Newcomers: Sports, with Nicole Byer and Lauren Lapkus - American Dad: Return of the Bling (w/ Rachael MacFarlane)

Episode Date: December 31, 2020

Lauren and Nicole are joined by the voice of Hayley Smith herself, Rachael MacFarlane, to discuss the American Dad parody episode, Return of the Bling.Listen in as the they lament bad coronavirus jokes, take pleasure in finally understanding all these LOTR references, and scratch their heads at the absurdity of having to ask to use the bathroom in school.Like the show? Rate Newcomers 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and let us know what LOTR media you'd like the series to cover.Sources for this episode:Article on Ian McKellen's Vaccine CommentsTrivia from AmericanDad.Fandom.comAdvertise on Newcomers via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum Original. Master wants to take the precious from us. You mean the metal? He plans to destroy our precious. Okay, first of all, say it, don't spray it. Second, I agree with you. We must kills Master and gets the precious back. Wow, look at you. You are brassy.

We leads them through the tunnel to the Jürgen Herberger. She likes to drink the nectar. When they go in, they won't come back out. Roger, you're alive. What happened to your hair? What? Nothing. It burned off in the crash.

I like it. You like it? No. It looks really bad. Well, fuck you. Hey, how crazy was that plane crash, huh? Luckily, no one died but the pilot. Do you like it? No. It looks really bad. Well, fuck you. Hey, how crazy was that plane crash, huh? Luckily, no one died but the pilot. What happened to you? Well, landed in a tree, was impaled on a branch, pulled it out, turned it into my walking stick. Very proud of that. Lost it. Devastated.

And here we are. Luckily, I know this mountain from all my IOC ski trips. In fact, I know a shortcut to the top. Fantastic! That's great, Roger. They goes up, but they won't comes back down. What did you say? I asked if you wanted to buy some weed. I said it in a weird

voice so your dad wouldn't hear, but now he did. So you blew the deal. It was good weed, Steve says. oh wow okay we're doing it. It's me, Nicole Byer. I'm Lauren Lapkus. And this is the 19th episode of our second season. We're working our way through the Lord of the Rings franchise for the very first time. We got a ton of people helping us.

We've seen all of the Lord of the Rings things you can truly watch, like the three movies the Hobbit trilogy the Tolkien biopic the animated trilogy fan films video games we've done fanfic we've seen the memes we played Dungeons and Dragons which was very fun we dug into some fan theories and lore last week so this week we watched the Lord of the Rings parody episode from the animated sitcom American Dad this is episode 13 of season five called Return of the Bling, and it can be streamed on Hulu. Wait, I didn't let Lauren. Oh, my God. You're fine. Just just talking and talking. You think I need to talk? I'm good. Like a stream without Hulu sling. You can purchase it on

YouTube and Amazon Prime. and then i have a co-host i'm here too and you know what of course we're gonna have a million spoilers and talk about things we watched and if you have a problem with spoilers i don't know what to tell you you should just never look at anything and never listen to anything uh but before we dive in um we last week we listened we we looked through some fan theories. Is there anything that stuck with you, Nicole, from this period? Or have you just moved on completely from the fan theories? Honestly, what a stunningly good question. Truly a treat of a question.

I gotta say, literally nothing has stuck with me. I forgot that we talked about Tom Bob-a-dildo. I don't remember any of it. Yeah, I feel similarly. I don't remember any of it. Yeah, I feel similarly. I don't remember much of it. But one thing I did see, someone tweeted at us that it was like funny

that we went from being people who have never seen anything in this to then like arguing fan theories and being like, that one actually doesn't make sense because Frodo would never. It is very funny. It's pretty shocking.

But I'm very excited about our guest today. Our guest today is very special. It's Rachel McFarlane. Oh, hello. So happy to be here with you, ladies. I'm going to give you a little bio background on you for a sec. Rachel is a voice actress and singer. And her voice credits include

Haley Smith on American Dad, so we're very excited to have you here. And she also voices Lucille on Fancy Nancy and a bunch of characters on Sophia the First, among many other credits, too many to get into today, of course. If I read your IMDb, I'd be sitting here forever. Welcome, Rachel. We're so excited to have you. Thanks, guys. So happy to be here. This is super fun. Well, thank you. And I mean, I feel like I should just say for the record that I am a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings series. I am very glad to hear that.

It is like a comfort series for me. You know, we all have those where like, if it's on, you watch it. That's what that is for me. So anytime it's on, you would sit down and just be like, let's pick up in the middle of a hobbit or whatever. Yeah, but no, no, no. I i was gonna say but let me clarify like i i am a huge fan of uh fellowship of the ring two towers and return of the king i don't deal in the hobbit world that's what everybody says i'm sorry i couldn't like the return of smog i didn't do that no it's it's

very common that people are like i just just I cap it at Lord of the Rings. Yeah. I don't like so. But see, weirdly, I kind of liked The Hobbit and I feel like that's my biggest downfall. Like I think that's my. I don't know. And I also feel like I should confess to purists listening that I also never made it through the books. I stopped at a shortcut to mushrooms. That was as far as I got. I think that's fair, though. I think if you really like the movies, you have earned your place as a fan. Like, that's enough. I don't know. It's funny because if we're talking Harry Potter, I would say very differently.

I'd be like, you haven't read the books? Are you fucking kidding me? You can't talk about Harry Potter if you haven't read the books. But I don't know. Lord of the Rings, I'm like, eh. When did you discover it? Like, when it came out or later in life? No, we had a family tradition of going to the movies on Christmas.

This was just something that we did as a family. And so Lord of the Rings movies came out on Christmas. I don't know if you guys know that or remember that. So that was the thing. And I remember my parents and my brother and I going to see Fellowship of the Ring on Christmas in Ojai. Is that where you're from? No, I'm from Connecticut. But my family moved out to California back in 99, I guess.

I was 98. I think Seth was 97. My parents were 2000. By 2000, we were all out here. But anyway, I fell in love with it. I love Fellowship. And then that sort of just started it. I think there is.

That sounds nice. So like having that tradition of going to the movies on Christmas, and I feel like that would kind of set movie. Are there any other movies that like stuck with you from that that like felt special from going to see them on Christmas? Um, God, it's so funny. Those are the ones that really stick out to me. And I think because like, so you guys have obviously watched them now all of them. Yeah. Okay, so you So you know the scene. You don't even know. Okay. You know the scene in Fellowship that it's like it gets really quiet and Aragorn and

I'm totally blanking on her name, Liv Tyler, are having their moment on the bridge, right? It's super quiet. And my dad is just like hoovering popcorn so loudly next to me and just crunching so loudly. And I was like, dude, and I grabbed his hand. I'm like, stop. This is a moment.

This is the one romantic kind of moment we get. Do not chew during this. Eowyn? Is that her name? Eowyn. Eowyn can chew. Eowyn. Wow.

Look at me. I can't believe I got that. Eowyn is the um rohan gal with the blonde hair thank you i feel like i was speaking another language i was like no but but um yeah god erwin yeah wow people are laughing right now arwen arwen arwen corrected in the chat this is the best part of this podcast because we have truly listened to, watched, absorbed everything related to this, and we still go like, what's that guy's name? I don't know. Yeah.

For whatever reason, it just doesn't stick in my brain. It just jumbles up and gets spit right out. Well, look, I mean, whenever... By the way, just P.S., COVID brain is real. It's like pregnancy brain. Like, things don't stick in the noggin. So I'm trying to remember his name.

Elijah Wood. Whenever he says Mordor, it always sounds like he's saying Moldor. Like he's adding an L. That's something that's always fun to me. We haven't been able to pronounce a single thing. Right? So I'm like, is it Mordor or Moldor? Like he's adding an L. That's something that's always fun to me. We haven't been able to pronounce a single thing. Is it Mordor or Moldor? Same thing to me.

I think it's Mordor. Did you re-watch them this year? Oh, nice. I have two daughters. I have an 11-year-old and a 5-year-old. And I'm introducing my 11-year-old. Oh, how'd she like it? We're at Two Towers right now

and she's digging it. When it started, she was like, so mom, is that guy with the longer hair, is he in this one? Will he be returning? Exactly. Is he coming back? Yeah, and then it was the

Lord Elrond, the head of the elves, when they first get to Rivendell. And he comes out and she's like, wow, that is a handsome man. I was like, wow, so this is our moment. This is where this is all happening. That's so nice. In the Lord of the Rings, yeah. Oh, that's cute. I love that.

