How ‘bout we kick off a new season with an obsession and a little deception? First, Suzanne makes an injured Anthony her own personal dress-up toy, then, Mary Jo leads a (mean!) former friend from her childhood through a web of lies, which include donning a client’s robe and probably breaking some trespassing laws. Salina will give us a sidebar on popular baby names and maybe there’s a Grits Blitz in the mix.
We’re mixing things up this season and serving up a second helping of Sweet Tea and TV in the form of Extra Sugar on Thursdays as their own episode. So, come back this Thursday. We’re in the last year of the ‘80s, baby - let’s talk all things 1989.
As promised:
Popular Baby Names (by year, so you can see what was trending when you were born!)
The article we used for Grits Blitz about most expensive toys
Come on, let’s get into it!
Or listen onApple Podcasts |Spotify |Google Podcasts| Amazon Music.
Transcript
[0:00:17] Salina: Hey, Nikki. Hey, Salina. Whoa. I've not really been able to hear our music before.
[0:00:22] Nikki: Like in-ear live while we're recording. Yeah, we had an equipment upgrade. Yeah, we're trying.
[0:00:31] Nikki: We're giving it a go.
[0:00:32] Salina: We'll see how it goes today. There might be a couple of glitches.
[0:00:34] Salina: But yeah, only one way to find out. Well, welcome to season four hill me, you all people. All of us welcome. And now that the holidays are behind us sorry, it is January, we're ready to get back to chatting about the sugar bakers being Southern, not being Southern. Somewhere in between. That's the Midwest. I don't know. I'm rusty. Guys, just give me a minute. Okay. But like the beginning of anything good?
[0:01:05] Nikki: Where is this transition going?
[0:01:07] Salina: We have notes. One more fun than housekeeping footnotes. So before we dive in for real forill I wanted to share with everyone a couple of things that you and I have chatted about offline off season, which is logistically. Folks, folks. You might notice a few segments missing and that's because we're always trying to tweak what we think is and isn't working in between seasons. We're not going to go into it. You'll figure it out or you want and that's fine. Moving on. We're also going to start releasing our episodes a little differently. So on Mondays typically, except for this week, so be a Tuesday keeping you on your toes because it's a holiday. We're going to release our typical standard episode which is reviewing and kind of digging into designing women and random things. Extra sugar on the other hand is going to post later in the week. Thursdays, I believe.
[0:02:08] Nikki: Yes, that's the plan.
[0:02:09] Salina: Okay. And can you tell me how that's going to work for Patreons?
[0:02:14] Nikki: Yes. So our Patreons always get early access to our episodes. When we launch an episode on Monday, they get early access on Friday. So I'm trying to follow that same model. So they'll have this week is different, but they'll have this week's episode a couple of days or at least a day before we launch and then hopefully extra sugar. Then they will have on Monday or Tuesday. We'll see how it works out. These first few episodes, we're recording pretty quickly in quick succession to launching and we have to edit in between. So I'm going to do the very best I can to make sure our Patreons get a little advanced notice.
[0:02:46] Salina: Look at you saying that - we don't edit anything.
[0:02:50] Nikki: We have things, we do things together, you review them. So yes, patreons will get the same they've always gotten, which is a couple of days advance notice on things because we love them and we want them to have an extra special experience.
[0:03:03] Salina: That's right. That's so well put. Okay. The other thing that probably needs to go ahead and be said that was really well communicated is that you may hear us sneaking in some non Designing Women content. Okay, well, you don't need to be.
[0:03:19] Nikki: Surprised, but pretend I'm your audience.
[0:03:21] Salina: well, here's why. One way or another, Designing Women is coming to an end.
[0:03:29] Nikki: Come hell or high-water, it's ending.
[0:03:32] Salina: Come hell. I don't know. So we're still unsure if we're going to cover the final two seasons when Suzanne and Charlene leave. Now, that's always been a question mark. It's not like we talk about it all the time. But if you do revisit the beginning of the show, you will hear us say that.
[0:03:47] Nikki: And so check minute 415 in episode three, season one, actually.
[0:03:52] Salina: Kind of surprising that I don't know that. But I do think we talked about it sometime in season one. But the thing is, is that we're also considering branching out to cover additional Southern things. We're committed to keeping you in the loop, and as we make major decisions, we'll let you know.
[0:04:08] Nikki: That sounds good.
[0:04:09] Salina: Are there things that you'd like to hear us cover? Other Southern focus TV shows or movies. Topics you want us to dig into as a part of Extra Sugar? We have a list of things, but we'd love to hear your ideas. In every episode, we tell you how to find us. Wink, wink. That was natural, right?
[0:04:25] Nikki: Smooth.
[0:04:27] Salina: Last, definitely not least, we do have some shout outs. Welcome, Candace. Welcome.
[0:04:34] Nikki: Oh, I feel like I should have a sound effect over here for that. You're not smooth enough yet. I'm not smooth? You keep going. Let me see what I got over here.
[0:04:42] Salina: Okay. Our newest patreon. We officially welcomed Kandice in our special episode that launched just before Christmas.
[0:04:49] Nikki: I have something.
[0:04:50] Salina: Okay.
[0:04:50] Nikki: Can I do it? Yeah.
[0:04:57] Salina: Welcome. Good. So smooth. So we did welcome Candace just before Christmas or just before our special episode that launched right before Christmas. But we want to say something one more time in a regular episode. I sing a song. I'm not doing that again. Sorry. But you should definitely go back and listen because, man, it was good.
[0:05:19] Nikki: It was a surprise.
[0:05:20] Salina: So good.
[0:05:21] Nikki: I didn't see it coming.
[0:05:23] Salina: You didn't see it coming. We also have a new listener. agreer. We don't always just shout out a new listener. To be clear, we don't really necessarily know. Although sometimes people are nice enough to pop in and let us know that they're listening. But the reason that we are sharing this is because, again, we just want to say thank you from the very depths of our stomachs and hearts. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sending along the most delicious assortment of tasty treats all the way to Scotland.
[0:05:51] Nikki: My kids were so grateful we did. So grateful.
[0:05:55] Salina: We did literally sit there and share bites of every single thing with them. To which I left Nikki's house in a hurry.
[0:06:03] Nikki: Did you hear the screaming from outside?
[0:06:06] Salina: You could see the house reverberating sugared children inside.
[0:06:12] Nikki: They were very excited. They had favorites. They loved the little gummy pigs. Those were probably a big favorite.
[0:06:18] Salina: Really good. They had them, did they? Yes. Fancy.
[0:06:22] Nikki: Okay. Yeah, they loved those.
[0:06:24] Salina: Fancy. Well, I just want to say that we were incredibly blown away.
[0:06:31] Nikki: That was so incredibly kind. You had said that Greer had offered to send us some things until we opened the box, I didn't have a handle for what quote unquote, some things. They just kept coming. We just kept pulling things out. It went on forever. It just kept going. And they were all different and they.
[0:06:50] Salina: Were all delicious and just like super thoughtful. There were some things from her hometown and they felt quite southern to us. They were called Scottish tablets. And they tasted like praline.
[0:07:04] Nikki: Oh, yeah.
[0:07:05] Salina: And then there were oatcakes in there that reminded us of cheese straws. The tea cakes were kind of like moon pies. I think that day you had also talked about mallows. Is that what candy is called? That candy is not southern, but since moonpiece are, it kind of is that similar vibe. It was really cool. It made the holidays really special.
[0:07:33] Nikki: Really did. And we opened them together. Salina brought the box over to my house so that we could open because this is our first gift from a listener. It was really kind. And so we took the opportunity to get together and do it in person and like Selena said, have a full on taste test. Every single thing we tried.
[0:07:50] Salina: Yeah, it was amazing.
[0:07:52] Nikki: Before dinner. We tried everything before dinner.
[0:07:55] Salina: That's true. Yeah. Before dinner.
[0:07:58] Nikki: I was hopped up as well. I mean, there was still dinner. You can't skip dinner, right.
[0:08:03] Salina: But if anybody wants to see our unboxing, it's on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. That's right, we are now on TikTok. You can find us at Sweet TV pod. Thanks to Nikki.
[0:08:17] Nikki: Hoving on up, man.
[0:08:18] Salina: Make the push. So that was a lot, and I'm sorry, y'all, but a lot goes on between seasons and as we recalibrate and start anew, we're slow and we want.
[0:08:30] Nikki: To take people along with us as we do it. I mean, we had about a month break and little things would occur to us here and there. We had a brainstorming session in between and so we don't want to make these massive changes and not take people along with us. We don't want people to be like, what happened to this segment? Yeah, I think people might do that. Yeah, I would.
[0:08:47] Salina: Yeah, absolutely. So thank you for going on with this. This journey with us is what we're trying to say. And shall we then journey into season four, episode one of Designing Women?
