Under the Influence (with Jo Piazza) - Problematic TV Parents and Sexy TV Dads with Pop Culture Moms

00:00:00.280 So this week, we are going to do something just a little bit different.

00:00:04.220 I want to bring some joy into your ears. The world is hard and weird right now,

00:00:09.520 and life is hard and weird, and I just want to have some fun. I do. And I think we all want to

00:00:15.660 listen to something fun. So today I'm bringing on New York Times bestselling author Andy Mitchell

00:00:21.440 and Sabrina Kohlberg, a producer for Good Morning America. They are actually best friends. They're

00:00:28.480 best friends, they're both toddler moms, and they are pop culture obsessed. They are also the hosts

00:00:35.720 of the new podcast, Pop Culture Moms, where they talk to celebrities, writers, and fellow pop

00:00:42.460 culture lovers about what we can learn from the fictional moms that we love to watch. I'm having

00:00:48.040 them on today to talk about a lot of things that I'm very passionate about. Mostly, which moms in

00:00:53.580 TVs and movies don't really hold up anymore, and which TV and movie dads we think are hot.

00:00:59.680 These are important, hard-hitting subjects. They are. And right now, frankly, this is all that I

00:01:05.340 want to talk about. Their show, Pop Culture Moms, is great. I think that you're going to love it.

00:01:11.560 It's like eavesdropping on a conversation between two really smart women that you want to be your

00:01:16.040 friends, but you haven't gone over to be like, hey, can we hang out yet? I will tell you, though,

00:01:21.240 I asked them to be my friends in real life, and I think, you know, I think we're going to try to

00:01:25.760 make it happen. I do. There's also some fun tea in it about who I want to star in the TV adaptations

00:01:32.340 of my books, both Charlotte Walsh and The Sicilian Inheritance. All this stuff that I'm not supposed

00:01:38.060 to talk about. Oh, and speaking of Sicilian Inheritance, you know you can pre-order,

00:01:42.280 pre-order that shit. Get that pre-order in. You're going to get a subscription to the sub stack 0.99

00:01:46.480 where I have started writing my trad wife murder mystery.

00:01:50.880 I have.

00:01:52.260 I think my agents believe that I'm writing a very serious book right now,

00:01:56.240 like a full novel about Joe Van Gogh, Vincent Van Gogh's sister-in-law.

00:02:02.160 But I've just been writing about murder and trad wives,

00:02:06.040 and I really hope they don't listen to this podcast. 1.00

00:02:08.820 I do. I do.

00:02:11.060 But now let's move on to Hot TV Dads.

00:02:17.220 Hi. Hi, ladies. Thank you so much for being here today. I love the podcast that the two 1.00

00:02:23.380 of you are doing. Can you talk to me a little bit about why you decided to do it and why

00:02:28.800 you decided to do it together and also introduce yourselves to the audience?

00:02:33.760 Sure. I am Andy Mitchell, and this is my best friend, Sabrina Kohlberg. Sabrina, say hi.

00:02:41.380 we met the first day of freshman year of college and have just been kind of inseparable ever since

00:02:49.640 and we have always loved movies tv like celebrity culture like gossip like all of the world of pop

00:03:00.600 culture and so that bonded us forever and then five years ago um i had a child and then sabrina

00:03:08.360 had a child so now between the two of us we each have two toddlers and I think motherhood we've

00:03:15.120 noticed has bonded us even more than than we ever were we talk maybe more than ever like even if it's

00:03:22.380 just a quick phone call like and it's there's there's something really amazing about being

00:03:28.340 able to kind of commiserate with your best friend when you're just going through like the day-to-day

00:03:34.400 mom stuff like the funny and the hard and the joyful and all of that and so I think we

00:03:41.020 we have talked so much about the way that we see moms now it like one big thing that happened is we

00:03:49.640 used to both love the Gilmore Girls still do but like watching the Gilmore Girls then when we were

00:03:57.380 maybe like late teens you kind of view Lorelai in one way and then you watch it as a mom now

00:04:05.100 like 20 something years later and you kind of see it from the perspective of Lorelai's mom Emily

00:04:11.200 like you have a different take on it once you become a mom and that kind of made us think oh

00:04:15.920 this is interesting like once you became once we became moms we started to look at the moms that we

00:04:21.040 had identified with or loved or looked up to and it like it shifts your perception of of them and

00:04:28.820 so then we look you know it's it's just interesting to see how moms are portrayed now so that i think

00:04:33.360 that was like a big big part of it yeah i love i love that because i think that once you become a

00:04:41.520 parent you start looking at pop culture differently than you ever did before right it's funny because

00:04:49.600 i just i re-watched my so-called life recently oh so far so great so great i mean like i was

00:04:57.800 angela chase like i was so hardcore angela chase when i was growing up and now i'm her mom now and

00:05:05.960 now i'm mom yeah yes that's what it is though yeah like now who are you identifying with right

00:05:12.360 exactly you used to see it from one perspective yeah yeah exactly those parents that we saw in

00:05:19.280 those movies and tv shows are kind of like our original influencer like they were influencing

00:05:26.380 what we thought parents were or should be or how we should be when we grew up so you know now

00:05:35.600 examining it and realizing like oh well that mom is is a little problematic or like this is a mom

00:05:41.200 that i would love to like take some of their stuff and put it into my parenting absolutely

00:05:47.660 Absolutely. Absolutely. So talk to me. I want to, you know, what I want to do today is just get into some of the parents that we find problematic in our pop culture past and then talk about the ones that truly stand the test of time.

