and table games training books and software[29:53] AP competition[31:08] South Point Casino March Promotion - $500k Swipe, Spin, and Win[32:53] Predictit.org/promo/edge - place small wagers on various political events, $20 deposit match for GWAE listeners[33:33] VideoPoker.com/gwae - Gold Membership offers correction on most games[34:33] How does a professional gambler obtain a mortgage?[35:55] Advice on explaining AP as a profession[38:37] "Tight" and "loose" machines[40:25] Blackjack basic strategy assumptions[41:23] Card counting books[41:55] Changing careers[44:47] Favorite countries to visit for gambling[46:95] Memorable casino patrons[53:15] Recommended Sponsored Links:SouthPointCasino.comPredictit.org/promo/edgeBlackjackApprenticeship.com VideoPoker.com/gwae Books Referenced:James Grosjean's strategy cards - lasvegasadvisor.com/shop/products/table-game-strategy-cards/Video Poker for Winners by Bob Dancer Blackjack Blueprint by Rick Blaine https://amzn.to/3bGuLEYKnock-out Blackjack by Ken Fuchs and Olaf Vancura https://amzn.to/3kkDKQ421st Century Card Counter by Colin Jones https://amzn.to/2Mmm3Dd

Get Exclusive Pop Culture Show video interviews, video content and bonus video exclusively from our Instagram. Sign up for our Pop Cult and be the first to get show announcements, free stuff and insider information only available to cult members. Speaker 1 (00:00:00):Welcome to the Pop Culture Show with Barnes, Leslie, and Cubby. Barnes (00:00:04):Welcome to the Pop Culture Show. Coming up today, Emmy winning director Ken Fuchs from The Bachelor, Shark Tank, Bachelorette, Family Feud. Cannot remember them all but I'm sure he will tell us. He's coming up. He's got some good inside scoop, guys. Leslie (00:00:18):Behind the scenes. Cubby (00:00:19):Great behind the scenes stuff, yeah. Barnes (00:00:21):I cannot wait to talk to him because there's so many things ... All those shows are all about behind the scenes. I mean, that's what makes them. Please rate, review, and subscribe. Please rate, review, and subscribe. We have some sad news. We're announcing right now. It wasn't planned but we're going to go and let you know that we are all three moving to Denmark. Cubby (00:00:42):Yeah, because we're huge there. Leslie (00:00:43):We have to. Barnes (00:00:43):We're huge in Denmark. We're number 10 in Denmark. So we've decided all to take the tax breaks and everything that comes with moving to Denmark. So we'll be heading that way soon. So thank you. Cubby (00:00:56):Also Australia. We've been making some ground up there. Barnes (00:00:58):And Great Britain. It's catching on everywhere but America. Leslie (00:01:04):What's the missing link? Barnes (00:01:05):Maybe tell somebody about us. I don't know. Help a brother out. Cubby (00:01:10):Follow us on social media if you could. We are the Pop Culture Show on Instagram. Even if you can go on your own Facebook page and talk about us, spread the word, every little bit helps. We're giving away money on this episode. Barnes (00:01:22):How about Tag a Friend Week? How about that? Cubby (00:01:24):I love that. Leslie (00:01:26):I like that idea. Barnes (00:01:26):Somewhere in your social media, just write a little something sweet and nice about the little show that could and say, "Hey, if you guys are looking for a good podcast, check these guys out. They're number 10 in Denmark," whatever you have to do. Cubby hit on something key. We're about to give away some money. I hope this doesn't go horribly wrong. It's called Pop Quiz and it's our first week giving away money. It's 50 bucks. Leslie (00:01:48):Fingers crossed. 50 bucks is a lot. Cubby (00:01:50):And it gets bigger. Barnes (00:01:52):Yeah, root for them to fail because next week, it'll be 100. If not, we'll just reset to 50. I'm saying right now, you know the question, both of you. What would you say on the hard scale, on a one to 10, 10 being the hardest? Cubby (00:02:08):I'm going to go eight, because you really had to pay attention. Leslie (00:02:10):It's a tough one. Barnes (00:02:11):It's not just like, "Hey, what color is the sky?" I mean, you had to have paid attention and not just like loosely. Cubby (00:02:21):How do we find this contestant? Leslie (00:02:23):Are they in Denmark? Barnes (00:02:24):Comment. They just comment. Yeah, it's the Denmark. It's one of those people. No, we have a post at the top tagged on our Facebook page and you just put Quiz Me in the comments and then we're going to pick somebody. That's it. I mean, it's pretty easy and I picked her at random. Her name is Christine Fitzgerald. Should be coming up in a few moments. This will be a video segment so you have to check it out. Because I'm sure there are going to be technical problems of some sort that you'll enjoy. Cubby (00:02:50):You'll get to see my shirt. Barnes (00:02:51):Cubby, this is ridiculous. What is that? Leslie (00:02:54):His shirt matches my fuchsia microphone. Barnes (00:02:57):What is it? Cubby (00:02:57):My wife found this in Marshall's. It was on sale for 5.99. I love retro and this is a circa 1991, saved by the bell kind of fashion statement. Barnes (00:03:08):It's about three sizes too small for you, first. Cubby (00:03:10):Yeah. This is called quarantine life right here. Barnes (00:03:13):How about not show- Leslie (00:03:13):The COVID-10. Barnes (00:03:15):He just raised his shirt. Leslie (00:03:17):COVID-10 or COVID-20? Barnes (00:03:19):You were already showing a little too much tummy for me. Cubby (00:03:22):I know. No, I'm not going to lie to you. I've probably gained 15 pounds since March. Barnes (00:03:26):I don't care about pounds, I'm just talking about skin. Your shirt was, it looks like you're wearing your youngest son you don't have shirt. Cubby (00:03:34):Well, this is a bad angle. I'll tell you that right now. Leslie (00:03:37):I kind of feel like we should give away his shirt as well as the 50 bucks. Cubby (00:03:42):That should be the losing price. Are we going to keep this going? Like if she wins today, are we going to ... I know it's not going to roll over. But are we going to have 50 bucks next week? Barnes (00:03:50):Yeah, why not? Cubby (00:03:52):Okay, so we're going to keep this going. All right. Leslie (00:03:54):Are we the only podcast giving away money? Barnes (00:03:56):I haven't heard of any podcasts giving away any money. Leslie (00:03:59):I haven't either. Cubby (00:04:00):All right, last question and I'll move on. What if this keeps rolling over and we're up to out of our budget? What if it's like $900? Barnes (00:04:09):The minute we opened our mouths, we're out of our budget. Cubby (00:04:12):True. Barnes (00:04:14):We all exchange different weeks paying with our Venmo. Cubby's got next. College football's back, guys. Leslie (00:04:21):I had no idea. Barnes (00:04:22):And NFL. Cubby (00:04:24):Yeah, it was good to see that. Barnes (00:04:24):This week, NFL is back. I mean, they were the most boring of the boring games, no offense, but they weren't exciting. What was interesting ... Did you watch any ... Well, Leslie, how many did you watch? Leslie (00:04:35):I didn't even know it started so ... Barnes (00:04:35):Cubby, did you watch? Leslie (00:04:35):... carry on. Cubby (00:04:39):I watched Marshall play Eastern Kentucky for 10 minutes and that was really boring. Barnes (00:04:45):You noticed the camera angles? Cubby (00:04:47):No. Barnes (00:04:48):They've moved the cameras up in the stands and they're angling them down so you don't see the stands. I thought it was very interesting. Watch the next time you watch a game. So they put the cameras- Cubby (00:04:58):They did have a few people at the game. There were a few people ... Barnes (00:05:00):I know but they're trying purposely not to show the empty stands. Cubby (00:05:03):Correct. Barnes (00:05:04):I thought it was interesting. Leslie (00:05:06):Do they pipe in ... I'm just asking because I haven't watched. Are they piping in sound effects and crowd noises? Barnes (00:05:11):I haven't been to a game yet, but I heard they were going to. Cubby (00:05:16):The NBA and the NHL, they're doing a good job of making it sound as real as possible and look as real as possible. They've been doing a great job. With the Marshall game yesterday, had real fans. It sounded like a high school game. But it was good to see it back. Barnes (00:05:30):You know what? They could be on to something. Maybe that's what we should do for the Pop Culture Show. Let's just pipe in fans. Leslie (00:05:35):We need it. Cubby (00:05:36):Crowd noise. Barnes (00:05:37):How about fake people email us all the time? Cubby (00:05:39):The Kentucky Derby, too, was something that I forgot about, that normally I would be all about. That happened on Saturday. Barnes (00:05:45):Yep. Leslie (00:05:45):Completely didn't see that. Did you guys watch the VMAs because they used these really cool virtual reality stages and they opened the show with the weekend, which was phenomenal. That performance was phenomenal. Then Lady Gaga with her masks. Cubby (00:06:00):You guys were talking about Venmo, you were talking about Venmo a minute ago, maybe you can help me with this because last week I got hacked. I'm not sure how it happened. Leslie (00:06:09):Uh-oh. Barnes (00:06:09):You got hacked on Venmo? Cubby (00:06:11):Well, no, no, no. Actually, it reminded me, it was on PayPal. So I have a credit card attached to my PayPal account and I ... Don't laugh at me. I've called QVC a couple of times and ordered stuff. Leslie (00:06:23):A couple meaning how many? Cubby (00:06:26):Two times in the last year. So the only time I've used my PayPal account is through the credit card on QVC. Anyway, long story short, my credit card alerts me if anything over $100 is happening. And I got an alert that a online order was placed for $900 for a Roomba on QVC. Barnes (00:06:46):Is that the vacuum that moves? Cubby (00:06:48):The vacuum that moves. And I clearly didn't order it. I asked my wife she says, "No. Are you crazy? I wouldn't do that." I didn't know where to begin. Do I call QVC first? Do I call my credit card first or do I call PayPal? Barnes (00:06:59):PayPal is fast. Leslie (00:07:01):They are? Barnes (00:07:01):They'll call you right back. Cubby (00:07:03):What I ended up doing is PayPal, they helped me out a lot and they told me to cancel my credit card and change my password on my PayPal. And then I called QVC and canceled the order. It was going to a different address. Whoever did this had my name on it, used my billing address, and it was being shipped to their address, which actually was 30 minutes away from our house. I looked it up on Zillow. And it was actually kind of a nice house. I'm like, "Is this a mistake maybe? Is it the same name as me?" I don't know. Barnes (00:07:36):Cubby, you order more than any human being that I know so maybe it was a mistake. Cubby (00:07:42):No, it was not ... Leslie (00:07:44):Wait, I'm following this. Did you go to that person's house and knock on the door? Cubby (00:07:48):No, I'm tempted to because it pisses me off. But also I'm a nice guy, as you know, and you guys are all nice people and I'm always willing to give the benefit of the doubt. And I'm almost thinking maybe QVC made a mistake because it's the same name as me, first and last. It is New Jersey, it's where I live. Barnes (00:08:04):That leans to a mistake if it's the same name. Cubby (00:08:07):It's the same but they could have used my name because of billing purposes. Leslie (00:08:11):Barnes would have gone to the house 10 hours ago. Barnes (00:08:14):Armed. Cubby (00:08:15):So I canceled my credit card and QVC and all that. Barnes (00:08:19):I think it sounds like a mistake. Same name. Leslie (00:08:21):Wait a second, Cubby, quick question. Is there a possibility that after one of the five o'clock Jager shots that you might have called QVC ... Barnes (00:08:31):I want a Roomba. Leslie (00:08:31):Come on. Cubby (00:08:34):Actually, not at all because my wife and I talk about every big purchase and she would have killed me if I had done that without her knowing. Leslie (00:08:42):That's expensive. I didn't know that's how much the thing was. Cubby (00:08:44):It was like $850. Speaker 1 (00:08:46):Get money. Get paid. Welcome to Pop Quiz on the Pop Culture Show. Get one question about last week's show correct and win cash. Here we go. Barnes (00:09:00):Money, money, money, money. Say hey to Christine Fitzgerald. Hey, Christine. Christine (00:09:04):Hi. Cubby (00:09:04):Welcome, Christine. Where are you at right now? Christine (00:09:07):I am in Woodstock, Georgia. Barnes (00:09:08):Nice. Cubby (00:09:08):Cool. Barnes (00:09:09):You're the first person ever to play Pop Quiz and ... Christine (00:09:11):I know. I've been listening to you guys since 1996. So this is just ... I'm so happy. Barnes (00:09:16):Well, that's great. Leslie (00:09:17):Thank you. Barnes (00:09:18):We just started the show this March so that's amazing. Christine (00:09:20):I know. I've been listening to the show since episode one and telling all my friends. It's been great. Barnes (00:09:26):Well, thank you. Leslie (00:09:26):Thank you so much. Cubby (00:09:28):It means a lot. Thank you. Barnes (00:09:29):We knew somebody was listening. We just didn't know who. Christine (00:09:31):Well here I am. Hi. Barnes (00:09:34):Someone like you who listens a lot, this is going to be a no-brainer, you're going to win the money, which is going to make everyone else mad. Because if you don't win the 50 bucks, it's going to go up next week. Christine (00:09:44):Exactly. Cubby (00:09:45):So are you ready to play, Christine? Christine (00:09:47):I am ready to play. Cubby (00:09:48):All right. I mean, it's rather easy for you if you listen to every second of the episode last week. Christine (00:09:53):I did. I did. Cubby (00:09:53):So here we go. Charles Esten was our guest last week. We talked about how he auditioned for Band of Brothers, but he lost the role to what actor? I need the first and last name. You have 10 seconds. Go. Christine (00:10:10):Damian Lewis. Barnes (00:10:10):Two seconds. That's unbelievable. Christine (00:10:18):I love him so much so I listened to that part very intently. I'm a big fan of his. Barnes (00:10:23):We thought this is a hard question. Leslie (00:10:24):Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. Barnes (00:10:26):Okay, Cubby, get her Venmo and give her 50 bucks. Leslie (00:10:30):Congratulations. Cubby (00:10:31):I will. Christine (00:10:31):Thank you so much. Leslie (00:10:33):We appreciate you listening, too. Christine (00:10:34):Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm so glad you're back. It's made my Monday so much happier. Barnes (00:10:40):This is awesome. Well, please, hold on one second. We're going to put you in the green room and we'll get your Venmo or your Apple Pay or your whatever, your PayPal, and we'll hit you with 50 bucks. Christine (00:10:50):Thank you so much. Barnes (00:10:51):You're very welcome. Leslie (00:10:51):It's actually like, this turned out to be pretty easy, Barnes. Seriously, all you have to do to join in on the fun and win some easy money is just comment, "Quiz me. Quiz me." popcultureshow.com. Just go to our Facebook, the pinned page and just say Quiz Me to win cash. Barnes (00:11:08):There's a pinned post at the very top. Just on that and put Quiz Me and you're set. Cubby (00:11:12):Christine, can you do us a favor? Christine (00:11:14):Yes. Cubby (00:11:14):Now that you love us so much, can you post on your social how much you love this new podcast called the Pop Culture Show and you should listen to it just on your Facebook? Christine (00:11:22):Absolutely. Cubby (00:11:23):Just spread the word because we have five people, I think, listening. Christine (00:11:26):I will absolutely. Barnes (00:11:27):Now that you're on payroll. So it's [crosstalk 00:11:29] Cubby (00:11:30):You're getting paid now. Exactly. Christine (00:11:31):Exactly. Barnes (00:11:32):Congratulations, Christine. Thanks for playing Pop Quiz. Christine (00:11:34):Thank you so much. Leslie (00:11:34):A lot of celebrity news this week, guys. And at the end, we're going to talk about the highest paid celebrities. Some of them I'm sure you'll be like a no-brainer. But I saw this and thought it was really interesting. What do you think is the biggest most liked tweet of all time? Barnes (00:11:51):Well, it had to be Chadwick Boseman. Leslie (00:11:53):It is. It's the tweets sent from his official account announcing his passing. That is the most-liked Tweet of all time. Barnes (00:12:00):I've seen that. Story has been around all week. I've been seeing it everywhere. I was surprised that that ... I wonder what it was before that. Leslie (00:12:06):I'm not sure about that but there's a couple other stories. I don't know if you've seen some of his fans, the Black Panther fans, are saying, "Hey, Marvel, you