SitcomD&D - Season 5 Reflections

Episode Date: August 6, 2024

Ben, Elizabeth, Erin, Sean, and Waleed take a minute to reflect on the season that just wrapped and the show as a whole. Starring: Erin Keif, Waleed Mansour, Elizabeth Andrews, Sean Coyle, and Ben Briggs.Theme Song by Arne ParrottArtwork by Waleed MansourEdited by Sean MeagherSee 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 Podcast. Welcome back to Sitcom D&D, a real play Dungeons and Dragons podcast recorded in front of a fake studio audience. Wait, that's, was that the part we were talking about? We were talking about the dice part. I'm at the dice part? I'm at the dice part. I just wanna scream dice. Dice.

We'll do the dice part as well. Let Pellead scream dice. I just wanna scream dice. I hate that part. The part you just did is my least favorite part of the show. Y'all, you heard it. Ben's here for this reflection episode. We gave it away.

Dice. Dice. Dice. Oh my god. What an instant mess we have on our hands here. But okay, this does come with an announcement, and it's kind of a heavy announcement. This show, sitcom D&D, is going on an indefinite hiatus. I just want to say we're all so proud of that.

Guys! Hey, I had my headphones off for one second, and I just wanted to say before we get any further, I'm ready to come back, you guys. Oh, no. That's really fucking funny, man. Yeah. Ben, that's really good.

Oh. Oh, god. People are grieving. Stop laughing. What's happening good. Oh God. People are grieving. Stop laughing. What's happening? Oh no. Okay. So, goodness gracious, we do really want to express just how proud we are of the 110 main

feed episodes that we've put out, how grateful we are to Headgum for being such an awesome home to this project, and yeah, really how eternally grateful and thankful we are to you, the listeners, for supporting this show and allowing us to do this for as long as we have. So thank you. You know, this may be something, this show, sitcom D&D, that we return to down the road, whether that be one year from now, two years from now, 25 years from now, 50 years from now. But at this moment- That's the funniest choice.

I will be long dead, so y'all are gonna have to weekend to Bernie's chalice. Okay, fun. Okay, if you're into it, then go for it. But yes, at this moment, we do not have any formal plans in place. Truthfully, we've been trying to figure out a way to keep this thing going behind the scenes,

which is why we ended season five. So open-ended the way that we did, but still with closure. But ultimately, we all came to the conclusion that it's best we put this project to rest for the time being. That said, we're going to end this season the same way we've ended all our seasons with a little reflection episode.

So let's go all the way back to season five, episode one, and yeah, let's get into it. Back in a time when Ben was still with us. Still alive. Still alive. We didn't have to go. Also, we all haven't seen Ben in months. I know, Ben has really good-

He has changed. He is chiseled. He's different, and it's not good, it's not bad. It's just different. I'm telling you, he looks like a man. I'm telling you, it is bad. It's worse. I see, I was going for worse.

I wore this tattered shirt and stuff. It's poop colored. Can I be honest, Ben, it looks like you went through whatever machine they put Captain America in. Right, Aaron? I'm saying something happened. His muscles are bigger. His glasses are taller. I think his hair is just shorter,

makes his head look bigger. That's what I think's going on. His style can only be described now as Dobbycore. Is that Dobby from Harry Potter reference? The very same. Yay, good. Versus the other Dobby? Versus the mascot of Dippin' Dots.

Yeah. D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d- Ben, be honest. Did you listen to any of the episodes since you've left? Good question. I listened to four. No! That's the funniest answer. No! And then I fell behind. Which four?

The four right after. Oh, you wanted to hear us sad about Seb. You just wanted to hear us at morning. Let's be honest, you and everybody else, am I right? Okay. Yeah, I'm looking at the numbers. We had a huge drop after season five, episode 12. Oh, jeez. I stopped listening.

Enormous. Yeah, it's funny, yeah. None of us were listening during recordings. I'm planning to go back. I just haven't had a chance, so no spoilers, okay? Yeah, sure, Ben. We're literally, that's the point of this episode. That's the point of this episode. I'm planning to go back. I just haven't had a chance. So no spoilers, okay?

Yeah, sure, Ben. We're literally, that's the point of this episode. That's the point of this, man. It's reflections. Okay, well just say, here, mobs, and I'll take mine off, all right? Don't talk about the season, whatever you do. Ben, at any point today, did you go like,

oh, shoot, this is reflections. I should probably skim through this, have chat GBT do a transcript. You should have dumped it into chat GBT. What happened season five in sitcom D&D and chat GBT. Actually, I'd be very, I'd pay money to get those results. I'll do it right now. Please.

Thank you, Waleed. Now, Ben, be honest, was it because someone said something that really turned you off to listening further or was it just life that got under your pitucus? I will be honest. I listened to it after for the four episodes and I thought I was going to like it more because historically I haven't necessarily loved listening to the episodes because I don't like the sound of my own voice. True, you have said this.

But it made me really sad and it was like this, wow, that was truly an end of an era. Waleed, do you have... I do have the answer from ChatGBT who confidently said, I said, what happened at the end of season five of sitcom D&D? ChatGBT confidently said, I said, what happened at the end of season five of sitcom D&D? ChatGBT confidently says, at the end of season five of sitcom D&D, the group face a climactic battle against the Dark Lord and his minion.

