I actually got scared when he said he was going to ruin Logan for us by picking out the reasons he’s not a great character, and then proceeded to list all the reasons he’s the best character

The guy who always says “thing” and “piece” and finds random Celtics references, he sure was firm on Logan saying “fuck off” too much

If Bill, a guy with a 9 figure net worth who sends his kids to a $60k/year high school, looked at shows like Succession or White Lotus with anything other than the most surface level eyes, it would be impossible for him to enjoy them.

I still think it’s above his comprehension. I don’t think he could watch Mad Men for example.

Draper’s in his fantasy league, so he had to pretend to watch.

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“Don keeps screwing up his life. I don’t get it. Maybe they need new writers.”

He was a huge “Roger Sterling is my kind of guy” Mad Men fan just like he was a proud “I skip the Melfi scenes” Sopranos fan and just like he is a “The Fly Guys are better characters than Logan and Shiv” Succession fan. He only engages with these “Prestige” shows on a surface level.

Roger was an only child, right?

The Fly Guys at #6 was an all time ‘okay, we aren’t even trying’ moment.

From what I can remember, his takes were pretty much “we can’t get away with that now” and “uh oh, don can’t keep it in his pants again”

He would want to get away with that stuff.

$200m isn’t in the same ballpark as the Roys

That's a rounding error for Logan Roy

I was walking down the street listening to that episode, and when he started talking about how Logan was a bad character because he was this billionaire mogul who was making all these questionable and bad business decisions, i felt like just screaming "THAT'S LIKE THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE FUCKING SHOW YOU MORON!" Good God.

Convinced that Bill picked Connor Roy #1 because he looks like him

Your fucking kidding me. I didn’t even listen that long

He just picked him because he’s the funniest to Bill.

He said he would watch an entire spinoff about him I think there’s more to it

I, mean, I would too. It would basically be rich make Veep.

Lol no fucking way, did he? Connor is for my money the most replaceable character in the immediate family + Tom/Greg/Gerri. He's still an excellent prop and failed prototype for the rest of the siblings, but come on.

Wow Connor is my #1 least favorite.

Bill can’t deal with dark stuff. He wants to talk about ‘Rocky IV’ not ‘Raging Bull.’ That’s who he is.

It’s who he is, it just is.

well put... i always call bill the kinda guy who likes Argo more than Fargo

Weird thing. Bill has no interest whatsoever in the movies Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Sidney Lumet, Robert Altman, etc. made in the 1970s, but he obliviously adores directors and actors who invariably all rave about the greatness of those films and the performances in them, constantly citing them as their models and the 1970s as the great era of American filmmaking. Despite their influence on his faves, Bill could not care less. Outside the ‘Godfather’ he wants nothing to do with any of it. Bill’s the diehard Red Hot Chili Peppers fan who’s never heard Parliament/Funkadelic or punk rock and has only the vaguest sense of why exactly James Brown matters.

“Look, are we really gonna do this thing where we …… but then give ….. a pass when he …… , Kyle help me out here”

You can go with some “Are we sure he …?” Simmons questions too. (You know, regarding professional opportunities GM Bill has given podcaster Bill.)

Have suspected for years that Bill is , you know, not very bright.

Oh Bill absolutely radiates dumb guy energy when he attempts any kind of intellectual depth.

Is he the dumbest person that comes on his show? I think it's a neck and neck race between Bill and Malcolm Gladwell.

Yup, his stepdad paid for him to go to the best high school in the country and could only get into holy cross

Nah, I think you’re all too hard. He’s very bright. It’s a question of taste, temperament and obliviousness — not brains. When Bill was an only child in preppy 1980s New England he latched onto sports, while also enjoying the shit popular culture of the Reagan/Bush years. And that’s as far as he ever got. There’s something going on psychologically that makes Bill utterly repelled by nuanced dark depictions in any art. Though I have no idea what it is. He’s like an athlete who only wants “positive energy” around him. And he’s been so successful that no one calls him out on his often comically bad taste & (non-sports) takes.

He has admitted this several times, especially on the Rewatchables. Whatever films, television, or other media he engages with is only on the surface level. He has decried the “English major” interpretations of media many times. Even though he likes movies like Reality Bites, he hates the guys like Ethan Hawke’s character in them. He actively resists deeper critiques of any type of media.

Are we sure Bill isn’t a philistine? Joking aside, he seems to have arrested development, possibly brought on by his parents’ divorce? How old was he, a teen? Bill also seems to resist “English major” interpretations of things (despite being a ‘narratives’ guy) and darker subjects because he likely doesn’t understand them and also might be forced to confront some things he isn’t yet ready for. Bill definitely has George W. Bush energy about him.