Yes, we have watched them this year. Are you excited for the new Amazon TV series? Really? Yeah, there really is one. It's being made. Wow. I think for us, it's a blessing that the podcast

will be over before it comes out because we've just, you know, by that point, it's like I think we'll have filled a year with content related to Lord of the Rings and it's, I can't, I can't. Which is almost like

The Hobbit movies being three movies. Oh, God. There's not that much content to keep coming back. rings and it's i can't i can't almost like the hobbit movies being three movies oh god yeah not that much content no that's a slog really they're remaking it i think why it's got a different storyline yeah and there's gonna be nudity well that's the part we're excited about that's like the only thing that has stuck with me okay if i continue watching lord of the rings i'll be rewarded with nudity well you, you may or may not. I think what it was was that they put

like an ad out for extras who were willing to be nude in it or something. I guess it's like, I mean, who are the characters

that are going to be nude, though, right? Hopefully it's Gandalf. I was going to say, we need a Gandalf. We need a Gandigal. We have to know what's going on.

If you just see him get out of the shower. Oh, God. You're like, this isn't what i thought it would be no so i had no idea okay i might dip my toes in if i'm particularly bored one evening do you like like fantasy stuff like game of thrones that kind of thing or is this kind of the one that's so funny i was gonna say no but then i was like no i loved i love game of thrones i was a big fan of Game of Thrones till the very end, like most people. And I mean, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, as I mentioned. So yeah, I guess so. Wow. Yeah. I mean, I grew up kind of in a nerdy household. Star Trek was a huge, huge, huge thing in our house. So, yeah, I guess I kind of lean that way.

Yeah. Did you and your, like, your brother's older than you? He is, yeah. And did you, were you influenced by him with that kind of stuff? Or was this something that, yeah. Totally. I like to think that maybe I influenced him in the musical theater realm because I was a huge musical theater nerd. Still am.

But he definitely brought all that, that yeah other stuff into the house that's fun I have an older brother and I have like so many of my interests from growing up were like just literally based on what he liked and that was totally but I it's like I'm watching that happen in my house right now right oh that must be five-year-old watching my 11-year-old being like, oh, this is what we're into, right? This is what we think is cool. Yeah. That's cute. I don't have experience with that.

My sister's gonna be like, do you want to do this? And I'll be like, no! I'll do something different. Goes either way, right? It's either like you're all in or you're like, I don't want to have anything

to do with what you're doing. Yeah. I don't know if I've mentioned to you, Nicole, that I wore my brother's JNCO jeans to school in sixth grade. You know, those are really big jeans.

Oh, I know JNCOs. I've been looking for a pair. You want some? Currently. Those look good, actually. Wow. I had one pair. My mother was so mad.

She's put, I think they were like $64. And she was like, for what? These pants are too big for you. And I was like, I know that's the point. That's what's so good about them. You can put anything in the pocket. I remember that with a pair of guest jeans from Macy's where we could never afford to shop at. And they were like $60.

And I was like, but you don't understand. I'm going to live in them. And I did. I did. I wore them like all sixth grade year. Well, that's sweet. I wore my jeans a lot. You make make it worth it then it's like a dollar a day or less wait Nicole have you is your sister playing with her molly doll um I don't know she said she has it set up but she's like I feel weird playing with it I was like yeah you live alone it would be an insane thing if you just started

playing with dolls are we talking talking about Molly, American Girl? I'm with you. Come on. Yeah. Hello. We went down like a major rabbit hole on one episode just talking about American Girl dolls instead of Lord of the Rings. I had Kirsten.

I had Kirsten. Me too. And I also had Samantha. Well, because that was when that was back when we looked through the freaking catalog and like flagged the pages and getting an American Girl was the when we looked through the freaking catalog and flagged the pages and getting an American Girl was the biggest deal. It was the biggest deal. And then Nicole

decided to send her sister a Molly doll because I cut all the hair off hers and I was like, wouldn't that be a fun thing? And then she got it and was like, Nicole, somebody sent me a doll. I don't know how they got my address because it didn't have any card or anything. She just thought someone found her address and sent me a doll. I don't know how they got my address because I didn't have any card or anything. She just thought someone found her address and sent

her this doll she loved. I was like, tee hee hee. And I didn't tell her for a minute it was me. I just realized it was probably creepier because it was from eBay, wasn't it? So it just came from a person's house. You can't get Molly anymore. Molly's like, yeah, she's discontinued. Molly's retired.

So is Kirsten. Kirsten's retired too. Dang, why retire the class? They should have like a classics line. Who do we talk to? I know. They're making a huge mistake

because what they don't understand is that our generation likes nostalgia and we will buy the thing again and we want it. You better believe it. You better believe it.

I would buy that doll in a heartbeat because I gave her away. I was a nanny in the 90s in New York and I gave my Kirsten to the little girl I was nannying for, not having the foresight to think maybe one day I'll have daughters and I'll want to save this doll for them. Yeah. Right? So now I was like, oh, my God, two days ago, my five-year-old just got her first American Girl for Christmas.

What did she get? And I swear I was more excited than she was. Like, I put all the shit together. I was, like, changing the clothes and, like, making the bed. And it was, oh. Well, she got one of the ones that you make to look like your kid. Oh, okay. That's awesome.

I mean, those are really exciting. I know. Oh, my God. And the dolls are just, like, it was such a sense memory thing. Like, looking at the clothes. And I've already ordered her so much more shit. i'm like let's go on the american girl website and order more that's so fun it's so it's so accessible now with the website like i feel like that makes it so different than like having to place an order through a catalog and it feels

like such a big production i know this is not an american girl podcast but it is yeah it secretly is it's truly turning into one the books that went along with the historical dolls i bought one of those for my older one the molly book actually where her dad's like not there right and they have to ration the food and there she doesn't want to eat the turnips i mean the victory yes the victory garden so i i swear i was more into it than bella was like okay, mom, whatever. We'll read this rando book that you're telling me. I think it was like we, I don't know, we had dial-up internet growing up, and then the books were just like a fun portal into things that a kid can just look up on Wikipedia now.

Yeah, right? Right. And I remember her mother making the hula costume for Halloween. Yes! Oh, my God. That was so cute up I know and now they don't really come with books and even well there's no history to them they're like there's just a thousand versions of the doll you know that we did we got really

sucked in on the website and we were looking at the um what there's one from the 60s that's really cute there's a few and the 80s one is fun but that one does make me feel old in a way that I'm not ready for. Oh, God, totally. Yeah, I agree. The 80s one is like, oh, boy. Yeah. It's like real vintage

to some kids now. That's really kind of terrifying. Like, she has a cassette player. I know. Okay, well, Nicole, should we jump into our Shire Wire? This is our news segment where we discuss

Lord of the Rings and we can always go back to American Girl at any point don't be afraid just a segue so Ian McKellen fans are making

Lord of the Rings jokes after the actor received the COVID-19 vaccine so Ian McKellen who's 81 was among the very first group of high risk people

to receive the UK's new vaccine, describing the moment as special. On social media, many fans of him made the same joke, alluding to the actor's best-known scene in Lord of the Rings. And in the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf is seen taking a stand on a bridge to prevent the monstrous Balrog from crossing. And as the Balrog threatens him in the fellowship, Gandalf bellows, you shall not pass. And the line is one of the film's most cited quotes. So people are repeating that line saying you shall not pass COVID. Meaning like COVID's not going to get through? It's not going to pass through him.

Yeah, it's not going to pass through him, make him sick. Mm-hmm. Okay. Sir Ian McKellen has had the COVID-19 vaccine, joked one person. At least if he has a test in the future, it'll hopefully save them having to tell him, you shall not pass. You shall not pass. Your infection onto me, quipped someone else.

So everyone's having fun on Twitter, making fun of him for getting the vaccine. Look, I think that's very stupid. It's not even. It's literally a pandemic. I also think it's kind of dumb because it's a real life thing. This man is a million years old. He's getting vaccinated. Just let him live his fucking life.

He's worked on so many other things. It's also like not even a really good pun. It's not even clever. No, it's a first draft. They have to explain it so much. Yeah, I know. It's like, no, it's not clear enough. It's stretch at best.

