Season 2 Discussion

[AnimeMania]

This is the start of Season 2 although listed as a continuation of Season 1.

S01.E87: September 3, 2024  
Actor Thomas Lennon; actress Kimia Behpoornia; film producer Sandy Honig
Premiere Date: September 4, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S01.E88: September 4, 2024   
Comic Guy Branum; actress Mary Lynn Rajskub; comic Kate Micucci
Premiere Date: September 5, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S01.E89: September 5, 2024   
Comic Jordan Temple; actor Will Miles; comic Greta Titelman
Premiere Date: September 6, 2024   CBS  12:37am

[ottoDbusdriver]

Finally catching up on last week's episodes.

Just watched Tuesday's Season 2 first episode -- and was not impressed with the changes they made.

For The Win (FTW) is gone. Hashtag Wars segment is the last game and is used to decide the winner.

They have replaced the mini-couch for the Talk Show portion with a full-size couch and a coffee table and a rug. And the Talk Show portion just went on and on (over 8 and a half minutes).

The show is now officially "After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson" on the intro slide.

The Obess-sesh game was dumb -- each of the comedians were just recapping their topic, there wasn't anything funny about it.

Taylor's opening stand up bit is still over 5 minutes long.  At lot of the items she discusses during her standup could be used for games/questions during the show, but by discussing them during the opening stand up bit probably eliminates that they will be used again during the episode.

Thomas Lennon was good as always -- he did the best with what he was given (which wasn't much). 

The laughs were few and far between.

One good change -- the introduction of the comedians is pre-recorded, and the comedians start off at their podiums (no running on to the stage and playing to the crowd).

Just waiting for the day when the whole show is just made up of the opening stand up segment and the Talk show portion -- like all the other late night shows.

[possibilities]

They do seem to be moving toward the usual talk show format, and minimizing how much writing they need to do. It's gone from clever to goofy to thinner and thinner.

I like Taylor, so I don't mind the intro monologue. 

But the show is really not a reboot of the show it took its title from, and seems to be moving farther and farther away from that idea.

I got a kick out of the wild applause at the Tim Walz photo.  

And they are now having guests that do more than a bit-- I liked the Olympian, but it's another departure from the format, moving toward usual talk show format. He even stuck around for the couch.

[SoMuchTV]

9 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Just watched Tuesday's Season 2 first episode -- and was not impressed with the changes they made.

For The Win (FTW) is gone. Hashtag Wars segment is the last game and is used to decide the winner.

And unless I dozed off and missed it, Hashtag Wars isn't even in every game now! That (and the screen shot of previous day's audience submissions) is my favorite part!

[ottoDbusdriver]

Watched Wednesday's episode -- Guy, Kate, and James were way better than Tuesday's show. I guess Mary Lynn Rajskub was originally scheduled but was replaced by James Davis.

@SoMuchTV -- confirmed, no Hashtag Wars on Wednesday's show.

[AnimeMania]

Minimized the audience and the production crew participation.

The lighting is much darker and the show is quieter.

Everything is run by the guests before they have to come up with answers. Sandy Honig even had time to write and publish an entire book before she gave an answer.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Finally finished Thursday's episode -- the couch segment went on for 13 minutes.

I had no idea who Paul Hollywood was in the "Who's your Zaddy ?" game ?  I don't watch baking shows.

No Hashtag Wars for the 2nd episode in a row.  The final game was "How America Search" with one search topic for the comedians to comment on.
Which is kind of like Hashtag wars as there was a 60 second timer for answers.

And a new segment was introduced at the end of the episode -- the Nightly Niche -- after the winner is crowned.  Where they show videos from very specific niche corner of the Internet.
This could have easily been a game -- Guess what was inside the microwave in the 90s training video ?

 

[AnimeMania]

S02.E04: September 9, 2024   
Actor Skylar Astin; comic Wayne Brady; comic Mary Holland
Premiere Date: September 10, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E05: September 10, 2024   
Bob the Drag Queen; actress Caitlin Reilly; comic Rickey Thompson
Premiere Date: September 11, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E06: September 11, 2024   CBS  12:37am
Comic Aparna Nancherla; comic Jon Lovett; actor Zac Oyama
Premiere Date: September 12, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E07: September 12, 2024  
Comic Kurt Braunohler; comic Tien Tran; comic Megan Gailey
Premiere Date: September 13, 2024   CBS  12:37am

[ottoDbusdriver]

Finally watched Monday's episode -- it just felt off.

