We Two Kings

Submission type: speech Answer: And what I want to tell you is tonight, I want you to dig down deep and try really hard to be anybody else. Ethan, no notes. Do everything you're doing. Brad and Curtis, all of the notes. Do everything differently. Reviewed full source context: Ryan, it's your turn to give a speech. Yes. Sure. We're preempting you this time. Brad, Curtis, the two of you bring so many things to the table. And what I want to tell you is tonight, I want you to dig down deep and try really hard to be anybody else. Think about it. Think of the possibility that if you're one of the eight billion people out there, it isn't the two of you the things we could accomplish on this podcast. Ethan, no notes. Do everything you're doing. Brad and Curtis, all of the notes. Do everything differently. Let's get rolling.

Context outside the activity. Text: Tonight, we're covering season 10, episode 10, We Two Kings, Reviewed full source context: Welcome to Reverse Psychology, the Fraser Rewatch podcast, where we go backwards through every episode of the show. Tonight, we're covering season 10, episode 10, We Two Kings, which originally aired on December 10th, 2002. Is this a Christmas episode on a Valentine's Day Eve? We'll find out. I'm your host, Curtis Schock. Joining me as always, it's our resident upside downer. It's Ryan. Ho, ho, ho, Curtis. Merry Kingsmas. Also with us today is our ho, ho, ho. It's Bradley Kirkston. You know I'm a ho, bro. I'm so excited because it's our first episode that took place in 2002, better known as Brad's Bar Mitzvah Year. That's what we're going to call it. What? Because I make everything about myself, and there's nothing better than a Christmas episode to point out my bar mitzvah. So we're going to call 2002 my bar mitzvah year. In the year of our bar mitzvah, Brad. Thank you. We also have a special guest with us tonight. It is a husband to the friend of the show, Hannah Schock. It's Ethan Schock. Wow. Hey. We Two Kings of Ori. I just figured I'd sing since I heard someone else might sing. Keep going. Yeah, why'd you stop? You're going to make Brad look so much worse. I'm very proud of Curtis to realize that the fact that you're Hannah's husband is way more important than being Curtis's brother. Amen. Amen to that. I mean, I meant it more to define him in relation to his life instead of his being in person in his own right, but sure. Yeah, as always, you did a bad job, Curt. Yeah. Try harder. Tear down and lift it up. Well, let's get down to brass tacks.

Prompt: Which is the hottest holiday mascot? Segment type: non game preference roundtable Method: Ryan, what is yours? Brad's got another one. We're in mid Brad's turn. Reviewed full source context: Which is the hottest holiday mascot? Man, you're just dipping right in. I salute our short kings, the leprechauns of St. Patrick's. Okay. So you're into that. I didn't want to mind to. Why wouldn't I be? Do you like how angry they are? Or do you like that they hoard gold? That's, I mean, okay, that's an ugly stereotype. It's just a media misrepresentation. Yeah, they really like cereal as their thing. If you hoard cereal, you're still a bad person. That's why I didn't choose them. I don't like that tasty cereal. Oh, my God. Why are you digging up past trauma? Ryan, what is yours? You are strong against the leprechaun. Obviously. You know, sand is kind of fun. And it's hard not to pick him because he's a human. That helps a lot. When this was suggested as an idea, I was like, are there other holiday mascots or any holiday mascots that are sexy? Like a set of things? Yeah, of course. Are you kidding? I was going to go with Halloween. Jack Skellington? Have you seen him? Have you seen the way he rocks that suit? Keeps it tight. What a leg. I have two, but they're all kind of weird. Okay. You don't have to use all when you say two, but all right. Because you definitely won't get this. And I guarantee you, Curtis and Ethan will get this. It is a mascot from a, it's not a made up holiday, but there was a TV show called 30 Rock and they had a Leap Day episode with Leap Day and William. I saw, I saw 30 Rock. You have no idea who Leap Day William is. I know who Leap Day Williams is. So I'm going to go with Leap Day William. Did you not grow up with Leap Day William? He lives in the Mariana Trench. He emerges every four years to trade children's tears for candy. That's an interesting talk. I don't know why, but I assumed when you started that, for some reason, you were going to say those little red dot guys that were the seven up mascot. Ooh, I would do them. Oh yeah. Did you guys play Cool Spot for Sega where you're, the character is just one of those red dots? No. No. I never had a Sega. Incredible game. Yeah. I never had a Sega. You had a Sega that we played a few times. You didn't pull that game out. I think I bought Cool Spot from like the CD and Game Exchange. But also like, didn't you guys go to my orthodontist? It was in the waiting room. You could just play Cool Spot. Shockingly no, we did not go to your orthodontist. You know what's funny about that? My orthodontist also had video games, but he had Mario Kart. Oh, that's slightly, slightly better than Cool Spot. Not much. I would say for my mascot. Brad's got another one. We're in mid Brad's turn. Thank you. You guys are going to say it's not really a holiday mascot, but I was going to say. Yeah. If you preface it like that, yes, we will. You'd be like Tony the Tiger. No, I'm going to say the tooth fairy. Oh. Okay. I get that. What an interesting one. Because they give you money and, you know, fairies. Obviously, it's not a holiday mascot, but it really does fit in the same space, doesn't it? Yeah. When you were a child, losing a tooth is like a holiday for you, you know? It's like a big thing. Like a floating holiday.

Context outside the activity. Preserved conversation context only. Result qualification: I don't think the book actually won any awards, but I did like a painting thing with the tooth fairy in it depicting a scene in which he gets caught in a tornado. And that was like selected for some like young artist thing. Reviewed full source context: Ethan literally wrote, was it a book or just a story you wrote about that? You won like an award, didn't you? What? For the tooth fairy? What? What is that? The award-winning writer. I was not expecting this. Well, I'm sorry. I should have introduced you differently. I should have said award-winning writer, Ethan Schaub. I wrote, it was a book. I was like in second grade, so it wasn't like a real book. What do you mean you've read a book? What? It was like a fantasy book about like, the tooth fairy was like a queen in the clouds and there was like an army of teeth that fought plaque in the sky. What? I'm sorry. Did you say you're in second grade? I'm so mad at Curtis. We have known you 17 years and not once did you ever tell us your brother was an accomplished writer? Why wouldn't it have come up? Your brother's an accomplished writer. You said you were in second grade and it wasn't a real book and then you just described the wildest plot I've ever heard. I want to know when Zack Snyder is going to make the movie version. Oh yeah. Yeah, absolutely. There'll be no color and everything will be in slow motion. I mean, legit, the thing you just described, you can't do that in one picture. What? What was happening over there in second grade Ethan mind? I mean, I was driven, you know? And I wanted to write a chapter book even if the chapters were like a page each. And that was my goal. In second grade, that's incredibly impressive. Well, he won an award. He literally won an award. If you did that right now, it wouldn't be nothing. It wouldn't be a non-effort. I don't think the book actually won any awards, but I did like a painting thing with the tooth fairy in it depicting a scene in which he gets caught in a tornado. And what is happening? And that was like selected for some like young artist thing. And I think I got a hundred dollars savings pause at it. Why are you here, Ethan? You need to go be touring the world, showing off your works. What is happening? Ryan, I can answer the question. Why is he here? Because he peaked in second grade. What was the name of the book? I have Amazon up. Let me see if it's on Amazon. Well, actually, there were a couple books. A couple? There was one that was, I think the first one was like the Queen Tooth Fairy and King Cavity War. And then the sequel was World War Tooth. Oh my God, that's amazing. I mean, the first one was a terrible name, but you're in second grade. World War Tooth is incredible. Well, he wrote that last year. Worth it. When I put in World War Tooth into Amazon, the first thing that came up was into the teeth of the tiger. So I don't think that's it. Are we convinced Brad spelled world right? Because he didn't pronounce it right. You had a GQ article about how sexy Tony the Tiger is. Should we keep going with this bit or should we just talk about Ethan's accomplishments in second grade? Because I feel like we can really... I was mad at you because I was like, I almost said we should circle back to Brad and let him be the closer on this bit. And then you pushed me into letting him go. And I'm like, now I got to... My Uncle Sam answers if I compete with Ethan's book.

