Survivor: Borneo – the very first season of Survivor, debuted on Network Television in the year 2000. And with it, reality TV began to transform America’s television industry.

25 years later the Hollywood Reporter proclaims that “Reality TV is on Life Support.

Sure, shows like Love is Blind, Real Housewives and new, up-and-comers like The Traitors are still very popular. But at the same time, more and more reality shows are being canceled, less episodes are being produced, and dramatically smaller budgets are being offered for any of it - indicating to both audiences and industry leaders alike that reality shows may be becoming extinct. Really, no Really!

Today, the guys will be talking to Emily Nussbaum, a Pulitzer Prize winning television critic and the author of: Cue The Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV. She’ll reveal some of the reality behind reality television and how much of it isn’t reality at all. Plus, she’ll discuss the long history of the genre, and the practicalities and impracticalities of its success and possible failure. Which leads me to say this episode of our show should be called: Reality. No Reality!

In 2014 she won a National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary and in 2016 she won thePulitzer Prize for criticism. She’s written for The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Slate and The New York Times.

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IN THIS EPISODE:

• Is Reality TV dead?
• Reality TV was birthed by radio “audience participation shows”.
• Alan Funt was a sneaky guy with a hidden microphone that invented prank shows!
• “Cinéma véritéto” to Abject Bull$%*t - Defining Reality TV
• Non-Disclosure Agreements are WAY worse than you think.
• Most morally compromising?  The Bachelor!
• Why Jason doesn’t think he’d do well on Survivor.
• Punking the guy who made “When Animals Attack”.
• Live Executions? Really?
• “Don’t try this at home!” born on Woody Frasure’s “That’s Incredible!”
• Forget Reality TV for a sec, will TV survive?
• Don’t miss Jason on Netflix’s “The Electric State”
• REAL REALITY TV SHOWS OR FAKE? Jason stumps the panel.
• Google-HEIM: The most watched TV EVER! EVER!

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FOLLOW EMILY:

Website: emilynussbaum.com

Instagram: @emilynussbaum

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Ratings for professional sports are booming! Football is up, the WNBA continues to break records, people are even watching Major League Baseball! But despite record amounts of money flooding into professional basketball the ratings are actually sinking. Really, no Really!

And while neither Jason nor Peter are known for their athletic prowess, they both had the same question. Why? Is it the number of games, the officiating, a marketing flaw or has the game itself changed?

To answer those questions, we’ve brought in a true expert, four-time NBA champion, John Salley, he was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises and he was a long-time host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period. If he doesn’t know… nobody does.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Basketball’s success led to a much more competitive sports consumption market.
• Streaming’s global impact on how we all consume sports.
• Caitlin Clark’s star power created tremendous excitement around the WNBA.
• Has the normalization of the 3-point shot broken the game?
• Refereeing can make or break the game.
• How NOT to be distracted by excitable spectators.
• The moment John fell in love with basketball wasn’t on the court.
• Talking to the Media in the locker room… naked.
• Cannabis, cocaine, and women in the NBA.
• How marijuana changed his life… after retirement.
• John’s scariest life moment was on a television set and what it taught him.

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Website: johnsalley.com

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TikTok: @johnsalley22

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You’d be hard pressed to find a Seinfeld fan who doesn’t know what “shrinkage” is. But in real-life shrinkage is a phenomenon that’s happening all around us and it means, companies are secretly selling us less product for the exact same price or even, at an increased price! In fact, one in three supermarket products have stealthily, shrunk over the past 4 years. And that means, we’re all getting much less product but actually paying more! Really, no really!

Edgar Dworsky who is known as “Mr. Consumer” has been a consumer advocate for over 45 years, and he joins Jason and Peter to expose selling scams, and to explain and reveal how many companies rely on and use “shrinkflation" and "skimpflation".

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IN THIS EPISODE:

• Shrinkflation is legal, so consumer beware.
• Where have all the local consumer reporters gone?
• When salad dressings replace oil …for water!
• The hidden shrinkflation inside dollar stores.
• How “Party Size” and “New and Improved” trick customers.
• Toilet paper rolls have 90% less sheets than they had in the 1960’s.
• Shrinkflation isn’t isolated to your supermarket.
• What triggers someone to become a consumer advocate?
• We’re celebrating 75 years of shrinkflation!
• Jason and Peter share their personal habits relating to expiration dates.
• The strange lengths Jason takes to postpone eating his bananas!
• Googleheim: The breath mint with “Retsyn”, and the dangerous truth about Retsyn!

