My Brother, My Brother And Me: MBMBaM 489: The Clean Saloon

December 9, 2019 1:38 PM

Well, it finally happened. We got bit by the Broadway bug. Time to raise our anchors and set sail toward the warm, inviting waters of professional musical theater. Don't try and change our minds — we have become Daddy Warbucks, and Daddy Warbucks don't podcast. Suggested talking points: Broadway Babies, Drinking Horn, Laserking, Fakin' It, Pocket Watch Counterweight, Hats off to Christmas, A Good 9 and a Half, Peanuts on the Floor
posted by Tevin (8 comments total)

I honestly had no idea which was the fake Hallmark Christmas movie, they all sounded implausible as hell to me.

The only thing that would be worse than doing a bowdlerized South Pacific in high school would be doing it again now with a reduced vocal range, instead of having Kristen Bell tell me me fun stories about the set of The Good Place instead.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:23 PM on December 9, 2019

So the fam and I watched Encore on Disney+ as a result of this episode, and I actually think it is pretty great! Weirdly Kristen Bell has almost nothing to do with it, but it is a pretty kind and gentle reality show, without too much manufactured drama or hysterics, and it is not cringeworthy at all - the professionals are super supportive and helpful, and everyone has a great time. If you were a theater kid in high school, I recommend it.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:10 AM on December 10, 2019 [2 favorites]

> I honestly had no idea which was the fake Hallmark Christmas movie, they all sounded implausible as hell to me.

Yeah, when they did this bit last year it was stunning how (a) bizarre they all sounded, actual and fake, and (b) how on-point Sydnee is with the fake ones. She could seriously consider pitching spec scripts to the Hallmark Channel.

The opener about Broadway musicals fell flat for me, I guess because I'm not tuned into the zeitgeist, but their proposals for improving chess were very very good.
posted by ardgedee at 6:37 PM on December 10, 2019

I loved that chess theme song. Make that a recurring segment, it has to be better than Riddle Me Piss.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:05 AM on December 11, 2019

they all sounded implausible as hell to me

Griffin got it because he's realized that the *most* plausible one is actually the fake one. Real ones seem like they're coming out of a random number generator, and probably wouldn't (still) be starring Lori Laughlin.
posted by supercres at 12:21 PM on December 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

Yay! The that’s a Christmas to me theme song! I started laughing when I heard “put your arms around the fire” and I didn’t stop chuckling until I realised I had typed exclamation marks into the spreadsheet I was working on. Potentially I spend too much time on the internet.
posted by applesauce at 12:41 PM on December 11, 2019 [3 favorites]

Griffin got it because he's realized that the *most* plausible one is actually the fake one. Real ones seem like they're coming out of a random number generator,

Exactly. As soon as the one with "can help her son to walk again" (or whatever it was) came up, I thought "That one is real for sure". Also, the pumpkin carving makes perfect sense. The romance in some of these movies is a real slow burn, so starting somewhere in the fall and climaxing at Christmas is par for the course.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:04 AM on December 12, 2019

This whole episode cracked me up. Loved it.
posted by bleep at 6:18 PM on December 13, 2019