The Chicken Sisters - S01E01 - Welcome to Merinac, Y'all! (2024) ft. Jacklyn Collier

[00:00:00] Hi there, it's Bran. Back in 2024 we reviewed a new Hallmark Plus show called The Chicken Sisters. It was a lot of fun and now Hallmark is airing it on Hallmark Channel. And you might be thinking to yourself, Self, I missed those episodes. Can I hear them? What's going on? You sure can.

[00:00:22] So today we are going to re-release the first episode of The Chicken Sisters and you can hear our thoughts on it. And then if you want to follow along as it is airing on the Hallmark Channel, we made a nice handy little Spotify playlist with all of the episodes in it so that you can listen along as the show is airing on Hallmark. If you are watching it for the first time or you can just search for it in your podcast feed. Without further ado, here is our review of the first episode of The Chicken Sisters.

[00:00:52] Hi, I'm Bran and I love The Chicken Sisters. Hi, I'm Jax and I like The Chicken Sisters. I'm Dan and I despise The Chicken Sisters and this is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast. Deck The Hallmark is this podcast. And friends host this podcast.

[00:01:22] We hope you like this jolly podcast. To be fair, that's how some people feel when they listen. To us? Yeah, they're like, oh, Deck The Hallmark, huh? No, I get it. It was an accident, but it was funny. And there's something, our hands are tied. There's nothing we can do. It's produced by Aaron Shea, is what I have to say. Happy Friday, everybody. Happy double release day for Deck The Hallmark because we are serious content creators.

[00:01:51] Yes, we are. And we are serious critics. And if Hallmark's gonna put out two episodes in one week... We're journalists, we're critics, we're content creators. We have nothing... JCC. There's nothing that we can do but cover both of them this week. We're very excited about that. Jax, hello, welcome back. It's been a minute. I'm thrilled to be back even though I was the second choice to cover this series. I don't know if that's true. Well, no, that is not... No, maybe that's not true. Maybe I wasn't second.

[00:02:21] Maybe I was further down the both. Yeah, we listened. Fifth or sixth. You weren't a part of any of those meetings and there's no way for you to know. Well, no, what happened was she asked and we said that someone else was doing it. That's why she's saying this. And then we realized that we should... You were gonna do something different on Hallmark Plus and we're like, it makes more sense to switch them. So... We told Tyler Hunt to kick rocks because Jax is coming. That's right. Tyler, get it on out of here. That's right. He had agreed. He said, I don't know what this show's about.

[00:02:51] I'll come on, I'll review it with you. And we said, sorry. Sorry, buddy. At the end of the day, most Hallmark content is for males. But since it said sister in the title, we needed a woman to be on the show. That's right. That's what you needed. Yeah, yeah. I am a sister. That's right. Yes. Well, yeah. If Hallmark's gonna branch out, we have to branch out too. That's right. Yeah, we gotta start including everybody. And also, I'm gonna need help because Bran is so in love with Leah Thompson. Right. He is... It's crazy. The way he talks about Leah Thompson is not okay for this podcast or anywhere.

[00:03:20] I don't blame you a bit, Bran. She is a gosh darn delight and she's really shown out in this first episode. Hey, Brian, did you just turn on the heat, bud? He just turned on the heat. He did. It's real cold in our office. We talked about taking it... And we're not turning the heat on. We talked about taking it to the tape, doing the chicken surgery to take it to the tape, and I said, I don't think I can. I don't think I can. No. I have to be able to watch it in privacy, you know? Yeah. I mean, do we have any clips of me recording you?

[00:03:49] Yeah, you do. We do have clips. We do have those? Yeah. Go ahead and cue one of those up. Wow. I don't think I've ever heard you talk about... No. What happened was... Yeah, I know. Normally, he does this about the dude, so it is weird when Bran does... Yeah. In the... We were... Next Stop Christmas, the movie with Leah Thompson in it, the time travel train. During the preview episode, Bran said, Leah Thompson, and then what did you say after... I don't know. You went...

[00:04:19] Like, you just said, like, oh my God. Yeah, I said, oh my God. Leah Thompson, are you kidding me? Yeah. And from that point forward, we're like, Bran is obsessed with Leah Thompson. And I don't know if you know this about us, Jax, but sometimes we do something. Sometimes we say something and then we just have to double and triple and quadruple that. You have to. It's like me with whales. I say I hate whales. It's probably a little bit of an exaggeration, but for this show... What? Is this an exaggeration? Is he here even with the chicken sisters? Yeah. Really? What are you doing on the line?

