Suggestible - Fleishman is in Trouble

Episode Date: January 26, 2023

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Claire Tonti - Fear To Feel Music Video: https://youtu.be/J-IMQtlhSTMClaire Tonti LIVE at Brunswick Ballroom on Saturday Feb 11th – tickets and info here: https://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/event/claire-tonti/147276This week’s Suggestibles:05:04 Willow11:36 Fleishman is in Trouble (Spoilers 15:00 to 26:21)26:21 New Amsterdam32:00 BlueySend your recommendations to [e-mail], we’d love to hear them.You can also follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @suggestiblepod and join our ‘Planet Broadcasting Great Mates OFFICIAL’ Facebook Group. So many things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, an Uber account for your teen with enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride with top-rated drivers, and you can track every trip on the live map in the Uber app. Uber Teen Accounts, invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. Bing bitty bing bitty bing bing bong bitty bing bitty bing bitty bing bing bong. It certainly is. It certainly is. Well, can you believe we're back for 2023?

And can you believe it's the year 2022? I can't even believe it. Happy New Year, everyone. We're back. We're suggesting a podcast, a podcast where we recommend you things to watch, read, and listen to. My name is Claire Tonti. James Clement is here also.

We are married. And that's about it. That's all I have to say. How are you over there, Jimbo? I'm doing all right. It's good to be back, Claire. It's good to take some time off and then come back and do this podcast, which we both and everybody who listens knows and loves, correct?

Correct. I would say that, as you know, we have the best listeners. You guys are awesome. Stop saying that. It's not true. Creme de la creme. That's what I'd say. That's what I say. I'd say that they don't like being patronised, Claire.

They don't like being patronised. You know out there, listener, you know that I think you're awesome. Fair enough. Well, listen, Claire, I think there's something we need to talk about up top and that is your live show that is coming up for your album launch. I'm really excited for this and it's fast approaching, Claire. It's so fast approaching. Oh, my God.

So for those of you who may have been following along on my Instagram over the break, I released a single in December, Fear to Feel. I then released a video clip. Music video. Oh, my goodness. It's just come out. It's on YouTube. You can go to Claire Tonti Music and it'll be there.

Have a little watch. There's a link also over on my Instagram. It's the number one thing, the result, when you Google it. Yeah, when you Google it. Yeah. Anyway, so that's over there. It took ages, but it was finally finished and I felt really proud of it, actually. Yeah.

It was really fun to make. It looks amazing. Thank you. Yeah, people have been lovely about it. I'm really, really grateful. You're releasing another single before the live show on February 11th, I believe, in Melbourne. No.

So, yes, the live show is on February 11th, 1 o'clock, the Brunswick Ballroom. Tickets are in a link in the show notes. You can get a lovely meal there. You can get some food, get some drinks, sit and have a watch. It starts at 1 o'clock. My wonderful cousin, Woody Sampson, is playing support. I will be on after that for about an hour.

So the whole thing goes for a couple of hours. You can sit and have some, you know, drinks, food. Just have a good time. And then experience the show. So it'll be 11 songs. The album's called Muttrescence. And it's kind of my story of moving through motherhood really and the things that happened to me.

It's a little bit about birth trauma. It's also about identity and about womanhood and about finding yourself. And it's also about love and breakdown of relationships and just all the kind of things that we experience through that trajectory. So it's stories based on my life, but also inspired by the women that I know in my life too. And really that word matrescence, as I've talked about on the show before, means our transition to motherhood similar to adolescence, which I had no idea about. And that's the case for so many things that affect women and particularly through our

hormones and our cycles and motherhood. And I think our society at large has a real blind spot, particularly towards women and birth and what women need. And the education behind it. Yeah. What people know about it. Correct. Exactly.

Yeah. And for me, I felt really let down by the system. And I also didn't realize that it can take over 10 years for a woman to transition through motherhood to find themselves again. And from a physiological perspective and a brain perspective as well. And I wanted to create something that would kind of reflect that. So that's what that is. I would also say outside of that, the songs are really great.

So even if you're like, who cares about motherhood, which is what I think, it sounds, yeah, it just sounds amazing. I've heard the whole thing multiple times. The second song that you're about to release is excellent. I think people are really going to enjoy that. It's just a fun little bop, Claire. About breaking down the patriarchy. Exactly.

But it is a fun pop song actually. Yeah, it is. I really loved making this album and I thank you for listening to it. Yeah, there's sort of like stripped back acoustic songs but there's also more kind of pop-esque songs as well, kind of a little bit like Folklore from Taylorouche that kind of on that little road um and we use lots of different tricks i use some voice memos that i used when i was originally recording and figuring out the songs and there's also kind of ambient sounds and layered loops and vocal stuff yeah lots of things so yeah i produced

it with a guy called ezekiel fenn who's's a musical producer, and, yeah, we're performing it live for the first time. And thank you. It is a lot. So, yeah, aside from all of the other things I said, it's just some live music that you can come and listen to. You just have some drinks if you drink or whatever and have some food and whatever and just hang out.

