Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti, Jerry O'Connell, and John de Lancie hit the podcast circuit

Plus a little rambling about colonoscopies, Tom Cruise, musical episodes, and working at Oxygen

Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Martin Short get their colonoscopies together!

These are the kinds of fun facts you can learn on a podcast, even when neither the guest nor the host is Lorne, Steve, or Martin. It’s something Jon Hamm told Dax Shepard, who immediately suggested they team up to do the same. I won’t lie, I’d be a lot less edgy about getting my next colonoscopy if I knew where the celebs go… not that I want to run into anybody while I’m getting one, now that I think about it. But I bet it’s REALLY nice, plus there’s something equalizing about the fact that the richest most celebrated stars also have to deal with the humanizing, embarrassing, icky reality of the colonoscopy. And imagine going to get yours and seeing Lorne, Steve, and Martin there, heading in together.

But enough about colonoscopies, already!

Jon Hamm was on on Armchair Expert

He was there for Fargo week, and I obviously need to watch this show.

I watched all of Mad Men last year (loved and was constantly surprised by it) and thought Jon Hamm was smoking hot on The Morning Show too. He’s someone I briefly tried not to like, then realized that was dumb and just gave in.

When they got to the deep dive on Fargo, I hit pause to avoid spoilers, but my attention was already waning during their long isn’t-Tom-Cruise-great digression. I am in that tiny minority of humans who do not enjoy Tom Cruise. I get that he commits to doing these insane stunts and has a crazy work ethic and all that, but he does nothing for me, plus I’m not really an action movie gal. I like some superhero stuff, but my favorite ones juggle dual identities and have tragic backstories: Superman, Spider-Man, sometimes Batman but less so because his other identity is rich guy who doesn’t really answer to anyone else. Also, I’d rather watch Spider-Man swing from building to building than a fight scene. I loved Supergirl and The Flash, but my favorite episode was their musical crossover (directed by Dermott Downs, who I got to interview after he did the spectacular Strange New Worlds musical episode.)

Wait, what am I talking about now?

Musicals, superheroes, action movies… Tom Cruise! Right. Don’t care. So the rest of Jon Hamm’s interview will wait until I see Fargo. I was enjoying Jon right up until they got to the Top Gun bit, and before that, they both told great stories about being fired.

Paul Giamatti, too!

Okay, I waited to listen to this until I watched The Holdovers, which is a terrific movie. I could’ve listened to Paul and Dax chat all day! Monica was away this week, but I think this was a good one for her to miss, because they got into a great vibe and I feel pretty certain they are going to start hanging out now. You really feel like you’re just hanging with them… great episode for a long car ride or a day when you just really need to step out of yourself for a bit.

The fact check was also fun for Armchair Expert fans who like the loose vibe. It became a bit of a free-for-all when one of Dax’s cute daughters joined in and friends dropped by. Monica was in that section, sad about having recently lost her grandfather, and I think all the activity made her feel less alone. It was a very cozy fact check!

Trek, Marry, Kill does “The Enemy Within”

I rewatched “The Enemy Within” recently (for Lindsay & Cleveland’s podcast, which I talked about last week), and it’s a complicated one to review. Great story, classic premise by a classic sci-fi writer (Richard Matheson), an intense, stellar performance from William Shatner, but some truly shameful stuff around sexual assault and how Janice Rand, the victim, was treated. A product of its time for sure, but also timeless and thought-provoking in other ways.

Bryan and Kristen really did it justice with the right blend of historical information, appreciation, and mockery when appropriate… exactly why I enjoy this podcast so much.

Jerry O’Connell on Literally!

I was hoping he’d talk about Lower Decks, but he didn’t. He did, however, talk about the whole experience doing Stand By Me at age 10, which is well worth listening to.

I had my own Jerry O’Connell experience many years ago. I was working at Oxygen, right when the network launched, as a segment producer on Trackers, a two-hour, daily live show aimed at young women.

Right? TWO HOURS. Every day. Live. Why? I do not know. Anyway...

We booked Jerry and while I don’t remember what he was promoting, I do remember that it was St. Patrick’s Day. He was late… and remember, the show was live. I was his producer, and as the minutes ticked by, the producers in the control room were rearranging the show on the fly, moving his segment further back each time. We finally got word he’d arrived, so I was right at the door when he reached the studio. He was drunk, pointed out it was St. Patrick’s Day in his hey-be-chill-everything’s-okay apology, and let himself he hustled into makeup. I prepped him as best as I could.

And you know what? He was great once he got on air. One of things I’d set up was… well, this was back in the early days of fan sites on the internet, like Geocities and things like that. We showed him (live) a couple of really elaborate fan sites he’d never seen before, and had him leave comments there too. He was a great sport about it and the segment was fun.

But it always kinda left me with a bad taste where he was concerned. Then he turned up on Lower Decks and is very funny there, so my opinion slowly shifted. His interview with Rob Lowe was surprisingly interesting, he talked a lot about being a dad, and honestly, his wife Rebecca Romijn seems supercool and they are a fun couple, so all is forgiven, Jerry. You can stop worrying about it now. We’re all good.

I’m sure he’s been concerned about this for quite some time.

We talked to Q!

Thanks to our pal Ian Spelling, Tony and I got to interview John de Lancie on All Access Star Trek this week. I feel like we barely hit the tip of the iceberg with him. Sometimes he answers the question he wants to answer, or maybe it’s the question he thinks is being asked because he’s been asked so many times before, but that happens with almost every Star Trek actor in my experience, especially when you’re talking with someone who’s been answering those questions for a couple of decades. Longer interviews help with that, and I enjoyed the conversation.

That’s it for this week!