And that's it? The season five featured high stakes moments where each character had to confront their personal fears and make critical decisions. The episode ended on a cliffhanger with the fate of one of the main characters left uncertain after a dramatic and emotional sacrifice. Fans are eagerly awaiting season six to see how the story unfolds and whether the character will survive. Did chatGBT just make up what they thought a sitcom D&D hypothetically would be? That sounds like season, the end of season four almost.

That sounds like Hello from the Magic Tavern. It does sound like Hello from the Magic Tavern. I think I was in that episode. Oh, shit. Dang. Well, I don't remember any of that. Me either. What do we remember?

Who can name the first episode of the season without looking? Anyone? Rock it to the moon. Ah, poor kissing voice. Yeah, Elizabeth is correct. Can't believe no one else was raising their hand or trying to answer.

Rock it to the moon. Who remembers what happens in that episode? Not me. Not me. Anybody? Hands up. My hands are raised. I guess nobody.

Beef can't sing, needs thing. Come on, Aaron. You guys are like, Aaron, hurry. Get on it. This joke is painful for me to keep up with. Aaron looks so eager. And is this what this episode is, Sean, where you're going to go through episode by episode and ask us what happens in each one?

Not episode by episode. It's episode by episode. It's episode by episode. It's episode by episode. It's episode by episode. It's episode by episode. It's episode by episode. It's episode by episode. Aaron looks so eager. And is this what this episode is, Sean, where you're going to go through episode by episode and ask us what happens in each one?

Not episode by episode, minute by minute. Only four, and then he's going to stop. The best moment in season five, episode one, to me, is when we all write the song together. That's what I was going to say. You could just talk, Aaron. You're more than welcome to. Can you sing any of the song that Arnie wrote for you? I remember her part.

And the heart is in its neck, or heart is in its butt. Yeah! Well done! That was like the melody and the line. And the heart is in its something. I remember Goog. Well done. That was like the melody and the line. It's something hard, isn't it? Something. I remember Googling interesting facts. I just remember rhyming Fountainside with Mountainside.

Yeah, I do remember that. What a great job, I mean, that Arnie has done throughout the entire show of making music for this. I mean, I just listened to the opening theme again, listening to season four reflections. What an absolute banger. Yeah.

Our theme song had no right being as much of a banger. It truly. Too clever, too clever. Every Tuesday driving to work, like we all have to, and I would listen to that song right down my little neighborhood street street every time, every Tuesday. And it was just like, it always brought a little smile. It was so good.

I would always sing a little part of it, different part every time. So catchy. Yeah. So catchy, so many levels to it, cause one, it just slaps. Two, it sounds like a sitcom theme song. Three, it uses in the lyrics,

I don't know, 25 different sitcom names. Well, Armie Parrott has talked about this publicly before, but if everyone wants to know the origin of this song. So he was having really, really bad writer's block, and this was due for us. And he went to his therapist, and he was talking about having writer's block. And she said, why don't right now you and me sit down

and try to come up with as many references to sitcoms as possible. And he sat with his therapist and wrote the entire song in therapy, which I love. It does have a therapist touch to it. And I love that. I feel like you can feel it when you listen to it, that it was like our sweet Arnie Parrott

being well taken care of. I'll be honest, the first time I heard it, I went, this is too good for us. This is, we have no business bringing this to the table. All right, this is beyond professional. We almost threw it away because we were like, it's too good. Yes. We start over.

That's just for us. No, we freaking ran with that one. Can I rewind a little bit more from the first episode of the season to what our plans were going into this season? Yes. I think we should tell the people. Going into the season, we thought that Ben, sweet Ben, that's Ben over there. That's me.

The Hulk. We knew that Ben was leaving, but originally the plan was to have him leave at the end of the season. And so when pitching the season, we wanted to do, we wanted there to be some contention between Chalice's dad, the king, and the bugs, just to keep that storyline going a little bit. And so we decided to do that law thing that we ended up doing where they keep introducing

more and more laws. And then it was supposed to be Seb who was inspired to run for office. And then the whole season, back half of the season would have been focused on Seb becoming mayor. And then that would have catapulted him into leaving the show. Not we wouldn't have thrown him out like a catapult,

but it would have gently. Well, we could have. We could have. And it is so funny how life imitates art because Ben got too old and couldn't run. Yeah. He did the right thing. He bided in it.

He bided in it. Let's let a woman run. Yeah. Except the base. A woman of it. Let's let a woman run. Uh-huh. Except the base. A woman of color. Are we talking about Jennifer? We're now her. Her.

Gray fur. Oh my God. I am so proud that I laid the just the prototype for Joe Biden to follow. Yes. You did it first. Beautiful. I mean. I did it first. You made it so he felt comfortable to do it.

Yeah. He said that in his letter. You walk so Joe Biden could walk really slow. Okay. Okay. We're having fun. Yeah, we're all having fun. That's a lot of fun.