[00:04:49] Just keeping you accountable, bud. Thanks, buddy. Accountability Whaler Buddies. Accountability Whaler Buddies. That's exactly right. So you're saying... How do you feel about Leah Thompson? Oh my gosh. Unbelievable. But you're saying you don't mind? You don't mind whales? Whales aren't my favorite, but they're probably not as bad as I've been saying. Okay. It's a start. It's a start. It's a start. They're beautiful creatures. Thank you, whale guy. They're beautiful creatures. I don't think Jax knows who whale guy is. That's my favorite part of this. Imagine Leah Thompson and a whale in a room. All right.

[00:05:19] It's a real weird... All of God's best creations. You know what I mean? Whale guy out. Maybe for good. I mean, we're retiring whale guy right now. No, no, please don't because although I don't know who whale guy is, I would say that was one of the more realistic characterizations and I appreciated it. Here's the whole thing with whale guy is I say something mean about whales and it turns out we have a guy on the line who is there to talk about whales being awesome. He's a whale. That's it. He's a whale expert.

[00:05:49] That's the extent of it. It doesn't go any deeper than that. That's it. No more to now. We've been doing it for a decade. You've heard one. You've heard one. You've heard them all. That's right. Yeah. We were very excited though. Chicken Sisters launched on Tuesday alongside Hallmark Plus and it all happened smoothly. It seemed the launch of that app. Yeah, it did. We've already talked about the Jane. We've talked about the Dune Bay and it all leads to this. That's right. The new big show.

[00:06:17] I mean, look, Jane Mysteries, Love on the Danube, these are big, but the cast of Chicken Sisters. It's mass. It's mass. Wendy Malick, Leah Thompson. This is the big show, right? I think so. Absolutely. And am I saying her name right? Schooler Fisk, Sissy Spacex Daughter? Is it Schooler? I thought it was Skyler, but I don't know. Skyler? No, you're probably right. I really just know it from reading it. I hope it's Schooler. That's Sissy Spacex Daughter. It's Sissy Spacex Daughter. That makes a ton of sense.

[00:06:47] And Genevieve Engelson, she did the Broadway cast of Vanya and Sonia Masha and Spike. She played Nina, a role that I went on for critical acclaim at a regional production. Not quite Broadway, but whatever. Not quite Broadway in QB. Yeah, not quite Broadway. Regional production. All the way in Florida. If you go to Broadway and you take a right and you go about 2,000 miles down on your left. Yeah. Florida is the Broadway of the South. I've always said that. That's right.

[00:07:16] That's what they say. The whole state. But an incredible cast of actors in this. I mean, we'll get to it, but Rukia Bernard, she's one of my favorites. Rukia Bernard is not even listed. Great to be back. Not even listed. Which is, come on. That's a darn shame right there. Get out of here. Hopefully they're going to update the IMDB because it's a mess out there. Cardi Wong. Yeah. Did you know anything about the show going into it, Jax? No. I knew next to nothing.

[00:07:44] I did know that Genevieve was in it because when I Googled the cast, I was like, why do I feel like I have beef with her? And I was like, oh, I'm jealous of her. That's why. There's no beef. Genevieve, you're a gosh darn delight. Well, that's not what I'm picking up. That was for the Florida show? That was for, yes. I mean, she did, you know. She did it on Broadway. She did it on Broadway. Oh, she did it next to Broadway. Okay. Yeah. Next to, just right there.

[00:08:13] Yeah. So close. Well. So close in Florida. So close. Yeah. I could see why. Maybe there'd be some beef. Well, we, you know, here in South Carolina, we have Myrtle Beach and in Myrtle Beach, one of the, one of the beaches in South Carolina. Dirty Myrtle. Uh, there is Broadway at the beach. That's right. Which we all know of. Of course. So you could, in theory, if you did a play there, Jack, you can hang out with us and then say that you were on Broadway at the beach.

[00:08:42] I would be happy to do that. Just let them know if they're hiring. This is my friend Jack. She's, she's been on Broadway. She's been on Broadway at the beach. Broadway at the beach. Broadway at the beach. And maybe if you were like in a play, you just kind of like, you'd be off Broadway at the beach. Yeah. Broadway at the beach. You just kind of cough the, at the beach. I've been on Broadway at the beach. At the beach. What? Broadway at the beach. At the beach. That's exactly right.

[00:09:10] Shall we talk chicken sisters season one, episode one? I think we should. It's called. You betcha. All right. Jax, it's called. Chicken or tofu. Chicken or tofu. Yeah. Both good guesses. It's called family is family. Family is family. Family is family. Yeah. And originally premiered on Hallmark Plus September 10th, 2024. And it went a little something like this. Welcome to Maranek y'all.

