Welcome to that was us. On today's episode of that was us. We'll be discussing season one, episode two, the big three. Jack and Rebecca struggle with raising a family. Beth grows suspicious of William. Kate stresses over her weight loss. And Kevin faces fallout from his meltdown. Welcome, everyone. How's everybody doing?

Well, how are you?

I'm doing pretty good. Happy to be here and discuss. Our second episode of this is us, title three overnight.

We're a smart. Here we are.

So it's interesting because I was speaking to that real quick. People ask, when did you know you had a hit show? And the first one comes out and the pilot hits and it's big. Right? And you're like, all right, we got a good pilot. That's good. Sometimes you have, like, that sophomore slump that falls off. Right. We dropped that second joint and people were like, nah, we sticking around up. It was great. It was nice. And I'll get to this later, but the base. I want to talk about the synopsis of this one. Jack and Rebecca are struggling with raising a family.

Yes.

Beth is growing suspicious of William. Kate is stresses over weight loss. Kevin faces fallout from his meltdown. Now, we didn't actually talk about his meltdown in our first episode.

That's right.

There was so much to get to.

There's so much to get through.

There's so much groundwork done.

Justin, in his sort of network, you know, thing brilliantly just, like, loses his ish because he has this wonderful scene. Like, something like, the guy can actually write when you want him to, and he feels so good. And as an actor, you guys can relate to this. Like, all right, let's get an alt. That's basically just crappy. Right? Like, that does not have anywhere close to the same artistic integrity of the thing that you just did. But you still have to do it to.

Can we go again? And this time, can you just do it faster.

To cover your bases? Right.

Is always a great note.

Yeah.

A little faster, funnier, louder. And he just flips out in such a beautiful way. Shout out to the late, great Alan thicke.

Absolutely.

Who kind of crushed that scene. He walks off, he's like, I don't know what he said. He said something like, oh, that was a good. I don't know.

Thanks so much. This has been fun.

This has been fun.

Yeah.

It was brilliant. So now we're dealing with the fallout of that in this episode. Okay.

But before we get to that, Sterling's notes are back.

Sterling's gonna go to his notes real quick. Okay. First thing is Webster that I have in my notes, which is the kids at school are making fun of Randall.

Yeah.

Right. They're calling him not by his name, but by Webster, who we all know was a sitcom character who was also a transracial adoptee.

Yeah.

Right. And the difficult part about it, for Randall, it's not just the teasing, but it's that his brother joins in on the teasing. So this is really interesting layering that happens because you're not necessarily aware of the connective tissue between Kevin and Kate and Randall. You see that Kevin and Kate are pretty tight with each other and Randall. You see the picture at the end of episode one. Right. But now we kind of get a chance to find out what's the backstory that connects these three kids with each other. Right. And it sounds like there's a little bit of tension between these two brothers and that their relationship has not been the best.

Right.

We also see in the second episode that we are not telling this story linearly. Right.

Right.

We are jumping eight years into the future, which was a real revelation. I don't know if it was to you as well. But, like, getting that second episode, I was like, here we go. They're coming home from the hospital. And it's like, nope, we're jumping eight years into the future. The kids are eights. There's a lot going on in their lives. The relationship between Jack and Rebecca is in a precarious place.

Yes.

Which I think probably feeds into the relationship between the brothers. And mom is sort of struggling to keep her head above water, doing a little bit of everything in the household. Because Jack is a bit absent. His drinking has entered the equation. Sure. So it's interesting that Dan thought to kind of jump into the story after the pilot at this particular place, this sort of imperfect pass that Jack and Rebecca, who are kind of, you know, they're kind of the glue. Right. The parental glue of this family and this storytelling device that things are not in great shape.

You go from newborns to tense. Breakfast in the kitchen.

Yeah.

Where dad's off to work.

Yeah.

Coffee drinks in his coffee. No, he's like, do I need to? Do not know.

Coffee.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How many times have they had this conversation?

And it's also when we hear the big three chant for the first time.

We hear the big three chant for the first time.

So, again, Dan Fogelman and the writers are not telling you anything. They're showing you what has happened. How old are the kids at this point in eight years? How this family has developed and how they have decayed in certain ways.

Sure.

And I find it fascinating.

Episode three again, then jumps back in time. So I think very quickly we were telling the audience, you think you're on just the sort of straight path. No, no. We're going to be, as Dan says, taking a bunch of home videos and sort of shaking them up in a box and then someone just grabbing them out.

Yeah.

It's a worst, for sure. Yeah. It's like not knowing what they're getting. That's sort of what each episode was.

Let's jump into that marital friction between Jack and Rebecca and the brilliant Amanda Lee Moore. Many more. So you had to audition?

I did.

With the scene where you're saying to Jack, like, you know, how do you think we're doing as parents? I see why you got the part. Thank you.

Cause I think, sterling, we're at a six. You know, she said, I'm at a nine. You don't really know where this monolog is. And when she. The way you say that line to him, you're like, oh, no, we're in a thing. Yeah. This is officially a conversation.

I write this.

Drinking has to stop. I don't know, be a man, figure it out and get it done. But I can't have this anymore. Many more. You're the youngest of us, but you're also kind of like the oldest. What do you attribute that to? Like, you're just an incredibly mature human being and you've lived a lot of lives.

Lovely of you. Thank you. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think all of us can attribute so much of the work we're able to do on the show to what's on the page. Like, what's on the page is just so beyond that. Like, most of our job is done for us. I mean, that's how I felt, reading that scene and going into audition for it, not knowing where the character was going, what story were even telling. But I love that very quickly. We understand the dynamic in this relationship. Like, this is a woman who's not afraid to put it all out there and to tell her husband what needs to change in order for things to just continue on. The status quo is not working. To juxtapose that again with just the little bit of information we learned about them in the pilot themselves. They're sweet. They have their little routine for Jack's birthday before she goes into labor and her water breaks. You can see that they're very, very deeply in love. You can see, obviously, this is the most important moment of this couple's life, being in the hospital, giving birth to their children and what goes terribly wrong, all of that.

It's like you still don't quite know who these people are. And then you jump all this, this, like, you jump forward in time and have to come to understand that, like, a lot of life has been lived, but yet, and I felt when I was reading it and when we were sort of playing it, like, this isn't something she's ever said to him before. I don't think they've ever had this conversation. Things have really been pushed to the brink where she's forced. Her hand's been forced. She has to say something like.

And she does not intend on repeating herself. Yeah, this conversation.

