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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Boy, what an opportunity this is for Colama. They can win the division and go deep. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
Earlier on the show. University of Washington head coach Jet Fish. Cowboys defensive lineman Rashawn Garrett. Coming up. Host Chris Hardway.
Your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number three of the Rich Hisen Show is on the air. Just said goodbye to Rashawn Gary and hello to Chris Hardwick, who is in our green room right now. We're going to go down memory lane with him because he did the talking bad and better call saw conversations involving AMC back in the day.
The wall celebrates its 100th episode coming up. In a couple of Mondays from now. And so we'll talk about his current show and then, of course, my rousing victory in the one time I was on at midnight with him as host. I forgot who I was on again. I think I was on with Sagitt.
Really? Yeah. All right, let me look. Who's gonna look up who I was on with? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think so. Um When Hardwick was the host, I've been on it a couple times and won each time because I'm so damn good at that thing. Ron Funches and Adam Savage. Adam Savage. 2016.
Okay. Did you do it twice? I did. Let me find Trevor on the other one. I did.
Why do I think I did it with Saga? Kevin Nealon. Kevin Nealon. In 2017. Oh, Hardwick is the host then, too, I think.
So I did it twice with him. All right. At any rate, we'll go down memory lane with Chris in a second. If you missed anything before, there's our podcast, there's our Disney Plus page, there's our YouTube channel. There's so much that we throw out at you on the socials as well.
Um, so we're going to get to uh my four downs on the Packers, uh, with Rashawn Gary having just left, uh, in a matter of moments.
So, um, One quarterback competition is settled. in Minnesota. Another one is pending. In Atlanta And then in Cleveland. You know, it's definitely not settled.
No, no. That is for sure.
So both quarterbacks involved right now. Uh Shadur and um Deshaun Watson have commented, I have not heard these soundbites. And Shadur commenting on the ping-ponging back and forth between the ones and the twos. I think God doesn't even phase me or get to me or I think about that at all. You know, I'm just thankful to be out.
able to practice. You know, so Sometimes you gotta sit back and reflect on Why would I feel negative in this situation if if last year was a total different situation, so I think about things that I'm thankful for in life and not that I that I really want. If you live in that want world, then you gonna always be searching. I just love The way he handles himself. With the exception of that time, Ernie was miming words and he was mouthing the words.
Remember that? That was just weird. Yeah, that was weird. But I mean The son of Prime is not going to be taken bait. Could you imagine?
Not a chance. Because certainly everybody's waiting for him to basically say, This is my job. I should have it. Yeah. You know, I did that.
Did you not see what I did in my time last year? I was the best one of them all. You know Everybody's waiting to just have him just twitch in the direction where it can be viewed as entitled and just jump down his throat, and he won't even give you a slight hit. Hint of that daylight. No effort.
I am blessed. I am happy to just be here. I am just gonna just, why wouldn't I be happy to just even have the opportunity with the ones or the twos? But everybody knows he wants to be with the ones. Every quarterback wants to be with the ones.
Every quarterback wants to be QB1. Nobody wants to just say, oh, I'm happy to just compete for the job. I'm just. Deep down, you're you're You're a control freak and you're a comp competition freak if you're A quarterback at any level, let alone the National Football League. Then you got Deshaun Watson, who used to be that QB1.
And I think the Browns are just going to. Give it one last shot to see him at QP1. And he's asked about the ping-ponging back and forth and The lack of consistency to be with the ones. Let's see how he handled it. Yeah, I mean, it's very helpful.
I think it's very helpful when you get the. You know, speak with the or play with the same guys, practice with the same guys, so you kind of build that trust and you build that, okay, this guy is coming out this way. Everyone is different, everyone has different tendencies, everyone has different ways of running routes and. How explosive they are, you know, catch radius, you know, everything about that.
So, you know, it's obviously hard to go in back and forth and different guys, but. You know, you just try to You know, learn as much as possible and try to trust it as much as possible until that opportunity comes. I mean, that sounds like a veteran. Who doesn't Have the same concerns as Shadur Sanders to sit here and go, yeah, it would be helpful to be with the ones. But he's in this situation.
We don't need to go down the reasons why he's in this situation, but he's in it. And it makes sense that he is. And at the end of the day, I think it's going to be him. Unless your door just so massively outperforms. When it comes down to these games that we're about to see and in between them.