[00:09:37] A small town where people know their neighbors and people are nice to your face. Ain't that right. There's two chicken stores in this small town. You might think that's too many. I don't think it's enough. We got Mimi's. We got Franny's. And both of those restaurants were born out of a family riff a long time ago, which has turned into a serious rivalry still to this day. The folks in town take sides. You're either a Franny's person or you're a Mimi's person. It's serious business.

[00:10:07] Dan, who are you? You all right? Mimi's. I'm a Franny. Jax? I'm a Mimi's. Yeah. Aaron? Mimi? Oh, God, come on! It's a good answer. Brian? Mimi. He said Franny's. Franny's. Yeah. So it's pretty serious business as it is here in the office as well. We've all taken sides. I've not talked to Bran since. I know. And Jax, if you could tell Bran.

[00:10:37] Well, I'm not talking to her. You're right. That's true. I'm not talking to any of you apparently in here. This is just for you at home. Get out of here. This is all from a Franny folk at home. Uppy-ass B. Okay. So... You can't say that on this show. I just realized it. I realized you couldn't say it. And I don't know what you want to do about it. So here we are. We're going to take it out. Sorry. I mean, it's hard to say. Okay. Sorry. I was a little late. A little bit late. I was a little bit late. A little late. It was a little bit late. We can try it again if you want. Okay. Go one more time. Yep.

[00:11:07] You... Oh, wow. Maybe it came in a little bit too soon. I don't know. Anyway... We're having fun, aren't we? Uh... So... We meet Amanda, who works at Franny's, despite her mom running Mimis. Um... And that's a pretty big deal. The reason why she left Mimis and her mom is because she met... Frank Jr.

[00:11:37] A Franny's boy. Frank Jr. And once you marry a Franny's boy, there's no turning back. Uh... Her mom told her that, uh... She made her choice. No going back on that. Years later, Amanda is less than happy. You know, she's... She's having a tough time running. She's helping run the restaurant. Her marriage is... Who can say? Um... And she's just feeling a little... A little sad. And so she's scrolling the socials, as you do at night.

[00:12:06] And she sees a video calling for warring restaurants to apply for the next season of Kitchen Clash. Uh... On a whim, she applies. And they find out that they are in. The problem? Amanda hasn't talked to her mama in years. And, uh... She's gonna have to get her on board if they're gonna actually do this thing. So, uh... It's gonna be an uphill battle. Her mom says that she will do it. But...

[00:12:36] She's gonna need her daughter by her side. Her real daughter! Not Amanda! She's gonna need her other daughter, May. Uh... May doesn't do chicken anymore. She has a TV show called... Sparkling! Where she goes in with her partner and they, uh... Organize houses. Uh... Amanda tries to convince her big city sister to come back to that small town. She's not interested in coming back. Uh... She's kind of embarrassed by it all. Uh...

[00:13:03] There's a new guy working at Mimi's named Sergio. And anytime he's around, the tension between Amanda and Sergio is off the charts. And I don't really know what to do with that because she's married, but this is Hallmark Plus. It's Hallmark Plus. Hallmark Plus. Maybe Hallmark Plus is pro affair. I don't know. They don't have a bleep button on Hallmark Plus. We'll find out. They don't.

[00:13:31] If she's gonna split it evenly no matter who wins or loses, she would be more prone to say yes without May being involved in the show. Frank Jr.'s like, hard pass. I'm not giving up 50% of my money that I'm gonna win because Franny's is better. Um... So, deal's done, right? No. Frank Jr. tells the TV crew to come anyway. What? It's gonna be harder for her to say no if the crew's already here. But you know who else comes anyway? May comes anyway.

[00:13:59] After finding out that the network doesn't want her to be a part of the show anymore, she has a bit of a panic attack. And so she decides she's gonna come home anyway and she's gonna make this happen. The episode ends with Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and the TV host, counting down to the start of the show. And the camera begins to zoom in on all of the big storylines that are gonna be happening this season. And now my friends was... The Chicken Sisters Season 1 Episode 1 Family is Family!

[00:14:30] We did it. Ooh! Let's take a quick break. We'll come back, we'll break this episode down here on Deck the Hallmark. We're back! Welcome back everybody! We're talking Chicken Sisters! It's finally here! The day has finally come for the Chicken Sisters! And yesterday they released the Hallmark schedule.