can't recast the Black Panther." Because there's a couple of movies coming out. So I don't know what they're going to do but fans are up in arms going, "You cannot recast this part." Cubby (00:12:24):What are they thinking? Re-title? Leslie (00:12:25):I don't know. I don't know. It's just he gave such a brilliant performance. Barnes (00:12:29):Why not honor him with casting it in a ... I don't think you need to shut the franchise down. It's horrible that he's passed. But I think he would probably say, "No, you've got to keep this going." Cubby (00:12:41):Right. And dedicate it to him when the movie starts. Leslie (00:12:44):I'll tell you what, another big score though for Netflix. They're going to get his final movie that he ever made. It's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. It's about August Wilson, played by a Pulitzer Prize winning writer August Wilson and it's about this blues icon name Ma Rainey. Netflix got it. I mean, Netflix is just on fire. I've been reading all this stuff this week about Netflix. Did you see where they're going to offer a bunch of free stuff on Netflix this week? Barnes (00:13:14):They're going to streaming Stranger Things maybe and ... Leslie (00:13:17):The unpay wall. It's a netflix.com watch free and they have The Two Popes, the first episode of Stranger Things, Birdbox, a lot of stuff. Cubby (00:13:30):The power of Netflix, Cobra Kai was on YouTube a year and a half ago, that was the Karate Kid reboot. I saw it a year and a half ago. But all weekend, people have been talking about, "Cobra Kai on Netflix. Just binged it. It's so good." I'm like, "I knew about this a year and a half ago." But because Netflix picked it up, it took it to a whole new level. Barnes (00:13:49):Well, actually YouTube vacated it. Cubby (00:13:51):Did they? Barnes (00:13:52):You're right. They're getting out of original production. Cubby (00:13:56):I didn't know that. Barnes (00:13:56):So they bought the rights to those first two, but yes, they did pick it up. What's wild is there are people talking about it and I just can't ... I tried to start it, I'm 10 minutes in. I have a hard time with retro stuff. Cubby (00:14:11):It's not bad though. Give it a chance, please. Barnes (00:14:13):I am. I'm 10 minutes in and I'm going to give Staten Island King, whatever that thing, a chance. Leslie (00:14:17):Staten Island King, whatever. Now I heard about the show, Carrie Underwood tweeted about it and everybody's talking about it. But I had no idea, Cubby, that it had started on YouTube. It's the same when you guys made fun of me about the Michael Jordan, the documentary The Last Dance. I mean, I never watched it on ESPN. It had a whole new life on Netflix. Barnes (00:14:39):It's so good. But Cobra Kai was filmed here in Atlanta mostly. Leslie (00:14:42):Cobra Kai. Barnes (00:14:43):You can't tell watching it. Cubby (00:14:44):Check out CBS Sunday morning. Great piece on Netflix and how they have just exploded ... Barnes (00:14:50):Dominated. Cubby (00:14:51):... since the pandemic started. Leslie (00:14:53):How about a $100 million Netflix deal from Meghan and Harry? Cubby (00:14:59):Is it official? Leslie (00:15:00):Well, I don't know if it's official but apparently they're talking to them about TV show, documentaries, films, scripted kid's programs, everything. Barnes (00:15:09):Why is everybody all up on them? What do they have to say? I mean serious, why are they such a hot commodity? Leslie (00:15:17):I think people actually really liked him. He was like the bad brother and a lot of people were fans of hers when she was an actress. I don't know what the allure is. Barnes (00:15:25):A lot of people think she's an opportunist. Leslie (00:15:29):That has been obviously ... I don't know if you ever saw some of the vicious things that Piers Morgan had to say about her. Barnes (00:15:35):I'll start with the royal family, for one. What do you think her ass is on the outside? It's just strange. Cubby (00:15:41):Yeah, I don't care about it, to be honest with you. I know some people live and breathe it. Leslie (00:15:45):Okay, who has 200 million followers on Instagram? Barnes (00:15:49):Not us. Leslie (00:15:50):First female to reach that, Ariana Grande. 200 million. Cubby (00:15:55):I remember when Katy Perry was on top for a while and Justin Bieber. But Ariana Grande now, huh? Leslie (00:15:59):Guess who's second place? Barnes (00:16:00):You know what would be a fun bit is between the three of us, we have to try and book a guest that we know one of the other two can't stand. That would be a great segment. Leslie (00:16:12):So you're saying you want me to get Meghan Markle on or ... Barnes (00:16:15):I don't even know who that is. Oh, yeah, that's her. I'm saying someone notable that you've been like, "Ugh, really?" Cubby would try to book Ariana Grande on the show and then I'd have to stomach it the whole time. Cubby (00:16:27):You would love it because she has 200 million followers and she would turn that to the podcast. Leslie (00:16:31):True. Okay, coming in second place is Kylie Jenner with 193 million Instagram followers. Cubby (00:16:41):I'm still suspect because you can buy so many things. I still don't know if they're real people but whatever. Leslie (00:16:47):All right, quiz for you guys. When was the last time Arnold Schwarzenegger was on television? Because he's coming back. Barnes (00:16:55):He hosted The Apprentice. Leslie (00:16:57):Yep. Celebrity Apprentice. 2017. Barnes (00:17:00):It was awful. Leslie (00:17:03):Well, now he is going to start a global spy adventure for television revolving around a father and a daughter. Barnes (00:17:11):That might work. Leslie (00:17:11):I know this coming back to TV. Cubby (00:17:12):Do you think he went away for a while after all that whole housekeeping incident? Leslie (00:17:17):Yes, such an embarrassment and sad actually. Mariah Carey just got a big Apple TV deal. She's going to do a magical Christmas special with a lot of big guests. I wonder how much she got paid for that. Barnes (00:17:29):Cubby, you know Mariah Carey? Cubby (00:17:31):I don't know her, interviewed her a million times. Barnes (00:17:33):I asked because New York, I mean, you get a lot of people on there. Cubby (00:17:36):She used to come up to Z100 all the time. Barnes (00:17:38):Is she nice? Cubby (00:17:40):She's really nice, but a lot of maintenance involved. I mean, you know ... Leslie (00:17:45):Can't deny that voice. Cubby (00:17:47):They come in an hour ahead of time before an interview because everything is filmed for online, and her people come in an hour before. "Where she's sitting? Where's the lights?" Barnes (00:17:56):Where's your president? Cubby (00:17:56):"Don't film this side." It's pretty high maintenance. Leslie (00:18:00):She does have a side. I remember that, right? Which side is one ... Cubby (00:18:03):It's her left. No. Let me think. She doesn't want her left really to be seen a lot. It's mainly her right. That's what she prefers. Barnes (00:18:10):What's wrong with her left? Cubby (00:18:11):I don't know. I think it looks fine. But you'll notice a lot of her videos and pictures, she's really, right side is more ... Barnes (00:18:19):[inaudible 00:18:19] a devil tidbit, Cubby. Leslie (00:18:20):I love that. They're celebrating the 25th anniversary of All I Want For Christmas. That always makes the charts every year anyway because it's one of the most popular Christmas songs. You know what she should do is invite Nick Cannon on the show. Barnes (00:18:34):Don't they hate each other? Leslie (00:18:36):I don't know if they hated ... I think they're amicable, right? Cubby (00:18:39):I agree. I think they're civil. I think it might have gotten bad there for a second the first it happened, but I think they've cleared the air a bit. Leslie (00:18:47):So I didn't see a lot of fanfare on David Blaine and flying with the balloons but it just happened. I guess I did it live on YouTube, but he floated over the Arizona desert holding about 50 helium balloons. Did you watch the video for that? Barnes (00:19:04):I saw a clip of it. Cubby (00:19:04):I saw the clip. That was it. Barnes (00:19:07):YouTube pay for that? Leslie (00:19:09):I'm not sure. He floated 24,900 feet, which is about 4.7 miles and then he parachuted back to the ground. Cubby (00:19:18):Is it bad that I just don't care? He did a few things 20 years ago. It was really kind of cool. Leslie (00:19:25):So weird I didn't hear anything about it. By the way, we had known that the Rock had COVID, Dwayne Johnson. I guess he's better now but he's talking about it. Dwayne Johnson (00:19:35):My wife, Lauren, as well as my two baby girls and myself, we have all tested positive for COVID-19. I can tell you that this has been one of the most challenging and difficult things we have ever had to endure as a family. And for me personally, too, as well. I've gone through some doozies in the past. Barnes (00:19:58):Is that now? I know the clip is now but is this from the past they tested positive? Leslie (00:20:05):Yeah, because they said he's on the other side of it right now. Barnes (00:20:07):I just wonder how long ago that was. Cubby (00:20:09):Do you know how they first suspected that they had it? No one could smell what he was cooking. Good night everybody, drive safely. Leslie (00:20:19):Then you saw Robert Pattinson has COVID, and he was in that number one movie over the weekend, Tenet. Barnes (00:20:25):I shouldn't even say this. Leslie (00:20:31):He's like the new Batman. Barnes (00:20:32):These sets and their protocols are kind of a joke. I mean, you walk by and they stick a thing near you and they go like, "Raise your nose up. You don't have COVID. Keep working." But when Batman gets it, you have to stop. I think that they probably overlook a lot. I don't have facts, I'm just saying that the tests ... My friends that work in the business say the testing is a joke. Leslie (00:20:55):I will tell you that I'm ... Barnes (00:20:55):They touch you and, "Nope, you don't have it." Leslie (00:21:00):... working for Viacom and they just had the VMAs and now we're working on the CMT Music Awards, the protocols are really, really, really strict. Barnes (00:21:09):Good. It should be. Leslie (00:21:09):Not quarantining and yeah. Barnes (00:21:10):Shows that are out in the field, they're getting very liberal with their testing. Leslie (00:21:15):By the way, I didn't mention this at the top of the show, but I watched Mulan, which Lanie has been wanting to watch. Remember it was supposed to have a huge theatrical release, but it came to Disney Plus over the weekend, we paid 29.95, 30 bucks for it. Because even if you have Disney Plus, you still have to pay for it. So it'll be really interesting to see how well it does. Cubby (00:21:35):That's messed up, by the way. You're already paying for a subscription and then you have to pay on top of that? Leslie (00:21:42):You have to pay on top of that. But I'm imagining of you have a family with a bunch of kids and stuff, that's still cheaper than going to the theater, right? Cubby (00:21:48):True. True. Leslie (00:21:49):Did you guys see that Billy Eilish is going to help design the logo for the 2028 Olympics? Barnes (00:21:55):That girl, she's so talented. She's getting so many cool unique gigs. Leslie (00:21:59):They're bringing 20 different creators. Well, I love what she said, is she said, "The font I chose is the font that I use for my logo. And who knows if that's going to be relevant in my life in eight years. But I have this whole thing about not wanting to please my past self or future self. It's all about pleasing your present self." That's what she had to say. Cubby (00:22:19):She's got a big future. Leslie (00:22:20):So should we go through the highest paid celebrities? Barnes (00:22:23):Of the year or of all time? Leslie (00:22:26):No, it says The Highest Paid Celebrities. This is the annual list from Forbes. Cubby (00:22:31):Now, correct me if I'm wrong, I thought we talked about how the Rock was leading one poll last week or two weeks ago. Leslie (00:22:37):Yes. I have the top 10. He is number 10. Cubby (00:22:40):The Rock is number 10? Barnes (00:22:42):I thought he was one. I thought he was one. Leslie (00:22:44):No. This is the Highest Paid Celebrities of 2020. Cubby (00:22:47):Here we go. Leslie (00:22:48):He's number 10, 87.5 million. LeBron James is number nine. Barnes (00:22:53):Look at that. That's with Coronavirus, people. Get off your couch. Leslie (00:22:56):It's crazy. 88.2. Howard Stern, 90 million at number eight. Number seven, Neymar, 95.5 million, soccer player. Tyler Perry at six. Tyler Perry is just always on fire, 97 million. Lionel Messi, I didn't know who that was. I had to Google him, 104 million. He's another soccer player. Number four soccer, Cristiano Ronaldo, 105. Did I say it okay? Cubby (00:23:23):Yeah, you nailed it. Leslie (00:23:24):105 million. Roger Federer, Barnes, 106.3 million. Barnes (00:23:29):Still? Leslie (00:23:30):Ain't that crazy? Barnes (00:23:31):Wow. Leslie (00:23:32):Kanye West, 170 million at number two. Barnes (00:23:36):Dang. Leslie (00:23:36):Any guesses as to the number one overall celebrity? Barnes (00:23:39):Cubby? Cubby (00:23:41):I'm going to go ... Barnes (00:23:42):Number one? Cubby (00:23:43):I mean, Justin Bieber? Leslie (00:23:45):That's a good guess. Barnes (00:23:48):Kim Kardashian. Cubby (00:23:49):Kim Kardashian. Leslie (00:23:50):No, it's in the family though. Barnes (00:23:52):Kylie? Leslie (00:23:53):Yeah. Cubby (00:23:54):Kylie. Leslie (00:23:54):Kylie Jenner, 590 million because she has that cosmetic line. Barnes (00:23:59):How does Kim handle that? She's not longer the queen. There is some new music going to run through. I was so impressed to hear ... Have you guys heard ... I'll play it and you'll know instantly who it is. And then of course, I'll tell you who it is. Have you heard this yet? (music) It's The New Bush. It's 1998 again, baby. Cubby (00:24:20):It sounds good. Gavin would be a great guest [crosstalk 00:24:23] Leslie (00:24:23):I love Gavin Rossdale. Barnes (00:24:24):I texted him this week. I haven't heard back from him, but I hope to get him on. Cubby (00:24:27):There's the name drop. We got one. Barnes (00:24:29):You just said you'd like to have him on. He was a- Cubby (00:24:31):I know, but just the way you said it, so nonchalantly, "Yeah, I texted him." Leslie (00:24:35):Very sad with what happened with he and Gwen, but back in the day, he and Barnes did hang out a lot. Seriously. Barnes (00:24:44):All the time. Cubby (00:24:44):No, I think you're ... I'll give you that. I do remember that. Barnes (00:24:44):We used to play tennis and all kinds of crazy stuff. So that's The New Bush. The album Front To Back is great. Check it out on whatever your streamer is. This is new from Sheryl Crow. (music) Cubby (00:25:09):She's always been nice. I know we've all met her a million times, right? Barnes (00:25:11):She's awesome. Leslie (00:25:12):She lives in Nashville. Barnes (00:25:14):Can you text her, Leslie? Leslie (00:25:16):She's awesome. Cubby (00:25:16):You can text her? Leslie (00:25:17):Her barn is nicer than most people's houses. Cubby (00:25:20):Please text her. Barnes (00:25:20):I like Sheryl. Tell her we miss her. I'm sure you've all listened to the new 6ix9ine, Punani. (music) Now here come a lot of beeps. (music) [crosstalk 00:25:48] and so on and so forth. Leslie, you know what Punani is? Leslie (00:25:55):I don't. Barnes (00:25:57):Oh, boy. Cubby (00:25:58):You're kidding. Leslie (00:25:59):No. What is it? Cubby (00:26:00):It's like a [inaudible 00:26:01]. Leslie (00:26:01):It is? Barnes (00:26:02):It's not like a [inaudible 00:26:04]. It's a little ... Cubby (00:26:06):It's in that area. Leslie (00:26:07):Don't ask me to Google it, I'm not going to. Barnes (00:26:09):Leslie, what is punani? Leslie (00:26:11):I don't know. Barnes (00:26:13):P-U-N-A-N-I, look it up. Learning with Leslie, that's what the segment will be called. Leslie (00:26:22):Don't make me do this. Barnes (00:26:23):Punani, you've got to get hip to your pop culture. Cubby (00:26:27):This is the Pop Culture Show. Barnes (00:26:29):Learning with Leslie. Okay, go ahead. P-U-N-A-N-I. Leslie (00:26:33):It means beautiful flower. Barnes (00:26:35):Okay, keep going. What is it [inaudible 00:26:41]? What's a punani? Leslie (00:26:45):Hawaiian slang for vagina. Barnes (00:26:50):There you go. Leslie, you learned something today. The next time you hear punani ... Leslie (00:26:54):I learn every week on the Pop Culture Show. Barnes (00:26:57):So now listen to this song with a whole new ears. (music) Cubby (00:27:06):And we found our Pop Quiz question for next week. Barnes (00:27:12):All right, three more. I didn't know that this guy was still making music. This is another ... Can you tell who this is? Listen. (music) This is new. Cubby (00:27:28):I will tell you I like it. I love that house sound. Barnes (00:27:31):Billy Ocean. Cubby (00:27:33):Billy Ocean? Get the hell out. I love it. He's '70s, right? Barnes (00:27:35):It's called One World. His voice is so perfect. Leslie (00:27:38):I like Billy Ocean. Barnes (00:27:40):Two more. Aloe Blacc. (music) He's got a great voice, too. Leslie (00:28:01):He does. Barnes (00:28:01):Very distinctive. And last one, Phineas has a new song. We all know who Phineas's sister is, don't we? Leslie (00:28:07):Mm-hmm (affirmative), mm-hmm (affirmative). Billy Eilish's brother. Barnes (00:28:10):Yeah, Billy Eilish. I'm just making sure. (music) It's very sad. Who does he sound like? Sounds like almost ... Cubby (00:28:41):I was just thinking that. Like Coldplay for me. Barnes (00:28:41):Like a David Gray kind of thing. Yeah, like Coldplay. All new this week. Cubby (00:28:46):Barnes, Leslie, one of you have to have a Peloton. You strike me as Peloton people. I know for sure. Leslie (00:28:53):No, I have a rebounder. Cubby (00:28:55):What's a rebounder? Leslie (00:28:56):It's like a small trampoline. Barnes (00:28:58):Dude, she has it in her living room. Leslie (00:28:59):Yeah. I do 200 jumping jacks. Barnes (00:29:03):At random moments, they come over and do jumping jacks on a trampoline in their living room. I'm not kidding. Cubby (00:29:09):Well, God bless you. That's more exercise than what I'm getting. Barnes (00:29:11):I was editing last time I was there and all the sudden Lanie came out of nowhere and started flying in the sky like he's part of Cirque du Soleil. I'm like, "What's happening? What is this?" Leslie (00:29:23):But I have thought about the Peloton. Cubby (00:29:25):I've got great news because I've been thinking of a Peloton, too. It's been a little bit out of my budget. They are preparing to launch a cheaper treadmill and a new high end bike and they're going to cut the price of their existing bike. This new treadmill called Tread is going to cost less than $3,000 compared to $4,295 the current model. It'll be smaller and have a cheaper belt design like most other treadmills on the market versus the current models, slat design. The new stationary bike will be a premium offering called Bike Plus, and it will likely cost more than the current $2,245 version. Peloton will then drop the price of the existing machine to less than $1,900. That's the rumor mill. But shares have been falling. Leslie (00:30:14):That's really smart on their part. Barnes (00:30:16):That's a cult. It's almost like SoulCycle. Those people are into it no matter what you say. Leslie (00:30:21):Now, have you seen The Mirror? Barnes (00:30:23):I see the ad. Cubby (00:30:24):I've seen commercials for it. Leslie (00:30:26):It's pretty expensive, too. I think it's around five grand. It's expensive. Barnes (00:30:28):Is that a fake person or is it a real person? Leslie (00:30:35):I'm not sure. The designer, you mean? I'm not sure but ... Barnes (00:30:35):Can you like order like, "I want a blonde, 40 ..." Leslie (00:30:39):Your custom trainer. Barnes's custom trainer. Barnes (00:30:42):Can you build your virtual trainer or is it just a person that ... Leslie (00:30:44):That would be brilliant but... Barnes (00:30:46):... that pops on? I don't know. Cubby (00:30:48):Again, I'm happy about this because I've been on the border, I've been on the fence here and I think if it goes under $3,000. Leslie (00:30:55):He says that as he's tucking his shirt in. Cubby (00:30:57):I know because I'm feeling so fat guys. I really am feeling fat. Barnes (00:31:00):Put them in a category with Netflix. The pandemic has been very, very good to them. Cubby (00:31:03):Yeah, it really has. Barnes (00:31:08):Our next guest is the director of, as I put it last week, every show on TV, I think. Leslie (00:31:14):Pretty much. Barnes (00:31:15):Shark Tank, The Bachelor, Bachelorette, Family Feud, To Tell the Truth. Help me, Ken. Ken Fuchs (00:31:21):Celebrity Family Feud. Barnes (00:31:23):Celebrity Family Feud. Ken Fuchs (00:31:25):Misery Index. Barnes (00:31:25):See, I'm not kidding. Ken Fuchs, welcome to the show, sir. Ken Fuchs (00:31:28):Thank you. Thanks for having me. Leslie (00:31:30):Ken, how did you get started? I mean, this is pretty incredible resume. How does one get started as a director and now you have this incredible resume? Ken Fuchs (00:31:38):Well, that's a good question. I think if you ask 10 directors, you get 10 different answers. My path was a little circuitous. I started in production right out of college and I worked my way up in the production ranks, which gave me a really solid footing in how things are done and actually, I think made me a better director. Then somewhere along the line of being a production manager or line producer, I started AD-ing, assistant directing and then that led to directing. So I sort of moved up one ladder, jumped sideways into the more of the directing track and then got my break on a late night NBC talk show called Later with Greg Kinnear, which was a 1:30 AM talk show. Bob Costas used to host and then Greg took over, and I was the AD on that for many years and then started directing that. Barnes (00:32:35):Well, what was the first big show? When I say big, prime time. How did that jump happen? Because that's a big you know, 1:30 in the morning AM, on a network is of course, it's a big break, but the shows you're doing now are iconic. Ken Fuchs (00:32:53):I don't know exactly. I think I came around ... My career kind of coincided with the advent of ... Well, there was always variety television and non-scripted television. So I had the late night gig and that led to a daytime talk show with Roseanne. The ill-fated Roseanne talk show. Barnes (00:33:13):That did very well though, didn't it? Ken Fuchs (00:33:18):Not particularly. Barnes (00:33:19):No? I thought it did well. Ken Fuchs (00:33:20):It ran for two years and it didn't do good. Barnes (00:33:22):Oh, Roseanne. I'm thinking of Rosie. Ken Fuchs (00:33:26):No, no, no. Not Rosie. Roseanne. Barnes (00:33:29):I can see that. That had to be problematic. Ken Fuchs (00:33:32):It was incredibly complicated every day. Barnes (00:33:37):Did she used to yell at people? Ken Fuchs (00:33:38):Yeah. She'd yell at you and she'd love you and she'd hug you and she'd ... She was unbelievable. It was everything you would think it would be. I look back on it fondly and she was actually ... We actually were very close. But it was very difficult and just chaotic. It was just a lot of chaos in her life and in her brain. But super talented. She would have the interview once a week and she would say things and ask questions that nobody else would ask. So I think she was actually brilliant and creative and talented in a certain way. And then sort of challenged in another way. Cubby (00:34:21):Well, Ken, now you got me wondering. I know you don't work with Ellen DeGeneres but she's been ... You hear people say she's difficult. Do you know anybody at that camp that [crosstalk 00:34:31] Ken Fuchs (00:34:31):Hundred and hundreds of people have been through that camp. Barnes (00:34:34):Is this a sensitive topic? Ken Fuchs (00:34:35):Not for me. Not for me, no. I have no problem ... I don't know the woman, I only did ... I actually did the pilot for that talk show. It wasn't an airing pilot so they call it a presentation. But because I was working with Telepictures on Bachelor, they brought Ellen into the stage where we were shooting a Bachelor show and did a quickie sort of talk show, a couple segments to see if it worked. Barnes (00:35:01):Like a mock up? Ken Fuchs (00:35:02):Yeah, mockup. Mm-hmm (affirmative), exactly. Barnes (00:35:05):And you're saying what? That she was difficult then? Ken Fuchs (00:35:08):I don't know it was difficult, but I certainly didn't feel that warm and fuzzy feeling at the end of it. So I can't personally pass judgment on her. But I know over the 17 years of that talk show, the stories coming out of there have been pretty consistent and not very flattering. Barnes (00:35:27):So these stories aren't new. These have been going on for years. We're just not hearing ... I mean, this is the first we're hearing of them? Ken Fuchs (00:35:32):Yeah, of course. Barnes (00:35:33):Wow. Leslie (00:35:34):That's amazing. Barnes (00:35:35):Well, all eyes are going to be on her next week when that show comes back because she's going to have ... Do you think she's going to give like a speech or something when she comes out? Ken Fuchs (00:35:41):I mean, I guess so. I mean, she has to do some kind of damage control. I think I read something recently where she's offering something to the staff and crew in terms of ... I can't remember what I read, but definitely there's stuff going on there. Cubby (00:35:57):She have to pull an Oprah, "You get a car, you get a car," to everybody in the audience. Barnes (00:36:01):That's something. Ken Fuchs (00:36:01):Maybe. And maybe she didn't know everything that was going on. I know those executive producers a little bit. And I know a lot of the stories revolve around the atmosphere on the show and not necessarily Ellen per se and exactly personally. You never know on any show, really, what the disconnect is between production and the talent. Leslie (00:36:24):Ken, now the audition process is happening for a lot of these shows. I mean, obviously, you're looking for larger than life personalities. What sort of things are you guys looking for? Because it's got to make for great TV. Ken Fuchs (00:36:39):I think it's hard to pinpoint and that's why it's hard to know what will work. I'm not involved on the executive level or the corporate level in terms of deciding who they back for a show and who they don't. But I've done a handful and I've done some that I thought would be very successful with really talented lovely people. I did the Megan Mullaly daytime talk show for NBC and it was an incredible experience, but it didn't quite catch on and for whatever reason didn't go forward. I've done great shows that don't go move forward. And then I've done other shows that like The Bachelor that have lasted 20 years and ... I don't know if there's any explaining it really. Barnes (00:37:27):Well, any show you watch, if you pay attention, you're going to see at the end, "Directed by Ken Fuchs." Ken Fuchs (00:37:32):Let's hope. Barnes (00:37:32):Let's hope. It's funny to hear you go, "I need to pick up another show." Like, "Dude, you have Shark Tank, Bachelor, Bachelorette." Ken Fuchs (00:37:41):But you know this business, Steve, if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards. Barnes (00:37:44):Well, you're pretty forward. Ken Fuchs (00:37:45):I'm pretty lucky. Let's put it that way. I have two shows for 20 years and one for 12. That's almost unheard of. And I thank my lucky stars every day, but all three could get canceled tomorrow. So you always want to be meeting new people and challenging yourself to expand your career. Cubby (00:38:06):Ken, I love the behind the scenes stuff. So one of the things I heard early on, I think, Barnes, you told me first. Is it true they do, like the Rose Ceremony taping, usually by that time, it's 5:00 AM because they've been drinking and hanging out and that's why sometimes everybody's a hot mess? Is that true, the Rose Ceremony is always early morning, practically? Ken Fuchs (00:38:24):It's a long night. Bachelor is a long process and it's a long night. So the first night they're meeting 25 to 30 people. So that's just incredibly long process anyway. Barnes (00:38:40):And there's a bartender, Cubby. Full on ... Cubby (00:38:43):Anything you want, right? Barnes (00:38:45):It's a huge bar. Ken Fuchs (00:38:46):Not me, not me. Barnes (00:38:47):No, yeah. But the bar is huge. Ken Fuchs (00:38:48):Well, the bar and that whole situation has also been toned down over the years because it was a little bit much. But each Rose Ceremony, as the season progresses, there's fewer cast members, the nights get shorter and shorter. The first night's really very long. Barnes (00:39:07):How did the people keep track? So when you're talking about these 20 ... The first night, there's all these people. How are people keeping up with these side storylines and with all the things that are going on in that house? Ken Fuchs (00:39:20):The producers, you mean? Barnes (00:39:22):So is there a producer for each person? Ken Fuchs (00:39:24):Not quite, but there's a lot of producers and there's story people and, you just kind of like any other reality show, you're behind the scenes, you're monitoring and keeping track of conversations and what's going in which direction and who she's talked to and who she hasn't and who needs time and who's going to get time. Somebody will get into a situation where they're sitting down for one-on-one with her and some guys might meet her with three of them at once. I think over the course of the first night, we try to give each guy or each gal a chance to have at least a few moments with them. Barnes (00:40:03):Cubby, Leslie, as you go into that house, which is actually someone's house, The Bachelor Mansion, how long does the guy live there? A couple years? Ken Fuchs (00:40:12):No, it's been there a while. Barnes (00:40:13):So you go in, if you ... Ken Fuchs (00:40:15):Well, we've been there eight years. Barnes (00:40:16):Yeah, a long time. You go in the garage and they've transformed this guy's garage into literally a control room. So there are cameras, I mean, there are screens all over the wall, there are people watching every little move. Then you go into ... What room has the producer, a room with all these producers who are watching individual feeds and crafting storylines? Or they ... Ken Fuchs (00:40:38):Exactly. There's chances for everybody to watch everything and you can kind of call up what you want to see or what you want to hear. Barnes (00:40:45):It's amazing. Ken Fuchs (00:40:46):Yeah. It's like if you were in a television studio, you'd have a control room or a truck. So when you're on location, you have to build out that infrastructure and that technology, which is a massive undertaking. Our team is incredible. Barnes (00:41:02):Have you guys ever busted anyone having sex? Ken Fuchs (00:41:06):No. Barnes (00:41:06):I'm surprised with all the liquor that's flowing and just the people trying to make a statement whether it's a guy or a girl. Ken Fuchs (00:41:11):No. There's not really that much opportunity for them to be alone off camera ... Barnes (00:41:17):I mean, they know the cameras are there but they're like, "Screw it. I'm going to go for it." Ken Fuchs (00:41:21):Now you're getting more into the Bachelor in Paradise world. Barnes (00:41:24):We can shift to that. Ken Fuchs (00:41:25):Well, I don't do that show so I can't speak on Bachelor in Paradise specifically but I think the rules on Bachelor in Paradise are different than the rules on Bachelor. The rules on Bachelor have always been try to keep things ... We don't want to have that happen early on because it just takes a ... Barnes (00:41:45):Well, fantasy suite is a fantasy suite ... Ken Fuchs (00:41:46):Fantasy suite is in Episode Nine when they're down to three. So until they're down to three ... Barnes (00:41:53):Keep it in your pants. Ken Fuchs (00:41:54):Yeah. Barnes (00:41:56):Until they're down to three and then it's all game on. Ken Fuchs (00:41:58):Then it's all good, yeah. Leslie (00:42:00):Ken, one of the shows you work on that I am obsessed with and literally can binge all day is Shark Tank. Do the sharks know in advance who they're about to meet? Ken Fuchs (00:42:12):So here's a very interesting thing about Shark Tank. And it's really fascinating because when you think about producing, if you were producing a show, you would want your talent to have as much research and information about what they're about to see and hear so they'll be prepared to make good television or radio. In this case, the producers were right on about this. It's exactly the opposite. They literally do not and cannot know anything about the companies or the products or the businesses because, A, it would give them an unfair advantage. But B, you'd lose the whole process of discovery and that discovery ... Ken Fuchs (00:42:50):So when you walk out on that rug and you say, "I have a scissor that cuts through anything." whatever it is, then go in, they start from ground zero. Who are you? Where are you from? What's your backstory? How did you get here? Why did you get here? What are you going to do with the money? What's your long range strategy? How do you scale ... All those questions, if they had any of those answers, they wouldn't ask those questions and that discovery process is what's so interesting to you and me as the viewer is these really brilliant investors asking really thoughtful and deep and important and meaningful questions that I either wouldn't