[0:09:00] Nikki: We shall. Season four, episode one. This episode is either called the Proxy Pig or the Proxy Pig. In The Great Pretenders, hulu calls it the former, IMDb calls it the latter. Did you look anything about this up? No. Why? The names are different. I still don't know fully why but I will say that trusted source I always look@designingwomenline.com, they said it was originally called The Proxy Pig when it first aired, and I guess and the Great Potenders was added in syndication. I don't know why they would have done that unless I guess there could have been another show that had the Proxy Pig is the title and they needed to distinguish it or I don't know, but they needed to add that. In addition to the differing titles, hulu and IMDb also offer different synopses. It's either an episode focused on Mary Joe trying to impress a former rich high school friend by pretending to live in a house Sugar Bakers is decorating. That's what Hulu says. Or it's about Suzanne generously letting Anthony stay at her home after he hurt his back. And by the way, Charlene is having a baby, which really wasn't in any of the descriptions.
[0:10:08] Salina: Right. And that's a change, a giant change. She has a creature inside of her. I feel like that's parasite, if you will. Hey, I'm only going to let you speak on that one.
[0:10:22] Nikki: I have more thoughts on that, which we can discuss later. Okay. So the air date on this one was September 18, 1989. We're calling this one Anthony the Living Kendall. It was written by LBT and directed by Harry Thomasin. You want to get into some general reaction, stray observations?
[0:10:39] Salina: Yeah, absolutely.
[0:10:40] Nikki: What you got?
[0:10:41] Salina: So well, my very first thing that I thought of while I was watching this episode is that it reminded me of Misery. Do you want to talk about the Stephen King novel?
[0:10:49] Nikki: I do.
[0:10:50] Salina: Turn into a movie with Kathy Bates and James Con.
[0:10:52] Nikki: This is funny. Your first general reaction? I'm feeling like it's going to be very similar to mine, different movies.
[0:10:59] Salina: Oh, okay.
[0:11:01] Nikki: Go ahead. You go ahead.
[0:11:02] Salina: All right. I'm curious. Okay. So I know they referenced in the show. Whatever happened to Baby Jane? But the book Misery came out in 87 because I thought I was like I feel like the timing was similar. And then the movie came out in 1990. So it's possible that it was even being filmed around that time and reported on in the trades around that time. And I guarantee you that LBT was a big trade reader, if not still, because isn't that what you do when you're in the business? I don't know. Maybe I'm in this business, but not really. I'm not even in this one. What did it remind you of?
[0:11:41] Nikki: So I tapped into Whatever Happened to Baby Jane because they referenced it head on in the movie. But I was also curious, have you ever seen it?
[0:11:49] Salina: I know what it is.
[0:11:51] Nikki: It is dark. Yeah, I've never seen it. I've read about it references.
[0:11:56] Salina: Okay. No, but I want you to talk about it now and I can supplement.
[0:11:59] Nikki: So it was a 1962 film starring Betty Davis and Joan Crawford. It really sounds terrifying. So it's basically about these two performing sisters who are fueled by jealousy and rage to do really awful things to one another. So basically, the younger sister is extremely successful in vaudeville as a child and really cruel to her older sister. Their fortunes reverse at some point in their lives and the older sister becomes really successful in Hollywood when the pictures become a thing. That's pretty good.
[0:12:32] Salina: That's a good 40s voice.
[0:12:34] Nikki: So the Hollywood successful ones that's the older sister has an accident and is paralyzed, which she blames on her younger sister. Then her younger sister imprisons her in their Hollywood mansion and does really awful things to her. The reason it reminds me of this episode is that at one point the older sister drags herself down the stairs to try to escape, which mimics the scene with Anthony coming into the Hoffman's home.
[0:12:57] Salina: That's fair. Yeah.
[0:12:58] Nikki: My reaction to all of this was I feel like I've seen this a few times and I'll be interested to see if you've had the same reaction where they mimic Hollywood movies as the plot line. So, for instance, they were huge.
[0:13:15] Salina: They would set up exact shots and stuff, but do like a sitcom version.
[0:13:19] Nikki: And then in Community, there was this meta thing where one of the characters is very into movies. Anyway, in this one I was thinking of I'll Be Seeing You in episode two, which was set up like a wartime old Hollywood movie, the Cantina or something. Yes. A Hollywood Canteen.
[0:13:36] Salina: Thank you. I didn't get that ass backwards.
[0:13:41] Nikki: Help me out, Star Wars, because my kids and husband have been watching Star Wars lately and they have the canteen and then there's some black people coming to dinner in season two, which was largely a riff on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
[0:13:52] Salina: You mean this show and how she designing it?
[0:13:54] Nikki: Yes. Okay. It was just interesting to me. It's something I've seen as we've been watching the show and I don't think the device occurred to me until this episode when he mentions whatever happened to Baby Jane. And I was like, is that the real name of the movie? I probably have heard of it at some point. I'm not a big fan of the early Hollywood movies in like 60s. That's too far back for me. Just not for me. This stuff is dark.
[0:14:20] Salina: Who was a B movie too. The only other thing I would bring into this, it was sort of mimicking who Betty Davis and Joan Crawford were in real life. In fact, what I was going to share in references I was going to share now is they have such a huge off screen feud that I would now was it a publicity stunt? Was it real? I'm not sure. I think it's probably a little bit of both, if I had to take a guess. But I would argue that's more interesting than that movie. And in fact, Ryan Murphy, I think he was going to do a series of them the way he has with these other kind of anthology shows that he does. But it was called Feud and it was about the two of them and the making of this movie.
[0:15:09] Nikki: Oh, interesting.
[0:15:10] Salina: And then they were supposed to do another movie together and it fell apart. Betty Davis goes on to still do it, but Joan Crawford, I think they got rid of her from the movie because she was being such a hassle off of, I think anyways, so interesting.
[0:15:31] Nikki: I had one more general reaction that I have a few strays. I wanted to just point out that Belva inviting herself to stay with Mary Jo on top of being tacky was very UN southern was just weird.
[0:15:44] Salina: Well, yeah, that was in my strays. It was like, who does that? Who invites himself like that?
[0:15:51] Nikki: Especially like a frenemy. Is she not self aware that she and Mary Joe have this weird interaction with one another?
[0:15:58] Salina: It's probably something where it's like it's an interesting set up, but maybe a little bit of a plot hole that that's not I don't know. Why would it work that way without that awareness? I had two more general reactions. The A and the B plots here were interesting. In your mind, was this the Mary Joe episode or was this a Suzanne and Anthony episode?
[0:16:22] Nikki: Oh, that's a good question. I would have said Mary Joe.
[0:16:26] Salina: Okay.
[0:16:27] Nikki: Yeah, it seemed like the more prominent it seemed like that's what we talked about the most.
[0:16:34] Salina: Okay, but it's weird. Then it's called the proxy pig, right? For me, it felt like two B.
[0:16:41] Nikki: No.
[0:16:41] Nikki: No.
[0:16:41] Nikki: Salina. It's called the proxy pig. And the great pretender they saw the error of their ways and corrected it.
[0:16:49] Salina: Somebody did. So it felt like two B plots to me, which this always stands out to me. I don't know why. I just think it's like the basic building blocks of storytelling and especially in a sitcom. But I think it could have been either. Either one could have been the A, but one of them needed a little more juice first. And it's kind of telling now, we still don't know really the reason why they tack that on in syndication, but it's kind of telling that even, like, the descriptions, the name, no one knows. So it's just quite unclear. And then my last is a question for you. All my general reactions of questions put you on the spot. Are you in or out as Suzanne is your caretaker?
[0:17:45] Nikki: So this is actually something I'll address later in things that I didn't like in the episode. Or maybe it's in things I liked. Me personally, there's like, other people I would pick, but I give her credit for trying. And I feel like she's got a real heart for taking care of people. And I hate so much that she becomes the butt of the joke so much over it. So that's not a clear answer. Not for me. But also, she's trying an attempt was.
[0:18:16] Salina: Maybe minus where she's, like, dressing him up and having someone give him African braids. What's the problem feeding him Italian? Mexican. Philip mignon scheduling manicures pedicures and facialists.
[0:18:33] Nikki: Sounds pretty nice. I feel like I'm pretty low key, and so I feel like maybe I'm a little like Anthony when I had my wisdom teeth taken out. For instance, I don't want someone, like, massaging my cheeks or giving me pedicures while I'm laying there in pain, but I want a smoothie every now and then. Or maybe not a smoothie because you're not supposed to suck things through a straw, but whatever. I want a nice soup that's taken care of. So I think I'm a little more low key than that. So that would be the problem for me. But also, as you're saying it, I'm like, but that sounds like a nice weekend, and if I'm not recovering from something, if I'm not in pain, and if I don't need rest, that sounds like a nice way to spend a weekend. Yeah, I like it. It's like Suzanne Spa. Suzanne Spa came to the bed. Exactly.