Context outside the activity. Reviewed full source context: You probably could have just not went. We would have noticed. Yeah. Yeah. You just edit that part out. As always, your little bros outshine you. We didn't have to go under your efforts. Oh, man. Well, now he's on my podcast. So anyway. I don't know why. He's obviously a huge get. Award winning author and painter. And I think a poet laureate or whatever. Wasn't it like printed in something? Wasn't there some kind of like compilation of children's stories or something? There was a character called Timmy the Tooth that I wrote a short story about after the book. Ethan, what the fuck is happening? I just don't... I'm still mad at Curtis. I'm a little concerned that you're a little too into teeth at this point. And not a dentist. That's a lot of works about tooth. I was put into like an anthology of short stories by like... What is happening? What age? What age? You didn't read it. And it's not like it was like a big publication, but it was like something as a kid you could like enter into or whatever. That's impressive. I did get for a different story. I got a like a participation certificate from Reading Rainbow Contest. What? What? I didn't know that. How many books have you written? What is going on? Also, what is an anthology? What's an anthology? I don't know this. I'm not an accomplished writer. All right. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to watch a show about Frasier. Collection of stories. So like you can have like an anthology movie with like different stories in it. Or like you have a book with different authors providing different stories. You should write a tooth movie. I'd watch that. But this also makes so much sense of why Curtis was an English major because he was always trying to be as accomplished as his younger brother. He's always trying to never get there. Chase the high of his second. Yeah. Let's not undercount my great childhood accomplishments. For instance, I can't even count how many free personal pan pizzas I won through Book It. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I don't know. What is Book It? What is that? Pizza Hut. Oh, you don't know about Book It? What kind of childhood do you have? Oh, we went to real pizza places. It's just literate and unfed. Unfed and unread, baby. Book It was one of the most amazing things. You would read books. You would get little like stickers on a board or something to like measure each one you read. And then you would turn in your like form or whatever. And Pizza Hut would give you a free pizza. That's why you're into it. You are all about that form. Question for all three of you. Is there any Pizza Huts near you anymore? All the Pizza Huts near me closed. There's a Pizza Hut nearest and I can't tell if they're in business. Like I've never seen anyone go in or out. It looks like it might just be a drug front. But it is. There's a sign there. Totally fair. Okay. We've gone from the highs of Ethan's wild anthology to Pizza Hut's closest to you. So why don't we dip it into the Apple stuff? I'm worried we're going to start getting into Ethan's third grade. Like, could you imagine the things he did then? No, no. Save it. Save it for the next episode. Save it for the next episode. Yeah. Save it for something. I just got to say, you know, third grade, there was a dip in production. And I don't want to blame it all on 9-11. But was that third grade for you? Yes. Wow. Yeah. Wow. You're not a real author because of terrorism. 9-11 strikes again. Yeah. Well, I was worried about the Patriot Act. Brad, congratulations. You weren't the first one to bum us out tonight. I know. Way to steal my thunder, Ethan. Wow. Wow.

