Howzat? 2.8 / 6

Before we get into it, what is with the title of this show? It’s way too long and I would go as far as saying it’s annoyingly long – like there was a table of Hollywood agents who wouldn’t allow the project to go ahead without referring to absolutely every element of the podcast. Yes, we know that Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson were both in Cheers.

Anyway…

Moving onto the show itself, ‘Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes)’ (urgh) is one of the latest shows to come out of the gates of Team Coco, Conan O’Brien’s media podcast empire, which usually pitts his celebrity friends against each other in order to replicate the success he has achieved with his own show, ‘Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend’ (a much better title, FYI). 

Conan O’Brien is definitely the star in this episode, which feels odd because as the guest, he’s the one leading the conversation and riffing on anecdotes like he does on his TV show: on how he started in television, how all of his staff are nervous about Danson and Harrelson coming in and have dressed up for the occasion; on why he uses humour as a defence mechanism. 

Danson sounds older than his 76 years and Harrelson doesn’t really know what’s going on. It’s billed as a comedy show, yet all the comedy comes from O’Brien’s keg. Danson and Harrelson give a knowing nod to the comedy element throughout but their demeanour is more sedate, akin to ‘nice drunk’ after several bottles of wine, funnily enough. 

It’s nice to hear their conversation, it really is, but I won’t be hitting the subscribe button. The show is a celebrity wankfest shaped in a format that is a dime-a-dozen these days (take a celeb and get them to chat) and this doesn’t offer anything different. 

Not that Team Coco has missed the mark, far from it. Rather, it reflects what Hollywood looks like in the reflection of the pond of podcasting – it’s still a lovely picture but the shine that makes them superstars is somewhat lacking. 

GF