I mean, Nicole, I'm mentioning this because it's in our notes that people shout nailed it at you. I'm not trying to bring that up, but is this the same as that for you that people are going to say nailed it when basically you shall not pass it's your like quote yeah and the only time people screaming nailed it has ever been funny it's usually like the same thing it's at like a punchline of a joke during a show or like just screaming it at me but i have two screws in

my ankle right now because i dislocated my ankle and my doctor took a video during surgery and he was like nailed it because he literally put nails in me he wasn't nothing will be funnier than that but he did also know that you host nailed it or that was yes oh wow okay and he played it cool and didn't mention it that's really funny until surgery and then i laughed so hard i was like honestly what a beautiful no one will do better i feel like that's maybe the only doctor that can get away with that for you like any other doctor it would feel really personal like if it was like a gynecologist like if it was your ob-gyn yes right and they put the little duck bill in there like nailed it and you're like oh i have to leave like no i have to get out of here i don't want anyone to talk to me about work while i'm

like you know in stirrups yeah somebody a friend of mine said the other day just about this that it's like it's like yes i know that you're about to literally like look into my body and yet i'm still gonna hide my bra and underwear under my jeans oh of course oh my god i do that i literally i even got up recently and like hit it again like i was like exactly it's like oh it's peeking out like he's gonna see your badge in like five minutes and you're like oh god i gotta tuck my underwear in like they know everything it's like sometimes you don't wear your best and you're like I don't want them to know what I put on my body hopefully the inside is better than the outside well because I do that too I hide it and I just I like fold it in it's just like a whole thing I think we all do it it

does feel more embarrassing than them seeing your insides and I don't know why it's like maybe because it's a choice like I can't control what's going on down there really right maybe like maybe next time I'm just gonna leave my bra like draped over the chair and see how that feels yeah maybe I will start doing that because I started just holding tampons well like growing up I would hide them in my hand or my sleeve and I was like who fucking cares who should be so lucky I've arrived with my period. I'm going to wave it around. Right? Dude, believe me, as a parent of an 11-year-old girl, I am trying to preach all the openness about everything.

It's all good, girl. Just let's talk about it, whatever it is. Let's talk about it. I love that. That is so good. I love that so much. I have so many memories of just the awkwardness of your period and being at school and not dealing with it or leaking through your pants because you're like afraid to go to the bathroom or like you don't want to like.

Totally. I wore pads too. So then it's like, okay, how am I going to hide this pad? By the way. I know. I like think back to what I was wearing and I'm like, you could see my pad through my pants. Like there's no. you could see my pad through my pants.

Like there's no. Or like that like huge bag that you would like take out of your backpack when you went to the bed, thinking that you were being all like, yeah, everybody fucking knew what was happening. It's also crazy in school that you have to ask permission to use the bathroom. What's the alternative? You sit there and shit yourself? Like it's so crazy to me. Can I go to the bathroom? No.

Sit for a second. We're not done with this problem. Um, no. P.S. My daughter, my daughter had a teacher that said, no, you can't. And I, oh my God, I let that woman have holy hell. Wait, really? Oh, for real.

That's fucking insane. Second grade. She was like, no, you have to wait. And I was like, are you kidding me? What? No, I'm sorry second grade is still the age where it's like i say i have to go to the bathroom i could wait or i might just piss on myself right like it's kind of shaky there and i told her i'm like girl no one can tell

you that you can't go to the bathroom okay if your teacher says no and you have to go just get up and go like that's weird because i mean you really you can't get in trouble for that that's an absurd thing i know it's like is it do they do that to stop people from like when they think you're lying or something like you're gonna go i think so and like loitering but also it's like if someone is gonna lie about going to the bathroom it means they need a break from class yeah like either way you go it's like just let the fucking kid go and if you want to lie and get out of it, say you have to go to the nurse. Yes. I loved going to the nurse.

I did that so much. I always had a tummy ache. And I'd be like, can I just like lay down in the dark? Right. Before math, I was like, my head hurts. And then I'd be like in there like laying down for a while. The nurse at my kid's school gives them saltines too. And I think that's another piece of the puzzle.

Oh, see, that's nice. Honestly, what a treat. I just want some crackers. You get overwhelmed, have have some saltines sit in the dark for a little bit get recharged go back to class. Sounds great. I actually just remembered being in the nurse's office and helping make ice packs with like those brown paper towels around chunks of ice and then you'd put it in a plastic bag. Yeah. And shove them in her freezer so she always had an ice pack. There you you go she puts you to work she's like you're here wet brown paper towels really smell specific they do why do

schools use those paper i guess they're cheap well let me tell you right around what may when you couldn't get shit in terms of paper products um that's what arrived at my door when i ordered paper towels really so we revisited that brown paper towel awfulness in my house wow yes i was using um gigantic office rolls of toilet paper that i ordered from staples when the pandemic started there was no toilet paper and then i ordered that and i got 12 huge rolls and then I just went through them all. I was like, we're doing this. That's brilliant. I love it. Seriously.

Yeah. We did what we had to do. We did. That was horrible. Yeah. This year has been truly very. Hasn't been great. Interesting.

I don't want to say it's like all bad, but like a lot of it's been not great. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it's basically bad. It was funny. We were sitting at dinner last night and my husband was like, so, OK, what is like everybody's favorite memory of 2020? And we all were like, um, the first five days of last January when we were traveling and

like on a vacation and then it all just went to shit. I know. That was, it was honestly so, it's so bizarre to look back in your phone, like see the photos of what you were doing like a week before and you have no idea. No idea. We went out to dinner with friends the night before L.A. shut down. And I remember my our friend being like, you guys, this might be the last time we will get to go out to dinner for a really long time. And my husband and I were like, oh, you're being overdramatic.

It's going to be fine. We'll be out again soon. Yeah. I mean, seriously. It was like, holy shit. I know. we'll be out again soon yeah i mean seriously it was like holy shit i know it's wild to think that like we're leaving this year and like it's still not better no it's so wild no it's so not better it's so not better jesus are you guys you guys are both in la too yeah yeah yeah not great rough and i live near glendale hospital so like we've just been hearing ambulances like nonstop. It's kind of wild. Oh, my God. I mean, not to like take it to the COVID place, but having just been through that insanity, I will tell you that the mind fuck and I hope we can swear the symptoms right because like every time like oh

my god i'm having trouble breathing and like is it like and i'm like you know checking my pulse ox and making sure that everything's fine and of course it's fine and i'm like okay so this is probably more like a panic attack than like covid related but it's it is such a mind fuck no it's attached to this massive thing like you get the thing that the entire world is trying to avoid yeah so i mean we talked about it before we started the show but you and your your It's attached to this massive thing. Like you get the thing that the entire world is trying to avoid. Yeah. So, I mean, we talked about it before we started the show, but you and your husband have, if you want to talk about it, you can. If not, we can cut it out.

Yeah, no. Oh, my God. Absolutely. I've been very vocal about it because we were those people that did nothing and still got it. So I'm like, whatever. I'm not going to not talk about it. Which is so crazy because I'm hearing more and more about that. I know.

And I really, I don't do much at all. I mean, I would I've had a few doctor's appointments like I went to the eye doctor the other day, but they were really clean. I mean, you know, just things that I feel like I have to do. But I I'm still like I don't do anything. And yet I hear these stories and it does feel just very alarming. It's crazy. And like I have friends that are like looking for the out. They're like, oh, but you know,

you probably saw people, right? Or like you went to the market and I'm like, sorry, I can't give you an out. Like we didn't do shit. Literally, we did nothing. That is crazy. Yeah. And like, honestly, my brother started production again

on his show, The Orville, three weeks ago. And so he's been working with this amazing epidemiologist. And so we were talking a lot about it. And he was like, what we really think is that you guys, like your husband, my husband, Spencer, probably just touched something. An Amazon box or groceries that got delivered. And then it's been so fucking dry in Los Angeles, right? So he's like all up in his nose and that was probably it and then i got it from him it's so rough because i feel like we

we worked up to a point where they were like it doesn't really get transmitted on objects yeah i was like obsessively washing my hands and like yeah after every single thing i touched and cleaning things and then like i kind of got a little lax with that more recently when i felt like they were saying that doesn't really happen. But then I feel like maybe it does. And now I should just be washing my hands constantly. Look, I don't think it does. I think it's really rare.

I think that there's so much of this that is truly just luck. And I think we hit some shitty luck for what, you know, it just happens. And it's like, I mean, luckily we both had it on the mild side. But yeah, it's crazy. Fucking crazy. both had it on the mild side but yeah um yeah it's crazy fucking crazy oh boy i don't want covid i don't want it at all and you know it's so crazy too my kids did not get it my kids live with us they were with us like in the house we had masks on the whole time but there was a whole chunk of time where we didn't know that we had it right and then spence got it and then i tested negative and so i'm around the kids he's quarantined in the bedroom and i'm taking care of the kids

and then five days later i test positive and the kids did not they tested that's the wildest thing that like some people just won't get it some people will get it some people get incredibly sick and then some people don't have no symptoms such Such a fucking mind fuck. It is the weirdest thing about the whole thing was the losing of the taste and smell. So that has it come back. Yeah, but it literally came back like mid meal. Like I was like, I mean, it isn't like a cold where it's like a slow, like all of a sudden you're like, oh, I'm starting to taste things. I could taste nothing. And then I took a bite and I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. Spencer is like, what? What? I'm like, I'm starting to taste things. I could taste nothing. And then I took a bite and I was like, oh my God, oh my God.