Everybody's laughing. There was a reveal in the last episode of the season, Ben, that Jennifer's real name is Jenna-fer. What are your thoughts? That's awesome. I mean, it's cute. I mean, I love it. Ben has had some distance, so it didn't spark the same rage in him that it did in us.

We were too close to the situation to be able to emotionally handle it well. It did break my canon brain that I do like to stick to canon as closely as possible. And I was happy to read in the Discord that Jennifer does have a separate last name. Smalls. Smalls. Yes. Which you knew?

Yeah, she forgot about that. Okay. She forgot about that. I know everything. When did that happen? In the flashback, I believe I coined it. No. And I had completely forgotten about it,

except for someone in the Discord made an amazing mayoral campaign ad for Jennifer. Oh yeah. And it's so funny, it's so good. I gotta shout them out, I gotta look that up. I just had to take a second to praise the discord Cuz going on the discord and listening and reading every what everyone was saying I was like these people are way smarter. These people are way smarter

The the things that they're saying and the jokes that they're popping off. I was like, I don't know if I can be here They this is it. it's too good. Yeah, people are funny in our Discord. Yeah. Proper funny. Yeah, proper funny for real. Proper funny. And also they have way better memory than me.

I think that's everybody though, but. I think, isn't that a common thing though, where like fans of a thing know the thing better than the people in it? I hope so, cause... Like I will, I remember listening to the Scrubs podcast and being like, you guys don't know shit about this show. I remember like Zach Graf, did you even watch this thing?

And then he was kind of like, no, not really. Like, oh, that makes sense. Like I've seen every episode 12 times, and they've seen it only while they were filming it. Elizabeth, I do think also, you go into some sort of fugue state when you play beef, that somewhere in between consciousness and unconsciousness. So I think it's just, it's amazing to me

you even remember recording. You just disappear into your character so much. I do remember you coming, as soon as we hit pause or stop on a recording session, you would go, huh, huh, huh, where was I, where was I? You know, it would be bleeding like an 11. What did I say, am I canceled, am I canceled? Be honest with me.

Yeah, and you guys had to tell me if I was canceled yet or not. And it was always yes. It was always yes, but we'll edit it out. Wow. Yeah, no. So going into season five, we knew we were going to kind of like split the season in half anyways, but thinking that the first half would be,

okay, we want this one to be episodic. I think season four, we had all felt, was like pretty narratively driven with the curse and family playing a role in each of the characters lives and like the journey for and quest for familial love that was then resolved at the end. A big overarching story that each episode, it felt a little bit less episodic and more serialized, I guess, is maybe the way to say that.

And then season five, we were excited to be like, man, those were some high stakes emotionally and physically for the characters, wouldn't it be fun to balance this out with a more episodic season, with more bottoms up situated episodes, at least within Friends? Yeah, I think that was definitely part of it was wanting to stay closer to home,

because I felt like in the previous season we were out and about a lot, so being able to do more bottoms up stuff was something that we were looking to do. I think we made it happen too. It was fun. It was fun. It also made it pretty easy for Ben

to skedaddle when he wanted to. Yeah, that kind of just worked out. Cause there's a natural transition into, we knew it was going to go from like, laws are abusing bottoms up into someone's going to run for mayor, which was going to go from like laws are abusing bottoms up into someone's gonna run for mayor which was gonna happen like midseason shift it worked because you all made it work because it was like from the point where I went you guys looked I can't do this anymore you guys were like okay what

can we do and like boots on the ground came together around me in a way in a supportive way where it wasn't like a, are you sure? Can't you just like go a little bit longer? Come on, don't be a wimp about this, you piece of shit. Like keep on going. Like it was like, everyone was like, let me support you. Oh, that text didn't go through?

My diary didn't make it to you. Yeah, I thought Elizabeth mailed her diary to you. I only read about four pages into that one. That's not what she liked to. Damn, Ben, I missed you so much. Good to see you. But I think from my perspective, it works because you guys all rallied around.

It was like, this is the way it's gotta be and let's make this work. And I think it worked out beautifully. So you're not disappointed that Seb is still alive because there's a little bit of me that's kind of pissed about that. That you didn't kill me? A little bit, just a little bit.

Okay, roll for initiative. Roll for initiative. Let's go, let's go. If I could go back in time, I would have pitched Seb faking his death. Oh, that's good. That feels like the most on brand for Seb is we think he's dead on the show and he's not.

I did, when we were filming the episode, Ben, you did a joke where it was a cardboard cutout, and then you were like, just kidding, that's, and then I'm over here. And then there was a little part of it that's like, it would be so funny if the show ended with us talking to this cardboard cutout, and Seb is gone and we never really say bye.

Oh, that would be heartbreaking. Because everyone said something nice. It was tearful, and then it would have just been nothing. And it just falls over in the wind. It also would have been funny if there was no goodbye, and Seb's in the rest of the season, where the audience knows he's a cardboard cutout. And you guys are like, Seb's being really weird.

I think we're drifting apart. So many of us opportunity. I'm getting way closer with him. What do you think Seb's doing right now, Ben? I think he is really sunburnt. That's so fucking funny. Not in the way you think. He's been summiting mountains.