Context outside the activity. Segment type: episode recap and discussion Preserved conversation context only. Reviewed full source context: We open with Christmas lights shining down the Space Needle. To save on labor costs and increase toy sales, the local mall has started a toy drive and suckered Roz and others into volunteering as Santa and his elves. I thought we were just calling it on the episode. I mean. All right, fine. Very strong tipping policy, Frasier has. As you know, my tipping policy stands firmly on the twin pillars of courtesy and efficiency. But today, I shall include whimsy. Merry Christmas. Again, this is not my holiday, but why was Frasier so aggressive about Roz's Christmas outfit? Do people dress in Christmas costumes this time of year? I'm 2002. Well, wait. What do you mean aggressive? At first, he's very welcoming of it. He, like, questioned it, though. He was like, why? Like, why are you wearing it? I heard about it first. Oh, he did ask why. Yeah. It's just Christmas. He should just accept it. I think you're right. When we first see it, it does kind of look like it's just an ugly sweater that would be at an ugly sweater party. Yeah. So that's fair. Because she's not wearing the hat or anything. No, no, no. You can't. At first, you can't even tell that it's the full garb. Yeah, that's fair. I know this is only the second Christmas episode so far for the pot. Ah, well. Well, Ethan. Maybe it isn't. Link? He said, at Christmas time, I say, let a thousand antlers bloom. I feel like that's a really inconsistent writing of the character there based on what we see in other Christmases. He's very Christmas neutral last Christmas. Doesn't really have time to express his views because he was so high. He wasn't the only one that high. He was just upset about goths. That is so high. That was goths. Yes. Yeah. Yes. It's just funny to me that it's a Christmas episode and they don't even acknowledge that he has a child. Oh, that is interesting, actually. Yeah. And there's no reason why he can't be celebrating with his father because we already know that his mother's Jewish. It's just funny that they don't even bring it up in the whole episode. Do we know that? Yes. Yes. Yes. I don't know. Do we? Yes. It is interesting, though. I didn't consider that. I just kind of assumed because we had a Freddy episode last Christmas or next Christmas. This podcast is confusing. I thought maybe it's like every other year thing. So maybe this wasn't his turn to have Freddy at Christmas. That's a convenient way for them to not bother mentioning. Yeah. I'm guessing it'll never be his turn during Christmas if I had to guess. Curtis, my point is all they had to say is he's spending Christmas back in Boston or something. They even address it. You can't do that 10 Christmas episodes in a row. You might as well just ignore it if you don't have a plan. Yeah. We've kind of deviated from this scene and talking generally about Christmas episodes and Frasier. And that's fine. But I think the reason is because whereas most episodes, the first scene sets up all the plots. It's like a dense scene full of stuff. This is only really setting up the B plot. And there's not that much to get out of this scene. This is nothing like any Raz we've seen before. Like very sentimental, very muted maybe. She loves Christmas. And obviously we'll get to that later in that episode. I was surprised just from that. And then she goes into her big Santa spiel. And you're like, this is a different lady than I'm used to. Very different. You guys know this was coming, but obviously I love that they started off at the coffee shop. And I know I've been ridiculed on the show for bringing up the coffee shop a lot. And this happens to be an episode where we see lots of coffee shops. But I wrote a little song about the coffee shop. Can I share it? Oh, no. Oh, no. Yeah. It's actually a dance. We do kings. Sorry. It's actually a dance. Right. I like that courtesy of you've broken the seal on your singing. You'll just do that every episode now. If it means stopping Brad from singing, I'm definitely going to. No, this is this. It's a very quick song because I just started working on it. I want to get your guys thoughts on it. But this is how it goes. It's a dance. Here we go. Jump to the right. Jump to the left. Jump in the middle and do the coffee dance. Yeah, it was terrible. Even for you, it was bad. When were you planning to sing? My expectations were set low and wow. Can you either sing it or rap it harder? Go one or the other. What is the coffee dance? You really just kind of spoke it, which is difficult. All right. Fine. Fine. Fine. I will sing it. I will sing it. Here we go. Here we go. Okay, great. Boom, boom, boom. Go to the right. Boom, boom. Go to the left. Boom, boom. Jump in the middle and do the coffee dance. Do the coffee dance. Do the coffee dance. As always, a mistake for you to go high. It was way better, though. I really kind of liked it. I was into it until that last line. Yeah. On the right and the left part of the coffee dance or is the coffee dance just its own separate third step? Oh, you'll see soon. So the coffee dance, you're holding a coffee cup and you start to spill it. So the coffee dance is you're splashing in coffee at the end. Which is all I do every day. Do you want me to sing it again and go low? No. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We do. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Jump to the right. Jump to the left. Jump in the middle and do the coffee dance. Ooh, that was... I wonder when I put those two together, will they harmonize well? My instinct was to not like it, but I think it ended up better. You didn't have to go low for the whole song. Just at the end. Here's the thing, Brad. This is clearly an obsession of yours. And also, we're in the year of Brad's Bar Mitzvah now. So I think you need to keep workshopping this. We should hear a new line of the coffee dance... Coffee dance song? Yeah. Every time we go to Neurosa. Yeah. How about every episode they show the coffee shop? I like that. Okay, cool. It should beat most of them. Spoiler alert. Frazier and Niles bicker over who gets to host Christmas. When Marty is asked to settle it, he solicits bribes from his sons. Show of hands who knew what a whistle bowl was. I was going to ask you, am I supposed to know what that is? I've never heard of it. Curtis and Ethan, is that a thing? Or was that made up for the show? I'm really asking. It is a thing. Okay. I think I maybe learned about it from seeing this episode a long time ago. I don't think that counts. Not a common Christmas thing. I assume Ethan wrote a book about it in second grade. They talked about it like it's something that everyone does. So that's why I was so confused. You know, the surprising one I thought was when Daphne came in and goes, Punch makes you want to kiss the donkey in the manger scene, and Wassel makes you want to check it into the inn. She does. She has the Wassel line. That one really threw me. That's what I started to think. Okay, maybe as a Jew, I just don't know about this. Nah, nah. We're a Wassel list. I googled this. I would have guessed, because it is a Christmas punch, I would have guessed it comes in just a regular punch bowl. But looking online, it looks like it's more of like a giant chalice. Is this worth googling or am I going to be annoyed that I do? You should Google it. All right. By the way, while we're on the subject of Wassel, it's a Christmas episode. It's that time of year. And therefore, I have prepared drink from this episode. I am currently drinking Wassel. Wow. I'm going to be annoyed if you didn't do it at this point. I thought this would be fun. And I was a little worried because I looked up recipes. It's involved. Like, usually you have to get like apple cider and a bunch of other ingredients. So as soon as you saw apple cider, you're like, I'm doing this. Full cinnamon sticks, like lots. And you have to make this, they're only for batches for a party. So I was like, I don't know how to scale this down. So I looked for the easiest possible recipe that would be repeatable. And I was worried it would taste horrible because this is so very easy. It's one cup apple juice, quarter cup orange juice, a half a teaspoon lemon juice, two teaspoons of sugar, and eighth a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Then you just microwave it until it's warm. I got to tell you. Traditional microwaving. Exactly. This is not traditional Wassel, perhaps. But it is fucking delicious. I don't think I've ever had eggnog. Is it better than eggnog? Oh, way better. Is it alcoholic or none? I'm sure you could add alcohol, but it's not alcoholic. Okay. I just assumed it would be with Daphne's line. I imagine that their version had alcohol. I wasn't even close to spelling Wassel, right? What did you just say? It looks like Wassel. Did you just say Wassel? That's how it's spelled. Yeah, it's spelled crazy. Have you had eggnog? I like eggnog. You don't like eggnog? I do. Oh, yeah, yeah. Is it better than eggnog? It's way better than eggnog. Eggnog is, I mean, they're different things. Wait, wait, wait. Put the rum in the Wassel first. Eggnog and Wassel, very different things. Like, they're not even close to the same kind of drink. Oh, good. So different categories. Right, crack an egg in there. See how that goes. Eggnog is good, but I can only have a small amount of it before I'm just, like, done. This I could drink one night. How many have you had so far? Halfway through this one. And I'm thinking about making another. You don't think you're calling it early? I don't. By this much of an eggnog, I'd be, like, done. Half a cup of eggnog, I'm like, oh, I'm about to crush 10 of these. And then by the end of it, it's like, yeah, I probably never have to have that the rest of the season. Okay. On Discord, I use the name N-Hungarian Goose. Did no one hear me say that I have ordered N-Hungarian Goose? Which you are more than welcome to bring over to our place. It's not my date. It's dinner. What? And I got it the whole time. Wait, this scene or the next scene? It's this scene. Well, yeah, but he mentions it twice. He mentions it twice in the scene. I was going to say, later in the scene is still this scene. Jeez. To be fair, this is a long scene. This is the longest scene of the episode. That is true, right? Yes. I actually usually find it annoying when people use the word N in front of an H word, but the way he says N-Hungarian Goose is very funny to me. It was more annoying, but it was very funny. Is this the first time that we learned the name of Niles' building, the Montana? I think so. I might have made a note of that, too. I didn't know what we were talking about there, so I guess so. Yeah, that's the name of the building he lives in, the Montana. Spoiler alert. It's not a spoiler. You just had to pay attention. I didn't get it. I didn't get it. Basic context in the episode. That's not fair. You guys don't understand basic context upside down. There's a couple of these moments in this episode. I wonder if Ryan has picked up on. There's another one in this scene. Yeah. Ryan, did you pick up on the... Yeah, I picked up on single deck blackjack. How exciting would that be? No. I'm talking about they mentioned how long Daphne and Niles have been married. Yes. No, I didn't get that. Are we allowed to tell you since you've seen the episode or because you missed it, we aren't allowed? For his rules, if he didn't know it, it is a spoiler. Ethan gets it. Why don't you guys get it? Well, I'm not an award-winning author. What was the quote? Let's hear the... I probably won't get it if you re-quote it. It is our first Christmas as a married couple. You know what? I just missed that, that he said that. Wow. You heard the words. You just didn't process it. No, no. No, like I missed like one or two words in the sentence and then came back to the end of the sentence. How do you watch this episode? Cor was in the room for that one. She was asking me a question and I'm just like happened to miss that half of the line. He's been watching the episode backwards as well, which has really set the retention down. Very satanic. Of course, Frazier would get mad about not being able to host because he's, you know, he needs to be in charge of everything. We can't talk about it in this scene because he addresses it later and it's such an interesting thing. Well, what we can address is they're fighting over in this scene who gets to host and what struck me as odd is they ask, at some point there's the idea thrown out, why don't we split it up? We do morning one place, dinner another place. And what's strange to me is that they both want Christmas morning, but Frazier just went on and on about how he's got an end Hungarian goose. Is that not, is that like a breakfast item now? That was a big question for mine. I was literally going to ask you guys, do some people have like full meals for breakfast? Like that's literally what I was thinking. Well, that's what our family does. Christmas morning is the event. He explicitly says it's dinner. Christmas is one of the few days of the year where the dinner, even if you have a very nice fancy dinner, that's not the main event. Christmas has a morning event that is the big show. It's about the day. I get why they both wanted the morning. It just strikes me as odd that he put that much effort and put that much emphasis on his dinner and then didn't want to post dinner. But yeah, they overlooked that. You can move the goose. You can't move Christmas morning. Okay. Marty's useful for, I think the first time all season, probably all show, when he comes out and defines a whistle for us. Whistle! A Christmas punch! That was great. Oh, that was a great moment. The book's, book closing, just boom, so good. I love the way they do it too. They don't like dress it up. They're not like, he's not like, oh, I'm going to go look up what this word is. He just comes out and says it because that's about the time where you're like, what the fuck is whistle? I also like Nile's line. The Yule tones are the bad boys of Renaissance Christmas music. Yeah. It's also, is Christmas Renaissance music an actual thing? I mean, presumably. Who knows? Okay, cool. Even if you're a big caroler, I don't think you have to worry about the, what's a whistle normally? Is it wooden or is it glass? What are these normally made out of? These chalices? You finally Googled it? Yeah. I see mostly wood. It seems like wood. Yeah. So I'm not too worried about what they're caroling. I think they're ceramic though. They're kind of shiny. Oh, if it's ceramic, then it's toast. The bad boys at Yuletide are fucking it up. Yeah. What's a churl? Because Marty does not come out and define that, but they say it a lot. Once again, you could Google it, but. What is a churl, Curtis? You're an English major. You should know these things. I'm Googling it. Give me a minute. An impolite or mean-spirited person, but that's boring. That's not the one I like. It's fun. The one I like, and it's labeled as archaic, is a person of low birth, a peasant. You said it's archaic. It's like, yeah, this other one's so hip. And then you say that, it's like, oh, yeah, low birth. That's pretty archaic. At the mall, Fraser gives Roz a toy for the tots. And she reveals that for Santa, she has the hops. Yeah, Superman Santa. What? Dean Cain. The actor that played Superman is Dean Cain, who played Superman in Superman, the TV show. That's not one of his dolls. Is that who's played by Santa? Is that what you're, he's, is he in this episode? Is that what you're trying to say? Yes. Why are you, why are you addressing that here? Why must you do it when his whole face is shown later? Because you can tell by the, whatever. Did you guys like as kids go to see Santa in, uh, in department stores and malls? No, and before that, I want you to answer what you, what your thoughts on Santa. Don't you have a Santa story? Yeah. So I loved going to Santa Claus in department stores, but I'll tell you why. It's, it's a very Brad reason. I liked to sit on Santa's lap and tell him how it was Jewish and didn't believe it. That is actually really. Wow. Yeah. Wow. And some Santas. What age did you start doing this? Like seven. Why was your mom encouraging this? Why was she taking you to Santa? She would get so embarrassed every single time I did that. Why would she, why would she wait in line to do that then? But wait, there's more. At least the Santa Claus to me, if you would go in as that, they'd give you like a little gift or something, like a little like toy. That's atypical. I would say. I would say to the Santa Claus, I don't believe in you, but can I get the toy? Nice. That's why you should say it to the dentist. Like it's usually like a candy cane or something. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. There's no. You're right. Brad is doing this at seven years old. This had to be Brad at like 16, 17, right? Well, at least we know he had to learn how to put on socks. Ooh. Nice throwback. Nice throwback. Also, probably not true. He said 15, but I don't, I think he, I think it was really like 25. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I said 16. Please give me full credit. Sure. I bet he still has to really think about it every time he puts them on. Definitely that. No comment. Ethan, you've missed a lot. Brad doesn't know how socks work. And you know what? You don't have to explain it. He can listen to the podcast. Yeah. Not to derail this podcast. I talk about facial. I did just want to make note of the fact that Roz says his name is Rick. Like so sultry for Rick. And I think we've dated a Rick before. Not to spoil, but I think we've had a Rick for her already. Immediately spoils. I think, you know, Ricky, Rick, that was a pretty popular name at the time. A lot of hot guys had Rick. I get it. I think Rick does sound like the name of a hunk. I don't know about now, but in 2002. I'm saying 2002. I'm saying the year of Brad's bar mitzvah. Of Brad's bar mitzvah. Thank you. I bet he invited a Rick just for the hunkiness. Trying to think if there's a Rick in my bar mitzvah. I'll have to look at my bar mitzvah list. Do you still have it? Is that something people keep? No idea. We're not even close to my bar mitzvah month. Just wait till we get to April 2002. That was my bar mitzvah month. I really enjoyed the exchange. This is another dancing Santa for dad. This other one got damaged. I thought you threw that thing off the balcony. Yes, which damaged it. Obviously, that's a spoiler for us in the Upside Down. What's that spoiler if they say it in the episode? As the show, they spoiled it for us. Now I know this is going to happen. They also told you when they got married and you didn't notice that. Well, I heard this whole line this time, Curtis. What do you want from me? Curtis, and you and I have watched the episodes twice sometimes to make sure we catch everything. Probably something you should start doing. Oh, I stopped doing that. Yeah, some days I only do about half. Really risky business out of Roz. Getting into a guy before she's seen him out of the fat suit or whatever he's wearing. The big baggy clothes. I thought that was interesting. I assumed he was going to be fat. Love the way that we took this episode. A little disappointed that nothing materialized from the little elf fight they set up. That just goes away after this scene. There was no reason we had to do it. It's just to be funny, but it wasn't funny. You can pay it off easy. There's plenty of time to pay it off. It's teed up that she's basically working with a teenager. And why would the teenager be into the old man dressed as Santa? Yeah. Teenagers get into it. They're into guys that are older. That's fine. I don't know. You could do something with it. They choose not to. So why even bother bringing it in? Yeah. But I did feel like we really packed a lot into this episode. It's not like we had a lot of free time. It's weird that they took a moment to really harp on it. Yeah, that's true. Like I'm doing now. Yeah, that's true. Back in the coffee shop, Frasier confronts Niles about freeing favor from Marty. Set up with their bickering, Marty decides to work Christmas rather than spends it with them. Sometimes watching the two of them argue with each other and compete with each other is so stupid. Spends it. Yeah. Because the scene's over. It's not uncommon for Frasier to have like a sentimental moment or like a touching scene. But this episode hits it again. They did it first with Roz. And now they're doing it again with Frasier explaining why it's so important to him to have Christmas. And I like when they do that. Yeah. I think it was great because like they could just play him as, you know, immature and snooty and needs everything. And they do. And they do. But but the fact that they were like, oh, let's let's have him break down the motive for why he's being, you know, so up in Niles's business about this specifically. I thought I thought that really helped sell it. It was a nice mix between sentimental and still funny. Like he's being funny. It's a funny reason. And it's all true. And it makes sense for all of the motive of the episode. It was great. Yeah. This is them at the best. And even while he's being aware, he'll go like, I smell skullduggery afoot. Yes. That's a good line. Curtis, can you define that for us as well? Absolutely. Skullduggery is. When you dig up skulls, I believe. If Frasier was asked to define skullduggery, I think this is how he would answer. And it would it would almost not make it any clearer. This says underhanded or unscrupulous behavior. Ripperary. Curtis, can you define unscrupulous? We. There's only one layer to that rabbit hole, buddy. We're not going any deeper. I love Frasier's Copernicus line. Copernicus called and you are not the center of the universe. Oh, yeah. One of the most famous or at least popular lines among fans. It's a big one. Yeah. I don't know if that's a spoiler or not, but that's exciting. I get to see one of the big ones. Gary Clubber. I'm first season. And that's pretty good. It's solid. And it's like it's not smart enough where I was completely lost. Like some of his stupid shit. Yeah. It's very approachable, but also fun. This has got to be the most stacked scene, I think, in terms of jokes, because we also get Niles telling on Frasier for having broken the dancing Santa and the way Marty is upset about it. That Santa never did anything to hurt you. All he ever did was dance and try to make people happy. Yes. Yes. All right, dad. Why'd you do it? All right. I just love that line. It's delightful. How he is so sadly delivers that. You ruined Christmas. You know, I was annoyed with that line. And then when everyone starts booing him, I'm like, yes, we all need to boo Frasier more. Yes. So in this episode, it's very clear that Marty is a big Christmas fan. Did we notice that in season 11? I can't remember like him being that big of a movie. We did not notice that. No, in season 11, the kind of indication that he's really into Christmas is that Frasier comes home and finds that Marty has decorated the apartment and it looks like a Christmas village. As an upside down, you know, not that deep into the series. It was like, oh, he's