And I guess, like, I can relate to that personally too. Like, it takes a lot for me to get pushed to the point where I have a point to make like this, you know, where I do, you know, sterling, you know, you've been witness to it, but it's like, it's. It takes. It takes a lot. It takes a lot for me to really not lose it. But, you know, stand up for myself, advocate for myself. And that's what Rebecca was doing here because she had no choice.

And it's a moment where you realize that Rebecca, obviously, no human is perfect. Everyone has their moments, their flaws. But, like, Rebecca is the healthiest character in this show. Can I say that?

I mean, she definitely has her.

I mean, everybody does. Everybody does.

And her baggage.

But it is. It is the moment. It is the moment where you kind of in an ensemble show.

Yeah.

You realize who the pivot point is.

Yeah.

Interesting.

Especially because later.

Yes. Wanna get to that. To that later part.

But even Miguel in the bar, that's.

The next thing I wanted to talk about.

Even says it. He does, which he's punching. Mike or Miguel in this?

He's Miguel.

He's Miguel.

He's Miguel.

He's Miguel.

But he was originally Mike.

He was originally Mike in the script.

Right before John Huertas got cast.

Yeah, got it.

Huertas has this way of showing up and acting like, was he the pilot? Like, he been here this whole time. He just felt like it just fell.

Right in, which is perfect.

Which is what John does. Right, right.

Another man who'd been on tv for a long time, for a very long time, who shows up and people are like, I know him.

Yes, I love him.

I know that guy. I love that.

This also just reminds me, I think you mentioned how funny Justin is and he is and you are and John is John Huerta. Lord have mercy.

Okay. Would you remember scenes, though, with the three? Anytime I would get to set, and I was like, oh, gosh. Cause I was always in prosthetics. John, Chris, and Justin. I'm like, this is Zoe. Our makeup artist is gonna get mad. Cause I'm gonna face so much but rubble. I'm gonna laugh the old off my face. It was too much with all of you.

He is hysterical. And the way he just sort of like, you know what? I love him showing up as his friend. He. I don't know how he did that. I don't know how much time him and Milo had with each other. Again, a lot of it you just attribute to the script or whatnot. But he's like, all right, that's his boy. Cause only your boy could talk to you the way that he was talking to him. Like, bruh, you about to have your third drink, and it's not even 05:05 like, what's going on?

And you know what's waiting for you at home.

Yeah. Talking about his wife's ass, and he gets away with, hey, come on, man. Like, you instantly know how long, how old this friendship is by the way that they're interacting.

Yeah. And the fact that we learned, like, we may not know it now, but the fact that Jack takes it. Okay. Because we learned some stuff about Jack that he don't take much mess from a lot of people.

That's right.

But he does from Miguel.

But he takes it from Miguel. So I think that's a big point, too. You were talking a little bit about how you didn't have a lot to say in the pilot.

Yeah.

And I think sue felt similarly in terms of, like, all right, I'm not sure where it's gonna go, but there was a trust. Also, I wanna say this about Dan. I think he, over the course of six years, was very attuned to, like, this is an ensemble show, and if somebody's been, you know, up, like, he wanted to make sure that everybody got to eat, you know, that nobody felt like they had been sort of disregarded or forgotten about for an extended period of time. Cause he had some really good people. He wanted to make sure everybody felt like they were being serviced with also.

Giving us some nice time off, also.

That, I'll let you lovely people do this, and then I'll come in and we got a chance to do it that way. And so there's the conversation in bed where she's like, hey, baby, can I bring something up? Like, I don't know how to bring it up. She's like, hey, we don't censor ourselves with each other. And she's like, how long is your, you know, 60 year old crackhead daddy gonna be living in my daughter's bedroom? Like, well, damn, baby. And you got a real sense of that marriage. Cause we've been married for 17 years at that time. And it was really interesting. Just a little counterpoint, like, how people. I don't know if people talk to you, Mandy, about Jack and Rebecca versus Randall and Beth, or if they saw them as the same or complimentary goods or, like, opposing. Like, did people talk to you about those two marriages?

Complimentary.

Complimentary? Yeah.

I mean, I think people held both in such high regard for different reasons, you know? Cause they were such different.

They were very different marriages.

Yes.

Right. Like, for me, it was one of those things where r and b became such a big thing. Sure. Probably similar to, like, how sterling and Ryan are, where people, like, enjoy our marriage and, like, you guys are goals. And I was like, it's always so sweet, but it's also. I'm happy when we get to season three and you see us go through things. I'm always worried that people think that it's too easy.

Right.

Marriage.

Yeah.

Period.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? And, like, you're, like, you guys are so perfect and everything like that. And so it was nice to show that they had to go through something, because what makes it perfect is the earning. It's not that it's easy.

The recovery.

It's the recovery that makes something really enviable, because there's so many places where you can say, like, nah, I think I'm tapping out. That you decide not to tap out and figure out what's the way through to the other side.

Yeah.

Sidebar. We're sitting in the hallway listening to him about to tell our daughters about his coquette issues, that I was like, hey, man, you really haven't been around kids.

That moment made me laugh out loud, not only in the writing, but in the editing.

Yeah, right.

One of the things that I learned about how special Dan Fogelman is when I got to direct much, much later was watching the way he edits this show and the musicality of it. People talk about how sad the show is, how much it makes them feel. The show is hysterical.

Yes.

The show is very funny.

It really is.

And that moment definitely made me laugh out loud, but it's in that. Well, cocaine's an interest. Okay, let's. You know, the timing not only of the performance, but of the editing and of the music. And just like the way I don't know everything about this show, rewatching it.

Just interesting that you say music, because the second episode is really when I started to hear the identity of Sid Khosla's incredible.

Talk about that brother real quick. Cause he's a killer.

Sid is just remarkable. He was the composer, composed the score, most of all of the original songs that occurred over the course of many seasons of the show.

We're gonna get all these people in here to talk to us.

Correct. But it was interesting watching again with fresh perspective. The pilot, not as much, but the second episode is where you started to hear those familiar themes that then were carried through that are the heartbeat of the show. They are so synonymous with not just the theme of the show, but just when you're not even paying attention. It sets the tone for everything. And I feel like it really works. Was it surfaced in a real way in this second episode for me, where I was like, oh, wow, okay. That's something that I remember hearing, like, you know, many, many episodes. Many, many seasons from now.

Yes.

It's like the germ of. It started in the second episode when the theme was.

The theme in episode two.

I think it was three. It was three, yeah.

Cause I remember I couldn't stop whistling it after I had heard it and whatnot. And the fact that they jump in the head, but the fact that you bodied that song, that that was that melody. Oh, we were all in tears. But we'll get to that in season six.