I will also be there. Nick Mason will be there. He will. It's going to be a good fun time. Yeah, so go grab yourself a ticket, $35. Mosh ticks, link below. Links below. But enough of that, Claire.

Enough. We're here to talk about the things that we recommend to each other. We go away and we read and watch and listen to things. We come back and go, oi, what have you been doing? What have you been up to? Do you want to go first? Do you want to do the first of the year? Or would you like me to?

You can do the first if you like. Okay, I'll be waiting to talk about this. I'll be waiting for it to finish and then we run on break so I didn't get a chance to finish it, to talk about it. But it is finished and it's wrapped up a few weeks ago. Are you familiar with the 1988 cult classic Willow starring one Warwick Davis directed by Ronald Howard? I certainly am not.

Yeah, okay. So it stars Val Kilmer and Joanne Wally and most famously Warwick Davis as a little person who's also a wizard and he's like, it's kind of like Star Wars-esque and he's drawn into this big adventure. It's also, it was George Lucas' original idea, so it's got a lot of the essence of that kind of in it. It's like Star Wars but like in a fantasy setting.

Anyways, it bombed horribly. But it's remained this kind of cult kind of status. And because nothing on Disney Plus can ever be original, they thought, hey, let's bring back Willow for a new and limited series. So it's developed by John Kasdan who was one of the writers on Solo and it stars Warwick Davis' back as Willow. You know Warwick Davis, right?

So Mark Hamill returned as Luke Skywalker. It's like that kind of vibe. Oh, you love that. Aaron Kellyman's in it, who was also in Solo as well, actually. Ruby Cruz, Ali Bamba, Amar Chadha Patel, who's amazing and really funny as a Han Solo-esque kind of Mad Mardigan kind of guy. Mad Mardigan's in the first movie. He's played by Val Kilmer. Okay, so it's been nearly 17 years since Queen Bavmorda was defeated and unlike a group of six heroes set out on a dangerous quest

to places far beyond their home where they must face their inner demons and come together to save the world from the gales. It's great. I'm not really a Willow fan. I rewatched it for this because I wanted to check it out. And I'm like, yeah, it's fun. I get it. I feel like I vaguely remember it as a kid, but you have to rewatch it to kind of get the

sense of this. I think it's much better than the original. I think it's just, it's really fun and kind of like the action is good and it's a bit silly and it's really kind of spooky in places. It builds on the original universe in really interesting ways and revisits some older stuff without kind of beating you over the head with it. As I said, it's better than the movie. And on top of that, the cast is great. Like Warwick Davis, he was like a kid when he was in the first movie. He was like, I think he was like 17 or something when he played

this character. And he's back and his real-life daughter is also in it as well. And if you watch the first movie, he kind of locks his way through it as this kind of bumbling wizard and they acknowledge that. So he's now seen as this great warrior but he's kind of like, I kind of made that up. I didn't really know what I was doing. And they're like, we need a great wizard.

And he's like, all right, I guess so. I'm the only one. I'll do it. And so he's obviously coming back and the baby from the original movie who uh they're trying to save is now grown up who appears in this and i won't give away who that person is because it's kind of a spoiler stand out to me as well as erin kelly man who is the daughter of val kilmer and joanne wally's character from the first movie and she's great really really cool um it also says at the end that it's part one of three and i they haven't announced any other

seasons for this but i hope they do because it's part one of three, and they haven't announced any other seasons for this, but I hope they do because it's a blast, and there's fun little cameos from people in the older series and also actors along the way. We're like, huh, this one is really good. It's really cool. I don't know whether it would be for you

specifically, but if you have any kind of vague fondness for Willow, I think this might be down your alley. If you like fantasy. I love fantasy. Then, yeah, maybe you're into it. I'm just going to let the dog out, Claire. Ooh, let the dogs out.

Mr. Sunday Movies, Mr. Sunday Movies. He's left me alone in the pod studio, guys. Actually, I'm not alone. I'm in here with a goat hen solo puppet. Weird. Weird that that's the only thing that's in here. Oh, no, I'm in here. Where'm in here with a Goat Hand solo puppet. Weird. Weird that that's the only thing that's in here. Oh, now I'm in here again. Where's that thing that you had over there?

The James Bond? Yeah. It fell off and then we never picked it up. God, that is indicative of you guys. I agree. Anyway, it's great. Willow. It's just called Willow.

Not Willow again or Willow returns. It's just the first one was called Willow and now this is Willow. Right. And it's on Disney+. Okay. And again, I was just like, I guess I'll check this out and I was immediately like, I fucking love this. It's great.