[0:19:27] Nikki: But, yeah, there was, like, a denim jumpsuit involved at one point, which is I'm out on that.
[0:19:27] Salina: What does it look like? Yeah, I've never seen you in a jump. I literally can't imagine it. Me, on the other hand, I've owned several jumpsuits.
[0:19:40] Nikki: Seems logistically challenging. No buttflap.
[0:19:43] Salina: What do you mean? I've never understood why they don't just go ahead and tack one of those in there for those and the wrong person if you're going to continue to cycle us through these. Come on, guys.
[0:19:53] Nikki: Come on, let's improve.
[0:19:54] Salina: We would never do that to a man.
[0:19:56] Nikki: Let's Sweet Tea & TV it and make minor improvements with each iteration.
[0:19:59] Salina: If you ever want to know that patriarchy still exists, that's how you know. We don't get pockets. We don't get p flaps. We get nothing. All right, so Strays sounds like a good intro to that.
[0:20:10] Nikki: I have three.
[0:20:12] Salina: Okay, I'll allow it.
[0:20:15] Nikki: Thank you. There were a couple of cut lines in this episode, including one early in the episode where we learned that Suzanne submitted an application. I'm sorry, someone submitted an application for Suzanne to become a candy striper. So when you find that out later in the episode that she has become one, it's not totally random. It was part of the plot line. So I think with the cuts, it's sort of implied. Obviously, someone applied her for it, but in the actual lines, they actually say it. There was also a really substantial cut line where Suzanne asks why Belva was so mean to marry Joe. And we learn as part of that discussion that Mary Joe wasn't poor growing up. She was actually kind of well off. I only bring that up because it kind of surprised me. I thought for some reason it was part of her storyline that she was not well off growing up. So I don't know if that resonates with you at all, but it just surprised me, so I thought I'd report back.
[0:21:10] Salina: All right, I might have to sit with that one for a little bit. Yeah. I think everything that we've heard at this point is that it was a small rural community. She didn't grow up with a lot.
[0:21:21] Nikki: I don't know. It's not important. I had two continuity errors. Did you notice any in this episode? Say more, tell you more. One is when Mary Joe and Charlene are sitting on the couch at the Hoffmans. Charlene had a pillow with a case on it, and when they first showed her, she was like I think the case was already on the pillow. The second time they showed her, she was stuffing the pillow in the case. So it was just like that kind of continuity area. Okay, well, then the second one is they gave an address. Mary Joe gave an address to Belva. It was 29 33 Crestwood Drive. I googled it. I have no idea. I Googled it, and if that's a real address, it's actually in East Atlanta, which is really hard, which is really far from Buckhead and Tuxedo Road, which is where Mary Joe said they were.
[0:22:10] Nikki: I wish somebody had consulted a map. Which also is a throwback to our season two, episode three, Extra Sugar, where we talked about the Tuxedo Road history. I got to put that in there.
[0:22:21] Salina: Absolutely. So the reason that I said, Give me a second to think about that is because that is one of my strays. There were a few things that happened that gave me pause on whether I was remembering previous Designing Canon correctly or not. Okay, so a little bit different. Yours is more like logistical kind of stuff. Okay. This is more like what we've set up in the plots before.
[0:22:47] Nikki: Okay.
[0:22:48] Salina: So in this episode, they say that Noel ran away. Is that in keeping with last season? Because I thought they took her away after that whole rifle pig, full moon fiasco. You know, not knowing is also okay. I didn't feel like it was accurate to whatever the story was.
[0:23:08] Nikki: The reason I say, you know, is because you're right that that was part of it. And I feel like when we recorded that episode, one of the pieces of trivia I had read was that that was going to be the last time we saw Noelle. Or maybe it was an episode before that. Anyway, when they said it in this episode that she ran away, that tracked to me, for some reason with something else we had heard. But you're right, that one big milestone last season was that they took her away.
[0:23:31] Salina: And she does have a history of running away. That's a thing. But for some reason, I just thought she had lost custody of her.
[0:23:39] Nikki: I could find you an answer that would be great. Okay.
[0:23:43] Salina: But not while I'm talking.
[0:23:44] Nikki: Well, while you're talking, just don't expect me to respond.
[0:23:48] Salina: Perfect. Okay. The other thing that didn't track for me is Suzanne proclaimed she loves babies at the top of the episode. Is that right? I know she wanted to adopt leasing in season one, and I know she's a self proclaimed animal lover even, but babies?
[0:24:04] Nikki: It's just convenient for her to say that.
[0:24:06] Salina: Okay, I can go with a convenience argument. I had one other stray. Mary Joe's hair was like, really different. She almost looks like a character from a movie in the 40s. They're doing that thing in the 80s where they're trying to straighten curly hair, but it's not straightening. It's like poofing. But then they're like, oh, we'll somehow flatten it and give it a twirl at the bottom.
[0:24:31] Nikki: I'm glad you noticed that. So that's actually my things. I didn't like her hair. It was her entire style in this episode was a massive step back. So we talked a lot in the first couple of seasons about poor Mary Joe's style. She couldn't catch a break with the stylist on the show, so then she had kind of a redemption. Her outfits have gotten increasingly cuter and then this was like a major step back in her hair. In particular, again, going back to designing women online's summary in particular of this episode, they say Mary Joe's hairstyle outfits and whole pumpkin colored look made a lasting impression on the fans who to this day refer to the early fourth season episodes as being Annie Potts's worst hair days. In actuality, the memorable hair color and style only appeared in this one episode, but it's a real sticking point for fans. She was also wearing like a real rough outfit when she went to meet when and she actually comments on it, how silly she looked with that hat on and that shawl. However, when she took whatever that was off, the little halter dress she was wearing was really cute.
[0:25:40] Salina: It was very pretty and pink to me. Also, really cute movie and she was in. But yeah, her hair was a major not so great for this one. Was that your last stray?
[0:25:50] Nikki: I have one more and I think my last stray might transition us into your segment. Maybe. I was going to talk about the meanings of our names because Charlene talks about baby names so much.
[0:26:04] Salina: Okay, lay it on me. I mean, it will.
[0:26:06] Nikki: Okay, why don't we transition to your segment and I'll just add okay.
[0:26:11] Salina: So it's going to be popular baby names for this week's. Salina's sidebar.
[0:26:20] Music: It's a sidebar. Salina's sidebar. She got a keyboard looking for a reward by digging deep in the obscure, taking us on a detour. What you got, Salina? In Salina's sidebar.
[0:26:37] Salina: So one of the many gifts that Suzanne gets, charlene is that name your baby book. And then they even quickly chat about the meaning of the names in honor of that, which I sound super excited about. I thought we could that's why I thought that we could dig into names.
[0:26:54] Nikki: Yeah.
[0:26:54] Salina: And I promise I'll make it more interesting. That sounds I was like putting it together and I was like, yeah, let's talk about names. But I got curious and I looked up the top names in 1989, and that's the year the episode premiered, 1989. I mean, that's our contemporaries right there. I mean, they're right there with us gems, our people. I bet you can guess at least three of the girls.
[0:27:18] Nikki: Jessica, jennifer. No, not Ashley. Ashley. Am I close?
[0:27:26] Salina: Well, just knock out one more name and I'll tell you.
[0:27:29] Nikki: Jessica, Jennifer, katie.
[0:27:34] Salina: Okay, you did get one correctly. What? Okay, but you didn't initially say Ashley. You said not Ashley, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. So you got two.
[0:27:45] Nikki: I said, Not Ashley. And then I said, no, Ashley.
[0:27:47] Salina: Yeah. You know why, though? Because you saw my face. They can't see it, but I'm going to tell on you because my face gave everything away.
[0:27:56] Nikki: Maybe Jennifer was a slightly older name.
[0:28:00] Salina: It could be. I can tell you it wasn't. Oh, I'm sorry. Now you've aged us because it was the year we were born in 85.
[0:28:09] Nikki: Okay.
[0:28:10] Salina: So in fact, that was the only name that was different between the year we were born in 89. But here are the top girls names in 89. Jessica, Ashley, Brittany, Amanda and Sarah.
[0:28:23] Nikki: Sarah.
[0:28:24] Salina: Gosh, I thought you were going to.
[0:28:26] Nikki: Like, do you know what color, what spelling of brittany. Britney. Okay.
[0:28:34] Salina: Wasn't expecting that question, but I did have the answer for you. The top boy's names. Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and David.
[0:28:42] Nikki: I was thinking about the name Michael the other day. I think of that as a name for people our age. I don't think of it as a name for kids my kids age. And my daughter told me she has a friend in her class, a new kid named Michael.
[0:28:55] Salina: And you said, no, you don't.
[0:28:56] Nikki: I was like, that's not possible. They haven't named kids that since 1989.