00:06:05.240 yeah well we have a lot of ideas that you know there are ones that um i find problematic that

00:06:13.480 i think people don't often think about like i think about the mom in parent trap now this is

00:06:21.100 a movie that people really are like so nostalgic about and they love but i'm like this is a mom

00:06:27.720 who just like didn't want to deal with her ex-husband so just separated her twins and

00:06:32.000 was like you know what i'll just never see that one again that is problematic like that's how we

00:06:38.040 solve a problem guys that's not not the move important question original parent trap new

00:06:47.140 parent lindsey lohan parent trap or both i love both oh i love both yeah because before the like

00:06:53.980 that was a movie i had seen when i was little that thought i thought it was just amazing what

00:06:57.940 Is it Hayley Mills in it? 0.99

00:06:59.500 It's Hayley.

00:07:00.380 Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills.

00:07:02.020 And it's just, I remember thinking, oh, this is the greatest.

00:07:05.460 But then the Lindsay Lohan one was fabulous.

00:07:08.660 They were both excellent.

00:07:09.500 They were both excellent.

00:07:10.020 That was a good reboot.

00:07:11.320 Yeah.

00:07:11.840 Totally.

00:07:12.440 I recently, I recently watched, I've watched both of them with my kids.

00:07:16.560 And that was their question.

00:07:19.020 They're like, so they just gave up their kid?

00:07:22.300 They just, like, she just, and, you know, it's interesting you said the mom because the dad too.

00:07:26.400 and just oh yes the dad for sure it's like they both they both just decided to never see one child

00:07:31.540 ever again so and like also how bad were things between them right what was happening and also

00:07:40.120 like you know we see the beautiful reunion but i feel like in a couple of years those kids are

00:07:45.120 going to need some therapy for abandonment issues you know it's not it's not good yeah

00:07:52.020 It's not, it's not good. It's not good. No, it's, I mean, wow. Wow. I mean, I thought about it when I

00:07:59.220 watched it with the kids when they asked that question. Also, you know, I've been watching a

00:08:03.380 lot more movies with the kids lately because it's cold and also because there's three of them.

00:08:11.260 And I don't even think about it like screen time. These movies have let me have such great

00:08:15.960 conversations with my six-year-old and four-year-old that they are an awesome jumping off point for us

00:08:23.200 to talk that I like I regret I regret nothing about having movie night constantly in my house

00:08:28.940 we feel we could not agree more like we are not I mean I think before becoming parents we were like

00:08:36.000 yeah we will limit screen time but I think now we're like oh no we that's that I'm okay with

00:08:43.500 screen time like like no i don't want them to be like on a tablet or in front of like the tv

00:08:47.820 constantly but i think sabrina and i grew up we were we were on watching tv and movies

00:08:53.740 all the time and i guess jury's still out if we turned out okay but it's i mean i don't i just

00:09:00.620 i think it's i think it's okay i think it's okay i think it's totally okay i mean so yeah so when

00:09:08.560 we watched The Parent Trap, we got to have a conversation about divorce, which we'd never had

00:09:14.160 before. When I was their age, I clearly knew what divorce was because it was the 80s and everyone

00:09:19.220 was divorced. But they don't know anyone that has divorced parents. And so that was great.

00:09:25.600 And then, of course, like, they're like, why is Vicky such a B? And I'm like, yeah, I know,

00:09:31.460 right? Why is Vicky such a B? And yeah, just like, but again, yeah, very problematic. Okay,

00:09:38.100 i want more i want more give me more problematic parents oh wow less funny but very problematic

00:09:45.260 is um you know tony soprano's mother livia soprano livia soprano i mean just i mean not great

00:09:53.120 she's a toughie because it's like you don't really want to give into that idea like everything is

00:09:59.240 your mother's fault but in the case of tony soprano if we look at livia we kind of can really

00:10:04.460 draw a line like she was she really she set some things up and set some things in motion for tony

00:10:12.100 that i i think we can say she was like probably borderline evil borderline evil and i'm not saying

00:10:19.340 she caused him to be a gangster but i'm not not saying that's what i mean she certainly didn't

00:10:24.640 lead him a different way she certainly wasn't like here's a new option so so that's a thing

00:10:31.020 I remember I got so angry at Catelyn Stark in Game of Thrones I just thought she was

00:10:39.200 the worst because they I got the sense there were times in the show that we were supposed to think 1.00

00:10:45.280 like oh my gosh what a loving mother like she'll do anything for her kids but then the way she

00:10:51.300 treated her not adopted son but like her husband's son from a previous marriage or relationship 0.95

00:10:59.440 was just disgusting, the way that she treated Jon Snow.