have thought to ask or I wouldn't have put together. That discovery process is really the whole show. Barnes (00:43:33):I could watch 15 of those in a row. I mean, honestly, Leslie, it's an hour. When they come in and pitch, right, Ken? It's an hour-ish? Ken Fuchs (00:43:44):It's edited down into there's four per hour. So there's six acts. Two of the businesses get two acts and an act is seven or eight minutes. It's basically a half, it can be as short as a half hour, it could take as long as an hour and a half. But once they hit the rug, they do their 90 second pitch or two minute pitch, and then it's on. It's just Q and A, question and answer. And it sort of needs to go as long as the shark needs to go. We're a little bit at the mercy of the sharks because they're spending their own money. So we could hope that Mark Cuban makes a decision really quickly and decides to spend half a million dollars but it's half a million dollars. And if it takes him an hour to get to that decision, then it takes him an hour. Barnes (00:44:31):It's fascinating to watch. Ken Fuchs (00:44:33):I'll tell you what, what's really interesting to me is the whole process. When that hour is cut down to eight minutes or 15 minutes, it's still great on TV, obviously. It's the best of the best. But sometimes just that long process of watching it all go down in the studio is really fascinating. Barnes (00:44:53):As an entrepreneur, Leslie, sometimes when I'm in LA and they're in production, I will mark off a day on my calendar and I'll go there and I'll sit from 10:00 AM to 6:00 at night and watch the entire thing. Ken, come [crosstalk 00:45:07] Leslie (00:45:07):I totally see that, yeah. Barnes (00:45:08):Ken goes, "Dude, are you bored?" I'm like, "No." I mean, literally, it's like you're watching business deals go down with billionaires and you're a fly on the wall. Leslie (00:45:19):And they all play their roles so well. Especially Mr. Wonderful. Ken Fuchs (00:45:23):Yeah, that's right. Over the years, they've sort of crafted and created their own personas. And Barbara and Robert does his thing and Laurie. But Mr. Wonderful's one of my favorites, too. Cubby (00:45:38):Ken, do they set up a clunker? Like, "All right, we know this is not going to go well. We have to run." Ken Fuchs (00:45:43):Not we really but we shoot ... It was a 22 episodes, we have 88 companies and we'll shoot a few more than that and we prepare them to do well. In other words, we don't want them to come out there and lay an egg and not be ready. So the producers work with them for a while to get them up to speed and what to expect and to do their best. But this certainly turns out to be clunkers. Sometimes they're just, we can't have everyone get a deal, right? That's not the goal and that's not as interesting. But also the sharks they're so smart, they're going to get to something that probably or might be problematic and then they're going to pass. Barnes (00:46:30):I think some people listening might think that you're just covering for the show when you say that they don't know anything. What's fascinating is everything's covered up. So when they change out say, between Cubby pitching and Leslie pitching, the sharks go over and grab M&Ms and do whatever they do, go to the dressing room, whatever, and then they bring out the new stuff. It's all covered. Then the sharks actually have a team sitting 50 feet away on their laptop, who also don't know what's coming. So then Cubby comes out the door and these guys are researching it for the first time. Ken Fuchs (00:47:05):You don't want to have the ... Again, you want the process of discovery. You don't want them knowing, and so we keep the props and the art department on one side of the stage away from the sharks and away from their [crosstalk 00:47:17] people. Barnes (00:47:17):I love that it's authentic. Ken Fuchs (00:47:17):Yeah, it's pretty authentic. Exactly. And look, that's always the word everyone throws around. And it's really the word. It's really, really the critical part of what makes any of these show successful, Bachelor included, which is the authenticity. If you really believe and you feel and you know that this is happening live and in the moment, it's just so much better. Barnes (00:47:41):Do you think you're desensitized to these personalities and these billionaires? I think that it would be weird to be around that many people as your job every day that are that influential and you're seeing this circus of A plus personalities moving around and you're directing them. Ken Fuchs (00:48:04):Yeah, I guess so. Although they're sort of in my backyard. The stage, that's my familiar place and more so than theirs. Now, if I were to go into their companies or their boardrooms, I'd probably be nervous as hell and freak out. But they're in my playing field and they want to do well and they want the show to do well and they want to come off on, they want them to do good deals. So we're there to sort of help them. They're also just lovely, lovely people. We've had great guest sharks, but our six originals are just all, to a man and woman, just lovely, sweet, nice, smart, collaborative people. Barnes (00:48:44):It's intimidating. Cubby, imagine this, one of the times that I was there, we were going to go to lunch. Ken, we're going to walk across the lot, it ends up being at one table. Me, Ken, Richard Branson, and Mark Cuban. Leslie (00:48:59):That's a little intimidating. Barnes (00:49:00):I just sat there and didn't say anything hardly until we started talking about the Caribbean. But it was just weird to see these two billionaires just shooting around. Like, "Yeah, whatever, whatever. Hey, what Caribbean island should we go, " I mean it's just ... Branson, of course, owns a Caribbean island but it was just weird ... Cubby (00:49:19):That they were talking like we would be talking at lunch. Barnes (00:49:21):And then just like it's normal but then we go inside and Ken's like, "Give me the phone. I need to get a picture." You got to picture Branson. That's the first time I've seen you do that, get a selfie. Ken Fuchs (00:49:31):I was a little fanboy of Branson and ARod. I had to get a picture with ARod and send it to all my Red Sox fan friends. Cubby (00:49:39):Ken, how's taping going to be going on with the COVID thing going on? You're going to be in a bubble? Ken Fuchs (00:49:45):We've done a lot of combinations. All the shows have done a really great job. A lot as you know are back in production. Some are more remote, Zoom style and everybody sort of remotely ... Barnes (00:49:57):Who's Zoom? Ken Fuchs (00:49:58):It wasn't the voice ... Barnes (00:50:03):I thought you're saying your shows. Ken Fuchs (00:50:05):No, no, no, no, no. Different shows are doing different things. But basically, the non-scripted world is getting back into production pretty successfully and with super strict protocols. Testing, masks, social distancing, Plexiglas. Barnes (00:50:21):What about Shark Tank? How is that going to work? Ken Fuchs (00:50:21):Shark Tank's back in production. You'll have to see it. I don't want to give away too much. We've tried all the shows. Same with Family Feud, which we're shooting here in Atlanta. We're trying to maintain the basic bones of the show. So when you watch it as a viewer, you'll be able to appreciate it, enjoy it just like any other season. But there are some ramifications and there are some accommodations in terms of social distancing. Barnes (00:50:49):But what about sharks? Can you talk about where it's being shot? It debuts on the 16th. Ken Fuchs (00:50:55):I can't remember whether it's a secret or not, but what production has done is created a bubble. Exactly what you were saying, Cubby. We try to create somewhat of a bubble so that the cast and crew are safely in this together and without so much coming and going and external factors in terms of any elements that might create a COVID situation. Everyone's willing to do it. The crew is all very happy to do it. Everyone's thrilled to be back to work. As difficult as it is with the masks, I'm sure everyone knows, it's worth it to A, stay safe and B, be able to be back at work safely and still making good television. Barnes (00:51:45):Do the Shark contestants come out with a mask on? Ken Fuchs (00:51:50):No, so the unions have done a really thorough job of coming up with recommendations. The IAA and the DGA and SAG-AFTRA have really work together on coming up with their blueprint for what production will look like going forward. The on-camera talent has a mask. Everyone wears a mask as long as possible. But then if you're rolling and you're on camera, you can take off your mask. Then the hair makeup and wardrobe people, anyone working, there are sort of zones, so that zone closest to the talent, they call them different things on different shows, but those people are most heavily protected. Protected for their sake and also for the artists, for the talent's sake. Then people more behind the scenes like myself are in another zone. We have different protocols. But it's all the same stuff. Wiping down everything thoroughly, constantly. So things are taking a little slower, taking a little longer, and that's okay, because we all want to be safe. Leslie (00:52:54):Ken, I have to ask this question. I mean, you're a mega director of all these television shows. What are do you doing in Barnes's basement? Ken Fuchs (00:53:04):I ask myself that very same question all the time. Barnes (00:53:08):Because we have good steak. Ken Fuchs (00:53:09):The other day I went and I was like, "I'm getting a little depressed." Although it's really, I'm pretty happy to be here. And then I went open up my shade and I was staring at the ground and I realized, "I'm in a bunker and it's a bunker mentality." And you know what? It's that mentality that gets us through production. Everybody's in it together. We're all just keeping our head down and working hard and not focusing on how things are different than they used to be. But no, I really appreciate Steve's offer because it's really beautiful. Barnes (00:53:41):Stay calm. We feed him steaks, we take him to the local eateries. Ken Fuchs (00:53:45):It's not bad. Barnes (00:53:45):Laundry. Ken Fuchs (00:53:46):It's not bad. Barnes (00:53:47):Well, let's talk about your house in Calabasas, California. You have some very interesting neighbors like Kim and Kanye. Ken Fuchs (00:53:57):Hidden Hills has kind of blown up. When I first moved Calabasas, Hidden Hills was a little sleepy little town and then with the reality shows and ... Who was it? Jessica Simpson and ... Barnes (00:54:10):Do they live in Hidden Hills? Ken Fuchs (00:54:11):No, they lived in my old neighborhood in Calabasas. So that started the craze of reality shooting and Hollywood. And then rich people became very aware of who was out there. I lived on the same street as the Jenners in my old house. My boys grew up with Kendall and Kylie, and roughly the same age. They moved eventually. Kris moved to Hidden Hills and the kids moved to Hidden Hills and I moved to Hidden Hills. It's just a whole thing now out there. Barnes (00:54:45):Your house was ... Who was it? Nick Carter? Ken Fuchs (00:54:46):Yeah, my house was Nick Carter [crosstalk 00:54:48] Barnes (00:54:48):Nick Carter's house. Ken Fuchs (00:54:49):Yeah. When he took the gold records off the wall, there's still the mark on the wall from ... Barnes (00:54:57):Trick or treating in your hood must be insane. You got The Weekend, you got Kim and Kanye. Who else? Cubby (00:55:03):I don't know. You don't recognize them because they're wearing an outfit. Ken Fuchs (00:55:06):Yeah. I'm not sure they're doing the whole ... I'm not sure they do the whole trick or treat thing. Drake's in there. And there's a lot of old school Hollywood. It was kind of a enclave of writers and composers. It's a little far out of town so it's not people who really want to have 9:00 to 5:00 necessarily but a lot of creative types out there. Barnes (00:55:31):There's a little van, Cubby, Leslie, sitting down in front of Kim and Kanye's. I guess that's their security or just some dude just sitting in there? Ken Fuchs (00:55:37):I'm sure the security. Barnes (00:55:39):Which is in a secured gated thing and then you got the little dude in the van. Ken Fuchs (00:55:44):I haven't tempted fate but ... Cubby (00:55:46):Little dude in the van. I'll give you a podcast right there. Barnes (00:55:49):Hey, the next week on Little Dude in The Van. The reason he's here is because of Family Feud. It got moved back here ... It was here for many years and went to LA. Then why did it come back? Ken Fuchs (00:56:00):When Steve Harvey took over, we came out here. That was 10 years ago. We did seven years here in Atlanta. And then Steve got very busy in LA with his talk show and Little Big Shot so we just decided to do Feud back in LA because he was already in LA most of the time. And now he's back mostly in Atlanta so we're back in Atlanta. We were in LA for three years and now we're back here. Steve's just, I mean ... Barnes (00:56:27):He's insanely funny. Cubby (00:56:28):I've met him a couple of times. Such a nice guy, too. Ken Fuchs (00:56:31):It's such a perfect blend of talent and format. Barnes (00:56:34):But the thing is, Family Feud sucks. Hold on, let me finish my sentence. Leslie (00:56:38):Wait a minute. Barnes (00:56:39):Sucks compared to when he's off on a break of Family Feud. If you could capture the commercial breaks, the dude is on all the time. Leslie (00:56:51):I can see that, yeah. Ken Fuchs (00:56:52):He's unbelievable. I'm like, "Steve, why don't you take a break?" Some hosts go in the back and take a break or ... Barnes (00:56:59):He's on it like he's doing a stand up gig. Ken Fuchs (00:57:02):He feels really committed to an audience that's come and to see him. It's really like going to a live stand up special every day. Barnes (00:57:11):So what now? Now he doesn't have a full audience. Ken Fuchs (00:57:12):Well, it's interesting. Now, I thought it would really suffer and I didn't know how he would handle it. For some hosts and for some comics, that would be deadly not to have the two or 300 people out there. But he's amazing. I think his experience and his ... He's just such a hard worker. He's really giving it his all and he's doing great. The shows are as funny as before. The audience is really just a handful of family members that aren't playing that game and somehow he brings it to life and he's doing his best job ever. Because when you watch it on TV, we'll sweeten it, you won't ever know that it's not a full audience. Barnes (00:57:54):You know how he does that stare, Cubby and Leslie? Cubby (00:57:57):Like he knows what we're all thinking? Barnes (00:58:01):He does a lot with his eyes. Cubby (00:58:02):Right, right. Leslie (00:58:03):His expressions are priceless. Cubby (00:58:04):It's great. Barnes (00:58:05):Watching him tape one time, somebody gave him a wrong answer. And so a production person or something walked up and gave him a card and the card said the wrong thing, right? So they start taping, he goes, "Survey said ..." They do it and it was the wrong thing. He immediately started making fun of himself when M