[00:15:00] So you know it's just one of those weeks. Oh buddy, I'm sorry. One of those weeks. Tough break for you. Oh, you know you're sorry huh? Tough break for you. Okay. Chicken Sisters Season 1 Episode 1 is what we're talking about today. Family is Family! Family, our thoughts on it. Let's find out. I'm gonna start with Jack since she is our resident sister. What did you think? Sister, Sister! What did you think about Season 1 Episode 1, Family's Family?

[00:15:23] Okay, so the first four minutes of this episode were rough for me. It felt really hokey. The thing, it made me feel dirty and sad inside when they, the woman was like, they said she was bouncing in front of the pastor. And I was like, this feels very sexual. I don't like Frank Jr. Not in a way that like, he has any redeemable qualities. Like, there's nothing there.

[00:15:52] I actually think he's just a jerk and I don't want him on my screen. But then, Rukia Bernard appears for Kitchen Wars. Yeah. She's fun. It's all happening. And then the rest of the episode, it was just joy after joy from that point on. So they hooked me. I can't wait for Episode 2. I'm really excited. I think the acting is really good. I think the writing is great. I'm invested in this story. But boy howdy, the first four minutes were rough for me. Wow.

[00:16:23] Interesting take there. It is an interesting take. But 38 minutes worked for you. 38 out of the 42. 38 minutes worked, but the first four, I was like, I would stop watching this if I didn't have to review with my boys. There you go. Fair enough. I wouldn't have stopped because I was really enjoying it. Right out of the gate, listen, I went into this relatively blind. I hadn't watched any of the trailers, teasers, whatever. I knew the little synopsis that I had read on one show at some point.

[00:16:49] But I like going into these shows a little blind because it's kind of fun. We had fun with The Way Home going into the time travel show. People were like, how did you not know? That's the fun of it. You go in blind. People might think we're lazy and maybe. But I say it's better to go in blind so you don't have expectations. I went in blind as a bat is long. And that's, you get what I'm saying. And it's a really long bat is what I'm trying to say. Like Sammy Sosa.

[00:17:18] So I was pleasantly surprised. I thought that it was quick. I thought that it was funny. I thought that it was a little bit scandalous. Hallmark Plus out here just doing stuff right out of the gate. And to Jack's point, Jack's felt a little dirty watching it. I felt like, is this a Hallmark? I don't know what's going on. You're just a dirty boy. I'm a dirty boy. And so it didn't bother me. But I can understand.

[00:17:43] I think there might be some people that are used to their squeaky clean Hallmark that might put this on and be like, am I in the right place? And I understand. This is Hallmark Plus, baby. This is Hallmark Plus. And the plus is a handful of hells, some sexual innuendo, and a real good time. So overall, really pleads with episode one of the Chicken Sisters. Family is family. I've always said that. Dano? I saw Blind is a Bad is Long on Off-Broadway at the Beach.

[00:18:13] And it was fantastic. I also wrote down four minutes in my hot take. It is, in the first four minutes, you get two dams and two hells in the first four minutes of this television program. I couldn't believe it. I know. Yeah, it serves us right. The first four minutes, Hallmark is letting you know, welcome to Hallmark Plus. This is not the show that would be airing on Hallmark.

[00:18:42] We're going to kind of do our own thing here. There's sexual tension between two people that one of them is married. Also something you wouldn't see on Hallmark. All of that was kind of shocking and jarring. I think by and large, this show does what it's trying to do. It's not for me, but it's a show that is a and it's accomplishing what it's setting out to do because the acting is by and large really, really good.

[00:19:07] I actually think the only Southern accent that doesn't sound authentic to me is Leah Thompson's. Bites your tongue! Listen, Leah Thompson is a national treasure. But from a standpoint of this show is supposed to take place in the South, they don't ever give a state, but they say the South numerous times in the show. So, and you feel that Skylar Fisk is my favorite. She's unbelievable in this show. She's really, really good. Wendy Malick, always great, especially great here.

[00:19:36] Um, yeah, I'm not saying when it ended, I was where Bram was, who was literally clapping when the episode ended, but I wasn't mad. You know, when ride happened, I was mad. This is definitely not ride. It is a show that I'm, even though tough from tough and the tough tones is in the show from the tough tones is in this show. Again, they have one dude who is Southern and gay that they can put in these shows. Clearly they have found the one. They have found him and they're going to use him. Uh, so tough's in here.