00:11:03.280 So I hated Catelyn Stark. 0.99

00:11:05.900 I thought she was absolutely the worst.

00:11:09.360 I think that's fair.

00:11:10.620 I think that's fair.

00:11:11.720 You know where I'm going to go with this now?

00:11:14.960 Where? 1.00

00:11:15.360 Baby Boom.

00:11:17.780 Wow.

00:11:18.900 Thank you, Diane Keaton.

00:11:20.180 Love Baby Boom.

00:11:21.400 Of course.

00:11:22.440 Of course.

00:11:23.220 I mean, the first, you know, baby mogul.

00:11:26.360 like she's really just took that kid and made an applesauce line and she really i love her

00:11:34.160 i love her too but here is my concern about it okay it did make it i mean look jc wyatt i still

00:11:44.180 like i want to dress like jc wyatt i want to be jc wyatt i would have kicked james spader's little 0.91

00:11:49.120 snot-nosed ass in that movie but I think that she I think it was like she gave up on that career 0.98

00:11:58.200 very quickly and it made it seem like you can be one thing you can be ambitious in a corporate job 0.99

00:12:06.400 or you can be a mother and I did not like that dichotomy because I think that although it is

00:12:13.440 hard we'd need to see more role models and especially starting in the 80s we needed to

00:12:18.820 see more role models of women making it work with an office job yes yes completely agree that's a 0.98

00:12:26.340 way to think of it that yes that's not great but she did she did really thrive with being thrust 0.91

00:12:33.280 into the motherhood but yeah she should have fought a little harder to keep both to keep both

00:12:41.160 and like and i don't think that job was right for her anyway i think she was meant to be in vermont

00:12:46.460 with the applesauce with the sexy vet. I totally do. But I do think that we saw a real lack of

00:12:54.360 pop culture role models, I don't know why I can't talk today, who were doing corporate jobs and also

00:13:03.320 mothering. And I think that that kind of contributed to the false mommy wars of the stay-at-home 0.91

00:13:12.020 mother versus the work out of the home mother which i now like to call the work in the home

00:13:17.180 mother and the work out of the home mother yes i think like i mean you're what you're speaking

00:13:23.460 to is something that we talk we talk about that like it's interesting to kind of map the portrayal

00:13:31.120 of moms through tv and movies over the past like like 40 years it's been like it i think growing

00:13:39.420 up when we were very young, as elder millennials, the moms had very little nuance. You didn't see

00:13:48.880 a lot of the interpersonal life of the mom or much about their character. And now I think

00:13:55.380 it's very clear that there's a lot more detail shown that moms struggle. Moms have an entire

00:14:04.240 inner world. They have dreams and aspirations that are not just motherhood. I think there's 0.96

00:14:08.780 something really amazing about that has changed where we see more dimensions to the mom than just

00:14:16.380 the caretaker or loving the role or, you know, or even hating the role. But there's something to it

00:14:21.920 that I think is much more evolved and open for moms to see themselves now. Absolutely. And yet

00:14:30.660 there could still be more. Oh, absolutely. There is still more room for the many, many facets of

00:14:37.880 motherhood yes that's that is true that is true i just i just think about like the the peg bundy

00:14:46.040 character like in the 90s and then like it just i think moms were very very one-dimensional and

00:14:53.340 it's like now at least there's a little bit more shown about what mom is really like that her life

00:15:01.160 is bigger or harder or fuller than just her relationship with her children.

00:15:07.980 Absolutely. Absolutely. I will say that anytime people talk about screen time hurting our kids,

00:15:16.960 I think about how much bad television I watched growing up. I watched a lot of Married with

00:15:22.700 Children. It was one of my mother's favorite shows, and I was watching that at a very young

00:15:26.620 age. And again, the verdict is still out, but I think I'm fine. Like, I went to a very good

00:15:31.300 college. I am married to a nice man. We have three lovely children. I have written 12 books.

00:15:36.220 Like, screen time, watching a show that is objectively fairly offensive, did not fuck me up.

00:15:43.300 Yeah. I think that when people worry about screen time or think about screen time,

00:15:48.540 they're not taking into account, like, all the other things. I think, obviously,

00:15:52.920 it would be horrible to put your kid in front of a TV and never talk to them and never read

00:15:57.800 them a book and never interact with them. Like, yeah, that would be not great. But I think if

00:16:04.600 you're, you know, a caring parent who's doing all sorts of things, I don't think watching an episode

00:16:10.380 of a cartoon is going to really damage your child. That's just my opinion. And, you know,

00:16:17.360 people will disagree i'm certain but oh they will they will loudly and vocally my friends

00:16:23.440 loudly and vocally well it's like you hope that you're teaching your kids some level of like

00:16:27.180 discernment like so that even if they're watching something that we don't love like you're teaching

00:16:32.600 them maybe maybe if you're watching it with them you can help them like ask questions about like

00:16:36.880 how do you think that kid feels in that situation like i think there's more to the dialogue

00:16:41.200 than just them watching it alone do you know what i mean i think there's like like you say

00:16:46.560 watching the parent trap and it like brings up conversations of divorce but i think also media

00:16:51.680 they say this about books and i think like obviously tv and movies do the same thing

00:16:55.400 like teaches us a world outside of the one that we're living i mean there is something too like

00:17:00.420 the empathy learned through seeing another person's experience how that opens and expands

00:17:05.940 your consciousness so i think it's like i don't know i can see a lot of ups i can see a lot of the

00:17:12.160 ups. I see so much upside. I do. Okay. We are going to take a quick break. And when we get

00:17:16.940 back, we are going to talk about top five sexiest TV dads, TV or movie dads.