I love when that happens because it doesn't always happen. Just like a silly kind of fantasy world, not even silly, but just something they kind of commit to and I love all kind of the special effects and stuff and the weird kind of creatures they meet along the way. Is it a little bit like Stardust? It is a bit like Stardust, yes. Because I loved Stardust.

Yes, it's a bit like Stardust. There's more kind of things going on here with like relationships and non-traditional relationships and all that kind of thing, which I know some people are like, oh, Willow turned white, blah, blah, blah. Shut up. It's great and it's just a good fun time. And Val Kilmer can't return because he's sick. He's had like various health issues.

That's not really a spoiler, but he's not really in this season. He's referenced like quite a lot and where he is and whatever. But it's still kind of the idea of that character from the first movie is like you see it in like his kids who are in this, not his real life kids, but his kids in the show. And also like he's one of the guys who's on their team was like his squire and he's kind of got that kind of swag. What is a squire? He's like a guy who carries a shield and whatever and he's kind

of this long-haired dude. Are they always short? No, no, he's like a really big kind of rangy dude, this guy. Oh, so he's kind of like a porter or something. Yeah, but at this point he did kind of do that with Val Kilmer's character. But now he's like grown up, so he's like a big handsome Han Solo kind of dude. And he's kind of also an idiot and a lot of bluster and whatever, but he's also like he's pretty good at swords.

There's a really funny moment in the first Willow where there's a – Val Kilmer spends a lot of that movie being like, I'm a great swordsman, just give me a sword, right? And then I hadn't seen it in years and finally he gets a sword and he's just waving it like he's never picked up a sword in his life. Listeners, I wish you could see Dave. I'm doing the motions, Claire. He's waving his arm around.

I'm doing the motions and he's kind of like chopping down bad guys or whatever. And Willow looks at him and goes, wow, he's a great swordsman. And I'm like, no, he's not. He's a terrible swordsman. You're an expert swordsman. Well, it just looks like there's no choreography involved in it. And they haven't gone to research fencing or anything.

But, again, it's all kind of the fun of it, you know. It's like the silliness of it. Is it a little Princess Bride-y too? Yeah, all like that. But, again, it's all kind of the fun of it, you know. It's like the silliness of it. Is it a little Princess Bride-y too? Yeah, all of that. It is. I love those ones. Like a bit Dungeons and Dragons, a bit Princess Bride, Stardust, all of those things.

Oh, I love that. Anyway, what is your recommendation? Right. Okay, so I have been watching something that is a lot less fun. Oh. It is Fleshman is in Trouble. I have also been watching that. My goodness, Claire.

Goodness gracious me. So actually I recommended this book by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. I remember. Years ago on Suggestible and it's brilliant. It's from 2019. Yes, correct. Now this is a TV adaptation. It stars Claire Danes as Rachel Fleshman and Jesse Eisenberg

as Toby Fleshman. Jesse Eisenberg as Toby Fleshman. Jesse Eisenberg plays the same character in everything. Oh, I think he's branched out a little bit. He was Lex Luthor that time. Oh, that's true. He was a guy from Social Network, which is similar to this guy. Yeah, very similar to this guy. I don't think so.

Social Network's more kind of like an autistic monster where they kind of, that's the way they portrayed him. Maybe I'm being too harsh on old Jeffy. I think he's good. I think he's a good actor. He's really good at this. Anyway, so they play the central characters. It's basically about a divorced couple living in New York City.

Now, the side characters are also done really well. Yeah. Toby Fleshman's old high school mates or really university friends. I think they're college friends. Yeah, college friends. Libby Epstein played by Lizzie Kaplan. No, Lizzie Kaplan who's played by Libby Epstein. Yes.

And Adam Brody who's played by Seth Morris. Yeah. Is that right? No, his name's not Seth Morris. No, hang on. No, I had it around the first time. He's played by Seth from the OC who's also Adam Brody. Yeah, that's what got me confused.

It is confusing. It is so confusing because Lizzie and Libby have very similar names. He's a similar kind of character as well. So hang on, start that again. Yeah. Oh, it's what got me confused. It is confusing. And because Lizzie and Libby have very similar names. He's a similar kind of character as well. So hang on, start that again. Oh, it's so confusing. Lizzie Kaplan. Yeah. Who's great, by the way.

Who is amazing. She's good in this, but she's good in everything. She's hilarious. She plays Libby Epstein, one of the college friends, and Adam Brody. Brody. Adam Brody. Brody.

Brody. It's Adam Brody. Is it? But it's supposed tody. Brody. It's Adam Brody. Is it? But it's with an A. Is it? That's how I wrote it. I wrote it down. Well, then if you wrote it that way, it must be the way.

Here, look, Adam Brody. Oh, no. Well, there you go. It's the first episode of the year and I'm really, I'm already at the base, the bottom of the barrel. Anyway, let's just, Colin, scrap all this. It's so confusing. No, you can't.