[00:20:05] This show is better than ride. I care about the characters enough to be interested to keep watching. Although if it was, if I was not reviewing it for this show, it probably would have been a one and done, but the acting's good. The drama is there. Rukia Bernard didn't know she was going to be in the show. She's clearly going to be a lot of fun. Yeah. So yeah, a lot, a lot of positives. You wouldn't give it one more go after this one. I wouldn't, no, I wouldn't, but that's not, I feel like it was not for me with everything you said, Dan, everything you said, brand. I, I sound like a prude.

[00:20:35] I'm not a prude. Yeah. Yeah. And we know when Jax comes to visit, we've got to watch our language. That's the first thing. We've got to watch our language. And then also just how we speak. Cause things can be, she just, yeah, it's tough with Jax around. Bring the soap in. We'll chew on the soap for the next second. I called him an uppity AB earlier. I'm really sorry about that. It's tough. It hurt. It hurt too. It hurt. It hurt. Let's get to the feels. We're talking about what in this episode gave us feels. Jax?

[00:21:04] Um, I, um, got some sad feels, but I, but I really liked the way it landed. Um, when Wendy Malick tells Amanda to get her daughter. Um, and she's talking about may. I was like, Oh, well, because you saw it to your point, Dan of how good Skylar Fisk is in this. You just see this quick little moment that she has where she's like, Oh wow. My mom's coming around to me again.

[00:21:33] And it's not, it's not a big moment. It's so tiny, but it's just so beautiful. And then I had laughing feels, humorous feels. Okay. I'm sure. With probably one of my favorite lines I have ever heard, um, on Hallmark channel, which is when Amanda is talking to her sister may on the phone and may is talking about boundaries and Amanda says, well, somebody's insurance covers therapy. I thought it was chef. Yeah. Brilliant.

[00:22:02] So funny. Love that moment. And I want more where that's coming from. And I think this show is going to deliver that for us. I, uh, uh, the, the sad feels that you mentioned, what I think part of what makes it so great is it's not like May's around, right? Like may still chose to leave the family. Uh, but the fact that she can come back cause it doesn't really matter what she did as long as she doesn't go to Franny's. Yeah. That's the thing. Yeah. That's the thing.

[00:22:32] Like it's all like the only way that you could get out of my good graces is by going to Franny's and that's tough. That's a tough break over there. Um, I, listen, I don't, again, we're one episode in, I don't know where this Amanda Sergio thing is going to go. Holy moly. And I don't know if, I don't know if it was, uh, I don't know. It wasn't, I'm so, I'm just, uh, it's not what I'm used to with Hallmark. And so I'm like, maybe I'm misreading it.

[00:23:00] Maybe something, maybe I'm off base here. There's no way to misread it. It was in large print and all highlighted. I know. Like if I have a critique, it's not that they're doing this good for them for doing it. It's that they meant to sprinkle in a little bit of possible tension and they just dumped the whole bucket in. Like it is literally unmissable. These two like locking eyes run into each other. It's crazy how hard they go this early with it. I didn't, I didn't listen.

[00:23:28] I will, uh, you know, not, I'm not expecting anything. It's still Hallmark. You don't think they're good. I don't know. I don't, I don't know. I don't know how they, they're not allowed on home. I don't think they're allowed. I think the FCC is going to get complaints. I don't know how they're going to do this. It's like, it'll be like on the FCC, like way, how many are like complaints they've gotten. It's going to be the Janet Jackson and then this, and that, and I don't really know what to do it since that Super Bowl. No one's called since that Super Bowl.

[00:23:58] I don't think this though. Hallmark doesn't really have a problem with infidelity if they're just dating or engaged, but these two are married and maybe Hallmark plus is like, we're okay with married infidelity. They have a daughter. They're married. They're, you know, we see them sharing a bed together, which is like, well, this is clear. We're not watching. I love Lucy anymore. Like it's, it's, it's a, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do with this.

[00:24:23] They've go to great lengths, not only to make Sergio and her, their chemistry off the charts, but also to make Frank Jr. The worst, the worst person. And I think that's how you know. And she is incredibly horned up and he won't give her the time of death. I like, yeah, I don't know what to do with this. I don't know what to do with this. Um, and I think that just that feeling of not knowing what to do with this is my feels. Like I, uh, like honestly not knowing how Hallmark is going to handle this situation is exciting.

[00:24:51] They even say they even intimate in this show that the reason they get married is because they were young and they wanted to have sex. That's why like literally they say it in the show. Which I loved. Yes. Oh, I loved it too. But yeah, just so you know, if you're listening to this and I haven't watched the chicken sisters yet, this is what you're getting into. You're not not this. This is not a Hallmark show, right? It just isn't. It's a lot. Uh, Dana. Yeah.

