Summer of Stein Big Brother 28 Week 10

[00:00:01] Big Brother time, do you hear that sound? Watching the show for a lot of times, so we probably take it away!

[00:00:35] Yes, that's right! The Summer of Stein is back and here I am from an undisclosed location to bring you the Summer of Stein here with the man, the reason for the season, it's Eric Stein. Eric, my man, how are you?

[00:00:52] Rob, what is good? I am feeling great. I was out with the Warehouse All Stars last night, a who's who of people that would not have been invited into the audience at the 1000th episode all assembled together. Yeah, so I thought the warehouse for a second was the name of the bar that you might have been at, but certainly you're referring to the lot where they housed all of the non-audience people.

[00:01:20] It's my new alliance of 20 that I made last night. You know, my good friend, Catherine, who I call Kat, you know, we're going to the end when we return on the same season. Nice. I was gonna ask you, how many words to the theme song of Summer of Stein do you know by heart? Could you do it? Could you perform it?

[00:01:40] I don't know. While it is definitely a sleigh, I can't say that the enunciation is necessarily the strong suit of the song. I do not think that I could get through the entire thing. There's a few words that I might have to fudge here and there, you know?

[00:01:55] Yeah, something Eric Stein is gonna break it down. I had been thinking about though this week that house guests better watch your mouth. Stein knows when your game's heading south. And we will talk about today how you did with maybe you were out on an island of that you had predicted a player this season in Barrett and his game heading south.

[00:02:20] When people chastised you, they insulted you and said, you don't even know what you're talking about. What? You mean me who does this professionally, who is on the show, who, you know, does this for a living, knows better than the random person who's screaming at me? No way! I would have never guessed that.

[00:02:39] I mean, last week I got chastised for enjoying the show. I mean, how dare I say that it's a good season of the show, right? The audacity of me to come onto a podcast and say, I think it's actually pretty good. That scumbag, I cannot believe what you say. I mean, listen, there's no winning, there's only losing in the Big Brother streets, but I'm sorry I had Barrett's number on this one.

[00:03:04] Yes. Okay, we'll talk about all that. But here you are. And this is the most professional attire I think I've seen you in all season. Is it possible? Did you sleep in your clothes from last night's big event? Well, close. I only have about four shirts that fit me. I'm what I like to call extra medium. You know, I get that.

[00:03:29] I'm a body type slightly above medium. However, I'm a height that is well below large. So if I get a large, I look like I'm sort of drowning in a sack, if you will. But a medium starting to bust out of those just a wee bit. So I ironed two shirts last night. I wore the other one and this one was still in the car. And I said, I mean, I did go to the trouble of ironing it.

[00:03:53] But before you get too excited about the professionalism, this is like a 15 year old shirt. I actually have a picture of myself and the saboteur Annie Whittington wearing this very shirt. I mean, I think it may have actually used to be a picnic cloth of some sort that may be like my grandma turned into a shirt or something. But yeah, yes. Thank you for for noticing. Is this anything of where your oldest shirt is? Can we do that on something? Is that a Renap episode?

[00:04:22] I feel like Uncle Keevy probably has some pretty old shirts in the closet. He's like, this is from my first Mets game. He's got it over just like one sleeve. Yeah, he's got a lot of like, I got this T-shirt at a bar mitzvah. It's very funny. Yeah, hilarious. I dance my pants off at Yitzchak's bar mitzvah.

[00:04:45] But I do have a lot of not many in heavy rotation, but it's like, well, this still fits. I don't know. But anyway, I'm dying to hear your stories from the adventures at the Big Brother 28 watch. Party that you attended last night. Tell me about this at Berry Park. That sounds like some sort of like amusement park. There's there's a lot to download you on here.

[00:05:13] There's there's a lot of good and some some bad. Let me get the bad out of the way first. By the way, I'm offended for your placement here. This is a legend. And he's all the way in the back corner poking out behind Adam Park. Yeah, they were hiding me. It's like, oh, don't worry about this. You know what? AI design gets a bad rap. AI would have had Eric Stein in a prominent place. The guy throwing the event was like, great to see you, Eric. It's been a while.

[00:05:43] And I was like, you got the sweet Kenny K placement. I mean, first of all, I've never seen this man in my entire life. I don't know what he's talking about. Been a while. I mean, been a while since I've been alive. I don't know what the hell he's talking about. Yeah, but I agree. I think I was trying to be pushed out of the advertising. The big disappointment. I just got to leave with this. Every single person pictured on this poster was there. Glenn is in the front row. Yes. Other than Chuck. Chuck no showed the event. It was not Chuck time.

[00:06:13] It was not Chuck time? It almost broke me. I actually heard someone go up to Haley and were like, where's Chuck? What happened to Chuck? That's who we wanted to see. And she was like, yeah, it didn't work out for Chuck this time around. I was like, no. Oh, what do you mean it didn't work out for Chuck? Did Chuck have another obligation? I saw Kat Dunn talking about how she's going out with Chuck tonight. So he never left Texas. Oh, he blew off the Berry Park.

[00:06:43] Yeah, nobody blows off Berry Park. That's the two-step with Kat Dunn. Look at this poster. This is some of the luminaries of the show. So let's go through this beat by beat, okay? Yeah. I had one mission. And I was doing it for the lulls, doing it for the meme. But I needed to get a picture of Joseph Rodriguez and Joey Rodriguez together. So I was thinking Glenn. Yes.

[00:07:12] So I was trying to figure out how to broker this. So I approached, you know, the actual Joseph Rodriguez. And I said, hey, listen, we're going to have to facilitate a photo of you and Glenn. And he said, I do not want a photo with that creep. And I said, hold on a second. What's not for you? I said, hold on a second. Yeah, I'm not really asking you. I'm telling you we need to get this photo. This is very important to me. You know, I have seniority here. We're going to have to take the photo.