It's happening. Adam Brody plays Seth Morris. Yes. And who is Seth? Also from the barrel. Anyway, let's just, Colin, scrap all this. It's so confusing. No, you can't. It's happening. Adam Brody plays Seth Morris. Yes. And who is Seth? Also from the OC, as you said, which is confusing. Anyway, they're his college roommates and they lost touch once he married Claire Dane's character, Rachel Fleischman. And at the beginning, so mainly for like it's six episodes

of really Toby Fleischman's character going through the motions of the fact that his wife is terrible and she's dumped his kids on him at 3 o'clock in the morning and he's a doctor. Divorced and he's like, woe is me. Yeah. Hooking up. And it's a lot of like the brave new world of social media apps

where you can have sex with anyone at any time. So he's like exploring his sexuality, dealing with his divorce and complaining to his college friends that he reconnects with after the breakup, after like 12 years or something. Yeah. And just complains about her the whole time, about how terrible she is, about how their relationship started off so beautifully and then fell apart because she's a workaholic.

And it's not his fault and blah, blah, blah. Yeah, exactly. And you kind of, it's so clever because you get glimpses and the book did this really well as well. You get glimpses of all these events. Yeah, you're like, oh, he's right. But you also see things that you're like, hang on a minute. Correct.

And is there another side to this kind of. Yeah, exactly. And then I don't want to spoil it, but I will just say it does really flip by episode seven and you get, actually I would say if you haven't watched it, I am going to say a few spoilers now because I think it's worth discussing. Well, Collings always puts – well, he can. But the time goes below. Who edits this?

Correct. If we want to jump ahead, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So what I'll say is that the couple have two kids and the timeline keeps flashing forwards and backwards and it starts to become clear that Rachel had lost her mother really young. So it didn't have a lot of family, didn't come from money. Whereas Toby did and came from, well, not incredibly wealthy, but well off family, a very strong

Jewish family with, you know, his parents and they're very involved in his life. Anyway, in the present day, their kids are,'d say, what, like 8 and 12? Yeah, 11 and one's 11 and the other one's about 8, 7 or 8. Yeah, yeah. So they're kind of older kids now but you start to see that Rachel, when she gave birth for the first time, was assaulted really and had her waters broken without her consent by a doctor and that kind of set off a trajectory.

Coupled with her. Yeah, coupled with her issues from losing her family so young and also potentially post-natal depression that stemmed from there. You can see that her mental health starts to spiral. But it's not even just about that as well. No. It's not. I mean, it is about that, but it's also about, like,

the kind of life that you sign up for as, like, being young and, like, what that becomes later, what gender roles are. It's about money. It's about interpersonal relationships, ones that feel real and ones that are real from the past and will feel more real than more modern ones. It's a fact that, like, a lot of people don't acknowledge how fucking weird and awful things are sometimes.

Yeah, exactly. But also at the same time from being a position of privilege as well. Yeah. What I think is interesting is their kids go to a private school and what you can see through Rachel's perspective, Toby keeps saying, oh, I don't want my kids to grow up in this world and they've got too much money and they're not going to value, you know, or appreciate things and money and, you know, they're kids to grow up in this world and they've got too much money and they're not going to value, you know, or appreciate things and money

and, you know, they're getting given everything and all this stuff. But Rachel sees it from a place of never growing up with money and always being insecure and never having anyone on her side or feeling accepted. And like the way that she has built relationships is by having value. Yeah. And like being able to offer people something.

Yeah, exactly. And he's just like, whatever, friends or whatever. And they like you no matter what. And that's not her experience. No, because what she's doing is trying to build a life and I guess even essentially move classes in a way, which is kind of with upward mobility. And the other side of it is she's an incredible agent who sees talent in people and really just ends up making these,

particularly this one woman of colour, her career. And that I think is really undervalued as well because if the gender roles were flipped and Toby was the big career guy who'd built this whole business off his own back. People would not be treating him the way that she was being treated. And there's some really great lines in there about how when you're a full-time stay-at-home mother, it's an incredibly difficult job. Yeah.

But in a way, and I don't, because of the way our culture works, if you also work full-time, you're still also a full-time mother often. Yeah, you've got two full-time jobs. Yeah, you've got two full-time jobs. Yeah, so you've got two full-time jobs. There's that exact line that's said, right? Yeah, exactly. And not to undervalue being a full-time parent. Like that's an incredibly difficult responsibility.