Spencer was like, what, what? And I'm like, I can taste. That's so weird. It was like somebody flipped a switch. Oh boy. And I was eating like a shitty salad too, which was like the worst thing to be eating. I feel like I just need nutrients

and I can't taste it anyway. Oh my God. It was amazing. And for like three days, everything was the best version of the thing that I've ever tasted in my life. Wow. Yeah, it was crazy. How wild. Isn't that weird? Oh boy that weird it was the same with the smell it was like I couldn't smell anything and then

it was like whoa okay that's hand sanitizer and that's body lotion like it's crazy that reminds me of when I got my wisdom teeth out and I could I couldn't eat anything for like a couple days and I was drinking this like broth that truly I was like, this is the best thing I've ever had. And to the point where like afterwards, like when I was back to normal, I wanted to have it again because I loved it so much. And I was like, this tastes like shit. It's like horrible watered down trash.

But like I was so hungry. Oh my God. That's amazing. Well, okay. I think we should take a quick break and when we come back we will get into return of the bling oh yes and we're back we are back okay so should we go through the plot summary let's do it let's talk it through and then we'll we'll talk to rachel about what it was like to make it sounds good

so um return of the bling now wait what do you want to repeat what episode this was it is episode 13 of season five by the way I've done some voices on American Dad, which is very fun. I think I've done one. Yeah. Seriously? That's fun. Yeah. One.

Oh, my God. That's awesome. I think I'm a pickle lady. I've done like random side characters being like, what are you doing? You know, like random stuff. I don't even know what they were. That's the bread and butter of animation, my friend. So fun.

Always happy to be called in for that. Yes. Okay. So the episode starts with Steve shows Stan the grade he got for writing about his hero Legolas from The Lord of the Rings, and Stan takes him to task for not following a real-life hero. And Stan shows him his display case of heroes, the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team and Ronald Reagan.

When Roger reveals that he played on the gold medal winning team as Czech's Lemonu, Stan refuses to accept it until Roger takes him to a players reunion where he's recognized and accepted. Stan is amazed and goes into full-blown hero worship. When Roger reveals he was on performance-enhancing steroids, Stan is appalled. He destroys his shrine to the Olympic team and is at a loss as to what to do next. So he goes to see Nancy Reagan to channel the spirit of Ronald Reagan and interprets the message as him needing to return the medal

to the Olympic Committee. Roger follows Stan and Steve onto the plane, but decides to sabotage it to keep his medal. Stan takes control of the medal when Roger leaves to go to the bathroom, but he actually saws off the plane's wing.

Then the plane crashes. Stan and Steve proceed towards the Olympic Committee headquarters while Roger descends into a golem-like madness. Roger finds Stan and Steve, but leads them to an all-female youth hostel. Steve is incapacitated by the charms of the girls while Olga, the owner, intoxicates Stan. Roger recovers his precious medal, and just as Stan is about to give up, he sees the spirit of Ronald Reagan, who rallies him to keep going. Stan recovers the medal and punishes Roger by throwing him in with the British tourist girls.

Stan makes it to the Olympic Committee headquarters, but just as he's about to drop the medal into the torch, Roger attacks him one last time and falls into the flames, which turn out to be fake. Stan tries to give the medal back to the official, but finds out that no one cares because the miracle on ice was good for the committee. Stan is told that Reagan already knew about the steroids and paid off the committee to look the other way. When Steve enlightens Stan about heroes, Stan starts to speak, but is attacked by Roger, who bites off his finger simply because it was done in the movie. Meanwhile, back from a mission, Reginald hangs out at the Smith house. He previously, his previously cold relationship with Haley hits absolute zero when in the laundry, he shrinks her dress that she wanted to use for a date with her new boyfriend, Ian. Reginald offers to take her to a shaggy concert, but Haley isn't impressed. At the concert, Haley wants to leave, but is jostled by a drunk punk and Reginald demands

an apology, but is refused and he gets medieval on the punk, impressing Haley. Later over cognac, Haley reveals her relationship isn't all it's cracked up to be. Reginald tells her she should find someone more mature. Feeling tender, Hayley starts to kiss Reginald, but he stops her, telling her he's already in a relationship and wouldn't feel right cheating on his girlfriend. Heading off to bed, Hayley extends an invitation

to Reggie if he changes his mind. And there you have it. Yeah, I like this because it dipped in and out of Lord of the Rings. Yes, it is. That's what I love too. It was like bestiality in Lord of the Rings. Yes.

Hayley hooking up with a koala. Yeah, exactly. Now, Rachel, did you push for this episode? Were you like, I love Lord of the Rings. Somebody write Lord of the Rings. Or were you like, ooh, how fun. A, like this, it was so fun. I hadn't seen this episode in a decade.

Like, no joke. And I watched it the other day because I was like, oh, my God, right. Yes, we did this episode. And then I'm like, a date with Ian. I'm a married woman. Haley's been married forever. And then I was like, oh, wait a minute. This is before she was married to Jeff.

It was really fun to revisit this time in the show. That's so fun. And I mean, no, I don't think I had any sort of sway with the Lord of the Rings shit, but let's remember that these are animation writers

and you know that they were probably like having a thunderdome in the writer's room over who got to write this episode because they're all such Lord of the Rings dorks. But it was, I honestly don't even know if I'd actually ever seen it

when I watched it the other night. It was hilarious with Roger with the stringy Gollum hair. It was really funny. And it was fun for me, Nicole, I don't know if you agree, but actually getting all of those references very easily. I was like, oh, this is what it's supposed to feel like. Before I would have been like, oh, I think that. Yeah, I was like, ooh, I get it.'s supposed to feel like, you know. Before I would have been like, oh, I think that. Yeah, I was like, ooh, I get it.

Gollum, the stringy hair. Yes. Okay, the ring. It's invisible. Yeah, it's kind of pointless when you're in the middle of nowhere. Right. I was like, okay. Yeah, we got all the jokes.

I get it. Well, and everybody always asks us what our favorite Roger persona is because he's had something like 350 personas at this point in the series. And I've always said my favorite is Chex Lemono. I just totally forgot that that was the episode that it was from. Oh, that's funny. I love Chex Lemono. It's hilarious.

And do you ever watch the show typically or like not so much? This is so awful. I mean, like, again, we're past 300 episodes at this point, which is bananas. So this is going to sound so awful. But if there's ever an episode that I'm like, oh, I really like that or I got to sing in it or it was particularly good for Haley, I will record it and watch it and see how it went. But sadly, no, like when we do Comic-Con, they have to give us refreshers of all the episodes. I love that because i really relate to that and i like i don't always know what i've done or what's going on and also you know i don't

know what i've done or what's going on truly i'm like i would love a refresher on like everything before i have to speak about it like if you do animation which you guys do you know this is a year like a solid year from the time you record it. If you do animation, which you guys do, you know, this is a year, like a solid year from the time you record it to when you actually could even watch it. And so it's like, what was that about?

What did I do? And it's like a day of your life that you said these things and then like, you know, you kind of move on to something else and the idea of being able

to remember all the plot lines later would be astounding. I mean, I'm sure that you know in all the shows that you guys do, like the fans know exponentially more about the show. later. Oh, my God. It would be astounding. I mean, I'm sure that you know, in all the shows that you guys do, like, the fans know exponentially more about the show than I do. Like, they are a wealth of knowledge.

And when they ask questions at conventions and stuff, too, it's always like, oh, God, you probably know the answer to that better than I do. Yeah. That must have been a bummer this year to not be able to do any of that stuff. I feel like that's usually a common thing for a lot of voiceover people. Yeah, it was funny, too, because I had just started dipping my toes into the convention world.