[00:07:41] He said, I really don't want to be pictured with him in a photo. I said, now you're making too big a deal over nothing. So he was really hesitant. I figured, okay, I'll wait a few drinks. But people who paid for VIP tickets got to come and take a group photo with all of the alum. And they were standing nearby in the photo. And I sandbagged him when he wasn't expecting it. Put my arms around both of them and snap the photo. Wow. It was a big moment seeing them together.

[00:08:09] And I'm still, I've been workshopping this for quite some time. But I do think that Glenn time traveled, saw a future season of Big Brother, looked for an unassuming house guest to assume the identity of as his online persona. So I believe he knew Joseph Rodriguez before we did. And that's how he became Joey Rodriguez. Did he work with Enzo on inventing the timetable? I think it's probable.

[00:08:37] I think they probably have been spending time together. Then, though, the tables were turned on me. You know, it was all fun and games with the photos until I got summoned to take a photo called, quote, the old man photo. We got to get all the old guys together. So we have Kevin, Glenn, Adam, Kenny, and me.

[00:09:05] Now, laugh all you want. Just yuck it up here. Okay? They're on average close to 60 if you were to take the average of their thing. We have well documented on this podcast. I look no more than 45 and three quarters. And I am equally close in age. Let's look at this. To Tucker. To Tommy. To Christy. Probably not that far from Haley.

[00:09:31] And so why was I not in the young person's photo? I had to go into the old person's photo. This is like in Survivor Panama where Ceri was on the older ladies' tribe. Yeah. I mean, the truth of the matter is, Bob Dog, I think, was on the old man tribe. I think I probably belonged in the old man photo. But it was a reckoning to realize it. You know, that was really, really tough. A couple of other very interesting things.

[00:09:59] I was approached by numerous people who were Summer of Stein fans, which was very nice to hear. Nice. Because I didn't realize. I thought we were just talking to ourselves. I didn't even know that we were recording this. I thought this was just like a weekly event session that we were doing. And so to hear that other people are actually listening to our conversations was very nice to hear. We do record it. But it's more for me. I have found in my life. And I know you have great friends. You have a best friend.

[00:10:27] And, you know, I am. This is like the good and the bad. I have really no relationships outside of the podcast. So the only friendships I have are the people that I have a standing podcast appointment with every single week. And so that's how I kept all of my friendships. It's nice of you to think that I have friends. I mean, I had some very close friends last night, as you can see on the poster.

[00:10:54] But this actually was a great lesson, I think, last night. So you look at the people that were there. They don't necessarily jump out as the legends of Big Brother necessarily. But every single person there was delightful. They have, you know, every person who goes on a reality show is the center of attention in their friend group. Like even the people that the fans want to say are furniture. All right. Let's let's let's talk about Lauren. Lauren, she was labeled furniture last year.

[00:11:25] Lauren is incredibly nice in person. She is like someone who could easily like, you know, hold a room and entertain people. You know, Christian, you know, entertain people. Yeah, she's yeah. She had things to say. She's a friendly person. These are all dynamic people. You think you think that we suck because we didn't do great on a show. But actually, they're all very, very lovely. One of the things that really blew my mind was was this Christian from BB23.

[00:11:55] This man was gigantic. Oh, I thought that was Cam. Oh, yeah. Sure. Yes. No, no, no. This was this is put that on the poster. Not Cameron Hurd. Yes. That that that actually would have been an improvement. He's he's too busy cruising with cowboy Mike. But the this guy was huge. Like, I don't know why sometimes people do not read that way on the show. At least absolutely gigantic.

[00:12:22] And so was I would say that Ashley from this season was was probably close to six feet tall. She was she was very, very low. Yeah. Oh, yeah. She has way higher billing than me. But I mean, these people are rock stars. They just got off the show. I mean, you can't take a step if you're an Ashley or a Mallory or a Haley at this event. You know, they were they were hot. Come on. They were mobbed. Yes. Or thogged, if you will. I had a very brief conversation with Haley.

[00:12:52] I had texted you earlier in the day over my concerns that she was going to beat me up. But you did rightfully point out that she actually has absolutely no idea who I was. And that came to fruition. I think she actually pitied me. I said, like, oh, hey, nice to meet you. I was on the show 19 years ago. And she goes, so nice that you're still here with us or something like that. And I was like, you mean like a lot of old man picture? Yeah. She's like. Did she try to talk you into her dad's longevity company?

[00:13:22] Is there anything that you could get from? I figure what it's called. Viking medical supply. Yeah, she did. What was it that a fan told me I needed a few weeks ago? Saw palmetto. She told me I needed that for my prostate. So I guess she has been listening. Yeah. I think it's Viking alternative medicine. Yes. I am a frequent customer. I let her know.

[00:13:50] You know, from, you know, everyone was very like in their feels of the newbies. You know, Ashley had a lot to say about how it just wasn't her time yet. Soon it will be her time. This wasn't the one. She has big things coming. So that's okay. That's very exciting. Fire. Yeah. I mean, so we're excited to see who's who's next. You know, it's it is funny, though, because it's like the fans have this bizarre.

[00:14:19] Like they boil people down to just like, you know, one thing they were on the show or how they are on social media or whatever. I mean, someone who I have seen shit on time and time again is poor Tommy Bracco. So and Tommy is without question, probably the nicest person who has ever stepped foot onto Big Brother. He is literally delightful. He doesn't have a negative thing to say about anyone. And the fans just kill him.

[00:14:49] I hate when this guy has an opinion. And, you know, he's always, you know, he's always defending the worst people. I don't think he's trying to defend the worst people. I think that he just genuinely likes people and is welcoming to them. It's just it's nice to see people out of the show, out in their element, you know, doing their thing. It was a good time. And, you know, it also kind of reminds me of what it is that you're doing every day and I'm getting to do here.