Ah, elevation sunburn. But he doesn't know why. Yeah, he's a sisyphus task, keeps forgetting why he's summiting a mountain every single day. He's hoping that his friends will come and find him. So he's just in this. We kept sending care packages.

Did you think we got any of them? Yeah, you didn't get any of those? Oh God. No, no. Yeah, Beef sent his diary, did you get Beef's diary? Also, the show ended with Seb being at all of our funerals, and Seb staying on forever, so.

That's true. Whatever he was doing on that mountain is working. That must confuse you. Hearing that, it sounds like all of our characters die at the end of the season. The way that was just worded. Or everyone. Everyone except for Seb faked their own death. Oh, that's nice too.

Yeah. But you guys are all probably dead. Let's be honest, as soon as Seb left, it was just a matter of time. Oh yeah, we were lost. It was basically lost after you left. No one could heal. No one could heal anyone. We had no healing person.

I stayed out of battles, Seb, because you were the only one that can save me during those moments because I always almost die or die and come back. And I wasn't making big improv moves because you're the only one who can save us from comedy mistakes too. Yeah, I stopped. Yes, Andy. And after you left. Yeah. Before you hopped on the call, Ben, I said, it's going to feel kind of like when Ben comes on this call, the energy of someone walking to a room with a glass of water being like,

wait, what did I miss? Everyone's talking about something different with a different energy. I know. And it's so funny, because it's also such a sub thing to be like out of a scene and then walk into it two minutes in

and be like, oh yeah, this pizza has magical meatballs on it that are taunting me or whatever. And it's just so funny that like this in a way kind of feels like a sub walking back into a scene. I mean, that's the best that I could do. That's part of the reason why when we started this, I said that I didn't have my headphones on when you said the podcast wasn't going to be going on. And yeah, yeah, I'm ready to come back. You remember that? That was this recording. That was this recording. That was 20 minutes.

24 minutes. We're reflecting on this episode. Let's go ahead and start the reflection on the reflection episode. Oh my God. Can I ask, what was everyone's favorite season? Oh, that's a great question. Interesting. Should we do episode from this season and then favorite season?

Sure. We're starting with episode from this season first. Your favorite episode. Let's look at the ones where Ben's not in. Yeah. I'll go first. I might go the Burt Zanzibis. All right. I loved go first. I might go the Burt Zanzibis.

I loved that episode. The sex ed class, I think was so, so, so much fun. That was really fun. And so romantic at the end. Yeah, but going into the whole, one of my favorite parts of that is at the end when Seb and B for our talking, and we just tell them to stop listening. I think it's a very, very funny and sweet moment.

That's hilarious. I am going to say season five, episode two, all bets are off. When a recently passed law threatens their poker night, the Bugs do everything they can to try and acquire a gambling license. That's when there's like three different gambling areas. One's like a boat, one's up in the sky. That one I remember just like as a DM was so fun cause it was very much like, you've got options here. Like I was very at the whim of whatever you guys wanted to do. I do, you steal that blimp and crash it.

Yeah, we almost crashed it. You almost crashed it, you decide not to. But it gets so off the rails. That's the one where the, when the guy accidentally, hit, and you guys wait. Hold on. Now hold on. That might be, that's gotta be my top three favorite

moments from the show, period. That is so funny. Yeah, like a, what was it? A leash wrapped around his. A jump rope. A jump rope. Rope wrapped around his neck. Wait. Now hold Wait. You guys seemed like you weren't gonna save me for a second there. That was such a fun one to get like swept up in. And like yeah I felt like there's certain

episodes where like we're all being so fast and quippy and it's like setting bottoms up and I'm more like improv focused and like with you guys in the ether in the room. And there's other times where I get swept up in the, like I can like see the episode that we're in, you know? And just like totally completely surrendered and swept up in it and that was definitely one of them. I have two. I think I loved the Sleepy Sunrise,

Assisted Living and the Net episode. Oh, the Net. Oh, the Net episode. With Jake and Amir. God. That might be the hardest I laughed. Yeah, Amir in that episode was just on. A terror.

A terror, yeah. He was a terror. Which is like my favorite thing that he does. And that felt really exciting. What is the robot's name? Oh my God. Oh, we have to do this. Well, it'll come back to me in a minute.

The Sleepy Sunrise One, I loved the moment when they were all sitting in silence with their old person until the other group stopped talking. Until they were popcorned by the previous group. Yeah. That is such a funny meta joke. And it felt like because that episode had such low stakes, we were able to do stuff like that.

I love, those are all my favorites that come D&D episodes where the episodes felt so loose that there was room to do, like, B-plot bits. Like the one, one of my favorite episodes ever, which is that funeral for a friend, one where Seb and Chalice, they've discovered they got close. And it's because that episode felt so straightforward to be in that we were able to, like, play. Yeah.

And they truly discovered. Yeah. They go, whoa, we are close. Oh, man. I think for me, I really liked just kind of the tone set with the first episode of this season, where the tumbleweeds could not have been a bigger bit for us sort of thing.

Just, leave her, leave her. And then just like, I remember just recording that and being like, this isn't, like this, we can't sustain this energy, this is impossible. We're coming in too hot. I do remember after that episode being like, holy shit, that was, we nailed that one. I remember feeling that way. We nailed, nailed that one. I remember feeling that one.

