Smartless, Bad Monkey, and Encyclopedia Brown...
From the Desk of Tai Freligh #7 - September, 2024
Welcome to the September edition of the newsletter.
Hey there! This month’s newsletter marks the start of something new. I’m taking all that boring social media and marketing stuff and sticking it over on my LinkedIn page in its own newsletter.
Moving forward, this is strictly entertainment focused!
I’m recommending podcasts, shows and books, so if you have some recommendations of your own, please drop them in a comment so I can check them out (and maybe write about it here at a later date!).
Let’s get to it!
~Tai
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO
Smartless (PODCAST)
I flove this show and have been listening to it forever. It’s one of the first podcasts that got me hooked on podcasting in general. The banter between Jason, Sean, and Will is always funny and they just interview really interesting guests. This is the best kind of interviewing because only one of the three knows who the guest is and they don’t find out until they are introduced. This leads to improvised questions and going down different paths than if they had had time to research and come up with questions (which would probably be boring questions that have been asked a million times already). They genuinely listen to the guest and have a conversation that flows naturally. Do yourself a favor and check them out and if you want to see them on television, check out their docu-series Smartless: On the Road on Max!
"SmartLess," with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
Bad Monkey
This show is so fantastic and Vince Vaughn is on fire in typical VV fashion—firing off staccato streams of thought and one-line zingers. There are plenty of twists and turns in this show to keep you interested, people to root for, bad guys to root against, and a captivating storyline. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Don’t have Apple TV? They offer the first episode of Bad Monkey for free and then a trial offer if you want to see more.
“Bad Monkey” tells the story of Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn), who has been bounced from the Miami Police Department and is now a health inspector in the Keys. But after stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, he realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey.
WHAT I’M READING
BRAT: An 80s Story
UPDATE: I’m still reading this, but am almost done. I originally thought the book was a companion to the documentary, but it’s really Andrew’s autobiography. It’s really interesting hearing about his life growing up as well as behind-the-scenes stories about the movies he was in, including a lot about Class and St. Elmo’s Fire.
I watched the Brat Pack documentary Brats from Andrew McCarthy and thoroughly enjoyed it. Andrew also has a book out (it came out before the documentary ever existed) and I’m slowly working my way through it. I love anything 80s and there’s nothing more quintessential than the Brat Pack. I’m looking forward to finishing this. If you listen to Andrew’s episode on Rob Lowe’s podcast, he talks about the book and it’s fascinating. Have you read it? Is it on your list?
ENTERTAINMENT
Exclusive Interview – Ted star Max Burkholder talks Seth MacFarlane’s Peacock series
Max Burkholder (Parenthood, The Purge, Invincible) stars as the lead of Seth MacFarlane’s Ted movie prequel series that premiered on Peacock, January 11th. The project takes place in 1993 and Max portrays the character that Mark Wahlberg played in the films. I asked him about working in television and movies as a child, some of his favorite video games and what it was like working opposite a special effect in the Ted television show.
Video Corner — Kelly Lynch talks about her dysfunctional relationship with her son on Mr. Mercedes
Kelly Lynch plays Brady Hartsfield's dysfunctional mother in Mr. Mercedes, a television show based on the Stephen King book of the same name. I interviewed her in person at Comic-Con back in 2017. Here she talks about her rather inappropriate relationship with her son. This video continues to be one of my most popular videos on my channel, garnering over 33,000 views and counting.
Watch other interviews on my YouTube Channel and subscribe so that you don't miss any new videos!
GEN-X / 80s NOSTALGIA
TikTok Time - Winona Ryder from Stranger Things
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✨ 80s Time Machine 🛝 #GenXTok on TikTok: 😎 Love the 80s? Grew up Gen-X? Prepare to have your memories unlocked! #GenX 📻
Positively Gen-X Amazon Shop
Remember Encyclopedia Brown? Reading the books and looking for clues and trying to figure out the case before turning the page and reading the solution. You can take a trip down memory lane and get yourself some Encyclopedia Brown books for you…or your kids.
Sharing 1980s flashbacks & unlocking Gen X memories on the Amazon Influencer platform in the Positively Gen-X Shop.
*As a shop owner I receive a small portion of sales when items are purchased using my special link. Thank you!
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I am a Copywriter and Marketing Consultant for Tai Freligh Consulting & Copywriting, a marketing agency based in Huntington Beach, California. TFC provides consulting services for copywriting, marketing, branding, and social media.
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