[00:15:19] And it's it's fun to watch with people who enjoy. I can't tell them I enjoy it because I'll get yelled at. You know, that's a very bad take to enjoy the show. But it is fun to be there with other people who have the same secret shame. You know, when you do a survivor viewing party, there's no shame attached to that. But Big Brother, it's like we're all in it together. You know, it's like your real friends can't know your family can't know. But these 500 people here tonight, like we know and we're not going to tell anybody, you know. OK, so it was 500 people.

[00:15:49] That might be an overstate. It was it was easily like 250, 300. It was packed. OK, and well, were people milling about while the episode was about or was it like sit in a chair and watch this two hour Wednesday night episode of Big Brother? No, the people were drunk as hell. And and the show was definitely loud, but you still somehow couldn't hear it at the same time. It's muffled the louder it gets. Right.

[00:16:15] So you had to scream at the top of your lungs while also having absolutely no idea what was happening. It was it was a complete lost cause to even follow. Also, yes, a watch party is a real misnomer. It was a mess. It was it was it was a party. Also, like and I think this is awesome that it's not their fault that I am old.

[00:16:38] But one thing that has been incredible the last couple of years, I don't know if you're seeing this at your events, is that it seems like the fan base has really turned over. And they're a lot younger and they're a lot younger and you're getting a lot of people who went back and binge the series and stuff like that. And I think that that's that's great for the long term longevity of the shows and that you have new people who are activated. And I think that's so cool. I personally do not have time to go back and watch a thousand episodes of a show.

[00:17:08] But bless anybody who did have the time who found this in the last two or three years and went back and watched all of those. Oh, this is great. In the car ride home, I was talking about how someone told me they recently watched the entire franchise, you know, the entire one through, you know, 28. And I was trying to quickly do the math and I was like, oh, there's about 40 episodes. Yes. Well, that was the point of the story. I was like, there's about 40 a season, about 30. It's like that's about 1200 or so.

[00:17:36] I was like, wow, how can anyone watch 1200 episodes? And then like five minutes later, I was like, wait a minute. Didn't we just have the thousandth episode? It all came back to me. It all came back. It's a long night. It was a long night. I'm interested to know. I'm watching. Look at the poster. I see there was a live Q&A panel at 7 p.m. How was the live Q&A? Was that recorded? Apparently it was recorded in podcast form, but I would not know because I intentionally missed it by going for pizza first. What podcast?

[00:18:07] Well, here's the that's a great question. I do not know the answer to that. And also funny was that I was never actually really directly invited to this. I never spoke to the organizer who knows me so well from the time I met him that I don't remember. And I just got a text from people who are going and they're like, oh, yeah, you should you should come to this. But I was never given the information. So I felt like I had plausible deniability. And I drove in from the burbs. I hadn't eaten yet.

[00:18:37] I wasn't going to start drinking on an empty stomach. I'm not I'm not a novice at these things. So I went and got some pizza. No one had any questions for me, you know. So and better yet, I did not have any answers for them. So, you know, it's a lot of the same questions I got many, many, many times over. But there's really, you know, only so many times you can say like, no, I'm not still in a showmance with Jessica.

[00:19:03] You know, now I'm not friends with Evil Dick anymore. No, this is not the real question. But that's neither. Those used to be the question. And you're assuming a lot that people have questions even for you from Big Brother 8. Yeah, no, I think that they that's kind of I thought I was doing both the fans and myself a service by by skipping that part. I figured let the newbies put in the work.

[00:19:29] Also, the you know, the newbies were being compensated for being there. I was not. In fact, they were out of drink tickets when when I arrived. So I had to go full cash bar, you know, out of them. Yeah. OK, so tell me. I see also on here that on the very bottom in the fine print, it says more guests to be announced.

[00:19:57] Were there more guests that were announced? Definitely not. No, I do not think so. Yeah. It was only look, the main centerpiece of the entire poster was not there. So if I I actually asked, I didn't know who the organizer was, but I actually asked Joseph to facilitate a refund for me. And I didn't even buy a ticket. I said I was promised Chuck. Chuck is on the advertising. This is false advertising. Yeah.

[00:20:25] Are you heading down to Celebrity Weekend, by the way? Well, I used to go way back in the day. I mean, like 15 years ago when it was Give Kids the World. I have not been in many, many years, but I don't even know what it is anymore. I apparently there was there was a falling out, a scandal, a power takeover at some point. Yeah, there's a lot there. Maybe I'll see a Netflix documentary one day. But there's going to be a big thing. We're considering sending Brandon Donlan down there to set up shop.

[00:20:55] Is Brandon, do you want to talk that through? What do you think of this idea? We're going to send Brandon to go to the Celebrity Weekend. And so I don't know what happens anymore there. But in the past, I think it would be ripe for for some great interviews. I'm very in favor of this. My dream would be to set up like a folding table with a couple of microphones. And people are like walking in and out of the elevator or walking towards the pool or going to the bar.

[00:21:23] Like you just stop people and say, you know, talk me through what's going on right now. And that's very interesting. Is that anything, Eric? Eric, so in the past, they used to do like this giant line of autographs where you'd get this big poster and you'd walk one by one by one. But they put the Big Brothers at the end and they wouldn't let us eat lunch until the entire line cleared. The survivors would already be like in their next location, done with everything. And we'd still be seeing their signing things. But perhaps you should actually be a roving interviewer.

[00:21:52] You should go on the autograph line. And then as you get to each person who's signing, ask them a question. So that way you can get through all. But you're going to need some notes because some of the people you are not going to recognize. On that note. OK, here was my pitch that I wanted to say. You want Brandon Donilon, a roving reporter. OK, Brandon Donilon is sitting there. He's at the folding table blindfolded. OK, people sit down and say hello. Hello.