just an old man who has nothing to do. Sure. That episode didn't feel nearly as much like a Christmas episode as this one does. It was a great episode. There was a lot of fun stuff, but it wasn't Christmas. Yeah, you're right. This is a very true like episode. As Brad would know. Yes. The expert. Marty gets an apology from his sons at the building where he works security. They secretly scheme to have their celebration with him there. We get so many weird bits for the upside down here. The fact that Marty works real people hours is a real shock. As you guys know, the last and only time we've seen him work so far is it's the night shift. Right. Yeah. It's interesting because this episode has him working a holiday or intending to anyway. Well, it's really interesting because his boss really takes pity and just lets him not work the holiday, which doesn't feel like you can make that call, but whatever. We were not in that scene yet, but it is true and it is funny that that would be a thing you could just say, we're not going to open that day. We don't even know what this building does. No idea. Who's supposed to be going in and out of that building? If they can close, we're either going to put this guy a dub hole or we'll just close the whole building. That's what I was confused at first because at first when we're in the building, I'm assuming it's like an apartment building. That's kind of the vibe I got. And then it clearly wasn't. Well, so then you got to like think that his manager really pulled a big maneuver for him. But then like the next time he works, his manager's basically trying to force him out of his job by making him work the night show. You think his boss got heat for having closed on Christmas and he blames Marty and that's why he's so eager to get rid of him. I have to assume his boss got fired. You can't just do that just because it's a Christmas magic or whatever. I did like how his boss scene, like after he gave his one line in the scene and then Marty goes off, I always notice him in the background because he keeps looking up and looking confused at Niles and Frasier. Like he's listening to them or something. But I thought for sure he was going to have a line where he was going to say, hey, guys, I'll help you out with your little scheme. Like I thought for sure he was going to be involved. I mean, they cut it. At some point, did it feel like he was just a bad background actor and that they weren't going to address it at all? Like for at first, you notice it like he's listening. That's going to be a plot point. And then they don't address it till the very end. You're like, oh man, did they? Was he just the worst actor ever? Not at all surprised that Marty is a small child and wants to be the first one to open presents. That tracks with what we've seen. Frasier's whimsy voice. Can't you just see us casually stopping by on Christmas morning? Hello, dad. Merry Christmas. Oh, it's such a shame that you have to spend Christmas. Hello? What's this? I spy a present for Martin. That's not for me. Those are fake. Well, here's another one. And one for Niles. And one for Daphne. Oh, geez. It's a miracle. He sounds like a strange child. And I find it odd, but enjoyable. When Niles is impersonating Marty, it's like, you've never even met your dad. I did like that exchange. Is that his sense of whimsy? Or is that his sense of just everything going right in the world? Which of course will never happen. Obviously, when they're talking about this whole idea they have, my first thought was, no way this works out well. I thought we were setting up for like a Santa moment for a little bit where they were going to be like coming down to chimney. And then for a little bit, I was like, oh, maybe we're going to do a Grinch thing where they get caught stealing presents. And then neither of that materialized. Let's say, you know, they did, they stole the boxes. That's still stealing from a place. Like they're committing a crime just to just do something nice for their dad in a really weird way. It's probably like under $5 crime. Like it's a misdemeanor. No one really cares. How cheap do you think bricks are? We don't know that they're actually bricks. We never saw it get opened. Yeah. And we haven't gotten to that scene, but it is interesting that in order to make it seem realistic that the presents would be, you know, not just empty boxes. They had to make a line that they're filled with bricks, which is just a strange thing to do if they're fake presents. If you were filling them with bricks, that would be a deterrent for anyone that's got, you know, that's a Christmas Scrooge and went to kick the gifts. I suppose. They mentioned, by the way, the Thanksgiving Accord of 2002, which was presumably the agreement that led to their Christmas plans. I guess we find out that Thanksgiving was held at Niles' place. So it must have been part of that Thanksgiving Accord of 2002. I love that it would have happened like literally a month and a half ago and Niles refers to it by the year. I hadn't done the year math, but I assumed that that was a joke. I'm now very curious to find out if we're getting that in like two episodes. Well, because he said it like it was such a long time ago. And then Curtis and I, because we have brains, think about it and realize, oh, it was only a month before. Curtis didn't think of that. I'm like, Ryan, who had no idea what year it is? No one else thinks about years like you. That's true. I do love years. Santa Wreck turns out to be a Superman, but Roz has no interest. She would rather get her paws on the claws. Santa Claus is played by Superman actor Dan Kane from the TV show. Lois and Clark. I thought it was called Superman, the TV show. I messed up that whole entire thing twice. You weren't doing a dumb joke? No, you really don't know Dean Kane, do you? Well, the first time you said it, it didn't even sound like you were saying the right thing. Dean Kane. Dean Kane. Okay. Let's almost say Dean Kane a few times. Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean. I thought you said Dean Kane, which also doesn't help. I don't know old actors. Honestly, even as I saw, I wrote, is that somebody? Doesn't Dean Kane sound like he writes thriller novels? Sounds like he would write about tooths. I did almost write Dean Koontz when I was making my notes. This is another scene that is, it's just delightful. Like I love when we get Roz and Daphne together. They're a great pair. What do you mean when? This is the first time it's ever happened. I do enjoy their interaction. And it really is, they play it well. Where Roz is just very subtly showing complete disinterest in this, you know, financial investment banker who's really successful and attractive and like should be right up her alley. And is clearly interested in her. And she just doesn't care a wink for him because what she really likes is him as Santa Claus. This is Daphne's shining achievement so far for the whole show. She's on fire. If you'd have told me we had a Roz and Daphne scene for real, I wouldn't have guessed it was so one-sided in favor of Daphne. Oh my God. You're in love with Santa Claus. No, I'm not. Admit it. You want the jelly belly. Okay, don't be grossed. You want to bang boots with the big boy. I gotta get to work. You want to get your paws on the claws. It's more like it. Stop it, Daphne. It's enough. One more. You're a ho, ho, ho. Oh my God. She goes hard. Sometimes when they do something like this where they're like just shooting out a list of ults. Like sometimes it's just like the first one was better. Like just pick the best one. We don't need to hear all these shitty versions. Every one of these is worthwhile. I know. I get why they included all of them. Well, the payoff's really good. They set it up really well. Rare that we get the B plot set up so well. Absolutely. Niles has brought the fake gifts from under the lobby tree to swap with their real presents. Daphne tries to distract Marty to middling success. Chaos ensues when the gifts get mixed up. So we think this scene happens on Christmas Eve, I guess. Presumably. Wait, wait, wait. Yeah, I would think so. Is that true? Why do you think that? Because we know they go back to the place and it's locked. And if it's not Christmas Day, then we know they could just go in the next day and solve all the issues. Wait a minute. So the way I read this was this happened at some point before Christmas. And then the next few scenes from now when they have Christmas Day, that's Christmas Day. But I don't know why this scene has to come on Christmas Eve. Oh, because they don't know that. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. They're putting the presents under the other tree and bringing the other presents to their tree. Because presumably for at least a few days, they have to put on the appearance that the presents are correct in both places. They want Marty knowing. There does seem to be a sense of urgency about it, though. Like, oh, if we don't do it now, we're not going to have another chance from the manager or whatever. Well, that's true. How early do you get the presents out? That's a good point. My favorite bit from this scene is the Christmas village of while they're trying to figure out the presents. Frasier trying to fish for a compliment. Love that line. The doors are so poorly right now. It's fun that he's fishing for the compliment and even more fun that Niles is being so petty about it. And also that Daphne is the one that points out, like, are you going to keep fighting over your Christmas village? Yeah, she knows. She knows. Like, clearly Niles has been complaining about this for weeks. Well, wait, Ryan, did you hear what Daphne said when she walked in the place? This is a big reveal for us that Daphne lived here at one point. Which makes no sense for the room layout. I'm so glad you picked up on that but somehow missed everything else. I heard the whole line. I heard the whole line this time. Also, again, are we, we're just never using this room anymore? It just goes to waste after this scene? Yeah, you probably didn't even know it was a two bedroom or three bedroom. I definitely don't think, and why is Marty and Frasier living next door to each other when there's a whole nother wing to the apartment? Well, they seem like some people that they're not going to move rooms. That doesn't sound like... Why wouldn't Marty be next to Daphne? Because presumably she had to... She was so vital to his life. There's only one bedroom back where Daphne's room is, right? Yeah, that should be Frasier's. He's saying Frasier's room. Well, because Frasier's room is the big room. You don't think Frasier's going to give up the nice room with the bed that can just sit in the middle of the rooms. Well, you have to understand, Ryan's never seen inside of them, so he has no idea what it's in. I haven't seen enough of Frasier's room to think that it's worthwhile. It has its own back. I assume the other wing does. The other one can have its own back. No, it just has the powder room. What? It's been, you know what? I didn't even realize until you said it. I've been deprived. I missed the powder room. We haven't gone. We haven't visited in a long time. If fans think season 10 is a subpar season of Frasier, but they can't quite put their finger on why, the answer is enough powder room. I haven't visited that sweet, sweet half-bent. Another bit that I enjoy is when they're, you know, trying to get the presents and they keep grabbing the wrong presents. They're not coordinating well with the presents. They wind up putting all of the presents under the tree. And that's when Marty kind of comes running out. They make an excuse that they were trying to make them look fuller by rearranging them. And Marty's like, wow, it looks like twice as many. Miles, like, fluffing the air to say, like, oh, we rearranged them. It looks fuller now. It was such a great moment. And Marty, what a great line. He's just like, put it back the other way and tell me how you did that. And they all just dead stare. I assume that, you know how we've secretly surmised that Daddy dies early on, either this season or early next season? It's clearly because Marty feeds him way too much nog, right? I'm sorry, what? Og's not good for duck. What? What is this? What is this theory? You know, we've talked about how Daddy probably dies. He doesn't make it through all of Frasier. In fact, in multiple episodes, we've assumed he died. But we're going backwards. What are you talking about? Yeah. So all of his health problems start because Marty gives him nog, which there's no way that's good for a dog, I assume. He doesn't have health problems. He died because he ate a ring and a vet murdered him. I don't know that he murdered him. Maybe the complications were due to nog. I mean, Brian, that was your most convoluted theory you've ever had. Brian, I think you should go back and listen to this podcast. Because I don't think you have any idea why we've been calling him Daddy all this time. Because he died of probably nog-related complications. I understand everything. Oh, boy. And Frasier blames nog in this scene. It's actually a tough look for egg nog. And Wassil had rising stock from the beginning, so. This is a big episode for winter drinks. Yeah, Wassil, you got nog. It's a bad episode for nog. And then suddenly, Dr. Bashir is telling me he has to cut my leg off. Nog comes off looking terrible. You just wait till we get Coco. A lot happens in this one. Man, he is butthurt about Coco. That's not this scene, is it? But, you know, I'll wait. This isn't the first time the camera's given as a gift, I don't believe. Already in the Upside Down. Is that true? I know, well, I think they do it in the Croc episode. Which maybe they're referring to this one. I don't know. Because that was obviously a very confusing episode for us. Yeah, but it is possible that episode's better if you know what the Inksa jokes are. Maybe. Who knows? Still shouldn't have been fourth last episode. Whatever. But, I think it's come up again. Like, I think this is at least the third time giving a camera as a gift has come up already. In two seasons. Well, I mean, they broke this camera. Maybe they break all of them. Maybe they're just bad with cameras. It's still usable. If duct tape fixes it, you know, it's fine. Okay, here's a question, though. Again, not to jump around, but, you know, in this scene, we're introduced to the idea that there's a camera. We find out that it gets broken. They have to use duct tape to fix it. Marty says, don't use the brown duct tape. Which I don't think exists. No, I don't think brown duct tape even exists. He's got different colored duct tape out there, yeah. Not brown, though. My point is that at the end of the episode, we're going to see that Frasier opens it and seems genuinely excited. He doesn't look like fake Frasier happy. He seems genuinely excited about the camera. And I'm just wondering, do you think Frasier's the kind of man who would be caught dead using a camera with duct tape on it? No. No. And I don't know what would have happened. Kind of want to say they swapped, but they couldn't have, so. Right. Maybe they just left the piece off. Did a quick Google image on brown duct tape and, oh, it exists. No results. That's crazy. Oh, you said it exists. Okay. Very nice. Oh. Ryan, what show are you on tonight? We get our first title card, Merry Christmas, Steve. Marty surprises the family by being home for Christmas after all. With no gifts under the tree, the only thing worse would be no cocoa. I need to talk about something here. The title card, Merry Christmas, Steve, is in reference to Niles saying that Frasier needs to give something called a shout out to Steve Gomez. Oh. Nice. That's right. Now, for those Breaking Bad fans out there, you'll recognize that Steve Gomez is the name of Hank's partner. Oh. Oh. And for fans of this podcast, they will remember on my last appearance in Some Assembly Required, Dale Dickey, the woman who lived in the Habitat for Humanity house, she was in Breaking Bad as a method. And this, I think, is corroborating the idea that Frasier exists in the Breaking Bad universe, and that woman had a fall from grace. Wow. Led to that Omaha addiction. Big reveal. Good work. Good work. Wow. This is such a bad look for Kenny, your brother. Because he's obsessed with coming on for all of the Star Trek references, but Ethan comes on for all of the Breaking Bad references. Big win for you, Ethan. You're goddamn right. I'm an accomplished author, so I don't even need this. I'm sure you wrote a book about the Breaking Bad that won a lot of awards. There's no reason to believe that these two worlds can't exist as one. I think that makes sense. Obviously, they're happening in different parts of the country, but... Decided to see if there are other Breaking Bad actors that are going to show up on this show. There's a good chance Cranston shows up. The question is, will it be believable that he was a chemistry teacher? My wife, Hannah Schect, she did want to throw in there that she... I said, even at home, you refer to her with her full name. This is for the audience. This is completely for the long-time listeners out there. Big Hannah Stan said she loves Martin's bedhead in this scene and thinks it's very cute and that the hair department did a very good job on that. Didn't notice at all because I was really distracted by his upsetting love for Coco. I thought maybe we weren't talking about hot Coco. I'm still not 100% sure we were. Of course we were talking about hot Coco. Of course it was hot Coco. Don't be mad. Do you guys call it just Coco? It could be called just Coco, yeah. Has anyone ever called it that? I mean, I have never called it that, which is surprising because I love to say weird things, but it wasn't implausible. I've called it just Coco before. I mean, I don't know if we've got time to say hot chocolate or something. Are you also the first one to open gifts on... You are the youngest. That would make sense. I mean, I guess I don't really remember when we were kids. Like, I think we all just kind of went in our piles. Oh yeah, when we were kids, it was a free throw. You remember every book you ever wrote, but you don't remember if you were the first one opening the presents. I mean, I don't have time for those types of things, yeah. I don't buy it. I feel confident saying he couldn't possibly know because it was a tornado of unwrapping. Like, there was no order to it. There was no... What you're telling me, you, Curtis Shack, of all people, didn't follow order and decorum when it comes to opening presents? You didn't take your turn doing one at a time? Not only that, I remember one year... That's stunning. One year, the presents were all mixed under the tree and you had to, like, find your name before you could open it. And I thought that was fun. I liked that. But nobody else liked it. So from then on, it was... We'd have piles of just, like, all your things in one pile that you wouldn't get them good views. So I wanted even more chaos. What I do recall is opening gifts too fast when I was younger and then, like, getting older and be like, I gotta pace myself because otherwise the Christmas is over too soon. This is why Fraser and Niles both wanted it in the morning. You don't want Christmas to be over too soon. A friend of mine who does listen to this podcast and will be hearing this, I think she wants to be shouted out. So let's just say this. She has some opinions about Brad and how much he talks about himself. But she told me once... Narrow it down, please. She told me once... For the record, that doesn't exclude my wife. She told me once that what her family did was... And you just spit it out around. Did she tell you once? Well, she told me once. It's that... Yeah, when she was a kid, they would open presents one at a time and then play with that present until they lost interest. And then they would move on to the next present. That's crazy. That's real intense. Christmas wouldn't end for, like, two weeks. She wasn't an only child. So it wasn't, like, just her opening one, playing with it, moving on. Even if you're an only child. Even if you're, like, an adult, that's kind of great. Wait, so, Curt, how many times did she tell you this? She told you it twice, right? Well, that broke me. I guess we'll talk about Frasier now. One of the lines I really enjoy is where he grabs the book. It's filled with a brick. So he says, ooh, it's heavy. And he says, I think that means it's a good one. What do you mean he grabbed a book? Did I say book? Yeah, you said book, you idiot. Jesus Christ. When he grabs the present and he says, it's heavy. It must be a good one. Unless it's a book. I thought that was a great line. We know how he truly feels. He's such a kid. He's such a little child. Mm-hmm. And this scene is, I mean, doesn't want to get a book. He's devastated that Coco isn't around. Which I don't understand why Coco wasn't around. Why did they need gifts to have Coco? I think it was just a Christmas tradition. Yeah, just have some Coco ready for the gifts. I still don't get the problem. Make some Coco for the road. On Marty being a kid at Christmas. No, every day. Every day. It's just really bad today. In the earlier scene, it talked about how there's some sentimental and moments. And they had another one when Frazier and Niles were at Marty's work. And Niles was talking about how, you know, you can tell he especially misses mom at Christmas. Like, there's moments in this episode. Yeah. This one, that one benefited because Marty wasn't around. All of them, I think, benefit because Marty's not around. They're either having nice sentimental moments or you got a small child who's really old. Very annoying. I hate Marty. Marty is involved in one of those moments when he kind of forgives them for having bickered. And then very kind of solemnly says, I can't go back on it. I already said I worked, so I got to work. Sorry. Like, I like the way he says that one, too. Yeah. No, his sentimental moments in the next scene. The family stands outside the building, but it is locked tight. This is Marty's big scene where he pats both of his sons on the shoulder and then we all get to go home. Thank you for subbing up the scene because that's about it. Well, I did wish that. I wish that they did break in. It was a good button to say that the bricks are wrapped up under the tree. Yes, that was a great line. And it's one way to call it back to it. Yeah. Or we could have just broke in with them. Like, we could have showed not told, you know? He spent all the budget on getting Dean Cain. What's Dean got to do with it? You break a window. We do love Dean Cain. It's Boxing Day at Marty's work where they have gathered to open the presents. He just robes to reveal his uniform and returns to his desk. I liked the touch of showing that the camera was in bed covered in tape. Yeah, I did like that. I like when they go full circle with a joke. This is one of the better ones. Well, it ties into the episode nicely. It kind of completes the circle on the story that we've been given. It makes sense to be silent. It's not like filled with jokes or laugh out loud moments, but it doesn't need to. Yeah, I think it was good. Nice button. Yeah.

