The Beginning (web series 1 & 2)

It’s time to initiate the plan! We’re trying to get Matt and Jay on the show and we’ll start that by covering episodes 1 & 2 of the web series. We also try to figure out what the hell we’re doing. Other topics include: Discontinued snacks, friendship, and Juiced.

Email: nirvannathepod@gmail.com

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Instagram: @nirvannathepod

www.nirvannathepod.com

Transcript

Matt Johnson 0:00

We Nirvana the Band.

Kit 0:09

Hello. Welcome to Nirvana the Band, the show, the podcast. The podcast all about Nirvana, the Band, the show, and Nirvana the Band, the show, the movie, eventually. My name is Kit and I'm joined by my two lovely co-hosts.

Steve 0:22

I'm Steve.

Michelle 0:23

And I'm Michelle. Yeah. So this is a show where we will be watching and talking about Nirvana the Band. So that includes the web series, which is what we're going to be starting with. We'll be moving on to the Vice television show. And then of course the movie. In between, we'll be covering other things, uh the extras, the deleted scenes, all of that. But I think one thing we could do to get started is sort of talk about our history with Nirvana the Band. Um, how we found this show that is somehow impossible to find, um, and what kind of brought us all here today.

Steve 0:58

Yeah.

Kit 0:59

Love it.

Steve 1:00

Well, I I was the first one into this nonsense. So um, I'll throw that out there. Because I think I so I saw BlackBerry, I was kind of blown away, and I was like, who the fuck is this guy? And then I saw he had something called Nirvana the band the show, and I was like, what the fuck is that? And much like most of my interests, I became quietly obsessed with it. Um because I have this thing, uh I think you both probably know this, that uh like five or six years ago I decided I'm no longer engaging in fandom spaces of any kind. Uh it was just like a thing I decided. So now I just have all of my weird obsessions that unless somebody in my personal life knows about, I just keep silently to myself. And uh once the movie was coming out, I realized I could preach to you people and get you on board. So that's my history.

Michelle 1:49

Steve, as your friend, I am so surprised to hear you say that you keep these secret and quiet to yourself because I feel like we get to hear about a lot of them. And I have a lot of questions, maybe separate from this podcast, about the ones that you're not telling us about or evangelizing to us the way you did, Nirvana the Band.

Steve 2:11

Like my wife once said to me, you know, I have a question about like British medieval warships that I'm pretty sure you have an answer, even though you've never mentioned it. Did you?

Kit 2:20

Did you have an answer?

Steve 2:22

A little bit. But not.

Kit 2:23

Of course, of course.

Steve 2:25

But it's just one of those things, yeah, where I mostly unless I can, you know, Nirvana the band pill you people, which seems like I've done.

Michelle 2:32

Yeah. I'm really excited for the sub-show that's definitely gonna emerge within this of learning about the things that I don't already know about you. What about you, Kit?

Steve 2:42

What's your history?

Kit 2:44

Yeah, I mean, I was introduced to it by you. I was thinking about this earlier today, where Nirvana the Band is in these like three circles of my life, in that it's clearly a show made for people who are like film and TV nerds, uh, alt comedy, like improv nerds, and then just kind of like, I don't know, sort of like people who worked at Vice, basically, uh, because of the Vice show. Um, and I was thinking about it, and I was just like, there are these three circles, and all three of these circles are people I have engaged with, interacted with, and friends with, have dated. And at no point did this, these three circles turn into a Venn diagram where anyone took me aside and said, you would really like Nirvana the Band. But I will say that I I did get into Nirvana the Band specifically because Steve, you were talking about it so much. I think last year when you were watching and prepping for the movie. Um, there were a few times where my partner and I were just like, Steve has been texting about Nirvana the band all day, and I have no idea what he's talking about, no clue. Um Steve Magic, baby. Yep, yep. So we we my partner and I eventually watched it earlier this year. He just sort of like threw it on, uh, no context at all, the very first episode. Um, and it has been a ride ever since. And I have a level of brainworms about this show and movie that I have not experienced in a really long time. And it's frankly alarming, I think, to everyone around me. So I'm grateful to have this space to just sort of get all of that out um and hopefully come out of this, you know, a respectable member of society again.

Steve 4:23

Not gonna happen, but I appreciate the attempt. What about you, Michelle?

Michelle 4:27

Uh, I'm brand new to this. Um, I feel like I had heard the name a couple times. I my husband watched BlackBerry. I had to exit the room because I just couldn't handle seeing Glenn Howerton in a bald cap. For some reason, it was really distressing visual to me. So I did not join him in watching that movie. Um now I'm sad because I've missed out on a chance to get exposed to Matt Johnson earlier than I could have. Uh, but I think a couple of months ago, I started hearing from you two and then like other culture, other parts of the internet that I live in about Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie. Um, you guys were talking about it. I saw a bunch of people posting on Letterboxd about it. Um, I listened to a riddle and improv comedy podcast uh called Hey Riddle Riddle, and they were talking about how good it was. Um, and everywhere I heard said, go into this movie totally blind if you can. It'll be a great experience. Um and they did, and it was it was the best. We saw it in the theater. There were a bunch of other like dweebs, and I felt very at home with uh and it was the best. And so I have only watched so far the first two episodes of the web series and a couple like random clips that have been that have found their so found their way to me. Um, but I feel like I'm going in mostly blind and it's uh it's been fun.

Steve 6:06

I don't know if you know, but there's something that happens on Wednesdays.

Michelle 6:09

Usually I'm aware, I'm aware that's one of my spoilers. I have no clue at what point the Wednesday update will come in my web series journey, but I'm really excited to hit it.

Steve 6:21

Fun fact, it won't. It's a totally separate thing, not involved. Oh, delightful. Speaking of that, I I think there's a couple of ground rules we should probably lay going into this show. Um, we're gonna be covering the web series two episodes at a time. Then we're gonna probably get to some odds and ends, like the adventures, which is where you know update day comes from, like the piano lessons, some deleted stuff here and there. We'll do some grab egg episodes, then we'll move on to the Vice Land series, and then eventually the movie. But I I think something we left out at the top of the show was there's a plan here. I'll get out the whiteboard. Uh the plan is to irritate Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll enough that they come on this show. Now, middle lore, I used to host a Vin Diesel podcast. Vin Diesel knew it existed, was not happy about it. He did? Yes. How do you know? Because I spoke to his management about trying to book him. And they screamed the episodes and then stopped replying.

Kit 7:28

Oh no. You went on that podcast. I did. I was on the the pacifier episode. How fortuous.

Steve 7:38

Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Uh then Finn Diesel turned out to be the world's biggest sack of shit. So hopefully that doesn't happen here. But yeah, so Matt and Jay, if you hear this, or if you guys know Matt and Jay out there, we want to book them. That's the plan. There are Rivoli. So in case for some reason there's somebody listening to this podcast that doesn't know what the fuck Nirvana the Band the show is, do one of you want to talk about what it is?

Kit 8:06

Yeah, so so the history of Nirvana the Band, the show, is that um it was created by two childhood best friends, uh, that being uh Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll, who played Matt and Jay, respectively, fictionalized versions of themselves. Um and so they're in this band called Nirvana the Band, and they're they're desperately trying to book a show, but not any show. They need to book a show at The Rivoli, uh, which is this club in Toronto. And so the entire web series is about this. Actually, the entire series itself is about this. These these two guys who are in this band who really, really, really want this show at The Rivoli. The web series was released independently on their own website back in 2007, 2008. And um there was a 10-year gap in between the web series coming out and then the next iteration of it, which is uh they did a show on uh Vice Land, which is uh Vice's uh broadcast television channel, which no longer exists anymore, um which lasted for two seasons. Uh the Nirvana the Band, the show. Uh Vice television show ran from I want to say 2017 to 2018. And Vice actually shut down in the middle of production for season three, but we'll eventually get to that. And then in between the release of the Vice television show, there was a another 10-year gap. Um, and then we had the release of the movie Nirvana, the band, the show, the movie, uh, which released or premiered last year in 2025, um, but sort of opened uh theatrically earlier this year. So that's kind of the the long and short of it. There's stuff in between, you know, the documentary filmmaking style, you know, the way in which Matt Johnson thinks about um filming in general, um, the sort of interplay between Matt and Jay's real life friendship and the friendship that's, you know, seen on the the television show itself. But that's kind of the the crux of it is that Nirvana the Band, the show, is just this series about two guys who are best friends and a band who really, really want to play at the Rivoli.