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FOLLOW EDGAR DWORSKY:

Website: consumerworld.org & Mouseprint.org

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IN THIS EPISODE:

• William Shatner explains what would have happened, if he had suffered a heart attack during his recent mission to space.
• Dick van Dyke discusses his career, turning 100 AND he sings for us!
• Wayne Knight reveals the somewhat controversial atmosphere on the Seinfeld set.
• Tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson attempts to de-age himself.
• Simpson’s producer, Mike Reiss explains why he vacations in dangerous places and shares his experience on the Titan submersible that later exploded.
• Bryan Cranston’s “Breaking Bad “character Walter White, meets George Costanza.
• Dr. Laurie Santos shows us the path to true happiness.
• Scam baiter Kitboga, enlisted Jason to scam a scammer, by impersonating a fake elderly couple.
• Dr. Samuel West explains why he created the Museum of Failure.
• Jason and Peter have the same favorite episode…

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It's an encore presentation of our Festivus episode... with a TWIST. Jason will forever be associated with the 166th episode of Seinfeld, which featured Festivus...the holiday where families air their grievances, then demonstrate feats of strength around an unadorned, aluminum pole. For Seinfeld writer Dan O'Keefe, the horrors of the real-life Festivus, invented by his mad genius father, were traumatizing events. Really, no Really!

But wait, that's not all. In this updated episode we have a very special performance of a brand-new Festivus song, with lyrics by Peter and music and vocals by Sunny and the Black Pack.

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FOLLOW SUNNY AND THE BLACK PACK:

Instagram: @blackmediapresents

Facebook: @sunnyandtheblackpack

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FOLLOW DAN:

X: @djok_er

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In today’s episode, our guest, Dr. Jonah Berger, a Wharton School professor, best-selling author, and world-renowned expert on word of mouth, and consumer behavior…discusses with Jason and Peter, how his cutting-edge research, revealed the six types of words that can increase your impact… in every area of your life!

These are the “magic words” that salespeople use to convince clients to buy, customer service reps use to increase satisfaction, lawyers use to persuade juries, and you can use, to motivate people do things they otherwise wouldn’t do! 

And by the end of this episode, you’ll understand how, by simply altering your words, you can increase your persuasiveness…by 30%!!!    Really, no Really!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The 6-types of Magic Words.
• Why Dr. Berger decided to study the power of words.
• The astounding difference between “helping” and “being a helper.”
• Why appealing to our identity is more persuasive than asking for an action.
• The power of evoking certainty.
• Revealing the science of contagion.
• Using language to intentionally manipulate – is that a good or bad thing?
• The difference between “should” vs “could” in motivating creative problem solving.
• What really happens when we ask people for advice.
• What’s the difference between saying a movie, “was good” as opposed to “is good”?
• Googleheim: What were the first ever words?

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FOLLOW DR BERGER:

Website: jonahberger.com

X: @j1berger

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Humans may be sent on a scientific round trip to Mars, potentially as early as 2035. Beyond the technical challenges, the big question is whether human beings would be capable of dealing with the long period of isolation and loneliness necessary to make the journey.

Anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, emotional dysregulation, weakened immune system and even hallucinations and delusions are just some of the effects of isolation; not exactly great traits when sending people to a distant planet. That’s why scientists all over the globe have begun researching isolation in some of the most remote places on Earth.

Dr. Beth Healey is not only one of those scientists…she’s also a research guinea pig who’s studying the effects of extreme isolation in Antarctica at the spaceflight research center ‘Concordia”, otherwise known as ‘White Mars’. Jason and Peter spoke with Dr. Healey about which human traits are best suited for handling long periods of isolation, how she personally deals with isolation and, how befriending a volleyball, like Tom Hanks did in the movie Cast Away… is an actual phenomenon. Really, no Really!

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IN THIS EPISODE:

• Who chooses to join an extreme isolation study?
• The personality traits that successful candidates possess.
• 3rd Quarter Syndrome and its effect on male and female participants.
• Dr. Healey discusses the traits, qualifications and abilities that made her a successful White Mars candidate.
• The psychological challenges of isolation.
• What happens to interpersonal relationships with friends and family back home?
• Wilson the volleyball from the Tom Hank’s film “Cast Away” is a real phenomenon.
• Why someone in Antarctica maliciously hid Dr Healey’s gloves? Really???
• GoogleHEIM: We found her glove!

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FOLLOW BETH:

Website – BethHealey.com

Instagram - @BethAHealey

X - @Bethahealey

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In this episode, actor, producer, author, and screenwriter, Jaleel White, discusses his instant fame playing Steve Urkel and how he dealt with the hostility it caused within his new TV family. He also explains the effect an all-white writing staff had on the all-black cast, and his feelings about Seinfeld and what the sitcom meant to 90’s kids of color. Jaleel also reveals why Family Matters could never exist again, and what happened when a studio boss told him to conceal the man-bulge in an aging Urkel’s pants. Really, no Really!

Jaleel is the winner of 3 NAACP Image Awards and has starred in Big Fat Liar, Sonic the Hedgehog, Grown Ups, and Scooby Doo. Most recently he can be seen on Game Show Network’s “Flip Side” and he will soon be seen on Disney’s, “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew”.

His memoir, “Growing Up Urkel” was released on November 19th of this year.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Jaleel was supposed to play Rudy on the Cosby Show.
• The moment he realized this one-off role had become a sensation!
• The hostility between Jaleel and his on-set family.
• How Jaleel coped with meteoric stardom.
• The unlikely reward Jaleel’s dad promised that motivated Jaleel into creating Urkel.
• Family Matters’ all white writer’s room and the effect it had on the all-black cast.
• Jaleel’s belief on why many child actors were exploited by predators.
• Seinfeld and what it meant to 90’s kids of color.
• What happened to Jaleel when Family Matters was cancelled.
• Wait, Jaleel has a marijuana company?
• What is “Just a Minute with Jaleel White”?
• The surprising book adaptation Jaleel is fighting to produce.
• Google-HEIM: Where did the word “Nerd” come from?