But the mental load so often and not always, this is just what happens statistically, the mental load falls to women. And there's all this research to suggest that the higher paying their job is and the more responsibility they have, also the more they do domestically or the more mental load they have. And you can see that Toby's just so unaware of what she's doing for her family. Like he wants a divorce and she doesn't even have time

to contemplate getting a divorce and he just spends all the time whining about it. And then you can see it from his perspective too because he's also. Absolutely, yeah. He's expecting a wife that will be there all the time and be super maternal. And they had this like the way they started their relationship and she's like trying to like help him with his career and he's like,

well, I don't want that and I'm not about money and whatever. But also he's got his own kind of ideas of status and the kind of person he is, which also may or may not be true. And I guess like a lot of this is also, I guess the point is people are complicated and nobody is good or bad wholly, mostly, for the most part. No, exactly. And none of the characters are particularly likeable in some ways,

I think. No. Because also what I thought was really interesting. But also they are. Yeah, it's weird. They are likeable too. I totally agree with you. What's interesting about the Libby and Seth characters, right,

is that Libby's actually really misogynistic. So you kind of don't notice it. It comes in really subtly. Yeah. But she clearly is a, she was a journalist and then she becomes now a full-time stay-at-home mum in the suburbs and she gave up her career to do that. She's clearly not very happy as well in that and reconnecting with Toby and Seth kind of highlights for her what she gave up.

Yeah. And so she starts smoking again and she's kind of having her own midlife crisis. But what I really like about her midlife crisis and also the way that Claire Dane's character represents midlife crisis, it's not about staring at the mirror and going, oh, look at my tummy and look at my wrinkles and oh, my fading beauty. What it's actually about is far more complex and deep and interesting, which is what happens when you get scripts and movies and films or TV shows that are written from a female perspective. It's more about a loss of identity of who they were and who society is expecting to

be when they're a mother and how we're supposed to just play these kind of like domestic roles or really just enjoy all of those aspects of it. And if you don't enjoy it, then there's something wrong with you. And some people do, which is absolutely fine. And I think that they do a really good point, make a really good point about that too with Claire Dane's character that there are all these women who don't have the same kind of traumatic birth that has happened.

And she was assaulted as well, which does happen. Violence does happen to women during that time. Or like you talk about as well, lack of pain management. Yeah, lack of support or lack of being listened to or there's just like overworked medical staff so you end up like getting left to go three hours longer than you're supposed to or just there's so many factors in what happens with trauma during birth. But when that happens, and even if that doesn't happen,

women can end up with postnatal depression. And so when you're a woman that that has happened to and you're meeting other women who seemingly everything went fine and they're really happy, it's even more isolating and jarring. And because that narrative that everyone just should, you know, come through the whole thing and just enjoy it. And I guess I'm saying that from my perspective because that was that everyone just should, you know, come through the whole thing and just enjoy it. And I guess I'm saying that from my perspective because that was my experience. Absolutely, yeah. Even though you absolutely adore your kids, but the two things can be true.

And there's also just like room and what I love about this TV show, there's room for complexity in motherhood. And for mothers to want to be mothers and adore their kids while also absolutely loving their careers and wanting to do that too. And there's just a massive spectrum. But I just don't think women are given the same leeway in that, which I just think they do so well. And Libby's character is interesting because she kind of is that typical

cool girl who's mainly got boys as friends, like blokes as friends because she kind of looks down on other women as being like frivolous or boring or not that interesting or whatever. But it's also like there's a conversation with her husband who's played by Josh Radnall from How I Met Your Mother. Yes. Where she's like, he's like, and he kind of sucks too as everybody does, but also not, it's complicated. It's sort of just like everyone's kind of tired and in middle age

and in the middle of like work and parenting and they're not being their best selves. And he's like the people that you hate are just people. Like they've got the same complexities that you have. And that is true of everybody, you know. But they might not be on the same page as you or the same, like you're not thinking on the same wavelength or level or similar careers or any of that.

But everybody has their own struggles and complexities and burdens and all of those things. And quite frankly, I don't want to hear about it. But I acknowledge that people do, Claire. Yeah, I do. But I also do. But I choose to ignore and I disengage. I do think, though, that overall women get a much raw end of the stick.

Yes, definitely. Much, much, much. Definitely. a much raw end of the stick. Much, much, much. Definitely. So and the transition for women through motherhood is so much more difficult than for men. Yeah.

It just is. I mean the physical aspect of it alone, like that in itself. Yeah. If it was just that, which it's not because there's so many other things. Yeah. Yeah, insane, insanity. It is. And that's why I think that word matrescence

I mentioned before, I'm obsessed with at the moment because I think if we knew going in that you were headed for another life stage like adolescence, where that's normal, that you feel like that, that your brain chemistry changes, that your body completely changes, and they're not going to bounce back from that. You're going to grow into a new person. Yeah. Into someone who is similar to the person you were but takes on board all those new experiences and that life stage and becomes someone different. And you can't go backwards. You can't reverse that.

Yeah. No, it's permanent. And so, you know, just like in adolescence, some people breeze through adolescence and some people spend a lot of time listening to garbage in their room. What? Who? As in like the actual band Garbage.

Oh, yes. I'm only happy when it rains. Well, I'm only happy when it's sunny. When it's complicated. Anyway, I listen to that a lot with my Doc Munns. Anyway, so that's that. Fleshman is in trouble. What did you think of it overall?