Steve 10:06

So I um I had a couple of notes also, just kind of before we jump in, if that's cool. Mm-hmm. Um there's a couple of things going in here. We're we're gonna go through the episodes. We're not gonna like go story beat by story beat by story beat because I fucking hate those podcasts. Sorry everybody if you're one of those podcasts. This isn't Nirvana the band, minute by minute or whatever the fuck those are.

Kit 10:31

Um there's still time. We could change it.

Michelle 10:34

You know, you're we haven't even started yet. Yeah.

Steve 10:36

Fair. Minute by minute, let's fucking do it.

Michelle 10:39

I wrote all these notes about what happened in every single minute of the episodes, Steve. What am I supposed to do with them? So you have nine notes.

Steve 10:48

One thing. But um the other thing is we're not gonna like go into super spoiler territory, especially because Michelle has not seen these. But I do think knowing some of the stuff that comes in the future is useful context for conversation. Especially in how they've grown as creatives. Like so I, if you're coming along on this journey with us, I would recommend jumping into the movie first and then going back. I actually think there's a lot to be had and a lot of enjoyment to pull from that to then revisit the movie at the end again. Um, so there's that. Also, uh Neon has been scrubbing this stuff from the internet. Uh Reddit is your friend, random Google Drives are your friend. That is how you can find these episodes. Just saying, there are people out there who have various accounts named after Nirvana the band. You will find the stuff in under 24 hours. So just a little googling, you will be able to find all the episodes, even the ones that have been scrubbed from the internet. Matt Johnson and Jay McCarroll believe in fair use, so do we. Uh we're doing it.

Michelle 11:57

I was gonna say it feels it feels there's something like a little poetic almost about all of this stuff getting scrubbed for intellectual property reasons when it seems like that's their huge thing is coming right up to the edge of intellectual property crimes. I think not getting and getting away with it.

Steve 12:19

I think that's the perk of having a movie studio behind you.

Matt Johnson 12:22

Yeah.

Steve 12:23

We love you guys. But yes, you're right. We love you, come on the show. Come on the show. We're we're honest. Um the last thing is like um there's some stuff in the early, especially in the web series, that has aged very, very poorly. They've admitted it, the movie comments on it. Like yeah, we'll call it out if it's a little egregious. I I just if you two agree, I just want to, you know, I was gonna lay this down, but like yeah, we'll we'll call this stuff out uh occasionally, but I think overall it's not a super fun show if we're just people nitpicking everything that's aged poorly. Um look, we're not okay with homophobic jokes, we're not okay with racist jokes. This is a queer fucking podcast, like I'm not, you know, like it's just but I don't think you people out there want to listen to us being like, so this joke was bad, that joke was bad.

Kit 13:18

Yeah, no, I think that makes perfect sense and also leads in really nicely to the the first episode of the web show. Um so um let's get in to perhaps the first episode of the web show, episode one, the beginning. So, Michelle, this was your first time seeing it. What were your reactions? I mean, they did show some of it in the movie, obviously they cut at a certain point, but yeah.

Michelle 13:42

Uh so I thought it was I think, Steve, your recommendation to see the movie and then go back into the web series. Like, that's the way I'm experiencing it, is very fun. Because I didn't realize when I was watching the movie that like the clips that they show in the beginning are truly the beginning of the web series, like the very first moments. And it's this like lovely little uh retro spec, not retrospective, uh thing where like they're for the first time talking about putting on a show with Rivoli. And um I love the music that Jay is playing while Matt's just like performing and talking about the introduction that they're gonna give for their show. And I don't know, it's it's so fun. I think I was so immediately captivated by it. I'm kind of shocked that I hadn't come across this before, given like the places that I was on the internet in 2008. Like if things had happened very slightly differently in my life, I would have been watching this instead of Jake and a mirror, which is where I was. Um but I loved it. It's it's super fun. And then, and then yeah, uh only a few seconds into the beginning, uh, it's just it's a big old F slur right in your face, which was uh a little jarring.

Steve 15:08

A bit. I equate this to so I don't know if either you two watch this. Like this felt very much like we're watching The Venture Brothers. The Venture Brothers is one of my favorite shows of all time. But if you go back and watch those first two seasons, it hurts. It's a lot of we're saying this edgy stuff because it's 2008 and we want to get a rise out of you. And that is very much what is going on there. Because like the joke is Matt said the F Slur, and Jay's like, well, that's not okay, and Matt doesn't get that it's not okay. So like I and I and watching that opening number, like you were talking about, it's really charming, and it did feel like when I've gone to back to rewatch The Venture Brothers, and I'm like, I see the early versions of this thing that's going to mature with me and will keep its same, like kind of edgy, wacky tone, but calibrated a little more grown up.

Michelle 16:03

Yeah. I think it's an interesting, like I it's interesting to be watching it for the first time right now in 2026, where like there are so many things that I did love, you know, 10, 20 years ago that I think if I went back and watched them with fresh eyes right now, that would be very, I don't know, like not as fun, more stressful. Um but I don't know, it's it's an interesting experience to watch it with like almost 20 years of time between when it was filmed and now, and also to like have sort of a sense of who Matt and Jay are now versus then.

Steve 16:42

Well yeah, like the not to go too spoilery, but the fucking movie just calls out the F slur in it. Yeah, as in oh my god, I can't believe you thought this was funny in 2008. Like it just it says it without saying it, and I think in a really beautiful way, we'll get to later. But kid, how did you feel jumping into episode one?

Kit 16:58

My partner had just sort of like put this on with like no context. So that was the context I had when it's just all of a sudden this is happening on TV. And because the episode starts so strongly with them being like, you know, for figuring out like what the beginning of their show was gonna be, I really thought that we had whatever he had put on TV for us to watch was like in the middle of a season or something because it just felt like really tight, like they had like really great chemistry. It felt really good. And so I was engaged in it. The the sort of like song that Matt was putting together, you know, the intro of like, we are the one of the band and we're gonna send you to the moon. Like it was very locked in on that. Um, but when he he hit the Epsler, I I that got the biggest laugh out of me because I had no context of what we were watching, and it just sort of like knocks you out, you know? And so it was, yeah, wait a minute, what the fuck are we watching? Um and it immediately goes straight into like the the credits, which are just so charming. I love the opening credits, even though we don't often see them, which is such a bummer. Um, but yeah, I do think that the the intro to that is just such a it's so strong. Um, and then it really does hit you with the very 2008 of it all.

Steve 18:16

But you also like you learn so you know so much about who Matt the character is because he's so overly enthusiastic and then clocks himself being overly enthusiastic and is like, you know what? No, this is garbage. Fuck you, we hate you. This is terrible. And I think that is such a beautiful piece of character work to be like, this is who this guy is. He is super sincere, and then the moment he clocks, he's sincere, he has to blow it up. And it's just and it's interesting listening to the commentary track for this where Matt on it is just shit talking, what a garbage episode it is the whole time.

Michelle 18:50

I wrote a note about that. Yeah. I read, I listened to the commentary and then went back and watched just the episode again, and I was like, you're doing the exact same thing. It's like it's to the point where I'm like, is that on purpose? And I don't think so, but I don't know.

Steve 19:04

No, I think it it it reads just as like he catches himself being too sincere and too enthusiastic, and then just needs to like drop a nuke on it.

Michelle 19:14

Yeah. And he's also eating something through the entirety of at least the two commentary tracks that I've listened to so far, which uh is weirdly delightful. Like good ASMR type stuff, or no, no, like not pleasant, but just like uh charming to know that he doesn't that he's just like sitting there chopping on something that sounds a little gross, but I don't know. It it might just be that I could be charmed by basically anything he does.

Steve 19:46

But I think it's this thing that like this is who they think you know what you're getting with them. And that's what why I'm so Jonathan. I think I I don't want to speak for the two of you, I think brought us together to do this because I think the three of us are pretty sincere, uh overly enthusiastic individuals sometimes.

