TPS313: Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story, Episode 1, Part 2

This week on The Produce Stand, Al, Tanya, Mat and Victor finish their recap and review of Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story – Part One.

We pick up with Don Cherry at the end of his playing career and follow him through one of the lowest periods of his life, including construction work, a spectacularly ill-suited attempt at selling cars, and eventually his discovery that coaching might be the next best thing to playing hockey. Along the way, the gang discusses Cherry’s famously stubborn personality, the evolution of hockey equipment and how surprisingly modern hockey history really is.

A major focus is Jared Keeso’s performance as Don Cherry, with the panel marveling at how completely Keeso disappears into the role. We wrap up the movie with our traditional Fresh, Clearance or Compost ratings and MVPs.

Then it’s a surprisingly huge news week in the YEWniverse. Jared Keeso has another new series in development, Cats in the Plateau, a six-episode comedy about two Montreal garbage men who decide to start a gang.

Plus, we get a release date for Get After It Then: Essays on the Themes and Charms of Letterkenny, featuring contributions from several TPS Degens and a foreword by Al.

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction
• 00:01:17 – How Was Your Week?
• 00:18:15 – Don’t Bore Us Get To The Chorus (Episode Recap)
• 01:31:45 – First Impressions
• 01:27:33 – Patreon Roll Call
• 01:41:17 – Final Comments
• 01:46:37 – Outro

Episode Rating:

• Victor: Fresh
• Al: Fresh
• Mat: Clearance
• Tanya: Fresh

Episode MVP:

• Victor: Rose
• Al: Rose
• Mat: Rose
• Tanya: Jared Keeso

Links:

• Subscribe via Apple Podcasts
• Subscribe via Spotify
• Subscribe via Amazon Music
• Subscribe via Podcast Addict
• Subscribe via TuneIn
• Join Our Patreon

Clip: [00:00:00] That fresh produce stand there, that’s a beauty. What do youse listen to? My Favorite Murder podcast. Taggart and Torrance Podcast. The Produce Stand. Uh, fucking sexy
Al: It’s Thirsty Thursday, and that means we are once again hanging out at the Produce Stand, a podcast covering everything in the universe and adjacent
I know what you’re thinking, there are many other Letterkenny podcasts out there, but this one is about to be published in a book of essays. I’m Al, your host, and joining me in the room as always is lovely Tanya, and online we have Squirrely Matt and the venerable Victor. Guys, how are you now?
Mat: Good, and you?
Al: Not so bad. Uh, let’s- Good Uh, I think tonight’s gonna be a quick night s- but we do have a lot of news to share, so let’s get this thing started. How are you now? Tonight’s lineup is Victor, myself, Matt, and Tanya. Victor, how have you been?
Victor: Yes, sir. I’ve been [00:01:00] good. It’s been, uh, really, uh, just a really busy time at work.
I’ve got… I’m in kind of that cycle where I’ve got 6:00 and 7:00 AM meetings, but also 9:00 PM meetings and, um… So I’m just… I can’t wait for the weekend, to be honest. Uh, but, uh, Lynn and I went through our second season of, uh, Four Seasons, I think. Is that the name of the show? Oh,
Mat: yes. Yeah. I haven’t watched it yet, so don’t, don’t spoil.
Victor: Yeah.
Mat: Was it
Victor: good? The second season, much better than the first. So you- Like, we got all the- Oh. Yeah. The, the first season, like, the Steve Carell character was a little too just… And he was supposed to be a douchebag, but he was, like, almost too douchebaggy, like kind of the first season of The Office. Um- But it, but it was, it was still good.
But the second season was, uh, I… we feel was a better season. Um, so, uh, you, you, you, you will enjoy it. Uh, and, and we’ve just entered the fourth season of, um, uh, Resident Alien. We’ve really been enjoying that show. Yeah. Uh, so I, I actually f- you know, if, uh, someone’s kind of looking for an in-between show, that’s a b- [00:02:00] perfect one.
Um- It’s
Al: a fun one, yeah.
Victor: Yeah, it’s a fun show. We really like it.
Al: Uh, r- um, Zach on the, on the live stream says Brewster is, is pretty good too, and I think that’s a Steve Carell joint as well. I haven’t watched it yet though- Yeah … but I’ve seen, uh-
Victor: Yeah … previews. I’ve heard, I’ve heard, uh, different takes on that one.
Mm-hmm. So… But we’ll see. We might give it a chance. Um, and today I purchased tickets to see Supergirl.
Al: Oh.
Victor: So-
Al: Exciting.
Victor: Uh, the tickets are available for sale, so everybody should go and buy.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Victor: Uh, buy multiples. Um- So I’m very excited for that. Someone’s a show for DC. Who are you going
Mat: with?
Victor: Uh, well, I bought two tickets, so-
uh, Linda gets first dibs- … but, uh, we’ll see. Um, and,
Mat: and- When are you going? If, ’cause if in case she passes up.
Victor: Yeah. You know? Uh, So I’m going… Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I’m going on June 30th, even… So it drops on the 26th, and I thought I was gonna buy the tickets for the 26th. Apparently you can buy them for the 24th and 25th- Oh
[00:03:00] for early screenings. But then as I, I’m about to click submit, it’s like, oh, it’s actually double the price. It’s like, uh, I don’t need to pay double to see it a few days early. Yeah, it sucks. So, uh, so I’m- Why
Mat: are you buying them so far in advance? Are you worried they’re gonna sell out?
Victor: Yeah. A- and, uh, not, well, the thing is I w- I went to try and see that stupid H- Hail Mary movie in IMAX.
It was only playing in a couple of IMAX theaters, and the seats that were available- Oh, my God … were terrible seats, right? ‘Cause I want good seats if I’m gonna go and spend- I would have barfed … whatever, $30 on the movie. So, so, so, so finding good seats for this movie was already hard on- Mm … like, for the first few days ’cause it, people are buying the good seats, right?
I want the best, you know, those center seats in the middle and, you know, you know what I mean? Uh, I go to, like, two or three movies a year. If I’m gonna go to a movie, I want the best seats in the house.
Al: With bottle service- So- … and, and, uh, it comes with… The seat comes with a b- bottle of Cristal and everything.
There
Victor: you
Al: go. Yeah. So-
Victor: And a
Mat: happy ending. [00:04:00]
Victor: Yeah.
Mat: Oh.
Al: Oh, Zach with the- Oh, God … with the fire. There will always be C seats for a DC movie.
Victor: Yeah, settle down. Settle down, Zach. Things have… Things are different now with James Gunn on things. Oh, quote
Al: that right
Tanya: there. Nice. Well
Victor: done. Good one. Yeah. The only people that thought-
Superman, that, that first Superman movie wasn’t good are, are, are secretly not good people.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Victor: Anyway, um, so, so, uh, b- go buy the tickets, be excited, uh, and, um, and that’s it. Yeah, that’s all I got.
Al: All right. Uh, my week. A busy week. Eh, not really busy, actually. Mm. Uh, I had a fun, uh, show last Saturday. It was a 50th birthday party in somebody’s backyard.
Private party. A lot of fun, though. Beautiful backyard. Um, and, uh, that was fun. That was with The Royal Pains. And then, uh, this Saturday, The Pains are playing again in Toronto at, uh, Kensington Market. Uh, so looking forward to that. Mm. Did you invite
Tanya: me, Paul? Summer on the market.
Al: Yeah, I told you about it, but, uh, you know, I didn’t send you-
a calendar invite, [00:05:00] so, uh- It wouldn’t have
Victor: helped.
Al: No, probably not. Eh. Anyway. Wait,
Victor: is it this Saturday?
Al: This Saturday. This Saturday night. Okay.
Victor: Well, text me afterwards. Remind me. Uh,
Al: okay, or you could just, you know, write it down now. Write the existing
Victor: text. You’re such an executive.
Tanya: Yeah,
Al: but then I- I know, right?
Victor: But I need to, I need to be able to r- I need to, I need to be able to play the text out loud- This is on you … through my car radio. Do you have an, do you have an executive assistant that would do that
Tanya: for you? This is on you.
Al: Okay. You do this after. So Victor, you’ve brought this up. By the way, Victor- … I’m not your Girl Friday.
Take your own notes. But- Y- you brought this up, so let me tell this story again. I t- I, I said it before I recorded and I, I wish I w- All right, right … I would have, uh, held onto it. Anyway, in the text chat with my other band, with The Weekends, uh, my bass player, Adrian, he, he’s just suggesting we should try this song here.
And the song is called, uh, Murder on the Dance Floor, um, the Triple J, like, uh, version or something. Uh, and um, I listened to it and I’m like, “Oh, that’s, that’s a neat song. That might be fun to do,” and stuff like that. Uh, and then he, he played… Uh, it’s a cover of another song. He played the [00:06:00] other song, and Scott, my guitarist, said, “Whoever sings this will have to do their best British accent.”
So I said… This is in a text chain in, in WhatsApp. I said, “I can do a Brit- British accent, dot, dot, dot, cunt. C- The next message I get is fr- is from Adrian saying, “Probably shouldn’t have played that over the car stereo with my kids in the car.” So he’s driving around, gets a text from good old Al.
Mat: Oh, Uncle Al.
Al: Gets, uh, gets the car, uh- Oh, man … his Ford F-150, whatever the Android thing is or, or, uh, to read it out loud with his kids in the car, and me using the C word.
Tanya: I’m so gonna ask the kids- … the next time I see them, “So have you, uh, do you know of any British words lately?” “Or have you heard of any British words?”
And see what they … They are just gonna start killing themselves laughing.
Al: It, it just goes to show you not, not all technology is good- No … in that, in that case. Uh, you know.
Tanya: Oh, my God. That’s so
Al: funny. But, uh, anyway, that was the funniest thing to happen to me today. Um, yeah, Matt, [00:07:00] how have you been?
Mat: Um, yeah, my life is just filled with drama, so we’re not gonna talk about any of that.
Al: Oh, no.
Mat: Oh, yeah, lots of fun. Um, what I am gonna do quickly is, uh, plug my middle guy, Reese, and I need help from 18 people, so everyone who listens to this basically. Um, go onto YouTube and give my buddy a follow on his YouTube channel. He is… goes by The Silver Beast. I think the actual handle’s @75silver. Um, let me tell you how my guy, he’s just got a…
He, he record- It’s all just silly video game content and stuff like that. But let me tell you how excited every time he gets a new follower. He, uh, he’s at, he’s, he’s approaching 900, um, so he’s actually not doing terrible. He’s doing
Al: better than us. Holy fuck.
Mat: Right? It’s, it’s actually not bad. A- and he’s, he’s got a real…
I, I will be honest, like he, he, he hasn’t put his face on there. We’ve talked about that. There’s nothing like that ’cause he’s only [00:08:00] 12 years old, but he’s got a real knack for sort of finding some humor in moments. Mm-hmm. And, uh, so anyways, I, I want, I wanna, I wanna surprise him so when he, when we, when I pick him up tomorrow, um, he’s got a bunch of new followers.
You can go and uns- unfollow later if you really want- … if you wanna be that, if you wanna be an asshole like that, whatever. Yeah. You know, you do you, boo. But if you have a second, @75silver, The Silver Beast, give my boy Reese a quick follow or subscribe and, uh, make his day for me. That would be great. Um, so thank you.
That note, we’re talking about TV and stuff, and, and remind me real quickly, I don’t know what I’ve talked about the last couple weeks, but have I mentioned Platonic yet?
Al: I don’t recall. No.
Mat: I don’t think so. Okay. If you haven’t seen the show Platonic, uh, this is one of my new favorite shows. Okay. Is it current
Victor: or old?
Mat: No, it’s, it’s fairly current. Okay. It’s two seasons. I think they’re working on a third. It’s on Apple TV, stars Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen. Um, and it is a story
Victor: of- Oh, I s- yeah, Linda and I saw for season one.
Mat: Yeah. Oh [00:09:00] my God, I, I- We liked it … I l- I really love this show, and it, and it really plays off the idea of a, of a man and woman being friends, and they do a really fantastic job of really keeping those boundaries where at no point do you feel like there’s…
You know, they always say like, “Oh, one of them’s always into the other one.” Sure. Sure. Like, that’s always… No, they are truly old friends, and they haven’t talked in a few years, and they live very different lives. Like he’s a He’s a brewmaster at a brewery, and she is a f- uh, mother and wife and, uh, mother of three, I think she has.
And they’re running very… And they come back together and start getting into shenanigans again. Mm-hmm. Um, but very enjoyable. Um, love the two, the dynamic between them, so highly recommend that. Um- Cool … Platonic. I’ll have to check
Al: it out, yeah.
Mat: The other one that I’m diving into, and actually we’re at one episode left, is the final season of The Boys.
So holy fuck, that show is-
Al: Oh, I still need to ca- Mm. I think I, I think I- No … I haven’t watched any of the final season yet. I,
Victor: I- Yeah, this- Yeah, I was so disappointed with season four, so I’ve kind of stayed a- stayed off
Mat: Yeah, [00:10:00] I don’t know. I don’t- But I’m gonna
Victor: have to watch it eventually.
Mat: Yeah, I mean, I’m finishing it.
It’s… I don’t know. This season’s kind of a hot mess in, uh, in my opinion a little bit, but I’m still enjoying it. But- Mm-hmm … the, the, the theme of it is very intense. Mm-hmm. Um, and I get… Like, there’s nowhere else to go, I think, where they’ve gone. Right. Um, so we’re about to wrap it all up. Um, I, I did make a mistake.
I, I, I let my older son, who’s 15, start watching The Boys. Oh,
Al: no.
Victor: Just let them speak to Al instead.
Mat: It’s easier. I know, right. Yeah, I s- so, so I, and this was, this was a, a, a, one of those moments where I had like those, “Ah, shit, yeah, I fucked up on that one.” Mm-hmm. Um, ’cause I hadn’t watched it in a long time, and then he was like, “Well, what can I watch?”
And I’m going through all the shows. He’s always looking for recommendations. And I told him, “Yeah, start The Boys.” And then he’s like halfway into the first season, I get a message from his mom saying, “You’re letting Riley watch The Boys?” And I’m like- Why? What’s wrong with it? And then she quotes- Oh, no
like three or four moments from it. I’m like, “Oh, yeah, good call.” So I immediately, I’m like, I call him, I’m like, “Are you watching The Boys right now?” He’s like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “Yeah, stop.” He’s like- … “Why? You said I [00:11:00] could.” I’m like, “Yeah, I fucked up, bud.” Like, it’s, no. Y- yeah, no, you’re- You,
Al: you have your, you have a character who literally explodes through somebody, another character’s penis.