Quarter of a million bucks. Pardon me, a quarter of a billion, a quarter of a billion dollars. have been invested. What we guaranteed I mean, we're almost through the end of the contract. It's just that simple.
And as Albert Breer mentioned yesterday, him going somewhere else and looking like the Deshaun Watson of his first four years with Bill O'Brien and the Texans. You know, that guy once upon a time got What kicked in the eye during a play against the Raiders and still completed for a touchdown? A guy who, in the first Thursday, first start of his career, I was in the building in Cincinnati. Who was it? Was it Tom Savage who got the start the year that he was drafted?
Bill O'Brien's, we're going with Tom Savage. And then decides middle of the first game. Yeah, we're not doing that. And then they throw him out. Right.
In his first career start on Thursday night football, just a couple of days later, with such a ravaged offensive line already. That they were using tight ends. They were trying to go with as many tight ends as possible to try and protect him. And it was a difficult offensive night, but he ran one in from midfield. Yep.
He won an overtime? That guy. In Cincinnati. I won't forget it. That night.
That guy, the Browns are hoping that that guy still exists. We all thought he, I mean, remember, there was a time he and Mahomes were like neck and neck for that two-year stretch.
Well, Mahomes in that draft. When the Chiefs traded up. We're sitting in this was in Philadelphia in the Rocky Steps. I'm sitting on the set and the Chiefs straight up and I looked at Mayock. I'm like, Is this Watson?
Oh, yeah. Coming off the natty. Oh, yeah. It's Deshaun Watson. We all thought that.
And I forget. Mayoc already got kind of a hint before that night. He kind of gave me a look, I don't think so. And it was Mahomes. And I I was I'm like, whoa.
Yeah. And you remember the Saints didn't trade it up? And took a defensive alignment, I think. Yeah. And then the Texans took him.
That's again. They're just I think just going to see If that guy still exists. But We'll see. Because he was amazing. But you heard both guys say, obviously, Shador's not even going to twitch in the direction of saying, I'd love consistency.
That would be helpful for me. Because he has to basically, I don't know how long that's going to happen in his career, that he's always going to have to voice going with the flow because of the way. He got drafted. Yeah. And to Sean is the veteran, like, yeah, it would be helpful to be consistent with the ones, which is why.
Kevin O'Connell went ahead and said, Kylie, you're the guy. We're not ping-ponging back and forth. You're going to get as many wretch mastery of the system. Gotta go there. Right.
And then there's Baker Mayfield in. In Tampa. Where he's now on Uh team, let's get this right. Five. Four four five five five five.
Right, yeah.
Well, you go Cleveland, Carolina, cup of coffee with the Rams, and now the Bucs is your team four. Four, four, four. I said fairly.
So he was on a pond. Jarvis Landry and Leonard Fournette have a pond together. It's called Fourth and South, I believe it is. And Baker was the guest. Talking about this upcoming season.
Mm-hmm. Hit it. How good? is a healthy Books T Top five in the league, my kids. Once you get in the dance, y'all know anything can happen.
Yeah. And so it's top five. A healthy Bucks team. Up front. If it's not one, it's top two.
Yeah. Up front. In defensive line, when they're healthy, we got depth now. And that's that's how the game's won in the trenches. We got the skill guys, we got depth.
And so if we can put the pieces together, you know, it's we're all strong paper. We we we got what it takes, but if we can put it together, it's yeah, it'll be a fun year.
Well, we got to get Tristan Wurfs, who's uh, we're seeing I see video of him running around, and then obviously Vita Vea, the latest, is that they're There's communication, but I don't think The holding's going to end anytime soon. But Baker's got that chip on his shoulder, and part of the reason why we bring all this up as well is. coming full circle, with talking about who's the quarterback in Cleveland. Whoever it is. Better um Wake up dangerous.
on a particular day where somebody's already saying He will. Wake up dangerous. Is there A team are teams circled. on the schedule this year. First home game week two.
Quite one.
Okay. Oh, sorry. Stop that action, man. I mean shout out to his beautiful. You know, and then there's Stefansky who um Who's now in Atlanta?
So he'll see him twice. I honestly thought when Jarvis Landry, by the way, Jarvis, great question, asked that of. of Baker, his answer was going to be well. I've already said it, Atlanta. Right.
