Speaker 1: Welcome to the Parenting Roundabout podcast. I'm Terry Morrow and
Speaker 1: I'm Catherine hileco. As parents and parenting writers, we can't
Speaker 1: help but see everything through a parenting lens. But as
Speaker 1: our kids have become adults, we find ourselves more interested
Speaker 1: in getting caught up on movies and streaming than I'm
Speaker 1: going over the same parenting topics over and over.
Speaker 2: So since we're pretty sure we can find parenting wisdom anywhere,
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about what we're watching, what we
Speaker 2: thought about it, and maybe what we can learn from it,
Speaker 2: if only what not to do. Watch and listen along,
Speaker 2: and let's all make like we're doing something important for
Speaker 2: our families. Each Wednesday we bring you our thoughts on
Speaker 2: a newer entertainment property. And for this week of January
Speaker 2: twenty seventh, we've kicked off a new watch. It's called
Speaker 2: A Man on the Inside. It's on Netflix, stars Ted Danson,
Speaker 2: and the first episode was written and directed by Michael Shore,
Speaker 2: so he's I think. I don't know what his credit
Speaker 2: is for the entire show, but he definitely wrote and
Speaker 2: directed this one, which has the charming title of Tinker
Speaker 2: Taylor Older Spy.
Speaker 1: I did not realize that when I watched it the
Speaker 1: first time, only when I watched it for this thing.
Speaker 1: It's perfect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I believe all the episode titles are like spy movies.
Speaker 2: So yeah, so yeah, this was a nice palette cleanser
Speaker 2: after the violence of Lost.
Speaker 3: Yes, I like this a lot.
Speaker 2: It's Ted dance, and I was thinking, you know, it
Speaker 2: starts off with you know, music playing, someone getting ready
Speaker 2: for the day again, like that whole like Desmond in
Speaker 2: the Bunker that we had already said was shown again
Speaker 2: on The Good Place.
Speaker 3: But it didn't, but it was.
Speaker 2: It was showing a whole day in his in his
Speaker 2: before that.
Speaker 1: Right at the very beginning, it went to like a
Speaker 1: a little home movie. Yes, yes, of their wedding, I guess,
Speaker 1: And that is that c G I Ted dancing it
Speaker 1: So it was creepy.
Speaker 2: It did not look like it really was of Ted dancing,
Speaker 2: or even d or even like makeup Ted dancing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely definitely wasn't current Ted dancing. And there's certainly
Speaker 1: enough older Ted dancing that you could AI it, I guess.
Speaker 1: But it looked like the things people do on AI.
Speaker 1: It's like it was just not right. Don't do that.
Speaker 1: We all remember him. If you are doing that, you
Speaker 1: are making the rest of us feel weird to feel
Speaker 1: very comfortable. It just didn't seem necessary. I think we
Speaker 1: could have understood that he loved his wife and they
Speaker 1: had a cute relationship. Without that, Yeah, the photo album,
Speaker 1: perhaps right, would not have been quite as creepy. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: that just started things off on an eerie note. But once, yes,
Speaker 1: once it got to him going through his day and
Speaker 1: I'm noticing, like, oh, he's a little obsessed with coffee making.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like me. And he does a crosser
Speaker 1: puzzle every day and taking a nap. Yeah, but do.
Speaker 3: You get yourself all sound?
Speaker 2: Do you get yourself all dressed up in like a
Speaker 2: suit and a sweater vest.
Speaker 3: For your.
Speaker 1: I do wear skirts though on my days, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but with a sweater usually is Yeah, No, I don't
Speaker 1: get that formally attired. But still I'm not quite as
Speaker 1: old as to dasn't but getting there. It's a little
Speaker 1: too closed to go for comfort.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So he the premise is, yes, that he's this sort
Speaker 2: of somewhat lonely, somewhat bored retiree and he you know.
Speaker 1: He cl has lost his wife in somewhat recent right time,
Speaker 1: So it's completely just at loose ends.