[00:25:17] There is what the actual best actor here, uh, is no one that I've mentioned in my hot take this show, which brain, you, did you mention this show as a narrator in your, in your, okay, this show has a narrator and it doesn't have just any narrator. It has an absolute legend of the screen as the narrator. It's Margo Martindale, who is in two of my favorite television shows of all time justified and the Americans. She is amazing.

[00:25:47] Her narration takes this show from a C minus to a B plus by herself. It's, she's so good as a narrator in this. She's even does this thing where she tells you she's pretty much omniscient. So she knows what's going to happen. The narration here is great. Margo Martindale makes it even just exponentially better. I love a narrator. I loved that. She was doing this as a narration. Uh, she crushes it. I like that Dan. I like that a lot. Did you know that Margo Martindale is the narrator?

[00:26:17] Uh, Jax. Oh no, I didn't. Yeah. Oh my gosh. The best. That makes me. Yeah. I will say that narrators can go terribly wrong off the rails, but you're absolutely right that this is narration and show done so well. But it also lends it credibility because Margo Martindale is Southern. Like she's, she is like got Southern cred. And so that narration lends it some real, sometimes, you know, one of my first early memories of

[00:26:45] being like, I don't want to make this podcast anymore was when we saw the Mark Blukas, Texas barbecue movie with Autumn Reeser. And it was like, they're clearly in Canada. No one knows how to talk about football or smokers or, uh, beef brisket or, and I, it was like, what are they trying to do? And so when I first heard about the chicken sisters, my thought was they're going to Canada this thing up the whole way, but no, it, it actually does have a good, good Southern credibility to it, which was that a movie that we covered with you, Jax back in, uh,

[00:27:15] that was, what's her name? Uh, who, who did that with us? Uh, uh, she Ruth. Ruth now works for Paul green. She was on that episode. Yeah. Yeah. Ruth Hill was on that episode with us. So you picked Ruth over me. No, you did a second. You're always the second, uh, pick for us. That's okay. I don't mind being second. And Ruth was not available for this today. In fact, uh, which is crazy. It was Tyler Hines. Ruth. Of course. Yes, of course. Third. Third time. Third time. I don't know if that's what that means, but yes.

[00:27:46] Blind is a bat is long. That's exactly right. That's what I think. A really long bat. So, so let's take a quick break. We'll come back and we'll get to the way. What? And the, uh, uh, chicken, chicken, fried chicken, fried chicken, fried chicken, fried chicken, fried chicken, fried. Welcome back, everybody. We're talking chicken sisters. Mm-hmm.

[00:28:15] Episode one. Friends, friends, family is friends. Family is family. Family's family. Uh, friends, friends, friends, family, friends of family, family, family, family, family, Friends are friends forever. Um, let's get to the wait, what? So we're talking about what in this episode. Let's go, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. What? I'm sorry with you, Jax. Uh, Bran, I think you just did a really excellent. I have two, but you did a really excellent job of covering the Sergio of it all. Yeah.

[00:28:41] It, it, the chemistry of it was interesting in the fact that it really felt like the kind of chemistry and connection you have when it's like a single mom or widowed mom. And it wasn't just like Hallmark has their like infidelity things that you're like, oh, is this going to happen? What's going on? But this felt different. So yes, I, I was shocked, but excited to see where it goes. And then also this was another thing that I was proud of Hallmark plus, you know, we have Amanda and she's a vegetarian.

[00:29:08] And even though the town is kind of like, what, how, like the woman at the grocery store, we don't get the idea that the show is making fun of her for it. Just that she's out of place in the town. And the whole thing, the running thing in a lot of these Hallmark things, especially like four or five years ago was that like vegans and vegetarians were weirdos. Yeah. And I'm not getting that vibe from this. And also, I think there's probably an interesting story there. If she's a vegetarian who's, you know, grew grown up around chicken and has made her whole

[00:29:38] life like a chicken restaurant. I'm curious. I love that your wait. What's are typically just more like all the feels like, yeah, I like that they did this. Yeah, that's really sweet. I really like that. Um, we've talked about the first four minutes, but the first four minutes absolutely is a wait, what? And just as what you expect out of Hallmark, you don't, you don't expect a hell. You don't expect a woman bouncing in front of a pastor.

[00:30:07] You don't expect blood and teeth flying at the camera. You don't expect a, a woman clearly wanting to have smacks with her husband. And you don't expect that out of Hallmark. And so. Oh, the last one smacks. Smacks. Smacks. Got it. Okay. The S word. Got it. Got it. Uh, you don't expect it. And so I just kept being like, what is happening?