Like, we got to get past them.
Well, they got to get past us. I got something special for them, but he's still got Cleveland. You know, Bonkin's gonna be like, I wasn't even there. Yeah, right. What did I do?
What did I do? Taking shots. Baker? Yeah, the ghost of Hugh Jackson still pissing Baker off. You know?
Hugh Jackson. Yeah. Remember, he wouldn't shake his hand? Right. Yeah, he still.
That was all very weird. Oh, baby. That was all strange. Right? All right, my four downs on the Green Bay Packer.
Ready? Hit it. Hit it, please. Four downs with Rich. Here we go.
Why did you suck them? All right, here's my four downs on the Green Bay Packers. By the way, as we matriculate on these four downs, All right, we're getting to some playoff teams here. I know. You know what I'm saying?
We're getting to these playoff teams, and we are getting to some teams that have Super Bowl aspirations as we're getting deeper and deeper down the. The uh draft order, that's how we're doing it from this past April. All right, here we go. Uh first down. First down.
What what's the deal with Josh Jacobs? Is he gonna get suspended? Wh wh what what's what's going on with him? And then you got Marshawn Lloyd. Can he stay healthy?
Yep. Alright. And so, if Josh Jacobs isn't going to be the bell cow, or every now and then when he is the bell cow, He'll get hurt.
Sometimes his availability has been uh in question. Um And then, you know, Marshawn Lloyd's availability has been in question.
So the running back room right now. What's going on? That's a big first down right there for a team that loves to come out of the gate. How many times over the last couple years has Matt LaFleur's first 15 scripted included a handoff? to Josh Jacobs touching it at least once.
If not eight times in his first 15.
So, what's the deal with Josh Jacobs? It's a crucial first down. Second down, everybody. Second down.
So Micah Parsons blows his knee out. Before Patrick Mahomes. And Blows his knee out. Before An Achilles tear for George Kettle. And we're saying Mahomes come back week one.
And we're saying Kittle's going to come back week one. Daniel Jones coming back week one. And Micah is going to start. on pop. Week six said earlier.
Second down is when does Micah return and what does he look like? Yeah. We're gonna see some ramping up. From him? Are we going to have the dreaded I mean, is this going to be the second year in a row where he starts?
A Green Bay season for himself on a snap count. Yeah. Is that where we're gonna go? Or is he just going to come out and look like the micah that And back up the words that he had on his pod at Fanatics Fest with. Mm-hmm.
With Miles Garrett. Where he's like saying, I got a 20-sack season in me, you know? I'd love it for Green Bay. Certainly, since Rashawn Gary was sitting here as a member of the Dallas Cowboys just about 20 minutes ago. Third down.
Yeah. Okay, so where's Dantavian Wicks now? Philly. Where is Romeo Dobbs now? New England.
Okay. Third down, time for the golden hour. Oh, that's it. We got Christian Watson, whose availability is sometimes in question. Uh what uh Jaden Reed?
Caden Reed. It was really good. If he's healthy. Tucker Kraft coming off of a knee injury of his own. Matthew Golden.
Came up with, I think, his best. Performance in Play of the Year. in the playoff loss. to the Bears. Like, it's time for the golden hour.
It's time for him to step up. and contribute weeks one through eighteen. Is that fair? Because again, I hate to say this. But you look at the other wide receivers.
in Green Bay and you're like who's Who's going to come to the four? And every year the Packers are like. Everybody. It doesn't matter, everybody. Everybody does, right?
Everybody catches passes. Right? So it It's like the old saw, who's catching the ball for... fill in the blank of the Packers quarterback, who is generationally terrific. But I think Matthew Golden, your two is pretty big for him.
You know, and And obviously Jeff Hafley's not there as the DC. And You know, those are all things that go together in terms of The fourth down. Will the postseason doldrums end? Because I think we're assuming the Packers are a playoff team. I think that's a s uh You can't say a safe assumption because you never know.
But I think it's a wise assumption. Even though We all know what assuming does, yeah, and I listen. The cowboy fan giving me the look of I don't know.
Okay. Ha ha. They've got a good roster. They've got a good coach. True.
Okay, they've got a terrific young quarterback. And there's a lot of ifs and buts and candies and nuts. But I did look this up. You remember Jordan Love arrived early all of a sudden, made the playoffs, won a playoff game.