Talk show portion ran on for 6 minutes, hashtag Wars was back as the final game -- and then after Taylor said good night they ran 3 full minutes of clips of the episode that just aired. WTF ?

And right at the beginning of Hashtag Wars, Taylor said "this week's hashtag is".  This week's ??  Are they only doing Hashtag Wars once a week now.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Tuesday's episode got even weirder -- they played a game during the talk show portion with the couch.  A game they could have played off the couch.

Bob, Caitlin, and Ricky played off each really well all episode.
The "Where's My Pres-Script-tion ?" game was really funny.

They sounded the Hashtag Wars horn, but changed it so that horn meant it was the final game.  So, no Hashtag Wars this episode, but the final game was called "3 Words or Less".

[ottoDbusdriver]

Watching Wednesday's episode.

I guess the Couch Game is a regular thing now -- 2 episodes in a row.
The Couch Game went on for over 10 minutes.

And that horn signaled the Final Game (not Hashtag Wars), so that is a thing now 2 episodes in row.

And it ended with over 3 minutes of clips from the show that just aired.  Again.

[possibilities]

I liked Taylor's monologue about the debate.

 

Basically, I just like Tayor. If she wasn't the host, I definitely would have stopped watching.

Edited September 14, 2024 by possibilities

[ottoDbusdriver]

Watched Thursday's episode -- Megan, Tian, and Kurt were pretty good.

Couch Game is definitely a regular occurrence -- 3rd episode in a row.

Hashtag Wars is gone.  Not even a mention.

[AnimeMania]

S02.E08: September 16, 2024   
Film director Paul Feig; actress Ayden Mayeri; comic Taylor Ortega
Premiere Date: September 17, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E09: September 17, 2024   
Comic Atsuko Okatsuka; comic Dylan Adler; comic Reggie Watts
Premiere Date: September 18, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E10: September 18, 2024   CBS  12:37am
Actor Taran Killam; comic Jay Pharoah; actress Mary Lynn Rajskub
Premiere Date: September 19, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E11: September 19, 2024  
Actress Lake Bell; comic James Adomian; comic Opey Olagbaju
Premiere Date: September 20, 2024   CBS  12:37am

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/14/2024 at 5:45 PM, AnimeMania said:

S02.E10: September 18, 2024   CBS  12:37am
Actor Taran Killam; comic Jay Pharoah; actress Mary Lynn Rajskub
Premiere Date: September 19, 2024   CBS  12:37am

I'm not totally sold on the "new" format, but I did enjoy this one.  They seemed to be having fun (despite Mary Lynn's definitely-not-a-cry-for-help).

[possibilities]

Did they change the person who dresses Taylor? Last season I thought she looked fantastic every show, but this season it's been hit or miss on the styling, in my opinion.

I think my favorite game is when they show drawings by kids and try to guess which of them is being portrayed.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Catching up on last week's shows.

Monday's episode couch game about eating corn on the cob in a straight line .... was bizarre.  And went on way too long.  Is eating corn on the cob in a straight line a rare talent that I'm unaware of ?

The "Who's behind the door game ?" was pretty lame -- make a 50/50 guess, with absolute no comedic content required.

Paul Feig is always good.

I guess hashtag wars are only on Mondays now -- because it was back. #musicianstates
But they didn't show the viewer contributions from the previous hashtag war -- probably because it was so long ago no one remembers anyway.

The kids drawing game was good.
 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Tuesday's episode was uneventful.

Wednesday's episode was pretty good -- 2 Trump impressions in one episode. Jay even busted out a Gollum impression. Mary Lynn needs to work on some impressions. 

Taram, Mary Lynn, and Jay really played off each other well.

Edited September 21, 2024 by ottoDbusdriver

[possibilities]

I liked the "movie reviews" but I thought the panel didn't really contribute anything to it. It was all in the original source material.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Lake, James, and Opey were pretty good.

Thursday's episode had even more impressions -- Lake Bell doing Jodie Foster, James Adomian doing Bernie Sanders, and Opey Olagbaju doing Barack Obama.
Surprised James didn't break out his Trump impression -- he had an entire show back in 2017 while doing a Trump impression.
 

[AnimeMania]

S02.E12: September 23, 2024   
Actress Lauren Lapkus; comic Paul F. Tompkins; comic Rachel Pegram
Premiere Date: September 24, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E13: September 24, 2024   
Comic Affion Crockett; film producer Jade Catta-Preta; writer Moses Storm
Premiere Date: September 25, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E14: September 25, 2024   CBS  12:37am
Comic Jess McKenna; comic Pete Holmes; comic Echo Kellum
Premiere Date: September 26, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E15: September 26, 2024  
Comic Raanan Hershberg; comic Sarah Tiana; comic Orlando Leyba
Premiere Date: September 27, 2024   CBS  12:37am

Edited September 28, 2024 by AnimeMania

[ottoDbusdriver]

Hashtag wars was back as the elimination game on the Sept. 23 episode -- they haven't had an elimination game in a long time.