We'll talk to you about that in five years.

We'll talk about that in five years.

More.

That was us after this short break.

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Justin and that hat, he had to wear, like, the knit wool caps and like, and you would think that Justin's like, okay, that fits, like, the character, whatever. Justin himself hated that effing hat. Right? Like, he's like, I don't wanna wear this bullshit. So mad.

That hat is of a time.

And it was also like, when Katie cigars is like, we take off that hat. He was like, I'm so happy you've.

Gotten so famous that you can wear it.

I know that he had that reaction to it.

Oh, hated it. I mean, absolutely loathe.

Gosh, so left out when you're not on set.

The same way that he loathes every once in a while. Future Justin, a goatee.

Oh, he hated that.

And when justin hates something, it's strong, it's visceral.

Yeah, he wears it.

He wears it very strongly.

Yeah.

But there's something about his character that makes me, I always feel like sterling relates to Kevin in a real way in terms of someone trying to find their artistic integrity and fight for that thing. And like, how much agency do you think you could actually pull off? Right, sure. Because he has his spaz out at the show, and then they're like, you're under contract.

Yeah.

Like, you, there are real world repercussions.

Yeah. You don't just get to walk away.

Art meets commerce.

Exactly. And he's still just like, but I don't like this show.

But I don't want to contract. But I don't want it. No, you're legally bound.

But I'm not gonna. Yeah. Like, no, yeah, that's, that's where he is with that. And so he enlists his sister. He talks.

Have either of you ever had a moment like that where you had to, like, walk away? You would, you had committed to something.

Yeah.

But then. Had to then realize it wasn't gonna be what you thought it was. You don't have to tell me. You don't have to say what it was.

Sure, yeah. I mean, I don't think in quite a public sense, as Kevin's story sort of unfolds. Yeah, exactly. I just like, walked off set.

You've told me if you're comfortable talking about it early in your music career, like, people wanting you to be a certain thing and you're like, yeah, it's not gonna happen.

Yeah, I guess in that sense, for sure, yeah. Having a strong sense of self and what your value is and what you bring to the table and ultimately, like, what path you wanna go down, what lane you wanna stay in, and sort of sticking to that, for sure. Yeah.

I don't think I've had anything that drastic. I did something where I was on a show and they would forget to put me in scenes, but they wanted me in scenes, so they would just take the line from another character and just give it to me. And it wasn't, like, specific to my character. It was just like a line of.

Like, I agree, right.

That sort of thing. And, like, I would say something every once in a while, but I'm also like, I don't think I had the same strength of conviction as Kevin. And I would say, like, in a very sort of interesting way, just, like, in terms of ethnicity and whatnot. I kind of feel like I'm always more expendable and sort of like, the way that I temper myself is a little different. Also very afraid of being labeled the angry black man. There's something when a tall, asgardian white cat does something that sort of, like, feels like he's being strong and convicted or whatnot, that if a brother does the exact same thing, could be labeled in a slightly different way.

Sure, sure.

There's privilege in that. For sure. Absolutely.

Yeah. What about you?

I'll do anything.

You have no qualms.

Literally, all you have to do is ask. No, the only way I can relate to what you just said is by my size. And I've only realized in recent years that when I have certain reactions, that it makes people feel unsafe. You know what I mean?

I do.

And I don't want to make people feel unsafe.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And. Yeah. So I've had to, like, I feel you take that into consideration.

Right.

Like, I don't get. I don't get to express anger the same way someone who is 5ft tall.

Right.

Gets to express a anger. If I. If I. Considering the people, not just who I'm directed at, directing it at, but the people I'm with. The people, like, it feels.

Yeah, yeah, no, I get you. I get you. I just wanted to highlight for a second that I carried my two babies, Annie and Tess, who were played beautifully by faith and heiress. They were small enough at one point.

Wow.

For me to pick them up, one in each arm and take them up the stairs.

Can you believe it?

Aerys is a freshman or sophomore in college right now.

I can't.

So then we'll talk about this because we're not gonna talk too much about our young people, our minors, just to give them some space and safety. But what a joy it was to watch these kids grow up.

Literally.

We literally, over the course of six years, got a chance to see children become young adults or young adults become even younger, you know, older young adults. And I have relationships with a few of them where every once in a while we text or whatnot. And just to see that they're out in this world doing magnificent things because we had a magnificent group of young people.

Yes, true.

And I'll speak specifically to the young randalls who sort of embodied the characters throughout. How privileged I was to know that the character was always in good hands. Right. It was pretty awesome to see, like, oh, it's tracking. You know what I mean? The writers do it too, but, like, the two actors who played just extraordinary.

And for folks who don't know, the quote unquote cliche unwritten rule in Hollywood, don't work with kids or animals. It's unpredictable. It's difficult. Not only does this show have kids in it, it has 910 1112.

So many kids.

They're not just kids.

Babies. And Dan, not only were there kid characters in the show from the beginning, he kept adding them. He just kept adding them, which he knew. He knows how that works.

I think that's also part of what Dan wants, you know what I'm saying?

And it was like a challenge for himself.

Yeah.

Because, I mean, obviously we'll talk about it more, but, like, these kids, like you say, grow up. And so the show has to keep up with them growing right before our eyes. It's amazing.

It was pretty awesome. I know you guys had, like, kids all the time.

We had all the kids at all the ages. And I will echo that same sentiment. We were so unbelievably lucky. Cause as you said, there is that unwritten rule. And I don't know how, but we lucked out in every regard with Lonnie and Parker and Mackenzie, with Hannah and Logan and Niles, who all played the respective big three at different ages, who were all young people. And yes, we watched them grow up. They were all extraordinary actors to begin with. Brought so much to the table. And, you know, to be a part of, like, the beginning of their journeys as well, and now to start acting careers, at their acting careers and trying to impart on them that. This is unbelievable. This doesn't happen, like, soak it in. This is so special. Not every job will feel like this and look like this. And I know Milo and I did our best to try to take care of them as best as we could and just had so much fun over the years working with all of them.

It reads. It reads on camera how much fun everyone is having.

Well, hopefully they trusted us because we trusted them, and it just, like, it really felt like a family. It did.

They can act, too. Like they were really.

They can all act. Yes.

I want to go. There's weight versus health, and Kate, I wrote, and there's a flashback to you.

Putting her to bed and talking about.

Mama only ate fruit today.

Yeah.

I just wanted to, like. Yeah.