Activity description: But I wrote a little song about the coffee shop. Activity request: I want to get your guys thoughts on it. Result qualification: My instinct was to not like it, but I think it ended up better. You didn't have to go low for the whole song. Just at the end. Ending or payoff: How about every episode they show the coffee shop? I like that. Okay, cool. Reviewed full source context: You guys know this was coming, but obviously I love that they started off at the coffee shop. And I know I've been ridiculed on the show for bringing up the coffee shop a lot. And this happens to be an episode where we see lots of coffee shops. But I wrote a little song about the coffee shop. Can I share it? Oh, no. Oh, no. Yeah. It's actually a dance. We do kings. Sorry. It's actually a dance. Right. I like that courtesy of you've broken the seal on your singing. You'll just do that every episode now. If it means stopping Brad from singing, I'm definitely going to. No, this is this. It's a very quick song because I just started working on it. I want to get your guys thoughts on it. But this is how it goes. It's a dance. Here we go. Jump to the right. Jump to the left. Jump in the middle and do the coffee dance. Yeah, it was terrible. Even for you, it was bad. When were you planning to sing? My expectations were set low and wow. Can you either sing it or rap it harder? Go one or the other. What is the coffee dance? You really just kind of spoke it, which is difficult. All right. Fine. Fine. Fine. I will sing it. I will sing it. Here we go. Here we go. Okay, great. Boom, boom, boom. Go to the right. Boom, boom. Go to the left. Boom, boom. Jump in the middle and do the coffee dance. Do the coffee dance. Do the coffee dance. As always, a mistake for you to go high. It was way better, though. I really kind of liked it. I was into it until that last line. Yeah. On the right and the left part of the coffee dance or is the coffee dance just its own separate third step? Oh, you'll see soon. So the coffee dance, you're holding a coffee cup and you start to spill it. So the coffee dance is you're splashing in coffee at the end. Which is all I do every day. Do you want me to sing it again and go low? No. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We do. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Jump to the right. Jump to the left. Jump in the middle and do the coffee dance. Ooh, that was... I wonder when I put those two together, will they harmonize well? My instinct was to not like it, but I think it ended up better. You didn't have to go low for the whole song. Just at the end. Here's the thing, Brad. This is clearly an obsession of yours. And also, we're in the year of Brad's Bar Mitzvah now. So I think you need to keep workshopping this. We should hear a new line of the coffee dance... Coffee dance song? Yeah. Every time we go to Neurosa. Yeah. How about every episode they show the coffee shop? I like that. Okay, cool. It should beat most of them. Spoiler alert. Future line proposer: Curtis

