November 4, 2018

EP. 1 — 1: The Stump

To kick off John’s retirement party, Jay Kogen (The Simpsons, Frasier) talks about The Stump, his social media site for comedy writers that John joined in the late 90s. Jill Soloway (Transparent) and Becky Thyre (Mad TV) trace how The Stump evolved into the stage show Sit n’ Spin. And veteran Sit n’ Spinners Claudia Lonow (Rude Awakenings), Maggie Rowe (Arrested Development), Jonathan Schmock (Ferris Bueller) and Ben Wexler (Scrubs) join the party to track down the audience member who threw up when John was on stage at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 2003. With retirement toasts from Kate Berlant and John Early.

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February 14, 2019

Featuring Mary Kobayashi, Tim Heidecker, Jon Daly, Sara Watkins, Lauren Lapkus, Jon Gabrus, Steve Dildarian, Jay Kogen, and an interview with HBO & Annapurna Pictures’ Sue Naegle. Recorded live at UCB Franklin in Los Angeles, 1/24/19.

January 6, 2019

As the party winds to a close, John meets up with his first boss Michael Nesmith to talk about the Monkees, Television Parts, and the afterlife–and to find out if Nesmith tinkered with a video game to gain an unfair edge in a competition with John in 1985. Jack Handey refuses to take sides even though he was there, while Nick Kroll shares an old Deep Thoughts-related injustice. Sara Watkins talks about the invitation from her that led to Nesmith playing music again after a long hiatus. And John gets sloppy as he and editor and co-host Mary Kobayashi reminisce about the season…and take a risk.

December 31, 2018

Guests share their most star-studded anecdotes. With Abraham Higginbotham, Paul F. Tompkins, Karen Kilgariff, Joe Wengert, Jonathan Krisel, Eva Anderson, Courtney Lilly, Tim Heidecker, Pam Brady and Michael Nesmith.