I mean- Oh,
Tanya: was that
Al: that show? Yeah. That’s, yeah.
Mat: Yeah, that’s season two, so you wanna believe-
Al: I only watched… I, I showed, I showed Tanya that one I, I, that’s all I had to see- That’s all she
Tanya: had
Mat: to see … before I was like, “I’m out.” Yeah, so look, I, I do, I do award this show with some of, with the wildest moments I’ve ever seen on a
Al: screen.
Oh my God, yeah. Um, so- Like, there’s the one
Mat: with the
Al: whale too. Like, yeah, there’s so many weird
Mat: moments. Yeah. Like, I can’t believe they went there. And there’s even, there’s a few of those in the new season too- Mm-hmm … where it was like, “Oh my God, what is happening?” And then as I’m watching, I’m going, “Yeah, this is why I fucked up.
I shouldn’t have let him watch this yet.” He sh- he needs to wait. But anyways, that’s what I’m watching. Mm-hmm. Um, and follow 75 Silver, the Silver Beast.
Al: I already did that, uh, before I think. I can’t subscribe. Yeah, so we just- Thanks, guys. Well, all, everyone’s there f- following them. You know, m- mosey on over to the- By the way,
Victor: uh, just, just, just making sure we’re talking about the right thing.
In YouTube, you subscribe, not follow, right? Yeah, sorry.
Mat: Yes. Subscribe.
Al: Subscribe.
Victor: Okay. All right. Then it’s the right- Yes … then I, then I did- Yes … the right thing. Thank you very much.
Al: So while you’re, while you’re [00:12:00] subscribing to Matt’s friend’s site, why don’t you go mosey on over to- Friend’s, my son’s … your s- My
Mat: son’s
Al: your son’s site. Sorry. Mosey on over to The Produce Stand and follow, and subscribe to us too. Will
Mat: ya? Yes.
Al: If we can get to 1,000 followers- Yeah, you should probably do that too … we can maybe start, you know, um, um, mo- uh, uh, making money off of our videos, although most of our videos- Wait, does,
Mat: does Silver Beast have more followers than us?
Al: Oh, yeah. Or less followers? Oh, yeah. We’re yeah. Maybe, maybe we
Victor: can get of all, all of his
Al: followers. We don’t do very much on, on, on YouTube, so I’ve never really paid much attention to growing that channel, but, uh- Yeah, yeah … yeah. Now wouldn’t mind. Um, anyway, uh, and Tanya.
Tanya: Hello.
Al: How have you been?
Tanya: I’m good. How are you?
I’m
Al: all right.
Tanya: Um, I have been insanely busy. We’re, like, last weeken- the weekend before last, we had, like, the 18 people here. Yeah. The house was moved around, um, uh- Yeah, we went over
Al: that, yeah, last
Tanya: time. It, it was crazy busy. So, um, this, uh, past weekend, um, I had a do nothing day, which is really difficult for me ’cause I get a lot of guilt on doing nothing.
[00:13:00] I, it, I don’t do it very well. Um, and all day I was like, “I should be doing something. I should be doing something.” And then finally I gave in to, “Okay, I, I, I’m, I’m facing the truth, I’m not going to do anything.” And then I put the movie on, uh, Mamma Mia, which I don’t even remember the last time I watched a movie.
That’s how lo- like- Just, just a movie. Just like throw one on.
Victor: Didn’t you watch the Don Cherry movie?
Tanya: I- Well,
Al: there’s that. There’s also- That’s, that’s not like a-
Tanya: No, it’s a miniseries … a mi- that’s a miniseries. Yeah. Project
Al: Hail Mary you watched.
Tanya: Oh, I did.
Al: You, you know?
Tanya: That’s right. Well, so maybe I have.
Anyways. Who’s count- who’s counting? I, I, uh- Who’s counting? I, I’ve been dying to watch Mamma Mia. It’s, I, I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t seen it before. I, I had no idea what the plot line was or anything. And- I’ve never seen it … um, yeah. So I watched it. Is there a
Mat: plot line or is it… I thought it was just a bunch of songs.
Tanya: It-
Mat: No, there’s a story …
Tanya: it is a bunch of songs, but it’s blended into a story. I’ve never seen it. And, um, and I’ve been singing ABBA ever since, so, um, I, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Um, it was, it was [00:14:00] quirky and weird and, and… But a lot of fun, and, uh, a, a hu- b- big actor list. Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Uh, June’s schedule is going to be bananas. We literally have like, we are going from one party, and then it w- in the afternoon, and then another party at night, and then a birthday party the next day. You’re so popular. And then- It’s just, it’s nuts. June is nuts. You’re a social butterfly. Yeah. Um, yeah, I d- you know, and it’s not even all my social calendar, it’s mostly my kids.
Um, but yeah, we’ve been planning vacations. Um, I’m, I too, Victor, um, pre-bought, or my daughter made me pre-buy tickets to a movie that was coming out, like, two months in advance. I’ve never done that before, so I, I understand what you’re saying only ’cause I’ve just experienced it or will be experiencing it.
This movie theater is absolutely sold out. Like, there’s not a single seat that you can select [00:15:00] anymore. That, that’s how much it’s just gonna
Al: be- And it’s for the worst movie in the… Anyway.
Tanya: I, it’s, it’s not gonna be good, but I’m going, I’m going, and, uh, I will see what the fuss is about, and I’m, I’m sure next week- And sorry, what movie
Mat: was that one?
Tanya: Uh, it’s Digital Circus …
Al: I have no clue. There’s a, there’s a Netflix series called Digital Circus. It’s an animated series that, uh… And it’s awful. It, it’s- Like, I, I, I can’t- Sounds boring … I, I couldn’t sit through- … like-
Mat: Sounds
Al: terrible … 10, 10 minutes of it. Yeah. Uh, but my, my daughter and her friends, they love it, and there’s a movie now.
And so- Yeah … Tanya gets to take her to watch that. Tanya gets to do it.
Victor: I figured they’d be more into the Backrooms movie instead.
Al: No.
Tanya: No. No.
Al: No. Although it does look interesting. Um, I might go see it. But that’s
Victor: what all the kids are going crazy
Al: about. Yeah, but my 12-year-old.
Victor: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I’m talking about 12-year-olds,
Al: Gordon.
Really?
Victor: So
Tanya: I’m-
Mat: You can
Tanya: scare
Victor: the shit out
Mat: of her a little bit.
Tanya: I’m, I’m collecting a bunch of kids, I’m taking them, and then they’re coming back here, so I’ll have lots more to tell you
Al: next week. I’ll be at a better place. I’ll be in Kensington Market that night.
Tanya: Um- And I
Victor: might as well. We’ll see.
Tanya: And, and I’m doing Meditation [00:16:00] Mondays.
Um, I… This has been my, like, fourth class on, on medi- I’m trying to quiet my brain, trying to, to turn it off when I wanna turn it off, which is a difficult thing for me ’cause it just- Tough to do … it, it just, yeah, it never stops. So, um, I’ve been enjoying that and learning some new techniques and, um, yeah, just kinda having a moment to stop and just say, “This is gonna be my time for 30 minutes.
Let’s go.” Um, yeah, so that’s been, uh, uh, really enjoyable.
Al: All right. All right, well, like, let’s get this rig rolling, shall we?
Clip: Previously
Al: on Letterkenny. When we left off last… Or sorry. Not, that’s not right. Last week we recapped the first half of the first film in the series, Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story, and this week we finish up our recap of that first film and give our review, ratings, and MVP.
All right, so here we go. Well, don’t bore us. Get to the chorus. When we left off last week… Oh, let me get the, uh… I gotta share my screen, don’t I? One moment [00:17:00] please.
Share. Sound. Done.
Mat: Nailed it.
Al: All right, here we go When we left off last week, Don Cherry was back in Rochester playing for Coach Joe Crozier. Uh, Don’s now the gri- grizzled veteran of the team and newly elected team captain, leading the team to three Calder Cups in four years. At home, they’ve planted roots in, in, uh, Ro- Rochester, bought a house, and had a second child, a boy named Tim, Tim Cherry.
And as we mentioned last week, Tim Cherry goes on to work with his father as an adult, uh, producing the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em hockey s- video series. He wrote these films that we’re watching right now, and, and he’s produ- he produced, uh, Don Cherry’s podcast after he left the CBC. And another note, for those of you who may be interested, Tim Cherry will be a guest on the Toronto Mike Podcast next week on June 12th.
So if you wanna, uh, hear, uh, Mike interview Tim in, you know, [00:18:00] go check it out. Uh, June 12th next is when the episode’s gonna drop. So- Y-
Mat: you’re gonna work your magic there, too, right? So he’s got a follow-up interview with the bigger podcast over here, right?
Al: You know what? I didn’t even consider that, but I guess we could try to get Tim on, couldn’t we?
Um-
Mat: Like, now you’ve done Toronto Mike- Well, you- … you definitely have to do the producer …
Tanya: you just said the man’s name.
Al: Yeah.
Tanya: You said
Victor: a
Tanya: connection to him. Yeah, that depends on what kind of
Victor: a rating we give the movie.
Al: It, it depends. Yeah. The rating we give the movie, and also- … if he enjoys his time on Toronto Mike because, uh, anyway, uh, there’s, there’s a little controversi- controversy there.
We’ll see how Mike, uh, circumvents that, and we’ll see. Maybe, you know, it’ll be nice to- Hopefully he can
Victor: edit himself.
Al: Yeah.
Victor: Yeah.
Al: No, Mike doesn’t edit. Um, anyway- … back to the movie. After four years of success in Rochester, uh, it’s, um, the off- it’s 1969 in the off-season, and Don’s trying to contact his coach, Joe Crozier, about the upcoming season, but he can’t get in contact with Joe.
Don’s reminded of how Crozier dealt with other players that he didn’t like, uh, by essentially, uh, ghosting them, and Don’s worried the same thing is happening to him now. [00:19:00]
Clip: So one time he’s in Crow’s office, player called him, and Crow just brushed him off, ignored him, laughed at him, too, like the guy was nothing
He said, “If that ever happened to me, then that’s it.” So? So that’s it. So that’s it? So you’re gonna retire. Yeah. You got no injuries. You could play another, what? Oh, two, three years, but you’re gonna retire. Yeah. ‘Cause Joe didn’t call you back. Mm-hmm.
Tanya: I love Rose’s face.
Al: She, she’s… Yeah. She, she does a good… The actor does a good job of playing, you know, somebody who’s not of that world and trying to understand that world, and getting used to being in that world, but still not quite understanding that world.
And I think, uh, I think she does a really good job of it.
Tanya: I love, though, how she breaks it down- Mm-hmm … and she’s like- Yeah … “So let me [00:20:00] get this straight.”
Al: Well, she’s trying to tell, say it to him so that maybe he’ll, he’ll under- He
Tanya: hears it …
Al: and, but he- ‘Cause he realizes
Tanya: how ridiculous it sounds … but he’s not hearing
Al: it.
Yeah.
Tanya: He’s not hearing it.
Al: He’s not. Yeah, ’cause she knows. She knows that he can’t leave the, the game behind. Uh, but, uh, he’s doing it because he’s been offended or, or his character has been… Yeah. Uh, it’s, uh- It
Tanya: goes back to his personality in the school, right? Yeah, exactly. In, in the last, um, podcast that we reviewed, um, uh, um, him getting slapped in the hands- Yeah
and not letting somebody else open the door.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Tanya: Or not taking a seat when he’s asked to. Like, he just has that stubborn personality, right?
Al: Yeah, and we’ll see another example of that in the, in the later scene here, too. Victor, uh, yeah, what’d you think of that?
Victor: Yeah. Yeah, so I’m… Not much to, not much more to add.
I, it… Again, these are the, these are the scenes that kind of s- where you see the, the Shoresy character. Mm-hmm. The origins of the Shoresy character- Yeah … really coming in. Really coming into
Al: play. Very principled and, uh, and yeah. E- even if- Yeah … he’s wrong, he’s gonna stick to his principles [00:21:00] and, uh- Yeah … yeah.
Matt, what’d you
Victor: think? Yeah, it’s like… And that’s, and that’s the thing, like- Mm … wait, he didn’t write this. Mm-hmm. This is not his. Yeah. And the, uh, and this is the, the, where the brain kinda starts to kinda figure, “Wait, th- th- this, this is the origins of kind of the, the, the, the Wayne and Shoresy characters.”
And well, I guess more Shoresy than Wayne, but still… And, and th- so, you know, um, y- you, you build on top of the art, right? Like- Yeah … you know, obv- uh, so which is totally normal, right? Mm-hmm. Um, but the, definitely the origins are there.
Al: Yeah. Matt?
Tanya: What, what’s the saying? Art mimics life?
Al: Yeah. Yeah, something
Tanya: like that.
Is that what it is?
Al: Yeah.
Mat: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I just, I just continue to think moments like this, I’m like, Rose must’ve been a very patient woman.
Al: She was a saint. Yeah. In fact- She was a
Mat: saint.
Al: Um- … yeah, when she passed away, I, I believe a lot of people wanted her sainted and…
Mat: Yeah. It’s, uh… To, to have that sort of unwavering support but also be able to just call it as it [00:22:00] is and- Mm
you know, just allow it to occur beyond that. Like, I know what, I don’t know what you do, but, uh, she’s like, “I, I’m willing to call it the facts. Let that digest with you. If it doesn’t, okay, we move on.” Like it’s- Yeah. Right? And then, then he’s always been I call it what I… Like I see it as well, and she’s very much that way to him- Yeah
uh, which I think he needs. Whether he does anything with it or not is a different story.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Mat: But no, I think she’s- it’s a, it’s a great scene for her.
Al: Yeah. Awesome. Says another way to look at it is don’t go chasing after people who don’t respect you. I mean, that’s… it’s… yes, you’re right, but at the same time, he’s basically giving up, uh, his, his life of, of a hockey player because of somebody who doesn’t respect him.