00:17:32.640 We are back and we're back with a very, very important subject. I'm going to throw out,

00:17:39.640 i'm gonna throw out my number one first off in top five sexy tv or movie dads okay

00:17:46.660 excellent yep king triton wow i wasn't expecting that joe and i now which king triton the new

00:17:58.080 king triton or the cartoon king triton so i i believe i believe strongly in this um prior to

00:18:07.280 the reboot i did i mean if you look at original king triton's abs you're like hello silver merman

00:18:13.420 fox okay but i didn't i didn't know the reboot was going to happen and then all of a sudden 0.69

00:18:19.680 they throw us fucking javier bardem oh yeah you know what yep it's tough competition for those 0.91

00:18:26.340 cartoon abs who can say yeah i think you know what you're on to something that i wasn't 0.98

00:18:32.400 And, Sabrina, we were remiss for not really recognizing that.

00:18:37.060 And I think that's excellent.

00:18:38.080 And you know that Sabrina and I, I don't think it's technically the best, but that was our favorite Disney movie growing up.

00:18:44.720 Little Mermaid was like, that was it.

00:18:47.680 Same. 0.99

00:18:48.140 Same.

00:18:48.460 It was also my favorite Disney movie growing up.

00:18:50.640 It is intensely problematic.

00:18:52.660 No, I have to.

00:18:53.700 I have to accept that.

00:18:55.080 They often are.

00:18:56.220 They often are.

00:18:57.720 Like, who else?

00:19:00.300 Wow.

00:19:00.600 Wow.

00:19:01.280 Wow.

00:19:01.400 Wow.

00:19:01.760 i mean i assume leonardo dicaprio has played a dad in a movie so let's just whichever one

00:19:07.780 has he yeah well in shutter island he was a dad i mean it's like a i don't know not a spoiler but

00:19:13.940 kind of a spoiler do you know what i mean true true um wow hold on who's coming to mind oh wow

00:19:20.660 i gotta think of some it's like you know um oh um from friday night lights

00:19:30.060 oh yeah coach taylor coach taylor i couldn't love someone more

00:19:38.380 why am i forgetting his real name right now kyle chandler kyle chandler coach taylor such a good

00:19:47.060 hot tv dad yes yes totally and i also love that we're just ogling men unapologetically right now

00:19:55.080 because this feels right to me it just does it really does he's also but not even just for the

00:20:02.020 looks he's got such a dreamy personality you know he's a wonderful husband and father on that show

00:20:08.780 so yes yes well and I love I love me some Connie Britton too so like yeah I mean oh god I want

00:20:16.180 all Connie Britton all the time we are we're in the process of repackaging my book Charlotte

00:20:22.840 Walsh likes to win for a TV series again. It died right before it was supposed to go into production

00:20:30.220 because Julia Roberts had a dream and decided to drop out of the project at the last minute. 0.94

00:20:35.200 Oh, my God, Jo. This is amazing.

00:20:37.440 I know.

00:20:37.840 No, go on. I don't mean to interrupt. I'm like, hold on a second. Okay, go on. This is amazing.

00:20:42.200 This is amazing.

00:20:43.480 Yeah, it's my favorite bit of gossip that, like, as an author, you're never supposed to talk about,

00:20:47.060 but I have no filter anymore. I'm like, Julia Roberts dropped out. Everyone should know that.

00:20:50.600 and so we're rebooting that

00:20:53.000 and it's going to actresses

00:20:54.660 but all I just want 0.90

00:20:57.020 Connie Britton to be the lead

00:20:59.020 I mean and you'd know best

00:21:01.380 I just do

00:21:02.480 I just I know and I

00:21:04.500 feel her I would love

00:21:06.900 that I would love that

00:21:08.900 for you and for Connie but I

00:21:10.840 think I mean because she's just one of

00:21:12.820 these people like I think even if she's playing a

00:21:14.740 villain you're like but you're great

00:21:16.180 let me just tell you something I can just tell you're a

00:21:18.760 great person

00:21:19.500 Exactly. I love her. I still love her. I still love her. And, you know, my my character in Charlotte, while she's a woman running for Senate, it's impossible to be a woman with in politics and with ambition. And we rarely see it on the screen. And I just think Connie Britton would knock it out of the park. Right now, it's with Laura Dern, too, who.