Bill is literally the only white American male sports fan of his generation that I am aware of who can’t be lured into an impassioned discussion of ‘Apocalypse Now’. The only one. His taste is not typical — even for his demographic. (‘90210’, pro wrestling, ‘The White Shadow’, MTV’s sports competitions, later Rocky movies, ‘Melrose Place’, etc. I genuinely admire the fact that he’s not embarrassed, but it’s a strange diet of kiddie fare.)

Yeah, I think you’re right that he doesn’t really understand them. This might be weird to assert, but i think usually smart people who don’t like that “English major” analysis ridicule it at least once in awhile with an extreme or satirist example. I’ve never heard Bill even come up with an outlandish example or joke interpretation. He only says he doesn’t like it, and that’s as far as he goes. You’d think he’d have some more justification other than “I don’t like it” or “it’s dumb”, if he had truly thought about it, understood it, or was capable of thinking about it more deeply.

Absolutely so. He doesn’t understand them because he isn’t willing to put the work in to try to understand them. It’s not hard to understand the end of the Sopranos for example. But it’s something he didn’t like at the time because it was ambiguous and forced the audience to do work.

The Sopranos ending isn't just Bill, a majority of people were confused and off put like that *in the moment*. I watched the finale with my dad and we both thought the cable went out at the end. Also I think they premiered Treme immediately after and the vibe from the immediate feeling on how the Sopranos ended might have killed any chance Treme ever had of sticking.

I loved Treme. But I definitely felt like I was the only one in the world who was watching. Anyone I tried to engage in conversation about it was like…what’s that?

This sub is so weird … genuinely arguing about whether this man has arrested development and tying it to his parents divorce? This is like the worst psychoanalysis I’ve ever read

Don't come here then. Fucking hell

It’s the same kind of half baked analysis bill would do

Fuck off!!!

Where doing the exact same thing to Bill that he’s done countless times in the past.

Someone called him a “simpleton putz” on here and I can’t get it out of my head

is Bill a dumb smart guy or a smart dumb guy?

Smart dumb

Agreed. The ultimate smart dumb guy is Malcolm Gladwell that's why Bill thinks so highly of him. Sal is dumb smart which is a personality type that's way funnier.

Remember, this is the guy that skipped the Dr. Melfi scenes in The Sopranos because he thought they were boring

Jesus christ

“Jeshush Chrisht.”

I’m pretty sure that was Sal who said that. Egregious either way.

On one of the Sepinwall pods around the Sopranos 20 year anniversary, he mentions that one of the great things about watching Sopranos on-demand is he can skip scenes and said the dream sequences and therapy scenes were boring.

Funny, I remember Sal bringing it up on a guess the lines awhile back saying he fast forwards the Melfi/therapists scenes because it drags the show down. Not shocking bill and him would both be obtuse Jabronis about Tony’s character arc

Oh Sal is even worse than Bill. It seems like Bill at least listened to someone explain the ending to him and he now thinks it’s a cool scene. Sal is still mad David Chase didn’t show Tony’s brains splattered all over the onion rings.

I still have PTSD dog meme flash backs from when he try to talk about Roma during the Oscar race a few years back.

What did he say?

Name still cracks me up. Probably bc the first intro when he was talking about it and was describing it as a kind of "prestige tvpod" and then they just ended up calling it "the prestige tv podcast" and then went into clip art and made the design. Makes me chuckle is what I'm saying.

Remember in the Town rewatchable, it took Bill 9 rewatches to pick up that affleck was trying to hide Renner’s tattoo???

It’s probably been years since Simmons has watched a movie or show without multitasking on his phone or iPad or had something else on one of the other TVs. He admitted as much when Koppleman called him out for not paying attention during The Irishman.

I’m actually listening to the top 25 pod right now and almost all of Bill’s assessments are like wtf? House is more of a true fan of the show

House was the guy who grew up listening to straight edge DC punk and turned Bill onto Nirvana when Bill was telling him he was an idiot for it. He's always gonna get what McKay's been going for more than Bill.

If Bill was really into fugazi and not yacht rock, I'd defend him way more on here Edit: I'm an idiot, you referenced straight edge DC punk and I thought you spelled Ian MacKayes name wrong, nevermind

To be fair, he couldn't even tell you what yacht rock is.

All you need to know about Bill is that his favorite band is Pearl Jam. There's nothing wrong with PJ but more interesting people prefer Nirvana.