I think they were sort of starting to lay the seeds in the groundwork of the complicated nature between a mother who's concerned about her child's health, recognizes that body image is a thing with women specifically, and how all that was going to play into the future and how to sort of handle it delicately again. I mean, I think that Rebecca is truly a flawed person like all of us, and doesn't always nail it, doesn't always make the choice that aligns with what I would want to do. But I love that all of that is aired. I love that all of that is. Is a part of what the show is, and we get to see these characters experience that.

It's such a throwback, too, to being a parent. And what would that have been, the late eighties?

Yeah.

Like, what types of conversations we were having, what types of relationships we had with our parents, with food.

With food, with what healthy eating meant. Like, just eating a bowl full of fruit. I'm like, where's the protein? Blood sugar's gonna spike, and she's not gonna.

Yeah.

She's gonna fall asleep in the middle of class. Yeah. It's really interesting, but I think it starts to pinpoint exactly what their relationship, their mother daughter relationship and dynamic is that obviously, we see carried throughout the seasons and throughout the series.

There are things my wife and I frequently laugh about this, that we grew up eating on the regular that are difficult to find in our house.

Yeah.

Because, like, high fructose corn syrup was in everything. Everything.

Oh, yeah.

Like, just for the young people that don't know, you guys ate high fructose corn syrup.

Yeah.

For my pancake syrup, we had a bottle of Karo.

Yeah. Yeah.

There weren't other options?

Fructose corn syrup that I poured sterling.

We have some in our pantry right now.

For cooking purposes, or do you pour it directly on the pancakes for when.

My mom comes over?

Oh, wow. Interesting.

Cause it's. Sir.

I mean, it's what she knows.

It's what she knows.

And it's like, oh, yes, you might need it when she comes. She might want this. She doesn't.

Right. But it's in our pantry, just in case.

Does anybody know what Karo is? Nobody listening.

Only people know what I'm talking about. But it's so interesting because, like, you had, like, they were eating cereal and you put something else to the side for her. Yeah.

Fruit and cottage cheese or something. Yeah.

I don't know. Just over time, what I think knowledge of, like, what to do. And once you know better, you do better, and you're just trying to figure it out. The grace of the show, in addendum to all the other things that we're talking about, is seeing parents at the same point of life as their children helps to elucidate that. Like, oh, these are just people trying to figure it out.

Right, right.

And when you're a kid, you're expecting perfection from these people. And then you grow up and you have kids and you say, I'm so sorry.

I've never. Yes. The amount of empathy that I have developed over the last three years.

Yes.

For your own parents.

For what my parents were trying to do in the early eighties with no resources, no Internet, no family around. Like, it's amazing. It's amazing that we made it.

Yeah.

Just jumping around in the back seat. No seat belt on. Put your show in. The show are just the best.

Dukes of hazzard as role models on how to.

I used to love it, generally. Yeah. What am I watching?

Oh, I missed that laugh. Sterling.

Oh, my goodness. Okay, okay, wait. So the next one I have. Cause we're starting to lay the foundation of Kevin and Randall. Cause they're having a little wrestling match. And, you know, you're like, why are you messing with your brother? What's the problem? Yeah, and why are you calling them Websters? Well, they call him. They think it's weird that I'm his brother. I think he says something to that.

Yes.

Right.

Which, for an eight year, it has to be. It has to be so strange. For. Look at the way my four year old is processing the world. Three and a half year old. And the way he's trying to, like, make sense of things and how, like, confusing everything is. But also perfectly clear to him. Like, well. Well, everything is everything. Nothing is put through a lens of history or a lens of baggage or a lens of trauma. It's just like.

It is what it is. Yeah.

It is what it is.

This is weird. Why is he. My brother?

But as they get older. I mean, you have older kids than we do.

Yes, by a certain age. I'll say for this, for the twelve year old in particular. Cause when we get to that part with our kids in the show, his level of cognition, of recognition of what's happening around him, it's like. I know. It's whether you decide to tell me about it or not. I can see, like, the eyes, right? So they're figuring things out. So oftentimes, and this would be an echo back to the show, we think by not talking about something with a kid, we're shielding them from it. They see that stuff, right? They see it. It's either they're gonna get the information from you, or they're gonna get the information from someone else in the environment.

I gotta tell you, this echo, this probably get edited out of the show the other day. Every time when I drop my son off at school, he rides the tire swing with two other kids, and we're pushing him around, and that's our ritual, right? And there's some kid who I see every morning. He's lovely kid. I love him. He's hysterical. And he's swinging around on the tire swing. And as he swings around, he looks at me, a big smile on his face, and goes, I want to chop your head off. I'm sorry, what? Time to chop your head off. And I couldn't stop laughing. Just like how these minds pure. I didn't ask. Where'd you hear that? I didn't correct him. I thought it was hysterical.

Oh, man, that really got me.

He knew you. A taser face. He was like, I'm a tattoo.

And then my son started parroting it, and I'm like, okay, who wants to go faster on the tire swing, huh? Just change the subject.

Oh, man.

It was just these moments, these moments where you have an insight into the mind of a child and how as they are socializing themselves. This goes back to these two brothers socializing themselves and being pulled by negative forces and positive forces and helpful things and things that detract. It's so terrifying to send them out into the world.

So, okay, that's a perfect segue into the quote that I was looking for, which is from Rebecca to Randall. And she says, promise me you'll always be good, because it feels so, like, innocuous.

What a thing.

And it's so mean on a person and such a. And such an innocent, like, hopeful thing that you would want for somebody. And to see how he sort of.

It's like, in 300, internalizes that.

Right.

And uses that as, like, not as a crutch, but, like, it almost becomes this burden for him. Like, I have to be good for mom. I told mom I would be good.

Yeah.

No one can do that.

No, no.

I'm the good one.

Yeah. Yeah. And we'll go. So. Okay.

That is an interesting, like, foreshadowing.

You gotta give our writer. He good.

Every single one. Because it comes from the top down. Every single person he brought on to write with.

Yeah.

Yes. To be a part of this show.

And this is something I can say. I can say about our show. Cause people, you know, we're gonna go. We're gonna go through all these episodes. All six seasons.

Yeah.

This show was stopped intentionally. We didn't get canceled.

No.

We didn't get yanked. There was an idea on how the show was gonna go, and so in the writing, there is no fluff.

Yeah. There's no filler. No.

They were not trying to meet an episode order. Like, one year, we did 16 instead of 18.

Yeah. Was that coming out of the COVID pandemic?

Whenever that was. And it's just like. And Dan just refused.