Michelle 20:10

Um I think something else that I really loved about the beginning of it is like it is clearly that it that it's a beginning, but I love that they don't explain who they are, who they are to each other, why they've called themselves Nirvana the band. Like I maybe it'll get explained in a future episode, but I love that there's none of it in the first episode. I think the only references that I've heard so far to the actual band, Nirvana, uh, is like there's a brief moment during a phone call when he's like Nirvana the Band, know the band, uh, and then playing a little bit of Sounds like Teen Spirit at the end credits. And that's all that I've heard so far. I don't know if there's more coming.

Kit 20:58

I mean, that's what I love about it. It does feel like they sort of like drop you in immediately in media res to this world where it's just like this is Matt and Jay, they're best friends, they live together, they're in this apartment, they're in Nirvana, the band, they're booking the show, and just go. Like that's all you need. We're we're off to the races.

Steve 21:15

Yeah. And we're there and they they I'll acknowledge that almost none of it's written. Uh like it's all pretty much just off the cuff. And every time Jay gets pissed off, Jay acknowledges it's him actually just getting pissed off at Matt. Yeah. And um, for the two of you who have to listen to me ramble sometimes, I uh can understand what Jay might feel like. Uh but just that part where where Matt just is like going off on like, I'm guarding this table for five minutes. I've been guarding this and he's just doing the same failed bit over and over again in an attempt to make it a successful one, is the most I've ever related to a character on television.

Michelle 22:00

It's really, really good. And then he gets at the end to like, maybe it's the five minutes.

Kit 22:05

They they do such a great job of like capturing just hanging out with your friends and just doing stupid bits together. And it's just like, it doesn't matter if this is good, it doesn't matter if this is bad. We're just hanging out and we're killing time. And yeah, I'll do this like bit that doesn't really make any sense. But like it's making me laugh, kind of, and it doesn't work, but it's for us. And yet they've shot it and they put it on the internet for us to watch, you know? It feels almost like private sometimes, like where it's just like these are like inside jokes between them and their friends, like between Matt and Jay and like the the camera people and like all of that. But at the same time, like they've packaged it and put it online, and it's become this like sort of niche cult thing, you know?

Michelle 22:43

You know that meme that's of um it's like a picture of people like laughing and talking to each other, and then there's a person taking a selfie of themselves standing in front of it, like also smiling and laughing. And the caption is like, this is what it feels like to listen to podcasts. Yeah. That's how I feel about this show in like the most positive possible way of like I'm here also, and I'm just hanging out.

Steve 23:11

I'm with my best friends, Matt and Jay.

Michelle 23:14

Yeah.

Matt Johnson 23:15

Yeah.

Michelle 23:16

And we're going somewhere, and like maybe it's really stressful. Maybe we're about to deliver a threatening box with a letter taped to it.

Steve 23:24

That's the part that, like, but when I first watched this, like filled my heart with such joy was I love an escalating bit. Yeah. I have a I'm sure it will come up throughout the show. The many escalated way too far bits I have done over the years. And they're doing this thing where it's, you know, it's Jay on the phone pretending to be the manager. Like the manager, when they call a Rivoli, it's Jay doing the voice of the like the manager of the Rivoli. All of this stuff. And they're like, you know, what do we do? We gotta make this box with all of the, you know, the press package and all of that. You can see this moment where they go, we need to actually show up at this place. And they escalate to actually bringing a package to the actual Rivoli to a very confused woman. And like dropping it. It may or may not be Irish. There was a big debate on whether or not she was Irish. And it felt, I I know that feeling of like, all right, let's take this bit just a little too far. And that makes it even funnier. And that's what the show continues to be. Like, just like, should we push it a little further? Yeah, I guess so. And I I find that so warm and like really kind of gleeful.

Michelle 24:46

The there's like a brief scene when um when they're getting ready, when they're like finishing their press package, which I love that they decide to make that an actual package, uh, and Matt like gives it to Jay. He's like, Mime being the owner of the Rivoli, and then yells at him to like mime better, and then runs around the corner, and Jay pretends to be the owner reading the package, and then they cut to Matt just like silently mouthing along as Jay reads it out loud, and it it kills me. It's so funny.

Kit 25:21

That whole sequence is so funny to me. I I wrote it down in my notes that like one, you have like Jay pretending to be the owner of the Rivoli, and he's like, he doesn't know what to do with his hands, so he's like doing this almost like. Because how do you mind being the owner of the and then of course them reading off what they've written on the box? To me, the funniest part wasn't even like this is an explosive sort of thing. It was the the thing at the end where it's like, and four times four is 16, like completely took me out.

Steve 25:52

Well, now, forever, four times four equals 16.

Michelle 25:59

And then the the cut to them running to James Taylor whenever I've seen your smiling face is I I would love to just like talk for a million years about how they use other people's music in addition to their own. It's so funny. The song goes on for so long of them just like cheerfully running down the street with a big box, and I love it.

Steve 26:27

And that moment I think gets to something about Nirvana, the band, the show, that makes it super special to me. And why one of the reasons I fell in love with it is I hate prank shows, and I hate like man on the street stuff for the most part, with the exception of one other property, which is Jackass. And this shares a very similar trait to Jackass, which is it's not mean, it's incredibly warm, and the joke is always on Madden Jay. Yeah, totally. And it's one of the only times I've ever seen this type of thing work of like we're gonna show up at a restaurant with a box and be really fucking weird. And like it it be it not come off as like shitty. It really just comes off as like we've introduced a weird thing, and I'd love to hear what you two think, but it feels like like we've introduced some weirdness into a space, and we're gonna look like psychopaths, and that's where the joke is. The joke isn't that like we confused a woman. I don't, I don't know, I don't want to speak for what you two think about that.

Michelle 27:39

I think that's a great point, and I hadn't thought about the connection to Jackass, but you're totally right that like it's sort of a prank. It's prank adjacent, but like nobody is getting hurt, at least of what I've seen. Nobody's getting hurt, nobody's getting embarrassed except for them. And like the worst thing that could happen to the people that they're like involving in their schemes is that they're a little confused, maybe, but also probably like delighted.

Kit 28:10

Yeah, no, there's something about it where it it's interesting to hear you describe at least the web series as like warm and sincere. Because to me, as like I've been explaining this to Michelle, is like this kind of feels like a saw trap a little bit. Like there are some moments you're like, wow, that's um, but there there is something there in terms of like you feel the the sort of sincerity there that I think they do try to clamp down by having some of this like 2008 like edginess to it. But when it comes to the like man on the street stuff, like you're saying, like it is very much like the joke is on them. At no point does it feel, even in these like super early versions of Nirvana, the band, that like they're actively trying to like embarrass the woman in front of the Rivoli with the box or any of the other sequences later down the road where they are doing stuff in public.

Steve 28:58

So I am a couple of years older than the two of you. Did you not like saw trap your friends constantly in the mid-2000s, late 2000s?

Kit 29:07

No. I mean, sorta.

Steve 29:13

Because like the shit that they like, yes, it is saw trapping, but like the shit that Matt does to Jay is essentially what I did most of my what I was doing in 2008. I'm basically the same age as them. So like I used to live with one of my best friends, and I had an ongoing bit where I would hide a Bluetooth speaker in his room, and whenever he would settle in, I'd play um What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers at full volume. And I did this constantly, and then he would look for the speaker, and then he wouldn't find it, and then it would be like in a cabinet, or it would be like in the couch, or whatever, and it was torment, but he also always found it really funny after getting really frustrated. And I think that's for me and my experience, like that kind of just like horrifying your friends was just like what I did. So that's why like I feel I say it's warm. Because like my brother used to drive an ambulance and knew my commute to work and would pull up behind my car in the ambulance and speak over the loudspeaker, get out of the way, get out of the way, you smell, nobody likes you, and would just like follow me with an ambulance. Like, this was just like shit that I always did. So, like, I maybe I just have a different connection to it. It's a little nostalgic, that level of torment.

Michelle 30:36

I really love that. That's really that's really nice. Also, very, very funny of your brother.

Steve 30:44

That's why I say it feels warm because it's I think it tortures just to the point where you can come back from the frustration.