Speaker 2: He clips things from the physical newspaper and mails them
Speaker 2: in the physical snail mail to his daughter, which is
Speaker 2: a wonderful detail.
Speaker 1: I think as a parenting tip, I think that needs
Speaker 1: to come back. I think that that I'm going to
Speaker 1: cut something out of a magazine and mail it to
Speaker 1: my daughter, even though she's living here at my house.
Speaker 1: That is such a such a grandparent or parents thing
Speaker 1: to older parent thing to do. And it's so cute
Speaker 1: and it's better than just texting them a picture of something,
Speaker 1: isn't it.
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Next time, next time, I'm going to text my daughter
Speaker 1: a page from the computer. I'm going to print it out,
Speaker 1: put it off.
Speaker 3: Put it in. Yes, she'd be like, I got some.
Speaker 1: Man, it's charming. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So so his daughter gently suggests that perhaps he needs
Speaker 2: some kind of hobby or project, and that's what leads
Speaker 2: him to this newspaper ad, which again like they had
Speaker 2: to put it in the physical newspaper, which was advertising
Speaker 2: for an older man to go undercover at this retirement
Speaker 2: home type place. Right.
Speaker 1: Yes, she's like telling her assistant what to put in
Speaker 1: the you know, the ad has to be in the newspaper. Right,
Speaker 1: She's trying to get somebody seventy five to eighty five,
Speaker 1: and she wants them to know technology, and her assistant goes,
Speaker 1: it's when they do has a.
Speaker 2: Phone, right, And of course they have the montage of
Speaker 2: the inappropriate candidates like, yes, I have a phone, it's
Speaker 2: at home.
Speaker 1: I'm watching that and thinking my husband would not be
Speaker 1: able to pass this interview. He has a phone, but
Speaker 1: he doesn't know how to text or take a picture
Speaker 1: right from it.
Speaker 3: So and that's what she wants him to see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was that was very enjoyable, that little bit.
Speaker 1: And before that, we have another The Good Place flashback
Speaker 1: in that the client of the Private Detective is Mark
Speaker 1: Evan Jackson, yes, formerly Sean playing somebody whose mother's jewelry
Speaker 1: has been stolen in this place, right.
Speaker 2: And another person that was appeared, you know, slightly less
Speaker 2: on The Good Place was Eugene Cordero, who played in
Speaker 2: this show. He plays the husband or partner of Ted
Speaker 2: Danson's daughter. But he was like, remember he was Jason
Speaker 2: Mendoza's friend.
Speaker 1: Oh, well he's doing much better now then, that's yeah,
Speaker 1: he's like a lot less of a dirt bag it's
Speaker 1: a cute wife and three completely oblivious children.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was a very fun scene. Like the parent, she.
Speaker 2: Offers them five dollars to tell her something that they
Speaker 2: have happened in their day, and none of them has.
Speaker 3: At least been interested. She should have said she would
Speaker 3: been more than five dollars. That's right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, some might have got their attention. Jesus, they are
Speaker 1: drinking the internet.
Speaker 2: They don't need any water, they're drinking the internet.
Speaker 1: Oh that was hilarious, but so yes, So he takes
Speaker 1: He gets the job by virtue of being able to
Speaker 1: take a picture and text it to her, and also
Speaker 1: that he was a professor, and and she tries to
Speaker 1: train him to be a spot and he is quite
Speaker 1: bad at it, yes, sort of adorably bad at it, but.
Speaker 3: He's when he's having a great time.
Speaker 1: Yes, she says, I think you're the best option in
Speaker 1: a sea of not very good options.
Speaker 2: So she moves him into this this facility. I forget
Speaker 2: what it's called, like Palisade something that's one of those names. Yes,
Speaker 2: and he's he does pause for a moment because they
Speaker 2: do have a memory care unit, and so that is
Speaker 2: is hard for him, as that is what happened to
Speaker 2: his wife.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I felt like that was a little heavier than
Speaker 1: the story needed, at least as the story is thus
Speaker 1: far right. You know, he could have just been nervous
Speaker 1: about it or something, but it's just like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like they wanted to give you know, that
Speaker 2: moment of will he or won't he actually accept this.