Get Exclusive Pop Culture Show video interviews, video content and bonus video exclusively from our Instagram. Sign up for our Pop Cult and be the first to get show announcements, free stuff and insider information only available to cult members.Intro (00:00):Welcome to the Pop Culture Show with Barnes, Leslie, and Cubby. Barnes (00:03):Please rate, review, and subscribe to the Pop Culture Show. I'm Barnes. That there is Leslie, and over there it's Cubby. Hey, what's going on gang? Leslie (00:12):Hello. Cubby (00:13):The band is back together for another exciting week, man. Barnes (00:16):We're back. Today, Charles Esten will be on the show today. A lot of people know him from Nashville, but most recently on one of the top five shows, called Outer Banks, on Netflix. He's the lead, he's the adult lead. There is a kid lead, or a couple of kid leads. You guys have to watch it, it's so good. Leslie (00:34):I definitely want to, especially because his character is so different from what he played on Nashville. Barnes (00:38):So Charles Esten is coming up, The Pop Culture, atthepopcultureshow.com is the hub. That's where you can listen anywhere you like to listen, like Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, or where ever you get your podcasts. Hey, next week Ken Fuchs will be on the show. He is the director of every show on TV. The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Shark Tank, Family Feud, Press Your Luck, To Tell the Truth, maybe not Press Your Luck... To Tell the Truth, I can't even keep up with... Leslie (01:11):It's unbelievable. Barnes (01:12):It's unbelievable. Cubby (01:12):It'll be fun to talk to him and ask him a lot of questions about how things have changed in a COVID world. Barnes (01:18):So many stories from behind the scenes. Just on Shark Tank alone, imagine dealing with all those personalities on a daily basis, for hours at a time. It's got to be very, very interesting. So we'll talk to Ken next week. Got a shout-out to give out. Christina Warren at Microsoft in Seattle, who listens to our podcast, thank you. She was tweeting us the other day. She's a long-time listener, Fram, of The Morning X. Leslie (01:44):Thank you, Christina. Barnes (01:45):Back to when she was, I think she said she was like 10. Leslie (01:48):Of course. Makes us feel old. Barnes (01:50):No kidding. Cubby (01:51):Christina doesn't know me, but she'll be happy to know that I use a Microsoft Surface every day for the recording of this podcast and for my radio show. So shout-out to Microsoft. Barnes (02:00):I think she might know you because she lived in New York City and she was a writer for Mashable. Cubby (02:06):Oh, very cool. Yeah. I know Mashable. Barnes (02:08):So I have a feeling she knows who Cubby is. Cubby (02:11):Well Christina, thank you for the love and support of The Pop Culture Show. Barnes (02:14):We have some other great news. We're trying every tactic to get you to listen. So now we're going to cut right to the bribe... We're going to pay you. Cubby (02:25):Yeah. Leslie (02:26):Wow. Barnes (02:27):We have money. This is called Pop Quiz and we will start this next week, because we have to tell you about it first. Cubby (02:34):So basically, starting next week you have a chance to win $50. We're going to ask you a question about The Pop Culture Show, a question from a past episode, correct? Barnes (02:42):Yeah, and it's not going to be easy. Cubby (02:43):Right. It's going to be kind of hard. Barnes (02:45):Not the past, but the week prior. Cubby (02:48):Right, the week prior. Exactly. And then if you od not get the question right, well that's a win for everybody else because that $50 rolls to next week, and it goes to $100. And then it goes to $150 if nobody gets it after that. And who knows, if this goes on for a year, we may be up to $25,000. Barnes (03:07):And you'll be in serious tax debt. It'll be fabulous. Cubby (03:10):And we'll have a problem. A big problem. Leslie (03:11):Wait a second, why don't we have Ken Fuchs, who's the director of Family Feud, just be the director of the pop quiz for The Pop Culture Show? Barnes (03:17):We're expanding, people. We're expanding. Leslie (03:19):It's so easy. Just go to the pinned post on Facebook and in the comment section just say, "Quiz me." Barnes (03:27):That's it. We're going to pick someone at random from whoever... We'll keep that as a running post. So this'll be an ongoing thing on the show until it's not anymore. Until we're broke and we have to start refinancing our house. Cubby (03:37):Right. Now this person is going to join us on the phone or on Zoom, and we're going to ask the question live.   Barnes (03:44):Pop quiz will be 10 seconds. So we'll say, "Cubby, on last week's show..." Who was our guest? Oh, Oz. "On last week's show, who said they were going to quit drinking Diet Coke? Go." Cubby (03:55):Right. And we'd be like, "Barnes." Barnes (03:57):Boom. Win $50.And then if they say, "Cubby," bum, bum, bum... Then next week it's $100. Too easy. Leslie (04:04):Do we get winning music too, Barnes? Barnes (04:07):Oh, man. There's not enough time in the day. Cubby (04:09):No, I agree. We need some fanfare. Leslie (04:11):Yeah. Barnes (04:12):We will. We'll do it up. We'll do it up. Yup. That'll start next week, so please just go to that post and put, "Quiz me," if you want to be in the running to get quizzed. You guys have a good week? Cubby (04:22):I had an amazing week. I got to tell you... Guys, pumpkin spice is back, man. Barnes (04:28):At Starbucks? Cubby (04:29):Starbucks and Dunkin. It's the earliest they've ever started it. It started August 25th I believe for both. And I tell you, I'm a big fan. What about you guys, are you pumpkin spice people? Barnes (04:39):You sound like you've had four of them right now. Cubby (04:42):Hey man... Well that and the Adderall. But I'm tell you. Leslie (04:46):We learn something new about Cubby every week. Barnes (04:48):Jäger, Adderall, pumpkin spice. Leslie (04:52):Dang. Cubby (04:52):Leslie, are you a pumpkin spice fan? Because you strike me as a pumpkin spice fan. Leslie (04:55):I am, I'm a little concerned about the calories in there. Cubby (04:58):Oh, who cares? Calories don't count. Barnes (05:00):I just asked Cubby about a calorie count on Jäger this week because I'm concerned. Cubby (05:04):Yeah. It's like 100 a shot I believe. Barnes (05:05):Heather looked over at me, she was playing your story and goes, "Cubby's drinking again." I was like, "At what point... And now I've got other people telling me to lookout for my co-host." Cubby (05:14):Well you know what it is... Look, Barnes, you have two kids and when they were that young, you had to drink a little more to keep up with them. Barnes (05:22):Truth. Cubby (05:24):It's a long days, and daddy needs a little treat. Barnes (05:28):You do make a good point. Cubby (05:29):Yeah. Barnes (05:30):That's the highlight of your week, that pumpkin spice is back? Cubby (05:32):Pumpkin spice is back, fall is in the air, I love fall. I'm just happy as can be. How about you, Leslie? Leslie (05:40):I dropped my phone, my cell phone, in between the washer and dryer- Barnes (05:43):Good! Leslie (05:44):[crosstalk 00:05:44] no space there. [Lannie 00:05:47] was out of town... Not out of town, Lannie was not here, and I kept hearing my phone ring and so I'm in panic mode. I tried every utensil in the kitchen, from tongs to anything that would reach down. So finally I was like, what else in the house can I use? Barnes (06:04):I would have paid to have seen this. Leslie (06:05):So I found a hanger. So I get this hanger, now I've made it worse. Now, as I'm trying to get my cell phone in between the washer, dryer, I push my cell phone under the washing machine. Cubby (06:18):Oh, you made it worse. Leslie (06:19):Made it worse. So I shimmied... Which, by the way, it's kind of heavy. I shimmied the washer out a little bit, I climbed on the dryer, seriously climbed on the dryer, got some tongs from the kitchen, dropped myself onto the floor under the washing machine, and got my cell phone out. This went on for like an hour and a half. Cubby (06:43):Leslie has the best stories, man- Leslie (06:45):I do have the photos to prove it all too. Cubby (06:47):I thought you couldn't top the whole following a random truck story, but this might be up there- Barnes (06:52):It could be- Cubby (06:53):It's incredible. Barnes (06:53):I was only applauding because I thought, "Finally she's broken that damn Android and she's going to come into iPhone." Leslie (06:59):No. No. Cubby (06:59):By the way, Leslie, was this during business hours, so peak time where the phone was ringing like you said, and people needed you? Leslie (07:04):Yeah, it was peak time. It was peak time. I thought Lannie was going to call and get nervous. Barnes (07:08):Keith Urban's calling.   Cubby (07:09):Where's Leslie? Barnes (07:10):Yeah. She's between the washer and the dryer. Cubby (07:13):That's great. Barnes (07:14):Nice. Leslie (07:15):What about you, Barnes? Barnes (07:17):I'll do it quickly, I got my flu shot. I think it's a first time ever. Leslie (07:21):Really? Barnes (07:21):I just happened to be at Public's and they were like, "Get a flu shot and we'll give you a $10 gift card." I'm a sucker for a gift card, hit me. So I got a flu shot. I busted a PI out in front of my house. Leslie (07:21):What? Barnes (07:34):So there was a private... I kept noticing this car, this car with super tinted windows, camped out in my space. And so I got my gun and went outside. I'm like, "Whoever this is..." Leslie (07:51):Was your gun visible? Barnes (07:52):It wasn't in my hand. I wasn't in full... But you don't know these days. Leslie (07:56):Okay. Okay. Barnes (07:56):What someone's going to do. And I thought the guy was dead. I thought the dude in the car was dead. So I'm looking through, and tint was so dark that I had to look through the front window. So I did old fake on the phone, walked past. And then I turned and looked in the car, and the dude didn't move. And I'm like, "Okay well he's dead." So, that was my first thought. I thought, "This dude is dead." So I started doing, you know when the cop comes up behind you on the side of a car? You can't see him, but he can see in? Cubby (08:26):Right. Barnes (08:26):So I started doing that, and I had one hand on my gun, because I didn't know what was going to happen. I thought, "Well if this guy's dead, maybe whoever killed him is behind him in the seat." I can't see in the car at all. So I get up there and I look in, and then all of a sudden the door cracks and I'm like, "Whoa, hey!" The dude gets out, and he goes, "Sorry. I'm a private investigator." I'm like, "Well, then I guess you're not investigating me, because I guess you wouldn't be so obvious." He said, "No." I said, "Well dude, half the block is already calling the police because you've been sitting here for 10 hours with your car running and we thought you were dead or you were up to something no good." He said he was on an insurance case. I was like, "So, you want to come on our podcast? We can talk about..." I'm not kidding. Cubby (09:15):Now I feel like a loser. The highlight of my week was pumpkin spice, and you guys had death and MacGruber going on over here with Leslie. Unreal. Barnes (09:26):I suck. Leslie (09:27):Is that a line you would ever do, being a PI? Barnes (09:29):Just for fun. It's all very mysterious. Leslie (09:33):So I have a question for both of you, Barnes, Cubby. Have you ever, in Hollywood, have you ever dated anyone 20 years younger or older than you? Barnes (09:43):No. Cubby (09:44):No. Not me. Leslie (09:45):Never ever? Well guess what- Barnes (09:46):Maybe in my dreams Leslie (09:47):Guess what? We have the world's first extreme age gap dating site. Barnes (09:52):This is a real thing? Leslie (09:53):20 Dating. So you could date someone 20 years younger or 20 years older. It's a new app- Cubby (09:53):What? Leslie (10:01):Yeah. It's pretty extreme. It's funny because when I saw this story, I thought of all the actors in Hollywood because most of the guys are dating people 20 years or more younger than them. Barnes (10:11):It's these dudes in their 70s that are dating 40 year olds. There are a lot of them. Leslie (10:17):Yeah. The site only matches users with people 20 years younger. Yeah. Barnes (10:17):Dennis Quaid. Leslie (10:17):Yeah. Barnes (10:21):I know he's one. Leslie (10:22):He just got married. Barnes (10:23):Harrison Ford is at least 20 over Calista Flockhart. But that's been a while. There's several of them. Cubby (10:28):And then Brad Pitt has a new chick. Leslie (10:30):New German model he's dating who's I would say 30 years younger than he is. Cubby (10:36):It's a shame nobody here is single on this show, because it would be fun to have somebody on to test it would. But I would never try it out- Barnes (10:43):You would go older, right Cubby? Cubby (10:44):Me? No. No. I'm 49, man. Barnes (10:48):That was just a joke. Leslie (10:50):By the way, the app is called Gaper. G-A-P-E-R. Barnes (10:54):The name is even bad. Leslie (10:57):It's unbelievable. Barnes (10:58):So what do you think is their biggest demographic that goes on there? Girls in their 20s trying to get a sugar daddy? Cubby (11:05):I think sugar daddy. That's exactly what I was going to say. It's young girls looking for the older guys. That's my thought. Leslie (11:09):You don't think it's older guys looking for the younger girls? Cubby (11:11):Well that too. I think it goes both ways. Leslie (11:12):Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Barnes (11:12):So it does go both ways, because the older guys have the cash, which is what the younger girls want. Cubby (11:16):Correct. Barnes (11:17):They just have to give up the booty. I've heard about so many of these things where these girls get into... And I've actually met people in travel who are with someone that old. You get them drinking and they'll start telling stories. Literally will go sit in their room, the dudes, will go sit in their room all day, and these girls are out doing everything. And then you'll see him at dinner and the girl's just a little trophy hanging on his arm. Cubby (11:46):Oh, yeah. Barnes (11:46):It's the weirdest thing. Leslie (11:48):It's super weird. But they want a different lifestyle, potentially. Barnes (11:51):Correct. Cubby (11:52):And both are happy. I think the older dude is happy because he has the arm candy. And she's eating lobster and steak, it's a win-win. Leslie (11:59):Curious to see how popular though this app will be. Chadwick Boseman (12:04):Evacuate the city. Engage all defenses. Get this man a shield. [inaudible 00:12:12]. In my culture, death is not the end. Leslie (12:30):So sad that we learned of the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman. That was him bringing the Black Panther to life. I was shocked when I saw the news because no one knew that he was sick. He had stage 3 colon cancer that he got in 2016, and he never told anyone. So he had been battling with this for years. Barnes (12:47):I thought it was one of those internet memes. Cubby (12:49):Me too. Barnes (12:49):I thought it was one of those fake death high profile person that's so sad. Cubby (12:56):43. Leslie (12:57):And if you look at the movies that he made, he brought a lot of these heroes, these black heroes, to life. I don't know if you ever saw the Thurgood Marshall movie he did called Marshall, I watched last night because I had never seen it before. Get on Up, the James Brown movie. He brought James Brown to life. It was unbelievable. Have you ever seen him play James Brown? Cubby (13:16):Nope. I never saw that movie, but I saw the clips. You would think you're watching James Brown. Leslie (13:21):And then of course, baseball icon Jackie Robinson in the movie 42. Just incredible movies at a young, and for him to die so young at the age of 43, it's tragic. Barnes (13:32):Dude not only had skills but had just something inside him that's different than everybody else. He filmed a lot of those big movies while going chemo and going through treatment. Cubby (13:42):And nobody knew. And it's funny how he treated his fans like gold. He really was an icon both on film and real life. He just was a super good guy. Never met him, but I heard he was one of the nicest guys. Leslie (13:57):And the stories that are coming out from all the actors, as you know that he played with, especially Denzel Washington who had a statement the other day saying he was, "A gentle soul and a brilliant artist who will stay with us for eternity through his iconic performances over his short, yet illustrious career." Denzel, by the way, financed his studies at this theater program and the University of Oxford. Sad story. Are you guys following Nandi Bushell the little 10 year old phenom drummer? Barnes (14:28):She's awesome. Cubby (14:29):No. Barnes (14:29):How did she become a thing? She just one of these people that started playing the drums on YouTube and... Leslie (14:35):Yeah. I think she's got almost 100 thousand followers on YouTube. But she was inspired early on by seeing a drum kit of Ringo Starr's, but she's a huge Foo Fighter's fan. She's been on a lot of TV shows, she's already been on every morning show and Ellen. But anyway, she challenged Dave Grohl. I don't know if you ever saw her do her drum-off of Everlong, but she challenged Dave Grohl and Dave came back, I guess Dave got a lot of tweets- Barnes (15:02):He did. Leslie (15:02):Dave just accepted. Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters accepted Nandi Bushell's challenge. Barnes (15:08):Check this clip out, this is him. He has just played Everlong, and I'm a drummer, I will tell you that playing a Foo Fighters song will take the breath out of you completely, like most of them. So that's why he sounds like he's breathing heavy, he just played Everlong. But here's his response, he did video back to her. Nandi Bushell (15:26):Hey everyone. Dave Grohl has just responded to my battle request. I can't wait to watch it. Let's see what he says. Dave Grohl (15:33):In the last week, I've gotten at least 100 texts from people all over the world saying, "This girl is challenging you to a drum-off. What are you going to do?" Now look, I've seen all your videos, I've seen you on TV. You're an incredible drummer. I'm really flattered that you've picked some of my songs to do for your videos and you've done it all perfectly. So today, I'm going to give you something you may not have heard before. This is a song called Dead End Friends from a band called Them Crooked Vultures, which is me playing drums, Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age playing guitar and singing, and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin playing bass. This is my response to your challenge. So now the ball is in your court. Barnes (16:29):Dave Grohl gets it on so many levels, it's unbelievable. He's so smart to play these games. Cubby (16:35):And she is going to be Cindy Blackman. Barnes (16:38):She's awesome. Cubby (16:39):You know who Cindy Blackman is, right? Leslie (16:40):No. Cubby (16:41):The drummer for Lenny Kravitz- Barnes (16:43):She looks like her as a kid. Leslie (16:44):She does look like her and it's funny that you say Lenny Kravitz because if you go on her YouTube page, Nandi is jamming with Lenny Kravitz at O2 Arena. Barnes (16:54):It's just wild hearing them, "Yeah, so here's the song. It's me on drums and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin on guitar. Have fun with that." Leslie (17:03):Anybody watch Bill and Ted Face the Music? Cubby (17:05):Last night. Leslie (17:06):You did? Cubby (17:07):I watched it because I loved the original. Leslie (17:10):It's really funny because originally they were going to have them as their older selves interacting with their younger selves, but they just went ahead and did I guess Keanu and Alex Winter, how do they look? Cubby (17:19):It actually looked pretty, they looked great. I really thought they looked great. Obviously they look older, but it was fun. I'm not going to lie, I was surprised. It's got I believe 78% on Rotten Tomatoes and I said to myself, "That's pretty good. I don't know if it's going to be that good." And actually, I was pleasantly surprised. Hour and a half, which is perfect, and it was fun. It really was fun. A lot of the older characters you kind of forgot about show up in the movie too. Barnes (17:43):I'm just all done with remakes. Cubby (17:46):Well, yeah. Remember we were laughing a couple weeks ago about all the reboots that Leslie had- Leslie (17:50):It's all there is. Cubby (17:51):All there is, yeah. Leslie (17:52):Original they said they were going to use CGI for George Carlin, but I guess they decided not to. But you liked it, what kind of rating would you give it? Cubby (18:02):B+. Barnes (18:02):Really? Cubby (18:03):I think that if you're my age, I'm 49 years old, so I was a kid when the first one came out, you'll like it for the nostalgia part. My wife, who's 10 years younger than me, she saw the original, didn't quite remember it that well, she was into the first 30 minutes and then I noticed she was on her phone a lot after that. Leslie (18:21):She was like, out. Barnes (18:21):Yeah. Cubby (18:22):And that's how you tell to me a good movie. If you're not looking at your phone a lot. Barnes (18:26):I yell at Heather for that. We'll start a new series- Cubby (18:29):Oh, I hate that. Barnes (18:30):And she'll be on her phone at the beginning, I'm like, "Listen, you got to put the phone down." Cubby (18:33):Especially when you know they're going to like it. I'm like, "Please, give it 10, 15 minutes." Leslie (18:37):The only time I'm on my phone is with live TV, or something that might be live, like a season finale... Because I want to see what people are saying on Twitter, the hashtags. Like Yellowstone last week, which, by the way, just killed it in the ratings. Apparently is the number one most watched cable telecast of the year. Barnes (18:53):Okay. Listen. I tried last night, I'm so sick of everybody getting up in my Yellowstone, "You got to watch, you got to watch, you got to watch." Leslie (19:00):Don't tell me you only watched one episode. Barnes (19:02):Hold on, we put it on and this is when I said to Heather, "Put your phone down, let's give this a chance." And then I was watching it and watching it and then like 30 minutes in, I just looked over, I said, "I don't know if it's just I'm not into this type of culture, or the surroundings and the whole thing. I'm just not into it." Leslie (19:23):That's so surprising because I think if you gave it a couple episodes... I'm so hooked on it. Barnes (19:28):Then that girl started getting undressed. And so that was about 40 minutes in. I'm like, "Okay, well hold on. Don't hang up yet. Don't hang up yet." But I still, it didn't resonate. I feel like it was a cowboy western Sopranos. Leslie (19:43):It's really good. I think Kevin Costner, some of his best work. I don't know, maybe try to give it a couple of more. Barnes (19:49):What are you watching, Fram. Give me something else. Leslie (19:52):Now I'm going back and watching old John Grishom movies, because the new movies just don't hold up for me. Barnes (19:58):You're not watching any TV shows? Leslie (20:00):No, not right now. Cubby (20:01):Right. It's kinds of quiet right now. Leslie (20:02):I just finished Yellowstone. What about you, Cubby? Cubby (20:04):I got to be honest with you, if we were doing this podcast a year ago, I'd be talking to you for an hour about shows I'm watching. But with the baby, and I'm not using this as an excuse, it's non-stop baby and usually when she's up and awake, we have some kind of baby show on. So my only down time is between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM, and by that time I'm too tired. Yeah, I'm not watching too much TV. Barnes (20:25):We binged Indian Matchmaking. Leslie (20:28):I heard it's good. On Netflix. Barnes (20:30):Excellent. It was so good. It's a good character study. It was excellent and you binge it so fast. My only complaint is that the end of it, eight or 10 episodes, they don't really wrap everything up, they leave it hanging. But it was fascinating. And there's a thing called Bae Watch, have you seen that? B-A-E Watch? Leslie (20:47):Oh. A different Bay Watch. Barnes (20:49):Yeah. Don't waste your time. Netflix is touting it in that upper slider. Leslie (20:53):Mm-hmm (affirmative). Barnes (20:53):It's so bad. It's a U.K. dating show where they send these people to a resort for the weekend and they put cameras everywhere. So I think they're telling them they're on some other type of show, and then they put their family in the adjoining room, who have like 10 screens. Kind of Truman Show-ish, and they're dictating what happens. So they'll go and the director will do an interview and they say, "Ask him how much he likes, if he wants to go to the park later." Leslie (21:17):I won't like this. Cubby (21:21):Not good. Barnes (21:22):We started a second episode and they do the same thing. Cubby (21:25):Can I shout-out one movie, by the way? Have you seen The King of Staten Island? Barnes (21:27):Nope Leslie (21:28):Haven't watched it yet. Cubby (21:29):Surprise me. You'll like it. Do me a favor. It came out in June, it's still on-demand, Pete Davidson, based on- Barnes (21:36):I've heard that's good. Cubby (21:36):His real life story. It's surprisingly good. My wife and I were like, "Wow." Leslie (21:40):Can I tell you why I haven't watched it yet? There's been so much stuff about him, that I'm just like, "Ah..." Barnes (21:45):It's up and down. Cubby (21:46):Yeah, I hear you. Leslie (21:46):You know what I mean? Cubby (21:47):Yeah. Yeah. Leslie (21:48):I don't know. Barnes (21:49):But the best TV I'll leave you with for the week, Love Island. They're nailing it. It's on every night- Cubby (21:55):That's on CBS, right? I saw it last night. Barnes (21:57):Yeah. The biggest nights, for me, are Big Brother and Love Island on the same night. Leslie (22:00):I'm so not into any of those shows- Cubby (22:02):Neither am I- Leslie (22:02):I'm so more into drama. Barnes (22:04):Love Island- Cubby (22:04):I was channel surfing and I saw Love Island and I thought of you, Barnes. I always think of you. Barnes (22:08):It's number one.   Cubby (22:10):Because there's nothing else on. Barnes (22:11):No, there's a lot of things on. I'm telling you, they do great casting and it's good. Leslie (22:17):Give me 10 episodes of Shark Tank back to back. So now couple of Hollywood things, because we keep talking about Hollywood can't reinvent itself. The new trailer for Batman with Robert Pattenson, what do you think about him as Batman? He was a vampire. Barnes (22:34):Look-wise, yeah. I haven't seen any clips. Leslie (22:37):I think it might be really good. Cubby (22:38):Look-wise, it makes sense. But I want to see it. Leslie (22:41):And they've been talking about this for years, about a new Mad Max and now the rumor is it could be Chris Hemsworth. Barnes (22:46):I could see that. Leslie (22:47):I don't mind that. I do not mind that one bit. Now there's a rumor that Johnny Depp is asking for, you ready for this? $50 million for Pirates of the Caribbean. Which would be the 6th one. Cubby (23:00):Wow. Do you know how well that movie would have to do just to pay him? Leslie (23:03):I mean seriously. Cubby (23:05):I mean serious, that's crazy. Leslie (23:06):It would be half, right? Cubby (23:07):Yeah. It would be. Leslie (23:08):And finally, Katie Perry and Orlando Bloom have a little baby. I thought the name was cute, Daisy Dove Bloom. Cubby (23:16):And how good is her timing that her new album came out? Barnes (23:19):She dropped a baby and an album in the same week. Cubby (23:23):Well done, Katie. Barnes (23:23):That rolls nicely into... This was one of the biggest new music weeks that I have seen in a long time. I'm going to run through a couple of key ones, just so you know that they exist. One of them, of course, is Katie Perry. Katie Perry (23:37):(singing) Barnes (23:48):Her team knows how to produce a hit, man. They just crank these out and they sound excellent sonically, every time. Cubby (23:54):Yeah. I agree. Barnes (23:55):Smashing Pumpkins were teasing people on their webpage. They had a countdown, a mysterious countdown going on, no one knew what it was. Well now we know, it's a new album coming but they dropped two songs. Here's one of them. Smashing Pumpkins (24:06):(singing) Barnes (24:06):That one's called Seer. Leslie (24:06):It's such a undeniable voice. You always know it's Billy Corgan. Barnes (24:23):But he looks like he's right out of My Three Sons, or what was the... The Munsters. He looks like straight out of the Munsters in this video. It's a performance video, so it's supposed to be- Leslie (24:32):I need to look and see who's in the band now. Barnes (24:34):Everyone but Darcy. Here's the second one they did, it's called The Color of Love. The guy knows how to put a song together. Smashing Pumpkins (24:41):(singing) Barnes (24:53):So it's coming out in a couple of months. That's a thing now, Leslie, right? Everyone's putting out their music so early. Leslie (24:57):Mm-hmm (affirmative). They're releasing tracks every week, just bonus tracks from the album. And seriously with having the band back together, that's pretty huge for The Pumpkins. Barnes (25:06):Here's a new one, Calvin Harris and the Weekend, it's called Over Now. Calvin Harris, The Weeknd (25:09):(singing) Leslie (25:16):I love The Weekend. Barnes (25:17):I think all these songs sound the same. Cubby (25:22):Well that's you showing your age. Barnes (25:24):I know. Cubby (25:26):We're officially that age now, we're like, "What is it with music these days?" We're doing what our parents would do. Barnes (25:31):But in that genre. I feel like it's just a big baseline and Auto-Tuning. That's just me. Cubby (25:37):No, I'm with you. I agree. But that's just where music is right now. Barnes (25:40):Well again, I'm pointing only to that genre. This guy is like the singer's singer, Chris Stapleton. Everyone that is a serious singer, this is his new one called Starting Over. Chris Stapleton (26:02):(singing) Barnes (26:02):Would call him country, Fram, or would you call him just... Leslie (26:12):Yeah, he's country. He's one of the best song writers in town, too. He's incredible. Barnes (26:16):Yeah. Everyone loves that guy. Keith Urban came out with a flying one. Keith Urban (26:29):(singing) Barnes (26:33):One thing about Keith Urban people don't know, he can shred the guitar like more... He can blow away some of the best rock guitarists. Leslie (26:40):One of the best guitar players ever. Barnes (26:42):Yeah. Leslie (26:43):He does a lot of rock songs too in concert, he'll do Zeppelin and stuff. Barnes (26:45):He can shred, shred. Okay, and the last one is... This band put this together in 1986 and never released it, and now they've got this box set coming out. Tell me if you can name the band. Tears for Fears (26:58):(singing) Barnes (27:12):Cubby? Cubby (27:13):Wow. Wow. No, I'm sitting here thinking... Barnes (27:16):Heather guessed Wham. I said, "Well that would be good, but yeah, no." Cubby (27:20):Yeah. No George Michael. Leslie (27:20):Who is it? Cubby (27:22):Who is that? I really don't know. Barnes (27:23):Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Cubby (27:25):Tears for Fears. Leslie (27:27):Really? Barnes (27:27):Yeah. Cubby (27:27):Dammit. Barnes (27:28):They've got a huge box set coming soon. Tony! Toni! Tone! (27:32):It's amazing, sincerely, it's unbelievable. 150 years people have been looking for that goddamn gold. None of them could find it, you found it. Charles Esten (27:42):Here's the thing son, finding it? That's where your fun ends. That's where all your problems begin. Barnes (27:49):Ladies and gentleman, our guest today is Charles Esten. That was him doing his acting thing in Netflix powerhouse, Outer Banks. Hey, Charles. Charles Esten (27:59):Hello. Good to speak with you guys. Cubby (28:02):Great to have you here, man. Leslie (28:02):So excited. Cubby (28:04):So excited to have you. And can I start from the very beginning? Because I know you've done a million things, and we're going to get to all the things, but it all started with a game show. I'm a big game show buff, you were on Sale of the Century back in the late 80s? Leslie (28:19):What? Charles Esten (28:20):I absolutely was. Let me first start by saying, "Hi," to my friend Leslie, because I love Leslie Fram so much. We got to know each other through Nashville, she was there on my greatest day ever when we announced that we got that CMT pickup on stage. Hi, Leslie. Leslie (28:36):So good to talk to you. I can't wait to get caught up today. Charles Esten (28:38):Oh, I can't either. Now going back to that game show, that game show was so crucial, so pivotal to everything else it's kind of scary. I went to college and over the summers I would do construction and try to raise a little money. I didn't know what I wanted to do yet, I had a couple friends that went out to LA and were making it work, so I thought maybe I'll try it. I went out there in I guess September, and I think I was out there maybe a month, and I was already flat broke. I was sleeping on a mattress with all my clothes in a milk crate in a house full of stunt men. I didn't have enough money to stay, and I didn't have enough money to go home. Back then there was no internet, I was just flipping through something called the recycler in the local newspaper, and they had all these game shows that were auditioning.I've been a TV buff my whole life, I grew up addicted to it. So I thought, "I'll do that." But I thought to myself, "I don't want to do one that's pure chance, like Wheel of Fortune, where you're just bankrupt on a roll of a wheel. I don't want to do one like Win, Lose, or Draw, or Pyramid where you're depending on some idiot celebrity to help you win your money." And I didn't want to be on Jeopardy because I thought, "I don't think I'm quite... I might win one Jeopardy, but I won't do well enough to make some money." So I found a show called Sale of the Century. I loved it. It was like Jeopardy but the questions weren't as hard, but you had to be fast. You had to be really fast. I guess I was pretty fast because five days later, I walked away with $34,000 in cash and prizes, as they say. That was almost like God saying, "You can stay." Barnes (30:23):What was the tax on that? Charles Esten (30:26):Yeah, it was brutal. It absolutely was brutal. Cubby (30:32):But that's where the bug began, right here. From a game show, to where you are right now. Charles Esten (30:37):Well it certainly is the thing that made it all possible. By the way, it wasn't just the fact that I had to pay taxes, I had to sell all this stuff because some of it was cash, but most of it was these strange prizes like a child's bed shaped like a car, or a microwave. So I had to go on the recycler, the classifieds, and sell these things. I had these two massive cardboard boxes full of redwood that ultimately you would assemble into a sauna. I had to drive it out to some dude in Ventura and he wrote me like an $800-something check, and that was the first steak meal I had in Hollywood. Leslie (31:16):You have conquered so many mediums, from the big screen, television, you're a very successful songwriter and musician. In the very early days though, growing up, what did you see your career to be? Did you want to be an actor or did you want to be a musician? Or did you want to be both? Charles Esten (31:32):Well I was an inveterate showoff always. So it was one or the other. I didn't do a whole lot of acting. If I go way back, my family tells this story that when I was just a little guy, my dad said, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" And I think he was expecting, "Fireman," "Astronaut," and I said, "A clown." And by the way, this was long before clowns were creepy. They were just sort of fun and [crosstalk 00:31:57]. There was a day where clowns were actually beloved. In any event, he goes, "Why do you want to be a clown?" And I said, "Because I want to make people laugh."I think it was this super simple answer, but at the time, if I go back and if I'm in the therapist couch, there were some times where it wasn't that funny around my house. And so I always was the guy that wanted everybody, "Hey, everybody. Watch me do this. Let's all laugh, let's all smile. Let's not go down that road, for now." So there was a whole lot of that. But also, later I also come to understand what a song can do, if I could play a song on a piano or a guitar, that somebody might... If it was a funny song, they'd laugh, or if it was something more sentimental, it might move them in some way.I guess the through line, eventually I didn't really do serious acting until I went to LA, but the through line through all of that I think I've come to find is, I want to make somebody feel something. And that's it. I want them to either laugh at Who's Line is it Anyway, or The Office, or be afraid of something from Outer Banks, or be moved and sad or heart warmed by something Nashville. That's definitely the through line, that's sort of what I get off on, is bringing an emotion to somebody that they didn't have. Barnes (33:12):Well, not that Outer Banks isn't good, but you can send a big thank you to COVID-19, because you had a captive audience that was latching on great content, and I think that gave it the booster that it needed to become one of the top shows on Netflix.   