Action: I am currently drinking Wassel. Method: It's one cup apple juice, quarter cup orange juice, a half a teaspoon lemon juice, two teaspoons of sugar, and eighth a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Then you just microwave it until it's warm. Result qualification: This is not traditional Wassel, perhaps. But it is fucking delicious. I'm sure you could add alcohol, but it's not alcoholic. Reviewed full source context: By the way, while we're on the subject of Wassel, it's a Christmas episode. It's that time of year. And therefore, I have prepared drink from this episode. I am currently drinking Wassel. Wow. I'm going to be annoyed if you didn't do it at this point. I thought this would be fun. And I was a little worried because I looked up recipes. It's involved. Like, usually you have to get like apple cider and a bunch of other ingredients. So as soon as you saw apple cider, you're like, I'm doing this. Full cinnamon sticks, like lots. And you have to make this, they're only for batches for a party. So I was like, I don't know how to scale this down. So I looked for the easiest possible recipe that would be repeatable. And I was worried it would taste horrible because this is so very easy. It's one cup apple juice, quarter cup orange juice, a half a teaspoon lemon juice, two teaspoons of sugar, and eighth a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Then you just microwave it until it's warm. I got to tell you. Traditional microwaving. Exactly. This is not traditional Wassel, perhaps. But it is fucking delicious. I don't think I've ever had eggnog. Is it better than eggnog? Oh, way better. Is it alcoholic or none? I'm sure you could add alcohol, but it's not alcoholic. Okay. I just assumed it would be with Daphne's line. I imagine that their version had alcohol. I wasn't even close to spelling Wassel, right? What did you just say? It looks like Wassel. Did you just say Wassel? That's how it's spelled. Yeah, it's spelled crazy. Have you had eggnog? I like eggnog. You don't like eggnog? I do. Oh, yeah, yeah. Is it better than eggnog? It's way better than eggnog. Eggnog is, I mean, they're different things. Wait, wait, wait. Put the rum in the Wassel first. Eggnog and Wassel, very different things. Like, they're not even close to the same kind of drink. Oh, good. So different categories. Right, crack an egg in there. See how that goes. Eggnog is good, but I can only have a small amount of it before I'm just, like, done. This I could drink one night. How many have you had so far? Halfway through this one. And I'm thinking about making another. You don't think you're calling it early? I don't. By this much of an eggnog, I'd be, like, done. Half a cup of eggnog, I'm like, oh, I'm about to crush 10 of these. And then by the end of it, it's like, yeah, I probably never have to have that the rest of the season. Okay.