00:21:39.360 oh my god don't start are you kidding i also freaking adore both of whom i would love more

00:21:44.980 than julia roberts but julia like jumped the gun and you know when julia says hey i want to do this

00:21:49.520 you don't say no julia roberts but in hindsight in hindsight though okay let me can i pitch can i

00:21:56.100 pitch lizzie kaplan i'm happy that you mentioned lizzie kaplan because i need lizzie kaplan for

00:22:02.720 something else my friends oh okay okay yeah yeah lizzie lizzie and also i will watch lizzie and

00:22:08.160 claire do anything which is why i watched the entire series of fleishman even though i didn't

00:22:15.360 like it but i will watch them read the phone book so it doesn't matter and i want lizzie to star in

00:22:21.620 the television adaptation of the sicilian inheritance which is my latest book my my

00:22:28.480 thriller murder mystery set in sicily i need her to be in that movie so we're i'm saving i'm saving

00:22:36.120 lizzie for that i mean she does have a very sicilian vibe to her totally totally and my

00:22:43.820 character there's two like awesome awesome female leads in it but my character in the modern day

00:22:49.760 is a badass chef and butcher in philadelphia who goes back to sicily to claim her family's land

00:22:58.060 and to solve a murder mystery and so it's just like i just want to see lizzie kaplan do that 0.95

00:23:03.920 and also have like steamy sicilian sex yeah it's like oh my god it's like a like a gorgeous sexy 0.96

00:23:11.300 white lotus like i just i love this yeah yeah okay no so i read this immediately you guys do 0.65

00:23:18.260 you guys you guys actually do need to read it immediately it's yeah it's not out for another

00:23:22.700 month but it's people are calling it the book of the summer which is so exciting i'm like it will

00:23:27.280 copy the look of the summer i know i know i'm gonna get you guys copies i will um we ran out

00:23:32.620 of galleys but we're gonna have hardcovers in like two hot minutes um okay hot dads hot and

00:23:38.960 okay i want to qualify hot dads because this is not just about looks i think that you know once

00:23:44.540 you become a mom and a wife hot dad also equals good dad so like i if you are a good husband and

00:23:50.900 father and partner that i'm like yeah you're a hot dad so then i've got one for you bring it

00:23:57.180 on bring it on bandit healer from bluey thank you sabrina now he's a dog so i'm not it's okay

00:24:03.560 physically attracted to him no but he's the best dad everything i love about humanity yes he is

00:24:10.180 truly he is second to none agree we talk about are you familiar joey are you familiar with bluey

00:24:15.680 of course i am of course i am yes yes yes yes because it's it's i mean we we say it all the

00:24:22.100 time everyone's gonna want to kill us because we say this all the time chili healer is the best

00:24:27.600 mother i've ever seen in media period yeah that's fair that's fair it's true it is true and she's

00:24:34.720 like not presented as per i mean she's not like daniel tiger's mom is like perfect chili healer

00:24:40.880 we see i think she's perfect because we kind of see the imperfections and the humor in her

00:24:46.460 parenting she's very relatable she's very relatable and you know sometimes i forget their

00:24:52.300 dogs yes well that's yeah that's for sure i mean the first time i said that they were dogs around

00:24:59.360 my she was three at the time my daughter she was shocked i don't know what she they were but she

00:25:06.500 was they're not dog you know like that was news to her yeah she was very upset and i was like no

00:25:12.860 they are dogs and she was like i don't think so i don't think so no no they're so relatable

00:25:18.880 they're such a delightful family i'm gonna throw out another kid show and this isn't the direction

00:25:23.340 i expected us to go in but i'm here for it the dad in dino dana is so awesome have you guys

00:25:32.340 watched dino dana i haven't surprisingly okay should i be watching dino dana well how old are

00:25:39.240 your kids five and three and do you have a four okay do you have a dino kid oh yeah no longer

00:25:47.420 yes okay okay okay so dino dana it's it's it's canadian they make the best television shows them 0.96

00:25:55.340 and the australians i'm sorry they do they kick american kid television shows asses and so dino

00:26:02.100 Dino Dana is the offshoot of Dino Dan and Dino Trek, which wasn't as good. And it's about a 0.97

00:26:09.620 little girl who can see dinosaurs. And her dad is just like such a good dad and so understanding

00:26:17.600 of his daughter's weird dinosaur superpower. And the parents, what I like the most about it is

00:26:23.760 the parents have a very relatable relationship. Like they bicker and they also show them being

00:26:29.620 very affectionate and going out on date nights and those are kinds of things that i i want my

00:26:35.120 children to see my kids love the dad on dino dana so much if you have a dino kid which is a very

00:26:40.580 specific breed of child i cannot recommend dino dana enough i love the sounds of this i will watch

00:26:46.800 this okay i just okay something just came to mind oh and then it left joe i'm sorry you know have you

00:26:55.780 guys tell me that you guys have lost at least three quarters of your brain since having children

00:27:01.580 oh my god i've got nothing i've got nothing so funny mine has left oh okay it's it's here again

00:27:08.080 okay did you see eighth grade bo burnham's eighth grade the dad in eighth grade it's um