Why would you, why would you give anyone that kind of power, right? Um- Yeah … anyway, so we move on. After we get… after this, we get a montage of the 35-year-old retired Don Cherry playing ball hockey with little Tim. Don played 15 years, had 101 goals, 332 points, 1,335 penalty minutes, 400 stitches in his face, but he still had all his teeth, which [00:23:00] I find incredible.
The fact that, especially in those days where they didn’t play with helmets or masks or anything, uh, and that he still had all his teeth and with 400 stitches. I mean, that, uh, that, that man has either a really solid jaw or j- was very lucky. Um, so he was retired 10 minutes and already missed it. So cut to 1970, a year later.
Uh, he’s operating a jackhammer once again in his construction job. A foreman taps him on the shoulder and informs Don he’s been laid off. So now Don had no education, no trade, and no job. He described it as the lowest point of his life. Don applies to other contr- construction jobs but gets nowhere. Then we see him dipping his toe in sales for s- uh, selling soaps to-
to his fellow players. Can you imagine that somebody used to sell soap? Like, wh- I don’t-
Mat: Like, I think that’s… that seems like one of the least obscure sort of sales jobs that- I- … used to exist, right? Like-
Al: Well, I guess that’s kinda making a comeback in, like, artisan markets. You see people selling soap again and making homemade
Tanya: soaps and stuff.
Well, [00:24:00] Avon, look at all of that. Uh, I guess. That was huge. Yeah. Uh, uh, Tupperware. Well, and l- Like, you gotta
Mat: r- Yeah … you gotta remember
Tanya: back. I love, I love
Al: the
Mat: pitch. What’s that? Yeah, and I love the pitch there from his buddy or the dude that was- Yeah … like trying to get him on board, and he’s like, “Yeah, imagine, then you’re their soa- you’re their soap supplier,” just like that.
Like-
Al: Yeah …
Mat: there are still, like- And he said, “How many showers today?” And the, and the, like, how frilly- Yeah … the soaps they were holding were. Yeah, he said, “How
Al: many showers do you, do your, the players take a day?” I’m like-
Mat: Yeah, true …
Al: that’s kinda
Victor: true. So there, there- He had a terrific point … there are stores today dedicated to soap.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. God, there are stores dedicated to selling candles. Who the hell are these people- … buying candles that s- So- … that you can make… you can actually make money at a candle store? It doesn’t make
Mat: any sense to me. So many. Yeah. So many. We actually… know what I… we, we went into a L-
Al: Victor, who are these peo-
I think it’s called … who or how, how the hell are these people buying Legos and train sets?
Mat: Crazy, right?
Al: Anyway, go on. So
Mat: they had
Victor: this, they had this soap at the Home Dep- No, it’s not even compa- it’s not even comparable. What are you talking about? Oh. A candle is- Listen,
Mat: we’re still talking about soap[00:25:00]
Al: right now. I know. Oh, Casey- Listen, don’t- Casey joined in the live stream. “Candles for days,” she says. Yeah. But
Mat: are you sh- have you seen these new soaps that are, like- Mm-hmm … um, malleable? Like, they’re, like, they’re, they’re soft and squishy almost, like, and then you- We have one of them in our bathroom. I’m afraid to use it ’cause I want- That’s one that’s just been in
Al: the soap dish too long
Mat: No, it’s not.
It’s how they make them. It’s how they make
Tanya: them. They sell them that way. It’s like ripped jeans. You’re supposed to
Al: have- Oh, they’re, they’re worn in already. Gotcha.
Tanya: It’s worn in soap.
Victor: I’m sure Matt has, like, a penis shaped soap as well. Uh, no. To go with his- Well, I did. They’re
Tanya: balls.
Al: Oh, Casey says she buys homemade candles from each co- country she visits.
That’s, that’s not a bad idea, actually. I mean, yeah. How
Mat: many countries has she visited?
Al: Well, yeah. And
Mat: do you use them?
Al: I… Yeah. Yeah, true. Or
Victor: do you- But can you remember which country each candle’s from afterwards? Like, is there like any discerning, discerning trait on a candle that it’s from a certain country?
Zach’s
Al: like saying, “Worn in soap. Jesus, Tanya.” [00:26:00]
Tanya: There’s a market for that. Apparently Matt buys them.
Mat: Like, there’s foot fetishes. I’m sure there’s a worn in soap fetish. Well,
Tanya: you know- Oh … soap can be pretty rough when you, you first get it if it’s- Oh,
Al: Casey meant each state, not each country. All right. So I’m wondering, like, uh- Still
what different states- My question remains … what the, what the candles would smell like from different states. I
Mat: can’t even imagine what that worn in soap advertisement would be like.
Tanya: Now
Mat: you’re thinking. Right? Can you imagine what… It, it says, like, “Here’s worn in soap used by person X last.” Isn’t that…
Victor: Doesn’t Gwyneth Paltrow have a business like that?
Mat: No, no, but she sells vagina smelling- That’s poop … yeah, it smells like her vagina specifically, but not used. What?
Tanya: Shut up.
Mat: Yeah.
Tanya: That is not real.
Mat: Yeah,
Tanya: true thing.
Mat: It’s a thing.
Tanya: Are there little pubes in it?
Victor: Oh,
Mat: no. But where I’m hung up on this- We venture into the dark sides
where, where I’m hung up on the soap thing is I think the, the biggest catch to the, the used soap is in the description, we have to tell you where it was last used. Oh, boy. Right? Like use that, take that for what you will, but it’s like last used… Well, [00:27:00] on to… Let’s
Tanya: keep it clean I wonder if you could go to the black web and see like, like hotels, like some- so and so- It’s
Al: the dark web, not black web.
Dark web.
Tanya: Did I say black web?
Al: I think you said black web.
Tanya: Did I?
Mat: That’s not PC, bud.
Tanya: Sorry. Sorry, bud.
Al: We’ve lost Victor.
Mat: And don’t rebound.
Tanya: Did
I? Did I? I, I think, I think
Al: I think
Tanya: I might- Victor’s clutching his chest right now … have been misdoing. Sorry. Go on without me.
Al: It was good. All right, let’s
Victor: let’s- What are we talking
Tanya: about again?
Al: We’re back to s- selling soap We spent way too much
Victor: time talking about
Al: that. Okay. He consi- Don Cherry first considers selling soap, but then he ends up selling- That’s right, soap
used cars, and calls himself- Not used
Tanya: soap …
Al: the world’s worst car salesman. [00:28:00]
Tanya: Oh, sh-
Al: Um, yeah, moving on. Thank you. Uh, while reading the paper- Oh … uh, he’s at work at, at the car lot reading the paper, Don notices the Rochester team have a new coach, Doug Adam. He’s interrupted by a man named Bob Clarke, a lawyer who knew Don from h- his Rochester Hockey Club.
Uh, production note, this is not the sa- same Bobly- Bobby Clarke who played and ran the, uh, Philadelphia Flyers. Different Bob Clarke. Confusing. Uh, uh, Clarke reminisces with Don about the Re- the Rochester championships.
Clip: The last time I saw you, you were carrying the Calder Cup off the ice. Yeah, that was something.
Yeah. How’s it going here anyway? Yeah, you know, uh, not bad. You know, my son is going to high school in Pittsford, and they wanna get a hockey team going, but they don’t have a coach, so I was thinking about you. Me? Yeah. Coach? Sure. Ex-captain of the Amerks. You’d be great. Geez, I never really thought about it.
Unless you’re… Oh, you’re too busy here.[00:29:00]
Al: Uh, uh, that, that scene there, he, uh, he’s already wearing the Don Cherry signature, like the, the big collar with the- Yeah … pin under the tie- Yeah, you saw … and stuff like that. It, it’s just not quite loud enough yet, but i- he’s already starting to get like the, the Don Cherry traits there. Uh, and yeah, what, what’d you think of that scene, Matt?
Mat: Was it a legit style at some point to have that high collar like that? It- Or was it something that he kinda did?
Al: I don’t know. I mean, it m-
Mat: I’ve never seen that.
Al: Yeah, I don’t, you don’t normally see, uh, something like that, but Don Cherry wore it every fricking Saturday. So yeah- Yeah … I don’t know. It was kind of his thing, right?
Um-
Mat: Yeah. N- aside from that, I’m just, yeah, I’m excited that this is the, the transition point- Mm-hmm … to this part of his career, so.
Al: Yeah.
Mat: Yeah, I’m excited to see where it goes.
Al: And as soon as I heard the name Bob Clarke, I, I, I thought Bobby Clarke, but I’m… No, different, different Bob Clarke. Victor, what’d you think of that scene?
Victor: Yeah, it was good. Mm-hmm. It was, it was, uh, I don’t know, it’s, like, very stylized as well, like- Mm-hmm … uh, uh, uh, just takes you back- Mm … into that [00:30:00] time with the, with the haircuts and the- Mm-hmm … and the suits and the cars in the background. Oh, those
Al: massive car- how did they get them in the- Yeah … showrooms? Like, they’re so big.
Victor: I know. I know. I know. And it’s all metal.
Mat: They build them in the car, in the room. Yeah, they, yeah. Like a, like a, like a, a b- ship in a bottle.
Al: Yeah.
Victor: That’s right.
Al: And then you’d
Victor: got to bust out- Yeah, no, it was, it was a r- really nice scene, except when he said, like, “Unless you’re too busy here.” Like, I, I don’t know what that kinda meant because he doesn’t know if he’s a good or a bad salesman.
Y- you know what I mean? So I kinda… But again, you know, uh, don’t let a, don’t let kinda facts stand in the way of a good story, right? Sure. ‘Cause it’s, you only have a few seconds to make- Yeah … the scene and stuff like that. But there’s, uh, it’s like you seem to know a lot about, about him just by seeing him for the first time- Mm-hmm
like, unless you’ve been scoping him out. Um, and, and then the other thing is, like, was he basically saying you should quit the job and go coach and, like- I think the
Al: connotation- … follow your real passion? … with that comment is like, you’re clearly a hockey guy. What are you doing here? Yeah. You know what I mean?
Like, uh-
Victor: Yeah …
Al: it, wh- whether or not he’s a good salesman, uh, that guy, th- that Bob Clarke guy [00:31:00] thinks Don Cherry does not, he sh- he belongs in a hockey rink. He doesn’t belong there. Yeah, yeah. And, and the reas- the fact he’s not there, uh, you know, it’s funny, I, I, I, I kind of, I, I can relate to this, not in the way, you know, where I’m, like, g- great at anything, but my one sales job I had, I, I w- I spent a couple of days in training with this guy.
It was for Direct Energy, and we were, we were selling energy contracts to businesses. It was, I hated, I hated every second of it, but I, I made it through training and made it to the point where I, I was doing it on my own now. Like, ’cause I was, I was shadowing a guy and he was showing me, we were going to businesses.
It was all cold calls, walking in, “Hey, you know, how much do you pay for energy?” Blah, blah, all that stuff. It was- Oh, I’ve been there … awful. Awful. I… And so the first day, I didn’t even get halfway through the first day of my first shift on my own when I called the company and said, “Uh, sorry, I can’t do this.
Th- this is not me. I cannot, uh, yeah, [00:32:00] I cannot in good conscience take people’s m-” I mean, it was a legitimate service. I just didn’t like doing it, right? And I was horrible at it. Yeah. So it was just- Oh, yeah
Victor: I think we all, we all have something like that in our past. Yeah. Like, for me it was knives. I used to sell knives door to door.
Oh, really?
Mat: Did you, did you like Rober- or was it Robert De Niro that used to shave his arm in The Fan? You ever see that movie? Oh. That’s how he sold knives. Saw the movie,
Victor: but I don’t remember that part.
Mat: Oh, it was fanta- yeah, he was a knife salesman. He would, and he would te- he would show them how sharp it was by shaving hair off
Victor: his arm.
Oh, my trick, my trick was that if I didn’t sell them a set of knives, ’cause they were expensive, they were Vector knives. I think they, they, they’re still around right now. Vector from Victor. Um, if, if, if, if I sold nothing else, I always sold the shears, because my trick was to take a, I would take a penny and be able to, with the, with the shears, cut a, cut a corkscrew out of the penny.
And that basically says, “Yes, take my money, please.” It’s like, when will you ever need to do this?
Al: Right.
Victor: But y- I have to have shears that can cut a penny into a corkscrew. [00:33:00] Mm-hmm. So, uh- Oh, wow. Interesting … anyway, it was, it, yeah, it was fun for a summer.
Al: Mm-hmm. Tanya, you, you did some research here. Yeah.
Tanya: There you go.
Al: Oh, I guess I’m reading this. Don Cherry’s signature high, stiff shirt collars were inspired by historical Edwar- Edwardian fashion, but the exact execution of the look was a collaborative creation between Cherry and his longtime tailors. Yeah, there you go. ‘Cause all of his suits were personally tailored, so it was a, a Don Cherry thing, which is, is- Yeah
interesting. Uh, I feel like, uh, what’s the, the Blue Jays… Uh, Gre- Greg Zaun tried to mimic Cherry’s style once he fi- w- he retired, uh, his playing days and w- he was on TV. I think he had a l- he, he had a lot of respect for Don Cherry and his style, and I think he was trying to do the same thing. Anyway, cut to, uh, after that meeting with, uh, Clark, Bob Clark, we cut to his son’s hockey practice as Clark introduces the boys to their new coach, Don Cherry.
At first Don’s tentative, but as the practice goes on, uh, he gets more comfortable. And by the end you can see he’s enjoying [00:34:00] mentoring the kids, and in a voiceover Don admits that he loved coaching and that it was the next best thing to playing. Now cut back to Don at work at the car lot, where, uh, he was less than enthusiastic.
Clip: Hello there. How are you today? Good, good. What the hell is this? Well, sir, this is an Eldorado. Let me tell you about some of the features. Inside we got power s- What kind of engine? Well, sir, it’s a V8. You got AM/FM radio, power trunk- Brother had one. Hated it. Well, what do you say we maybe get you inside, go for a spin, you tell me what you think of it?
All you car salesmen are alike.
What’d you say?
My brother had one No, after that. What’d you say? Said, uh, there was some similarity You know I could toss you right out of here, you know that? Hey! Coming in here and talking to me like that. Hey! I’d toss you right on your ass. Hey, guys, guys. [00:35:00] Don, Don, just calm down, okay? Relax. Piss on you. Don’t mind him, he’s new.
That guy’s nuts.
Al: All right, Tan, there’s another, uh, example of Don, uh, you know, being principled and standing up for himself, even maybe when he shouldn’t be.