Kit 30:52

Yeah, I mean, I guess you could I can see that. I guess I didn't really have those experiences that much. Like obviously, like I was like tormenting like my sister or you know, friends, but I do think that they're I mean, obviously there are because it's a television show, they're pushing the boundaries there, but there have been a few moments in the web series that we'll get to later. I'm like, okay, we've we've reached a the saw trap adjacent area here. Yeah. I think in the earlier episodes it feels a little more like brotherly, like sort of like best friend, sort of like tormenting, and then later on it does sort of sort of reach a tipping point.

Steve 31:28

I also maybe was just a terrible person for a while.

Kit 31:32

I don't know about that.

Steve 31:35

I do call myself a reformed jerkbag. So there also could just be a little bit of uh, you know, overall association. Okay. Matt said that he hated the bit at the end of the episode where he runs in with a umbrella yelling, bad luck, bad luck, bad luck, and starts pretending to be the penguin from Batman. And he said, This is stupid. I don't get why anybody likes it, and I think it might be the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Michelle 32:02

The umbrella? The umbrella bit. Uh I don't know. It's it's not my favorite part of that episode, but it is it is charming.

Steve 32:16

I do like that they talk about the fout pacifier, which may be what willed this podcast into existence.

Michelle 32:22

Yeah, it really feels like it. Maybe we can get Vin Diesel on this podcast.

Steve 32:26

I think Vin Diesel would punch me in the street if he ever saw me.

Kit 32:30

Okay, so then one of us would reach out to Vin Diesel. He doesn't know us.

Steve 32:34

There you go.

Kit 32:35

Yeah.

Michelle 32:36

And that's the saw trap is that you're also here.

Steve 32:39

Hey, wait. You're that guy that made fun of me a lot. Oh no.

Kit 32:44

Okay, I know the plan for this podcast is to get Matt and Jay on the podcast, but what if okay, new plan? We get Vin Diesel on the podcast.

Michelle 32:53

I mean how we can have multiple goals.

Steve 32:56

That's true.

Michelle 32:57

We can hold several things.

Steve 33:00

So we'll settle for Vin Diesel.

Kit 33:03

Yeah. Yeah. Vin Diesel, if you're listening.

Steve 33:08

He is too busy uh in Dominican Republic with a bunch of 20-year-old TikTokers. Oh yeah, you guys don't know he's a creep?

Kit 33:16

No, I don't really. I mean, I knew, but not the specifics.

Steve 33:20

There's been a lot of allegations. Yikes. Maybe we don't get Ben Diesel. I mean, you guys can have Vin Diesel on the podcast. I might not be there that day.

Michelle 33:31

We go back in time, make Ben Diesel not a creep. Something, something, something.

Steve 33:40

Profit? Profit. We get some sort of discontinued beverage. We bribe Ben Diesel with it back in time. And then we have him on the podcast. Good idea.

Michelle 33:53

Trying to think of what my version of Orbits would be. What drink do I feel so passionately about that I would buy up all their expired stock?

Steve 34:04

I don't know. I've got mine. What's yours? Do you remember Snapple Pie? I think about it all the time.

Kit 34:11

No, no.

Steve 34:12

So for like a year, Snapple put out this thing called Snapple Pie. There's a berry version. Eat shit. Get out of here. The apple Snapple Pie was a drink that was the consistency of diarrhoea, but it tasted like a liquid apple pie. You tasted crust. You tasted fillings. It just tasted like drinking an apple pie. And my brother and I went, This is never gonna last. This is a very niche product. And we went around and bought every single case.

Michelle 34:49

So I did have a really upsetting beverage experience to imagine.

Kit 34:54

Also, starting off with it looks like diarrhea did not help.

Steve 35:00

Look, novelty snacks have always been a complicated topic. But the Snapple Pie just tasted like drinking a pie. It was disturbing but beautiful. And yeah, I had cases of it, and we got to the point where it was expired, and we were like, should we?

Michelle 35:18

Did you? Expiration dates are fake.

Steve 35:22

Yeah, I made up, I believe. I know people say that.

Michelle 35:27

To a certain point. I think you will it's within months, fine. Years decades, perhaps.

Steve 35:35

Yeah. You're lucky if I eat a loaf of bread after the expiration date. I'm a coward. No, I didn't eat I we we ended up dumping out the Snapple Pie, unfortunately. I wonder if you can get that on eBay.

Kit 35:50

There's no way you can't. Surely there's some. Like you can still get uh Crystal Pepsi on eBay, I think.

Steve 35:56

Gross. But didn't they bring that back? Extremely rare. Snapple pie collectible. Found it on eBay. Uh $200. Holy shit.

Kit 36:09

I don't know.

Michelle 36:10

That's a big deal, honestly. I think if we ever make any money from this podcast, it should go into buying Steve an expired bottle of Snapple Pie.

Kit 36:20

Are there any sponsors listening right now? Can I get a Casper mattress in the chat?

Steve 36:26

Yeah, let's monetize this shit, right? Sell out immediately. We need Snapple. You to be fair, you do get one bottle of the berry mix and one bottle of apple pie. Oh, so it's like $100 a bottle.

Michelle 36:42

But we're throwing away the berry one immediately, like you said. Garbage. Yeah.

Steve 36:47

Uh you could get it for as low as $34.71 a month with Klarna.

Kit 36:52

Okay, that was a good deal. Yeah. I'll go into debt for this.

Steve 36:56

Imagine getting financing on an expired Snapple. Stranger things have happened, I think. Episode two.

Kit 37:07

Wait, no, I want to go back to the Snapple for a second. Let's do it. No, let's do it. Let's do it. Okay, so you said it tasted like all of the aspects of eating an apple pie, including like the crust. What do you mean by that? Like, was it like multiple like sort of aftertastes happening?

Matt Johnson 37:24

Yeah.

Steve 37:24

Do you remember the Doritos cheeseburger flavor? No, no.

Kit 37:28

What are you saying?

Steve 37:30

Your lives are empty.

Kit 37:32

I mean, yes. That's why we're friends.

Steve 37:34

Yeah. There was a Doritos cheeseburger flavor where you would eat it. First it would taste like meat. And then your tongue would be like, oh, there's some ketchup. And then it would be like, oh fuck, here's some pickle. So yeah, it was like a series of aftertastes.

Michelle 37:49

Fascinating. Although I we we've at various times in our lives subscribed to those like international snack box things. And one time one of them came with beef wellington flavored chips that upsettingly did taste like beef wellington. And also dog treats somehow at the same time.

Kit 38:10

Did you know it was a dog treat before you ate it? Or it was a potato tip?

Michelle 38:16

Uh I've eaten a dog treat. I'm not I'm not too proud to say. Some of them look good.

Steve 38:23

Not like often. I'm not gonna judge you. It's fine. My dad used to eat bird seed.

Kit 38:29

Isn't that just seeds?

Matt Johnson 38:31

Yeah.

Steve 38:31

Sunflowers? Yeah, but we had birds, and he would just like feed the birds and then just take a couple of handfuls.

Kit 38:36

Okay. I don't know. I feel like that's pretty normal. No. Is it to just eat pet food out of a bag? I mean, that's seeds. It's not like me feeding my cat and then like taking a fistful of his wet food and then just like going to town on it.

Steve 38:49

Well, that's just going full gray gardens.

Michelle 38:53

I feel like I've immediately established myself as not in a position to judge that.

Kit 38:59

Um, all right. Is there anything else we wanted to talk about around episode one?

Steve 39:04

Oh, I there was one um thing, actually. I was looking at my notes here. Uh Matt points out that the reason they picked the Rivoli is because when he was a kid, he heard somebody say I performed at the Rivoli, and he thought it just meant that it was a fancy place where people where it was a fancy place where successful people did comedy.

Michelle 39:24

Hmm. It's is it like I actually have it, I don't know why I haven't done this. I haven't looked up anything about the actual Rivoli. Is it more of a comedy club or is it like a music scene?

Steve 39:38

It's a both. It's it's okay it's like a restaurant that has a like show space in the back.

Kit 39:49

It's a restaurant? Yeah, there's a restaurant out in the front of it. Like there's like a little patio. That's nice.

Steve 39:56

If we ever make money on the show, we have to go. Road trip.