[0:29:02] Salina: Funny. So my curiosity I do agree with you, though. There are these names that are just like stamped in time. So I get it.
[0:29:12] Nikki: It's a classic name.
[0:29:13] Sarah: Except not really because I feel like it's one of the most popular names ever.
[0:29:17] Nikki: Right? Yeah.
[0:29:19] Salina: Everybody knows a Michael. That's like I know like 100.
[0:29:22] Nikki: I just don't see it in the elementary school yearbook as often anymore. And I feel like I went to class with, like I had three Michaels in one class at any given time or Mike or Mikey or whatever.
[0:29:33] Salina: Yeah, well, I wasn't just curious about 89. Life didn't stop, then went on, and my curiosity drove me to look up the most current popular name.
[0:29:44] Nikki: Oh, good. You say michael.
[0:29:46] Salina: I swear the most current is I'm like. Wait a second. Is 2021, because these are actually from the Social Security administration. They track these.
[0:29:55] Nikki: And we know how quickly they work.
[0:29:56] Salina: I have no idea. Yeah, they need some time. So for boys, do you want to take any guesses or can we just lay it out there? This seems hard.
[0:30:07] Nikki: I think I would probably do better with girls names. Go ahead. You go ahead. I'll take too long.
[0:30:11] Salina: Okay, so boys names. Liam, Noah, Oliver, Elijah, and James.
[0:30:18] Nikki: Okay. I know a few of those.
[0:30:20] Salina: Okay. All right. Do you want to take at least a guess or two for the girls?
[0:30:25] Nikki: There's going to be like a kinsley or McKinsley or something.
[0:30:32] Salina: I think you're right. I think that was a few years, ten years ago.
[0:30:37] Nikki: Okay.
[0:30:38] Salina: You couldn't swing in a live cat without hitting someone with tell me real.
[0:30:45] Nikki: Quick, is Emma on the list?
[0:30:48] Salina: Yes.
[0:30:48] Nikki: Okay.
[0:30:49] Salina: We have an olivia. Emma, Charlotte, Amelia and Ava. And I would argue that's because we've done that flip flop, everybody was using, like, really wild names there for a little bit.
[0:31:00] Nikki: Modern sounding.
[0:31:01] Salina: Yeah. Now we've gone back to real traditional sounding names, but this is a spoiler alert, maybe for a show that's very old. We're covering it. It's called designing women, but Charlene and Bill's baby name is on here.
[0:31:17] Nikki: Olivia.
[0:31:18] Salina: So that's kind of fun.
[0:31:20] Nikki: I had this whole conversation not even thinking about this segment with my daughter the other night about how we ended up naming her. So her name is Carolina, and I had to explain to her so how we ended up on that name. And I was telling her that I always wanted to have a daughter named Savannah. I just thought that was the most beautiful I don't know, it just feels fresh, but also with a hint of traditional. And by the time I had her, I feel like there were so many Savannahs. I couldn't do that. I just couldn't do it. So Charlotte was another one that feels that same sort of vibe. But there were so many Charlotte, so it doesn't really matter how, but we landed on Carolina, and we never meet Carolina's. Or if you meet someone with that name, it's Carolina, and it's pronounced with an accent of some kind. So I can't decide if I feel bad for her or good for her.
[0:32:10] Salina: I feel good for her.
[0:32:12] Nikki: I like it. I feel good about the name.
[0:32:14] Salina: Yeah.
[0:32:15] Nikki: I just don't know if she's always going to be called the wrong thing. She has a lady at school that calls her Caroline. Someone she like, really looks up to calls her Caroline. And I was like, you need you need to correct that. And she's like, it doesn't bother me. And I'm like, it should bother you. It should lean in lean.
[0:32:30] Salina: I don't know, like, if someone who got their name mispronounced a lot in the you just get over it. I'm like, just call me Janice.
[0:32:40] Nikki: Well, yeah, I've been the wrong name my whole life. I think that's why it's like most.
[0:32:44] Salina: Of us are unless your name is Ashley, your name is wrong.
[0:32:46] Nikki: Yeah.
[0:32:46] Salina: Everywhere. Unless your name is Jessica, Ashley, Brittany, Amanda, Sarah, your name is Ted. Wrong all the time. That's true. I'm like incidentally, like I have a best friend named Jessica, Ashley and Sarah saying, just saying. So then I happened across this ten baby name trends for this year. Okay. And I thought I'd share a couple of things from that that I thought were interesting. And we'll also link to the article because I'm not going to go through all ten, but we're really swayed by pop culture. And so right now some people are going really opulent with names like Amadeus and Casimir. And this is due to the popularity of shows like Bridgerton, the Witcher and the Sandman.
[0:33:30] Nikki: Oh, no.
[0:33:31] Salina: How do you think those kids are going to feel? Actually it made me think about Game of Thrones when it first started and people were naming their kids Khaleesi.
[0:33:39] Nikki: Oh, I thought you were saying daenerys.
[0:33:40] Salina: No, they went with Khaleesi, which is like a fake language that means queen. And it's just I don't know. I wonder how the calesis are filling today.
[0:33:48] Nikki: There are so many funny TikTok videos about baby names that should just stop altogether and they make me laugh. Every naming a child is a very challenging task and I don't intend to specifically make fun of certain names because there's a reason their parents chose that name. Man, that's a real marker to put that's a real line in the sand.
[0:34:09] Salina: Well, it's definitely making a statement. So others are getting back to the basics and rugged with their name choices. Abbott Beck and this is inspired by the neo cowboy shows like Yellowstone 1883 and Outer Range. Hey, Abbott. So I myself am in a genre crosser, but I couldn't help but think these captured two pretty different parts of the country and I just have myself a good chuckle while I was reading the article. Now this is circling back to what you were talking about, which is the meaning of names. And even though Charlene, she didn't want to know the meaning of names, that's what she was getting into. Right. But I thought we could talk about the meaning of our names, which is also something that you were doing. So I'm going to ask you this question but I have a feeling that you already know. Do you know what your name means.
[0:34:59] Nikki: And what does it mean? I have a lot of names, so it depends on which one you look at. I looked at Nicole.
[0:35:06] Salina: Yes. Is it like warrior or something?
[0:35:08] Nikki: People of victory, greek and origin.
[0:35:12] Salina: Okay.
[0:35:14] Nikki: And Nikki, which is what I actually go by. Means of two trees.
[0:35:18] Salina: Yes, I saw that. What does that mean with that? I don't know. Strong strength. You need two trees to bear fruit. We can go somewhere.
[0:35:29] Nikki: So my entire purpose in life is to bear fruit.
[0:35:31] Salina: Well, okay, so I didn't think about the Nicole aspect.
[0:35:35] Nnikki: Okay.
[0:35:35] Salina: So I did look up. You have to have one K for Nikki for it to mean people of victory and good.
[0:35:41] Nikki: Okay.
[0:35:41] Salina: And that's why, to your point, with the two K's, two KS, two trees, two double the pleasure, double the fun. Well, you're bearing fruit over there.
[0:35:55] Nikki: Not currently. Can I do Salina now?
[0:36:02] Salina: Yeah.
[0:36:03] Nikki: My meaning was it means heaven, the moon, and it's of Indian origin.
[0:36:10] Salina: Yeah, it's weird because did you look at the bump? The bump.com? Okay. So my whole life, I thought that my name meant my whole life I thought that my name meant salt of the earth, which, by the way, is the worst thing that you can tell like an eight year old, because I'm like everybody else, means like, goddess and warrior and I'm like Morton's table salt.
[0:36:34] Nikki: Or are you sea salt harvested from the dead sea?
[0:36:39] Salina: Does that sound good? Do you know how hard it is to explain the concept of salt of the earth to like a 5678 year old? Pretty hard.
[0:36:47] Nikki: I think all these things are made up, and I think it's hard to explain. Anyway, what does of two trees mean, Selena?
[0:36:54] Salina: I don't know, but I like heaven and the moon.
[0:36:55] Nikki: I'm 21 years old and I don't know what of two trees mean.
[0:37:00] Salina: What's happening?
[0:37:01] Nikki: I just turned 21.
[0:37:02] Salina: Oh, that's so good for you. It's a good hate.
[0:37:05] Nikki: I was making the point that adults don't understand these things. Yeah, so kids won't understand it.
[0:37:09] Salina: So here's the other question. Do you like your name? And now do I have to ask you which name? You don't even tell them the other name.
[0:37:18] Nikki: I know I have complicated name issues. I like Nikki. It's fine. I think the only challenge I have is that it's not my legal name, so it gets complicated.
[0:37:26] Salina: You're going to tell me your legal name? No. Okay.
[0:37:29] Nikki: It gets complicated.
[0:37:30] Salina: Oh, I like this. This adds an air of mystery.