00:27:14.380 what did it come out like four years ago four years ago i haven't seen it but i knew i need

00:27:19.280 to see it the day i mean i like maybe i think when i saw it i thought it was the best dad i'd

00:27:25.160 ever seen just an amazing amazing dad other than otherwise anytime steve carell is a dad

00:27:31.880 yeah it like i i always get i always get warm you know another great although not in the morning

00:27:39.580 show not watch okay okay touche i have not watched this but another great dad is stanley

00:27:48.300 tucci in easy a oh my god which is like a teen movie with emma stone but he's so such a supportive

00:27:56.560 dad i mean patricia clarkson plays the mom and she's also wonderful we'd love to have her but

00:28:03.920 um no the two of them together are really because they're very parents funny and they they like

00:28:11.440 meet emma stone's character on her terms but they don't like treat her like she's just a little kid

00:28:17.800 with you know little kid problems there's something like very validating about them and

00:28:22.100 like the humor i yeah they are great and he's so dreamy oh he's if you see him traipsing around

00:28:29.040 italy guys i find i find the tuchster so dreamy and in fact you just reminded me that we've got

00:28:35.900 to get tucci a copy of the sicilian inheritance 100 immediately yeah immediately totally that

00:28:44.420 would be right up is hallie did you watch his cooking show i did i did and i loved it and also

00:28:49.720 we had books coming out at the same time a few years ago when i had um oh my god what book again

00:28:58.220 i have no brain i have no brain i want to start a new podcast called mom brain that is actually

00:29:03.780 just a bunch of us on the podcast being like what yeah what was that yeah yeah my word right my

00:29:11.400 The recollection of, like, everyday words is, it's tanking by the minute.

00:29:18.100 So I give you credit that you can even still write a book.

00:29:22.300 I mean, honestly, I don't know how you're doing that.

00:29:24.580 I don't know how it happened, man.

00:29:26.140 I don't know if it's going to happen again.

00:29:28.240 But, yeah, we had a book come out at the same time.

00:29:31.580 And so we were on a Zoom together, like, talking to the press.

00:29:35.420 And I was just, and I couldn't even talk.

00:29:37.300 I couldn't talk about my own book because I wanted to ask Stanley Tucci questions about his book,

00:29:41.020 which was not why i was there that was not why i was supposed to be there hell yes hell yes guys

00:29:47.260 i haven't seen easy a should i see easy a i think it's a very cute teen like you know it's the teen

00:29:54.280 movie but it's it's adorable yeah okay and it's based on the scarlet letter like it's a modern

00:30:00.540 day retelling of the scarlet letter so okay i love this i love emma stone i think emma stone

00:30:07.040 brings a really great energy. Oh, hold on. I actually guys to anything totally agree. When I

00:30:13.880 was, um, when I was thinking about my love for Connie Britton, I just texted my producer on the

00:30:22.000 project and I was like, I just, I need to tell you again, how much I love Connie Britton. And

00:30:28.020 she was like, yes, yes, yes. She's on the list. Okay. This is just like, you know, things you're

00:30:32.280 not supposed to talk about, but again, I have no filter anymore. So I'm like, all right, yes,

00:30:35.100 It's Connie Britton, Connie Britton.

00:30:37.000 Also, you guys are going to be happy to hear this.

00:30:39.500 We're out to Claire Danes right now.

00:30:41.060 Oh, my God.

00:30:41.800 Okay.

00:30:42.400 First of all, excellent taste.

00:30:44.660 Now, is there crying in this project?

00:30:47.000 Oh, God.

00:30:47.420 Yeah.

00:30:47.700 Oh, yeah. 0.99

00:30:48.220 I love a Claire Danes cry.

00:30:51.740 Rewind, yes, to Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, Claire Danes crying in the final moments.

00:30:58.220 I feel so much.

00:31:00.000 I feel so much when she cries.

00:31:02.020 I really, really do. 0.98

00:31:04.280 So, yeah, no, there's crying because my main character's life is a fucking mess in the beginning. 0.98

00:31:08.380 So she is crying it out. 0.98

00:31:10.940 But then she gets hers.

00:31:13.380 And I think that Claire will really – oh, I was just thinking about Claire in Sicilian Inheritance.

00:31:18.700 There's crying in that.

00:31:19.300 There's a lot of crying in Charlotte.

00:31:20.800 Oh, yeah, ton of crying.

00:31:21.940 All right, I feel good about this.

00:31:23.040 Also, apparently, Diane Lane, who I love.

00:31:26.500 Could you do better than Diane Lane in this world?

00:31:29.840 Like, genuinely.

00:31:30.440 She's so wonderful.

00:31:31.280 I love Diane Lane.

00:31:33.640 I mean, sky's the limit here, guys.

00:31:37.400 Guys, I've got another movie, Dad.

00:31:40.720 Oh, tell us.

00:31:42.300 Matt Damon in Contagion.

00:31:44.920 Oh, my God.

00:31:45.580 Matt Damon in anything.

00:31:48.860 Matt Damon in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial.

00:31:50.800 That's correct.

00:31:51.240 You know?