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FOLLOW JALEEL:

Website: jaleelwhite.com

Instagram: @jaleelwhite

X: @jaleelwhite

Facebook: @jaleelwhite

BOOK: “Growing Up Urkel”

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As of November 2024, recreational cannabis is legal in 24 states and it’s available medically or decriminalized in an additional 20. Clearly, the floodgates have opened, and the normalization of marijuana’s positive efficacy has taken hold. But what do we really know about the effects of pot?

Is there science-based evidence demonstrating what happens after long-term consumption? Is it true that teen emergency room visits are up, suicides and psychotic episodes are up, and schizophrenia is perhaps caused by cannabis? These became very personal questions when Peter realized he had become addicted to cannabis during the pandemic and struggled to stop.

Dr. Bertha Madras, the Director of the Laboratory of Addiction Neurobiology at McLean Hospital, professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School and one of nation’s leading experts on marijuana provided answers to all of Jason and Peter’s questions. And if you smoke pot or know someone who does… you may be surprised and shocked by what you’re about to find out. Really, no Really!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• With unprecedented THC levels, marijuana is way more addictive than you think.
• Has cannabis’ use as a pain reliever been oversold?
• Marijuana vs alcohol, the negatives will surprise you.
• Everything in your legally dispensed cannabis you didn’t know about.
• Signs someone you know may be addicted.
• The disturbing connections between schizophrenia and pot.
• Are there definitive studies proving marijuana’s medicinal value?
• The difference between smoking cannabis and edibles.
• Jason’s pot allergy.
• Has the legalization of cannabis set the stage for psychedelics?
• Google-heim: Other legal things we do that are REALLY bad for us!

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FOLLOW DR. MADRAS:

X: @madras_bertha

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What do a bouncer for The Rolling Stones, Elvis, The Wu-Tang Clan and Willie Nelson…an Emergency Veterinarian who had a show on Animal Planet…a People Magazine most available bachelor, and a professional stand-up comedian all have in common? This episode’s guest! Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald is every one of those things… Really, no really!

As a veterinarian, Kevin has assisted in 10 animal expeditions to Antarctica, Mongolia and Manitoba all focused on conservation. He was featured on Emergency Vets and E-Vet Interns for over 11 years on Animal Planet. As an established stand-up comedian, he has opened for Bob Hope, Jeff Foxworthy, George Lopez and Joan Rivers!

IN THIS EPISODE:

• How a mild-mannered kid from Denver bounced for the Stones, Elvis, The Who, Bob Marley, Willie Nelson, Wu-Tang Clan, and even Billy Graham!
• The surprising and effective tricks professional bouncers use to dissuade you from rushing a stage.
• A professional bouncer’s take on the Will Smith slap and how it could have been prevented!
• Kevin reveals Mick Jagger’s little-known and heartwarming, pre-concert ritual.
• The wise words from Keith Richards that transformed Kevin into a veterinarian.
• How Kevin’s 24-hour veterinary practice became a hit Animal Planet show.
• Kevin’s unforgettable encounter with the Crocodile Hunter Steve Erwin 2-weeks before his death.
• Ferrari delivery man, hospital morgue worker: Jason & Peter share some of their oddest jobs.
• What Jason stole from the set and the Seinfeld wardrobe mystery!
• Do we define ourselves by our occupation? What does that mean?

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FOLLOW KEVIN:

Website: drkevinfitzgerald.com

YouTube: @kevinfitzgerald2456

Facebook: @kevin.t.fitzgerald.1

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Is self-help real or nonsense? Jason and Peter have always been skeptical of the ability for self-help books and seminars to impact and improve a person’s life…they even delved into the comedic aspects of the self-help world with their 2001 ABC sitcom “Bob Patterson.”

So, when they discovered that Judd Apatow…uber successful screenwriter, producer, noted comedian, author and director of a myriad of cultural-defining comedies such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This is 40, Funny People, Trainwreck and The King of Staten Island was a bit obsessed with the self-help genre… they needed to find out why!

They discuss Judd’s journey to self-help, his unique Ayahuasca experience, and why he writes his comedies as dramas! Really,no Really!!!

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IN THIS EPISODE:

• Is self-help real or nonsense?
• How Judd’s parent’s constant fighting enabled him to become a good producer & comedian.
• That one-time Judd took the hallucinogen Ayahuasca in exotic Studio City, CA…
• His comedic choices have become more geriatric as he’s grown older.
• Was he afraid of being cancelled when returning to stand-up?
• The time high-school aged Judd asked Seinfeld to do a SECOND interview!
• Jason and Judd explore how they both came to the entertainment world.
• GoogleHEIM: David shares his Cable Guy faux pas!

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FOLLOW JUDD:

Website: juddapatow.com

Instagram: @JuddApatow

Buy Tickets: www.juddapatow.com/events

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