It's great. It's really good, isn't it? It's really good and really complex and really depressing but also really funny. Yeah. And the performances are amazing. I mean it just reminds you like so many people are in this who are so good.

Like Claire Danes is, I mean she's been amazing since she like first appeared. Can I just say she is the queen of a cry. Oh, my God. That woman can cry and you feel it in your bones. She's crying up a storm. Yeah, she really performs a cry. She does that in Little Women. Yeah.

And I just like when, oh, so good. Yeah. She's amazing. She's a standout, right? They're all good, even the minor players in it. And it's done. Like it's the adaptation of a book and then that is it for these characters, at the very least for now.

It's on Disney Plus or Hulu or Star or whatever you are in other countries. Yeah, but it's just so worth watching. Just even I guess it's because it's reflective of our age group really in a lot of ways. Definitely. So that's kind of interesting to explore too. It's a little depressing but brilliant.

And also New York City. New York, baby. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Forget about it. Forget about it. Get yourself a deep dish pizza if that's – maybe that's Chicago.

It's winter and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs, mozzarella balls, and arancini balls? Yes, we deliver those. Moose? No. But moose head? Yes. Because that's alcohol, and we deliver that too.

Along with your favorite restaurant food, groceries, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Hey, Claire. I got something for you. Oh, cool. The show New Amsterdam wrapped up after five seasons, 89 episodes. I've followed these characters since 2018. Hang on, hang on, hang on. Let me ask you a question.

Are you okay? I'm okay. Are you sure? Because it was developed by David Shulner. I've talked about it before on this show, but I want to circle back to it. So just quickly, after becoming the medical director of one of the United States' oldest public hospitals, Dr Max Goodwin sets out to reform the institution's neglected

and outdated facilities to treat the patient. His motto going in is is how can I help? And so literally every problem he's presented with he's like, I can fix this, I can do this, I can make this place better. He's a positive force for good in the world. But, of course, Claire, like everybody, he has his own trials and tribulations, personal and professional, and I just want Max to be happy, you know, with his daughter.

He's having a hard run, you know, but he's just, he keeps going and that's what I like about him, Claire. I love all the stories and all of the characters in it and some of the characters you don't quite get a complete arc because it kind of feels like, actually I know it was, it was cut short. A few of the characters have left as well over the seasons, which was a bit of a shame.

But most of them are there at the end. Most of the ones stay. And I just, I also love the way that different people are represented and the way it touches on, like, the healthcare system. And it's obviously focused specifically on the US because it's to do with, like, insurance and et cetera and so forth. But it's also, like, I think it's very applicable to, like, all places in the world.

It also, like, weaves in and out of real world issues that are happening at the time. Like there's a really amazing like COVID episode as well, like where they come back after the season break and it's after like COVID had happened in between and it's like Jesus Christ, like what hospitals were dealing with. I enjoyed it so much, Claire. It's just it's not my thing normally.

Like just I don't watch this kind of stuff. I think I maybe I was really tired and I was just like, whatever, I'll watch this. But I just kind of fell right into it and I'm glad I did. I thought it was amazing. Loved it. I'm not really, I didn't like ER. I didn't like Chicago Hope.

I didn't like another. Grey's Anatomy? No, for a little bit, I guess. I liked Grey's Anatomy for a while. I loved Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, which is a British obscure comedy show set in a haunted hospital or something, which is incredible. But, yeah, it's just I just really liked it.

If you're looking for something of like a bit of a bit of like a bit of light entertainment with some real social issues kind of weaved in and out and a bit of tragedy and a bit of fun. It's a soap opera. It's a soap opera. But I think a bit of a cut above. I love when you find a show like that. Why, Claire?

It's like a warm bath. Yeah. You know, and you love the characters and it's like it's just it's lovable and, you know, emotive and all that stuff, but it's not like it doesn't like rake you over the coals like a fleshman is in trouble. No, where you feel like you're being punished. Yeah, exactly. It's just like you walk in and I'm sobbing to the camera,

to the TV show or whatever. Yeah, it's just it does enough of the like emotional heavy lifting that keeps you engaged. Yeah, totally. But you don't ever feel like bad. No. And I think so many of the characters they introduce, there's one who's a surgeon who's deaf and she's deaf in real life.

I don't have her name in front of me. I should look it up. But so they incorporate that into the story. She walks around in the show with a translator and, you know, she's one of the best surgeons in the world but she's, you know, she has this, you know, this situation where she's deaf and so she has to communicate to literally everybody, like through an interpreter because most people don't.

Her name's Sandra Mae Frank in real life. Yeah, don't have sign language. And just that in itself is like that could be a show, you know, but it's just one of the elements of this show which totally works. Yeah. Lovely. Where is it? It's cool, Claire.

Where is it on again? It also deals with addiction. It's on Stan in Australia. No idea where it is in the rest of the world. Let me check that for you. All right. Yeah. It's on Netflix most places it seems.