[0:37:37] Nikki: Yeah, I like my name just fine. It's just complicated.
[0:37:41] Salina: So I did not like my name when I was little for exactly what I was saying earlier. Nobody remembers the name Salina. Me as a human. I don't know.
[0:37:51] Nikki: Either way, it's just spelled wrong. The Selena I know is Selena Quintanilla.
[0:37:58] Salina: You don't know her. The only Salina you know is me, and mine is spelled correctly and everyone else's is spelled incorrectly.
[0:38:07] Nikki: That's true. And that's how I feel about Nikki. I get very sensitive about the spelling, and when people I have to bite my tongue. People are like, which spelling? I always want to say the right one, two K's and an.
[0:38:17] Salina: I like to think that. Okay, first of all, you know, you're saying that. I can totally see you saying the right one.
[0:38:25] Nikki: It's true. Sometimes I do.
[0:38:28] Salina: But what I want to say on the other side of that is the older I get, the more I appreciate my name, because you can't pinpoint me to 1985. You just can't do it because it wasn't popular then, it's not popular now, and it works to my advantage, I think.
[0:38:43] Nikki: I do think that's interesting. So my middle name is Nicole, which is what Nikki short for. And that was everywhere in the 80s. Like, every friend I have, Nicole, five of us, one of us or two of us has the middle name Nicole. So that's not unique at all. But I have a pretty kind of, like, timeless first name. And even Nikki itself, you don't meet very many Nicky. You certainly wouldn't think I was born in the 20s, but it's not like, I don't know, I don't feel like I'm pinpointed to 1985 because of my name. My sister's name is Jessica.
[0:39:17] Salina: So there you go. Well, it was the 80s. It was the 80s. It was Jessica's time.
[0:39:23] Nikki: It was her time.
[0:39:25] Salina: Jessica, I'm like, this is also one of my best friend's names, so mine too. It's right, yeah, look, we all have a Jessica.
[0:39:33] Nikki: We all have a Jessica and we love them dearly. Jessica's are good people. There are some names where you're like, I have a friend who's an elementary school teacher. She has some names where she's like, that is a bad kid. That is a bad seed. Every time I get a fill in the blank name, that's a bad seed. Or she'll have some names where she's like, that's going to be a sweet little girl, or, that's going to be a sweet little boy. That's a good kid, jessica. I don't think I've ever met a bad Jessica.
[0:40:01] Salina: Jessica's are good people. All people are good people.
[0:40:05] Nikki: No, they're not.
[0:40:06] Salina: Congratulations. So the very last thing that I'll say and then we can exit the sidebar is I think I've mentioned this in another episode a long time ago, but if you don't listen to free economics, they do cover names and why they matter or how much does your name matter. That's actually the name of the episode. We'll link to that in our show notes, and I highly encourage people to listen to it because it's just really interesting. I think if I was like, I don't want to present any of that as my own work, but I do want to share a couple of things to chew on. Spoiler alert the host. I mean, it was in 2013 when that podcast came out, but the hosts don't think your name can affect your life that significantly. But they do say it tells us something about who our parents are, everything from their religious or ethnic background, their level of income or education, and maybe even politics. And that in itself is very fascinating. And when I think about people and the way they talk to me about the stories of how they name their children. I think it's dead on accurate because I do think people put a lot of themselves into those names because your children are your legacy.
[0:41:14] Nikki: Your legacy. Yeah.
[0:41:16] Salina: And that's it aside.
[0:41:18] Nikki: Interesting.
[0:41:20] Salina: You want to talk about what we liked?
[0:41:22] Nikki: Yeah. So I liked kicking off this season with kind of a silly episode. So you said something at the top about it felt like two b plots. That was a perfect palette cleanser for me after the first amendment episode that we ended last season on. Nice start to the season.
[0:41:38] Salina: Okay.
[0:41:38] Nikki: It was light, airy, felt good. And my other thing that I liked was I really liked we talked about this a second ago. Seeing Suzanne's nurturing side, I think she was really trying. She needs someone to dote on, and I love that about her.
[0:41:53] Salina: You just love Suzanne.
[0:41:55] Nikki: I do.
[0:41:57] Salina: I think Anthony is pretty funny through the episode as he's being terrorized by Suzanne, poor man, when he tries to call 911 and he's dialing Julia with his face. He can't burn in his arms. And then you alluded to this or we didn't allude to it. You talked about him crawling, like belly crawling to the other house. He's a good physical comedian.
[0:42:20] Nikki: He is.
[0:42:21] Salina: And that really shined through. I also think that he really nails a certain level of desperation just so well. It's pitch perfect.
[0:42:31] Nikki: It's pretty incredible.
[0:42:33] Salina: Yeah. My last like is that I'm a sucker for these I love Lucy style plots. So that is we're trying to do something dumb, basically.
[0:42:43] Nikki: Yeah.
[0:42:45] Salina: Or the characters are and we're along for the ride, like, oh, I don't know, pretend that we live in our clients house. And it's clearly going to end terribly, but we do it anyway.
[0:42:54] Nikki: Just keep going.
[0:42:55] Salina: Right. And then when you bring in that high school element, I think anytime you bring that in, I think I'm at least going to be a little interested because there's lots to mind from high school days, lots of trauma, but it lends to good sitcom. Whatever. That was mine.
[0:43:15] Nikki: I didn't transition well. I have a Grits Blitz that I'd like to play on most expensive toys.
[0:43:21] Salina: Okay. I love it.
[0:43:22] Nikki: You know what? Let's just get into it. I just love that. I just love it every time. So I want to do a Grits Blitz game on expensive toys because we have this whole thing about Suzanne buying really expensive things for baby Olivia. So I found an article on financesonline.com of the ten most expensive toys in the world. So I have given Salina a handout, a takeaway from this episode. It is a print out of those ten toys. What I'd like you to do, Salina, is look through these pictures. I know it's kind of hard to see them. Just do the best you can. And I want you to order them in terms of most expensive to least expensive. So whatever ordering system works for you, I want you to do that.
[0:44:25] Salina: Okay. So this is a visual exercise. Okay. I
[0:44:33] Nikki: I would say you don't have to do it right now. Here's what we're going to do. You can start working on it, okay. While you do that, because it is a visual exercise. While you do that, you can also listen to my descriptions of the items you're looking at and that'll help you. And also the listeners don't have to listen to you look at pictures. So let's start with and I don't actually know what order they are on your paper, so I'm going to start with the Shamansky soccer ball. Do you see a soccer ball on that page?
[0:44:58] Salina: Yes.
[0:44:58] Nikki: Okay. So this ball weighs £4.8 and it's encrusted with 3500 carats of South African diamonds, including 6620 white diamonds and 2640 black diamonds.
[0:45:13] Salina: I had a different number on there, and now I'm like one.
[0:45:16] Nikki: It was created by South African jewelry brand Shimansky to commemorate the soccer World Cup held in that nation in 2010. It took three months to design and manufacture. The ball was made to attract wealthy soccer fans and tourists and entice them to buy Shimansky's gemstones and other precious wares. The manufacturer also produced crystal replicas of the ball, displayed them in local stores and auctioned them for charity. I'm not going to tell you how much it's worth until you've made your list. Sure. And this is also a game for learning and not for prizes. But if you feel like you do a fantastic job and you deserve a prize.
[0:45:53] Salina: Learning game - how dare you are on the weekend?
[0:45:56] Nikki: Okay, so the next one is called Lois Eller the Bird trainer. It looks like a puppet of some kind of mechanical puppet.
[0:46:05] Salina: It's a little scary.
[0:46:06] Nikki: A little scary. So this one is a four foot tall moving doll designed by a French how do you say this word? Automata experts.
[0:46:15] Nikki: Sounds like you got it.
[0:46:16] Nikki: Named Christian Bali, who took more than 15,000 hours to complete the project. The automated doll is given life and motion by 2340 polished steel parts. It functions with the assistance of spring driven cogs and gears and not motors or batteries. Lazarelleur is clothed in Renaissance garb that is embellished with gold and pearls.
[0:46:40] Salina: Sorry, did you say the year on this?
[0:46:42] Nikki: I think I'm getting there.
[0:46:43] Salina: Okay.
[0:46:44] Nikki: Yes. There you go. I really dug for this, but it sounds like it was completed in 2004 by a Swiss workshop. It looks really old.
[0:46:51] Salina: I thought you were going to say 1876.
[0:46:53] Nikki: It's intended to look renaissance.
[0:46:54] Salina: I see.
[0:46:55] Nikki: The doll's accessories include a pair of singing birds, flute and sword. It's dressed in velvet, satin and silk and features glass eyes and painted porcelain skin. If you wind the golden key, the bird trainer takes the flute to his mouth and plays the tune Marsh de Roa. That's the march of the Kings, I think, by Georges Bizet. His eyes move back and forth while his fingers work the instruments. In addition, the birds on the trainer flap their wings, turn their heads, and open and close their beaks. The doll weighs £122, including the mother of pearl and jade pedestal.