Michelle 40:00

Yeah, I'm in. And honestly, even if we don't, let's go to Toronto. We've got the CN Tower.

Kit 40:09

Yeah, that's true. We can buy a case at the Snapple, bring it with us.

Steve 40:14

We could pull over vomit in unison on the side of the road. But yes, that that's our other goal. Okay, third goal, put it on put on the plan. Drive to Toronto and do the Nirvana the Band tour.

Kit 40:30

I'm writing it down. Cool. Three plans. We're gonna need a whiteboard at some point, I think. Maybe three. Maybe three.

Steve 40:39

Okay, if we make money, the first thing we're gonna buy is three whiteboards. Then $200 worth of expired snap fall. Then a trip to Toronto.

Michelle 40:50

A trip to Toronto.

Kit 40:51

Yeah, the order of operations is right. You know, you need to like write it down, have the energy to like book the tickets to Toronto and then go to Toronto. It makes sense.

Steve 41:01

Yeah. We did it. I can't wait. I think this might be the best podcast ever recorded.

Kit 41:10

One thing I wanted to say about the first episode is it introduces my favorite joke, the rec my favorite recurring joke of the web series, which is them looking for the triple jump in Castlevania. Um every time it comes up, which I think is only like maybe a couple more times, tickles me to death. Um I thought you were gonna say nothing like a good feeling. You're right. I was trying to be cool, but it is nothing like a good feeling.

Michelle 41:38

Nothing like a good feeling. Nothing like the good feeling of getting a triple jump.

Steve 41:43

Oh, also the first episode introduces the bit of Jay saying you need to keep a PG and then them bleeping every profanity Jay says moving forward.

Michelle 41:53

That's really funny. Oh, um, sorry, I was gonna say I have something in my notes that um will apply from here moving out. Um I would love to talk about Matt's hat and suit.

Steve 42:09

Yeah, let's do it.

Michelle 42:11

Okay, yeah. Is there ever an origin story for Matt's outfit? Or should I not ask? Should that be a mystery to me? I don't know what to say.

Steve 42:24

Keep it a mystery.

Kit 42:25

Yeah.

Steve 42:26

Okay.

Michelle 42:27

Who knows? Could be.

Steve 42:28

It is very fun to you having seen the movie first where the pants are essentially holes.

Michelle 42:34

Is he where he's wearing the exact same outfit? Yes. I have seen some I know the hat is always the same. I didn't realize that the jacket and the pants were also exactly the same.

Steve 42:47

To my understanding, and somebody could call us out, that like it's the same pants degrading over 20 years.

Michelle 42:53

I was yeah, that would it would explain why the pants are Jordan's is wrong because they're still bottom, but just uh just large craters in both legs. It's hot. Okay. Well, we'll keep this uh uh Matt's Matt's hat my my journey to follow.

Kit 43:14

And we can watch out for his jeans too, for when those rips start showing.

Michelle 43:18

Yeah. And speaking of they're fully intact in these two episodes, I think, right? Or okay. They're in good shape.

Steve 43:26

Keep a close eye on those knees. Knees are hidden. But speaking of looks, I'm gonna be mean for a second. Look, Jay McCarroll is a very sexy man. We can all agree that. The beard goatee thing he is sporting at the beginning of episode two. My only note I have is Jay, honey. What are we doing with his beard? It's one of those pew beards. Pew pew pew beards, yeah. It's one of those like pube looking beards. Yeah.

Kit 43:57

Yeah, I didn't notice his beard. I was so Focused on his very bright blue polo shirt underneath the jacket. I was just like, that is a phenomenal outfit choice for this.

Michelle 44:10

It is very deeply 2008 to me.

Steve 44:14

Oh yeah, 100%. And am I the only one on this call that is highly attracted to both of them? No. Because I know most people go with Jay, but Matt Matt could get it.

Kit 44:28

There's like a feral energy to him that I am into, but also fear, which I think is a good combination.

Steve 44:35

It would be so much eye contact.

Kit 44:37

An overwhelming amount, one would say.

Steve 44:40

Somehow, even if going from behind, still eye contact, if you look it over my shoulder.

Michelle 44:45

Yeah, that feels correct. Okay.

Steve 44:49

I just wanted to see where we were all at on the they can get it of it all. And I I'm glad we're all in agreement on both of them. Yeah. Come on the podcast. We won't be weird. Well, actually, you know what? Matt Johnson has commented on my sex life in podcast form before. I could do it about him.

Kit 45:08

You're right. We should we should talk about this. Your your lore with Matt Johnson.

Michelle 45:13

Yeah, this is our break between episode one and episode two commentary.

Steve 45:19

So uh I'm a big fan of the podcast Blank Check. Um, I'm also a parent who's often sleep deprived. So uh one night my my kid was up with the flu and was like really sick and vomiting all night and eventually went to sleep at like five o'clock in the morning. And I was listening to Blank Check, and they had done one of their burger reports, which was a segment they used to do where people would call in when they saw celebrities eating a burger. I at 6 a.m. called in and told a story about when I saw Margot Martindale eating a burger. Forgot I did this.

Michelle 45:54

Character actress Margot Martindale.

Steve 45:57

I forgot I did this, and then Blank Check did an episode with Nirvana the band where they played people's burger report phone calls. To which then Matt and Jay, well, mostly Matt, speculated on whether or not I got laid after seeing Margot Martindale, because I mentioned that I was walking back to my girlfriend's house.

Michelle 46:16

I think that's a fair, that's a that's a fair trade.

Kit 46:19

So did you get laid? Yeah, of course. It's that Margot Martindale bump. You see her, it's like an omen.

Steve 46:26

Who's not fucking after seeing gravity in IMAX? That's a thrilling experience.

Kit 46:31

Not me, dude. I'm throwing up in the street.

Steve 46:34

No, I got out of that. I was like, Sandy's back on Earth and we're going to town.

Michelle 46:40

Do you think it had more to do with gravity or more to do with Margot Martindale, or was it the elusive and unique combination of the two experiences? I think it was a little bit of both. Yeah. Um, should we talk about episode two?

Steve 46:55

Yeah, I think so.

Kit 46:56

Uh so episode two, the buzz.

Steve 46:59

Buzz buzz.

Kit 47:00

Buzz buzz. That's that's buzz in my dick.

Steve 47:03

That's what happened after I saw Gravity.

Michelle 47:05

Yeah. And Margot Martindale. It's very important. Don't forget her.

Steve 47:09

Margot Martindale can also get it.

Kit 47:11

I do like the idea of Margot Martindale being like the patron saint of getting laid. I like the idea that she comes to you in a dream and it's just like it's happening for you.

Steve 47:19

She has had the sex talk with people at some point. For sure. Imagine it coming out with that accent. It'd be delightful. Talking about the birds and the bees. I trust her. I trust her to do a good job. So there is a bit that Matt does here, and I want to get some context, see what you two think. So they're, you know, they're talking about what they need is like good buzz, and that's how they're gonna, you know, they want to get a street team, and they're making a joke about having unhoused people give out flyers. But then Matt goes off on this ri this like riff of OJ Simpson racing through like on a police chase throwing flyers about Nirvana the band. Mm-hmm. Do you think that spawned out of them seeing Juiced? Because this web series came out very shortly after the release of Juiced on DVD. Do you not know what I'm talking about?

Michelle 48:17

I have no clue what you're talking about. No idea.

Steve 48:21

OJ Simpson had a prank show that went straight to DVD.

Kit 48:24

Wait. No. What do you mean by that?

Steve 48:30

There was I I have the video clip on my phone of him running up behind the door with a knife going, uh-uh-uh, gotcha. Um but what? Yeah, it was a a prank show where he was like trying to sell the Bronco and there's bloodstains in the back. Or like he's painted like an old white guy and he's like being weird.

Michelle 48:52

I cannot emphasize enough how much my jaw is on the ground. What do you guys not you never heard of Juiced? No.

Kit 49:05

At the end of each prank, he would shout, You've been juiced? He had a little tagline.

Michelle 49:10

Yeah. I mean, the the sick thing here is that he's he he was a very good comedic actor. I forget there was some movie that we all watched together that has an OJ Simpson cameo, and I'm for Steve, maybe you remember what it is.