Okay. And then Um Lost in the divisional round, I believe, to Brock Purdy, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, that bad Farvian-like pick. And that was the year that the Packers arrived earlier than expected, and it was terrific. Yep.
After That loss to end their postseason. They've been one and done in the last two postseasons. Do you know the last time the Green Bay Packers organization had a three-game postseason? losing string. I looked it up.
It's never happened. Right. I can't think of mine. It's never happened. So Packers fans are not used to seeing what you're seeing in the postseason.
And in this day and age, where if you don't win in the postseason, All you gotta do is look at, say, the Steelers. Fan base. Right? Right. So.
These are all fascinating questions for a team that can put it all together and win the division and go on a run and wind up in SoFi. I mean Strong. Crazier things have happened. For the Super Bowl. Or These questions come home to Roost and we're talking about it again.
Those are my four downs for the Green Bay Packers. Am I missing anything, gents? Over there, I'm sure we can get deep in the weeds about who depth charts and tight ends. If Tucker Kraft isn't the guy because he's still a little banged up or offensive line play, I mean, LaFleur hot seat. I don't think so.
Yeah. That's It was. I understand what it was. Simmering at the end of last time. But they went ahead and.
I get it. Did it. But that's why because again Jordan Love lost. Has lost three playoff games in a row. And this team has.
I looked it up. Like, when's that ever happened? It hasn't. 844-204-Rich, number to dial. We'll take calls before the end of the show.
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Fast Funds Terms Apply at SoFi.com/slash debt play. Lead with your left hand. Like, that's your guiding. And it, and it, I never pitched again, but uh, Chris Hardwick's uh, a Dodger stadium throwing career was one of the things. We're going to the Dodger game.
I'm taking my mom to the Dodger game tonight. Is that right? Yes. Look at you. I know why I adore her, and she's like, she's the biggest Dodger fan.
And I had NBC invited me out to go, and I was like, I'll go if I can bring my mom. And they're like, absolutely.
So I'm taking my mom. That's fantastic. Chris Hardwick is here. The radio audience has just returned. The wall is celebrating its 100th episode on Monday, August 24th.
Every single Monday is where you can catch a new episode of The Wall streams the next day on Peacock. Chris Hardwick is here. Have you had any interaction with LeBron James whatsoever as the executive producer? Yeah, initially when we first started doing the show, we did some press stuff together and he was so nice. And when we met, of course, I brought my mom.
Nice. And of course, I'd lead the Same way that I led your show with, like, listen, of course, I know who you are, but I don't know anything about sports. But then, of course, my mom, when I introduced my mom, she was like throwing out stats from his whole career going back to college. And he was so gracious and kind to her. But I think, I think one of the first things he said to me was like, hey, singled out.
Like, he remembered that I worked at MTV. I was like, oh my God, that's crazy that you remember that. Dude, I mean, LeBron, I mean, I'm just trying to put dates and times and birth dates together singled out for him. He must have been like a kid, teenager or something. I don't know.
I'm 94 years old. When was singled out exactly? It was in the 1900s. No, late 80s, early 90s. No, no, no.
It was 95 to 98. 95 to 98. We're the peak singled out years. And we did like 320-some episodes in that period of time.
Well, Brad would have been 11 or 12. There you go. That's the MTV audience. Yeah, that's... I mean, I watched MTV from when it first launched in 81, and I was, you know, 10, 11 years old.
And that was like MTV, like getting to work on MTV was like the most. Incredible experience because I grew up with it. Me too. Yeah. We're right around the same age, and I know I'm going to be dating myself as well.
But I was just telling my wife the other day on a flight home. For some reason, I just got the urge. To want to watch Unplugged. Oh, that's great. I don't know why I did.
I just did, because it is available for streaming. You can stream it. And I watched Hall of Oats Unplugged, and it was one of the best half hours I've spent watching something in a long time. I found out my friends, because I've been friends with all of the state cast and Reno and so Tom Lennon, Kerry Kinney, Ken Marino, Mike Black, all those, the whole. And I found, Carrie just told me a couple of weeks ago.
that they were all at the Nirvana unplugged taping. And that you can kind of hear them in the background. I'm like, that's literally the defining, like, one of the most important musical events of Gen X was the Nirvana unplugged. And that whole series, a shout out to Alex Coletti, who was a producer at MTV, who created Unplugged. It's great.