[0:47:30] Salina: I'm not sure I understand. Like, okay, if you had said this was something from the 18 hundreds, I'd be like, sure. There wasn't television. There weren't gaming systems. We didn't have the Internet. But why?
[0:47:41] Nikki: I thought it landed on this list because it was, like, a really intricate design of, like, who are some of the famous inventors of the 17 and 18 hundreds? I thought it was, like, one of their first inventions or whatever, but, yeah, I don't know why.
[0:47:56] Salina: Yeah, it's weird. Okay.
[0:47:57] Nikki: There's also and I think maybe I didn't write all this down there was also, like, a financial situation. Like, they invested a ton of money into this thing and then have proceeded to not recoup it because everybody's like, Why?
[0:48:08] Salina: Yeah, why?
[0:48:09] Nikki: What do I want this for? It's also creepy. So I'm going to go to the Barbie next. You've got a Stefano Cantori Barbie or the Diamond Barbie on there. She's wearing a black strapless evening dress as well as a choker necklace that has a one carat square cut pink diamond. The necklace alone is worth $300,000. The doll was auctioned off in 2010, with proceeds benefiting breast cancer research.
[0:48:36] Salina: Oh, my God. This is really hard.
[0:48:38] Nikki: Okay, I'm going to move to the Rubik's Cube. Next. You should have the masterpiece cube or Rubik's Cube. It's a fully functional Rubik's Cube, but a really expensive one. Each side is embellished with 185 carats of precious gems, including Rubies Emeralds and amethysts. Expert diamond cutter Fred I don't want to say his name wrong cooler crafted it to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Rubik's Cube in 90 95. The toy is made of 18 karat gold, and instead of stickers, each side has 34 carats of Rubies Emeralds and 22.5 carats of amethysts. Okay, let's go next to the Astolet dollhouse castle. You should be looking at a castle.
[0:49:26] Salina: I am.
[0:49:27] Nikki: It's a museum quality dollhouse, which was appraised as the most valuable dollhouse in the world. It's so valuable because of its handmade, intricate design. It weighs £800.
[0:49:39] Salina: Holy schnikey.
[0:49:40] Nikki: And it stands at 9ft tall.
[0:49:44] Salina: That does not show you that from this.
[0:49:46] Nikki: It doesn't, does it? It has 29 rooms. It features an extensive collection of high quality miniatures, including extravagant furnishings, working fireplaces, stained glass panels, and 10,000 handcrafted miniature pieces that include original works of art, gold chandeliers, and the smallest antique Bible in the world. Many of its miniatures, including some made of gold and sterling silver, are antique and one of a kind. Few other museum quality dollhouses meet such criteria. This one was created between 1974 and 1987, primarily by master miniaturist Elaine Deal. Let's go to Madame Alexander Eloise, who is the little baby doll. Do you see her okay, this is a doll dressed in what looks like a fur coat, hat, and boots, accompanied by her little dog, also wearing a fur vest. Apparently. What accounts for her value is the nine carats of diamonds and other expensive accessories. According to the article, doll designer Madame Alexander created only five dolls of this type, and each wears Swarovski crystals. Catherine Bauman accessories. Oscar de la Renta fur and Christian Dior clothes. Madame Alexander eloise elaborates her rich girl style with blonde hair, chubby look, and a stylish dog.
[0:51:08] Salina: Okay, helpful.
[0:51:10] Nikki: I think we're getting close. So we got a Lamborghini Aventador model car. This is really hard. I've read this through a bunch of times, and it's not until I'm saying it out loud, but I'm like, I can't pronounce any of these words. It's a Lamborghini Model car.
[0:51:23] Salina: That's the one that Casey could help you with. Okay. He would have known the pronunciation.
[0:51:27] Nikki: Yeah, we'll ask him later. So, as it sounds, it's a model Lamborghini. It's an eight size model that was made by German engineer Robert Gulpin. It has gold, diamonds and platinum rims in its headlights, steering wheel and seats. Gulpin took 500 hours to complete it, and it costs ten times more than an actual Lamborghini.
[0:51:49] Salina: This game is hard.
[0:51:51] Nikki: I think I have three more if I'm doing my math correctly. So next, we've got a Steiff Louis Vuitton teddy bear. No.
[0:51:59] Salina: Those Steiff Bears should at least ring.
[0:52:01] Nikki: A bell from season three, episode ten. Mr. Bailey, we talked about that cat who inherits the lady's stuff. We talked about Stiff Bears in references we need to talk about. So vintage Stiff are notorious for going for tons of money at auction. As it turns out, German toy maker Stiff's Louis Vuitton Teddy bear holds the record for the most expensive toy of this type. It was bought by Jesse Kim for $2.1 million at a 2000 Monaco auction. The bear has been outfitted with a range of pricey Louis Vuitton travel gear and luggage. On top of that, it's made with real fur and gold and has diamond and sapphire eyes. It's currently displayed at the Teddy Bear Museum. Doesn't that sound delightful? The Teddy Bear Museum in Jju, South Korea.
[0:52:45] Salina: The eyes thing doesn't a little creepy. Eyes sounds like a nightmare.
[0:52:48] Nikki: Little creepy.
[0:52:49] Salina: Yeah.
[0:52:50] Nikki: Golden Monopoly. This version of the Monopoly game board game is estimated to be worth $2 million. I'm giving you some context clues here. Hopefully you haven't been listening. It's made of 18 karat gold and encrusted with jewels. It's the brainchild of San Francisco jewelry maker Sydney Mobel, who created it in 1988. It took a year to make this game. The set of dice costs about $10,000, as the number dots are made with 42 full cut diamonds. In addition, properties in the game board are set in gems, and there are a total of 165 gemstones. The hotels are topped with sapphires and the house chimneys with rubies. It was donated by Mobile to the Smithsonian Museum in 2003. And then the last one on your page, there should be a gold rocking horse.
[0:53:41] Salina: Yes.
[0:53:41] Nikki: Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka created this 24 karat gold rocking horse to honor the birth of Japan's prince. Hisa hito in 2016, it weighs in at about 27, 26 kg or £80. Allegedly. Allegedly. Jay Z and Beyonce bought this for their daughter, Blue Ivy. Okay, so you think you have a working order?
[0:54:07] Salina: I think everything that I have is probably wrong at this point. We're just going to roll with it. I think I even have two of every number. I really screwed the pudding on this one. Hold on. I'll adjust.
[0:54:21] Nikki: If it's too hard, we can also just go in order, and you can tell me how you did.
[0:54:25] Salina: Okay, so do you want me to I'll just go ahead and tell you number you want me to start with ten or one?
[0:54:30] Nikki: Whichever way you want to do it.
[0:54:32] Salina: Well, okay. So initially I was thinking, like, there's going to be something about the story with the Monopoly that's going to make that number one. I no longer feel that's the case. I feel like I was way off, but I'm just going to roll with it because otherwise we'll be here all day. So that was my number one.
[0:54:47] Nikki: Okay, so Monopoly was actually number seven.
[0:54:52] Salina: Yeah.
[0:54:52] Nikki: It's $2 million.
[0:54:53] Salina: Right. When you said the number and when you started saying these other ones, I just knew it was all wrong. So it doesn't really matter. My number two was that soccer ball.
[0:55:02] Nikki: Okay. That one is actually number five at 2.59 million.
[0:55:10] Salina: Number five. How much?
[0:55:12] Nikki: 2.59.
[0:55:14] Salina: Okay. I really would have thought it was way more than that. Okay, then my number three was the Rubik's Cube.
[0:55:21] Nikki: Okay. That's actually number eight, 1.5 million. Okay.
[0:55:28] Salina: And I just want to say again that I know all these are really wrong.
[0:55:31] Nikki: Now, you see, this is why it's not a game. It's a learning game.
[0:55:34] Salina: Okay. Then for number four, I had the Lamborghini. Okay.
[0:55:38] Nikki: That was number four. $4.6 million.
[0:55:41] Salina: It's like a one.
[0:55:42] Nikki: There you go. Really?
[0:55:43] Salina: I got one. Right. And I'm happy with.
[0:55:45] Nikki: Really?
[0:55:46] Salina: And number five. And I also think at this point, it might be really off. But I had the barbie.
[0:55:50] Nikki: The Barbie. Okay. I think that one was yeah, that was actually number ten. The cheapest item here. $302,500. Right.
[0:55:58] Salina: Because it's really all her necklace then.
[0:55:59] Nikki: Right.
[0:56:00] Salina: Okay. Number six, I had the doll house.
[0:56:03] Nikki: The doll house is actually this shocked me. It's actually number one. It's worth $8.5 million. Isn't that wild? But it is huge. 800 pounds 9ft tall.