Charles Esten (33:29):Well, I couldn't really argue with you there. I think we would have had the younger audience, I think that would have been there, just by the nature of how great this young cast is. But I think you're right, I think all the families locked down. Tiger King had had it's day, so we knocked them off it's throne and Outer Banks took over. Yeah. Not that you would ever wish it on anything, but it was the timing that made this where families would sit around and watch this show. I think some of the older folks are going, "I think I like this more than I'm supposed to or thought I would." Barnes (34:03):You guys, everyone who hasn't watched it, do yourself a favor and spend those 10 hours watching it. I think you're going to enjoy it and Ward Cameron, you want to talk about a dick, Cubby. I'm just saying. Charles Esten (34:17):Spoiler alert. Barnes (34:18):Takes one to know one, right? Leslie (34:22):You were on this cultural phenomenon, which was Nashville the TV show, from ABC. I was lucky enough to work with you when we had it on CMT, but it was such a worldwide hit, and it wasn't just a TV show. You were part of these amazing musical tours, you and some of the cast members, selling out Royal Albert Hall, and O2 in London, and all of the soundtracks that came out. This wasn't just a regular show. What you guys did for the city of Nashville, putting it on the map, putting a lot of these venues on the map, literally saving the Bluebird Café. What was it like being in that moment? Charles Esten (35:03):Oh, Leslie. That job for me, that role of Deacon, it was such... They say, "My cup runs over," and sometimes you think of that, almost like a cup of coffee that has a little too much in it. This is more just like a cup under a waterfall because it was everything I had ever wanted. Look, when I got this, I was 46 and I had been in Hollywood a long time, and I've had a career that I was very happy with. I'd been on The Office, and Who's Line is it Anyway, a bunch of shows that you've heard of, but I'd never found a real home. I was always the guest star, the eight episode arc. So the fact that it came together on something of such quality, and such heart... And the music on top of that, because I was a singer, songwriter long before I was an actor. And so it's really sort of hard for me to square how wonderful that was. All I know is I loved every single moment of it.I feel very grateful for those things what we were able to... Look, all we did was turn a light on Nashville and on country music. If it hadn't been as wonderful as it is, it wouldn't have meant much. But thanks to Callie Khouri and her wonderful writing and all the great music that came out, whether it was T Bone Burnett, or Buddy Miller, or Tim Lauer. It was really something. By the way, that music is what's really cool about it because any other show, you can go back and binge Nashville like you can go back and binge anything else. But it has this body of music that I think stands up so strongly. You were talking about the international appeal, that still is a thing. Because of Nashville, I'm able to go over and be a part of festivals overseas. I, myself, got to go play the Royal Albert Hall. I swear to you, I never thought that was possible.I think there was a few things I had maybe let go, when you start getting to 42 and 43. And then at 46, this thing kicks in and all these things that I had let go came rushing back into my life. So I consider myself incredibly blessed and I'm incredibly grateful. I'm really actually very grateful to CMT because not only did we get two more seasons because of CMT, but in a real way, we sort of got to finish it, close it down, and it got to slow down a little bit. Part of the ABC-ness of it all was that intense, high energy, this wilder, more dramatic, people falling off roofs, all those things. And we could do that with the best of them, but I always thought our strongest moments were those quiet bluebird moments, those father-daughter moments, those two people in love moments, those human moments. And I think that's what draws everybody to the show. Anybody that ever got on the Nashville train never got off. I'm incredibly grateful for that. Cubby (38:03):In the current pandemic that we're just continuing to go through, it feels like it's never going to end, how is that affecting taping, for what you're doing right now? What's the protocol for taping TV shows? Charles Esten (38:16):Well we're in pre-production right now, I don't start until Monday and I can tell you that it is massive, it's a massive undertaking. You know shooting a show is already a massive undertaking, but what they're doing on top of it is extremely impressive. It's just, I can tell, a group of people, and this includes the actors guilds and Netflix and all our production that said, "This I important. We want to do this. But we want to do it safely." It's like the space program. There's so many protocols, everybody is wearing the masks. Like just to go get a wardrobe fitting today, the costume designer and the assistants have on their mask and their shield in front of their mask, and I have on a mask, and I've had my temperature taken at the door and I've answered questions. We're getting tested very often. So it's sort of like man, if we can pull this off, it will really be something. More and more I'm starting to believe that we can, just by seeing how seriously they're taking it, but they're also... They're taking it seriously so that we can do it.From what I hear also, when we're shooting it's going to be in pods, for lack of a better word. Usually everybody's all at work at one time in one place. I think this is going to be the actor and the directors come onto the set, figure out what they're going to do, then they exit the set. Now here comes lighting and camera, and they're going to do what they do. Then they're going to exit the set. Now here comes set decoration. So it is wildly intense and stringent. But with a whole lot of people saying, "Yeah. We're going to do it because we care about this and we want everybody to be safe." This will be a wonderful thing, put us in your prayers, if we can get away with this and create a season two of Outer Banks, the scripts I've read are fantastic and I think it's looking good. So we're just going to be all as careful as we can and make something as great as we can. Barnes (40:16):But can there be anything worse than being in that part of the country, at this time of the year, with a mask on your face? No. Charles Esten (40:24):We haven't shot outdoors yet, so I know what you're saying but I'm telling you, I'm that guy that's like, "Oh my gosh, what are we doing here." But when you care about something, and when you care about someone, I care about the show, I care about making it happen. Yeah. We're going to do it. We're going to make it work somehow, and I'm grateful that we get a chance to. Barnes (40:46):Well your credits are pages and pages and pages long... Party of Five, The Office, E.R.- Charles Esten (40:52):You're calling me old is what you- Barnes (40:54):[crosstalk 00:40:54] No, we're calling you successful. But all these shows, I would like to hear something in all of these auditions, somewhere in there, give me a story. And I'm not talking about, I doubt you're probably a casting couch candidate in the reverse world... Charles Esten (41:12):Never had that, no. Barnes (41:13):Give me something from an audition that stuck with you forever. Charles Esten (41:18):Well... Boy oh boy. There's been so many, and I've been really fortunate on so many of them. Probably the best one besides Nashville that I got was The Office, and the real quick story on that, and then I'll tell you one I didn't get... The Office was that I had known Rainn Wilson for a number of years because he and I shot a pilot where we played androids who solved crimes and spent maybe 30% of the show naked. So, I go to this audition and they say, "We understand you're friends with Rainn." And I go, "That is true." I go, "Did he tell you how we met?" And they go, "No." And I go, "Yeah, I bet he didn't." And then I described the show to them and I said, "Here's the thing. You give me this job, I show up day one with a DVD of that pilot." I wasn't even to my car yet and my phone was ringing, and I had the job. That's how I got on The Office. Leslie (42:17):That's a good one. Charles Esten (42:20):That pilot never aired, but it got me on The Office. But probably one of the hardest ones, every long career has your biggest disappointments and for me... I'm sure you remember that great, great mini series, Band of Brothers, HBO. Barnes (42:37):Oh yeah. Charles Esten (42:39):Yeah. It was wonderful. Tom Hanks producing on that and man, so many great actors ended up on that, great young actors playing these soldiers in World War II. So I went through all the auditions, I had a bunch of them, first you're just auditioning for the casting director, maybe she wants to see again. Now they bring in a producer, now you go back again for producers again. I swear, this many. And then I go back, and there's Tom Hanks in the room and I read with Tom Hanks. Barnes (43:09):Whoa. Charles Esten (43:10):And it goes really well. And I get a phone call later that night to go, "Well, it went really well. They really like you. They just want you to come back tomorrow for one more." And I'm like, "Oh my gosh. What do I got to do? This is killing me. I want it so bad." I wanted it so bad, you guys. And I'm thinking if Tom Hanks likes you, who needs to see you? Well I got my answer the next day when I walked in the room, and without being aware or ready for it at all, there's Tom Hanks in one chair and Steven Spielberg in the other. Barnes (43:38):Oh! Cubby (43:38):Oh, wow. Charles Esten (43:41):And that would have been enough, but basically Steven Spielberg stands up, I shake hands, and he's got a camcorder in his hand, back when that was a thing. So I'm acting out these scenes in a conference room, hiding behind a desk pretending I'm holding a rifle, then crawling across the floor, with Steven Spielberg's camcorder three feet from my face, and he's crawling with me. And I don't even know how I did it, I don't know how I crawled, I just wanted to stop at every second and go, "I really like Jaws," where do you even begin? I don't know where you begin, but I don't know what my face looked like, but inside I was imploding. And in any event, later that night or the next day, I found out that I didn't get it. Barnes (44:27):Oh. Charles Esten (44:27):And man, that one was brutal because it was such an incredible production, and on top of that, no matter what you do, it's hard not to walk away with the feeling that Steven Spielberg doesn't think I'm a good actor. Barnes (44:41):Who got it? Charles Esten (44:42):You know what? I swear to you, I couldn't tell you right now. I watched like half hour of Band of Brothers, I'm like, "I'm out. I don't care anymore." If I went back, I could find it. Leslie (44:53):I think Damian Lewis was in that show. Barnes (44:56):What was the character? Charles Esten (44:57):I know. I think it may have been him. I think it might have been that. Barnes (45:01):[Tommy's 00:45:01] going to look it up. What was the character? Charles Esten (45:03):I think it was Winter. Barnes (45:06):Winter? Charles Esten (45:07):I think that was... Colonel Winter or maybe... I think that's what it was. Barnes (45:13):We got to hear this. You were crawling around the floor? Charles Esten (45:18):I don't know what's funny about it, you guys are trying to look it up to rub my nose in this, "I'll tell you who got that job, Chip." Leslie (45:18):Yeah. Thanks a lot. Barnes (45:18):Well I think it's worked out okay for you. Charles Esten (45:29):Yeah, it took another 20 years, but I got there in the end. I tell you a sweet ending to that is that my wife, we've been together since college, so she was there, she's seen every step in the road, and I don't think I cried about it or whined too much but she saw how hard it was hitting me, in a way that most things don't. I'm a pretty easygoing guy. I never expected to get very job I read for, and I said, "I'm in this for the long haul," and no one's going to stop me because I'm not going to quit.But she could see how much this one was hurting me, and in the end, I found on my pillow a letter, a handwritten letter in an envelope basically saying, "I know how much this hurts, but you have to see it for what it is. This is a major step in your career. This is something that shows that you belong here." Just the sweetest letter about, "Your show is coming, I have no doubt you will get there."And when we were moving from LA to Nashville, I'm going through my desk and piling all my stuff, and I sit down in that chair, same chair I read it back in when I got it years earlier, 11 years earlier I think, and I unfold this letter saying, "Someday you'll get your show," and here we are packing up to go to Nashville to do my show." So, that was kind of a good button to put on the end of that. But yeah, I think it was Damian Lewis' role. Cubby (46:54):Damian Lewis. Got you. Yup. Yup. Yup. There it is. Barnes (46:57):Oh, so you know it was Damian Lewis? Charles Esten (46:59):I'm looking at it now with you, I have IMBD too. Barnes (47:03):[crosstalk 00:47:03]. You lost out to an incredible actor, at least you can feel good about that. Charles Esten (47:09):Believe me, I know. That guy's as good as it gets, so absolutely. Barnes (47:11):So looking at the cast, Collin Hanks got a role. I'd go back with nepotism complaints right now and just get that all unearthed. Charles Esten (47:22):Can you imagine if he got my role, that would have hurt a little more, I'm sure. Leslie (47:27):I'm not sure if Barnes and Cubby know this or not, but Charles Esten is in the Guinness Book of World Records. Did you guys- Barnes (47:34):For what? Leslie (47:35):You didn't realize? Cubby (47:36):I read that too. I read that too. Leslie (47:38):And I was a part of this, it was an amazing time. Charles, do you want to tell them about every single Friday that you did for what, 54 weeks? Charles Esten (47:47):Yeah. It was this amazing thing... It comes down to this, Leslie, while I was doing the show Nashville, I knew that this was only going to last so long and I don't ever like to leave a situation feeling like I left anything undone, like I left anything on the table, and here I am in Music City and I'm surrounded by these great songwriters, which has always been my deepest passion, and these great musicians and producers so I thought, "Am I going to do an EP? Or am I going to do an