[00:22:21] And Brandon Donilon has to figure out who is he talking to? He's like, have you ever been naked and afraid before? Isn't that EJ? What do you think about that? Can Brandon Donilon identify these people blindfolded? You know what? I do. I have a sleep mask I can use. I'm a big fan of the sleep mask. Sam, see if we can get Manta Sleep Mask to sponsor. Brandon Donilon, eyes wide shut at the Celebrity Weekend.

[00:22:46] I think that Brandon is about as deep as you and I, like probably the three people on this call, know, are friends with or have associated or watched the most reality stars in the history of man. And I'm telling you, you can't even go 50 percent at this event. You have no clue who is in front of you if your eyes are open, closed. In the past, there used to be like weird side trips like to like like swamps for like gator hunts and like SeaWorld. That was before it got canceled.

[00:23:16] Yeah, there was a lot going on. So like I definitely there was luau's. I think that this is a must. And I mean, I have really no say in the matter, but now I demand. Brandon, you brought a family photo? Yeah, in the time that we were talking, I looked at my pictures from Give Kids the World 2012. And I'll throw it on the screen here. Rob, I think that you may have to move us.

[00:23:42] OK, but you'll see in this photo for our video listeners or I'm sorry for our audio listeners. I'll hold it. I think it's down. Move that and then add. So here I am in the front and then you can see, Eric, you're, I guess, talking to Evil Dick back. Oh, Eric, are you still friends with Evil Dick? I have a lot of questions about this photo myself.

[00:24:04] First of all, yeah, it looks like I've I have really and I do actually recall I had a bad issue with a set of clippers before this trip. I am literally shaved down to the to the scalp here, which is shocking. This this is probably the only existing photo of myself having a civil conversation with Dick in the last 20 years. Is he standing on a chair in this photo or is Dick like six?

[00:24:32] He's very, very tall, very tall. And Rachel appears taller than than Brandon here as well. Hayden Moss is unrecognizable from the man that I saw in the audience just a few weeks ago. This is not his hair is giving skullet a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, Brandon Donlin, do you have a mustache drawn on your face? Was there face painting? There was not face painting. And I'm so glad you asked.

[00:25:00] But if you were and I'm I think I'm 14 here, 15 here. I'm a child in this line. Dick, Eric's friend, Evil Dick would draw a mustache on you. So this was if you wanted to or against your will. Totally against your will. This was this was not something I can say to this was actually the second mustache because the first one was was already scrubbed off.

[00:25:27] And the first one is a is a mustache that you don't want to be walking around with. Right. It's funny you should say that because I was going to say be happy that he used a pen and not a different tool. Yes. And who is this other woman? This is Portia. Portia from the chat for the chat. BCC again. There you go. All right. And so, you know, I don't ask too many questions about the the reality stars that 14 year old Brandon Donlin was associating with.

[00:25:54] I feel like that in 2026, we look back and say, I don't know what that is. I'd like to say that I did not have a professional relationship with Brandon Donlin until he was of age. A few things. One that appeared like it was in a closed hotel room, which makes me very uncomfortable. Two, I do think that that probably confirmed that I was accurately placed into the old man photo this night, being that you are now a full fledged employee of this company.

[00:26:23] And previously, you were a wee child where I was at the event as a reality star. So I do think I kind of just you sold me out on that one. Okay. You were very kind. What I remember is you were kind. That's surprising, too. All right. I know we're not live. I can see the comments already. All right. I have a good story real quick on this. Right. So apparently I so this is a very deep dive survivor story, but you said I was very, very kind to you at this. Right.

[00:26:51] So apparently I had met a survivor once at a concert before they were on Survivor and they had recognized me from Big Brother. And then later on, they were on Survivor. They were a New York local. And I became friends with this person. Pretty good friends. And after about a year, they came to me and said, this is kind of weird to say. And I don't want to make a big deal about it, but I need to get this off my chest now that we're such good friends.

[00:27:18] I've actually met you before I met you at a concert and you were a real dick to me. Oh, that was the punchline of the story. So I'm happy to hear that I was nice to you at the time. Who was it? It was Ali Pahevitz, now Kendall. Yes. Okay. All right. Yes. I'm not sure. I'm not sure that really happens, but she insists that it did. Listen, nobody can fact check that. I think I've only heard nice things about Eric Stein. I'm a pretty nice guy. Okay. All right.

[00:27:46] Let's talk about Big Brother 28. Okay. I literally forgot what we are doing here. I literally lost track of what was happening. You know, it's a slow week. It's a slow week. And so, all right, Eric, that you said that Barrett is making a horrible move. He's throwing his game away. People said, Pasha, Eric Stein. You go back to Big Brother 8.

[00:28:13] You don't know what you're talking about, but here we are on the brink of extinction for Barrett. It's rare that you get to see your hot takes confirmed right before your very eyes. But we have literally watched everything as I projected it, as he wilts before our very eyes. This was a crazy trajectory for him from flying high. I mean, I listened to the round table. This man's getting nines.

[00:28:42] Then he's getting twos. A mere seven days later. I mean, this is a roller coaster ride. He had to go for it. He went about it all wrong. He hid in his room. He put his shirt back on and hasn't taken it off, even though they lost his laundry. It is an absolute disaster for this poor guy.

[00:29:03] But I staked my claim for Devin's two weeks in a row that he was going to win the blockbuster. And I mean, Barrett's going to win the blockbuster tonight. So sad Barrett's going to be happy again real soon. Yeah. So you think that you've been pretty on point, too, with your blockbuster predictions. You think Barrett will rally and then win the blockbuster tonight?

[00:29:29] Yes, I have heard a lot of conspiracy theories that do sound pretty viable, that they're going that production may not like Barrett that much and that they therefore maybe will do the rope. Which probably would not favor his longer torso. And I do think that is a pretty believable scenario.