We nailed, nailed that one. You got out, you high-fived your wife, and you were like, that one we nailed. Yeah, I smoked a cigarette after that one. Like, jeez. Print this episode out and get it on the fridge. Ah, that felt good. There are so many episodes that I like,

I'm like, I trust that that will be good. Once it's edited, once it's all put together, once I re-listen back to it, but that was one where I was like, that trust that that will be good. Once it's edited, once it's all put together, once I relisten back to it, but that was one where I was like, that's clean as is. Signs still delivered, yeah. What'd you think the finale been? Four episodes, don't make me say it again, man.

It's embarrassing. I thought about lying to you guys and I decided to be honest. That would have been so funny. Oh, it'd be so funny to see. You lied. You lying. You have to guess how many episodes you had listened to. Yeah, we're like, we get off this recording,

we're like, I think Ben was lying. It sounds like he got to 17. He had no idea. He said something about the Dark Lord and his minions? I think he chat- GVT'd it. I loved this Seb's last episode just because that's like such a special episode and I feel like we all got so emotional at the end and I also really loved the Hey There Delilah episode.

I really loved it. Yeah., yeah. Oh, Rayco's incredible. Crushed it. Crushed it. And just like the world, yeah, the world building of a radio station. I just thought that was really fun. Who also beef, just beef falling in the Cro-Cane episode

is my other favorite season highlight. Yeah, when he fell down a small hill.. When he fell down a small hill. When Beef just fell down a small hill. Yeah, Seb, Beef just kind of fell down a small hill. He kept falling down small little hills. What's the lead up to that? It's like, Beef, are you gonna be good at this? And he's like, yes.

And then he falls down a hill immediately. Yeah, probably. Yeah, he's like, yeah, probably. Probably. And then he trips. Yeah, probably. Oh, probably. Probably. And then he tripped. Yeah, probably. Oh, also, Ben, there was a little. Ben, it's so funny.

You got to listen to this. Ben, you're going to love it. Ben, you're going to love it. No spoilers, all right? Talk about B plot. What was the one where I went off on trying to find Linda's cardigan? In the beef plot, you're saying?

The beef plot, yeah. Damn. Integrity. Integrity. That was a fun one, too. I wrote that episode with Sean, Ben, and Aaron and Waleed were off on the venture. And I went, you know what?

I'm going to do something. Ditch them. Yeah, ditch them. Because I knew what they were going to do. I could see Elizabeth go like, I wrote this, I'm bored. I'm going to do something else. I know what happens in this episode, bye. If I had known that could happen,

every episode I wrote, I would have been, Chalice would have been plotting. Yeah. You can't control that man, you know, that vessel. He does what he wants. Sitcom D&D is sponsored by BetterHelp. help and with that said I've got a question for you What's the right amount the perfect amount of socializing for you? And how do you recharge maybe you thrive around people or maybe a little alone time?

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So you just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. So find your social sweet spot with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash sitcom D&D today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp help.com slash sitcom D&D. Favorite season? Season three is my favorite season. That's the Chucky Busters one, right?

Yeah. Whoa, yeah. What are the seasons? Can someone just name? Yeah, first season, first season, two seasons. Just a bunch of crap happens, and then Jalpert comes at the end. That's like the main big serialized thing.

The second one is Charles' wedding. What's the finale of season one? Jalpert. Jalpert proposes. serialized thing. The second one is Charles' wedding. What's like the finale of season one? Jalbert. Jalbert proposes. I don't think it's bad. Jalbert proposes. That's like the big thing?

Okay, cool. Yeah. Season two is wedding. Season three is Chucky Busters. Season four is we're all gonna die. Family curse. And then season five is mayors and laws. Oh man, I love all of them.

Absolute bangers. The second season's so good, too. Yeah, I'm gonna second season three, though. I think season three is my favorite. I, in particular, I really, it was an episode I helped write, but the finale of season three is one of my favorite episodes, and that's when we do the parlay, and that's when Ryan Asher comes as Alberta

and proposes to Chip. And I think that that's, like, a really fun thing that we set up and the way it all plays out with, what's his name, Tom Fulleray coming in to save the day, I think is, I was so happy with it, and I felt like the rest of the cast was truly shocked when that happened. And that made me very, very happy.

You got it. Some of our guests for season three, I mean, Billy Bonka season three. Oh, Billy Bonka. Oh my god. We have Gabris for season three. Gabris season three, yeah. Is Billy Bonka season three?

Yeah. Oh my god. Oh my god. Breaking beef arc too. So fun. Season three, like the kind of the, oh, it's Chucky Buster. So you're trying to make money the whole time. Yes.

Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, we're trying to buy back the bar. Jeremy Cobb was in that season. Oh, he was so good. The most talented. Hypothetical. Hypothetical in season three. Hypothetical.

Oh my God. I love Terry. Terry Yorkshire's in season three. Oh my god. I love Terry Yorkshire's best in show. And Night Court with Ryan. Oh my god. I need to really listen to Night Court. Also season three has the button. Oh wow.