And I remember talking to a fellow voiceover friend of mine who does a ton of them right at the start of the pandemic and being like, hey, are you going to whatever, like Texas or whatever this convention is? And he's like, I don't know. It just doesn't feel like a good idea and now looking back it's like can you imagine a worse fucking place to be during COVID than a convention because everybody's sweaty and they're all and they just want to put their arms around you and touch you and and you're already hand sanitizing like crazy it's just I don't I mean will the convention culture bounce back after this i i can't imagine i think it will eventually but maybe there'll be nice rules where it's like here's an x for you to stand on here's the x where i stand on and it's a little bit apart so we're

not like you know super close to each other which you know is nice because then people will have to learn how to like put like respect boundaries well okay have you ever walked the floor at san diego comic-con i've never been okay i have it it's like new year's eve in time square like it literally can not move it's insane and you'll like hit a wall of people where you're like oh shit i can't there's no direction i can go in right now. That's scary. It is. That's awful. Honestly, that sounds insane for like non-COVID times. I know. It's like panicking. All the people.

You get the Comic-Con crud. Like whenever you do a convention, you pick up something. Like whether it's a gold or. Yeah. It's like if you go to the Great Wolf Lodge, you come home with something. That's how I feel about the Madonna Inn.

Everyone goes there and i'm like those rooms look really um designed to love the madonna and i've never stayed in a room the rooms are so designed in a way where you're like they can't have cleaned all those shells you know what i mean like no you're correct and the rugs like unless they're changing the rugs out every two years because they're thick. All of them, like in the pictures, they look so thick. I just want to stay there so bad. I've never stayed there either.

I mean, I've driven by it a million times, but never stayed. Yeah, me neither. It's fun to visit just the outside. There's a secret garden. They have cakes and stuff. Their cakes are very good. What else did we do? Well, the restaurant's really pretty, too, isn't it?

Oh, yeah. It's kind of a funky, kitschy, cool. Mm-hmm. But, I mean, I don't know how anything's going to be after we get through this with, like, the sort of PTSD that we're going to have. I mean, I know a lot of people, including myself, have nightmares about being close to people. Like, you just are like yeah or like I have I have nightmares I've been having them for 10 months where I'm like on the subway in New York and I realize I'm not wearing my mask and I freak out and I'm like trying to find it and I don't have

it or like it's yeah I mean yeah we're gonna have some serious PTSD it seems impossible I know I truly bought a shield that looks like a full- helmet. I saw that. And I think that's kind of good. I was just like, I don't, I don't want what these people are serving. I don't want it. I'm just like, no, I don't want it. But see, I think at the level, I like those shields. And I, a few of my friends have gotten like really intense like head shields. But have you worn it out? Like, what does it feel like to actually walk down the street in that? Because I think it might feel completely crazy. I think people will laugh at me and I do not care.

I will giggle right back and be like, at least I'm not dead. Yeah, exactly. Right. It's true. I haven't worn it out. I can't walk. I can't go anywhere. So I truly bought it.

I can't wear it at your leg for one day. One day I'll leave. Is it like my friend is an oral surgeon and he sent a picture of his pbe and that's it looks like an astronaut helmet basically that he wears i'm like yeah that's great man i mean like an oral surgeon oh my god yeah i know well he got covid back in march because that was when no one was wearing masks nobody knew anything about viral load it was like he's in somebody's mouth. And he got like, this is a guy that like runs marathons and is super healthy.

And he was down for like a month. Like it was crazy. It kicked his ass. Yeah. No, that's like the worst job to have. Yeah, truly. Being in people's mouths. That's rough.

Actually, I have a dentist appointment coming up and I just thought I should probably just cancel it. I don't have to go. I have been to the dentist during COVID. Me too, but I went six months ago. It's already been so long. Yeah, I know, right? That's crazy.

I'm already back to my next appointment. I'm like, this is nuts. But I'm kind of just wary. I'm wary. Even when I went to the'm like, this is nuts. But I'm kind of like just wary. I'm wary. Even when I went to the eye doctor, I thought, why did I do this? No, I know. I did a couple of appointments too. And it was like, yeah, there were some that just were like, eh.

I don't feel like you're taking it seriously enough, doctor, with your mask kind of hanging. I think just like leaving my house, I feel like, why did I do this? Yeah. Yeah. Well, especially right now because it's feeling like it's spreading so fast out here and it's so common. Yeah. My doctor's in Beverly Hills. And let me tell you something. The people of Beverly Hills, they don't believe in COVID. Dude. Oh, my God. If you get in an elevator with someone in Beverly Hills, I have had this experience. I went to my doctor in Beverly Hills and this woman was in the elevator and she had on a mask. We all have to wear one in the building. And she was like, she said something like, oh my God, I can't wait till

we don't wear a mask. And I was like, yeah, I know. I mean, I agree with that. And then she was like, it's causing me to have problems with my breathing. And I was like, right. I've never heard of that. Okay. Bye. Like, I just didn't get out of here. Everybody who's had problems breathing through a mask, I'm like, I am so fat. And if I can exercise wearing a mask, you can walk for 30 seconds wearing a mask. Also, you can postmate shit. You don't have to be out. You can stay home and not wear a mask.

I just wore an N95 in my house for two solid weeks. Let me tell you, okay? If I can fucking do that, you can wear a mask for 10 minutes to wherever it is that you have to go. It was nothing. After a while, I forgot it was on. Seriously. I was like, I'd fall asleep with it. It was like, it's like, you just got to get used to it.

But Beverly Hills, I read something the other day that was really fucked up where one of my favorite restaurants in Beverly Hills was apparently secretly inviting people to a party. Yes. This is so nuts. It was like, keep it secret, but tell all your friends. But tell all your friends. It literally said they were doing a speakeasy, having an indoor dining New Year's Eve. Because let's do it. If you guys are into this, let's do this.

Don't tell anyone, but tell everyone. Can you believe that? And see you then. Like, that is the craziest thing. And this don't tell anyone but tell everyone and see you then like that is the craziest thing and i don't understand i feel like it's this it just clearly is that same mentality of like i don't believe in this this is a hoax and i'm the exception to this you know i want to go out on new years so sad because i love their salads i was like i don't know if in good faith i can go back there now if this is the shit that they're peddling. I've never been there.

And I was like, oh, it looks kind of cute. And I was like, wait a minute. No, they're bad. They used to have a branch, if that's what you call it. I don't know. In Toluca Lake, where I went like 20 years ago. I used to go there and get their salads. And then they closed.

And so I would go to Beverly Hills. And I can't anymore. I'm done. I'm sorry. It's like fucking Hobby Lobby. It's not happening. Yeah, right. You have to draw the line somewhere. I can't anymore. I'm done. I'm sorry. It's like fucking Hobby Lobby. It's not happening. Yeah, right. You have to draw the line somewhere.

I have to get my chopped salad someplace. But it's insane. I'm sorry. Beverly Hills. Yes. Insane. That's the button on that. It's truly insane.

There's definitely, you know, a handful of people I follow who live in that area and they're celebrities, like famous people who I can tell don't think this is real, but they won't say it. And I'm just going, hmm, there's something about how you're out and about all the time that just doesn't sit right. I think we all have those friends on Instagram where it's like, oh, you're just doing a lot. And I don't get it. I don't understand what, like we're living two completely different lives right now.

Yeah, it's super wild. Our years have been very different. Yeah. I went through a wedding hashtag this morning and saw a bunch of people just, like, celebrating at this wedding of people I truly don't know. I don't know. They were somehow on my explore page, and I was like, all right, I'll look at Steve and Michelle's happy time or whatever the hashtag was. And I was like, oh, wait, they full ass had a wedding two days ago with a bunch of people inside

and they're taking all these pictures. And I was like, this is, it truly is like two separate worlds. Do you know who is fully thriving right now is the Bachelorette, Tayshia. So they were, I love the Bachelorette. I watch these shows, but she, they were fully quarantined and they were all on love the bachelor i watched these shows but she they were fully quarantined and they were all on this resort for the entire time so they were in a bubble whatever

she picked a guy now they they're they're out and about and they are traveling to see and meet all of their family so they're married they're engaged now and they're just going places and there's no explanation of how they're doing it. She's like, no, we're off to meet his family. I'm like, why are you just with your family? This is crazy. It's insane. And it really makes my blood boil because like my children will literally probably have PTSD from this fucking year.

Like at dinner last night, I was like, God, it's amazing. We spent 10 months together. We all certainly like each other. Isn't that great? My 11, I was like, God, it's amazing. We spent 10 months together. We all certainly like each other. Isn't that great? My 11-year-old was like, yeah, but I wouldn't mind hanging out with some other people. Couldn't hurt to see a few other faces. I agree. I agree.