Steve 49:30

I'm not sure which OJ movie we watched.

Michelle 49:33

I he has like a very brief cameo, and I think it was I don't know, maybe I'll I'll look it up later and see if I can figure it out. But he like Lance a good joke, a couple of them maybe.

Steve 49:46

He was in all the naked guns. He's really funny in them.

Michelle 49:50

Oh, maybe that's what it is. It's I watched The Naked Gun for the first time recently, and was like uncomfortably charmed by how good O.J. Simpson was in it.

Steve 50:04

Well, I I remember when the chase was happening and I was like, oh my god, the guy from The Naked Gun killed his wife.

Michelle 50:10

I don't care. I think this is this is something where I think our age gap it presents quite largely because what year did that happen? The murder?

Steve 50:23

Are they the same year? I don't know. When was Getting Even with Dad starring Macaulay Culkin in the theaters? Because I walked out of the theater and found out that the OJ Chase was happening. 1994. Getting even with dad starring Macaulay Culkin and Ted Dancan. Good combo.

Michelle 50:44

I love Ted Danson.

Steve 50:45

Um June 17th, 1994.

Michelle 50:50

Kit, I think we're the same age. We were three then.

Kit 50:55

Yeah. No, for some reason I thought the car chase was much later than that. I thought like maybe '96.

Michelle 51:02

I thought I was gonna guess later nineties, but yeah, no, nineteen ninety-four. Yeah, no, I have no recollection of this, obviously.

Steve 51:10

You guys, getting Eve with Dad opened that day. I was there opening day, and OJ was on the run.

Michelle 51:16

That's what a crazy day for you.

Steve 51:18

It really was. Walked out of the movie theater that found the horrible news.

Kit 51:24

Um, Margadale was there.

Steve 51:28

She's just always around. So wait, you guys were I I always forget that there is a pretty large gap between us. So like you didn't have to watch the OJ verdict in school. No. And also, no matter what age you were, huh? I did. My wife did. And in school. They wheeled in a TV and we all sat there and watched the verdict come in. I was talking about this recently. So crazy. I don't know, but in both New York City and North Carolina, we were watching the OJ verdict uh in elementary school.

Michelle 52:11

I'm I'm so startled by this information.

Kit 52:16

Yeah, because the only other time I remember something being wheeled in was not for something like the OJ verdict. It was something much different.

Steve 52:25

Whoa, did something happen?

Kit 52:27

I can't remember.

Steve 52:28

See, I was in New York City. I just watched it happen. I got the live edition. We're talking about the time when Mariah Carey missed all her notes when singing All I Walk for Christmas with You at the tree lighting.

Michelle 52:41

Yeah. Yeah. They wheeled the TV into the classroom for all of us for that.

Kit 52:47

It was a real day of mourning, honestly.

Steve 52:49

Yeah. So yeah, no. Um the I was wondering, so yeah, the OJ verdict I watched in school, and then I took Juiced out from the DVD version of Netflix and watched all of it. So I was like, did Matt and Jay pull OJ purely because this was filmed very shortly after Juiced was released.

Michelle 53:10

I think that's that's a very compelling theory to me, a person who just learned about all of these things. Um because I think I was surprised to hear an extended OJ Simpson bit in something that came out in 2008. But I kind of just chalked it up to like there are a lot of sort of random feeling references. And, you know, maybe they were just thinking about OJ Simpson that day. But I I subscribe to that theory, Steve.

Kit 53:42

Yeah, I had no context to that at all. Like I didn't know about juice either. But now that you say that, I think it's entirely possible.

Steve 53:50

There's gonna be a large chunk of this podcast, which is when I go, hey, do you remember blank and both of you look at me like I just killed your parents?

Michelle 53:58

I really I I love when that happens, though, because then I get to learn something new and it's only horrifying like half the time. This was one of the horrifying ones, unfortunately. It's a real coin flip sometimes.

Steve 54:11

I told you I don't really like prank shows, especially ones with OJ Simpson.

Michelle 54:16

Yeah, who okayed that? There's a reasonable thinking about this for the rest of my life.

Steve 54:22

There's a reason it went straight to DVD.

Michelle 54:24

Nobody did. Um I think even before they get to the OJ bit, they Jay doing trying to like hone his Morgan Freeman impression for like two minutes is is really nice to me.

Steve 54:38

While repeatedly getting steamrolled by Matt. Yeah. That is it's not a bad Morgan Freeman.

Kit 54:45

It's not. It's pretty good.

Steve 54:48

Well, I forget which um commentary it was where they reveal that basically every single voice that's done on a phone is Jay doing some sort of various voices because he's really good at voice work.

Michelle 55:00

Yeah. I think it's the commentary for episode two, because I heard that part, and I've only listened to the two commentaries.

Steve 55:08

I watched them back to back both times, so it all kind of blurs together the first two. Um I really love the mannequin bit where we where we reveal the lore that Jay is terrified of mannequin.

Michelle 55:21

Does that continue on? I really like even the continuity in this episode of Jay getting scared by the idea of mannequins, and then later on the street he like stops and stares at mannequins at a storefront.

Steve 55:34

I don't think it really carries over, but I just enjoy the fact that like it's so casually dropped, and then Matt immediately just starts acting like a mannequin for lack of a better term. It's such a stupid bit, but it's so beautiful. And then we get to hear the most banger theme song of all time, the fucking Growing Pains theme. It's so good.

Michelle 55:51

I after I watched this episode for the first time, I just like listened to the Growing Pains theme song on repeat for my entire walk home from the train. I forgot how much I loved it. It's such a banger. I think I'm mad that sitcoms don't have good theme songs like that anymore.

Steve 56:10

I often think about I don't watch it, but like the American Dad theme song is just like an absolute triumph for a show that I will never watch.

Michelle 56:20

I can't remember what it is. I've definitely seen a couple episodes before I remembered that I don't care for Seth McFarlane, but no, but it's like a nice little like musical number.

Steve 56:32

Oh, I know it. I'm just uh gonna sing it. Yeah, no, American Dad is the good morning USA one, and it is like an old school TV theme song, and it is a banger, and I'm like, that is why the Frank Sinatra estate gave you his unreleased song, Seth McFarlane.

Michelle 56:47

I do prefer him when he's in just doing a Frank Sinatra impression mode.

Steve 56:52

I have a sick obsession with that man. Because like Say more. I hate everything he puts out. Uh-huh. He seems like a great guy. He gives away a ton of money to good causes. Yeah. Like, he's used his power to like uplift a lot of creators.

Michelle 57:11

And like and Family Guy is a crime.

Steve 57:18

Family guy is an absolute abomination, and you should get the death penalty for it. But just that's why I I just the output versus the guy is it's real way across the room from each other for me. Yeah.

Michelle 57:33

I'm willing to open my heart to the possibility that he himself is a fine person who makes who makes terrible television.

Steve 57:43

I'm not gonna lie, I'd listen to that album of unreleased Frank Sinatra songs he put out. Not bad. I have to listen. So Seth McFarlane, the band the show. Um let's get Seth McFarlane on the pod. Alright. Put it on the whiteboard. Seth McFarlane, you're welcome. You just can't talk about you know, if we told him he could only talk about Frank Sinatra, he would be thrilled and be here in a moment.

Kit 58:08

I think he would be fine with that. Yeah. He would be here like right now. He'd be trying to get into the call.

Steve 58:13

I actually think he's opening the door behind you, kid.

Kit 58:15

Oh fuck. God.

Steve 58:19

Hi, Lois. That's my Peter Griffin impression.

Kit 58:23

Wait, can we hear that again?

Steve 58:24

Hi, Lois. It's me, Peter Griffin. Your husband. It sounds just like him. It's kind of hard sometimes to talk about this web series because like it's just a lot of really good jokes. You know? Yeah. And there's some obviously there's stuff to discuss. We have to go through it. But like it's hard to talk about what I think is one of the funniest things in this episode, which is where so they call what what the Elma Combo is the other club? Mm-hmm. The plan that they come up with in this one is they're going to call this other club, figure out what the owner sounds like, so that they can call the Rivoli, pretend to be him, and make a big stink about how he can't have Nirvana the band. Great plan. Great plan. And it's it goes off the rails because they're calling and Jay is doing the impression. Well, first of all, Matt calls and goes, Hi, this is the owner of the Olma Gumbo. Can I please speak to the owner? And then hands the phone to Jay instead of letting Jay make the whole call. Yeah. And then a cup falls over and Jay goes, Okay, gotta go. And it makes me laugh so hard that like I had to pause.