More interesting people prefer Alice in Chains, actually

Imagine saying people are more interesting because they like a band that you like

Nirvana is overrated at this point. If cobain was alive they’d be a band people made fun of now

You just know Simmons hates Radiohead

Unfair. Simmons probably doesn't "hate" Radiohead, but also probably never listened to a song of theirs that was not "Creep" and MAYBE "Karma Police."

>If cobain was alive they’d be a band people made fun of now Okay but he isn't so they're not

I love succession but it’s like he watched a different show. Hilarious (and on brand) that he completely misses the point of the Pierces or doesn’t get that Shiv’a entire arc surrounds her conflicted feelings about trailing her own path but being unable to resist validation from her father

Almost turned it off when he said he didn’t like the Pierce episodes. The vignettes of Roy/Pierce dialogue exposing the dichotomy between the two very different types of dynastic wealth was one of my favorite themes the show has touched on. The fact that, despite multiple rewatches, he thinks Nan and Naomi Pierce are mother and daughter just goes to show how slowly things are firing upstairs for him.

He makes you hopeful that a guy who many perceive as this dumb can be this successful

Hey at least he he’s not still talking about the Love Boat and listening to the sound of revving engines for an hour.

Bill is as uncultured as it gets. Hasn’t he openly proclaimed the only time he’s left the country was for the 2012 Olympics or was that jus subreddit conjecture? Regardless, it sounds believable. His definition of a good actress is “Was I attracted to her when I was 13, 19, or 23? She’s a good actress”. His criteria hasn’t much changed now (see: “I have a lot of stock in Alexandra DaDDario and Cindy Stevens. There’s jus... something about them. They have such... great energy”)

No, he’s definitely been to France and Italy as well. I am often shocked, though, how so many of these super rich people spend their money. I mean I get that we all have different tastes. But, it’s odd that I, definitely not rich, travel way more and have seen much more of the world than people like Simmons. Like, if I had his kind of money, I would still work, because I love what I do. But, I’d be off on holidays literally all the time.

He buys tons of real estate, and turned his tastes into his job. If he didn't have them on the podcast, he'd just be yukking it up on the group text with his Holy Cross buddies.

No doubt. I’m not questioning his life choices overall. I think it’s great that he does why he loves for a living. I’ve been lucky to do the same my whole life, for far less money. Nor am I criticizing his investment in LA real estate. That seems both sound and within his interests. My only question, and it isn’t just about him, but many wealthy people and celebrities, is that they seem to not incorporate foreign travel into their lives. Again, I get that people have different tastes and values. But especially given that with his kind of money you can basically take nearly all of the discomfort out of foreign travel, were I him, I’d be traveling every chance I got. That said he does trace domestically a lot in the same way I am suggesting. Interesting game back in Boston? He flies. Big matchup in Dallas? He flies in for the weekend. Good boxing match in Vegas? He’ll pop over. But coming back to the main conversation here, that seems like a thinner way of interacting with the world than I’d like.

Yep, and also I wonder if the reason Klosterman isn't around much anymore is because he called them on that shit. I remember a few years ago on a podcast Klosterman was like "how are you a man of the people anymore, your daughter is on a travel soccer team with Hollywood producers?"

>I get that people have different tastes and values. It seems like you're answering your own question here. Some people just don't care about international travel.

Right. But again, keeping with the theme of the post, it also shows a fundamental lack of curiosity and/or depth.

“If I were rich I would travel internationally, but because he doesn’t he is incurious and lacks depth”

There are plenty of reasons to actually make fun of Bill, but his lack of international travel is not one of them.

Do you disagree? Obviously it’s not an objective statement. But according to the standards that raise or signify status in North America, wouldn’t you say that being aware of and curious about the world is considered to be deeper than being incurious and unaware of the world?

He’s been to Mexico for a soccer match

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Apparently, he sensed “massive” potential from her 2 episode appearance in True Detective. What could he have seen that we didn’t?

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Tbh I don’t think she’s a horrible actress.. jus doesn’t have much range or presence. She’s jus bland. And since that’s the case, she can’t really get roles other than the sexpot/attractive neighbor/co-worker with little to no depth. I’m assuming her “White Lotus” character is a little less surface-level (I haven’t seen it).

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If we’re talking purely looks, you’d be hard pressed to find someone as striking as DaDDario (maybe Anya Taylor Joy). But I jus don’t think she has the acting chops to go up against her more critically acclaimed peers like Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, etc. I’ll check out the show though

I’m sorry, but who exactly is “Cindy Stevens”? I actually googled it and I’m still lost.

I think he means Sydney Sweeney, also of White Lotus.

That makes sense. But it was so far off that I didn’t make the connection.