Tanya: And, and Keso did a fantastic job. Yeah. Like, he sounded just like-
Al: Yeah, he did. Yeah …
Tanya: Don Cherry, for
Al: sure. I noticed he even had a little bit of jowl too, so they, they, they made him up to look older and stuff.
And, and later… And, and he had a bit of the, the, the belly going too, so.
Tanya: Yeah.
Al: Yeah. They, they, they paid attention to some details there. Uh, Matt, what’d you think?
Mat: Well, I mean, that scene is clearly emotionally fueled based off the previous conversation as well, right? Mm-hmm. Like, I think coming off that we’re like, “Oh, what are you doing here?”
And, you know, “You should be coaching. Get back on the ice,” all that sort of shit. I’m sure that’s lingering in his head as he’s walking in there, and that just… That guy just put him over the top with that sort of backhanded comment.
Al: Yeah.
Mat: Um, so yeah. And, and, and [00:36:00] I, I understand the reaction.
Al: Yeah. He was a bit of an asshole too, like- Yeah
’cause when, when, when confronted, when, when, uh, Cherry calls him on it, he, he’s like, “What? I s- I said my brother had one,” and he didn’t wanna repeat what he just said.
Mat: Yeah, ’cause he knew what he fucking said.
Al: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And just
Mat: got called on his shit.
Al: Yeah. Um, Victor, what’d you make of that scene?
Victor: Well, I think that it’s an example of Cherry, uh, uh, overreacting- Mm … because yeah, the guy, the guy was a douchebag- Mm … but what he said was not something that should take anybody over the line.
Clip: Right.
Victor: Something you… That’s not how you respond to that, right? Like, that’s, uh… The customer’s not always right, but you’re supposed to edit yourself on the fly, and, and s- “Okay, how can I- Yeah
deescalate the situation?”
Al: Sure.
Victor: Rather than, uh- Oh- … would do what he did, right?
Al: Don Cherry in his entire life never knew the meaning of the word deescalation.
Victor: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, absolutely. Yeah. I, it’s just, it, the, his reaction was not warranted- Mm. Sure … and [00:37:00] is not understandable. Yeah. It was the wrong reaction.
Mm-hmm. And it was a stupid thing to do.
Al: Yeah.
Victor: And that’s why he, uh, I… uh, spoilers- Gets fired … probably didn’t hold onto that job.
Al: Yeah. Tan?
Tanya: I wanna ask the question, um, are there many interviews with Keso about this role that he did?
Al: Yeah, apparently. We, we should watch the, the, the… There’s a- There’s
Victor: a great interview on the same file-
Al: Yeah
as this movie. In the, in the folder that, uh, w- was- … shared with us. So we can-
Tanya: I would be definitely- Yeah … interested in that because I- I’m wondering, like, how he had to prepare and how challenging it was because we knew this person. Like- Mm. It’s all in there … this is a person that we’ve seen weekly- Yeah … um, and, and know his voice and know his personality and how to step into a per- uh, into a role- Mm-hmm
where you have to mimic that, um- Oh, he did a great job … like, it’s, it’s not a character- Yeah … that it’s just like you’re making up a- a character no one’s met. Yeah. This is a known person. Yeah. And, and to, to bring it the way he has, especially in this scene. And that’s
Victor: why, and that’s why I think he did a great [00:38:00] job acting- Mm-hmm
quote-unquote acting in this movie. Yeah. And I think- Yeah … that’s why I think, like, this is a better example of acting than I think Letterkenny or Shoresy. Mm-hmm. Because it just takes, it’s a t- it’s a next level of acting. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And this 19 to, though Linda thinks 19 to 2 he was okay, but the night, the show was great.
Mm-hmm. But the acting he’s doing in this movie and trying- Yeah … to make us believe that we’re actually watching Don Cherry, I think that, that’s a skill, right? Yeah. It’s, it’s, yes, it has to be written well, but, uh, but it’s all how you deliver it, and he totally makes us believe that, that he is Don Cherry.
Oh, yeah.
Tanya: Well, to the point- Totally … where I was like, “Who’s narrating this?” Yeah. Like- The narrator … I, I wasn’t entirely sure at one point, ’cause it, it, it sounded so much like Don.
Al: Yeah.
Tanya: Yeah.
Al: All right. Uh, that marked the end of Don’s brief career in auto sales. Uh, so he goes home, and cue the prayer scene.
Once again, Don’s prayer is answered. He sits at his, he kneels at his bed and, and, and prays. He decides to make a comeback. Rose reminds him he hasn’t skated [00:39:00] competitively in two years and he’s 20 pounds overweight, but Don is determined. He begins training for the next Rochester training camp, and then he shows up.
Uh, and when he shows up, they make him dress with the rookies. Don made the team, but the problem with his new coach, Doug Adams, is he couldn’t relate to the younger players, as is evidenced by this scene, uh, when Don, w- when Doug enters a rookie’s dressing room.
Mat: I want short hair on everybody. No facial hair, either.
No curved sticks
Clip: and no drinking soda pop in the morning
Doug was stuck in the ’50s
The players stopped playing for him [00:40:00]
Al: So there you go. That shades of, uh, again, Mr. Burns coaching the Simpsons baseball team saying, “Sh- shave those sideburns.” No short hair, no, no mustaches. Matt?
Mat: Explain to me the controversy or the opinion on the curved stick. Like, when did, like, does it, can, uh, can either of you speak to that- Yeah
Al: sort of evolution
Mat: and why-
Al: So- … there was such a- Yeah … difference in that? Curve- curved sticks were a relatively new concept, right? Like, sticks were always straight and, and it was, it was con- considered cheat… Well, ’cause first of all, you weren’t allowed, you should, raising the puck, that’s why players didn’t play with ma- goalies didn’t play with masks or, or, or helmets or whatever, ’cause raising the puck was kind of a no-no.
And slap shots- Okay … were kind of a no-no. It was all wrist shots and, and- Oh, really? Oh, yeah. It w- so, uh, at, but as shooting got harder and, and more precise and stuff like that, players would start cheating by adding slight curves to their sticks. But the old-school guys hated that, right? Uh, oh, you know, in any sport, the conservative people who run it are, are resistant [00:41:00] to change right to the last minute, right?
Like, players didn’t wear helmets until they had to. They didn’t play, you know, they didn’t curve their sticks until they, until not doing so became a competitive disadvantage, right? So a- in the beginning when they were all, most of them were still using straight sticks, it was a no-no, uh, but then players started u- curving their sticks and, and getting better because of it ’cause they could, you know-
Tanya: Yeah
Al: be more precise with their shots or whatever. The old school was still, like, against it, right? Um, but yeah, obviously that, that’s changed, so.
Mat: Yeah, fair enough.
Al: Uh, yeah, Victor, what’d you think of that?
Victor: Yeah, so, uh, it’s funny, right? ‘Cause it’s like, oh, stuck in the ’50s. Mm-hmm. Meanwhile, it’s still happening today.
Al: Yeah, yeah.
Victor: With our friend Lou, um-
Al: Lou Lamori- that’s right, Lou Lamoriello, uh- Yeah,
Victor: yeah …
Al: notorious for not wanting facial
Victor: hair. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. He’s still, it’s still a thing today. Whatever team he is a part of, you’re not allowed to have facial hair, you’re not allowed to have long hair.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Victor: I mean, I think you’re allowed to have curlers [00:42:00] sticks, uh, curve- curved blades.
Yeah. But if it was up to him.
Al: Yeah. But o- only his goalie. Yeah,
Victor: exactly. Yeah. So it’s still, so as funny as that is, it’s like it’s still happening now.
Tanya: Yeah, it’s- Are the, yeah … crazy … is that, the person that you’re referring to, are they an older generation?
Al: Oh, yeah.
Victor: They, they, they, yeah, he’s, he’s, like, is he- did he hit 80 yet?
I feel like he’s- Hmm … either in his mid-70s or he might’ve, he’s approaching 80, if he’s not there already.
Tanya: Yeah.
Victor: Uh, he probably needs to just retire and enjoy the rest of his life, but I think for him, this is his life, right? Mm-hmm. That, that, that’s why he’s not retiring. Um, but he was in Toronto for a while.
Uh, he was, he’s, his tenure was, uh, in, uh, in New Jersey. That’s where he had the most success.
Al: Yeah.
Victor: But, uh, yeah, he, I think he’s with the Islanders now.
Al: Uh- And I think, uh, y- the New York Yankees owner, uh, St- Steinbrenner, didn’t he have also, like, a, a thing ab- against facial hair on his players and stuff? Like, uh, that- I’ll
Victor: have to review some of the Seinfeld episodes.
Al: Yeah, there’s a few. Yeah. There are a few.
Tanya: My mom has that problem.
Al: She [00:43:00] does. That’s why she loves me so much.
Matt, what’d you think of that scene? Oh, you already asked, didn’t you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were talking about the curler stick. What about you? Exactly.
Tanya: Um, I’m having a, a memory, uh, lapse. So wait a second. Let’s just recap here for a moment. Oh, my goodness. He is a coach, so, so Doug, uh, no, Bob Clarke made him a coach.
Al: For his kid’s team, but then he- Yeah, yeah,
Victor: you’re confusing things here …
Al: yeah, so the- He, he coached the, Bob Clark- Clarke’s kid’s team. Listen,
Tanya: Victor.
Al: That’s when he decided, uh, he wants to be, go back into the league and, and he made, so he made the Rochester team, so he’s a player again.
Tanya: So, so-
Al: He’s a player
Tanya: Bob comes into the car shop, says- Yeah, when you’re a coach- “Hey- … you don’t need to skate … I want you to be the coach.” And so he’s coaching his kid’s team. Kid’s team,
Al: yeah.
Tanya: And then he’s like, “Hey, hockey’s fun,” and g- decides to go
Al: back. Yeah. Maybe Rose was right. Yeah. Maybe it was ridiculous for me to quit the game because somebody hurt
Victor: my-
Al: But the,
Victor: the coach of the Rochester Americans, in case [00:44:00] this is what’s confusing you, is not Bob Clarke.
It’s, it’s a different person.
Al: Yeah, that’s, uh, Doug- This is a
Tanya: Doug-
Victor: Okay … Doug
Al: Adams … Doug. Adam. Yeah.
Tanya: Okay. Yeah. So he’s, he, uh, but he makes the team, right?
Al: Yeah, he makes the team. But he’s, he’s in the rookies dressing room because- But he’s in the rookies … even though he’s old as shit now, because he was out of the, the game for a couple of years- Okay
and tried out for the team again. They re- He’s a
Victor: bench warmer
Al: at this
Victor: point.
Al: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And we, we talk about that in a second. But just production note here, Doug Adam was played by the late Canadian actor Mike O’Brien, known for Less than Kind and Corner Gas. He was on a bunch of, uh, episodes of both those shows.
Uh, he unfortunately passed away in 2015 of cancer, but, uh, that’s, uh, Mike O’Brien playing Doug Adam. Uh, Don started the season leading the team in scoring. Uh, he was selected star in two of the first three games, so he was doing really well, but then he found himself on the sidelines, not dressing anyway, because Vancouver owned the club and they wanted their young prospects to get the ice time, not Don Cherry.
Like, they [00:45:00] didn’t care that Don was doing really, really well.
Clip: Mm.
Al: They want their young players because the Vancouver’s the, the, the, the parent team. They wanted the farm team to develop their young players. So in- Ain’t that a
Mat: bitch?
Al: Yeah. But instead of being daunted, Don was happy to be back in the game.
Uh, without Don in the lineup, the team suffered. After a particularly embarrassing 9-1 loss, Coach, Coach Adams gets sucker punched by a fan. Uh, we- We cut to Rose waiting up for Don late that night. Uh, the phone rings. It’s Coach Adam looking for Don. It seems he called a few times, and Rose is really irate.
Don finally gets home and tries to sneak in the house, but Rose confronts him by calling him by all three of his names, Donald Stuart Cherry. You know you’re in trouble when. Uh, I didn’t know that the S stand, stood for Cherry, so there you go. Uh, or sorry, for Stuart Cherry. Sturt. The S stood- Sturt … stood for Stuart.
I always- Yeah … I’ve always heard him say Donald S Cherry- Sturt … but I didn’t know it was Stuart. Uh, and she begins to lay into, into him on how late he [00:46:00] was and how Coach Adam kept on calling the house, and she couldn’t, and she didn’t know where Don was. But Don grabs another beer from the fridge, which aggravates Rose even more.
Uh, and she, and once she’s calmed down though, Don announces to her that he is the new coach of the Rochester Americans. Uh, Rose is confused.
Clip: Adam barely played you all season. Like, why offer you the coaching job? Get their money’s worth out of me. Be a fall guy. Team’s been losing for three years. You really think you can turn them around?
Piece of cake, Rose. Piece of cake. This team will never lose again.
Al: I said… My next line is, “I fully expected Don to say this team will never lose again.” You read my mind. Um, but yeah. Again, this is… You’re right, Victor, like, it’s shades of Shoresy, right? The whole, like, “This is a bad team and I’m gonna turn this team around, and this team will never lose again.”
I cut to the press conference where Don is sitting beside a visibly irate [00:47:00] Adam.
Clip: Don, the team’s in last place. What are your expectations? We’ve got a great group of guys out there, and I think, uh, I think, uh, I think we’ll make a good run at the playoffs. So Doug, uh, how do you think he’ll do? You know how it is.
Coaches are hired to be fired. Hired to be fired? Sorry, Doug, the way I saw it, I was hired to win
Al: And actually, that is where this movie ends. Um-
Clip: That’s how fast …
Al: nothing like a v- I know, it, again, last week I- That’s where
Mat: part one of
Al: this movie ends … yeah, part one. Yeah. So- Yeah, y-
Mat: you didn’t pace this out very
Al: well I didn’t.
You know, last week I thought I w- I did half of it. I did more like three quarters of it. Anyway, so yes, uh, nothing like a vote of, uh, a non-confidence from- … the guy who gives you your job. “Uh, coaches are meant to be fired or hired to be fired.” But, uh-
Tanya: Who would say that, especially during a pro- a press conference?