[00:29:51] That being said, I think that Barrett's will to be there probably eclipses that of his opponents. And I cannot speak on behalf of... Oh, you think he wants to be there? I got the sense that he doesn't want to be there. No, I mean, I think that he doesn't want it to be going how it's going. But a victory changes that or whatever.

[00:30:14] So I think if I had to put money down, if I had to bet my shirt, this beautiful professional shirt on who is going to win tonight, I do think it will most likely be Barrett. And then I think we have an extremely fluid endgame, which is really interesting. The great Adam Pak, who I have now tried to name drop every week of this series, he came to me with a theory last night that was very interesting. And you're a great person to discuss this with.

[00:30:42] He was suggesting that this season is playing out like some of the more fluid survivor voting block seasons. That because Dee and Devins are there and they're very malleable, they'll work with whoever gets them to the objective that they need and the blockbuster of it all. That we have these constantly shifting groups. And I think that that's really interesting. We've seen so many times the house, the house, the house.

[00:31:06] And I love the fact that instead we're getting these groups that are coming together for a common cause or self-preservation. And I think it's it's probably the most dynamic endgame we've had in several years where everyone is really still in it. Like when you talk about who's most likely to go in the double, almost everybody, you could see a viable case for the good and the bad, which I think is really exciting.

[00:31:32] So I believe that sad Barrett has has been there for the last week and a half once he realized, oh, even if I get one of them out, the other two are still here. And now they don't like me and they're my heroes. And I got the wrong one out and now I'm hiding. And then they lost my clothes. And that is honestly a very great reason to be sad. But I think I think I think happy Barrett will be coming back by the end of the night. Yeah, that's so interesting.

[00:32:00] I really I thought it had been almost a foregone conclusion because I think Taylor is going to win the blockbuster tonight. I think that she was right there against Rick Devins. I think that she's sort of like maybe sneaky good in some of these blockbuster comps. And ultimately, I feel like that he seemed a little checked out to me. But do you think that there is a trajectory for him to touch bottom and come back? No, I think I think that he will still be there.

[00:32:28] And that will briefly make him happy. And go out 20 minutes later. Right. Or like or like he actually does the icons dirty work, gets Yash out with his age to age and then is unprotected. And then it's right back on the block 24 hours later. You know, something along those lines. I mean, I think that Taylor. Is a great potential choice for the winner as well. And I did strongly consider that.

[00:32:58] I think she is also shaping up as a really strong potential winner of this season. Yeah. I really can get the votes quickly in my head of her versus an icon, potentially her versus a Drew. It is not hard as long as she's not sitting next to Yash or probably say I'd bar it. I think that the votes are probably there for her. She would make for a very interesting winner of this season.

[00:33:27] Well, I was talking about this with Taryn yesterday. We do a BB mailbag. We go through the percentages. And I feel like that while Taylor, like at first blush, it's like, I don't really see it. I think that she is has the perfect thing going for her, which I think that also Ashley benefited from last year, where kind of a game that people didn't really see. But then also has the perception of, OK, she's she's one thing. She's not really a threat.

[00:33:57] But I'm telling you, she's going to come into that final two. She's going to be shot out of a cannon. She's going to be like, oh, my God, where is this? This is. And like if Drew's like word salating, if like Barrett is going to be like all like sad and hang dog. Like, I think that she could come in like a lot of times the jury just gives it to the person that comes in with the most spirit. She also hasn't wronged anybody. She's been very steady with her allegiances.

[00:34:24] She has helped people out when they needed a vote. She has not been nasty inside of the house. I think I agree. She has great energy. I think that what that's one of the big differences here in the end game as well, is that even if they are not the strongest in the competitions or have not strategically been able to shift things as much as some of the other players. I think that Melody and Taylor and Drew and Barrett, they are in it for themselves.

[00:34:54] And a lot of times at this point, you have people who have either rolled over, have completely given up, are playing for someone else, are playing for the team, whatever the case may be. And I like seeing people who are saying like, yeah, I sort of like flirting with this guy, but I do not give a crap. You know, I'm here to win. And you see all these people, they still have their eyes on the prize. And the frustration that you're getting from them is the fact that they haven't been able to do the things they wanted to do. Not that they don't want to or don't know to or don't know how to.

[00:35:23] They just haven't been, you know, been able to. They haven't been in that position, but they're still there. They still have the desire. They're still fighting. So I love seeing everyone there for the win, you know, and very few of them are drawing dead, which is exciting. All right. We got everybody's videos from home. Oh, did you get a video from home in Big Brother 8? No, I won.

[00:35:50] Oh, I was I was getting my ass kicked in an HOH competition at the fishbowl where you run up and down the lanes. And there was like a teeny tiny fishbowl. And it's like, if you fill this one instead, you can get a call from home. And I was like, well, I'm not going to win the real competition, so I'll just fill this up. But then I gave the call away. I was like, I don't need this call. I was the last thing I if I if I speak to my family, they're going to get me like, you know, neurotic about something. You know, it's like I thought it would take me out of the game.

[00:36:18] And I thought I was thinking about strategically. I was like, oh, maybe I could get some goodwill, you know, from people if I were to give this away. So that was the closest. But we did not get to see it. It was, I think, shown to the person in the diary room. I definitely think that I might need some sort of potentially therapy or maybe some medication or something because I'm definitely getting soft because I would normally hate a segment like this. And I was feeling almost a little choked up during it.

[00:36:47] I was that I was this this warmed my cockles watching this. Yes. Who's I know? I know you couldn't hear it, but you could see the people getting videos from home. Who's affected you the most? Well, I was just yes, I was imagining what they were saying. So that was almost as effective. Now, I went back and watched this this morning. I was really taken by the fact that Drew's father also has such notable hair. And that was very exciting.