Excellent. But I don't know where it's from initially. I see. Yeah, it's based on Bellevue Hospital, which is a real hospital. In the US. In the US. Makes me feel very grateful for our medical system over here. Yeah, I mean it's got its flaws.

I know that, but I am like Medicare. NBC Universal is where it's distributed in the US at the very least. All right. Well, I think we've run out of time. I hate it when we run out of time. I just want to talk about more things. And I know people love us talking about more things. They say, James, I love when you do the show,

and I'm going to thank you by leaving a five-star review. And, oh, my God, it's funny that I should bring that up because I have one right in front of me. What? Yeah, you can just do it. Whatever app you're listening to, you can put it in. It can be a Spotify. It can be an Apple.

It can be a podcatcher. I don't know. This is from Absolute Emerald who says, five stars, yes, James, trees go up in December, presumably in relation to Christmas trees. Yeah, they do go up in December. So this is probably something I said or you said. It depends on if you're the woman that has to set the tree up and December gets crazy and so it's easier to set up in November

before every weekend is full of a party. Look at Mental Load over here. Claire, I got you that Mental Load comic. I'm already doing the hard work for you. You did. I have to talk about that on another show. Yeah, yeah. You did get me that for Christmas.

I got you a comic book for once that you might actually read. Correct. Exactly. But also, ironically, you're doing more of the Mental Load now. It's not about that, Claire. Because I'm an artist. I'm just a guy like everybody else. I'm an artist.

I'm an artist. I'm watching the Shrek movies. There's an art in that. I'm an artist. I'm just a guy like everybody else. I'm an artist. I'm an artist. I got. I'm watching the Shrek movies. There's an art in that. I'm doing Caravan of Garbage on the Shrek movies. There is a total art in that for shiz balls. You can also write into the show if you would like. Why would I?

I'm on it. We would. You would. Yeah, that's true. Why would you? But like listeners can. Oh. At suggestapod.gmail.com.

You can also send in a voice memo, which people start doing. But I'm so excited to say we have one. I have already listened. I can pass you the headphones. Please, I would love to hear it. And you can have a listen to the beautiful Owen Windsor, his dulcet tones. Now, you're passing me the headphones,

but what is that actually connected to? Bluetooth. Okay. I've thought about it, mate. You've actually figured it out. I've figured it out. I'm very impressed, actually. Hi, I'm Clem James.

My name's Owen and I'm from Scotland. Hello, man. I've been listening to the podcast'm very impressed, actually. Hi, I'm Clem James. My name's Owen, and I'm from Scotland. Hello, Owen. I've been listening to the podcast for a long time, and after reading so many great voice messages, I've decided to send them my own with a suggestion and a question for you. I feel like I'm in the movie Transformers. So my suggestion is an animated kids' show called Bluey, which you've no doubt heard about through the internet

or from having kids of your own. But I'll tell you about it anyway. Bluey follows a family of four Australian healer dogs, their parents, Chili and Bandit, and their daughters, Bingo the Youngest, and Bluey, a family of four Australian healer dogs, their parents, Chilly and Bandit, and their daughters, Bingo the youngest, and Bluey, the namesake of the show.

Each episode's only around like seven to nine minutes long, but they manage to pack in so many strong emotional moments between the more complicated characters.

It's true. And fun adventures with Bluey and Bingo. I've heard it described as a show for adults that kids can watch too because it deals with grown-up ideas like

infertility and miscarriage. Completely agree. My girlfriend and I will sit and watch episodes of Boy Who Together all the time, despite being 18 years old and not having any children. This guy's 18! I'd recommend it to anyone, with or without kids, but just be prepared to cry because it can get very sad sometimes.

So now that I've finished my long rant about a kids' show, I can ask my question. Please. I'm hoping to move to Canberra for a few months at the end of April this year. Oh, not Canberra, I'm so sorry. There's a place to go or see while i'm in australia uh we're already looking at driving up to sydney for a weekend and i was wondering if a flight down to melbourne would be worth it because i want to see as much of the good stuff about the country as i can in

my three months there thanks so much for providing some great content and i hope you have a great 2023 one more thing uh can i be the official scottish teenager moving to australia for a bit of the podcast? Absolutely, you can. Terrific stuff, Claire. Great voice, man. I can't believe he's 18. I know.

He's got such wisdom about him. I know. And it's the accent. It's the accent, too, and the deep voice. Yeah, that's right. The resonance. I'm very impressed. I know.

You've really got a voice, Owen, I feel. I agree. For like voiceovers. People say my voice is terrible, but that voice is. That is excellent thank you so much so you too can write in

to suggestapod.gmail.com if you would like and that's it that's the show for this week we haven't answered he said what is something we're going to do

in Melbourne should he fly down to Melbourne it's going to be in three months so exciting I think Melbourne we've talked about this before

thanks for the Bluey recommendation as well it is terrific if you haven't watched it Bluey is brilliant it's one of my faves. I love it. And if you want a kid's show that you can actually watch with kids

and not be like, I hate this and want to die, Bluey is the answer to that. It's brilliant. You're sick of Peppa Pig and the horrible bin fire that is YouTube Kids or that man that my son found and watched the lights blaze all over the summer. When we were at the holiday house and at the end he's like, I have to say goodbye to my friend.