Oh my god. Season three is the best. It has JR too where you guys have that note and we go and find JR and then we pull it. Oh yeah. Yes. too, where you guys have that note, and we go and find J.R. and then we do that. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Although I did see a comment recently and someone when seven, it was like, what was SV in the comment? Cause we never, we had talked,

Sean and you and I had talked about what SV stood for in the comment, or in the letter. We did. Didn't say it. It says don't bring, or don't tell SV, or don't bring SV or something. No, it said, don't forget to bring SV. Yes.

Is what it said. So it was like, okay, I need to go, I believe. And then we were gonna have her in the episode be like, oh, that's our shorthand for salsa verde. Stop. Stop. You two are idiots. Which when Sean and I met and he told me, I went, genius. That's on par with Citizen Kane.

That is incredible. That's on par with Citizen Kane. Also in season three is twin turns with review review, which is that's such a fun episode. It's that was that was a reveal that shocked me when it was a Undercover boss that that surprised me. I Loved being surprised in this show. Yeah, like anytime something I was like didn't expect didn't see that coming at all It's very very fun. Yeah, totally Honestly the bit from that show I could have seen or from that episode in

particular, I could have seen in every single episode when they're like, can we talk to you for a minute? Yeah. Can we just, can we just bring you over here and just would like lay into us? I was like, this is, this is just, I mean, this is underhand. We are dunking this. This is awesome. Remember when they start eviscerating beef, and beef turns and runs?

And then it hits beef like an arrow? Like he's serpentining away. You gotta run zigzags. Oh, it's so funny. Also, right before that is Two Brooms and a Mop, which, Ben, that got a callback in, like, I think, was it the final episode? No, it was the bark.

Well, I think I may have called it episode? No, it was the bark. Well, I think I, I may have called it back twice, but during the bar crawl episode. You did, yeah. We went into a place with a bunch of inanimate objects and I said, I think I dated that mop over there. Beautiful. That's good.

Beautiful. That's good stuff. I gotta say, season one has a special place in my heart. I gotta go back. I gotta look at these. It's chaos. It's chaos and it's beautiful. I started looking and it made me wanna cry, so I stopped reading those episode titles

because it made me too nostalgic. We were really trying to figure, we were just figuring it out. We were flying the plane while building it and there's just so much joy in that, because it's hard. And we got through a season and then we did more. Yeah, I think season one, episode three is a really good example of that, of like me going, okay, time to just throw spaghetti

at the wall and see what sticks. Like I know that this core concept is a sitcom and improv. So we'll do like an escape room and it'll be like references to friends. Like that's what I thought like the show was, you know, at that point. And then of course also quickly realized like, I can't do this without having everybody help me write.

Like there's no way. You can't come up with 110 sitcom episode concepts all on your own. And I felt too daunting to be like, I want to do 22 individual episodes that emulate sitcoms that can still be D&D. But also, I felt like I really wanted, because a lot of campaigns kind of go this way too,

where it's like, I want everyone to be on the same page, and let's do this together, of generally where we want this to go this season. You know what I mean? Yeah. Campaigns do that too, where it'll be like, so are we thinking kind of a Western thing, and maybe there's a big bad, and all that kind of thing?

And so to do that together, I think, was so helpful for me. And it made it so much more fun to have you guys involved in the writing. I also think with campaigns, uh, you, as a character, you, you can drive your own story. I've played a lot in many campaigns where a character will have a want and they can pursue that one in any way that they want to. And there's a little bit with the, this show that because of the individual episodic concepts,

there was like, oh no, if I drive my own story, I'm stepping on toes. So being able to work together as a group and in pairs when we were doing the writing sessions, it allowed us to pursue some individual goals that we had as characters, which I think was really nice. Did anybody have any favorite arcs for their own characters?

I really enjoyed Beef's Heisenberger. I loved it. Loved it. So fun. Me too. That was really fun to like get to lean into his intimidation because I knew the arc going in, so when we leveled up, I made sure to level up on my intimidation and my deception. And it was like, damn, he can really...

I think it was like 10 or eight plus, and I was like, I can do anything. It's also so magical because Beef is such, like, an absurdist character at its core, but because of that, he can almost hold water for any genre ever. Like, we could have made him like a Don Draper. Like, we could have gone through the wheel of every single intense TV drama

and put beef at the center of it, and it would have felt natural, which I think is so funny. Yeah, as long as that thing wasn't normal. You know what I mean? As long as that thing wasn't boring. If it was extreme in any way, beef could do it. as long as that thing wasn't normal. You know what I mean? As long as that thing wasn't boring. If it was extreme in any way, beef could do it.

Although we could have done a few seasons with him being like a schlubby husband with like a hot blonde wife. With his kids that he's like, oh God, I'm a dad. What I really love about that arc too is like I love the individual episode where we focus on the Breaking Bad stuff, but I also love when it just popped up in every episode that season, just a small little bit, you'd be like,

oh shit, Beef is running a drug cartel right now. And none of his friends know. So funny. And I also love that that came to introduce, which was just like such a fun mechanic, which was just Bazinga that like really made the button episode so special. It was like kind of like playing like improv game where it was like, you have to like invent your own rule for your set. It was just like so like,

we went into that with nothing in mind. Yeah, that's such a good one to call out because after the Button episode, Aaron wrote that one with me and I think we both had confidence going in, like with very little and saying like, I think everyone's gonna crush this. And everyone did.