However, the final game to determine the winner was -- find Finland on a map.  Seriously ?  And then they had to go stand on the map.

[ams1001]

I don't like that Hashtag Wars is only a sometimes thing now. It was always my favorite game in the old show. I like the monologue but not crazy about some of the other changes. And that the talk show portion is turning into just another game in a different location. Only one person even gets a "serious talk show question" most of the time. (But the tiny couch is still there on the side table.)

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/21/2024 at 7:32 PM, AnimeMania said:

S02.E13: September 24, 2024   
Comic Affion Crockett; film producer Jade Catta-Preta; writer Moses Storm
Premiere Date: September 25, 2024   CBS  12:37am

I don’t know if none of them got it, or just figured it was too dumb to even talk about, but in the odd names segment, nobody pointed out the reason CVIIILYN was pronounced Caitlyn was because of Roman numerals (C-VIII-lyn).  

[possibilities]

I didn't get it (about VIII)!

I also thought those were definitely fake leaves. Way too shiny and uniform and clean.

I actually enjoyed last night's show. I can't tell if it's just my mood, or if there was actually something different about the show, but I thought it was fun and it didn't make me grumpy.

Edited September 26, 2024 by possibilities

[SoMuchTV]

Just goes to show, people who you think are too dumb and too smart can both give their kids annoying names.

Edited September 26, 2024 by SoMuchTV
Left out a word

[ottoDbusdriver]

I guess writer Moses Storm cancelled at the last minute, because the show announcer, Laura Peek, filled in.

Seriously, none of them knew what Roman numerals were ?

Laura, Jade, and Affion played off each other well.

They did have an elimination game once again.

Affion was a graceful winner.

[possibilities]

The show is now admitting openly that they're lazy (blurring the "foreign words since we don't know what they mean") but for the 2nd episode in a row I found myself laughing even though I can't say why.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Wednesday's show with Jess, Echo, and Pete was really funny.

The FTW game was not so great.

[AnimeMania]

S02.E16: September 30, 2024   
Comics Mitra Jouhari, Anna Seregina and Luke Mones.
Premiere Date: October 1, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E17: October 1, 2024   
Comics Preacher Lawson, Rachel Scanlon and Ian Karmel
Premiere Date: October 2, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E18: October 2, 2024   CBS  12:37am
Comics Michelle Collins, Vinny Thomas and Akilah Hughes
Premiere Date: October 3, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E19: October 3, 2024   
Comic Matt Rogers; actor Brendan Scannell; actress Greta Titelman
Premiere Date: October 4, 2024   CBS  12:37am

[ottoDbusdriver]

Watched Thursday's episode -- it was pretty low key.

The FTW game was yet again a 50/50 choice -- no comedic response required.
The writers for this show are indeed getting lazier and lazier.

[athousandclowns]

On 9/20/2024 at 11:46 AM, possibilities said:

Did they change the person who dresses Taylor? Last season I thought she looked fantastic every show, but this season it's been hit or miss on the styling, in my opinion.

I think my favorite game is when they show drawings by kids and try to guess which of them is being portrayed.

Yes she mentioned someone new is dressing her when she got a compliment. 

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/28/2024 at 7:00 PM, AnimeMania said:

 

S02.E16: September 30, 2024   
Comics Mitra Jouhari, Anna Seregina and Luke Mones.
Premiere Date: October 1, 2024   CBS  12:37am

Not gonna lie. I gasped at the reveal that the hairdresser had made a hat!  Maybe I need to get out more. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Hashtag wars was back as the Monday elimination game -- #extravirginsongs

And surprisingly, they did actually show the hashtag wars winner from last week.

The Monday FTW game was -- yet again -- make a 50/50 choice.

Seriously, they showed the heads of 2 guys named Nick and Nic, and they had to pick which guy was taller.  So dumb.

[possibilities]

Honestly, I think they got renewed but with budget cuts. They've re-jiggered the show to require less writing, they got rid of the dynamite wardrobe person and begun to dress Taylor to look less like herself and more like a messy bot, and they've generally just made everything looser-- and it was already very loose.