[00:30:34] And so, uh, to their point, I went to another point that had ended up, uh, helping me with Orerved On Their Throw H personal naval kids but Got Isaiah and Bead Piara and Bottom my first wait, what is mainly just like, I can't believe this is happening, type of thing. but my other way what is boy that hush puppy was massive there's a there's a hush puppy in this episode and that's a hush full grown dog that's exactly right you need that on a bagel this this is a hush you better be over 80 pounds or there's that's not gonna do anything for the dog that dog

[00:31:03] that puppy is that hush puppy is huge yeah it's a huge hush puppy it's usually a sign people don't know how to make hush puppies I'd like I'd like to that's a hush puppy like a golf softball I'd like to eat it it was a very it looked I mean I'll eat a big old hush puppy if you want me to not a hush puppy it's more like a loud loud puppy Dana yeah so Jax mentioned that one of our leads is a vegetarian and they don't make fun of it but it's

[00:31:33] they do bring to light the fact that she thinks killing chickens is basically inhumane and she runs a fried chicken restaurant so like you would she's not she's not a vegetarian because she just wants to eat more plants and not any meat she doesn't think you should kill chickens and that is literally her her job and I I don't think that that makes sense I don't think they were making fun of her but I also

[00:32:03] don't think if you if you were a vegetarian because of the treatment of animals you couldn't possibly be the assistant manager at a restaurant that fries chickens could you I mean cognitive dissonance yes that's right that's right yeah exactly cognitive dissonance you get it yes double X hockey well I almost brought it up the cognitive dissonance of course you did yeah Frank Jr Frank Jr.

[00:32:33] might be a terrible human being and we'll I'm sure we'll see more if he really is I think he is what I can tell you is he wears a three quarter length t-shirt to go to bed in and that's a monster that is a monster three quarter length that's not a long sleep t-shirt for bed which would be real tough three quarter length t-shirt for bed you sleep naked is he do what I just sleep in a pair of boxers what about you Brian yes same or naked

[00:33:03] just the boxers you let me decide great we're not going to ask Jax I can't imagine no no I have really cute pajamas from a place called Katie Kime they're not sponsoring me but they have adorable PJs that's sparkle queen at katiekeime.com is that understood that's my understanding that's right I can't imagine wearing any shirt to bed but a three would you three quarter length long sleeve well I it depends I've slept in a sweatshirt before a sweatshirt yeah if I want to sometimes I sometimes I want

[00:33:32] like if it's real cold and I don't want to turn on the heat kind of like today I like getting cozy and taking a little nap like that and then last but not least thank you though that was really good last but not least you and I have been on a few sets TV movie sets Jax has been on more sets than we have off Broadway off off Broadway at the beach near Florida here's the thing you the big twist at the end of this episode is Rukia Bernard in kitchen class shows up and Frank Jr. goes

[00:34:04] no that's not how that works at all you can't to rank listen you and I had to do a media day for South Carolina public radio they needed a month in advance for a camera crew to be there we got there they were running an hour and a half late you cannot possibly make a call to the food network and go could you come a week early the day before and they're like yeah everybody's ready we're just sitting here twiddling our thumbs waiting for you to give the go ahead we were hoping that's just we were

[00:34:33] hoping we'd get that call that's just not how that works and I know it creates great drama and it creates the entire setup for not it's not flying it's not flying it's time for chicken fried where we talk

[00:35:03] about whether or not something is making us scared like a little chicken or we think something is good to go like it's perfectly fried Jax you ate a lot of fried chicken you eat a lot of fried chicken when you come and visit us but normally you don't right no are you excited for the marathon to get back to that fried chicken my understanding Alonzo is cooking meals for us so maybe it won't be I'm gonna

[00:35:33] eat some fried chicken yeah he's doing a lot of baked goods yeah he's baking yeah he's asking about nut allergies okay I don't know people put nuts in all sorts of stuff that's right peanut oil for your fried chicken that's right nuts on a like a salad can I tell you what I'm gonna do with this segment because it doesn't make any sense I'm gonna tell you

[00:36:02] which I get the feeling that every week they're gonna try to sway you one way or the other on which of the restaurants yes so are you Franny or Mimi is that's how I'm gonna treat this segment I'm gonna tell you which one I'm with and why that's what I'm gonna do okay you can do that too but you can also do the thing where you're like was it chicken and scared or was it fried and awesome yeah it's up to you you can do whatever you want to with this segment totally I would say