And leaving it, I was like, what an absolutely bizarre set of skills that we all have. To learn. To learn. Not transferable to anything else. To anything else. But to be like, you're going to play a character in a room comedically for an hour

where the only thing that happens is they press this button and the same thing happens. And to keep that interesting and funny and entertaining and have fun while doing it is like really something that you just have to be doing improv for years to like and trust the people you're performing with and playing with so much for it to be as fun as it was. And what a bizarre set of skills that we got with such a great group.

I have such a strong memory of us really like knocking our head against the wall being like, OK, so there'll be this button. But what happens when you press the button? Because chances are someone's going to press it. And when we realized it should be that it the room just resets and it says, don't press the button, press the button. We laughed so hard at that, knowing how funny everyone's response to that was going to be. Like knowing how funny your friends are that you can like pre-laugh

at their response to something is such a cool feeling. You know, we're all sad to have this project go to rest, but how cool that it really became a machine. With that trust you're talking about, we got there through years of working together and honing in our characters and the story, and honing in our characters and the story. And it really made writing easier to know. You can just like you said, you could see how Chip is going to react to that.

Like when we were like, we're gonna make Chip the caddy in Crocaine and he's gonna hate it. We know he's gonna hate it. No. No, we didn't. And we could really start playing with each other in the writing of it. Like Elizabeth, you coming up with Chalice needing to get her license. Felt like, oh my God, she sees me.

Yeah. Ben, I'm so sorry we did the body switch episode without you. Yeah. That was tough. Let's be honest, though. It was already so hard. Yeah. I'm adding another person.

Are you saying I would have made it harder? No. It's just that, no, sorry. I guess what I meant is you couldn't have handled it. Yes. OK. No, that's what I thought you were saying. It felt like everyone had a cry in their chest,

like right at their neck at that whole time, being like, oh, this is so hard to keep track of. Each person, Ben, had a mental breakdown at some point in the recording. Like, who am I? Going back to character arcs really quick, I feel like everyone had such good ones. I loved, and so much of it came from getting information

about someone's past, I think. I love Chip having to switch from introducing himself as the person who broke out of a dragon to being a liar. That was such a fun switch. Famous liar. Famous liar. Famous liar. One of my favorite Seb moments is in the JR episode when all of his friends are getting really angry

and defensive for him. Him like handling it with a lot of grace and being like warm to her when he could have been mean to her. I thought was really beautiful because Seb is such a hot head, you'd expect his like temper to come out and for it to not, I thought was really beautiful.

And then I really loved the slow influence that Chalice had from her mom, little by little, like a slow drip throughout the series. After seeing Chalice play my mom, it informed how I played Chalice and what I pitched. Oh, yeah. What did I say? You said Chalice and what I pitched. You mean Janet? Yeah, what did I say? You said Chalice. Uh-oh.

Time to go to sleep. Yeah, good night everybody. Seeing Janet play my mom really influenced what I pitched for Chalice for seasons to come. I felt really moved by that. Yeah. I think that highlights something that was just amazing from this run for me is the quality and the people that we got as guests. We had Janet on, but we also had a ton of our friends.

And I'm just so glad to have been able to access all these different people and bring people on that we just love in so many different ways and from so many different places. And it was so cool. Like, I mean, last season we had chase come on. He's one of my like oldest friends and like to just like get to play around with like him, like in this thing that we had all built and stuff. I don't know, like just like having this jungle gym and like having your friend come over and play on it is just like, you're like, it's pretty cool. Right.

Like, check out my jungle gym. You want to play? Yeah. This is my jungle gym. It's pretty cool. My house, bro. What do you think about that? Ask me if I want to go to the park.

No, I got the park right here. Yeah. In my mind. Come to my mind jungle gym. Uh, but yeah, I think it's just like really special to like have that confidence. And like, there's something to be said about like building this show in the air when we did, cause like when we were making it, we didn't know what, like the first like eight episodes, we didn't necessarily know that we're

going to be doing this through headgum. We were just kind of like doing it for ourselves and trying to figure out these characters and what this like idea looks like and like developing it week after week for that to develop into something where we have Jake in a mirror. Like for me is like two individuals that hold such a like. I wasn't on that episode. They happened, but you didn't listen to that one, right? Yeah, it was really good.