[00:37:13] I was also it was it was funny to me that Drew's father or his parents, they they they're probably our age. It's very funny to me. It's like, so am I supposed to go out drinking with Drew after the show or should I go out drinking with his father? You know, I just don't know. So I had a lot of questions about that. I didn't love whatever he's doing here. If I'm being honest, I probably wouldn't have. What is he doing?

[00:37:39] I really I think I think it was for the bit that he was combing his hair and that was pretty good. And talking about about the brush is pretty good. I do think that's what was happening. But the the weird flopping about cuddle session with the dog I could have passed on probably. Yeah. Yeah. OK. All right. I don't know what was was was was necessarily. I actually I didn't pay attention to what I was saying, which is why it's strange that I was nearly crying during. It's just, you know, so overwhelmed. But, you know, it is.

[00:38:08] It's nice for them. And it's it's it's a nice reminder that these are not actually scripted television characters. There is no reason to loathe and despise these people. They are regular people with families who signed up for a moronic game. Just like us. Yeah. And yeah. And to be clear, to be clear, I'm not telling you you can't loathe them. You know, I want to make that clear. I'm not giving anyone else's their opinion.

[00:38:35] I just personally will not loathe people for playing a game. And, you know, it's funny you should mention, Angela. They're just like us. I'm sure you've debated this earlier in the week. But what are your take on that? Are they just like the icons? Are the people in the house all on the level playing field? Are they all the same? And Angela just did it two years earlier. Or was that a load of crap? Because I had some thoughts on that. Yeah, I think it's more teetering towards a load of crap.

[00:39:02] Because out of the other 14 players who were in this season, maybe one or two will ever see again on another program. So I don't think it's necessarily like a season of life where you say to a young person, like, hey, like one day you'll be in my shoes. You'll be a parent. You'll be my age. No, I think it's a very small group. Maybe 10% of the people that were there in Big Brother 28 will ever do anything again on television.

[00:39:32] But also, what was she talking about? Like, how is that going to help her stay? Like, it's a little late to make the point. Like, was she trying to make a claim that, like, we were not advantaged in the game? Because, lady, you were definitely advantaged in the game. You came in with a built-in alliance with powers, with whatever. But, like, let's be clear here. Big Brother, it's not a fair game. It's never been a fair game. It wasn't fair when people got to play with their fiancés.

[00:39:58] It wasn't fair on All-Stars when an entire alliance from the season before got to play together again the next time. It wasn't fair when the coaches had safety for six weeks and that the other players didn't know they were in the game. It wasn't fair when people got those weird keys on Big Brother 13, when Paul got to save the entire house, you know, on Big Brother 19. It's not a fair show. So why are we now acting surprised that the producers wanted to protect the icons?

[00:40:28] So I think now that we're talking this through, I have firmly come down on the side of, no, they're not just like us. Sorry, Angela. I don't know what you were going for, but that is not working for me. You would have done what we did. Well, that's true. We'll think you're better than us. Like, you know. Yeah, that's true. I mean, it's also, you know, the, you know, so many of the big modern alum, we don't want the survivors in our house. They don't like it. Do you?

[00:40:56] Like, have you seen some of the people that actually, some of the people have actually won Big Brother are a lot worse than being a survivor. We've had, you know, really some of the greatest losers in the history of the planet win Big Brother. You know, so like, would it be worse? Rick Devin's winning is worse, is worse than, than Jackson, AKA otherwise known as Mickey or Adam. It's unbecoming Big Brother alumni.

[00:41:21] My message to you, like in Big Brother or in Survivor, Blood vs. Water. I don't recall the Survivor alumni getting together like, Hayden, get off our island. We don't want you here. You're not welcome. Natalie Anderson, go back to the amazing race. No, we embrace them. Maybe not Beast Mode Cowboy. Natalie is good. Yeah, Natalie. But I think that's the problem. We sent Beast Mode Cowboy as a representative.

[00:41:50] You know, if we sent a good player, just like D was sent into Big Brother, they would have done well, just like Hayden did. Hayden did too well. You know, I will. And Beast Mode Cowboy, I have to go back and check the record. I don't think that anybody was annoyed about his inclusion in Survivor Co-Wrong. People got mad when they brought Beast Mode Cowboy back and called him a game changer. That one, we weren't even mad at Big Brother about that. We were mad at the Survivor producers for doing that. Right, right.

[00:42:19] And also, it's not really his fault that they considered nearly dying a game changing. You know, that's true. That was a change from what you would expect the outcome to be. The only person that's like, hey, we don't want Rachel Riley on Survivor is Jeff Probst. For sure. And, you know, the challenge, like Big Dogs, like you always hear, you know, Bananas and Wes, and they talk about like the Big Brother players on the challenge are terrible. It's like, dude, we sent Fessy.

[00:42:48] Like, he, he, he, he, like, could not play Big Brother out of a paper bag. Like, you know, maybe if we sent someone who is good at Big Brother, they would do good on the challenge. It's ridiculous. All right. All right. We had the pressure cooker came back. Eric, what'd you think about the pressure cooker?

[00:43:15] I swear on my cousin Matthew that this is not the pressure cooker, but that is okay. I am fine with this. You know, people are very precious about these things. This is not my mama's. Yeah. Yeah. This is not my mama's precious pressure cooker. That's hard to say. You know, it's like, this is actually objectively, I would say, much harder than, than the original. There are other mechanics involved that can mess up. But that's why people are saying it's bad. Yeah. Well, right, right.

[00:43:44] But, but they went longer than, you know, or equally as long. So it's like, you know, if anything, I would say it's more impressive. Yeah. I had several questions about this. So let's start at the beginning. Yes. 13 and a half hours. I, there is not a time in recent memory that I have gone 13 and a half hours without going to the bathroom. I don't want to make it about this again. I know I got in trouble, you know, for talking about this in the chat previously or whatever.