I mean, McCartney did it, Clapton did it. I was at Pearl Jam. What? Oh, you were? That must have been amazing.
The Bool Jam was amazing. How to be. Yeah, but why do they stop doing it? Yeah. If you could do it today, you could still do it.
I think people still do on social media.
Well, now there's social media. There wasn't social media. Like, back in the old days, if you wanted to see something, you had to go and find it. It didn't just exist in your pocket at all times. Or find it on a plane.
Or find it on a plane. I didn't, you know, like, that is. But you know, singled out as you might the fact that LeBron threw that at you. I know that totally totally blew me away. I was like, oh my god, that's that's amazing that he knew that.
Yeah, so he was super, super nice. And it's just a fun, it's just a really sweet, wonderful show to get to do. And I've done. I've gotten to do a lot of different shows in the past 30 years or whatever. And I'm sure we cannot not mention that you are an at-midnight champion.
I think a two-time champion. That's pretty, that's pretty funny. I mean, Ron Funches got a piece of it, I think, when I was so funny. You said, who else? Levin Nealon, I think, was on, maybe when you were on, who's also a genius?
Yeah. That was fun. Listen, I did stand-up comedy in college.
So to be on a show where the writers are so talented and you're sitting in the back beforehand and they're walking you through what the questions are. And here are some suggested answers. You can use them. You cannot use them. It was.
Just a tip of the cap to comedy and comedians and the ability to deliver a line and be able to play off each other. It was just a blast. It was kind of my nerdy dream show. It was basically just like making dumb jokes with your friends and people, and also people that were going to be your friends because you all connected. It just had such a friendly vibe.
And we were just making fun of, just basically like making fart jokes about the internet. Like it was the best, it was so much of my soul was that show and getting to riff with people. And again, It worked because we had amazing comedians on the show. There was an incredible staff on the show. The writers, the social media team, like everyone.
It was just like a perfect ecosystem of talented people. Who was the listen? And it is also a platform for up-and-coming comedians or people that you might not have heard of and go, wait a minute, I need to find out more about this. Like Ron Funches, who was amazing. Yeah, for sure.
Who was the most famous one that came on that was? Outstanding at it. The person, like someone who ended up becoming famous, or someone who was famous at the time? Either one.
So, like, the first time Tiffany Haddish came on, she destroyed, like, she destroyed every time she was on. And I remember saying to her, like, after the second or third time she was on, I was like, I'm so grateful that you're coming on the show because at a certain point, you're going to be too famous to come on the show. Nikki Glazer was another person who, like, right out of the gate, just destroyed. We had so many great, you know, like I said, Ron Funches, Kyle Kinane, you know, just like so many comedy superstars now. Um, you could see on At Midnight, they just crushed, and that was really fun as a comedy nerd to just be a part of it, like just to be hosting and also an audience member, a front row seat for this really fun, you know, exploration of comedy where you're not burning through your material, which is really important for comedians.
No, for sure, and uh, and being able to use it as a credit. You know, that was important to me. Like, I used to do the Chelsea Lately all the time, and it really helped on the road. You could use it as a credit, it would help you sell tickets. And so I knew that had value, and that was really important to me.
And I love that people were able to use that to help their ticket sales. You're talking bad. I wasn't much of a, you know, a zombie show guy.
So I didn't really do talking dead. Yeah. It was awesome. I know it was. Trust me.
I know. But the talking bad stuff, I was all over. You have the same Gus Fring poster in your green room that I have.
Well, I'm telling you, Vince Gilligan, as I told you before, the first ever in-studio guest in the history of this show back when we launched in 2014. And literally one of the nicest people in the world. Was Vince Gilligan. And the reason why, it's because. I know you've already professed to not know much about sports.
You know more than Vince Gilligan. And he would admit that. And I saw him in a as I was flying out to Tampa Bay for a Thursday night football game to host for NFL Network. At the very tail end of Breaking Bad, I knew who he was. He had no idea who I was.
I went up and I fanboyed him. Yep. And I stopped him and I had a great conversation with him. And I'm like, I've got a podcast. I'd love to have you on.
And he's like, well, I don't know much football. Don't worry about it. We're not going to talk football. We're just going to talk about Breaking Bad. And he gave me his information.