Michelle 59:47

It's it's so good. Matt immediately yelling at him, be like, a cup falls and you can't do it anymore. Is really good. And then the cut to just Jay sadly playing the piano, I think in the dark. And then not immediately after that. The cut to Mario Kart. Yep.

Kit 1:00:08

No, it's it's so good. I just love how quickly Matt just jumps into being so mad. It's zero to a hundred immediately, and it's so funny every single time. Um and also the the sequence of Jay playing sadly at the piano and then Matt just sort of like lurking in that little stairwell, I feel like happens so frequently, and it's funny every single time.

Steve 1:00:32

It is, but it's also like I've and maybe this is just me the way that I am as a person. I think it's really sweet because this is just so important to Matt that they do this. That like he get you can tell he just gets so upset because this is just so important to him. And yeah. I have a hard time like getting angry at him for being an ass. Because like, yeah, he's being an ass and kind of tormenting Jay, but at the same time, it's just like it's coming from such a sincere place that it's kind of cute at the same time.

Michelle 1:01:09

Yeah. I like that he fully believes in every single plan that I've seen so far.

Steve 1:01:16

And lacks the ability to hear another one. Like Jay's there doing this like pretty good Morgan Freeman impersonation, and Matt just like, I'm an OJ land, sorry. I think they'll also oh sorry, go ahead.

Michelle 1:01:28

No, no, no, no, you got uh I was gonna say the and they like come back to the voice, and uh Matt saying specifically, you do the voice, I'll do the body, is is one of my favorite moments from this episode. And they're like, and the flashback to like we know this guy loves scarves, right? And it's four hours earlier, he's always in a scarf, is just really beautiful. And I love that you don't actually see them like follow through on attempting that plan.

Steve 1:02:00

Well, because he goes so like a disguise, and then Matt like freezes.

Michelle 1:02:05

Yeah. And like starts getting paranoid that like someone's listening to his very good plan.

Steve 1:02:12

This this show makes me so joyful. It I've heard some people rank it under like cringe comedy, and I can see why, but like I I never cringe, even in their most like fucked up plans. I'm always just like, it's a couple of cutie pies right there.

Kit 1:02:32

Yeah, they do a really good job of sort of bringing you into their their friendship. Like, obviously, it's like the fictionalized versions of them, more or less. I don't know if that's true or not based on the commentaries that you guys listen to, but like to me, since I haven't listened to them, it's just fictionalized Matt and Jay, but they do a really good job of bringing you in to this friendship that they have and this like shared history. And um, I don't know, like even when things get a little like tense or Matt is just like flipping out at Matt, or when Matt is sort of like flipping out at Jay, it just you still just sort of like, yeah, these are two buddies, two guys that are still gonna be friends no matter what. There is like a level of sincerity underneath all of it that's like really nice. Yeah.

Michelle 1:03:13

Honestly, I think there was something I wrote down from the commentary track for this episode that was Matt saying, like, you know, we did all this by ourselves. Like, if you want to make a show like this, all you need is patience and all you need is three people. And I thought that was a really like lovely earnest sentiment, especially for our three-person project that we're embarking on. Um, that like, you know, it's silly and it's stupid and it goes off topic all the time. And that's what's so nice about it.

Steve 1:03:48

Yeah, and I I think that's really spot on. Yeah. I like friendship, you guys.

Michelle 1:03:55

Yeah, me too.

Steve 1:03:57

I'm glad you're my friends.

Michelle 1:03:59

Right back at you. Yeah.

Steve 1:04:01

That's right. I'm being fucking sincere. Deal with it. Um there was two really interesting things in the commentary that I heard. Uh one was Matt acknowledging that there were number there were several times where they would take down an episode, re-edit it, and put it back up.

Kit 1:04:21

Mm-hmm. Oh, interesting.

Steve 1:04:24

So that there were multiple versions of each episode.

Michelle 1:04:27

Yeah.

Steve 1:04:28

Because they kept going back to it because they just owned it.

Michelle 1:04:32

I think that's so fascinating. For like so much of the work that I've done in my life, it's like once it's done, it's done. And like I'm probably never gonna touch it again. It's like out there. And like I might revisit the same idea, but I'll do that in a new instance. And so, like, to hear that someone would go back and be like adding in a clip of Jay playing the piano a year later just to like make it make more sense, or like right before uploading the commentary track, go back and like change a flashback to black and white is so fascinating to me from uh like how you interact with your own work standpoint.

Steve 1:05:12

That's like George Lucas levels of redo.

Michelle 1:05:18

I noticed before the stuff on the fancy got taken down, maybe this part of it's still there, but there's like a catalog of every single difference between like the first upload and later release, which is like the title card hangs on for half a second longer, or like they cut out this like one like in the scenes where there's like a shot of Matt doing the same thing a bunch of times, like they did added one or took one away. Um, and I love that like obsessive internet cataloging being applied to something like that. That there are historians, archaeologists tracking every single Minute difference between different versions of these videos.

Steve 1:06:04

That's really beautiful. Yeah. You weirdos on the internet, you're alright sometimes. Yeah, there's this. It's also just thinking of some guys in their 20s, right? Like going back and like trying to make their little web series like a higher quality product and like treating it as a work of art and like this goofy thing being treated with so much care is really like genuinely inspiring about like focusing on your creative pursuits.

Kit 1:06:42

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I do think that since this series lived on their own website instead of being hosted on YouTube or whatever, like really did allow them to do that in that way, to feel like free enough to sort of take it down, re-edit, and put it back up over and over again. Um I think that's really interesting. And I almost wonder like if the web series website was still up and owned by them, would they still be taking it down and re-uploading it? Like, especially now with the movie coming out and everything.

Steve 1:07:14

I do kind of wonder if there's gonna be another edit of the web series to make it releasable. Yeah. I know they said no, but I just think it's weird that it got pulled. That my my conspiracy theory is there may be an edit coming.

Michelle 1:07:28

It does look like the fan site is back up.

Steve 1:07:32

Well, my theory's been disproven. That was my pizza gate. Anything's possible though.

Kit 1:07:39

Yeah. I mean, I have no idea how they would really edit it to make it more releasable. There's we talked about this briefly somewhere, but um for one of the episodes, it's just the full intro to a Charlie Brown movie. Like the the full thing, because I have no idea how they would get away with that, you know.

Steve 1:08:00

That Charles Schultz is fucking litigious.

Michelle 1:08:03

He is. I'm really excited to get to that one.

Steve 1:08:06

It's beautiful. We love you, Nirvana the band. The show. The movie, the podcast. The pizza? That should have been Italian. Nirvana the show the band, Nirvana the band, the show, the movie, the pizza. It could still be coming. I mean, they just put out the K-pop demon hunters products now. Maybe they're a little behind on this too.

Michelle 1:08:33

Yeah. McDonald's is working on their collab.

Kit 1:08:37

They're bringing back the orbits, orbits McFlurry.

Steve 1:08:42

Look, I drink so much Orbits, and I'm still shocked at how many people didn't know what Orbits was. Did you two not know what Orbits was?

Kit 1:08:51

I was aware familiar with it. I don't think I've tried it.

Michelle 1:08:54

Yeah, I don't think I was ever allowed to purchase it, but I knew it existed. I know Orbits exist in the same way that I know like Zima exists. And that it was like the punchline of jokes, but it wasn't something that was available for me to sample.

Steve 1:09:11

Gotcha. I would hope as a child you weren't drinking Zima.

Michelle 1:09:15

I they made it sound incredibly delicious.

Steve 1:09:19

Or like the 7-Eleven around the corner from my grandma's house used to have all the flavors of orbits. And when I would go to my grandma's on weekends, I would like walk over and sample the orbit's wares of the week.

Michelle 1:09:31

Were there multiple flavors?