No, we're all together on that. But, like, there are people, I have friends on Instagram, and they are traveling. They're, like, at ski resorts. And I just don't understand. I don't get it. It doesn't get it. I like to think that we're teaching our kids like, hey, we're thinking about other people right now. That's what we're doing.

We're thinking about the greater good and that's what we should do. We can take some time not thinking about ourselves. It's a good lesson. It's a hard lesson. It's a hard lesson. Yeah. Good my my nephews are sick of it so it's it i can't imagine being a kid and having to like at least we can kind of rationalize like this will end like i and i understand like it's okay for me to like miss out on like all the things but like missing out on school feels different like all the sort of experiences that you have when you're growing up. Oh, I know. And when you're when you're like a tween, those are those years, right?

Those are pivotal years. It's it's months in school. It's crazy. My daughter, there's a new girl in her class and she's become very close friends with this kiddo and they're literally FaceTiming constantly. And I said to her a couple of days ago, it's like, honey, isn't it kind of funny that you two have never met? It's like you never met in't it kind of funny that you two have never met? It's like, you've never met

in person. Oh my God. When school starts again, it's going to be seeing like your FaceTime pen pal in person. Totally. They're going to be

the happiest they've ever been. Oh my God. everyone's going to be living 90 day fiance when they finally get to meet their online love and they're like, I've been waiting to see you.

Oh no, the new season, by the way. Wowie. Do you watch Rachel? Have you seen 90 Day? No. What am I missing out on?

Oh, my goodness. You read this in your life. This is the best show. This is a show where people date people in other countries and then they get a 90 day visa to get married and they can come to the States or they can go to the other place. Wow. And usually they hate each other and there's no rhyme

or reason as to why they're still in this relationship. No. Oh my God. It's just the best show. Where do we watch this? TLC, the learning channel.

The learning channel. It's on the learning channel. The learning channel. It truly teaches you nothing. Where you can learn about pimples being popped. I'm sorry. Ever since,

what was it, Trading Spaces? I'm like, the learning challenge. Trading Spaces, which, by the way, was like torture. Like, they'd come into your house and make it so ugly. Awful. Oh, my God. It was the worst. You'd redo it. You'd be like, you put pentagrams on my wall.

Yeah. I'm like, well, I was feeling witchy. Right. And it's like, you can't do that in someone's house. No. Dividing rooms with curtains and, like, awful, like, crepe paper shit. And it's like you can't do that in someone's house no dividing rooms with curtains and like awful like crepe paper shit and it's like oh god it was the tackiest thing ever i could re-watch that that might be fun like sand in people's houses no it was awful yeah i know they'd be

like we're gonna sponge paint some pots and line your whole wall it's like this looks like shit well a lot of people had no interior design skill which is what made it even better they were just like neighbors who were like yeah let's do it and then imagine how much they hated each other after that and they're like I never want to see you again

yeah it's like you'll never get my casserole Susan I had a friend who was on one of those shows and the result was terrible I've seen it. I've like been in the space. It's atrocious. It's like, oh, God, you could not have done this in a cheaper way. It's just terrible.

Yeah, that was part of it, too. Like the budget was like $2. Yeah. Yeah. It'd be like instead of like a beaded curtain, it'd be like solo cups. And you'd be like, what? Why did we do this? But I have started watching House Hunters Renovation.

And it's fun. I don't know. You have all of the House Hunters. But then you have the renovation, like Property Brothers. It's really, I really enjoy it. Oh, that's my jam. I got to get into that. I'm very here for it.

If we're talking voiceover, too, the woman that does the VO for House Hunters has the sweetest gig in the fucking world. I swear to God. How many years has that been going? And's so many beautiful it's just beautiful how do you get that my roommate follows her on instagram and then dm terms like we love you andromeda she was i didn't even know her name her name is andromeda she was very kind but i was like he's you're being crazy i love that kind but I was like he's you're being crazy I love that that's it seems like a really sweet gig too because you can just kind of bang them out like there's like endless episodes no and there's no vocal strain there this is not like recording call of duty or something yeah it's just talking that's it just nice talking you never have to scream dream dream job right there

what's like the weirdest voiceover job you've had that stands out as like or like the weirdest like out of your wheelhouse or something so like we all have things we know we can't do right like you you like get to that point and you're like oh i can't do that like you're asking me to do this thing and i can tell you i can't do it like i i do a lot of old lady voices and i do a lot of accents. But I remember an episode, I can't remember what it was, where they were like, can you do old French? And it was something about combining my placement for old people with my French. It just I couldn't do it. Like I literally couldn't do it. I was like,

it just was terrible, terrible. That's funny. I feel like that it's like it's kind of like an awkward moment in voiceover jobs when they ask you something like that and you just have to try it out like yeah you don't know and you just have to do it and I've had that with singing because I don't think I'm a great singer like I can carry a tune but it's not my I wouldn't put that on my resume right and I but I've had to sing as characters before and things and it it feels crazy because i'm like you will see my limits up here like it right it will happen we all have them in front of your eyes as you try to watch me hit this note with this voice on by the way it's like this is insane it's just humiliating i can't do like an evil cackle like i i that is i cannot do that i could never do that i can sort of do one now but i had

years where i couldn't scream and i couldn't cackle like i had like real like it just wouldn't yeah totally cackling is really really hard cackling is really hard and i wouldn't say mine is good but i can push something out but like when you hear someone who can really do one yeah it's like a good one mine mine doesn't compete with that I had to um I had to have a stunt cackler once really it was an episode of I think it was American Dad where Haley was off the rails on something and I had to like cackle throughout the whole thing and it just it kept I was like oh my god this sucks like this is not good and I asked my friend Dee Baker who's Klaus who's like the voiceover god and And I'm like, Dee, I need cackling lessons.

And he like tried to help me and I still couldn't get it. And I went and I'm like, you got to fucking get a stunt cackler because I can't do this. I love that, though. Like, I feel like that's something that you like you don't realize is possible. And then you'll just drive yourself crazy and feel bad and be like, I couldn't do it. It's like, hey, someone's really good at that. It's good, right? I mean, I don't know if I'm sure I can say this.

It's probably common knowledge, but I do most of Meg's singing for Family Guy. That's awesome. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, because, you know, it's not Mila's jam. She doesn't sing. She'll own that completely. And so I just stunt sang for their Christmas episode a couple days ago. That's awesome.

Because I do think that's something that's kind of, it feels like it's implied, like you have to be able to do both of those things. I'm like, not everyone can do that. No, I can't. Singing is a very special skill. It's so hard. I think people just assume, too, when you do voiceover that you can do it. I know I do.

I just assume that I'm like, oh, everybody can sing, right? It's like, no, no. I truly can't like hear notes. I'm like fully tone deaf. I had to sing for a job and at the table read before i started singing i said this will be so awful i promise you and oh boy i got laughs for all the wrong reasons and then when we were recording it and they're like and we'll get to the song later and then they're like that's a wrap on you this season i was like they didn't i was like so they just took

care of it they didn't oh i wasn't like are you sure you don't want to try it it was like, they didn't. I was like, so they just took care of it. They didn't. Oh, I love that. It wasn't like, are you sure you don't want to try it? It was like, you don't have to worry about this. We will do it. That's amazing. That's really nice. It was so kind that it wasn't like a, let's try it. Because I've had jobs where they're like, let's speak sing. And I'm like, guys, you don't want this.

No. And like, it's not the intended like product. You know what I mean? Like it's like, you want something that sounds good. It's only audio. Like you need to. I also think like my husband's an artist and we've had this fight for 20 years where he's like, I'm like, you could teach somebody to draw, but you cannot teach somebody to sing. I truly do not think you can teach somebody to sing. Okay, that's really interesting. I'm curious about that. Like I have sung in my life, like in choir growing up or whatever.

And I was like, fine. Then I didn't do it for a long time. And I am like, I can carry a tune, but I also know when I'm really off. Like I can hear that I'm off, but I can't fix it. Do you know what I mean? Yes. And I took one singing lesson like last year

because I was, I've been wanting to do it forever. And I, but I've been nervous about it because I feel like it's so vulnerable. And it was so vulnerable that I truly was like, I cannot continue doing this. I feel so embarrassed because I know I'm not doing well yet. And I, and it's like, it might have a bit of a perfectionist problem where I'm like, I want to be good immediately. And it's kind of awkward for you to watch me suck at this. Right. But I'm like,

I, part of what I thought was going to stop me was she was like, you have to do these warmups every day. And I was like, no, right. Like, I don't want to do that. You're asking too much of me. I know. Plus I'm sorry. I don't warm to do that. I couldn't possibly. That's too much.