Well, it’s, it’s a very common
Al: thing for NHL [00:48:00] coaches to say, but it’s usually them- Is it? … saying about themselves. Like, they, it’s not usually the guy who just- Yeah … fucking gave him the job. And, and remember, it’s
Victor: not NHL. No. It’s the-
Al: AHL or-
Victor: It’s, it’s AHL. Yeah. So- But
Al: yeah, it’s-
Victor: That’s where they’re learning how to communicate.
I’m
Mat: sorry. What is the
Tanya: AHL?
Al: American Hockey League. It’s the- American,
Victor: uh- It’s a development league.
Al: Yeah. But like I said,
Mat: like- Well, and, and then even if you look at the previous scene, like it clearly set that up, too, where he’s like, um, he’s like, “Th- they need a fall guy,” right? So they’re just throwing someone in there to be the face of the loss and-
Al: Yeah
Mat: not expecting anything.
Al: And it’s often done when, when you have a team that, uh, needs for whatever reason to lose for a season or two, um, they’ll, they’ll hire a coach to be fired, and the coach kind of knows it, too. Um, and they just- Really? Yeah. But there are only so many jobs in the professional leagues.
And so unless you’re, you’re at a c- a caliber where you, you can turn things down because you know there will be other jobs, generally you say yes, and you do the best you can- Yeah … and, and wait until- There’s,
Victor: [00:49:00] there’s only 27 jobs- Yeah … or however many teams there were at the time. Yeah. Um, it was even less.
Al: Oh, I think then- Yeah … it was probably like 16 jobs or something, wasn’t it? Yeah. Yeah.
Victor: Yeah, exactly.
Al: So, um- Wow … yeah. That’s, that’s part one, part one of- So- … Keep Your Head Up, Kid. Okay,
Tanya: so let’s just understand here now. Yeah. So he’s excited. When he’s in the kitchen with Rose, he’s like, “Yeah, I’m gonna do this.”
Al: “I’m gonna be coach.” Yeah, he’s gonna be the coach of the team.
Tanya: But when he’s sitting at the press conference, is he still feeling that confidence? Like- Well, w- … w- they all laughed at him when he said-
Al: Yeah, because it was a- … “
Tanya: They have a good shot”-
Al: Yeah, the, the team’s garbage, and he’s saying- … a good run … “I think we, we can, we can do well.”
So the, the media doesn’t think he, he, he can turn it around, and apparently neither, neither does his boss. But- You know Don, or we’re, we’re getting to know Don and we get- we’re getting to know that, uh, he doesn’t, uh, yeah, he doesn’t take lightly to, to people not believing in him or respecting him. So anyway, uh, that is [00:50:00] part one.
Um, let’s go through, uh, before ratings and stuff, you know, just initial, uh, thoughts, and we start with Victor. For the entire, like last week and this week, talk about this part one of, uh, Keep Your Head Up, Kid.
Victor: Yeah, so e- basically, you know, part one, uh, the second part of part one- Mm-hmm … is not much different, right?
Like you, you have to, uh, I’m kind of thinking about it as, as a whole. Yeah. And as a whole, it’s really just a, l- I g- I take it back to the Charlie Brown football story. Mm. This is where, you know- That’s a good analogy Uh, it, it literally is. You’re just watching a guy that continuously, you know, gets, uh, in, um, in front of himself for what the- Yeah,
Al: he’s usually though the one
Victor: wa- yanking the football- He gets in the way of him-
out
Al: from, from in front of himself Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he’s
Victor: doing it himself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s, it’s a one-man show. Mm-hmm. He doesn’t need Lucy. Um, and, and you just kinda feel… Y- you kinda feel bad and, but also frustrated. Mm-hmm. Like, dude, you’re… Like, what are you doing?
Al: Yeah.
Victor: Um, and at the same time, you’re also very [00:51:00] much enamored by the relationship and by, by Rose and, um, y- and, and, and also kind of the, the time piece of it, right?
Yeah. The, the stylized aspect. I really enjoyed it. Mm-hmm. I mean, you know, I have to kind of think of it as a whole. Like, obvi- like everybody that loves hockey loves Slap Shot, right? Everybody loves that movie. Um, and, and the thing is, there, there is a little bit more hokiness to that movie because it’s just…
It’s, it’s, it’s ma- It’s… You know, the movie is based on kind of cliches and over-exaggerations of, you know, hockey at that time. Um, but at the same time, it is a movie, right? And you’re watching, um, uh, what’s his name? Paul Newman? Is he the, uh, main character there?
Clip: Yes.
Victor: Um, uh, e- you know, he’s got the re- relationship with, uh, with his, with his, uh…
I, I think she’s his wife. I- Mm. It’s been a long time since I that, saw that movie. So there is some seriousness to it as well. It’s not just the slapstick kind of stupid, uh, Adam Sandler kind of a comedy, right? Yeah. [00:52:00] It’s, it’s… Uh, the slapstick is the, is the realities, the exaggerated realities of hockey.
Mm-hmm. Right? Mm-hmm. Like, especially the way the movie opens. It’s so, such gold. I could watch that opening over and over and over and over again. But, um, but I put this movie in the cal- in that same caliber. Mm-hmm. Like, if you, if you’re, if you are a hockey fan, um… I, like I’m, like I’m not gonna try and sell this as one of the greatest movies ever, but if you’re a hockey fan, I put this on the same level of Slap Shot in terms of enjoyment.
Mm-hmm. Um, you’re watching, uh, uh, uh, you know, the life of a hockey personality and you’re seeing them kind of… You’re seeing their story being told, and you’re seeing what it was like during all those periods- Mm … with the characters, the crazy characters. Yeah. And, and, and the, all the… And the, the hockey itself is such…
It’s great. The quality of the hockey is fantastic. Mm-hmm. Um, it, it’s not, it’s not something that’s kind of a, an afterthought like you’ll see in, [00:53:00] in other hockey m- like, y- like all the Duck, Duck movies. Mm-hmm. They’re atrocious. It’s atrocious. Whoa. If you actually try to-
Mat: Whoa.
Victor: It’s, it’s atrocious. Hold on.
Can you…
Mat: You need a different word.
Victor: It’s a… You, you have- You have players that are… The same guy will shoot left-handed and right-handed in the same scene. Like- … it’s such the co- It’s atrocious. That’s
Mat: called
Victor: ambidextrous. Se- settle down. So, so anyway, back to this. You need- I think that if you’re- Using a straight
Mat: stick,
Victor: clearly.
If, if you’re even a little bit interested- No care … if you, if you’re a fan of Slap Shot- That, that is the bonus
Al: to using a straight stick. You can be ambidextrous Yes, yeah.
Mat: Exactly.
Victor: All I’m saying is if you’re a fan of Slap Shot, you will enjoy this. Mm-hmm. It’s on that same, for me, it’s on that same quality- Mm
um, in terms of hockey, uh, drama. So I thought, I thought it was really great.
Al: Yeah. I, I enjoyed it. Um, I, so from, just from my perspective, I, I enjoyed seeing, okay, the, the period of it all, first of all, they did, uh, I think it was really great attention to detail. And Matt, I loved what you said last week about [00:54:00] you c- you, you’re waiting to see that heritage moment thing come up-
because that’s how it felt, right? It had that look. Yeah, the whole
Mat: movie could be framed in
Al: that- Yeah … heritage moment frame. It, it had that look. It had that kind of vignette look b- from the time, and I thought it represented the time really, really well. I thought a lot of care was taken in, in, in the period of the piece.
Uh, seeing some of the players and, and, and witnessing some of the stories that I heard over and over and over again on Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night in Canada, I mean, uh, Don Cherry loved repeating his stories. He, uh, you’d hear, you’d hear them more than a few times. So getting to see, uh, uh, oh, what’s his name now?
Not, not Punch, but the other guy the, the coach, uh, that was horrible to him. Uh, s- Sure. Eddie. Eddie Shore. Getting to see Eddie Shore in that. And, and but I f- I forgot to mention, draw this parallel last week, but the whole scene of, of Eddie Shore with the, the h- the poor hockey player and the, the, the noose around him- Noose.
Yeah … gave the whole, like from Dodgeball, “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”
Mat: Like You can dodge
Al: a ball. You know? [00:55:00] It was kinda like that kind of coaching, right? It’s like-
Mat: Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge …
Al: yeah. I feel like that guy from Dodgeball maybe was modeled after Eddie Shore. Um, so I really enjoyed it.
I mean, Keough did an amazing job. And, uh, to Tanya’s point, uh, in the beginning, it may, it may have t- started to, it, it may have felt a little bit like an impression, but as you go into the movie, Keough disappears and, and, and Don Cherry a- appears. And, and then the, Rose, the actress who play, plays Rose, she’s so charming and, and so she does it so well.
Um, yeah, it, it’s very, it, it’s a, it was a lot of fun. But it is also- The narrative of the, the first part, it’s just a bunch of little vignettes. It’s like-
Tanya: Yeah …
Al: I mean, there is a story arc, but it’s, it’s taking its time. And, and that’s probably why there’s four parts to this whole thing, right? Two parts. Uh, two parts the first one, two parts the second one.
Victor, come on. Two years later.
Victor: Yes.
Al: All right. So anyway, that’s, uh, so those are my initial imp- impressions, M- Matt. [00:56:00]
Mat: Um, yeah, you make a good point about a, a, a series of vignettes. Um, it is challenging to tell stories that way because you do risk sort of losing interest in things when you’re jumping between timelines very quickly.
Yeah. You’ve seen movies do that over the years where they’re jumping all… You get kinda lost, and you’re like, “Wait, where are we now?” Um, I think that they’re… Th- doing this as a miniseries or whatever-
Tanya: Mm-hmm …
Mat: um, I think was a smart approach to it ’cause it gives them that time to let each vignette, as you and Akira used that word- Yeah
um, sort of marinate. Mm-hmm. And, and, and you get to take it in before you move on. And then they were very clear and deliberate with the, where we were in each timeline, um, and what was going on. So I think that worked well. Um- Kiesa, yeah, I think he did a fantastic job.
Tanya: Yeah.
Mat: Uh, it’s a lot of fun to watch, right?
Like, he’s… First, we see him. We’ve seen him in, in, in his other roles. Um, but I think he really settled into the Cherry spot. Um, and I, and I believe it, [00:57:00] so I have no issue with that at all. Uh, I think what I… So am I enjoying? Yes, I’m enjoying it. Um, I, I know I commented this last week. The Canadian content, um, is often challenging- Mm-hmm
because the budgets aren’t there. You, you can see the difference, right? Um, but as soon as you get beyond that, um, you, you, you take in the story and it, and it’s a really good one about a very famous Canadian who I didn’t know a lot of, a whole, a whole lot about other than watching him yell on TV.
Clip: Yeah.
Mat: Uh, my dad put him on every Saturday.
So I’m quite enjoying getting to know a little bit of side about this, especially knowing there was controversy later, um, and the build-up. Uh, so that’s kind of fun. And even understanding more about a game I don’t know a particular lot, a lot… Like, ’cause you guys have a lot of this backstory, right? You’re, you’re saying, “Oh, I heard these stories,” or- Yeah
“I, I remember him talking about this name,” or, “I’ve heard a…” I don’t know who any of these people are, right? Sure. Any of these stories. So when you’re r- uh, coming back and saying, “Oh, yeah, I remember him telling that,” it’s interesting [00:58:00] to see some of that on and, and to realize that either, A, this shit really happened- Mm
or he’s just an amazing storyteller like Big Fish. I don’t know. Could be somewhere in the middle- Yeah … is the truth, but it’s still an entertaining take, right?
Al: I think there’s a bit of the printi- printing of the legend here, obviously. Yeah. Uh, a lot, I think, uh, because-
Victor: Well, it’s his son as well.
Al: It’s his son.
Uh, you know, yeah. But, uh, but I do, like, I’ve heard these stories countless times, so n- they’re probably true to him, you know what I mean?
Mat: Yes. Yeah, yeah. So
Al: his-
Mat: Well, his version of it. Yeah. You know, and again, it’s okay. The, there’s nothing wrong with that, and we never n- we’ll never know one way or the other, so we enjoy it for what they are, what they are.
Yeah. Um, I’m also enjoying l- just, like, learning about, like, not even just his stories but the game itself, like, even the stuff about the, the flat stick. And I remember what, taking my oldest son to the Hockey Hall of Fame, uh, for his birthday er- uh, last year, um, and going through, and we were looking at all the old gear- Mm
and, like, how there weren’t masks at one point, and then the early [00:59:00] ones that were just- fragile, I don’t know what the fuck they were. Like, what was that doing?
Al: Yeah.
Mat: Um, but now understanding some of the rules where they didn’t- It was,
Al: it was just spreading the, the, the bruise-
Mat: Yeah. …
Al: all over the face- Right.
not just
Mat: where the puck hits you. Exactly. Yeah. Like, it, it just looks so medieval- Yeah, yeah … in the early days. Um,
so seeing the evolution and now understanding some of the logic, like about how they didn’t lift the puck, I, I wouldn’t, I just always assumed that that was happening. Yeah. Uh, so it wouldn’t have even occurred to me that that was a thing. Yeah,
Victor: we wouldn’t have had Jason without those masks, okay?
Mat: Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Victor: Yeah. Sure.
Mat: So I mean, I mean, I always say I like a sports story. Mm-hmm. I’m enjoying this one. I, I like the evolution we’re seeing here. We’re going through the years. Um, I think the other thing with biopics that they often struggle with is they, in some, some work and some don’t, where they just focus on one period, and they’re like, “Here’s a biopic of this part of this person’s life.”
Yeah. And you know there’s a lot of substance that got them there and a lot of substance it took afterwards in a lot of cases, so- Yeah … um, I appreciate that we’re getting the [01:00:00] career- Mm-hmm … um, evolution. Um, so I’m really excited to see where this goes. Uh, I’m, I’m expecting- it to pick up pace a little bit.
I find it, it, uh, a little bit, there are some slow moments for sure. Sure. Um, but I think as we move into this phase, we’re gonna see more and more Don Cherry come out.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Mat: Um, his personality’s gonna get bigger, it’s gonna get louder, a- and that’s what I’m hoping for.
Al: Yeah, ’cause right now he’s still kind of respectful and, and, and quiet and, or soft- Yeah
I don’t know soft-spoken, but you know what I mean. He doesn’t say a lot. Yeah. Uh- Yeah, yeah … so that’s gonna change at some point, right? Uh- Yeah,
Mat: exactly-
Tanya: And he doesn’t push with his hand … ’cause I know the Don Cherry that we know.