Speaker 1: And think of lots of different ways he could have
Speaker 1: that could have had happened.
Speaker 3: And also like with that, why we don't really need it?
Speaker 2: You know? Yeah, he was looking for a project. One
Speaker 2: presented itself.
Speaker 3: He did it right, like.
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, unless that is going to come up later.
Speaker 1: Yeah, presimilarly they're going to do more with it, but
Speaker 1: I don't want it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just being a cute.
Speaker 1: And fun vehicle for like hilarious spying. Yes, do we
Speaker 1: have to have that sub theme of grief? Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: kind of feeling like another show we just stopped stopped watching.
Speaker 1: We need to have the grief? Could we just have
Speaker 1: the fun banter and rapartee and cute plot lines and
Speaker 1: no grief?
Speaker 3: Yep?
Speaker 1: This was This is also going to be another you
Speaker 1: have to have people to lean on story, So I
Speaker 1: think there will be some parallels, Yes, other than just
Speaker 1: a you know, old guy involved. Speaking of which, last
Speaker 1: week when we talked about Shrinking for really a very
Speaker 1: long time, Yes, talked about every permutation of that finale,
Speaker 1: including bumping boobs, and yet we failed to talk about
Speaker 1: that virtuoso speech word gives at the end about how
Speaker 1: his Parkinson's is getting worse and how that's gonna go
Speaker 1: and that he's gonna have to lean on everybody. And
Speaker 1: there wasn't a dry eye in the room on screen
Speaker 1: or in the room where I was watching it, and
Speaker 1: it was just Harrison Ford rocks in this thing, and
Speaker 1: he keeps not getting awards for it, and I am
Speaker 1: getting a little There needs to be an investigation of
Speaker 1: how that could possibly get head dancing on the case. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: put dead dancing on the case. And how do we
Speaker 1: get a bleepin' Emmy or a golden globe for this
Speaker 1: person who is just knocking it out of the park.
Speaker 1: Harrison Ford is such a known quantity and yet yeah,
Speaker 1: the things he's doing on Shrinking are completely different than
Speaker 1: I've ever seen him doing. They're wonderful and he's just
Speaker 1: fantastic at it. So yeah, yeah, good, that speech was
Speaker 1: amazing and sets up enough grief for the next season.
Speaker 1: I guess, yeah that maybe they won't have to traumatize
Speaker 1: anybody else, right, it will be the season of his
Speaker 1: Parkinson's getting worse. Yeah, And somebody I was reading somebody
Speaker 1: online was saying that they had to look up to
Speaker 1: see if if Harrison Ford did in fact have Parkinson's
Speaker 1: because he was so convincingly doing the shaking and stuff.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, but he does not know, just acton.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just a good actor.
Speaker 1: An actor, just a good actor, just a good actor. Award,
Speaker 1: Hello over here, nobody h come on anyway, So yes,
Speaker 1: head dancing also a known quantity, coming up with, you know,
Speaker 1: new stuff to do. Yeah, very enjoyable.
Speaker 2: And he did remind me a little bit in this
Speaker 2: of the very end of The Good Place, when Michael
Speaker 2: became a real boy and was you know, just delighted
Speaker 2: by everything around him.
Speaker 3: And that's kind of how he.
Speaker 2: Was like with the spy, like, yeah, the glasses and
Speaker 2: taking pictures, you know, trying to secretly take pictures, and
Speaker 2: you know, he was just getting a real big kick
Speaker 2: out of all of it, which reminded me of Michael.
Speaker 3: Wasn't his name like Michael realman.
Speaker 1: Or something something, Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah, it's true.