You're asking too much of me. I know. Plus, I'm sorry. I don't warm up. I mean, like, I'm lucky if I warm up before I say. I don't think people really warm up. See, like, me going like, occasionally. Yeah, exactly.

Every day is going to, like, make it really happen. Like, I don't know. Yeah. So you believe it's, like, kind of like an innate thing. I do. I really, really do. Where I think, like, seriously, my husband's like, I know you can teach me how to sing. And so my daughter has a great voice and she's got incredible pitch and she can harmonize.

She's been able to harmonize since she was five. She can just do it. She gets it. It like makes sense to her. And my husband will like try to teach him how to harmonize. And he, I'm like, you hear that you're not singing the same thing as me, right? And he's like, nope, I can't tell. I'm not singing the same thing as you. And he is off and it's like, I'm like you hear that you're not singing the same thing as me right and he's like nope I can't tell I'm not singing the same thing as you and he is off and and it's like I'm like you can't I can't teach you I think you can kind of like fine-tune a talent but it's hard to

teach someone like fully a talent but did it like Reese Witherspoon learn how to sing for walk the line but again I think if she already if you have a foundation where you understand pitch right and you understand musicality a little bit and you can sing on key then you can get to different levels yeah but if you can't hear it i think that's the thing it's like teaching somebody to hear harmony right that makes total sense it's like if you can't hear that you're wrong at all we'll never get through this like there's like, if you can't hear that you're wrong at all, we will never get through this. Like, there's no way for you to ever hear you're right. Like, that's

just doesn't work. Right. Like, people you're like, ah, and they're like, ah. Can you hear that you're not singing the right note? And they can't. They're like, no, I can't tell. Yeah, that's me. Luckily, you have many other talents. Yeah, you don't need it you're good right okay thank you we don't all that's what i said to my daughter we don't all need to do all the things right

that's what my mother used to say no and that's a good lesson yep we have one or two things that we can do well and that's great let's be happy oh my god have you seen soul. I loved soul. Oh my God. I loved soul so much. I was like, Mike and I were sobbing, holding hands. See, I watched it with the nice man who lives with me and he doesn't emote. So I was like,

don't cry. You won't have a friend to cry with you. But how do you not cry? I mean, like that was a, it's funny. I, we tried to watch it with the kids.

Turns out not really a kid's movie. More for grownups. I know my friend said this about she watched it with her son and he's seven and she was like, he started having like an existential breakdown. It's a lot to try to explain to a kid. But I don't necessarily think it's bad because death is an interesting thing and it happens. And, you you know why not talk about it early well and you know we were i was putting my daughter to bed and the other night and after we watched it and she said mom you know that line where she said um that the fish um wanted to go to the ocean but and then he found out he had always been in the water you know what did that mean i didn't get that and it was such an interesting conversation and to have about um you know what is it life is what's happening to you while you're making plans right like like this

is you know it's the small things in life he didn't realize that he was actually he was already in the ocean yeah and so i mean you know there were definite things she picked up on from it but i think overall it's it's kind of like um coco where oh my god i can't watch that movie without i sob at the end i haven't seen the ending which is like the most insane thing for me to say i didn't want to say it lauren you i know i know i know i don't know why i didn't watch the end and then i i did something else and then i just never watched it it's and like if you happen to have somebody that you love that has died and the end of coco will decimate you okay literally also i just watched it's not a pixar movie but it's called

40 year old virgin or no not virgin virgin okay i was gonna say it's not a picture and it's hilarious like it's so funny he's never had sex. This newcomer, Steve Carell, is so great. I think he's really got a career ahead of him. When they rip off that chest hair. It's just so good. It's done in black and white. It's a comedy, but also a drama. It has popped up on my Netflix.

I didn't know what that was. You watch it. It's really fucking good. Okay, cool. The music in Soul was beyond. Oh, my God. good. Okay, cool. The music in Soul was beyond. Oh my God, the music was so good. Oh, the music in Soul was so good. Well, at first I was like, without giving anything away, I was like, I want to just watch these people do a jazz performance for an hour and a half.

But that doesn't happen. Then you're like, it's still amazing music. Well, that's not happening. And I don't like jazz, but I was like, I think I like jazz. Well, imagining the animation like being made made was the craziest part to me. The way the fingers were going over the keys, it was just so impressive. It was some of the most beautiful animation I've ever seen. With the little helicopter thing coming from the tree.

I mean, it was just gorgeous. And then at the very end, when it was made at Pixar and at various homes around the Bay Area from six feet away I literally started to cry when I saw that I was like oh my god oh my god because this entire movie was made in this insane time well I just got chills right that they were able to do that isn't that incredible I don't even understand that at all I don't know I don't understand animation at all I think me either I'm like blown away by it. Well, I mean, I remember the beginning of March finding out that we were shutting down. Everybody was shutting down. All the shows were, you know, ending. And it was like, oh, crap. Like, this is really scary. What are we going to do for work? And within two weeks, we were back working. working and the animation industry pivoted so fast and I've recorded dozens and dozens of broadcast quality shows from here hello this is my husband's shirts like it's insane it is amazing

they were able to figure it out no it's it's so awesome and it's been I mean that's been like a nice comfort even just for the random little jobs I'll get for voiceover during this time and being like, OK, this is something that can keep happening, which totally feels good. Oh, my God. I've never felt more lucky to work in animation than I have this year because I just kept working. I mean, and you couldn't have predicted that, like they could figure that out and that it would work and all that stuff. Like, I mean, it's it sounds just as good and it's great. Like, I mean, it sounds just as good and it's great. Well, and everybody was so helpful, too, because we all had to figure out, like, you know, getting these different things like SourceConnect so that you could be on with all of your different producers and directors at the same time. And my little community of animation voiceover actors came together and everybody helped everybody figure it all out and get our system set up and up and running.

I love that. Yeah, it was incredible. It was such a feeling of community. Because everybody just wanted everybody to work, you know? Right. I mean, I will say, I love going to a studio and not having to set things up. And then they're like, oh, it's too loud in that room. Like, OK, let me try to find another quiet room. I know. I have to say my closet is not ideal. I was like, I had a whole setup. They brought over like a full computer. Like they gave me like all this stuff just for a one session. And they came and got it right after I was done. Really? I had to set up like a huge amount of

technological things by myself. And it was very confusing. And then I'm like standing in my closet, which is not comfortable. It's like very small. And I'm like leaned against my skirts and being like, I'm screaming in my closet at 10 a.m. Like it feels insane. What? My shirt keeps attacking me. All right. I will tell you a funny story here. We actually left L.A. for four months of the pandemic to live with my dad, who lives, is over on Kauai. And so there were no cases there.

We had access to incredibly safe travel, thanks to a member of my family. And so we went and we spent four months. That's brilliant. But I needed to work while I was there. So there was an upstairs closet that we, my husband turned into my studio. The only thing is it had no vents, nothing. Right. Oh, no. So it was the heaviest blankets you could possibly imagine encasing this room with no vents.

So I would do a five minute session and it was like I'd taken a fucking Bikram yoga class. I was I would literally record naked, like sweating and come out and just be like, oh, my God. Like, I can't. The sessions that were longer than that were like it was the most horrific torture. Yeah, it was torture. It was like we like set up this this like MacGyver air conditioning thing where it was like a tackle box with ice packs and a fan

that would like blow over the ice packs to try to cool the room. I feel like it'd be so amazing to watch the episode of whatever you recorded and then see a side-by-side

with you like sweating naked in a closet and just like that's how this was made. Seriously. This episode brought to you by

BO. Yeah. It was ridiculous. But I we can we can do this from anywhere which is what we learned from that that's what's amazing I know and same with podcasts I mean it's like really been a blessing to be able to do the podcast from my bed you know I feel pretty great about that yeah well I'm sure it's kept you kind of sane doing this too it has it's been nice like seeing each other and seeing friends and feeling like, OK, we're having a conversation. It feels like, you know, a normal thing. But yeah, it's I mean, it's a little slice of normal time.

It's weird because I'm like, I sort of don't miss going to studios because it fills your day like driving around town and doing all these different things. Yeah. But I will be happy to go anywhere when it's possible so yes don't worry that fully do you guys know a lot of people that have left la because we know a lot of people that have i've been like moved away yeah like yeah i know i know i've moved away i know like a handful of people that i don't know well but that I heard through grapevine they moved. But yeah, no, I know a lot of people were talking about like, oh, is this the time to bounce? It's just so interesting how many people I'm like, oh, oh, you're there now.