[00:44:13] But I was, I, how did you, how did you get in trouble? I, I, you know, people were saying that I had prostate problems. I just, I'm sorry. I'm an excitable person. I drink a lot of water. I'm staying fresh. You know, that was the song meta. These are young guys. These are young guys. Rick Evans had to tap out. Okay. I want it though. I want to workshop something with you. And I don't think you've thought about this yet. Right? Yeah. They seem like their outfits are a little padded, a little bulky.

[00:44:41] This is not what normally a track suit looks like to me. They had multiple, multiple shirts on. Is it possible that they were diapered for this? Are they diapered? I think that maybe that like, again, this might be something if Taryn, I don't know. It might not be in his line of questioning. Maybe we should send a question in of, did you have the option to wear an adult diaper? I don't think it was an option. I think it was a requirement. You think it's mandatory? Yes.

[00:45:09] They put them in these bright colored things that would be showing it. Normally they're in there. They have water pouring down. They're in their black leggings. You know, you can get away with this. I think they said, you know, the Fockers, they're not going to like this. Yes. If we're stroiling ourselves during this. So everyone go, go get your uniform on and yes, include the depends. What if it's not a choice?

[00:45:29] What if the pants were actually made out of like paper towel absorbent, like a full depends pants? Is that a thing? Because I would like that costume. I would wear that for daily wear. That sounds really, really convenient. And then I was also wondering along the same lines, but a little bit more aggressive. And I don't want to, you know, steer the podcast too blue here, you know, down this path. But I'm sorry, I'm already gone.

[00:45:57] Would I be allowed to load up on Imodium before this started? Or is that a performance enhancing drug? I don't think it's a performance enhancing. I mean, so then just as a security measure, I know if it's like taking Adderall before a booth, you know, HOH or something like that. Like, you think it's fine to enter the pressure? Is it Imodium ADD? Yeah, exactly. It's perfect. Imodium ADHD. It's all of the above.

[00:46:26] They have all of the variations you can take. That used to be a scandal of like, who's getting their ADHD medicine? Oh, yeah. That's what they used to hide it in Jackson's watermelons. That's why they took out the seeds. Yes. My line on a pressure cooker. Is this a pressure cooker? Is this not? I feel like, are you getting prizes when you drop out? If so, it is a pressure cooker. If there are no prizes, it's not a pressure cooker. Yeah.

[00:46:53] I thought one of the things that struck me as odd about this is that there was no incentive for half the field to win. You know, that's why I think it makes more sense as an HOH for me or when there's more people there. I mean, really, there was just zero incentive for anyone but the final three. I've had the three nominees and maybe the HOH, really not even the HOH because his hands were tied anyway. You're wrong, Eric. Because how about this as an incentive?

[00:47:20] You get to watch the brand new film coming in November, Fokker in law. It's almost like you are a professional. You were just so ready for that. You took the thought right out of my mind. That was an expert transition. Incredible stuff. This is pretty good. I got to say, you know, all jokes aside, we have been through the ringer on these movie prizes on our favorite shows.

[00:47:45] But the level of boredom is second to none on Big Brother. By this time, they have been home for three Survivor seasons already, you know, and watched a shitload of movies. To not be able to read anything. I mean, we were reading the back of tampon boxes and cereal boxes just to have something to, you know, ingest and, you know, process mentally. You can't call anyone other than your mom on your fake phone. You know, there is nothing to do.

[00:48:14] So having two hours of actual fun and distraction, I do not think that this is like farce, you know, like normally it's like we have to hype up like I love Applebee's. Like, I think this was genuine enthusiasm for the Fokkers. Like, I think this was the greatest day of their lives for the four of them. Yeah. Rick Devins said that this might be the best of all of the meet the Fokkers movies. What an honor. How do you even rank those? I didn't know when he said that. Yeah.

[00:48:44] Now, I could I could see Rick Devins in a sequel of a Fokker. Like, I could see him being the husband, you know, new to the family. Yeah. I could see him like Drew's dad rolling around on the bed with a dog. So we're going to have some sort of like a paramount answer to meet the Fokkers, a Fokker in law. Rick Devins has a son. And that's Drew. And that's Drew. Does this work?

[00:49:13] Or was it that Robert De Niro's daughter, right? That Ben Stiller is trying to marry. I could not follow the plot whatsoever. I had no idea who who Ariana was. But whoever that is, I've seen the trailer. Ariana Grande is that Ben Stiller now has an adult son. And she is like a CIA operative that is now. OK, but is Devins in this scenario? Is he Ben Stiller or is he Ben Stiller's adult son?

[00:49:44] We need we might need like a do we need like a Kevin Schley Uber to be the Robert De Niro? So let me tell you, I left this out of my recap. I I have crossed paths with him a few times, but I've never I don't think I've ever spoken to him before. I spoke to him last night. This man was incredibly nice. He's a very nice guy. He gave me a parenting advice. It was really heart to heart. So definitely he's in love. Love this guy. He's too nice. It's fine. He's so he's the patriarch. Then we got Devins. Then we got Drew.

[00:50:14] Drew is marrying Frankie. You know, honestly, like like I don't want to bring it back to this, but I really feel like if you were going to do the like big brother meet the parents, I think you kind of played with them. I think it's Dick and Danielle. I mean, and not for nothing, you know, now that we've established that the icons are not just like us, I probably would like to see Angela in this. Yeah. Yeah. Angela also. I mean, Angela's daughter was on The Amazing Race. Oh, that's true.

[00:50:44] I was going to cast her daughter as Melody. But then I was like, yeah, I mean, she could bring a real daughter, I suppose. Mm hmm. Yeah. There's a lot we could do with this. I mean, at least I mean, I think we should probably just contact Devins when he gets out and be like, boy, do we have an idea for you? Yeah. I think Barrett could be the good Ben Stiller here where he's like not happy to be a part of any of this.