Speaker 1: So I mean I can see this being very enjoyable
Speaker 1: and lots of We saw Sally Struthers for like thirty seconds.
Speaker 3: Yes, but she'll be back.
Speaker 1: I'm sure interesting to see her again, and you know,
Speaker 1: it'll be fun to see how they where they go
Speaker 1: with this and how they do it. From a parenting
Speaker 1: point of view, do you keep your kids drawings? Do
Speaker 1: you still have little drawings from when your kids are little?
Speaker 3: A few?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have a box under my bed which is
Speaker 1: full of stuff from like elementary school. I have been
Speaker 1: through it a few times to prone it out, and
Speaker 1: then I get it down a little bit, and then
Speaker 1: I put more stuff in, and then it goes under
Speaker 1: I have not looked at it for probably decades at
Speaker 1: this point. And I should go through there, and I
Speaker 1: should find a couple of pieces r at work and
Speaker 1: put them up in my office.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have a couple framed things that I love,
Speaker 2: and I think there's more else somewhere.
Speaker 1: I know that box is still under there. I can
Speaker 1: see it, but when i'm when the side of the bed,
Speaker 1: skirt gets pulled up. But my husband possibly either he
Speaker 1: doesn't know that it's under there, or he doesn't know
Speaker 1: what it is, because what are you talking about doing?
Speaker 1: Exactly well, right now in my office, my son has
Speaker 1: a buddy who enjoys coloring, and every time we see him,
Speaker 1: he gives me a coloring piece he has done. I
Speaker 1: feel obligated to put it up on my walls. So
Speaker 1: my office is getting quite a lot of decoration getting
Speaker 1: papered with those vincent I should like find a couple
Speaker 1: of my kids stuff to.
Speaker 3: My daughter has been My daughter is into like colored
Speaker 3: by numbers on the iPad.
Speaker 2: Oh so it doesn't well I suppose maybe you could,
Speaker 2: but it doesn't.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it doesn't.
Speaker 2: Produce a physical thing unless you maybe unless you want to.
Speaker 2: But it's very intricate, Like she's like she can spend
Speaker 2: days on it.
Speaker 1: Wow, one of them.
Speaker 3: It's not like Sandbox like we did.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do that too, but it's yeah, they're not
Speaker 1: not neither big nor elaborate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think I guess some of them
Speaker 2: are on Sandbox if you pay for it, but yeah,
Speaker 2: these are different.
Speaker 1: So well that's cool. Well she should be able to
Speaker 1: like print it on color printer.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe it's the it's the act of doing it.
Speaker 1: But that is true, that is true that she enjoys.
Speaker 1: So yes, that was like me and counted crosstitch ands ago.
Speaker 1: It was nice to have the finished thing, but it
Speaker 1: was really just the hobby of having something to do right,
Speaker 1: take a long time, not so far sure. Also, I
Speaker 1: think parenting wise, there was a good indication here, especially
Speaker 1: for us older parents of adults. Uh, if you're going
Speaker 1: to lie to your kid, script it first, right, yes,
Speaker 1: then get through, come up with a plausible story, right,
Speaker 1: and then make the phone call.
Speaker 3: Then tell your daughter that.
Speaker 1: Don't be telling her. It's the Art Photography gardening club.
Speaker 1: If you grasp for brochures.
Speaker 2: There was quite a you know, quite a calendar of
Speaker 2: activity place.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that looked like a pretty nice spot. I
Speaker 1: wonder how much that costs. Yeah, who is paying for
Speaker 1: him to be there? I guess the client.
Speaker 3: I guess the client.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I'm guessing that eight cheap. No dude thinks,
Speaker 1: what's sort of appealing? I don't know. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: could see I could see that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, you know.
Speaker 2: My parents are in a similar type place.
Speaker 3: And yeah, it has a lot of it.
Speaker 4: Has a lot of activities, it has a gym and
Speaker 4: a library and restaurants and yeah, all kinds of stuff
Speaker 4: and has an appeal and they have you know, my
Speaker 4: dad is a musician and they have some various music
Speaker 4: groups and a choir.