[00:36:33] okay was it chicken and scared or fried and awesome I think that I'm very excited I'm very may and rukia and rukia bernard's character um wherever that originated so I am excited I think that's fried I think that's

[00:37:01] fried baby and I can't wait to find out more about whatever that is for a second I was like did they have a thing that would be hot yeah hot as fried chicken did whom have a thing rukia bernard oh I see I was like did they like is this like yeah well I'm in a similar vein I'm feeling a little chicken uh because there's they make some

[00:37:31] that means you're scared right yes they're making some uh teases that there's some serious they're making some teases they're making some teases they're teasing us no they're making some teases that there's some serious uh these serious skeletons in this family's closet more than what we know at this point what is is what are those skeletons and uh is it gonna be scary

[00:38:01] I don't know uh but I'm intrigued by it what would it take to turn those teasings and just put them in the hopper and fry them on up what would it take revelation revelation the book of the lord yeah okay great got it so let me tell you why I'm Mimi's and not Franny's this week if you wanna do this dumb thing so me so me like Wendy Malick's character seems the most unreasonable of any of the characters on the program right now even more

[00:38:30] so than Leah Thompson's character or Frank Jr.'s character I think Frank Jr. is just dumb and an idiot and selfish he's not unreasonable I think he's just he's stupid um but the reason Mimi's is the most is the most unreasonable is her restaurant hasn't sold out she believes that the reason her restaurant is special is because it hasn't changed anything and Franny's is trying to you know franchise they sell frozen mozzarella sticks they do

[00:39:00] these other things and so right now even though she's being unreasonable I feel like what's a better story than seeing someone who's always done something a certain way continue to have that magic while also seeing that there's benefit in progressing and changing and so the character that's really calling my heart if you will to bring it full circle is Wendy Malick's character because I know that she's capable of changing and moving forward and so if I was going to go

[00:39:30] to a restaurant in Reckano where's this place Maranack Maranack I would go to Mimi's because it seems as though they care more about how things have always been done so I'm going to go Mimi's this week but listen things could change next week you never know fry it on up all right fair enough it's time for chicken of the week it's where we somebody submits chicken and then we do a spotlight on them Dan who do we have today this week's chicken is Gracie Gracie that's all we get

[00:39:59] no more information Gracie it's a there's a I have her stats a hen 2.4 pounds lays three eggs a week okay interesting chicken of the week hello Gracie I'm no it's no okay I'm Gracie's farmer are you farmer farmer farmer farm I know that was maybe another name what is

[00:40:28] going on it was like a different name you know like you think a female farmer has a different name I'm glad we have Jax's face in the frame right Jax a farmer a farmer and a farmette could you make it any more patronizing I'm not trying what's your name farmess Janie farmess Janie so why did Gracie get the nominee

[00:41:00] DTH you'll see what's the why did Gracie get the nom she's questioning it a lot of these it gets kind of the fall time and they start getting a little spooked out there's lots of ghosts witches and their brooms Gracie takes all that in stride adult hen 2.3 pounds 3 eggs a week how is that I don't know this time of year it's crushing it I don't think you understand how spooked out

[00:41:29] into the demonic these chickens yes do you think if you had a couple more farm s's there it would help I don't know I

[00:41:59] Halloween shops pop up all over the place I just want to know what this has to do with Gracie being chicken of the week have you been driving around your town you see the Halloween towns popping up and all this stuff like just the store Halloween Express yes great it's not a joke like these these are what did you say your name was one more time it sounds like baby jack is auditioning for the role of farm it sounds a little bit like farm have a TV

[00:42:29] but I do think once again guys it's not a joke and if you could just stop it with the costumes stop it and then you run around and you throw eggs at people's houses that's a waste especially this time of year even our best hymns only three eggs a week that's the best we got okay don't waste all right I think somewhere in there we did officially name Gracie chicken of the week yes great thank you very much whatever your name is in the mail it'll be in the mail a medal or a trophy

[00:42:59] chicken of the week everybody I'm so glad we did this it's neither of those things a certificate this is what I get you've never even been on TV Jeanette what did you say your name was Janie got it I gotta change my mind on this I think I'm now I'm frying I'm frying we did everybody it's been a lot of fun and the good news is if you're done

[00:43:35] with chicken sisters too until then we first wish you a Merry Christmas

[00:44:13] thanks for listening or don't listen it's really up to you at this point it's at the end of the show I mean you're listening to me hi but here they come I promise they're coming yep here they are happy day