[0:56:15] Salina: I have lots of thoughts going through my head right now. Honey, what seven? I had the girl and the dog and the dior or whatever.
[0:56:22] Nikki: That's number three. $5 million.
[0:56:24] Salina: Yeah. When you started talking about how expensive that was, I was like, this is also way off. Number eight is the creepy French thing.
[0:56:34] Nikki: That one was number two, $6.25 million. And again, I think that one has some financial caveat to it, like what they're asking for it and what it's worth. Maybe not quite two same things, if that makes sense. Yeah, I don't remember.
[0:56:51] Salina: Then there's the teddy bear, which I also feel like I was way off once you started talking about the number there. But I had it at nine.
[0:56:57] Nikki: I don't think you're way off. It's number six, 2.1 million.
[0:57:01] Salina: Okay. And then the rocking horse thingy I had at ten, but obviously also close.
[0:57:10] Nikki: It was number nine, $600,000.
[0:57:15] Salina: I struggle with stuff like this because on the one hand, some of it really does feel like these achievements to make something. That tiny house, I'm like, it's a working fireplace. That's, like, kind of cool. But on the other hand, I'm like.
[0:57:28] Nikki: There are starving people in the world.
[0:57:30] Salina: So I'm caught somewhere in between that. And then I remember there's nothing I can do about this.
[0:57:38] Nikki: Nothing.
[0:57:38] Salina: There you go.
[0:57:39] Nikki: Except get one right when you play a game on it, which is actually pretty impressive.
[0:57:45] Salina: That was challenging. Is there anyone on there that you would like forgetting there and starving people in the world forgetting that's total opulence. Is there anyone on there you would love to have in your home?
[0:57:45] Nikki That was challenging. Is there anyone on there that you would like forgetting there and starving people in the world forgetting that's total opulence. Is there anyone on there you would love to have in your home?
[0:57:55] Salina: Definitely the French thing.
[0:57:57] Nikki: It's so creepy. No, I like the doll house.
[0:58:03] Salina: Doll house? Yeah, but I don't too big. But here's the thing. You have kids. I don't have kids. Me with the doll house.
[0:58:10] Nikki: Do you remember the dollhouse in Gilmore Girls? How beautiful it was? She also didn't have kids. It was a nice little thing in her living room. Just looks pretty.
[0:58:18] Salina: Who didn't have kids? Warlike.
[0:58:20] Nikki: Who didn't have little kids? Dollhouse kids.
[0:58:23] Salina: Yeah. I think I'm good on all of these.
[0:58:26] Nikki: I like teddy bears. So for cuteness factor, that stiff teddy bear. But decked out in Louis Vuitton. Feels kind of just being honest. Feels kind of tacky to me.
[0:58:37] Salina: Anybody's getting a Louis Vuitton jack, it's going to be me. Except it won't be. It's just not really my style.
[0:58:44] Nikki: It's it's all super Opulent V. Yeah.
[0:58:46] Salina: I can't like something a little bit more understated. Hey, power to anyone who's, like, into it. It's just never been my thing.
[0:58:53] Nikki: So it sounds like Salina doesn't really care for super expensive toys, which makes me wonder if this is a good time to talk about other things we didn't care for in this episode, things we didn't like.
[0:59:04] Salina: This whole thing makes me feel like I need a cigarette holding in a smoking jacket.
[0:59:10] Nikki: A Louis Vuitton one.
[0:59:11] Salina: Yes. So, yeah, I am going to have a starkly different reaction to this as a premier episode.
[0:59:19] Nikki: Okay.
[0:59:20] Salina: I like the way that you framed it. As in also thinking about last season and just coming into something. Lighter, and I totally feel you.
[0:59:27] Nikki: For me, you're wrong.
[0:59:30] Salina: I just felt like this was a really bizarre season premiere. To me, it feels like a filler episode that should have been dead in the middle of the season. I don't think you need stakes, necessarily, but there's also nothing to really necessarily draw me in the way I want to be drawn in. We'll get to it later in the season because obviously you and I are already looking at the season and thinking about things. But I've already ran across one that I think could have been the perfect season opener.
[1:00:00] Nikki: Oh, interesting. I can't wait to hear about that. You will have to be more the.
[1:00:05] Salina: Pacing also didn't 100% work for me. Some of Anthony's scenes felt rushed, and some of Mary Joe's scenes dragged a little bit. And I also wanted to share one more thing, which is the more I've thought about it, the more I'm intrigued by the pairing of their plots, specifically together, because on the one hand, Anthony is often under used, though I do think that's changing. But also as the show goes on and gets more interested in Suzanne, I think Mary Joe has become more underused in the show. So I find it interesting that someone who I think has historically been underused and someone who is on their way to being underused, that they just kind of threw them in an episode together. That intrigues me.
[1:00:51] Nikki: So I will preface this with something consider this a sandwich what I didn't like. I will preface it with something I did like, which is I love, love that they didn't try to hide Jean Smart's pregnancy. A lot of shows did, and in fact, I believe this show does with Mary Joe Shively or Annie Potts in future seasons. But why didn't anybody really mention it? Why do we just jump into the season talking about baby names, but we're not going to address the fact that she's a newly wedge. She's newly pregnant. She is so far along visually in this episode that I'm sure she was too far along to do the whole, like, her finding out thing and following the pregnancy. So I respect that. But it also I just hate it because I feel like Charlene's character, of all people, would love to find out she's pregnant. And that would have been a whole journey with her that I would have loved to have gone on with her. So I hated that we just sort.
[1:01:49] Salina: Of, like, timing didn't work out.
[1:01:51] Nikki: Jump in. Yeah, I know. Come on, get it together. Jean Smart get pregnant on a more reasonable schedule. But I just feel like there was more we could have exploited with the pregnancy instead of just, like, jumping in and assuming we all knew that's what was happening. I just thought that was a weird choice.
[1:02:06] Salina: Yeah.
[1:02:09] Nikki: I won't go too far into it here, but I will share that I looked into Jean Smart's pregnancy because I was curious. I don't know how it was covered, like how things were handled. And I just thought it was interesting that she had a really high risk pregnancy due to her diabetes. And I'm going to link to a Chicago Tribune article about it. But actually her doctor was kind of mad that she got pregnant because they had told her, don't get pregnant.
[1:02:34] Salina: Like still magnolias.
[1:02:36] Nikki: Yeah, it's very similar. So she had a really high risk pregnancy and had to monitor her blood sugar really closely and a lot of things had to happen during her pregnancy to make sure that she was safe and successful.
[1:03:26] Salina: What's up? interesting. Okay. Yeah, I knew both of those things, but I didn't realize that I know she's diabetic because we've covered that before. And then I also knew she had a high risk pregnancy. But I didn't put together this because of the diabetes. I think the article I alluded to was more of like my least favorite two terms in the entire universe, which is the geriatric pregnancy. And I think that's where that article made it sound like it was the diabetes piece. Patriarchy. So is there other things that's got it?
1:03:26] Nikki: What's up?
[1:03:27] Salina: We want to rate it.
[1:03:28] Nikki: I'm ready.
[1:03:28] Salina: Let's rate this sucker.
[1:03:30] Nikki: My rating scale is lost Pigs on a milk carton.
[1:03:34] Salina: Oh, okay. I like it.
[1:03:37] Nikki: I give it four out of five. I liked kicking the season off with something silly. I liked getting to see Suzanne and Anthony together some more and then, of course, getting to see Charlene pregnant. So this is a solid start to the season for me.
[1:03:49] Salina: I give it a three out of five. Friends who have all gone insane at the same time.
[1:03:54] Nikki: That's really funny.
[1:03:56] Salina: Yeah, that was good. And I think that's just like because I think we've talked about it a few times, three is kind of middle of the road and that's exactly what this was for me. It was just right down the middle and I think it would have been way cuter to me if it had come in the middle of the season. I just wanted something a little bit more significant for the cast. But but all in all, it was fine.
[1:04:22] Nikki: It was fine.
[1:04:23] Salina: 80s things.
[1:04:26] Nikki: Suzanne offering to have Consuela look up a phone number for Anthony when she thinks 911 is four one one or information. That's a very 80s thing. We don't dial four one one anymore. Yeah.
[1:04:37] Salina: Also, like, no one's going to make that mistake. The one under the sun.
[1:04:43] Nikki: We also had a Stevie Wonder reference as well as a Neil Diamond one. Good call.
[1:04:49] Salina: 80 things, I think calling to have your paper stopped. Really? Just all the calls? Just all the calls.
[1:04:56] Nikki: Yeah.
[1:04:56] Salina: There's so many on so many landlines in this one.
[1:04:59] Nikki: I've stopped my mail in recent years and you can even do that online. Yeah, you don't have to call anybody.