And we're like, who did you meet on the holiday? He's like, the man that talked over a video game for the whole time. I loved him. I'm like, oh, gosh. I kept coming in and being like, because streaming is an art and I'm like, this guy sucks. He's boring. But he was safe and whatever and, you know,

I actually didn't watch that much of it. Maybe he was amazing. No, he was actually pretty engaging. I watched it and I was like, yeah, there was something very soothing about him. Oh, okay. I understood it. I didn like, yeah, there was something very soothing about him. Oh, okay. I understood it. I didn't like it, but I understood it.

Yeah. However, Bluey, I understand and it's so heartwarming and beautiful and it deals with really complex, deep things as well as being really lighthearted and fun. Yes. Great suggestion. I mean, yeah, Melbourne's definitely worth going to. I think Sydney's more kind of flashy in terms of you see the Opera House, you see the Sydney Harbour Bridge, it's got beautiful beaches and whatever.

Melbourne, depending on the time of year, I can't remember the time of year he said he was coming. It's more kind of about like food and culture and coffee and live shows, live music, comedy. You don't go and see like, oh, look, it's the big bridge of Melbourne or whatever. There's not, it's not really that kind of place. It's more kind of like finding like events and little places. Hidden bars. Hidden bars. Yeah.

Yeah, and things like that to do. So I'm always like reticent to people to be like you should come to Melbourne because if you just came into the city and just like I don't know what specifically. At the moment there is some construction happening. That is true. It's not as beautiful as it has been. But I would say look into what, yeah into what you like if there's a particular interest and there will be something in Melbourne that does.

And the food scene here is incredible. Food's amazing as well. Yeah. The comedy festival that happens in March and April, one of our favourite times of the year because autumn in Melbourne is beautiful. The weather's amazing. Also the Mornington Peninsula and the Great Ocean Road, which are all part of Victoria.

Melbourne's like obviously the capital city, but then there's just like beautiful places to go along. The beaches around there and the nature trails around there too are really stunning. Exactly. Australia's massive. This is a problem. It's crazy.

There's so many cool places to be, but it's all far away. And you can't get anywhere easily unless you want to drive. You need to get in a little car or in a little plane. It's bigger than you think. Correct. And you think it's big, but it's bigger than that. Correct. Exactly.

So that's it. That's our show for this week. Wow. And for the year. And for the year. That's it. Thanks, everyone. My recommendations for the year are the show Willow and New Amsterdam

and Fleshman's in Trouble. What are your recommendations for 2023? You stole my Fleshman is in Trouble. That are your recommendations for 2023? You stole my Fleshman is in Trouble. That was my recommendation. And then also my video clip. Oh, damn, yeah. Buy tickets. Come along if you could.

Yeah, we would love you to come along. I'd love to see you. I'm going to be selling some merch there, sticking around after the show for a little drink. And maybe you're a person who's like, I don't care about motherhood or whatever. Who gives a shit? I'm with you.

I agree. I'm on your side. But maybe you have a friend or a partner or someone in your family who might be interested. Yeah, and it's also not just about motherhood. I should say it's also about love and desire and relationship breakdowns and it's also just some fun music. And my cousin Woody is an incredible musician.

He plays the trumpet. His music's really cool. So you can check him out actually on Instagram, Woody Sampson, to see his kind of vibe. They're amazing. Woody's amazing. Agreed. And so that'll all be happening on the 11th of February.

And if you wouldn't mind heading over to my Spotify, click and follow on my artist page and have a little listen to Fear to Feel because my second single, Free, like a little pop song, is coming out on the 27th of January. And if you follow my artist page. Yeah, next week. Yeah, I know. If you follow my artist page, you'll get it straight away. It's also on Apple Music.

Yeah, it's on Friday. Yeah, cool. Yeah, so if you follow my artist page, you'll be able to find it there. But check it out on Friday because it will be coming into the world. And I'm really excited about this one. Our daughter's in it too at the start and at the end. Yeah. She's so cute.

She was jumping off the bed and counting herself down, and I just popped a little voice memo on and recorded her. No, he's nodding at me, and I requested. No, that's not true. Okay, thank you, everybody. Thanks, everyone. Thanks to you, Collings, as always. We've been to Jessup true. Okay. Thank you, everybody. Thanks, everyone. Thanks to you, Collings, as always. We've been to just a podcast.

Bye. Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, an Uber account for your teen with enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride with top-rated drivers, and you can track every trip on the live map in the Uber app. Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details.