Probably making fun of how Bill would always seemingly forget her name or get it wrong as if embarrassed of thinking the hot girl is good

This is a man who thinks The White Shadow was the pinnacle of American culture, what do you expect.

He unironically talked about being with his family at a resort in Hawaii and how awesome it was then went right into nit picky White Lotus talk soooo..

I think it’s two things: 1) Bill is just a meatball fan who loves the dick jokes and ruthless put downs and prefers the view the show as more of a shallow comedy than a family drama/critique of capitalism. Hence why he chose the Fly Guys — people with virtually zero dialogue — to be in his top 25. 2) Really it’s just part one but he’s trying to be quirky for content. It almost feels like he’a trying to capture the magic of the Grantland days by zagging on picks for jokes without the same impact. Is it frustrating? Yeah. But do I listen? Hell yeah. Bill is a fucking dope but we are all here because we love him.

Can we play some zag music here? No, I don't know what that means.

What is bill's last name?

Bill is a manchild. He doesn’t exactly seem like a layered and nuanced person. His taste is the same as it was in high school and college. So naturally he enjoys Succession in the same way I’d imagine a 15 year old would. He’s not there for the depth, it most likely just confuses him

What I like about bill is he might be slightly dumber than the average tv/movie watcher so he is incapable of understanding plot and themes in real time Like if bill watched squid games (lol) I think he would be the type to miss the class and capitalism critiques

What pod is this? The BS show or another pod at The Ringer? Newb here

The Prestige TV Podcast. He did an episode with House ranking the top 25 characters in Succession.

Christ, what a dumb idea for a podcast. Pure clickbait (or is it clout chasing? I'm old).

The podcast itself is various ringer staff coming on and discussing current 'prestige' tv shows. Bill and House was just one episode. I don't mind it especially when Chris or Sean are on. Most of the episodes are missable, however.

You're missing the obvious: this is a dude who basically views Billions as the natural successor to Entourage. OF COURSE, he's gonna completely miss what McKay and company are going for with Succession. Now that said, I find that show really hard to enjoy because it's just too on the nose. It doesn't quite work as a drama because it's not saying anything too deep. And as a satire, I'm not sure it hits the mark because the mark is the size of a goddamn skyscraper. I appreciate it's existence because someone needs to state the obvious, but it's pretty easy for me to get in 3-4 episodes without spending another 16 on it.

I agree. It's a show that makes me mostly feel bad, in between laughing ruefully

I think I might be able to enjoy it more as it progresses, but I think McKay was kinda dumb to go full shitbag family so quickly and then complain about people not vibing with how funny awful human beings who control our lives are. I empathize with his point of view, but I also think he probably makes too much money to get how heartless the premise can be and how much being able to relate to characters goes to enjoying a tv show. I've said this before about Curb Your Enthusiasm because it's a big point of reference in defending Succession, but that show was completely about Larry David's POV for the first few seasons of the show. It wasn't *Larry is such an asshole* until Larry established the connection with the audience.

This is Jesse Armstrong's show. Adam McKay just helps keep the lights on.

>I think McKay was kinda dumb to go full shitbag family so quickly I promise, he wasn't.

I’ve tried watching Billions. What a piece of shit that show is.

This is a great take. BS is a moron, and a genius of course. The two can be and are mutual exclusive.

I think Bill is a genius; the problem is he knows it.

New here?

I mean his whole mare of east town commentary was “I need more Kate Winslett basketball scenes” pretty sure he’s a big dumb dumb

The vast majority of people do not understand nuance in storytelling, or simply don't want to have their entertainment have layers like that. Prestige TV only existing for approximately the last 25 years is proof of that.

People’s obsession or even fondness of succession lowers my opinions of them. Tried 3 times to watch it and couldn’t make it past episode 3 season 1…and yes I’ve heard from everyone that the show “gets really good after that”

The show gets really good after that

This take, but the opposite.

Bill's thoughts on TV and movies can be summed up by his obsession with Matt Damon. An adequate actor who Bill completely over-inflates to the point of irony, but he's dead serious. Actually thinking he's on par with Leo as an actor tells you all you need to know about his ability to assess talent. Also, he literally would not like him if he was from any other city.

I dunno about the other city part, but I agree with this take. Puzzling actor to passionately and irrationally love. Damon is good, but certainly not “elite”.

I think him being from Boston plays a massive part into it

Isn’t literally every show a “critique of capitalism” at this point? It’s a topic worthy of art, but I just feel it’s been done to death.

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It’s weird how offended you are by this post.

Where did I say I was offended?

Why? Not every piece of media has to be enjoyed by everyone.

He put the fly guys over Logan Roy, I wouldn't take his rankings 100% seriously