 

[ottoDbusdriver]

I like that in Tuesday's episode they brought back the 'Untangle This' game.

Yet again, FTW was a 50/50 choice.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Wednesday's episode with Vinny, Akilah, and Michelle was pretty good.

I'm surprised they pulled off the Harmonize game.

Nadia the Lizard !!

Yet again, FTW was a 50/50 choice.  Can't they do anything else ?

Though Michelle did have the line of the episode: "A hand full of sperm.  What is this -- Diddy's house ?"

[ottoDbusdriver]

Thursday's episode was good.

Once again, FTW was a 50/50 choice.

Greta had a good response to the "Dating Me is like ..." game.

"Dating me is like a can of Pringles.  Once you pop, the fun don't stop -- and you can fit a fist in there."

[possibilities]

Yeah, I'm adapting to the new format. It's more of a party than a game at this point. And I love how Taylor says the show is too toxic and they're trying to put some uncynical joy in it. We need more of that in the world. God knows, I'm as bitter as the next person, but it's not really a great way to live.

[AnimeMania]

S02.E20: October 14, 2024   
Actors Tawny Newsome, Eugene Cordero and Jerry O'Connell ("Star Trek: Lower Decks")
Premiere Date: October 15, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E21: October 15, 2024   
Actress Rachel Bloom; comic Jim Rash; media personality Dylan Mulvaney
Premiere Date: October 16, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E22: October 16, 2024   CBS  12:37am
Actor Andy Richter; actor Thomas Lennon; comic Aparna Nancherla
Premiere Date: October 17, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E23: October 17, 2024   
Comic Matt Mathews; comic Guy Branum; actress Gillian Jacobs
Premiere Date: October 18, 2024   CBS  12:37am

[possibilities]

That's a hell of a guest list for this coming week.

[Red Bridey]

Looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday's shows!

[iMonrey]

I don't know why Jerry O'Connell feels the need to lift his shirt up every time he's on TV. Must be some kind of vindication for him from being known as the chubby kid in "Stand By Me." 

Guy Branum is a talented comedy writer but his voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Just catching up on last week's shows.

Monday was pretty good -- Tawni, Jerry, and Eugene played off each well.

Hashtag wars was back -- #SpaceTVShows

Tawni won FTW -- Romulan or Vulcan game -- and went home with $1000 Taylor bucks (face value approx. 3 cents)

 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Tuesday's show was low key, but props to Dylan for eating the meal created during the MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm game

FTW was weird -- guess the change in Taylor's jacket pocket, played by Price is Right guessing rules (closest without going over).

I remember Rachel Bloom from her 'F**k Me, Ray Bradbury' video on Youtube from around 15 years ago.

[AnimeMania]

S02.E24: October 21, 2024   
Comic Nicole Byer; comic Matteo Lane; actress Sasheer Zamata
Premiere Date: September 22, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E25: September 22, 2024   
Comic Josh Peck; comic Kurt Braunohler; comic Taylor Ortega
Premiere Date: September 23, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E26: September 23, 2024   CBS  12:37am
Comic Josh Sharp; actress Suzi Barrett; comic Danielle Perez
Premiere Date: September 24, 2024   CBS  12:37am

S02.E27: September 24, 2024  
Comic Colton Dunn; actor Scott Aukerman; actress Diona Reasonover
Premiere Date: September 25, 2024   CBS  12:37am

[ottoDbusdriver]

Wednesday's show was pretty good -- but I'm a big fan of both Andy Richter and Thomas Lennon, so I may be biased.

Liked the Anxiety Cam game they did on the couch.

FTW was yet again a 50/50 choice.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Thursday's show was just ok.

At least FTW was something different than a 50/50 choice -- having to guess the number of links to connect 2 items on Wikipedia.

 

[iMonrey]

On 10/20/2024 at 6:36 AM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Wednesday's show was pretty good -- but I'm a big fan of both Andy Richter and Thomas Lennon, so I may be biased.

 

I like Aparna too. The three of them played well off each other like when Andy said "they're too low to the ground to be smart." And I got a kick out of the runway models looking bored.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Monday's episode was pretty funny -- Matteo, Nicole and Sasheer were having a good time, and they really committed to the 3 skits in the Where's my PreSCRIPTion ? game.

Hashtag Wars was back -- #reptilemovies -- and they showed last week's online winner.

FTW was yet another price guessing game -- guessing the price of a sandwich.

Who on the writing staff seems to think these are a good type game for FTW ?
Because it requires ZERO comedic talent.  I'm not here to watch a poor man's version of Price is Right.