00:31:51.620 That's correct, Sabrina.

00:31:52.560 I'm in on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck always.

00:31:55.260 I co-signed this, Joe.

00:31:57.260 Forever.

00:31:57.660 Forever.

00:31:58.020 I didn't, yeah, yeah.

00:31:59.360 No, I agree.

00:32:00.220 there is something so genuine and authentic about matt damon always doesn't matter the role

00:32:06.860 doesn't matter doesn't matter yes i love that we watch we re-watched contagion in the beginning

00:32:12.620 of the pandemic like everyone did like everyone did yeah and you know i had forgot first off

00:32:17.800 you know screw gwyneth paltrow for cheating on him and starting a global pandemic

00:32:22.560 yeah um but when he throws a prom in their house for their daughter because she can't leave

00:32:37.640 we didn't know that was going to be our life oh

00:32:42.140 no it sadly became it became our reality yeah it did it did but he was so good so good in that role

00:32:52.200 And, you know, I do think about dads in TV and movies a lot and just the importance of seeing more good partners, more good partners, like just more modeling of like what, not even a good dad, but what it means to be a good partner and to share the mental load, which is not sexy on a sitcom, but there are ways of doing it.

00:33:15.780 There are ways of modeling it to show more men what that should look like.

00:33:20.440 Yes. We talked about a movie like Sabrina and I went back and rewatched for the show Bad Moms, you know, with Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell. And we just noted that like the whole one of like half of the movie is just like the dads are like really incompetent. They're not even they're not helping in any way.

00:33:43.500 and it's like why does why does no burden of parenthood fall on these men and it's like you

00:33:50.900 know so we see that a lot i think that was like a trope in i don't know 90s to early 2000s right

00:33:59.440 but like i hope that we're seeing like men step up more and more in that like they are they they

00:34:07.400 need to be 50 50 partners and in at least bearing that mental load yeah definitely like more banded

00:34:14.300 healer less um don draper from madmen who's who's just a very horrible partner and very horrible

00:34:23.000 partner and you know what i wasn't even gonna bring him up i wasn't even gonna bring him up

00:34:26.520 here as sexiest tv dad because even though i love me some john ham and i was once at sunset towers

00:34:34.260 drinking too many, too many margaritas

00:34:38.540 and just kind of, like, tipsily followed him around the bar,

00:34:43.420 like, never speaking to him,

00:34:44.620 just, like, weirdly following him around one night.

00:34:48.380 No, no, not a hot TV dad to me.

00:34:50.760 How recently is that?

00:34:51.240 This was, like, 15 years ago.

00:34:52.800 This was, like, this was peak Mad Men.

00:34:54.340 The height of Mad Men?

00:34:55.560 The height of Mad Men.

00:34:56.560 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:34:57.380 Okay. 1.00

00:34:58.480 And no, but not a hot dad to me because he's a shitty husband. 0.99

00:35:03.560 He used to walk his dog around where we lived, and, you know, we would be all in a flutter. 0.97

00:35:08.720 In Manhattan, and it was, we loved to see it, yeah.

00:35:13.740 Let me tell you, though, did you watch Fargo season five that Jon Hamm is in?

00:35:18.360 I mean, not a dad that anyone wants or likes, but the dad, Dot Lion's husband in that?

00:35:25.560 Yeah, he's so sweet.

00:35:27.300 An amazing dad.

00:35:28.080 I mean, he becomes hot to me because he's so, oh, God, he's so loving and just a great human being.

00:35:37.060 You know, I love it when characters become hot, even though they're not hot.

00:35:41.200 And I would say the same for Joel Maisel on Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

00:35:46.920 Excellent point.

00:35:48.060 Yes, I agree.

00:35:48.980 Yeah, I mean, I like, I think that's absolutely true.

00:35:53.060 I don't know if we can, we can probably safely make this generalization that like women aren't solely driven by looks that like the eye, it's very easy for me to warm up to somebody just if I see that they're funny and kind and, you know, empathetic or, you know what I mean?

00:36:11.900 Yep.

00:36:12.220 I've got another one.

00:36:12.940 I don't think we're going to say the same for men, but okay.

00:36:14.960 No, we're not.

00:36:15.800 We're not.

00:36:16.420 Elliot Stabler on Law & Order SVU.

00:36:19.080 Oh, wow.

00:36:20.560 Oh, wow.

00:36:21.440 Wow.

00:36:21.700 Mm-hmm.

00:36:22.340 good dad good partner excellent yeah a hundred percent yeah all the things so protective you

00:36:29.180 know you would always be safe and i'm gonna go with two dads on this is us jack pearson

00:36:38.020 and sterling brown oh sterling k brown sterling k brown till the end of time forever and ever

00:36:46.460 Sterling K. Brown is my dream husband on either of my book-to-TV adaptations.

00:36:55.380 Oh, my God.

00:36:56.020 Okay, and Susan Kelechi Watson is actually the best mom on the show.

00:37:01.220 Now, I only watched like half of season one, but that was enough for me to know that his wife on the show is actually the best mom.