[1:05:04] Salina: Nobody wants to talk to anyone anymore. It's hard to even imagine that this is a well, it's not a two way communication. That's probably why this is popular. You can just yell in the middle of your car like, the good Lord intended.
[1:05:21] Nikki: I hate these people.
[1:05:22] Salina: And then, like, the book of popular baby names, that sort of struck me. Again, just a reminder, it's not really just 80s things. It's like these dated references. I'm not saying that book doesn't exist anymore. What I'm saying is I've never had a friend of mine be like, thumb through the book of popular baby names, and she's like, this is how I found it, I have to say.
[1:05:45] Nikki: And at this point, I'm not recently pregnant or anything, but we definitely looked at popular lists. I feel like there was a book involved, but we looked through it to make sure we didn't name an overly popular name.
[1:05:57] Salina: Right. Like adult playlist.
[1:05:58] Nikki: Exactly.
[1:06:00] Salina: Southern things.
[1:06:01i] Nikki: Mary Joe flipped a switch between hating Belva and talking to her on the phone. She's like, this is the worst person ever. I hate this woman so much.
[1:06:08] Salina: Oh, hi, Belva. So good to hear from you.
[1:06:11] Nikki: And that just felt very Southern to me. Yes, it was the only one I had.
[1:06:17] Salina: I think you've already covered the other ones. But just a reminder that Tuxedo Drive being a real place and that Nicki has covered go watch it. Did you say this episode?
[1:06:28] Nikki: Okay. And I've since forgotten season two, episode three. There you go.
[1:06:32] Salina: I'll host a dinner party. It's one of the few times that I remembered our name change and not the name of the actual episode. Okay. References we need to talk about.
[1:06:44] Nikki: I'm realizing in this moment that I have a very long explanation that I'm not sure is super interesting to anyone else. But I'm going to say that thing Charlene mentions at the beginning about a bird who only lays two eggs a year and only one matures, and she was, like, really annoyed that no one tells you what ever happened to the other egg. I have an answer. They're referring to an endangered species of penguin called the I'm sorry, the erect crested penguin. It's unfortunate endemic to the New Zealand region and only breeds on the Bounty and Antipodes Islands. It spends the winter at sea. Little is known about its biology and breeding habits because the access to the islands is heavily controlled by the government of New Zealand. However, there was one study done in 1978 about their breeding habits and found, indeed, they lay two eggs. Apparently that's super common to penguins just in general. But what's unique to this species is that the first egg is up to 70% smaller than the second egg that is laid five days later. The first egg is usually lost before the second one comes around. The parents a lot of times deliberately break it. They don't incubate it so they're either breaking it or just letting it go out into the elements, and whatever happens, happens. It sounds like a middle child to me. That's sort of how we treat middle children.
[1:08:07] Nikki: They're actually not sure why they follow this reproductive strategy, but the theory is that perhaps the mother knows she can't feed two babies because she has to travel really long distances because these penguins are so remote to get food and bring it back to the island. And so she's adapted in this way that she knows she can only adequately care for one egg, so she kills off the other one. They also believe that the other egg stays really small to conserve energy and nutrients for the second much bigger egg.
[1:08:38] Salina: I like penguins.
[1:08:40] Nikki: I felt the need to really close that loop, and it wasn't until I started reading it here that I was like, this is not interesting to anyone. I found it fascinating. The more I read about these penguins, I was like, nature is wild.
[1:08:51] Salina: I think it'll be the first time that Casey's interested at all. He loves it. He'll love it. It's like you just did a segment for him. You know what?
[1:08:59] Nikki: Here you go, Casey. I appreciate that. My gift from me to you and.
[1:09:03] Salina: My story is, one time I saw a penguin poop all over a window.
[1:09:07] Nikki: That's a thing.
[1:09:08] Salina: That's a thing. I don't know how much that much came out of something so small. That's all. So, alayette, you probably know exactly what this is. I had no idea what it was. The more I kept coming back to it, because, like, reviewing my notes or whatever, I was like, I probably know what this is, but forgot that this is a coordinated collection of clothes for a newborn, though the term is also used to refer to basic supplies for an infant. They yet now you know.
[1:09:35] Nikki: Now I do know. I thought it was like you didn't even know. I thought it was interchangeable for, like, a sleeper, because I've seen it on the tags for clothes. I never put together that it's like, usually when you get a whole set of things versus just one sleeper for that, right?
[1:09:54] Salina: Probably good times. Eden head was another one. This is who designed Mary Joe's high school friends prom dress. Did you know who Edith Ed was?
[1:10:05] Nikki: No, but do you feel like I looked her up, and now I'm not sure why she's not in my notes. Tell me more.
[1:10:11] Salina: So the name sounded familiar, but I was like, what? I don't know.
[1:10:14] Nikki: Help me.
[1:10:14] Salina: So she's a legendary costume designer that seemingly dressed every big star during Hollywood's golden age, winning a record eight Oscar. So, first of all, that story is ridiculous because Edith Head would not have designed her prom dress. But hi tight dress anyways, just so you get, like, a little flavor of who she designed clothes for. May west. Joan Crawford. We've talked about this episode already. Barbara Stanwick veronica Lake olivia de Havlin grace Kelly. Liz Taylor. My personal favorite, Audrey Hepburn. In movies where literally in every single one of these movies, I was like, these are the most beautiful costumes I've ever seen. And that's breakfast at Tiffany's. Sabrina and Roman Holiday. So it was really just something for me. You seen the incredibles she is supposedly or Edna Mode is supposedly modeled after her.
[1:11:02] Nikki: Oh, interesting.
[1:11:03] Salina: I looked at them side by side. They do look alike, dramatically similar. I have not seen The Incredibles, but I'm familiar with the cast, the animated cast. So that was all of mine because we talked about whatever happened to Baby Jane earlier.
[1:11:20] Nikki: So we're ready for next episode, season four, episode two, one night with you.
[1:11:28] Salina: Loved it.
[1:11:30] Nikki: So we'd love everyone to follow along with us and engage Instagram and Facebook at Sweet tea and TV. Email sweettvpod@gmail.com and our website is www.sweettv.com. There are several ways to support the show. You can tell your family and friends about us. You can rate and or review the podcast wherever you listen. And then, of course, there are other ways available from our website on the Support us page.
[1:11:55] Salina: Can I jump in for a second? Yes. Okay. Well, first of all, I'm not even going to pretend like Nikki and I didn't talk about this before the show because I just feel so silly about it. I like to think that we're a little bit more organic than that. Just want to share with everyone that we actually wound up getting our first bad review over the holidays, which I want to say that's everyone's, right, not everyone's going to like us. And that's totally cool. That's just life.
[1:12:22] Nikki: I think I have a sound for us.
[1:12:23] Salina: Oh, please. We're learning. There you go. That's what I was expecting to hear. So I want to say if you listen to podcasts at all, we all run across ones that were like, not.
[1:12:40] Nikki: For me, it didn't work out.
[1:12:41] Salina: Yeah. And I really try and give like, I'm also the kind of person that's, like, I tried eight episodes of the show and I just couldn't get into it. I really like to give things the old college no more than the old college try. I don't know what that is, but just try.
[1:12:56] Nikki: I like to listen to things all the way through before I make a decision.
[1:12:59] Salina: Right. So I just want to say that part doesn't matter. What I do think does matter is, like, if you're on this journey with us and you're enjoying the show, please leave us that rating and review because it does matter. It is how people find us. And chances are you're not hopping in right now at season four. Maybe. But if you are, what that does mean is that you've been on this journey with us, you've been with us for three seasons, and I think you have a lot more of an understanding of who we are than someone that may have only listened to a little snippet and then shared their reaction. It's free, it's easy, and I will gladly show you how if you don't know. We've said it before and I'll say it again, we like feedback, good and bad, but I wish we had heard from this person on a platform where we could interact and try and better understand what they didn't like. So if there's something we're doing that you want to give us some feedback on, do it in a way where we can interact with you direct. Message us on social or email from our website if there are things that you'd like for us to hear, because unfortunately, we can't grow from snark, but we can grow from communication.
[1:14:10] Nikki: Thanks for that, Salina. And thank you all for continuing to listen to us. Like we mentioned at the top of the show this season, we're bringing you extra sugar as its own whole episode later this week. So come back Thursday for extra sugar, unless you're a patreon, in which case you'll have some sort of jump on the episode. Bear with us this week, we'll have it for you. And then, as is tradition, I think by now, for the first episode of a season, we're going to give you the lay of the land for where we are in pop culture and general culture in the year of this season, which in this case is 1989.
[1:14:43] Salina: All right. Good.
[1:14:43] Nikki All right.
[1:14:43] Salina: Well, you know what that means? Do you know?
[1:14:46] Nikki: What does it mean, Salina?
[1:14:47] Salina: I don't know. I think it means we're going to see you on Thursday. Bye.
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