Al: Yeah. Uh, Tam?
Tanya: Yeah, and, and, and he didn’t, he’s like, um, that whole scene where, um, they were talking or negotiating new contract- Mm-hmm
and then he’s like, “Do you not wanna ask for more money?” Yeah. He’s like, “You’re not gonna give it to me.” Yeah. And like, the Don we know now- Yeah … would’ve been like, “No, you’re giving me this.”
Al: Yeah, yeah. I, I deserve, uh, yeah.
Tanya: Yeah.
Al: Everything you have. Yeah.
Tanya: Yeah.
Al: So what’d you think of this?
Tanya: Um, I, uh, you know, just p- [01:01:00] same thing that you guys are, are all saying.
Um, the reference to the 1950s, the fashion, cars, family setting. Um, I love the reference to the money and that that was even touched on, um, that he made $4,500 a year. Um, not $45,000, $4,500- Yeah … um, which is, is just mind-blowing. And was
Al: enough to have a house- That, that’s when- … and a car … at the peak. Yeah.
Victor: That’s at the
Al: peak time.
Yeah, at his peak, and that was enough to have a house and a car and two kids, and imagine that. And I don’t know- Which you can’t even … I don’t think, I don’t think Rose worked. I think she was a stay-at-home, so.
Tanya: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, that- She was
Victor: a support animal.
Al: Yeah.
Tanya: It’s just s- it’s such a, it’s… Oh, my God. The, that w- yeah, I, I loved all of, uh, that part of it.
Um, the hockey, the skating, seeing the dressing room drama. Um, the fact that his face took that much of a beating with no scars, like, I think a medical paper needs to be written- … about what the process was and then share it with, like-
Al: If you look at an older hockey player [01:02:00] up close, you’ll s- you see the scars.
He, they’re- But he- But they’re very-
Tanya: He had, like-
Al: No, Don Cherry, when you s- I saw him on Coach’s Corner Hockey Night in Canada, that’s pa- pancake number five, like, all over him. Like, if you look at his face- Yeah … but then you looked at his hand- Number five … uh, at, or, or his, what, his neck, you can see how much uh, spa- uh, spackle they’re, they’re putting on, on his, on, on all, like, TV peoples.
Tanya: Yeah.
Al: Like, they’re, they’re, they’re all u- using a lot of makeup.
Tanya: I don’t know. He- Yeah.
Victor: The thing, you have to, you have to also remember, like, the high sticks.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Victor: Uh, because, you know, body checks are body checks. You’re not gonna u- lose your teeth from a body check. But high sticks became a thing after helmets came in.
Tanya: Yeah.
Victor: Right? So before, bef- when, when, when there was a time where nobody was wearing helmets, even the goalies, and everybody had flat blades, people weren’t losing, they, they weren’t getting head injuries on a daily. Yeah. Like, obv- obviously accidents will happen. Yeah. But the, but the head injuries became much more prevalent once there’s [01:03:00] protection, right?
‘Cause then once there’s protection, people are more liberal with what they do.
Al: They’re more fearless, and yeah.
Victor: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So-
Al: But it’s one of the reasons why go- There’s, there’s a little bit of that …
Victor: goalies
Al: didn’t go down back in those days, because they didn’t have masks on. If you go down, you’re gonna get hit, you’re increasing the chance of getting hit by the puck or by a skate coming up, uh- Yeah
at you, right? Oh my God. Ugh. So y-
Tanya: So what’s
Victor: better? And that’s what ch- and that’s what changed it, right? Yeah. It was Plant, Plant got s- bro- his face got broken, and th- Yeah … and they came the mask. Started wearing a mask.
Al: Yeah.
Victor: Yeah.
Tanya: Oh, is that when it happened? Oh, yeah. What, what year f- or timeframe would th- would that have been?
Is that, like, ‘
Al: 70s? Six- late, late ’60s, ’70s? I forget now.
Victor: Yeah, you’re gonna have to Google that one.
Al: Yeah.
Tanya: Huh. I didn’t know, uh… Yeah. Um, I love the reference to Rose, Cindy, and Tim. I remember him referring to them- Mm-hmm … uh, not, not to your recollection of, of all their stories, but when, um, they had the f- or during the show when they had their first daughter and referred to her that it was Cindy.
I was like- Yeah … “Oh my God, I [01:04:00] remember him-
Al: Yeah …
Tanya: saying Cindy.” And, um, saying Tim. Oh,
Al: yeah. Big family man, right? Yeah. So he would talk about his, his family all the time on the show. Yeah.
Tanya: And he’s gonna start talking about his dog.
Al: Oh, and Blue. Yeah, that’s right. Uh, wait till we meet Blue.
Tanya: Yeah.
Al: All right, cool.
Uh, let’s move on to ratings. Spoiler. Spoiler. So I’m gonna remind you folks what, uh, the TPS rating system is: fresh, clearance, or compost. We are rating the entirety of this first movie. Not one, part one and two, just this movie. Um- Victor, we start- This episode … this ep- episode, whatever you want to call it, the, what we’ve just been re- reviewing the last couple of weeks
Victor: Keep Your Head Up, Kid: Part One.
Al: Exactly. Victor?
Victor: Yes, sir.
Al: What, what do you give this…
Victor: I, I give it an easy fresh. Easy fresh. It’s an enjoyable, uh, show for me to watch. Again, like I said, Matt, if you haven’t seen Slap Shot, you should go watch it. I’ve
Mat: seen Slap Shot.
Victor: Oh, okay. Well- Hmm … I don’t know. You said go sports kind of guy, so I don’t know.
Yeah,
Mat: yeah. But I’ve always said I love sports movies.
Victor: All right. All right. Um, [01:05:00] anyway, uh, so, so yeah, for me it is on that caliber, uh, and I enjoyed it, and, uh, I expect that it’s gonna be freshes all the way through, to be honest. Uh, spoiler alert, for myself, anyway.
Al: Well, we’ll see. We’ll see. But, uh, you know what?
I, I can’t disagree with you. This was a good start. Matt, I’m gonna disagree a bit about the production value. I think it’s pretty high, like, c- compared to other-
Victor: Those cars especially.
Mat: Oh, com- Oh, no, I’m not saying- Yeah, com- … it’s bad, but you can s- soon as you turn on something that’s Canadian content, you can almost always go, “That was, that was Canadian content.”
Like, it’s… I don’t, I don’t know how to describe it- Hmm … but I think you know what I’m talking about. Like, it’s just-
Al: I think it’s more the, the acting, and, and not the acting because it’s bad acting. I think it’s they’re acting Canadian instead of American.
Mat: No.
Al: No. Uh, ’cause I, to me- I don’t know … this movie doesn’t- I, I’m
Victor: with Allan on this one, as much as it pains me.
Al: T- this movie- … does not look any worse than, than another period piece that, like, Hollywood would’ve done. It does… To me, it looks… Be- and, and if you think about it, [01:06:00] like…
Mat: I think they went too glamour shot on it.
Al: You think so?
Mat: Yeah. Is
Tanya: it the pacing?
Al: No. I mean, the pacing, I can… The pacing might’ve been a little slow.
The pacing’s… Yeah … but, but again, it’s because they’re, they’re telling a long, epic story, right? Well,
Mat: it’s even, even the soundtrack. There’s just a couple songs, but a lot of it’s that really sort of, like- Sure … stock music- Okay … and, like, I don’t know. There’s, there’s, there’s just a lot of little things you hear and see, and I’m like, okay.
Like… And a- again, it didn’t bother me. Mm-hmm. But it’s like I can… I see it, and I think that’s part of the… Right or wrong, I think that’s part of the reason Canadians have never loved their own Canadian stuff, because it doesn’t look big and boisterous and loud, like we’re, what, what, like what Hollywood gives us, right?
Hmm. And not saying we need that, but that’s what people have become accustomed to.
Tanya: Right.
Mat: So when you deliver some of this, it feels more like a Movie of the Week, which, um, was it? I don’t know. Maybe it was. But, um-
Tanya: Is this more like a Hallmark thing? Is that what you’re referring to? That, that…
Mat: Sort of, but even Hallmark’s got a whole different look to produced, starring on Hallmark.
Al: And mostly produced in Canada as well. Like, [01:07:00] uh …
Mat: Yes.
Al: Uh, as are The Boys. So I don’t know. I mean- Yeah … I feel like… Anyway, uh, I, I think it’s just they’re Canadian characters, and I think maybe, uh, you’re, you know, uh-
Victor: Matt didn’t like that there wasn’t any exploding penises. I wondered.
Al: All right. So I gave it a fresh.
Matt, what do you give this, uh, this first installment- … as he’s fondling the the, the balls on his beer koozie?
Mat: Um, I am going to, ’cause… I’m gonna give this one a clearance.
Al: All right.
Mat: Um, I did enjoy it. I, like I said, I think I had a little issue with some of the early, the pacing of it. And I don’t wanna set my bar too high because I, I’m, I’m excited where it’s going-
and I’m waiting for- They’re just giving you
Al: a blue spatula.
Mat: I’m waiting to see the evolution of Cherry. And if he does what I think he’s gonna do- Okay … and where this might go, I’m really excited to give the next ones fresh.
Al: All right.
Mat: Um, but this is a- I’m sorry, you gave it a what? A clearance.
Tanya: He gave it
Al: a clearance.
A
Mat: clearance. A clearance. Yeah, yeah. Still good. I didn’t dislike it by any means. Yeah. There’s some- Oh, whatever. Sounds- Just a [01:08:00] reminder, a clearance- You sound like a Gen Z YouTuber. … a clearance, a clearance doesn’t mean I didn’t lo- What do you always say, Al? A clearance doesn’t mean I don’t like it.
Al: Yeah. A clearance is just good.
It’s good. Yeah. It’s just not great. Yeah. Yeah. It’s fine. Yeah.
Mat: Yeah.
Al: All right.
Mat: Yeah.
Al: Tanya, what about you? What do you give this?
Tanya: I think it’s a, it’s a fresh. Mm-hmm. It, I, I lo- I loved everything about it. I don’t think I… I didn’t sit there going, “Oh, God, when is it gonna be over?” Like, it was, it was, uh, it kept me, um, captivated and, um- Yeah
even though I wasn’t quite sure what was happening there, whether he was the coach or he was on the team or off the team. Right. That was the only moment that I was like, “What’s going on? Wait a second. What did I miss?” Yeah. Um, um, yeah, I, I, I loved the period piece. Like, that’s kind of the, the feel that it gave me.
And, uh, I love the older, um, how things were. I, it, I always get, like, very sentimental to- Sure … to that timeframe.
Al: Yeah. All right. Moving on to MVPs. Victor, with you, who do you give [01:09:00] the MVP for this first
Victor: season? Yeah. So I was gonna be kind of a douchebag and kind of give it to Madagascar, but I, I’m not gonna do that.
Madagascar. Y-
Al: Eddie Shore? You’re not gonna give it to Eddie Shore? Yeah. Or Eddie Shore’s noose. That’s the-
Victor: Yeah, y- yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, I, I, I really… What I really enjoyed the most about this first part is Rose. I, I just thought she was… I feel like if you took Rose out of this, it would fall flat on its face.
And I think that she brought the balance to the force here. Mm-hmm. And, and the actress, Sarah, uh, what’s her name, uh, she just- Van Anden … did such a fantastic job. She brought Rose to life. Mm-hmm. And again, go watch that interview with Don Cherry, um, and it, because it, like, it kind of, um, made him believe that, you know, he’s looking at his wife.
So, so she did such a fantastic job. I have to give it to, uh, to, to, to both Sarah, but mostly Rose- Rose … the character in the, in the show. I felt that, like, without her, it, it, it falls flat.
Al: Yeah. I’m gonna… Again, I’m agreeing with Victor. [01:10:00] We’re agreeing with each other. What is going on? Rose is the heart of this, uh, of this, uh, movie.
Uh, uh, the heart, the conscious, the, the everything. Like, uh, without it, I mean, it’s still an interesting story, but it’s not- Yeah, I don’t know. And, and sh- there’s so many fun little moments with her and, and Sarah Manninen does a great job, like when she’s… When she gets better at removing his stitches and, and how pleased with herself she is when she removes a stitch and, and it, it comes out like fully or whatever, and she looks at it, “Ooh.”
Like she gets excited and stuff. It’s just like little touches of tho- like those. Mm-hmm. But her, her tolerance of, of the way he, he behaves and stuff, and her- … uh, but her s- you know, constant and, and unwavering support of, of, of everything he does- Mm-hmm … regardless of how crazy it is. Yeah, Rose I think is, is…
She’s my MVP as well. Matt?
Mat: Yeah, no, uh, no comment. It’s Laura Moore.
Al: So that’s interesting. We, we, we keep on talking about the parallels between Don Cherry and [01:11:00] Shoresy character. Yeah. Is there any parallel between Laur- uh, Rose and Laura Moore?
Mat: I think so. You think so? Oh,
Al: 100%. Yeah?
Mat: Yeah. 100%. Yeah, j- just her…
Like, like everything… As you were just descr- Like listen back to what you just said later. And then think… And then, then in your mind-
Tanya: Mm-hmm …
Mat: think, think you’re reviewing Laura Moore on a Shoresy episode. Okay. It fits. Yeah. It fits, right? Like just her… Like how she handles him, like she’s very direct with him.
She will tell him as it is. There’s a real respect there.
Tanya: Mm-hmm.
Mat: Um, she’s tolerant of his insanity and regardless of what… Like, like you basically described- Yeah … Laura Moore just now. That’s why I came out and said that- Okay … because like… And I, and I totally agree. It, it… Rose-
Tanya: Mm-hmm …
Mat: far and above is the MVP of this first take.
Um, I think she brings a balance to this show. Um- That is so needed. And, and, and I think you said if she wasn’t there, I think it’d still be okay, [01:12:00] but she really ties it together. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and it has some really big moments with him. Um, uh, yeah, like, well, like every time Rose and Shores are on the screen together, it’s like, it’s the same thing, right?
Rose
Victor: and Shores. Yeah. You’re gonna confuse Tan, you know. I know. All right, Tan, what about you? What’s your MVP?
Tanya: Um, when you guys were referring to Laura, I… Do you remember that scene where, um, uh, he’s sitting on the toilet and she’s plucking his eyebrows?