Well, it was so intentional, because it's like, especially with the way that we tell this story. It's like the end. We're already telling the end. So, like, the middle had to sort of meet up at just the right point. There wasn't a way to sort of extend it just for the sake of it?

Well. Cause we got. We'll get to it. We got to the end at the Super bowl episode.

Yeah.

Right?

Yeah, yeah.

That's for the first time. Anyway, just a little teaser for you. I talked about. How do you think we're doing so far at parenting? Killer. Just. I can go back to it again because the focus. So let me tell you all something about Mandy Moore.

Ready? Go. Okay, tell us.

I'm like, what?

So, Manny, more like before scene sometimes, like, if it's, like, a deeply emotional sort of thing, she sort of, like, revs her. So, yeah, I've seen a little bit. Yeah.

Can you.

Does this thing with.

Yeah, show us.

I don't have enough space. I'm gonna knock over.

No, no, there's a wide shot. Stand right here.

But the microphone.

Stand up. Stand up right here. There's a wide.

Hold on.

Yeah, we gotta see it. We gotta see it. Can you do it? Can you show us? Or maybe you don't want to do it.

No, no, no. I want to see Sterling's interpretation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I just wanna feel it.

She was embodying.

She was getting amped up. Right. And I can only imagine before this one.

Yeah.

Sitting down is. It's so stagnant. It's like you gotta just shake it up. Yes.

It's all up here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you were waiting for Jack. Like, the gun was cocked and loaded.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, I have something to say. Sir. How do you think we're doing at parenting?

Yeah.

Like, the both of us. Cause, like, I'm doing pretty good.

Yeah.

When you're good. When you're here, you good.

I think that's the most heartbreaking revelation in that scene. It's like she knows and the audience knows. Like, this is. These are two people who are so deeply connected, and she so wants for him. She so knows he's capable of doing it.

Yes.

Which is really relatable.

Which, as you're rewatching this show, there are these moments, right? These monologuettes that are delivered so beautifully. But what this show does, that tv tends not to do. They did it with the Doctor K Jack conversation.

Yeah.

And they did it on Rebecca's monolog where it is so good.

She's lived on it.

They do not cut away.

Yeah.

And I guarantee that wasn't the plan.

Right.

Like, that's not intended. But when you're watching that episode, you are so good that the editor is like, well, what would we cut to that's better than this?

We're gonna talk about how good could be.

Why would we cut away from the. No, we all came here.

You're gonna. Patty, you're gonna be uncomfortable, and you just sit in that discomfort and you're gonna be fine.

Close your eyes. You're gonna be okay. Soak it in. The monolog is brilliant.

The monolog is brilliant.

Thank you.

Many more is brilliant. We'll be right back with more. That was us.

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We're going to this party. So Kevin is, I think, his agent or the producers of the show. They're throwing a party. He's expected to go, so he can apologize. He invites Kate, you know, somewhat innocuously, because Kate has been his long term personal assistant, what have you. He's like, I need you here with me. It also just sort of points it, like, I need you here with me. And it seems sort of innocent in that moment. But as the episode goes on, it's like the codependency. There's an interesting codependency. That's not the healthiest thing and doesn't leave a lot of space for a pair more.

You also realize they are technically working together. Like, she is employed by him.

By him, which is a tricky dynamic.

Yep. So then she's asked to go to Hollywood. Now, as a plus size woman, you're asked to go to the midst, to.

The mecca, you know what I'm saying?

Where everybody, all the models and the actresses are gonna be. And so she's like, I gotta get a dress for this thing. And you're like, yo, I know who this is. Yeah, Tobias loves.

This was when I thought that the costume designers and things were, like, following me where I was. Like, this guy is starting to get close to me. Like, how is this?

I would wear this hat about your sense of style and how you came to it, because it's very specific.

It's confrontational.

Only pull it off.

That's how I like to. It's confrontational.

Okay.

It will not be ignored. Yes. Is the point. Something to talk about.

And that's flavored into Toby for sure.

Oh, absolutely.

And Toby shows up in the hat, and when Justin says, you wearing that? Okay, so good, so small. But let me tell you about this night for folks at night shoots.

Oh, boy. Talk to em.

Go all night. We were at this house. That was a house on a hill in Los Feliz, okay? That was a historic mansion. Beautiful house. I've never done a night shoot before. I'm very excited.

Until you're happening.

Until I'm not. Until. Until I've been dancing on that dance floor for four to 5 hours. You saw my Beyonce?

I did.

That was my. How much sweat in that suit, not how much. I was medically injured on my inner thighs. I was chafed to the point of ointment.

Oh, my God, man.

I was. I walked home, like, back to the van at 05:00 a.m. god, get this.

Aquaphor.

But also, we show up, and, you know, you show up in these scenes, you know that these characters exist, but you're not privy to casting necessarily. Maybe you didn't look at the call sheet. I didn't see Katie Seagal and Brad Garrett were hanging out all night, too. So part of the. They were there. And to get out there on that dance floor, the stuff that Kate was feeling, the being observed, being viewed, hit me, because you're surrounded by extras who have been directed to mock you, and.

You'Re like, this is uncomfortable.

Oh, this does feel.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Terrible. This feels. And we spent the whole night dancing, and then we get drunk, and we're doing ridiculous. I think I spun around on the floor at one point, but it was a long night. It was a long night that led to a very interesting phone call between three of you.

So this is like, Kevin calls Randall, and he says, they're not letting me out of my contract. And it's the first interaction that we've had with each other in the show. And it's so amazing how in such a small period of time, you get this sense of history, because you see them in the background as young people, and you see, again, they come off the bus, and they go, hey, Webster. And they go, Randall, Ditch Webster. Let's go. And Kev is just like.

And walks away.

Yeah, that's what I'm like. You know what I'm saying? Even though my mom told me to do otherwise. Like, the social pressure. He's like, I have a pressure to fit in, too. And Kev doesn't have a whole. Randle has a lot of stuff in terms of his acumen and stuff. But, like, Kev is cool. He's got to maintain his cool. Right. And so you see in this short period of time, like he says, I'm like, I wasn't the best brother. Right. And Randall says, no, but there's still time.

This phone call, first of all, this is the first time that the two of you interact in the series.

Yeah, yeah.

And you learn so much about. Yeah. You've seen what they've. What they've went through as children, but in an instant, just by the way you answered the phone.

Yeah.

You understand the history that there is.

Yeah. That there is a lot left.

He made himself available. Cause he. Even as. I hope I didn't. Wait. No, it's just working on something. Some paperwork.