I reached out. He said yes. And the time that he said yes was the week after Breaking Bad finished. Oh, wow. I got to have an exit interview with him.
Oh, my gosh. That's amazing. He's so generous, Chris. Oh, I know. He's the best.
He was so generous.
So then, when it was time to have him, you know, just for this show to start, I reached out to him. And he left the the the writers' room for he's like, My new show, it's about Saul Goodman. Yeah. He left the Better Call Saul writers' room before at launch to to come here and he brought every every uh Breaking Bad item that you see here, he brought. He's the sweetest man and so unbelievably talented and such a gift to television.
When you look, you go back and you see, like, you know, he was a writer on X-Files, but then kind of ended up, I think, executive producing the show, and then went from X-Files, which my wife and I still watch X-Files, and then, you know, of course, Breaking Bad, Better Call Sol, Pluribus. It was like, he would be the first person to say, like, oh, I don't know. You know, we're just all trying to figure it out. It's like, dude, you're literally one of the most talented. Writers and showrunners in the history of television.
Sweetheart and totally unassuming. And clearly, clearly, there's a dark side in there. Because there has to be, seriously, how do you come up with all of this stuff and green light it and have a writer's room to basically create more of it? Yeah. And then these characters that are all flawed, but it's also.
You know, a window into maybe our souls as people. But Breaking Bad is like the perfect show. It's like a perfect five-season arc. It has a perfect, you know, because he would just say, like, look, I just wanted to explore what would happen if, like, what was it that he said, like, Mr. Chips becomes Scarface.
Yes, you know, where it's like, and you go, yeah, that's exactly what it is. And then you start really unpacking Walter White, and you're like, oh my gosh. Was he always this? Was this underneath, or did this manifest as a result of the condition that he had based on his fight for survival in his last remaining time or whatever? But I always think that every episode of that show is like a stressful math problem that has to be solved.
And not only do they solve it. But they solve it in a way where you're like, yeah, I guess they need a big magnet. I guess that's how they got out of that. And even though on paper it might seem kind of far-fetched, it doesn't play that way. It's one of the most grounded.
Incredible, like breaking bad is and Saul, you know. That's right. Uh, it, it, it is perfect, and I'm trying to, as you're describing it. Walter White watching Brian Cranson is Walter White. The only Character where I would root for and then alternately root against in the same hour of television or the same scene of an hour of television was maybe Tony Soprano.
Right. Where you're watching a show and you're just like, This is a real rat.
SOB. And you are like, you go, SOB. Like, I'm rooting for you. And it, It would toy with you. You're like, you'd sit there and you'd think to yourself, Is this a window into the way I'm thinking and the way I go about business?
Like, what if this did happen to me? What would I do to try and leave a legacy or anything?
Well, sure, yeah, but you kind of look at like. Uh, television, I just keep saying the 1900s, but but in the inside of the in the old older media era, the protagonist always had to be a kind of a little more one-dimensional, like they're the good guy. And then in the early 2000s, you know, we start seeing you know, uh, Walter White, we see Tony Soprano, we see Don Draper, we see all these deeply flawed protagonists that are sort of like, oh, yes, everyone's flawed. You know, these guys are a little more deeply flawed, but, you know, but that type of protagonist is a really interesting and even a walking dead where you start to. You know, you go, okay, well, we're rooting for these characters because we know them, but.
If you were in a different survivor group, they would seem like total villains to you, you know?
So it's like, where do you place your loyalty and how do you, like, what is protagonism in terms of like, you know, our pop culture heroes?
So it is, it is interesting that you say that. Yeah, Walter White is like. Oh, do you root form or do you not? Or like, what do you, what's the thing? I mean, what's your favorite scene?
from Breaking Bad. Oh my well, my favorite.
So, there are a lot of incredible scenes in terms of like acting and in terms of the impact, like in insane impact scenes, like you know, well, I don't want to give anything away, but I mean, but like the Hank, but like Hank, you know, the character of Hank, or like finding leaves of grass. It's just like these moments. But one of the things that I think Vince was and the team was so flawless at was something could have occurred like three seasons ago that just seemed like. a relatively nonchalant, like not even a thing that ultimately would have a massive payoff like a couple of seasons later.