Al: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Tanya: And, and, and like- Oh,
Al: yeah. Oh my God.
That’s right. Right? I didn’t think about that. Yeah. Right? You’re right.
Tanya: Good call.
Mat: Yeah.
Tanya: And, and just how, yeah, th- that moment that they had- Mm … and thinking back to what you were saying about- Yeah … Rose pulling out the- The stitches. Yeah … the stitches. We-
Mat: maybe we shouldn’t bring Tim Cherry on.
Al: Oh, right. He
Mat: might
Al: be, uh- He might get pissed off at Kesel for- Like, “Wait a second”
plagiarizing his father’s story.
Tanya: Yeah. Um, I, I think we [01:13:00] all are, are loving Rose because, um, without her, it… she brought the, the, the life to it. Mm-hmm. Um, not just like the hockey hockey and the storytelling and the narrative. It was what the life was g- what, what was happening in, in his life- Mm … not just the hockey realm.
But, um, that’s what brought the human to, to- Yeah … who we knew was this loudmouth, you know, tell it as it is and, um, what was his, his, uh, piece of cake and- Mm-hmm … like all the, all the, all the slogans that he used to use. Yeah. I think that that’s why, yeah, we’re all pulling in the direction of her. I think Kieso did an amazing job.
Mm-hmm. Like- Oh, yeah … truly, truly. He
Al: disappeared into the,
Tanya: into the character. Um, he, uh, and, and, and, and that’s who I’m gonna give it to- All right … is Kieso. Because, yeah, I, I, at m- m- multiple times he had convinced me that I was watching Don Cherry’s life.
Victor: So, so when you say Kieso, [01:14:00] like, do you mean, do you mean Kieso, or do you mean you’re giving it to the Don Cherry character- Oh, that’s a good question
in the show? Yeah.
Tanya: I’m giving it to- No, that’s a good point … Kis- I’m giving it to Kieso playing Don Cherry- Yeah … and how believable-
Al: Mm-hmm …
Tanya: it, it, it, it- Some- … made me think that I was watching Don Cherry’s life. Some people
Al: are born- Thank, thank you for clearing that up. Yeah. Yeah. Some people are born to play a character.
And I’ve … Jared Kieso was born to play Don Cherry. I can’t think of another actor who-
Victor: Jason Momoa playing Lobo.
Al: There you go. I’m gonna take your word for it.
Tanya: I don’t know what you just said. I don’t know what, what we’re talking about.
Al: All right. Okay. Back to the,
Victor: back to the tickets that I
Al: purchased
Victor: earlier.
Tanya: Oh, okay.
Al: All right. We, we have our, our, uh- … our ratings. Uh, no questionable call this week, but I do have a bunch- That sounds
Victor: like a questionable call to me …
Al: we have a bunch of news. First of all, before I begin the news, Matt, do you have the list, uh, of, uh, uh, ready? Of course I have that- Okay, cool … ready. Yeah.
So before we get to that, though, today Crave [01:15:00] announced a bunch of upcoming shows. The f- the most notable were… The most notable news was Seth Rogen has an- has announced that he’s bringing back the Canadian classic show The Littlest Hobo.
Maybe tomorrow I
Mat: thought I heard something about that, yeah
Al: Until
Mat: tomorrow That’s incredible
Tanya: That dog
Mat: was the best
Tanya: dog ever I love that
Al: show I knew you guys would get excited about this, yeah
Tanya: Can we
Victor: watch it? If they change the song, I’m rioting
Al: Right? Oh, why
Tanya: would they?
Al: That’s, that’s basically the sentiment all over the internet right now, all over Canadian internet- Why would they?
was like, “Oh, we’re so excited that Littlest Ho- Hobo is coming back, but they better keep the, the, the- They have to … the theme song. It’s a, it’s a great- And
Victor: they better bring the actor dog back-
Al: No … because- He’s long gone Mm.
Tanya: I don’t think so
Al: But, um-
Tanya: Maybe his, his pups
Al: There’s a- His pup’s
Tanya: pups …
Al: there’s a lot of, uh, lot of chatter.
Uh, I love on my, on my work, uh, teams we have a little, uh, movie chat, and we were talking about it [01:16:00] there, and we… They started joking saying because it’s Seth Rogan bringing it back, it’s gonna be Li- Little Sobo but with a little more edge to it and it’ll be kind of like reverse John Wick, where it’s like the dog, you know, is seeking revenge for his master getting, uh, killed or whatever.
Uh, like it’s gonna be more… And like I hope not. I hope… If they, if they do it, they gotta do it, they gotta keep the innocence, they gotta keep the, uh, all that going. But, uh, for those of you who don’t know, The Littlest Hobo- You’re missing
Victor: out …
Al: is a TV show, a classic Canadian TV show, and if you watch it you’ll be like, “Yep, that’s Canadian.”
It’s all
Victor: available on YouTube, by the way,
Al: so. And it’s all available for free on YouTube. Yeah. Check it out. It’s about a dog that roams around or crosses the country f- and, and sto- and everywhere he stops, um… You know what? It’s kind of like the- He helps someone … it’s kind of like the storyline of The Incredible Hulk, you know, of, of the right?
Where- Oh,
Victor: I was gonna say Poker Face.
Tanya: Po- Yeah, Poker Face It,
Al: it- Well, The Incredible Hulk went from town to town and helped people with their problems. Like the, the, the TV show, not the movies. You know what I mean, right? [01:17:00]
Victor: No, no, yeah. Yeah. But, but Poker Face more recently for people who can relate to it- Yeah
with what’s her name? Uh- Uh, yeah, yeah … Natasha whatever.
Al: Yeah.
Victor: Um, because that’s… She goes from town to town. Yes.
Al: Mm-hmm.
Victor: And she, uh, randomly finds trouble. Yep. Helps it. Yeah. Though I feel like she’s bringing the trouble with her, but anyway. Yeah. Uh, but th- she’s basically The Littlest Hobo. Right. So-
Tanya: Is that still, is that still…
Is there another season of that? Uh, I’m not sure, no. I- We watched the first one.
Al: Yeah, we watched the first one. There’s a second
Victor: or
Tanya: a third season for- Oh, is there? Yeah. Oh, okay. I’ll have to circle back to that.
Al: Anyway, Littlest Hobo. So it’s about a dog and he, and it goes around g- the country, and everywhere he stops there’s trouble and he helps.
He’s a very- He’s like a
Tanya: little angel …
Al: he’s a very smart dog. He- Uh, it’s a German Shepherd, and it, it was awesome. It was peak Canadiana at the time. Yeah. Uh, there’s a great episode- Peak … where, where he’s in, uh, Canada, Canada’s Wonderland when it first opened- Yes … uh, which is really awesome to, to watch. So anyway, so Seth Rogan’s bringing that back.
But that’s not even the biggest news of the day, especially for people who listen to this [01:18:00] epis- uh, to this, uh, podcast. Jared Keeso has another project, not just K- I Kill Bears and Shoresy.
Mat: And-
Al: There’s a new project, and Craveridge, uh, Crave just announced. It’s called Cats in the Plateau. Uh, and it’s set for ’26, ’27.
Uh, oh, yeah, Awesome’s saying it’s Canadian Lassie. I guess that, that would be, yeah. The Little Sobos, like Canadian Lassie, o- only better. Uh, anyway- Better … back to- Oh, yeah,
Clip: yeah, yeah …
Al: back to Jared Keeso- Yeah … Cats in the Plateau. Here’s the, here’s the, uh, the description of the show. It is set in Montreal’s Plateau neighborhood, hence the name.
Uh, two Montreal garbage men, tired of being at the bottom of the social and financial food chain, decide to improve their fortunes by starting a gang. So that’s the premise- We’ll start … for this show. Yes. So right now, it’s very early stages. There’s no mention of a cast yet. We don’t even know if Jared’s gonna act in it.
I mean, I’d be surpri- shocked if he doesn’t, but we don’t know. But we’ll share [01:19:00] details as we find out. He’ll be a
Victor: cop
Mat: in 19-2.
Tanya: Well- When I- It’s gonna be, it’s gonna be- … when I read that, my,
Mat: my first… Go ahead.
Tanya: I was just gonna say it’s gonna be French.
Mat: Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say.
Tanya: Oh, I’m sorry, Matt.
Al: No,
Mat: no, it’s totally fine.
Al: No, it’s not gonna be Fr- it’ll be in English, but- It’s not gonna, no … uh, ’cause, uh, it-
Tanya: No, it’s gonna have a mix, just like h- he did in, uh- Oh, yeah, it probably will … in Letterkenny.
Al: Yeah. So yeah, so first bears, now cats. I mean like, it’s, uh, easy… Yeah, it’s interesting. And so this is gonna be, um, a six-episode season arc comedy series.
I don’t know if it’s a one-season shot or whatever, but, uh- Mm-hmm … I mean, we’re, we’re going back to that original deal that he signed for 48 episodes of something, and now we have- Mm … at least Shores and S- Shoresy season six. We have, uh, six episodes of I Kill the Bear, whatever that is, and now six episodes of Cats in the Plateau.
Mat: You know what it makes me think is- You know, I think we’re… And I’m, and I’m struggling to think of clear examples, but more and more [01:20:00] shows are doing shorter formats. Mm-hmm. Like, they’re coming and going, “I’m only doing one or two seasons,” right? Yeah. A- and not… and, and already going, “I’m not doing 12. It’s not going on…”
Like, “We’re one and done.” Mm-hmm. “Here’s a series. Gone.” And, and it… maybe that’s what he’s flirting around with. Like, he’s like, “I got these ideas. Um, I wanna put ’em out. Do you love ’em? Let’s do a season a- and go from there.” Like, I, I think there’s more of an appetite these days ’cause pe- there’s just so much content out there, and people don’t have the time to commit or the desire to dive into new shows knowing they have, you know, 12 seasons ahead of them.
Yeah. So, you know? Yeah. If they’re one and done- Makes sense … then you love it and move on, right?
Al: Yeah. And Austin makes a good point. I mean, Jared’s a new father, and he just, you know, went on a hockey tour of North America, uh, la- you know, the last six to eight months. Um, now he just wants to work closer to home, so producing a show based in M- in Montreal kinda makes sense.
Uh, kind- Yeah … that’s where he lives, right? So, uh, yeah. I mean, and, uh, we, we found out from, um, I think our buddy Adrian, who, [01:21:00] uh, is connected to Trevor Risk on, on, uh, IG, I think said Trevor was involved in help writing, helping write this. So I mean- You know, yeah, Jared’s got his little group of people, and they come up with ideas and, and they produce them.
And, and, um, New Metric is more than happy to put it out as, as long as he produces hits like Letterkenny and Shoresy, I guess. And we’ll see about, uh, I, I Kill Bears. So, um, yeah, it’s, uh, interesting. Victor, what do you… what did you think when, when… ‘Cause I sent you the news earlier today.
Victor: Yeah. I, uh, didn’t have that much time to process it f- um, but yeah, I mean, bring it on.
I mean, the synopsis, uh, as short as it is- … sounds intriguing enough. Yeah. Um, you know, and, and w- you know, gang, right? What does that actually mean? Yeah. Do we mean like a ghetto gang- Right … or do we mean like a, a barbershop quartet? Like, what are we… It c- it could be anything. Yeah. And like, and is it a gang of cats?
Like, I don’t know. Like, it, it could be any… It could be ridiculous. It could be
Al: stupid. It could be like animated [01:22:00] or, or wearing the, the, the suits that- Yeah … they wore in the, in the Broadway production of Cats. Can you imagine?
Victor: Exa- ex- I mean, I mean, the thing is it could be, it could be like literal, very literal to what we just read.
Yeah. But it could be… The, the actual plot could be adjacent to what we just read. Like it could… You know, this, uh, artistic, uh, interpretation. So we’ll see. I’m, I mean, f- for me it’s like I f- I hope… I’m… It’s good that we’re getting all this content, but it’s like I’m thinking, “Can we just like get the bear first?”
Mm-hmm. Like- Yeah. Right. Yeah … you know, and, and absorb, absorb that. Yeah. I’m still waiting for the fucking Shoresy game to come out- Right … so I can play it on my console.
Tanya: Yeah.
Victor: Like, where’s that? Yeah. Like, where’s an… Give, give me an update about the Shoresy game that apparently w- was released. Mm. So anyway, so I think it’s good.
I’m, I’m happy to hear the news. I’m equally happy about, uh, um, A Little Hobo, to be honest. Um, I, I just love that show.
Tanya: Yeah.
Victor: Um, but, but for this one, I feel like, okay, good to know. First immediate [01:23:00] excitement- Mm … that there’s, you know, more content for us to watch and review. Uh, but it then… it’s like, okay, m- can we get to the bear?
Al: Yeah,
Victor: yeah.
Tanya: Let’s, let’s- Do we know when the bear’s coming out?
Al: We don’t. Um- Still
Tanya: not … yeah … no date?
Al: Our, our best guess is it’ll be, it’ll be next Christmas instead of a, a new season of Shoresy. Next
Tanya: Christmas. Not even this
Al: Christmas? Well, well, this… Sorry, this coming Christmas. Oh,
Tanya: okay.
Victor: Is our best guess. Yeah.
But, but see, that, that’s the thing about this news that doesn’t make sense to me, right? Mm. ‘Cause they you said ’26, ’27. Well, ’26, tw- ’26, ’27 is when the bear’s supposed to come out. W-
Al: so yeah. It also
Mat: says that for the
Al: bear. Th- this is- All right … part of Crave’s press release for their lineup of ’26, ’27 shows. So it wasn’t spec- Oh,
Victor: I see
Al: right? So- Okay … who knows?
Victor: So this one- Yeah … half for sure is gonna fall somewhere later in ’27 then.
Al: I, I, I’m thinking so. Yeah. Like I, I think, and I have no inside knowledge, but I think that I Kill Bear will probably drop on Christmas where Shoresy would normally drop. Because there is no Shoresy in the can yet.
There is I Kill, uh, the Bear in the can already. How do you
Tanya: know that there’s no Shoresy?
Al: We would know if they [01:24:00] shot s- season six. It hasn’t been shot yet. Um, so we would know
Tanya: They haven’t shot it? They
Al: haven’t shot
Tanya: season six yet. Wouldn’t they have shot it, like, in July, like now? Maybe they’re shooting
Al: it summer.