Prompt: What is a churl, Curtis? Segment type: non game definition request Reviewed full source context: What's a churl? Because Marty does not come out and define that, but they say it a lot. Once again, you could Google it, but. What is a churl, Curtis? You're an English major. You should know these things. I'm Googling it. Give me a minute. An impolite or mean-spirited person, but that's boring. That's not the one I like. It's fun. The one I like, and it's labeled as archaic, is a person of low birth, a peasant. You said it's archaic. It's like, yeah, this other one's so hip. And then you say that, it's like, oh, yeah, low birth. That's pretty archaic.

Prompt: Curtis, can you define that for us as well? Prompt term: Skullduggery Segment type: non game definition request Reviewed full source context: Curtis, can you define that for us as well? Absolutely. Skullduggery is. When you dig up skulls, I believe. If Frasier was asked to define skullduggery, I think this is how he would answer. And it would it would almost not make it any clearer. This says underhanded or unscrupulous behavior. Ripperary. Curtis, can you define unscrupulous? We. There's only one layer to that rabbit hole, buddy. We're not going any deeper.

Activity description: Ethan, why don't you tell me if you thought this was a good episode? Competition adjudication competition established: False Reviewed full source context: Ethan, why don't you tell me if you thought this was a good episode? I had it on my list. Where does this fit in the 51? I think the only thing I really remembered from watching years ago before making the list was just the hijinks of mixing up the presents. I always thought that was very fun. There's a lot in this that really, really holds up and makes it, I think, maybe not my favorite of the Frasier Christmases, but a very worthwhile one. I love the Christmas village. I love and Hungarian. Even though it was laid out so poorly. Exactly. The wassail is great. There was a lot of praise for the you're in love with Santa Claus scene. Maybe the part of the episode I'm not as into, but it's still like well done. And so yeah, definitely, definitely a fan of this one. I think it's a great Martin episode and I don't understand the Martin hater that is present. I just don't like all the things he says and does. That's all. How much of your hate of Marty is an ongoing bit and how much is you genuinely still don't like him as a character? Literally none of it's a bit. No, I don't. I'm not even, I'm probably pulling punches. Open your heart. Open your heart. It's going to get better. I literally do not understand the appeal. I don't get it at all. I don't, I don't know if things are going to change like as we go through the first, first nine seasons, but it makes no sense why you guys like him. Even one iota right now. Ethan, do you have a rating for this episode? In fact, I would maybe recommend giving it a one to 51 stars or something like use the 51. Okay. Oh yeah. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I'll give it a Dean Cain out of 51. And I think we all know what that means. Is it a Ross Dean Cain or is it a everyone else Dean Cain? How santified is the Dean Cain? Full full of jelly Dean Cain. Whoa. Talk about sex appeal. Brad, what about you? I have not been a big fan of the last couple episodes, but this one I really, really liked. I thought it was funny. I thought it jumped well. I thought it was overall pretty good. So I'm going to give it a, a minus. Okay. That's pretty good. I think that might be your highest rating you've given. Oh, it's, it's one of my favorites. Curtis, what did you think of this episode? Even though I've seen the whole series, I feel more like an upside downer because of how much fresher the last parts of the series are than the first parts at this point. And so far, I got to say, I think the show is particularly good at Christmas episodes. And I think this one has a lot of heart to it, which I really enjoy when Frasier does that. And I know this will shock Anna Paul Ryan, but I'm ranking this number one out of 38. This is shot to my favorite episode. I thought real hard about it. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. What is it supplanting? It's supplanting the last Christmas episode. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. No, he's just lazy with his ratings. I don't know if I could top the high episode, but then I just thought like, which one would I want to put on it at Christmas and which one would I want to watch again? And it's the one that's a little bit heartwarming. And then that's this one. So I love this episode. Ryan, tell me why I'm wrong. I don't, I don't fully disagree. I, I'm going to end up giving this an eight, eight. So not the highest. That's crazy. But the best scene happens with the B plot. So there's no way it's going to win out over some of the episodes we've seen. Definitely best Daphne episode. Marty's used way too much for it to get to the nines. We saw Daddy. So that's a knock. Storyline's not too bad. I agree. They do Christmas episodes well, but like the other one wasn't Christmas. This one was. So they've shown us different flavors. That's exciting. It's definitely on the higher end. Yeah, it's, it's nice that they're hitting different notes, even though it's still very much a Christmas episode.

Title: The Santa plaus…ible Activity request: We have to decide, is it a real tradition people actually practice or simply a good idea we should all adopt? Interaction mode: You guys work together to make a guess. Rules: I'm going to ask you guys a group of questions. One question at a time. If you're right, we'll get Brad Bucks. Okay, if you're wrong, you're going to get ridiculed. Scoring mechanism: Brad Bucks can be redeemed once a year on February 30th. Okay, and Brad Bucks used for trips, airplane rides, horses, camel, and exotic pets. Adjudication method: He doesn't even know the answers until we give him one to punch into the quiz. Method: It's a true or false quiz. The journal. It's an Irish newspaper. Competitive scoring statement: You've earned 50 Brad bucks. Score effect points: 50 Competition adjudication scope: Unresolved: [['final Kenya item award', 'whole-quiz award'], [[1859], [1860], [1861], [1862]], 'The announcement is between the final answer and thanks; its accounting scope is unspecified.'] Scores: Unresolved: ['No complete tally or numeric per-item schedule is supplied.', [[1622], [1712], [1713], [1861]]] Reviewed full source context: Brad, more than any of us, is an expert on Christmas traditions. As such, he has prepared a list of them for us to ponder. We have to decide, is it a real tradition people actually practice or simply a good idea we should all adopt? It's the Santa Claus of all. Ho, ho, ho from the ju ju ju. Alrighty, this is how this game is going to work. I'm going to ask you guys a group of questions. One question at a time. In a wind tunnel, correct. You guys work together to make a guess. If you're right, we'll get Brad Bucks. Okay, if you're wrong, you're going to get ridiculed. Brad Bucks can be redeemed once a year on February 30th. Okay, and Brad Bucks used for trips, airplane rides, horses, camel, and exotic pets. Wait, what do we get if we get it wrong? You get ridiculed. Oh, ridiculed. Introducer: Curtis answer: The Santa plaus…ible Title wording: The Santa plaus…ible

Activity description: I'm going to ask you guys a group of questions. One question at a time. You guys work together to make a guess. Segment type: cooperative quiz task Result qualification: Teamwork makes the dream work, okay? Segment context: Unresolved: [['one task-level round spanning the country questions', 'successive country-item rounds within the same task'], [[1618], [1619], [1621], [1657], [1672], [1710], [1720], [1744], [1747], [1753], [1813], [1821], [1822], [1842], [1862]], 'Task continuity and item-local results are established. The source does not discriminate whether the round domain is the whole quiz or each independently settled item. No round partition is committed as KNOWN.']

Classification response: False Adjudication verdict: INCORRECT Correct response: True Reviewed full source context: Here's the first one. In Norway, all the brooms in a house are hidden based on a superstition that witches play with them. That sounds fake. It's shit. That sounds like Brad's shitty writing. It doesn't even sound like Christmas. It sounds like Halloween. I don't even think it addressed Christmas. So yeah, 100% fake. Ethan, do you want to dissent? You give a vote. I don't feel strongly enough to fight the... Ethan, you get two votes, though. I get no. You can tie it up. That's still 50-50. You can deadlock us. Okay, I'll use one vote for yes and one vote for no. So it's still a no. It's a false. So you're going to be right no matter what. So you guys said false? I am so disappointed in the three of you. You celebrate this holiday and you can't even get anything right? What are you talking about? You should know all this Christmas stuff. The fact that you guys don't know this is unacceptable and irresponsible. I cannot believe you guys got this one wrong. A talking to is not the same thing. No, this is not your time. It's not ridicule. Now I'm ridicule with this. This is not their time to talk. It is not your time to talk. It is my time to talk. And I'm very disappointed in you guys. Okay, cool. Great job, guys. You guys have done a really good job so far. Great job. Great job. Okay.