00:37:10.200 Totally.

00:37:10.840 Absolutely.

00:37:11.400 Absolutely.

00:37:11.760 And I didn't finish the series.

00:37:12.940 I think I got through maybe two seasons.

00:37:16.760 I don't know how many seasons there were.

00:37:18.640 Network TV has so many episodes.

00:37:20.560 You forget that.

00:37:21.900 I know.

00:37:22.540 I totally forget that.

00:37:24.280 Oh, my gosh.

00:37:24.840 Speaking of network TV, I'm going to say it.

00:37:28.720 Martin Sheen on the West Wing.

00:37:30.540 Don't even start me with.

00:37:32.320 Sabrina loves the West Wing.

00:37:35.360 I love the West Wing.

00:37:35.740 So much, Sabrina, honestly.

00:37:37.300 I mean, I discovered the West Wing a lot.

00:37:40.640 But I discovered it, like, later in life.

00:37:42.440 Like, I was already working at, you know, my adult job.

00:37:48.260 And I was like, maybe I should go back and get into politics.

00:37:51.220 You know, like, I was really considering it.

00:37:54.300 I mean, then I reconsidered.

00:37:56.920 But, yeah, he's just so wonderful.

00:38:00.460 He's a wonderful father.

00:38:02.200 Yes.

00:38:02.800 President Bartlett is a wonderful father and father to all.

00:38:05.500 Stockard Channing as the First Lady.

00:38:07.520 I mean, I loved her as Rizzo, but I love her, love her as the first lady. I really do. West Wing is my go-to watch, or it was my go-to watch because my husband has gotten snipped and we're not having another baby. But my go-to postpartum watch that I would just keep it going on the TV and on the phone, like when I was breastfeeding at night or like rocking the baby to sleep.

00:38:35.880 there was something very comforting to me about a bunch of liberals with good hair

00:38:40.800 solving the world's problems in an hour i've done it now with three children such that if i were to 0.82

00:38:48.060 hear the west wing theme song right now i would probably let down milk even though my boobs are 0.69

00:38:52.800 dried out and shriveled and done with your uterus would seize yeah it would seize okay uh guys i

00:38:58.720 feel like we have clearly been remiss in not naming yet pedro pascal from the last of us

00:39:05.620 oh i mean is there now i i mean i that's that's like maybe the top for me i don't know oh my god

00:39:14.440 yes i've only just started the last of us but no i'm here for that i'm here for that

00:39:19.840 ah ladies this has been awesome this was just i will tell you i had a migraine when i started

00:39:27.920 this episode and it's gone now this is what you guys are always like on the podcast will you tell

00:39:32.960 everyone about the podcast we're dropping an episode into the under the influence feed so

00:39:37.160 people can get a taste but tell them more about it and where they can find you yeah you can find

00:39:42.520 pop culture moms through abc audio or wherever you listen to podcasts and you know every week

00:39:48.700 we talk to actors or authors or just scholars of pop culture like ourselves about moms from tv or

00:39:58.980 movies and what we can learn from them and what we can maybe not learn from them about being a

00:40:04.800 mother and a daughter true i mean honestly our the relationship with our own moms ever evolving

00:40:11.500 ever evolving never not fraught but never not we like to say if it's not one thing it's your mother

00:40:18.940 that is all that we have for today now everyone knows that i would like to bone king triton my

00:40:26.660 husband knows that too. I'm very, I'm very open and honest about my, my creepy obsession with

00:40:33.980 King Triton's abs. I mean, they're fabulous. He really is just like the hottest Disney royalty

00:40:40.040 out there. It's true. And also I kept texting my producer, Laura, while I was editing this episode

00:40:48.880 and she, and she mentioned Rose Byrne, who is my forever hair inspiration every time that I go to

00:40:56.040 the salon, I'd pull up a picture of Rose Byrne, which is also maybe creepy, but she's got great

00:41:03.100 hair. And I was like, Laura, I want Rose Byrne to star in The Sicilian Inheritance. So now we have 0.98

00:41:10.020 to put this energy out into the universe. Here's what we want. We want Lizzie Kaplan or Rose Byrne

00:41:16.520 in The Sicilian Inheritance. And we want Claire Danes or Connie Britton in Charlotte Walsh Likes

00:41:24.660 to win. Apparently, Laura Dern is not available. I just learned this, too. Again, these are all 0.99

00:41:29.440 things I probably shouldn't talk about, but whatever. Hollywood loves its secrets, and that's

00:41:35.040 boring, and it's unfair. So, whatever. If you love this show, please leave us a review, send it to a

00:41:42.420 friend. As always, pre-order The Sicilian Inheritance, because maybe Lizzie Kaplan and Rose

00:41:48.920 Byrne are both going to be starring in it soon, and we could all go to Sicily to hang out on the

00:41:53.700 set and ogle roseburn's great hair go have a great day do something nice for yourself you deserve it

00:42:23.700 Thank you.

Under the Influence (with Jo Piazza) - February 20, 2024

Problematic TV Parents and Sexy TV Dads with Pop Culture Moms

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