OK, that's where you live. You're right. Because I mean, I guess in voiceover, it's true. We really can do this from anywhere. Truly anywhere. Right. But it's funny because when my husband and I were talking about it and we were like, do we want to stay in L.A.? It was like,

one of the things I realized is that I do like the human element of going to the studio and talking to people. And I like table reads and I like seeing my castmates and I like that element of it.

I think I would, I don't think this would sustain me. No, and I do think doing this for a very long period of time would start to feel like a bummer. Yeah. If it's, you know, the one

way you're seeing a lot of people. Yeah, I know. I can't. I can't do this forever. No. And I shouldn't have to. No, you shouldn't. Nobody should be doing this forever. No. No, we'll get our vaccines. Yes. Right? maybe in the summer

i think so i think it's coming it feels like well i have a i'm realizing i have like a handful of friends in the health care industry i didn't really realize that but they're all getting the vaccines now yep and i feel very relieved for them and it feels like okay it's actually it's actually circulating like if all of my people have gotten it that means a lot of people have gotten it yeah absolutely um i know i can't i will oh my god i can't wait the minute that sucker comes my i'm gonna be like okay i was like i'm gonna wait and see how people react now i'm just like give a shit i had a measle fucking shot i had a bunch of shots when i was younger i didn't get the fucking measles so gimme gimme gimme, gimme, gimme.

Well, and the thing is, by the time you get it, you will know how people react. Like, it's like, you know, we have a handful of months probably until it's really coming to us. We'll have a sense of some of the... It seems like everything's going fine. And everything that I have read about it, too, the science behind it, it's fucking unreal that this thing

has been created in the insanely short amount of time that it has and it's like one of the safest vaccines that has ever been created it's crazy yeah like i i've read a lot of good things about it and i feel um excited and so relieved that it's possible because i think when this was all first starting they were like it'll be four years right okay exactly okay so we're inside for four years great well and like i have i know some doctor friends that i respect so much that they were like yes give it to me i'm getting it now like i've done the research this is good i'm taking it yes and that's part of it too like watching

my friends who are like doctors and nurses like getting it and and they're just excited i'm like okay well you would know more than i do. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. I trust them. I know. I can't wait. I'm very excited. Oh, that'll be awesome. Although, I guess maybe I have a tiny little bit of natural immunity now. You must. I think it lasts for a few months. Yeah, a couple months, I think, is

what I've read. I don't know. It changes so quick. I know. Then they're like, there's another strain. Exactly. I'm not going to go licking cans at Costco tomorrow. I'm still going to wear my mask. I like, there's another strain. Exactly. I'm not going to go licking cans at Costco tomorrow. I'm still going to wear my mask. I do love doing that, though. But come on, won't that be fun? Well, we've come to the end of our time with you, even though that we could keep going

forever because you're just delightful. This has been so much fun. Is there anything that you would like to plug besides American Dad? Of course, we will all be plugging that. Oh, gosh. Besides American Dad, of course, we will all be plugging that. Oh, gosh. Well, my husband and I do have a couple of children's books that, yes, we are big fans of.

And we are in the process of trying to convert into an animated series, too, which would be super fun. Cool. Yeah. One is called Eleanor Wyatt, Princess and Pirate. And the other one is Harrison Dwight, Ballerina and Knight. And they're all about helping kids sort of figure out who they are and being okay

with whatever that looks like. I love that. That's awesome. Everyone go buy those. So there you go. Plug, plug, plug. Okay. Well, Nicole.

Oh, me first? Well, I'm going to plug. I have other podcasts. Why Won't You Date Me? Best Friends. Listen to those. Also, rewatch Nailed It because why not? Yeah.

Because it's awesome. Also, if you could hear sniffling, it's my dog. He's, we'll plug it in. He's being so annoying. Oh my God, he's so cute. Babe, look at him though. He's so cute. He's like, why won't you play with me?

You're sitting in a spot where there's a toy next to you. I thought I heard a squeak. I was fully wrestling with my dog like 10 minutes ago. Like my hand was in her mouth while fully talking to you. Can you imagine going through this whole year without dogs? I can't. Oh, it would make me so sad. No, they're amazing.

He's such a good boy. Except for right now. He's like got the squeakiest toy. Lauren, what do you want to promote? Well, I have my podcast, Threedom. I have my Patreon, Lauren Lapkus. And besides that, you know, I really don't know when anything that I've done will come out. And so, you know, just listen to the podcast, you know, support the Patreon, whatever.

Nicole, go get Nicole's Patreon and tweet at us and tell us what we should do if we do a third season. We're so scared of our next season, whatever it may be. Rachel, we did Star Wars for the first one. We did Star Wars. We did Star Wars. Now it's Lord of the Rings, which we've really stretched to the max, as you can tell. Have you done H-Pots yet, by the way? Is that on the table?

Harry Potter? Yes. We have seen Harry Potter. Yeah, we've seen and both read Harry Potter. And read it. So we are kind of exempt, but that would have been cool if we hadn't, because I do enjoy it enough that I would have probably had fun. The Star Trek franchise, the OG. We can't.

No. We couldn't possibly. We can't do it. We couldn't possibly. No, no, no, no, no, no. But thank you for that. Thanks for playing. Also, I've seen Star Trek Next Generation, so I've seen it, so we couldn't dip

in there. So yeah yeah we can't do it and we actually have this is kind of tricky then it is we want to do Tyler Perry movies yes wow

that would be amazing holy shit I think if we did 10 episodes with 10 Tyler Perry movies that would be that would be you know

digestible how many have there been? I don't know probably so many i don't know many because so many tv shows that are like yeah he's got like i don't know 10 tv shows and then like i don't know maybe 20 movies he's done he's done so much he does a lot of quantity yes a lot of shit a lot yes well we have to as a producer and an actor too wow um that is really fun okay yeah i think that could be As a producer and an actor, too. Wow. That is really fun. Okay.

Yeah. I think that could be a great time. And I think it'd be really different. Yeah, we just did Tyler Perry. We could watch Gone Girl because he's in Gone Girl. I was just going to say. I loved him in Gone Girl. I loved that. Loved him in that.

That's a fun movie. It's such a wild ride. I haven't seen it in so long. And I saw it in theaters. And I remember at one point I just opened my mouth and was like, what? No. Yeah. Probably the scene when she's with Neil Patrick Harris.

Yeah, yeah. That's a moment. It's so nuts. It really is. I had read that book and so I was not surprised but I remember being like, with whoever I was with, I was like, wait till you get to the twist. Please. Oh, Warren.

So proud of reading a book. Oh, Warren. So proud of reading a book. Oh, my God. Should we do the Battle of the Five Star segment? Yes. This is our segment where we read your five-star reviews. So leave a review on your favorite podcast platform for a chance to have it read on air.

This one is called Representation Matters by Princess MYD on Apple Podcasts. I really appreciate the new perspective Nicole and Lauren have brought to the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fandoms. So many white men make money from mansplaining geek culture on YouTube and on podcasts, and it's refreshing to see two amazing women enter this space, even if they're not huge fans. I hope to see more women, and particularly women of color, embrace their inner geek and find opportunities to profit from it. Thanks, Princess MYD. You really nailed what we're doing here.

It's really funny. Well, we'll be back next week with our final episode of the season. We are doing it. We're going out with a bang because it's something that I think neither of us want to do. And I'm really excited to do it and to wrap it up with L-O-T-R, even though we've had a blast in many, many ways. It's the thing about it is it's like the the the work is hard, but then the podcast is fun.

Yes, the podcast is so much fun. Speaking to different people has been a true, just a blast. A real treat, if you will. But yeah, like having to watch all these fucking movies alone because people leave the room. I have a question for you. Are you watching the like extended cuts? No, friend. No.

No, no, no. No, no. No, no. Good choice. I think if something was edited, it was edited for a reason and we don't need to see it. No. No, no, no. No, no. No, no. Good choice. Yes. I think if something was edited, it was edited for a reason. And we don't need to see it. Thank you.

Thank you for respecting that. Because I do feel like that was contentious at moments. But I think it was the right choice. I agree. Some people were like, you're missing because of the part where this happened. And we were like, it's fine. Nope. Nope.

Don't care. We're good. We're good. You don't need it. Well, thank you so much, Rachel, for being here. It was so fun talking to you. Oh, my God fine. Nope, don't care. We're good. We're good. You don't need it. Well, thank you so much, Rachel, for being here. This was so fun. It was so fun talking to you.

Oh my God, thanks for having me, guys. This was a blast. See you next week, everyone. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

That was a Hiddem Original.