album?" And every time it kept coming around to that, my music at that time had not focused quite down on exactly who I was, but I had a whole bunch of singles, and they were all over the place, and I just didn't know if they held together as one. To me, and album should be an album for a reason. Especially in the years that we're in now, singles are singles. You can release them when you want.So I decided what I wanted to do, I figured everybody was used to watching me once a week and I thought, "Maybe they'll be happy to hear me once a week," so I went out and held my phone up and did a selfie video where I promised to release a brand new single every week, I think I said, "Until it's stupid." And it might have already been, but I don't know because who does that? Nobody does this. Leslie knows, you don't step on your own single, you give it time, you give it love. Well this was not that. This was me wanting to be as creative as I could. I tend to succumb to paralysis of analysis an awful lot. So this is me busing through that and just going for it. And I have to say, it was a shock to me when 54 weeks later, I had 54 singles. Leslie (49:31):Unbelievable. Barnes (49:32):That's unreal. Were you writing them as you went? Charles Esten (49:36):There was all kind of stages of them. I had some already, others I wrote as I went. Some I would get out of order, some jumped to the front of the line. It was the ones that made me just the most excited. Also I had some ideas, like where they would go. One would follow the next. I didn't want them to step on each other in terms of them being too similar. Almost like a long, long album. But also, if you ever go and look at that, the other thing is we had to... Usually if you do an album, the artwork is the artwork. We had to do a new artwork for every single for every week. So between all that, it was just an insane amount of work but it was the absolute definition of a labor of love. Barnes (50:17):That's unbelievable. Cubby (50:18):Did you know you were setting a record at the time? Or did you just keep going? Charles Esten (50:21):Oh, no. I had no idea. I didn't know. No, I didn't. I just kept going, and I kept going. Do I have one? Yeah. I just promised myself I was not going to... What I didn't want was to do one if I didn't have one. Like here's a song I don't like, but I need one, I'll do that one. So I never did that. And when I go back and listen to them, I have to tell you, I'm proud. There's not one that I was sort of like ugh, I should have stopped there. I love them all. Barnes (50:51):I want to play a clip of your latest single. You've got an amazing voice, and I have to admit, I didn't know you were a singer. Leslie told me that you... I knew you as an actor, not as a singer. Usually you hear, "Oh, I'll listen to it," and you're like, "Okay, here we go. An actor singing. Okay. Hit play." But actually- Leslie (51:07):He's amazing. Barnes (51:08):You know what you're doing. Leslie (51:09):And he's a great songwriter too. Barnes (51:11):Here's a quick clip of his latest song called Sweet Summer Saturday Night Charles Esten (51:31):(singing) Barnes (51:32):How much did Michelob Light pay for that? Charles Esten (51:38):Yeah. Not much. It was hard as hell to find a Michelob Light. They have that new version of Michelob Light, what's it called now? Oh, I forget, but it's something slightly different. So I wanted a bottle for the cover, and man, that was hard to find. But no, they have not paid a cent yet. That's free to them. Cubby (51:55):Do you like Michelob Light, or did it just rhyme? Charles Esten (51:58):No, it was what we would have been drinking back then. Cubby (52:03):Oh, got you. Charles Esten (52:04):Yeah. Michelob Light was of that era. It's not like a thing though. But it does have great syllables, Michelob Light. Drinking a Coors Light doesn't quite sing the same way. Barnes (52:15):Well Charles, thank you for coming on. Look up Charles Esten where ever you get your music, where ever that shall be. And also, you've got... When is Outer Banks coming back? I know you're just starting to film it, but when is it slated to return? Charles Esten (52:26):I actually don't know that. I should find that out. I'm not even sure they know actually, but we are just at the beginning of a very long road, we have 10 episodes we're going to shoot here. We're shooting here, I'm in Charleston, South Carolina right now and we're going to actually do some shooting in the Bahamas. Barnes (52:42):Really? Leslie (52:43):Nice. Charles Esten (52:43):Which is where the gold went. So this is going to be good. I cannot complain. Barnes (52:47):He's sitting on the Royal Merchant, everybody. Well Charles, thank you very much. I cannot wait for the next season to come out. We are total fans. Leslie (52:54):Cannot thank you enough. Love to the family, and thank you. Charles Esten (52:57):Aw, thank you so much. Leslie, real quickly before we leave here, I hear them call you Fram, I want to know if I can do that? Leslie (53:03):Oh, any time. Charles Esten (53:05):I've called you Leslie, am I close enough? I can call you Fram? Leslie (53:07):Yes. That's all Barnes calls me. Charles Esten (53:09):Yeah, I've noticed that. Barnes (53:11):One syllable. It's just easier. Charles Esten (53:14):It's way easier. I'm honored to be on the Fram tram. Thank you. Leslie (53:17):Thanks, Charles. Charles Esten (53:19):Thanks, Fram. Leslie (53:20):Thank you. Charles Esten (53:21):Appreciate you guys so much. Barnes (53:22):We haven't done Barnes Bitches in a while, and I had a moment this week that made me get excited about doing this segment again. My segment, chill with the exotic grocery lists please. If I'm going to the store and I could be you, so I'm just saying, if we, people, are going to the store and your significant other or whoever says, "Oh, you're going to the store?" And then you're already in motion and they say, "I have a few things on my list." And you're like, "Okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It can't be anything exotic." My wife asked me to bring back skim milk and there is no skim milk anymore. Leslie (54:03):What? There's not? Barnes (54:04):So I was there for five flipping minutes staring at each of the milks, trying to find skim, I didn't see skim. Cubby (54:10):Are you sure? Barnes (54:13):I looked at every brand, I went down the whole... So much so I needed to go home and get a jacket, I was in that aisle so much. But don't ask... Maybe there's skim milk somewhere, but my Public's did not have it. And also she asked me to get celery salt. I'm like, "Whoa!" I don't know because when you got to the store, you know where your stuff is. I get the same stuff every time, bananas, non-exotics, easy things. Leslie (54:38):You can't go to the condiment section and get her some celery seed or celery salt? Barnes (54:42):Celery salt. I'm like, "What the hell is celery salt." But then they start playing, "Oh, get un-sour cream." What the hell is that? But seriously, these are exotic things. Leslie (54:52):Now wait a second, isn't- Cubby (54:53):Look, I love Heather, why isn't she doing the shopping? Barnes (54:56):We both do the shopping. I'm just saying, you got to chill with exotics. If you're sending your people to get stuff, don't come out of left field. Don't ask for, "Get seedless strawberries," what the hell? Leslie (55:09):I have to tell you, I talk to Heather about this and your, "Exotics," I mean, Barnes... Come on. Barnes (55:14):Which were what? What did she say? Leslie (55:16):So what. Because listen, if you have a recipe and it calls for celery seeds or celery salt, it's a little extra time, Barnes. Barnes (55:24):Right, but I- Cubby (55:25):I have this guy in China who's sending me seeds all the time. Barnes (55:29):That's a whole other conversation. Cubby (55:30):They're great. Barnes (55:31):It's a whole other thing. But, "Can you pick up some organic Pop Tarts?" Leslie (55:37):So you're calling this, "Exotics?" Barnes (55:40):An exotic is variable. If you're used to going to the store and you pick up your bananas, your whatever, and no Diet Coke anymore, because Dr. Oz yelled at me. I haven't had one since then. Cubby (55:50):Really? Barnes (55:50):Yup. I haven't had one. I'm on a roll. Two weeks. Leslie (55:52):I'm proud of you. Barnes (55:53):Fat free humus. Pick up some fat free humus, Cubby. If you're asking someone to go exotic for you at the grocery store, you're a big inconvenience, that's all. Leslie (56:02):Wow. Exotic. Cubby (56:03):Real quick and I'll let this go here, what about when you're behind somebody... You strike me as somebody, Barnes, that will be upset if you're behind somebody in Starbucks who's doing the elaborate order. Barnes (56:11):No, that doesn't bother me because that's different. That's them doing their order. Cubby (56:16):But it's holding you up. Barnes (56:17):It'd be if you, Cubby, ask me, "Get me a duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh latte with duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh." If someone says, "Do you want a burger, I'm going to where ever," you can't come out with, "Yeah. So I want one patty with cheese on it, one without cheese..." You have this long exotic list, then you're on your own. Then you go, "Nah. I'm out." You do it. Cubby (56:37):You're like a shark. I'm out. And for that, I'm out. Barnes (56:39):No, you go, you go. So that's it. Think about it. Be sensitive when you're send your people to the store. Leslie (56:46):This is a Barnes Bitch. Unbelievable. Intro (56:48):This is Cubby's pop culture throwback, a rewind into the volt of music, movies, and moments. Cubby (57:00):I thought it would be fun to go back to the first week of September in 1990. It was big year for me. I was about to leave my hometown to Virginia Beach, Virginia to do radio in Houston and the station I was working for, Leslie, you remember this, WGH in Norfolk/Virginia Beach- Leslie (57:18):Mm-hmm (affirmative). Cubby (57:18):They made the flip from top 40 to country and I wasn't very happy about that, and so I went ahead and moved to Houston. So all these songs I remember vividly. September 1st, 1990, the number one song on the pop charts this week, it was Sweet Sensation, If Wishes Came True. Sweet Sensation (57:38):(singing) Cubby (57:39):I know it's a cheesy pop song, Barnes, but do you remember it? Barnes (57:42):I don't. Cubby (57:43):Leslie? Leslie (57:43):I do not remember this at all. Cubby (57:44):This was a total Power 99, before 99X, Power 99. Leslie (57:44):Wow, I don't remember that. Cubby (57:51):The number one song on the R&B charts this week was Tony! Toni! Tone! Feels Good. Tony! Toni! Tone! (58:01):(singing) Cubby (58:04):1990 a big year for the whole new jack swing sound. On the country charts, Clint Black had a number one song, a song called Killin' Time. Clint Black (58:14):(singing) Cubby (58:14):Leslie, is this song still played in country music, or is it too old? Leslie (58:23):Some of the classic country stations. Yeah, he's doing an anniversary for that song. Cubby (58:26):Really? It's a great song. Leslie (58:28):It is. Barnes (58:30):Early 90s was good for country. With Garth, yeah... Leslie (58:35):Big resurgence now. Cubby (58:37):The number one song this week, back in 1990 on the modern rock charts, this is before Been Caught Stealing, Jane's Addiction had a song called Stop. Jane's Addiction (58:46):(singing) Barnes (58:58):Great song right there. The number one movie at the box office this week in 1990. Speaker 21 (59:02):What's happening? Speaker 22 (59:02):I think about you every minute. I feel like I can still feel you. Speaker 21 (59:10):The problem with you is you still think you're real. It's all up here now. You want to move something, you got to move it with your mind. Cubby (59:17):That would be Ghost, everybody. Number one at the box office. And finally, everybody was watching this show on TV, it was huge and you probably know the theme. Speaker 23 (59:32):(singing) Cubby (59:33):In Living Color was the big TV show this week in 1990. And that is 30 years ago this week, folks. Leslie (59:39):Wow. Barnes (59:40):I loved that show. Think about how many people's careers that show started- Leslie (59:45):A lot- Barnes (59:45):J.Lo- Cubby (59:46):Everybody- Barnes (59:47):Jim Carey, yeah everyone on the show became famous. Cubby (59:50):Huge. Yup. Barnes (59:51):Big time. Thank you, Cubby. That's it for the show. Please rate, review, and subscribe and we'll see you next week The Pop Culture Show.  

Our guest this week is Anthony Curtis of The Las Vegas Advisor.  Anthony is on to talk about the new Member's Rewards book for 2020, and what is in the pipeline for Huntington Press.We welcome your questions - send them to us at gamblingwithanedge@gmail.com, or you can find me at @RWM21 on Twitter.podcastClick to listen - Alt click to downloadShow Notes[00:00]  Introduction of Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and Huntington Press[00:38]  The 2020 Member Rewards Book - free play, match play, restaurant deals[07:42]  Why are casino becoming more reluctant to participate?[12:50]  Are any local bars participating in Member Rewards?[17:50]  The Original Cocktail Club[20:42]  2020 Eating Las Vegas by John Curtas[25:49]  South Point Casino January Promotions - $500,000 Spin to Win, free video poker classes[27:09]  Predictit.org/promo/edge - political betting market with a $20 deposit match for GWAE listeners[28:03]  BlackjackApprenticeship.com - card counting training program[28:22]  VideoPoker.com/gwae - gold membership offers correction on most games[29:08]  Jean Scott leaving Las Vegas[36:43]  Upcoming releases from The Huntington Press[42:25]  More Mattress Mack stories[50:00]  Recommended:  Dealt documentary on Netflix, 2-for-1 entree LVA coupon at TreasuresSponsor Links:SouthPointCasino.comPredictit.org/promo/edgeBlackjackApprenticeship.comVideoPoker.com/gwaeLinks:LasVegasAdvisor.comHuntingtonPress.comOriginalCocktailClub.comEatingLV.comTreasuresLasVegas.comBooks:2020 Eating Las Vegas by John Curtas https://amzn.to/2Qha6xHThe Frugal Gambler by Jean Scott https://amzn.to/2rK2YR4Kill Phil by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson https://amzn.to/2MOo7AOGambling 102 by Michael Shackleford https://amzn.to/2ZUr4FHKnockout Blackjack by Ken Fuchs and Olaf Vancura https://amzn.to/2ZHlMNyThe Logic of Sports Betting by Ed Miller and Matthew Davidow  https://amzn.to/2SSDWdAPrevious Episodes:LasVegasAdvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/podcast-the-inside-story-of-mattress-mackLasVegasAdvisor.com/gambling-with-an-edge/podcast-the-inside-story-of-mattress-mack-part-2

Greg and Nick welcome The Bachelor/ The Bachelorette/ Bachelor in Paradise/ Bachelor Winter Games/ Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host Chris Harrison to the bar! Er... to Greg's living room! And, as a huge bonus, director of all the shows Ken Fuchs stops by for a surprise visit in their first ever interview together. The guys discuss "The Switch" made by Arie, Clint Eastwood watches The Bachelor, Chris was kicked off Facebook, the authenticity of reality TV, and is Yuki living in Chris' basement right now? We dive deep into the secrets of the Bachelor franchise and have our own rose ceremony at the end, so DO NOT MISS IT!! Kirk returns next week.

So much good stuff in this coaches corner.  Everything from dealing with a break-up, to dating tips (learn how to write a great online profile), to being better in your relationship.   Listen to my friend and incredible dating coach, Marni Battista and I share about love and dating.   A little more about Marni: Marni Battista has a Masters in Education and is a Certified Life Coach by the International Coaching Federation. She is also a Master Practitioner at administering an Energy Assessment, “The D-Factor,” that helps clients pinpoint exactly why they are, or are not date-able, and what types of messages they are unconsciously broadcasting to others based on their thoughts, feelings, actions and attitudes. Marni is also trained as a Facilitator and Mentor Trainer by the Hoffman Institute, a world-renowned leader in personal development. In addition, Marni is the on-camera Dating & Relationship Coach to Tristan Couveras, star of the new hit reality TV show, “ControlTV,” produced by Seth Green and Ken Fuchs, producer of “The Bachelor.”   Get so much more from her here:  http://datingwithdignity.com

The Bachelor Dudes join hosts Emma and Claire to recap the one where the women tell all... or at least, some. Together, they discuss the show's gross race issues (#TeamJubilee4Lyfe), Olivia's attempted redemption and who the next Bachelorette might be. After the recap, Emma interview The Bachelor and Shark Tank director, Ken Fuchs, to learn how the sausage is made. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.