Speaker 3: And he tried.
Speaker 1: He was like, no, not doing that again, like five
Speaker 1: sixth women.
Speaker 3: It was not up to his standard.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, yeah, so he was. I can see that
Speaker 1: he had enough. Yeah. My husband probably wouldn't take it either.
Speaker 1: He would be like, I just want to sit and
Speaker 1: watch TV. Why do I need to be in this
Speaker 1: special place? I would? I would. They'll be in every club, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And it's but we are.
Speaker 1: Never not going to have our kids with us. So
Speaker 1: unless there's unless I have some very open minded ones
Speaker 1: that let you bring along your family, right, I'm never
Speaker 1: going to be able to do that.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well it's it's kind of cute. You know.
Speaker 2: Everybody has their their names on their door, and they
Speaker 2: kind of decorate their doors like like a college door.
Speaker 3: I mean varying degrees.
Speaker 2: Like some people just have like a wreath or whatever,
Speaker 2: but other people have all kinds of you know, stuff,
Speaker 2: and they have little tables outside their door for deliveries
Speaker 2: of various small things and so some people have like
Speaker 2: all little choschke's on the tables.
Speaker 1: You're so dear, I bet like like socially, this is
Speaker 1: a lot like high school and college also, but there's
Speaker 1: gossip and there's factions, and yes, I gotta try hard
Speaker 1: to please people.
Speaker 3: And certain people.
Speaker 1: Oh my. Then again, maybe my little house.
Speaker 3: Is right, got a lot going for it.
Speaker 1: If you're just you know to U.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I suppose that will be.
Speaker 1: A wrinkly little honeypot as the assistant.
Speaker 2: Yes, I suppose that will be part of the you know,
Speaker 2: ongoing drama is will he decided to stay there, although
Speaker 2: his house in Oakland was quite lovely.
Speaker 1: That's what's going so enjoyed. How this show, even though
Speaker 1: very well written and well executed and well done, had
Speaker 1: the thing of I mean, assuming they're they're married, the
Speaker 1: daughter and her husband or partner. She's explaining to him
Speaker 1: all about her dad, how her mom died, and it's like,
Speaker 1: I see the size of your children. Probably he was there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm pretty sure this.
Speaker 1: But you gotta get that. You gotta exposition. You gotta
Speaker 1: get that exposition out.
Speaker 3: Exposition may just.
Speaker 1: Be like talking to a random stranger on the street. No, Okay,
Speaker 1: you know, certain things just have to happen. We understand
Speaker 1: how TV works. But you know, and and I'm sure
Speaker 1: there will be no complications of the fact that that
Speaker 1: he's calling the uh for the purposes of the undercover,
Speaker 1: calling the detective the same name as his daughter, right,
Speaker 1: that's not going to cause any waggy high jats.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 1: Oh, well we shall. We are here for it, Yes,
Speaker 1: we are here for it. We'll enjoy it. Next there
Speaker 1: will be no uh no supernatural visitors like uh lost.
Speaker 1: It'll be nice and grounded, right, you never know, goes
Speaker 1: to his wife could turn up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll find out next.
Speaker 1: Week gets too close.
Speaker 3: So next week.
Speaker 2: It's episode two, the man who knew too much about bridges.
Speaker 3: Because he's an engineer. You see, Yes, and we'll.
Speaker 2: See you back here tomorrow for our weekly Roundabout roundup.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listen. You can find all our episodes
Speaker 1: on spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. You can find recaps, links, and an opportunity
Speaker 1: to comment on our website at parentingroundabout dot com.
Speaker 2: You can also talk to us on our Facebook page,
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Speaker 2: roundabout Chat and please visit our Amazon shop at amazon
Speaker 2: dot com, slash Shop slash Mamitude, but you can find
Speaker 2: links to a lot of the things we've talked about
Speaker 2: over the years.