So it was, they were so expert at tying things together in ways that were so satisfying, or even just like, The the recurring bear in the swimming pool. And then how that ends up paying off, and the domino effect. of how it gets to that with what happens with A certain character and her father, and and so we've we've had uh Cranston here talking about that scene. About him. Again, we go back and forth about spoiler alerts and anything like that.
We're talking about stuff that's 10 years old in a way. But we talk with Cranston about the scene with, I believe, it's Kristen Ritter where he's amazing on the show. She needs medical attention. Yes. He lets her standing in the room because she can rat him out.
Well, and also, and she's pulling Jesse away. Correct. And so it's like that was. That was, I think that might have been one of the first moments where you're like, oh, he's really over the line. Yes, sir.
And this is like that. Where you see like pure selfishness on his part. The scene in the garage with Hank. Where Hank's got him. Hank's got him.
And You know, he closes the garage on Walter to basically say, We're going to have this thing out right now. Where you're busted, I see you. And and I don't care about family anymore. And that's the tread lightly line that leads to that. That's the one for me.
I'll never forget that one when he said I think that might have been a season finale too, where he's like, I think your best course, if you think I'm capable of doing this, is to tread lightly. I'm like, that is Those little lines like that are when he's talking to Skylar and he's talking about the danger that knocks at the door, and he's like, I'm the one who knocks. And you're seeing. This character who, who for so much of his life, has felt so powerless, and he's finally like, of course, going way over the line with it, but that's him saying, you know, I am now the danger, you know? And so this is, this just makes me wish that you had been on Talking Bad.
I wanted to be on that in the worst way. I just didn't know. I don't know if my career was at a certain point. I don't know. But I watched, I'm like, I would kill.
But I also love that, like, I loved it. I loved every second. I guess you and I would be considered like now old school podcasters. You know what I mean? Like, hey, man, the fact that you are still doing something, I mean, isn't it nice?
It is great. I'm blessed every day. I just, I really appreciate that you do what you do. And I'm glad that we've been able to be pals for so long. Right, right back at you.
And, you know, obviously, Saul, too, on top of it, we had Odin Kirk here the other day. Talking about some of the old days and how he basically hadn't seen Breaking Bad when he got hired. Yeah. The point where Cranston called him out in a table read. He's like, You haven't seen this show, have you?
And he's like, No, I haven't. You know, and then. He studied up. And now look at what that showed, too, on top of it.
Well, also, like, going back to Vince, is like. Having, and also the casting for these shows, of having the eye, when you look at the number of people with strong comedy backgrounds. Bill Burr. Bill, I'm sorry, Bill Odin Kirk, you know, Cranson was on Malcolm in the Middle. He had primarily done sitcoms.
Right. You know, and so you see all these characters who are comedians, LaVelle Crawford, like all these different characters who are comedians who then play dramatic roles. And then you kind of go like, oh, that's really interesting. A comedian has a certain Depth. There's something that allows them to play really amazing dramatic characters or villainous characters, or, you know, so it's, it, it is, you see a recurrence of that across the Vince verse.
Because there was time, there, there are times where there's just laugh out loud funny stuff. Yeah. I mean, it is. He's trying to get the pizza, and the pizza goes up on the. I mean, it's like those.
Well, apparently that was one take. Like, apparently, that he did that, and he had no idea he was going to get the pizza on the picture. Perfect. And they're like. Let's use that.
Unbelievable. This has been a blast, man. The wall celebrating its 100th episode coming up on Monday, August 24th. Every single Monday, you can catch a new episode at 10 p.m. Eastern on NBC, currently in season six.
It is executed produced by LeBron James, a big singled-out fan. We're learning. That's what we've learned. That was the big time. That was my sport.
I actually contributed something sportsy to the show that you didn't know, some sports trivia. There you go. And then your mom, thank goodness, she's just like, why did you pass that one up? And this, the, the, uh, Eastern Conference finals, man. Taking that shot.
I don't know. Good things you didn't do that. Have fun with your mom tonight at Dodger Stadium. I really appreciate that. Do you mind?
I have another comedy special coming out before. Do you mind if I plug it? Please go. It's called The Middle Ages. And it's going to come out on 800-pound Gorilla.
And it was really fun, and it comes out in October.
Okay. 800-pound Gorilla. I think, was that we had. Patton Oswald, I think he's got something that's on there. Oh, that's amazing.