Steve 1:09:34

What were the best ones? I don't even remember. They all just kind of tasted like glue. Is it it's thick? No, it's like water, but the the the way that you know like a bubble tea, the straws designed so that like one bubble at a time comes up through the straw. When you take a swig of orbits, it's like having a handful of nerds inside of a glass of juice. Gross. But goopy. Ooh.

Kit 1:09:59

Not a fan of that.

Steve 1:10:01

You know, you're getting so many orbits bits in your mouth at once. It's very disorienting. I believe it.

Michelle 1:10:10

We'll have to add some orbits to the um saple pie eBay order.

Steve 1:10:15

I bet you that has skyrocketed on eBay. I'm sure. Let's see. It's looking. I'm checking. Is it more or less expensive? You can get a bottle for 65 bucks.

Michelle 1:10:26

That's a steal. $42. I've spent more money on stupider things.

Steve 1:10:32

We can get a four-pack for $300.

Michelle 1:10:34

Incredible. Oh, where's the hell of Larna? There's a full case. I can't wait to be put in debtor's prison for our purchase of a one-metric ton of novelty beverages from the 90s. And one whiteboard. And one whiteboard.

Steve 1:10:51

I go into imagine getting a collections letter that they're repossessing your Snapple Pie.

Kit 1:10:56

Valuable. Devastating.

Steve 1:10:58

So I'm looking on eBay right now. There's quite a few Orbitz options. $64.99, $8.97 delivery from Colorado Treasure Hunters.

Michelle 1:11:10

We could travel through time. So many times.

Steve 1:11:14

Okay, 42. Here we go. This is from uh Goldie 1452. $42, $8 shipping. It's got seven bids. If you want to get in, now's the time.

Michelle 1:11:26

All the ones on eBay, the colors are very upsetting to look at. Steve, as a person who drank Orbits in its prime, were they that color? Yeah. At the time? Yep. They were like a weird urine tint.

Steve 1:11:47

As we learned tonight, I like beverages that look like diarrhea orbits.

Kit 1:11:53

Yuck. The only two flavors you need.

Steve 1:11:57

Hold up. Somebody's got an Independence Day tie-in bottle.

Michelle 1:12:00

That's pretty nice. That's gotta be expensive, right?

Steve 1:12:03

Hold on. It's a tie-in for the Independence Day video game. You gotta look at this. They're selling it for $29.99, but if you mail in the cap, you get $10 off your purchase of the Independence Day video game.

Michelle 1:12:16

Is that related to Independence Day the movie?

Steve 1:12:19

Yes.

Michelle 1:12:20

Well, I didn't know there was a video game tie-in. Did Bill Pullman do voice acting?

Steve 1:12:25

I don't know, but I do know that all the action figures came with a floppy disk game that you would put into your computer and you'd get a mini game.

Speaker 1:12:33

I missed it.

Steve 1:12:34

You two were like what, three at the time? I was 10. Also 94.

Michelle 1:12:40

94, yeah. Three. Yeah. I'm sorry.

Steve 1:12:43

I'm dying. I'm so old.

Michelle 1:12:46

I I would like for us to go on a journey of each of us learning what our own orbits would be. Steve already had an answer. I don't have an immediate one of like what discontinued beverage would transport me back in time. Kit, do you have?

Kit 1:12:59

Yeah, I'm trying to think of something, but I can't think of a beverage or even a snack that would have me want to go back in time.

Michelle 1:13:08

I do think the the 3D Doritos jalapeno cheddar flavor.

Speaker 1:13:14

Ooh.

Michelle 1:13:15

That's a good one. Could correct a lot of things that have gone wrong in my life if I had access to them. Did you ever have those? The little puffy triangles.

Steve 1:13:27

Those are good. Oh, by the way, a juiced TVD is $84.99.

Michelle 1:13:33

I think I'll settle for a rip of that one on YouTube that I'm sure exists.

Steve 1:13:38

It does not.

Michelle 1:13:40

What?

Steve 1:13:41

Catholics.

Michelle 1:13:43

Do I want to watch it?

Steve 1:13:44

I don't know, but recently You really do not. I, in my edge lord late 2000s mode, couldn't even stomach juice. So but kit, you don't have any discontinued snack that's like or beverage that's really special to you?

Kit 1:14:04

I don't know. I'm like trying really hard to think of the like drinks and snacks that I loved as a kid. And I'm not really coming up with anything because I think like nerds rope still exists, probably.

Steve 1:14:18

It's been improved actually into gummy clusters.

Kit 1:14:21

Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I can't think of anything.

Michelle 1:14:25

We'll get there. We'll find yours.

Steve 1:14:27

That's put it on put it on the plan. We have to find kits, expired, discontinued snack. Put it on the whiteboard. Yep. So those are our first two episodes of Nirvana the Band, the show. How's everybody feeling?

Kit 1:14:42

I mean, I'm feeling really good. I'm excited to keep moving forward and see Michelle's reactions to some of these upcoming episodes. Um, it's it's been hard to quit after watching like the two that we were supposed to. Like I watched another like right before this. Um, but regardless, I'm very excited.

Michelle 1:15:01

I'm really excited to be to allow myself to watch the next couple. It's taken an incredible amount of restraint on my end. I'm genuinely impressed that you're able to do it. Uh I honestly am too. Restraint is not usually a strength of mine. Um, I have horrendous impulse control, and and so this is a real feat for me. We'll see if I can hold it.

Steve 1:15:26

But you are also one who commits to the bit.

Michelle 1:15:29

I am. That's true.

Steve 1:15:32

That's why we're friends.

Michelle 1:15:33

Yeah. But I have watched the the WeShop Wednesday video uh probably 50 times.

Kit 1:15:41

I mean, it doesn't help that we keep posting it every Wednesday.

Michelle 1:15:44

So well, and I watch it like 10 times every Wednesday. It's it's just a really nice song.

Steve 1:15:50

Oh, look. Michelle viewed your Instagram story when I repost it every week sitting there. Speaking of, you know, what we'll have our social media handles up. But I would, you know, despite what I said previously about not engaging in fandom, I would love to hear um the thoughts from other fans out there about like what their thoughts are on these early episodes, how they think things have changed. So I would love for them to reach out to us.

Kit 1:16:15

You know, your favorite deleted scene, perhaps. There are 10 billion of them on the fan site.

Steve 1:16:21

Yeah, because we're gonna do a couple of grab bag episodes where we pull some random deleted scenes. So if you have one you want us to discuss when we get to that point, we'd love to hear that. Um also, what are your favorite uh snacks that discontinued in Beverages?

Kit 1:16:36

Also, have you seen Margot Martindale eating a hamburger? Please let us know.

Michelle 1:16:41

And did that lead to good experiences for you, sexual, or not? She could just be an omen of good times to come of all sorts. Good times.

Steve 1:16:54

Wink. Fucking Margot Martindale.

Matt Johnson 1:16:56

What?

Steve 1:16:58

Oh, is that what you were implying with the wink?

Michelle 1:17:01

Uh yeah. Oh, okay.

Steve 1:17:03

Sorry, I can't read subtle cues. Hence all the eye contact.

Michelle 1:17:08

It's okay. I forgot to actually wink.

Steve 1:17:11

So are there any final thoughts from my my co-hosts?

Michelle 1:17:16

Um, I'm realizing right now that we should have come up with uh with a fun little sign-off for this, and we didn't do that ahead of time. We can also workshop it. Well, we're getting near to the end. Do we though? We're at the end here. Nothing like a good feeling. There we go. There it is. Thanks everybody for listening. We are excited to keep watching and excited to keep talking about it and hearing from you.

Steve 1:17:42

Yeah, we'll see you here next week for episodes three and four.

Michelle 1:17:46

And nothing like a good feeling.

Steve 1:17:48

Nothing like a good feeling.

Michelle 1:17:50

Nothing like it. Did you say nothing like a good feeling?

Steve 1:18:03

Thank you for listening to Nirvana the Band The Show the Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. You can email us at nirvana the pod at gmail.com, and we're also on Blue Sky and Instagram at NirvanaThepod. Our website is nirvana the pod.com. Special thanks to Ann Meadows for our logo. Oh, and Matt and Jay, if you're listening, we'd love to have you on the show.