I went, well, maybe they don't need me. No, we needed you. You were the net. The show is, yeah, you were the net. Oh, that's going to make me cry. Yeah, he was the net. But just, yeah, there's just like a lot of pride and just like being able to share that, whether it's with an audience,

but also just like having that confidence to have all these different people come in and enjoy it with us and stuff. And like that's something that time built for us, which was like really, really sweet. Yeah, I'm like so grateful to the listeners and getting to share this with my family in Chicago and doing live improv. to share this with my family in Chicago and doing live improv. It's just a flash in the pan. You're just like, yeah, that happened. But these are like, everyone gets to hear it

and for forever. And it's really, really special that I got to share that with my family and my friends and you, the listener. And I am forever grateful that we have, we, people are as sick in the head as we are. Yeah, I felt like a great example of making something that I would want to consume and finding people that are like, yeah, I'm, that's what I want too. It's like you, I feel like we trusted ourselves

that we knew if we made this as a product that people would like it, we would find people that had our silly senses of humor. And if you're listening to this, you're one of those people. And that was really, it was nice to get that affirmation and confirmation that that's the case. All the other content I put out online is with people who are like part of different,

a different wave of comedy in Chicago than me. They definitely still have that like Chicago sensibility, but they weren't the people that I was doing like bar prov for no one on a Tuesday night at 11 p.m. with. And there's, sorry, I just immediately. I love those days, but the idea of doing that again sounds like my absolute favorite. Good for anybody who's doing that.

Like if you were doing that, good for you. Good for you. Good for you, but I will never do that ever again in my whole life. We did a show at the Crocodile Lounge where you go to the bar and they go, oh, the show's in the basement. And you go, what?

They go, yeah, the basement. And you go, it's not a place that people are even supposed to be. It is the basement of a bar with no finish for it. And you have to buy drinks. You've gotta buy drinks. And there's folding tables set out. And you're like, who are these for?

Because it's not for the performers. I miss those days. I miss those days. I miss those days. I know, me too sometimes. But you get forged in fire in such a specific way with people you did that with or the people you made a Herald team with or you were in classes with. And it's just a very specific trust.

And then I also think that our wave of people, teachers used to comment that we were a very earnest group after coming from a swing of like anti-comedy comedy, which was great in the Chicago comedy scene where things are like sort of meta and they're breaking the fourth wall a lot. We were, I think, a group of comedians who were like heart first and emotion.

Anti-anti-comedy. Anti-anti-comedy, yes. a group of comedians who were like heart first and emotion. Anti-anti-comedy. Anti-anti-comedy, yes. And I feel so similar to like what Ben was saying, to be able to have that so many people who were on that wave with us in Chicago and for it to show. Like I feel like Maggie coming on, Hayley coming on, Andrew, like these are people that you can hear the year,

Jesse Kendall, the years and years of trust built up. I'm just really proud of that. And also having talked to a very sweet woman who said that she moved to Chicago because of sitcom D&D, if you are looking to find your group of people that it feels like you're playing pirates on a playground with,

like please, if you're feeling disconnected from yourself or humanity, like please give improv a shot. If you feel like they're, even if you don't feel like you're an extrovert, even if you don't feel like you're funny, I feel like if you like this show, you could maybe benefit from finding the community that I was so lucky to find,

and the trust, and the camaraderie, and the laughter and the love that I was lucky to find in the improv scene. So please give it a shot if you like the show. Yeah, and it doesn't also- And if you can go to Chicago, go to Chicago. Yeah, maybe. And also if you can go to Chicago, go to Chicago. Yeah, maybe. And also if you can make a podcast, make a podcast.

I also think that this was like, doing this thing made it feel so accessible. Like, oh, you just gotta get a couple mics and a couple friends. And it's like, why was I doing this for the last 10 years of my life? I've had such an amazing time doing it. And it truly felt like easy to do compared to a lot of creative things that I love to be doing. It's like this was something that felt both easy and like fun. So I definitely encourage anybody who's even

like remotely interested, like please give it a shot. Yeah. Thanks, everybody. Thank you so much for listening and making this all possible. It was such a gift to us. And I'm glad that it sounds like it was something that made people happy, too. So if you've got other favorite moments from the show or least favorite moments, let us know. If they made it all the way to here and they didn't make them happy, I'll be impressed.

One of these episodes. I'll give it another chance. I'll give it one more chance. If you want to talk about moments from the show that meant something to you, our favorite episode seasons, favorite times that beef fell over, go to our Instagram and you should be able to screenshot a blank comment and then you can leave a comment in our comment box over there if you want to come chat.

And we'll be on the Discord this week chatting and I'm sure saying hi and reading everything that you're. Yeah, don't be shy to say hi. Sometimes I think that I'm just kind of speaking. I've told this to Erin that sometimes I just think I'm speaking into a microphone with just my friends. You know, like it would be cool to see you out there if you're out there, hi.

When you meet people in real life wearing bottoms up t-shirts and you go, you can hear us? Yeah. Oh God. At this point, I'm like, this is into the void, right? You're there, right? Are you there? Yeah. And at this point, I'm just gonna have everyone

just get real quiet on set real quick. Just quiet on set. Next time on Asterical Breakdown. Oh no. Quiet Sean, quiet on set please. I'm fucking filming something. Dude fucking stop. Dude stop.

Unbelievably unprofessional. Sound speeding? Get it together, man! And we're rolling! Dice! When you need a break from this crazy world To see your friends and fill a cup Find Sebastian, Chalice, Chip, and Pete At the noble bottoms up

As step by step our growing pains are improving home and away We're feeling absolutely fabulous on another happy day We're in different worlds with different strokes, but the good times will not end So cheers to all our family and our friends Sebastian von Hugh Grant and Sean Coyle as everything else. Sitcom D&D is filmed in front of a fake studio audience.