But it's also. The big three chant comes back in this episode. It's called the big three.

It's called the big three.

So you realize. You're starting to realize the gravity of the connection, regardless of the history, that no matter what, we're the big three.

Yeah.

We're family, and we have to be there for each other.

It's very true. So, like, the people will come every once in a while, people will do the champ. Somebody will hit me on the chest. They'll be like, you know, victory.

And you're like, that's not for you. Knock it off.

You're not a part of that.

You knock it off. That's the only. That's the only fan you've chastised?

No, I didn't chastise him at all. I just like. And as it develops over time, like, you see, there's a connection between Kate and Randall, and there's obviously this connection between Kate and Kevin. But it was, like, one of my favorite things to play with over time is that relationship between Kevin and Randall.

Yeah.

Yeah. Because it went like this, you know what I'm saying? To see in the past, like, these two young men who are sort of vying for a position of man, and they're the different alphas, you know what I'm saying? And, like, how that's supposed to manifest for each other and how it was always sort of just trying to force their way into connection, but in competition with each other at the same time. Like, it's a fascinating relationship.

Yeah.

Fascinating relationship. And it's not exactly like me and my brother. I have an older brother who I. Who I adore, who's a good dude. But we've had, like, we've rode the wave, these crests and troughs of, like, what our relationship is supposed to be like. And God bless those of us who are able to find a way to still be a part of each other's lives, even when we don't want to. Like, that's something because it's easy to write people off, whether they're blood or not.

Especially when you are living apart.

Yeah, yeah. 3000 miles away. But the fact that, like, I think that's a powerful, like, folks continue to show up for each other regardless if things are harmonious or not. Right. It's a pretty cool thing. Jump again. I'm just gonna look at my notes while you're.

I love your notes.

They're all just like, my observations of what's happening.

We're gonna bring our stream of conscious notes next time.

I wanna say, randall on the treadmill, I was the last of the Pearsons to be topless.

First of all, stay the best. Relax.

You didn't have to bring it up. He knew we were gonna bring it up.

I knew. I was just like. I was watching it too, because I was like, oh, I was the last one because Milo was first and then Justin, also in the pilot, laying there with the two ladies or whatnot. I was like, oh, I made it through a whole pilot. And then they're like, 102. Let's go ahead and throw them in the treadmill. Treadmill. Lived in the bedroom for one season. One season only. Yeah.

Well, because America couldn't take it after.

That, I guess that's.

We have to see if. We have to see more of that. This is gonna be a different show.

I was the only person, though, who was sweaty. I was also a sweaty person.

Was that your sweat or was that stage sweat?

Stage sweat. Stage sweat. They try to make a little v. It goes like this. Yeah, brown.

That's about brown. Sweat.

Brown. Go full body. Yeah, it's full body.

Cause if you learn anything about SKB, it's all 100%.

I commit full body. Listen. So during in between takes, this is how weird I am. Like, I just.

Oh, my God.

Because I want the sweat to be there when the camera starts. Sure. And to which. To which Olivier would say, my dear.

Boy, why don't you try acting?

There you go. I'm halfman up in this piece. Jack. Here we go.

Someone could come and spray you down.

We got a spray bottle for that, buddy. Trying to get a workout in.

Anyways, Beth and William have this conversation. It's time for us to have a talk again. You were talking about how much you had to do in the pilot, and I had this conversation with sue, too. So, in addendum, it's interesting that both of these happened in 102. Cause you have your conversation with Jack, and Sue lays it down to William in a way, like, hey, man, I need to understand why you're here and what you're up to, because you don't know who you're dealing with. And it was a really interesting thing to hear your character through your wife's eyes. And, like, she goes, he's not good. He's perfect. And later on, he says his vice is his goodness. And, like, as you. As I read that as a character, I'm like, oh, man, that is.

Everybody has their thing.

Everybody has their thing.

I mean, each, like we were talking about earlier, everybody's entering this moment of second half of life where they. Where they are.

Yeah.

They're on the precipice of some sort.

Of monumental something, whether it's food or fame or alcohol or perfectionism, which perfectionism doesn't get. Perfectionism in our society is framed as a virtue.

Right.

It's a mental illness because there's no such thing. So the pursuit of it, the obsessed.

Pursuit of it, of something that cannot.

Be, will drive someone to anxiety. Absolutely.

And it sets up the way that, I think the audience looks at Randall, because you find out that he went.

Blind because of this.

Because of this. Like, he, like, could not see. Right. And so, like, while you guys, like, while everybody may see it as innocuous, and she sees he's on the treadmill looking up stomach cancer, trying to figure out ways to figure it out. Like, she's not focused on the run. She's focused on, like, what he's doing while he's running and how he needs to stop. And just, like, take a moment. Right. And then the fierceness with which she delivers it. Right. Is also just shows. You say it again. And I think this is a brilliant thing, people taking care of each other throughout the show. She's like, I can't have you do this to my husband again because I know the cost. Right. So be open and honest and let us know why you're here.

But isn't it interesting, too, that in the next episode, Rebecca also sort of echoes that same sentiment to Williams? It's like both of the most important women in his life know him and know his vice yes. They know his weakness.

Yeah. And the power of parenting. And how, for better or worse, your initial partnership agreement. Agreement or your partnership example. Are these people who raise you.

Yes.

Yes.

Whether you end up. You end up.

I married my mom.

I'm just saying. I wear my black bob. Me too. Rachel would say the same thing, you know, about me. And it's so interesting. Cause when Rachel and I get into, like, moments of dysregulation, it's two middle aged women arguing with each other. It's her mom and my mom just arguing with each other. And so it's just fascinating and also another terrifying realization as you watch this show, the parallels that it makes. Okay, so as I'm raising my son or my daughter, what type of attachment style.

Sure.

Do I want to imbue them with?

Oh, yeah, that's. That's. Yeah, we can talk about that one offline, because that's. It goes along. Wait. I wanted to end with this point, though, because this was the second big twist that Fogelman pulled. So the pilot is. Oh, they're in two different timelines. My kids say grandma and grandpa are here.

Yes.

And we walk to the door, and.

You see the moon necklace.

And we see the moon necklace.

It's just been given to Rebecca by Chad.

It's just been given to her in the eighties.

She says, I'll never take it off.

Correct.

It's just delightful. And then next to Rebecca is Miguel.

People lost their minds.

Oh, my God. My best friend called me like a killer. He called me Kelby. Hey, Carol, where is Jack?

People were so mad.

So mad.

The audience lost their mind.

John Huertes. They immediately hated him.

Immediately.