Well, normally, normally they, they shoot it… In the past they’ve shot it, um, in like April, May, like that, that kind of time period. But who knows, maybe it’s a winter season or maybe it’s a summer thing.
Victor: I just assumed they shot it-
Al: Whoa, Jesus.
Victor: Sorry … to be honest. Oh.
Al: What the? They have not shot Shoresy six yet.
Victor: Okay.
Mat: What’s going on? Interesting.
Al: They’ve, uh, Tanya triggered my, my desk to start going up. So it started moving and she-
Mat: That’s- Guys, guys, that’s a little personal … yeah.
Al: Yeah. Anyway, uh, so that’s all we know. I reached out to Cara for comment, Cara Hafelison, the produ- uh, pr- uh, executive producer at New Metric, and all she had to say was, “I have nothing to say except that it’s gonna be awesome.”
And I’m like, that’s, that’s just- Sounds like a Cara response. Yeah, that’s, that’s what she said w- with I Kill Bears. So I said to Sar- to sh- I responded saying, [01:25:00] “There would be news there if you told me you thought it sucked. Uh, but the fact that you think it’s gonna be awesome- Yeah … of course it is.” So we’ll see.
I mean, in Jared we trust, right? We can st- in Jared we still trust. Anyway, that’s all the news for today, but I think it was a very big news day, uh, for that. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, the, all that’s left… Oh, there is another piece of news that I’ll… Well, we’ll talk about it right now actually. Um, June 18th, we have a date for the, uh, book of essays that, that has been put together by our buddy Tobias, and it’s June 18th.
Uh, for those of you who may not remember, um, uh, a book of essays on Letterkenny, um, and I’m… Hold on, I gotta bring up the name because I, oh, I have it here. It’s called, uh, where is… What the hell is it? It’s called Get After It Then. Um, damn it. I, I closed my, my, uh, my Discord. Anyway, let me bring it up because I wanna-
Victor: Danny, can you trigger his desk again?
Al: No, don’t please. [01:26:00] It was
Tanya: by accident.
Al: Yeah. Uh, start vamping and I’ll, I’ll get the, uh, title up in one second. Here it is. It’s called- So what
Tanya: p-
Al: Get, Get After It: Essays on- I was gonna vamp … uh, Essays on the Themes and Charm of Letterkenny. Um, and there’s a bunch of chapters written by different, uh, degens from our community, and a forward written by yours truly.
Uh, and this is… It’s a book. It’s an actual book, in print form, that’s coming out June 18th. So, uh, next week, next Friday, we’re going to have everyone on who has contributed a chapter to this book. Book
Tanya: club.
Al: Our buddy Mike, our buddy Cassie, our buddy Tobias, and our buddy Jeff, and yours truly, and of course, uh, my, my, uh, my co-hosts here.
And we’re gonna talk about the book. Uh, w- we’ll… Tobias is gonna tell us how it all came together and, uh, and also where you can get it. You can al- It’s already available for pre-order. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy. I can’t wait to get it. Um, and yeah. [01:27:00] So that’s, uh, uh, exciting news that we have a date now, ’cause it was…
You know, we were wondering if it was gonna be out in time for, you know, last fall for Christmas. Uh, n- no such luck. But now, uh, we have a s- a, a date of June 18th, so.
Tanya: That’s awesome.
Al: Yeah.
Tanya: Very exciting.
Al: Exciting news. Now, um, Matt’s, uh, yawning, but, uh, just wanna say, uh, I wanna shout out, or get Matt here to do our Patreon roll call.
Mat: Absolutely. A- and just to be clear, my yawn had nothing to do with the information. I’ve just had a long day. Yes. Just the, the timing of that did not create great optics. Um, so of course, we love our patrons. I wanna just call out one unique thing. So with our patron list, we have representation from four countries, and in the US alone, represented by 21 unique states.
Wow. That’s amazing. So, yeah, isn’t that kind of a cool, uh- Yes … fact about that? Um, there’s a lot of love, and these shows have reach, and we all appreciate the hell out of y’all. [01:28:00] So with that, I’m sending out some love to Melbourne Jack, Pennsylvania Josh, Minnesota Chad, our main man Adrian, Awesome from California, Trace from Mississippi, Liz from Michigan, Indianapolis Jason, UK Justin, Maryland Ryan, Toronto Matt, Sudbury Michelle, Idaho Robbie, Mike from Jersey, Joey from Colorado, Casey in Virginia, Jeff in Maine, Miriam in Toronto, Nick in Vegas, Aaron from Chicago, Gordon, Toronto, Dennis, also from the UK, Jen from Virginia- Noah from upstate New York, Scott from parts unknown, Cassie from Simcoe, Dennis from Michigan, Sarah in Wisconsin, Ca- Casey in North Carolina, Jay from Edmonton, Jeremy from Perth, Catherine from Texas, Tobias from Missouri, PJ from Pennsylvania, Paddle from Rhode Island, Dave from Michigan, Charlie from Massachusetts.[01:29:00]
See that? See how easy that was, Al? And last but not least- I can say it too.
Al: Listen Massachusetts. See? No problem. Yeah.
Mat: Yeah. Easy peasy. That’s perfect. And last but not least, and the newest member of our amazing patron group, Teresa from Texas. Thank you all. We love y’all.
Al: So, uh, I’m, I wanna challenge you, Matt, ’cause I think we should do these, these, uh, you know, roll calls, uh, every, every episode, is to come up with one or two memories you have of, uh, of inter- you know, your in…
um, your relationship with any of these, uh, patrons. ‘Cause we’ve all… We’ve met mul- I think all of them. A lot
Mat: of them.
Al: Most of them. Yeah. A couple we haven’t met- Yeah … in person, but we’ve met them on, uh, ag halls and stuff like that. Yeah. And, uh, you don’t have to, you know, ri- rhyme them off each, each episode, but just, yeah, do like a Matt’s Corner.
Like, “I remember-“
Victor: And, and at the very least, for all the states, uh, uh- Yeah … make sure to recognize the candle associated with each state. Or
Tanya: maybe- We’ll get Cassie to send you
Al: the list … the
Tanya: flower. Does
Mat: each state have a scent?
Tanya: Does, [01:30:00] does each f-
Al: Yeah. Um- Does each state
Tanya: have its own flower? New
Al: York State, the scent is sewer.
Tanya: No, no, no, no. Do they have flowers?
Al: Yeah. Yeah. Texas is barbecue,
Mat: right? In
Tanya: Texas- So maybe, maybe the smell of each state’s candle should be the flower. Yeah.
Al: Yeah, maybe.
Mat: I don’t know.
Al: Um- That’s
Mat: too overwhelming …
Al: say Matt’s Corner, say when you talk about, like, your time with Joey, uh, when he was giving you a piggyback ride up in Sudbury, you know, during a
Mat: That wasn’t the piggyback ride I remember.
Al: Oh, no?
Mat: Right. So yes, I hear what you’re saying. I will, I will dip into some memories, for sure.
Al: All
Mat: right. It was fun.
Al: All right. I’m gonna play us off here. Um, or, well, I guess we should do final comments around the horn. For Victor, we’ll start with you.
Victor: Yeah, uh, yeah, so this was great fun. I’m glad that we kind of did this.
Mm-hmm. We’ve been talking about it for s- for a long time, and, and it’s worked. It, it worked out well. Uh, your, your timing needs adjustment- … and we’ll fix that for the s- for the s- for the next one, but that’s okay. It’s been six
Mat: years. We ain’t fixing shit.
Victor: Um, no, but I’m glad [01:31:00] we’re doing this- Yeah … and I think this maybe will open door for us to do more things like that that’s kind of out o- out of the, uh, comfort zone, uh, while we’re waiting for Jared to drop his new shows.
Um, so yeah, I think this was a great idea. It worked out, and, uh, we’ll looking forward to doing the rest.
Al: All right, uh, yes, I echo, uh, Victor’s comments. Uh, thank you, guys, for, for doing this, and it’s been a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to, to do the other movies ’cause I have watched all of them in the past, but it’s been a while, so, so it’s, it’s kinda fun to revisit these.
Um, and also this time around, drawing all the parallels between Don Cherry and Shoresy- Mm … for sure. Um, oh, Awesome says, “Each state does have a flower, Tanya, and the piggyback ride was me, Al…” Oh, sorry. It’s- W- it was Awesome who gave you the piggyback ride. I thought it was, yeah. Anyway, I- I f- Matt, I feel like- Yeah, I think- Didn’t Robbie also give you a pi- I feel like a lot of people
Mat: were- No, I think he just c- I think he just carried me.
I don’t know
Al: if it was- There was a lot of carrying Matt around,
Mat: yeah. It was- Yeah … it might have been slightly ag- it might have been slightly [01:32:00] against my will when Robbie carried me, but- … it was probably for my best.
Al: Yeah. Anyway, I appreci- appreciate you guys, and, and, uh, looking forward to next week and talking about this book.
Uh, Matt?
Mat: Yeah, this is, this is fun. And just, just so we’re clear, um, so next week is the book tour.
Al: Yes.
Mat: Then we’re watching full part two of miniseries one. No,
Al: no. No, we’re still gonna do it- The first half of part two.
Victor: Yeah, it’s gonna… Our- the podcast is gonna take too long to get through the whole 90 minutes.
Al: Yeah.
Mat: So now we’re splitting them, so everyone- Yeah, we’re
Al: splitting them. Yeah.
Victor: Yeah.
Al: So you can watch the whole thing if you want. Or as many as we have. You can watch the whole thing if you want, or you can just watch the first half. Uh- Well,
Mat: Victor, you got your way.
Al: Yeah. You did it, pal. Victor got his way.
You did it. As usual. He always gets his way. I’m proud of
Mat: you, Victor. I knew you’d get it,
Tanya: Vic. Because I’m laughing.
Mat: Man-
Al: Squeaky wheel always
Mat: gets the grease … he was so, he was so passionate about it. It was so good.
Al: I don’t wanna talk about it, Matt. Keep going, keep going.
Mat: Oh, my gosh. No, fun times. Can’t wait to, uh, really break it down and just do half of each time-[01:33:00]
you know, the time.
Al: Yes.
Mat: You know, not to dwell on it, but- Mm-hmm … no, let’s do it. Let’s go, guys. It’s fun.
Al: You know what? You do it next time, Matt, if it’s so fucking easy.
Mat: Oh, it’s gonna be a shit show if you let me do it. Yes. Oh. If you, if you wanna trust me with that power-
Al: Mm …
Mat: we’re gonna lose some listeners. We might lose a few Patreons that episode.
Al: Tam, to you.
Tanya: All right. Um, you know what? All of this would not be possible if it wasn’t for one person, so big shout-out to Awesome. Thank you so much for, um, pushing, uh, for us to do the Don Cherry. Oh, yes. Um, that… You know what? We wouldn’t be doing this without you, so thank you for sharing, uh, the videos and, um, um, getting, uh, getting this taken care of, for sure.
Um, it’s been a lot of fun watching the first, uh, part.
Al: Mm-hmm. Let’s just say first part.
Tanya: First part. First part? First f- first two? Fir- first half?
Al: Move on. You already ruined it by going past- … just first part.
Mat: But it i- [01:34:00] it is slightly confusing.
Al: It’s very confusing, yes.
Tanya: Um, I’m looking forward to watching the, the second part- Mm-hmm
and, um, the videos that Victor’s referring to. Um, I think that’s gonna be its own thing maybe- Yeah … is the, the- They’re not that
Victor: long. Like, let- let’s not over, over-dramatize it. Oh. Just watch it. Mm. Just watch it as part of the movie. Well,
Tanya: maybe there’s other interviews
Victor: Maybe there are, but, but this, this, th- in here there’s only three, two or three- And maybe- Yeah, there’s three interviews, yeah
Tanya: maybe Allan can get Tim.
Victor: Yeah, it’s not enough content for a
Al: podcast episode- I’ll, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll mention to Mike to, to float- … float the idea past, uh- Yeah … Tim Cherry. But, uh, we’ll see. I’m not, I’m not holding my breath. Well. Anyway.
Tanya: This was a lot of fun.
Al: Okay.
Tanya: Um, and you know what? I also wanna say, Victor, I don’t think I ever noticed that you in your AI, uh, office- Yeah
I, you, I’ve never noticed that you had a periodic table- Yeah … as part of your, uh- Of course he has … your head moved at one point, and I was like, “Damn, boy, he’s got one of [01:35:00] those tables in the background even.” You, you’ve got all of it. You’ve got it-
Mat: Yeah. It’s a terrible background though, ’cause the, the sky, the, the skyline makes no sense.
There’s no water- It makes zero sense … that close to the dome.
Tanya: No. No, you’re right, there is- Oh, I didn’t recognize
Mat: it … it’s like, there’s like a big-ass canal going straight through- Yeah … the, the south.
Tanya: I was just like, “There’s
Victor: no tower.” Yeah, but to anybody from tr- anybody from f- who’s not from Toronto, it looks fine.
Mat: Mm-hmm. Well, now I’m telling them all- But there is no tower … what a big, atrocious monster of a skyline.
Tanya: There’s no- Let it go, Victor … there’s no tower on the island that’s that high. All right, let’s end this so I can- No … I can get the after
Al: party going.
Tanya: Yeah, yeah.
Mat: The a- even the angle’s wrong. It doesn’t make any sense.
You guys all suck.
Al: Let’s move on. Yeah. All right, here we go. Let’s play, let’s, let’s, let’s listen to, uh, Joji, shall we?
some music soon. That’s all we have for this episode. Next week, we pause on the [01:36:00] Don Cherry movie for a week to bring you a preview of a new book of Letterkenny-themed episode- es- essays that is about to publish. And the reason we’re talking about it, apart from it being related to Letterkenny, is that it was brought together by our, by this community, namingly our buddy Tobias, who led the way, and he received contributions from our friends Cassie, Mike B, and Jeff, and yours truly, I wrote the forward.
And boy, oh boy, would I like to rub the fact that I’m going to be published in print in the faces of all my high school English teachers. But I digress. Check back next week to learn more about the book, how it came together, and where you can order your copy. Until then, if you’d like to support this podcast, become a patron, tell a friend.
Also, follow us on Bluesky, @produceandpod.com. Thank you for lis- uh, for listening. And now we’re going to the after-party. On behalf of Tanya, Matt, Victor, and myself, thank you. Have a great [01:37:00] week.