[00:51:07] He's like, you know, that there's like a really like abrasive dad and he's like really putting poor Barrett through everything. He's like, I don't know. No, I think he should be the teenager. He has like his hood up and he's like, you know, he won't come out. He's he's he's starting to turn goth, you know, as as time goes on. I don't know. I I do think that we could be sitting on what what what did Devins call it? The best in the entire franchise. Yeah.

[00:51:36] And they talked about on one of the podcasts that there's actually a a little Fockers that I think you have like retconned out of the series. I think that there's I would not be surprised if there were some straight to DVD ones in there as well. You know, there's like been like somewhere around six to 20 Van Wilders, you know, somewhere along the way. I think it's the same generation.

[00:51:56] This is a big moment, though, I think in for media, I think where we should all get Andy Heron on the podcast, because I want to talk about this of that in three years ago, Focker and Law is going right to streaming. Focker and Law is going to the movies. Eric, are people going to the movies to see Focker and Law? Probably not. Right. I don't know. I think they broke. They broke the system. And I think they're trying to say, like, no, no, it's still we're back.

[00:52:26] We're back. Come like come to the movies to watch. I'm like, this feels like streamer. I mean, not for nothing. I think you and I tend to share similar sentence sentiments regarding the holidays. I would probably rather go to the theaters to see Focker and Law than what I'll actually be doing on Thanksgiving. So, you know, considering the date of release, I'll probably be there. OK. All right. We'll see. We have to do an emergency Focker and Law podcast when it drops.

[00:52:53] Do you think you could bring a full carved turkey into the theater? Like you could bring it in like a backpack? Yeah. Bring it in like a cranberry sauce. The stuffing. I don't think so. And it's not because it's a turkey. It's because that the markup on the popcorn, which costs like two cents to make it like 1075 is really keeping the whole entertainment industry afloat. So you think if we bring in Thanksgiving dinner, then we're breaking the system, right?

[00:53:22] Because we're not paying in. I see. I don't know. I think if I'm going to go on Thanksgiving Day, I at least want a dinner roll. You know, but I see what you're saying. Yeah. OK. All right. Eric, anything else on your mind in the Big Brother multiverse as we head into double eviction, baby? Well, it's been covered a lot. But believe it or not, this did happen since we last chatted. And I just want to say, got to join the masses.

[00:53:50] Kudos to D for fighting till the end and figuring it out. The best Big Brother players. What did Dan Giesling tell us? There's always a way. You just got to keep trying until you find it, right? That's it. Yes. He is. Does he have shirts that say that? I'm sure he must. Right? He should. When he's on the... Or I can't spoil it.

[00:54:16] When I imagine that he might be on a future season of Destination X, you know, I don't know that that's been confirmed. But in my mind... Maybe. Maybe not. If he was theoretically were to be playing a future season of Destination X, do you think he wore that shirt? Potentially while he was there. There's always a way. Or do you think he had a Dan's funeral shirt, possibly? Well, I think that could have a double meaning on that show where they're like trying to get around from one place to the next. There is always a way. It's like, oh, the road is blocked. Well, there's still a way.

[00:54:46] Yeah, we could get on a train. There's a way, right? I love to see it. We saw, you know, the Vanessa's fight till the very end and work out of tricky situations. We saw Dan do it. And the fact that it shouldn't have worked, but it did. And it wasn't even really that hard to pull off because she found a way to approach them. She approached them from a place of logic of what they needed, not what she needed. You know, she met them where they were.

[00:55:14] She has been a chameleon to give people what it is that they need and approach them with facts. You know, and now she's going to flip it right over again if she has the chance. This was not the HOH I would have been winning if I was Yash. And I think that this might be a deficit of information about the show. But you do not, if you are Yash, want to be the outgoing HOH going into a double eviction, especially with these. They might find out. Yes, but kudos to D for doing the thing.

[00:55:44] I think that just about anybody at this point would be an interesting winner. The other thing I want to say, and you know, he does not seem to have a lot of fan support. But you've got to credit Drew for going to battle this week. While Sam Barry was hiding in his room looking for his clothes and melodies on the phone with their mom all the time. Drew went to work and he seemed to win the icons back on his side. He made some form of deal with Yash. Whether they stand or not, he's trying. That's all you want in a reality star is just to like go down swinging.

[00:56:14] Do something. You know who's the number one Drew fan? Yeah. I can barely imagine. I'm nervous. My son. Oh, you know, that makes sense, right? Because he is. He's giving off that very. He's going to be 13 next week. And Drew is. He texted me after the episode. He said W Drew, which I think means like he's a winner. I think W is good. Oh, I have no idea what that means. Yeah, it sounds good. Yeah.

[00:56:39] I mean, Drew is the first person in many, many, many years who cited me as their favorite player. And that seems like Drew guy all along and he's feeling good. We'll see what happens at the double eviction. We might do an emergency bereavement podcast for Drew or that he'll be. Oh, no. Is he going to be blanketing? He could be blanketing or he could be like ready to go of like that. He'll be like the one person partying for a Drew win. That that is incredible.

[00:57:08] Maybe we can all go out together after the show. So I, you know, the quickest way to make me want to meet you after the show is to flatter me by saying that you like me. So, you know, like I'm I'm on Drew's side of it. You know, I like to see him go down swinging. It's good stuff. All right, Eric, what's coming up for you? What do you have to promote? Hopefully a nap would be great. I love that so much. I am feeling it from last night a little bit. Losing my voice.

[00:57:35] A little queasy, you know, so I'd say that mostly just like I will pretend to do some work. In the broader sense, nothing. Yeah. So how about you? I love that for you. Busy day for me. You'll be seeing more from me, but we'll talk about that soon. All right. It's very cryptic. Thanks so much for joining us for the Summer of Stein. Take care, everybody. Have a good one. Bye.

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