What did he do? What did he do?

The Jack, because he was introduced as his best friend. And the bro code is like, you.

Never snake your dog. Your best friend's lady.

That's not gonna happen. And as much as I even tried to, like, explain it to people later on, like, you know what? He got permission. And there was time. And they're like, oh, no.

And so this time, we have a secret. But everybody knows we have a secret.

Yes.

The first time, we just had to keep our mouth shut.

Correct.

Now, we had to protect the storyline for I don't know how many episodes.

Ten episodes between the reveals go due into season two.

That's right.

For sure. You find out later in the season, I believe it's episode five, that Jack passed away.

Right.

And we don't figure out how or why or any of the sort of, you know, extenuating circumstances around that until season two.

That's when I started telling the press that Miguel killed him.

Great. Just really throw them off.

I remember doing an Instagram post with all of us backstage, and we're like, what are you guys doing tonight? You know, like, it was a Tuesday night and we're gonna watch the show. I was like, what about you, Miguel? He tried to say something. He's like, nobody cares. Cause nobody likes Miguel.

And that was it. Nobody likes Miguel. And it took him five seasons.

It really did to win people back over.

It really, really did.

Then it just packed a punch right at the end.

You know, I remember saying in interviews as we were going through press for the show early on that the show was teaching me about. About relationship.

Yeah.

And about how to repair it. Right. And I remember saying, especially that phone call, like, who do you need to call?

Hmm?

Who? I'm still learning this lesson. Who do you need to reach out to? What repair do you need to make? Because the perfection, the perfection is not in a perfect relationship that's free of conflict. The perfection is in. Like we talked about the repair.

Absolutely.

Yeah. I'd be interested to hear, hear from the people watching now, the people who saw the show, kind of how that relates to their life, if it relates currently, if it did at some point. We have, we have the email. Yep, that was uspodmail.com.

Right on.

We also have emotional support.

Highline 412-501-3028 please call, leave us messages. Let us know how this episode impacted you or what it led you to do by virtue of watching it. You're still in the midst of.

Yeah, maybe we can help help you process it. Yeah, maybe we can bring people together. I don't want to over, I don't want to overstretch our ability here of healing.

Let's under promise and over deliver. But, you know, we're here. I mean, we're here to be of service, if we can be right. Amen.

Drop us a line.

All right, thanks, friends. This is fun.

Right on, y'all. Here we go, everybody. Alrighty. We've been sharing the number for our emotional support hotline with you, and we are excited to share that. This segment is presented by our friends at Talkspace. Check your insurance coverage and you can start speaking to a therapist today@talkspace.com. twu.

Now, we don't claim to be therapists.

Most certainly we do by any stretch.

But we really, really do want to talk to you.

Yes.

Yes. And I don't know if you guys have heard, but our voicemail be popping. I think it's time to call someone back.

Let's do it, right?

Yeah, let's do it.

Okay, so we've got, we've been given unlimited minutes by mint mobile so that we can call people back as much as we want.

Unlimited calls.

Come on.

Unlimited calls.

Love it.

So we're gonna listen to a voicemail here from a lady named Chelsea.

Okay.

And then we'll give her a ring.

All right, Chelsea. Let's hear it.

Hi, my name is Chelsea walliver. I am a mom of two teams in Vegas. I'm gonna be honest. I called this number. I thought there was no way that this was gonna be a hotline I could leave a voicemail on because that would be way too good to be true. So I guess I'm calling because I just wanted to say one, my life would be made if I got any type of response back, first of all, and second, this show was so beautifully written. I watched, obviously, all of the seasons, and not only did I watch them and cry in every single episode, and I am not a crier, but now I have two teens that are annoyed with everything I do, my existence, my breathing. But they love this show. And we sit down together and we watch it as a family, and it's something we discuss, we talk about, and it helps me introduce life lessons to them. And I just wanted to say thank you. I think you guys are so amazing and so talented, every single one of you. I don't think any other show is ever going to live up to this is us.

It's every single family in a different way. And again, the writing, I don't understand how they did it, but it ties in to your heart in every single episode. So thank you for having this hotline and for sharing your talent with us and your story with us and for giving, you know, moms somewhere to go and wind down and breathe out for an hour and for being kind, decent people, it seems like. So thanks.

Bye, Chelsea.

I don't know if we're going to be giving Chelsea emotional support or if.

She'S giving us emotional support. I feel so good also, her voice is so soothing.

It really is.

Wow, what a beautiful sentiment. Like, for our first emotional support hotline.

Caller, I'm ready to call her. Let's call her and say, let's call her back. Can we call her back?

Let's call her back. Hello, Chelsea. Hi, it's Chris Sullivan and Mandy Moore and Sterling Brown.

All right, I'm gonna try to stay calm right now. Thank you so much for calling me. Oh, my goodness.

Thank you for your beautiful voicemail. No need to stay calm. We're not calm at all. That was not at all a beautiful, beautiful voice.

We're so touched. Thank you, Chelsea.

We actually just said we don't know if we're gonna be giving you emotional support or if you just gave it to us.

Oh.

Because that was about the sweetest thing that we've heard in a long time.

We're so, so glad the show has touched you. So glad that you're now able to watch it with your kids and sort of impart life lessons onto them through the show. Like what a special sort of bonding, connecting experience you get to have with them.

Tell us. Tell us more about that.

So I have two kiddos that are in the teen phase right now. One is twelve and 13. They're eleven months apart.

Okay.

So it's a. Yeah, so it's a super stage run right now. And, you know, of course, I started off just watching it and it became my hour of. They knew not to bother me during that hour. I was watching the show. They were more than welcome to watch it with me, but they kind of would roll their eyes and. Yeah, you know, mom, no, that's. That's. That's your show. And so it became like my own quiet time to decompress. And. And then after I watched it all and I started to. They wanted to start watching it with me. And it just kind of has become, like, a time for us to sit down as a family together and. And talk about life lessons. And they tease me because I know I cry in every single episode.

Hey, so do we. So do we, right?

And I'm not a crier.

I am not an emotional person. But, man, you guys get me every time.

Is there a recent example of one of the life lessons or something that you guys connected on? That was an interesting conversation.

Good question.

Honestly, I feel like every single episode, there's something that we take away from. Definitely the teen episodes where it shows real life situations with what the teens are going through and how, you know, they get so irritated with me because I kind of. I'll always glance over when. When Rebecca is scolding the teens for, you know, not listening or they did something they weren't supposed to or they. They talked to them in a, you know, disrespectful way and come back around. I definitely will say that. The episode where Jack passes away.