Classification response: True Adjudication verdict: CORRECT Correct response: True Score effect points: Unresolved: ['Currency is mentioned after acceptance without a numeric award.', [[1712], [1713]]] Reviewed full source context: In Italy, Bafana, the witch, delivers the presents to children that have been good. And with witches, what is with the witches on this list? It's 100% real. When I was an accomplished author in second grade, I did a puppet play with Santa and Bafana, the Christmas witch, which is, yeah, the Italian tradition. This is a real one. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I respect that you're saying that this tradition is a real tradition. Are you saying your reason for knowing it is also real? Yeah. Your second grade life really is that important to this episode of our podcast? How is that possible? We could not have planned that. I don't know. I don't know. It just happened that way. You went to Italy recently. I thought for sure you were like, I was just in Italy. This is a tradition they celebrate. And no, you were going back to second grade again. Your greatest year. Very big on Christmas in Napoli. But nobody talked about the Christmas witch while we were there. Ethan, I just feel bad that I didn't get a chance to warn Hannah before she married you, that she was going to get all of your second tier years. Yeah. That it's over. Second grader of the year, Ethan Shaq. Whatever that year was. Yes. It is. So are we saying true? Are you guys saying true? Why would we buck that? Yeah, I'm not going to. I'm not going to be against the fact. You're smart to listen to Ethan. You guys were right. I thought you said that seepingly. Bad bugs. We are bullshit cash. Okay. Three in a row that were true. I'm starting to think what he told us over text, that he found a list of quote unquote weird traditions and that it included in the list he found both true ones and fake ones. I'm starting to think it's all true. And he thought he could trick us into getting some wrong that way.

Classification response: True Response context: I genuinely think there aren't any fake ones. Adjudication verdict: INCORRECT Correct response: False Reviewed full source context: In India, Christmas is celebrated by Hay Lanterns, home, and lighting candles. I'd like to phone a friend. Let's get Sneha. Okay. Let's get Sneha on this one. This one's boring. So I want to say it's fake. This one's boring. I'm going to say it's true. I would rather make up a boring one also. I'm going to say it's true because I genuinely am starting. I genuinely think there aren't any fake ones. I don't think he did. I don't think he came up with anything. God damn it. You're wrong. It's false. Ryan, you worked for a church and you can't even get this right. Ethan, you were just married, I assume, by Jesus. And Curtis, you're like Mr. Christmas. How did you get this wrong? Ethan had it right, though. You can't get mad at him. It doesn't matter. Teamwork makes the dream work, okay? I'm very disappointed in you all. Okay, great job, guys. On to the next question. You guys are doing really great. This is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I get the bit, but I also, I love that you started by saying we'll be ridiculed and I still... Oh, I forgot that's why you're doing that.

Classification response: False Adjudication verdict: INCORRECT Correct response: True Reviewed full source context: In Brazil, it's common to get twice your monthly pay as a Christmas time bonus. What? How did you choose the order of these? I'm taking the quiz with you. It's a quiz. What? Oh, you just... Wait, wait, wait. I don't know the answers either. It's a true or false quiz. Oh, my God. This is definitely the dumbest bit we've ever put up. So we're just doing a Facebook quiz right now. That's what you're telling me? Let me give credit to the website. Yeah, if you're going to just steal the whole thing. Yeah, do that. The journal. It's an Irish newspaper. We thought you were making something up. No, oh, no. Oh, my God. Okay, so what's the answer? Is Brazil the double to pay? Now that we know we're not playing Brad, we're playing some random Facebook quizzer, I'm going to say it's true. I don't know. It doesn't matter. Stupid one. I think it sounds plausible. No, I don't. I'm going to say false. My instinct was false. Two times monthly pay. Does that mean that in December they get two months pay or does it mean that they get three months pay? Because on Christmas they're getting two months pay in one go. Sure. Whatever you want to do. Yeah, he can't clarify. He's reading the same thing. He's got all the info we've got. I'm going to say true. Unlike in Defia, true. Ethan, use your two votes, please. Okay. Two falses, so it's a pity pity. So we win either way. Give us those Bradbots. No, that defaults to Ethan's answer. Yeah. He's also got the time. Yeah, I did, yeah. So we go with false? Yeah, we're going with false. Apparently. It's just dealing with three morons. What am I doing here? What am I? I spent my month working on this. You guys did it wrong? Just Google that. You're going to edit what you just set out to make me look better. But this is just so disappointing. I had such high hopes. All right, great job, guys. I'm really proud of you. Really proud of you. Next one.

Classification response: False Adjudication verdict: Unresolved: [['incorrect implied by ridicule', 'no explicit result revealed'], [[1623], [1834], [1835], {'rows': [1836, 1842]}], 'Ridicule follows the request for the answer, but no explicit true/false result separates it from general complaints.'] Correct response: Unresolved: ["Estonia's answer key is not explicitly stated.", [{'rows': [1833, 1842]}]] Reviewed full source context: In Estonia, families have a sauna together on Christmas Eve. Probably false. There just can't be that many saunas in Estonia. It's not a huge country, but still. I'm with you on false. I also think that Brad couldn't even be bothered to read through the quiz and use it to build his own, like, put his own spin on it. It's so annoying. It's the most annoying Brad. He doesn't even know the answers until we give him one to punch into the quiz. It's so annoying. False, Brad. What's the answer? Yeah, what does the quiz buy? Am I being punk? Dashten cuts you're going to come true. Like, this is a joke. Like, I just, oh. You guys, you guys are the worst. Alrighty.

Classification response: True Adjudication verdict: Unresolved: [['correct implied by final congratulations', 'no separate item verdict'], [[1622], [1857], [1859], [1860], [1861], [1862]], 'The closing award could be item feedback or the whole-quiz result.'] Correct response: Unresolved: ['No Kenya-specific answer key is spoken; final congratulations have unresolved scope.', [[1860], [1861], [1862]]] Result qualification: Congratulations. Reviewed full source context: On February 30th, in Kenya, Santa doesn't travel by reindeer. Instead, Land Rovers, camels, or bikes are used. I imagine they probably have Land Rovers, camels, and bikes instead of reindeer, like, in Kenya. So, I can see why they would alter the thing. Why would you have all three? Like, but also the specificity of naming three things? Mm-hmm. Like, why would you make that up? Why wouldn't you say, oh, instead they use an antelope or whatever? Wait, so you're saying that makes it more true or more false? I'm saying it makes it more true because if they were making it up, I feel like they would say something like an antelope or something that sounds believable instead of something specific but not interesting. Well, it is interesting. You think that he switches vehicles? Like, that's pretty interesting. I'm sticking with false on this one. I'm dripping on the true train, but I don't know why. True train. Give me them Brad bucks. Congratulations. You've earned 50 Brad bucks.

Response context: That sounds fake. So yeah, 100% fake. Response context: Three in a row that were true. I'm starting to think it's all true. Response context: I'm going to say it's true. Response context: Now that we know we're not playing Brad, we're playing some random Facebook quizzer, I'm going to say it's true. I'm going to say false. My instinct was false. I'm going to say true. Response context: Probably false. I'm with you on false. Response context: I'm saying it makes it more true because if they were making it up, I feel like they would say something like an antelope or something that sounds believable instead of something specific but not interesting. Action: I'd like to phone a friend. Let's get Sneha on this one. Status: phone a friend proposed without enacted call Method: I'm taking the quiz with you. I don't know the answers either. It's a true or false quiz. The journal. It's an Irish newspaper. He doesn't even know the answers until we give him one to punch into the quiz.

Text: I really hope your episode comes to fruition. Reviewed full source context: Well, Ryan, why don't you tell us what we can expect next week when we cover the previous episode at Season 10, Episode 9, Don't Go Breaking My Heart. It's karaoke night in Seattle, and Marty won't stop crooning until it causes a rift in the family. I really hope you're right. I would love a karaoke episode. My karaoke. I think Marty would be into karaoke. And he obviously would cause a rift because he's terrible. Well, you know the Brothers Crane are not into karaoke. No. Yeah. Actually, I don't know that. We've seen them sing a lot. Well, they're into singing. Yeah. That's why they would have been. Yeah. Yeah. Not the same. I would love to see the cranes get booed off of the stage. I think that'd be so fun. They would go to karaoke and they would try to play some fucking operetta. That would be actually really great. I really hope your episode comes to fruition. Operetta proposer: Curtis

Context outside the activity. Ending or payoff: Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. Action: And do the coffee dance. Reviewed full source context: Well, that's going to do it for us. Thanks to Kevin Crott for IP Music. And thank you, Ethan, for joining us. No problema. And thank all of you for listening. Probably best if you don't bother with us online. But if you want to, it's reverseipod at whatever. For myself, for Brian. Jesus Christ, dude. Get it together. I think he just called me Brant. He called us Brian. It's really annoying, actually. Save some time. Say Brian from now on. It's a mess. He had to deal with one Brad segment. Now he's just lost it. I know. He's turned into Brad. He can't even complete sentence. For myself, for my brother, Ethan, and for Brian. The combo of Brian and Brad that I'm going to be doing from now on. Did you just say the combo of Brian and Brad? This episode was a nightmare. Curtis, get us out of this fucking episode. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. And do the coffee dance. [Repeated to end; repetition count not established.] The record confirms closing performance: speaker: Brad; phrase: And do the coffee dance.; repetition: Repeated to end; count not established; scope: Closing row only; not other coffee-dance voices; ownerQuestion: E10-SOURCE-01-1