I think so. I might be just saying the wrong stuff, just being name-droppy, which I've got to get out of that habit. It's pretty terrible. But this is the tapestry of your life, though. That's not unreasonable for you to say that.
You have guests on your show. You have people that you know. That's your life. That's not, that's not. It was Pat and Oswald, right?
You're right.
Okay, very good. Look at you. And look at me. My life tapestry right in front of everybody. Chris Hardwick, everybody, at Hardwick on Instagram for those who wish to follow on Sunday.
Thanks, everyone. That's Chris Hardwick, everybody. Right. Back to wrapping. Thank you.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen here for Gusto. After all these years talking to athletes, coaches, entertainers, and people at the top of what they do, one thing is pretty clear: success usually depends on getting the details right. For small business owners, that includes payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, you know, the work that keeps everything moving, even if it's not the reason you started the business in the first place. That's why there's Gusto.
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Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes.
That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com/slash Eisen.
Terms and conditions apply. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. And the challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in.
It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com/slash eyes and terms and conditions apply. Uh, the newest uh owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, uh, Jr.
I told you and your dad just bought it from Bob Iger, right? They just flipped it, they just had it flipped to them, and they just $22 billion. The Lakers are like a spec house now, huh? Just keep flipping it, it's crazy, man. It's madness.
I was having a good day. You know? And man, I I Go on Twitter. My phone is blowing up because obviously everyone thinks when something in the Lakers happens, they have to hit Shay to get his input.
Well, you're still vocal, why not? I know I am great, but it is frustrating. That's my opinion. That's one of your many terrific attributes. You're the first person to tell me that.
Who the hell? By the way, why do you have an undertill amount of water in a bottle next to you with the helmet? Because I am completely miserable. I am on a, I'm getting back into my. My goal, my fitness goal.
Yeah, dude. And it is, but I just think about how sexy I'm going to be. There you go. And then I'm all right. You just trying to thirst trap.
If you're going to share a screen with Gerard Butler again. Thirst trap, you got to be drinking a lot of that water. Listen, man, you know, Gerard. He better be prepared to be in Dennett Thieves seven and eight.
Okay. Or I need him locked in for the rest of his life. Because my goal is: if I can get, well, my dad is writing last Friday. My whole goal was like, if I get to four before my dad could have a four, I'd be happy. But like, now I got to get to five.
When is your when's last Friday coming up? You know, he'd be writing. I don't know, man. It's just when it went, you know, a lot of things happen. We lost a lot of people from the original cast, so stories have to bend and twist now.
Okay. So it's in progress. How was the Idiots premiere? How was that? Oh, I crushed.
I crushed. TJ would probably throw a winter or in the film. Oh, in the film. Crushed. Got laughs.
What I love is I got different laughs than I got at Sundance, which means that when people rewatch, they're going to pick up on new things every time. And ninety minutes, super rewatchable. It is a great time. And I will go out on a limb And this is just off the top of my head. I'm sure the list is prestigious, but we will have the best comedy.
of the year. Oh my god. Or it is on the shirt. Oh, 8, 28, 26. Talk is 28.
Why were you about to say I'd throw some salt in it? Because, like, that's how we communicate. It's our love language. Yeah, but not when it comes to your work. Like, I came in the next day because I was up all night.
Man, you got a Cowboys meeting y'all? Yeah, man. We had Rashawn Gary was here. Oh, all right. Oh, God.
You know, we had a fantasy draft that I missed out on because, you know, we were in the lobby, you know, chopping it up.
So Rich was getting on nerves. Why y'all leave him alone? Out. Listen, there's not enough. No, I was in.
Richard is mad that I didn't do the draft, but I was chopping it up with you. There's not enough time to get into it because the end of the show is near, and the Lakers have just been sold again. Yeah. So, you know, I guess we'll lead tomorrow with a Del Tufo bought him. I bought him.
That's what I got. Yeah, there you go. I will say this. There you go. Every ring is a Mickey Mouse ring now, baby.
Oh, man. Bob Auger certainly knows how to run things. That's for damn sure. Yeah, but it just feels like we're evil money now. No, stop it.
You're the Los Angeles Lakers. We're back to wrap on the Disney Plus in a second. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show Podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app, The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