Yeah.

Which I will never get over.

Yes, ma'am.

You know, when Kevin was mouthy and walks away and. And that's something that he had to live with the rest of his life. And so we definitely talked about, you know, you never know. We have a very short amount of time here. We don't know when it's. It's going to be the last time we see each other. And that was definitely an amazing moment where we stopped and kind of reflected. We treat each other because it's. It can be gone in a minute, you know? So.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm curious what the. What the sibling dynamic is between your kids. Like, does it echo some of what we see on the show? Are they a little closer than. And sometimes we see, like, Randall and Kevin?

Absolutely. Yep. And I would say that that is more so their dynamic at this stage. Randall and Kevin? Yeah. You know, they. Absolutely.

They.

That's all they know is to have each other. But they're at a stage now where everything irritates each other. They, you know, they want their own space, they want their own time. But then there's still many times we're all wake up and they're still cuddled up and they fall asleep together. So, yeah, they're best friends who also beat each other up every day.

Yeah, I have the same thing. Mine aren't as close in age as yours, but they. They love to hate each other before they love each other again.

Exactly. Exactly. They would be lost without each other. But, you know, so that's. That's just been the most recent thing with us. But, I mean, there's not enough time for me to tell you guys how amazing your show is. All the lessons. It's just. Yeah, it's just amazing. I think you're. Every single one of you. I mean, I'm a nobody, but your acting is amazing.

Chelsea, Chelsea, you're not a nobody.

Yeah, I'm one of the bazillion people.

If you've watched this is us.

Come on.

There's no such thing as a nobody. You know this.

Thank you. That is true. But, I mean, you know, the show is one of the very few that I feel like didn't make everything. Rainbows and butterflies. You know, Jack and Rebecca had this amazing love story, but it wasn't smooth sailing. She was an amazing mom, but she felt like she kind of lost herself. And it shows those battles so very few shows. I feel like you finish each episode and you're like, okay, that's relatable. Like, I get. That's. That's where I'm at in this stage. Randall's anxiety. I've had anxiety my whole life. So. So it was so amazing to see a writer actually hit such, you know, on every real life thing that people go through. So thank you, guys. Thank you.

Thank you for distilling down what the show has meant to you and really what the show is and is about in such a, you know, sort of, like, macro sense. Like, I've never heard it described so perfectly. Really. Like, she hit the nose so succinctly.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah. And there's even episodes where you're not as invested in specific characters because they're not necessarily main characters. So I'm gonna be honest. When you start this episode, there's, at first, you're kind of like, oh, man. I was kind of hoping to touch more on this or this.

Sure.

You know, but then by the end of the episode, once again, even those characters that seem like they're not a huge part of the story ties into the rest of the big story. It's amazing to me how the writers, I don't understand how they did it. Even my husband that, you know, I reeled him in as well. And he. He was even from the first episode where you realize that, you know, the baby, you guys are the babies, and everything's tied in, and he was blown away. Like, how does the writer even.

I know.

We felt like that when we read it, too. We were like, how the hell?

Yeah.

If you. If you watch any of our press interviews throughout the seasons, it's a constant tennis match of the writers throwing praise at actors and the actors throwing the praise right back.

Incredibly lucky.

I want to say this to your voicemail because you were talking about how your kids don't think you're cool because they're teenage. I have a twelve year old and an eight year old. My eight year old thinks I'm pretty cool. The twelve year old thinks I'm pretty lame. And the fact of the matter is choke. I am pretty cool. So this is what I'm saying. We all go through that same thing together, so you are not alone. That's it. That's what we wanted you to know.

You are very cool. Take it from us, we'll give it to you. Even if your kids won't right now, they'll come back around.

Amen.

Right? And the theme song for forever now, literally my life anthem. I cry every single. Say it. I think you guys are amazing.

Chelsea, thank you for, like, kicking this off in such a fantastic manner. You have made our day. This is exactly what the emotional support hotline was intended to be. Thank you for leading the charge. It truly, it made our whole week to be able to talk to you.

Made my entire life, you know? And you guys are so sweet. So thank you so much.

Likewise, Chelsea.

You're the best. And just to be clear, I know I touched on Randall, and I touched on Rebecca. Toby and Kate were absolutely also just. You guys were amazing.

Look at her. She's like, I'm not gonna leave you out, young man.

Like I said, I don't have enough time. But you guys are. That storyline, the love story, the life struggles, the showing up for each other when even when you guys didn't make it work, everything about every single one of you guys are just. We're amazing in every episode.

So, Chelsea, thank you.

And if your kids ever, ever give you any more guff, you just play this portion of this podcast for them.

There you go.

Absolutely.

And they'll know exactly how cool their mom is.

I will hold on to this few minutes for every single day, every bad moment. You guys have really cheered me up. So thank you guys so much. Means a lot.

Thank you.

Have a good day. Chelsea.

Yeah. We're sending you lots of love. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us. Us.

Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Have a great rest of the day.

You too, Chelsea. Bye. Bye. Come on.

That's. Come on.

How come we haven't been doing this our whole lives?

Remarkable.

That was awesome.

This is gonna be great.

She's awesome.

She was amazing. This is. That was just like a shot of dopamine or something. I'm like, whoa. I feel.

Yeah, I do.

Too vigorous.

That's the thing, too. Isn't it always a thing? It's like you think you're doing something for people and, like, you get just as much as you hopefully gave to them. Right. Like, it's real, but that's so rare.

You know what I mean? It's like, not every project that we're all lucky enough to be a part of is gonna have those same sort of connective. Exactly. Connective tissues and, like, far reaching. It's really something that I think all of us will hold on to forever because of that. It's like, what it meant to us, it meant to the world or to some folks out there. And that's beyond special and rare.

I'm vibrating.

Me, too. Me, too.

And this is a rare opportunity to be able to look back. And we have these interactions on the street, maybe with a fan who. We get a couple seconds.

Sure.

And it's hard. People are running around. You're in a busy place. Whatever it is. But to sit down for ten minutes and talk to somebody about the show.

Is unique and how it specifically impacted them. And I feel like she just had such a, like, terrific grasp of what the show was.

Yeah.

And I was like, can you be.

The spokesperson better than us? Awesome.

Well, that was the emotional, the premiere of the emotional support hotline.

I liked it.

Brought to you by Talkspace, exactly how we intended.

Yeah.

Thanks, talk space.

We'll do it again next time. Thanks, talk space. That was us is filmed at the crow and produced by Rabbit Grin Productions and Sarah Wareheim. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith.