Laser Cats! 4-ever

Pop-ups (48 · 4 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. Vanessa Bayer's one-time 'have a great pod'

   0:07

   The hosts invite a celebrity to say 'have a great pod' once, and only once. Vanessa Bayer is the first guest, and she's one of only a few in-person guests on the show.

   We're doing a new thing where we're inviting a celebrity guest to say, have a great pod.

2. Entire pod could recap the last one

   0:38

   Seth jokes that the whole episode could just be a recap of the previous podcast, which the hosts spend much of the time doing.

   this entire podcast today could just be a recap of the last podcast.

3. Not a gonk merch idea

   3:10

   Seth suggests a future merch shirt showing a goose with the words 'not a gonk.' The bit grows out of the hosts' goose and gonk wordplay across the episode.

   I feel like if we ever do have merch, I just think it should be a goose and it should say, not a gonk.

4. Larry the Goose on Update

   3:35

   Andy appeared on Weekend Update in a goose costume as Larry the Goose, a survivor of the Miracle on the Hudson. The hosts consider it an early trailblazing animal-costume Update bit.

   that was the appearance of Larry the Goose on Update.

5. Douglass Houser shirt idea

   5:28

   Seth proposes a shirt reading 'Douglass Houser,' riffing on the Quaid lore. Akiva then notes listeners corrected the hosts that Douglas Quaid's alter ego is actually Carl Hauser.

   I did see some of the comments and I saw that people were correcting us that the alter ego of Douglas Quaid is actually Carl Hauser.
   QuaidHauser

6. Quaid Army asked to keep corrections private

   5:42

   Akiva asks Quaid Army listeners to keep corrections like the Carl Hauser one to themselves, a joke about the fandom's pedantry. Hauser is the Total Recall alter ego the hosts had misnamed.

   if you have a correction like that, just keep it to yourself.
   Quaid ArmyHauser

7. Jorma the phantom of the pod

   6:02

   Jorma pops in and out of the Zoom several times without staying on. The hosts jokingly name him the phantom of the pod.

   He's the phantom of the pod. The phantom of the pod.

8. Male stripper sketch that didn't land

   7:06

   Andy recalls a sketch he pitched about a male stripper with long rubbery nipples that got a lukewarm reception at the table read, which Andy believes was a robbery.

   It was like a 20% of the room laughing really hard and the rest not.

9. Steve Martin returns after Surf Meeting

   12:41

   Steve Martin's first hosting gig since the Surf Meeting sketch, which the hosts think was too soon to joke about. He returned by trusting the cast with pre-taped material like Laser Cats! 4 Ever.

   Steve Martin comes back. This is his first time hosting since Surf Meeting

10. Quiet audience for Laser Cats return

    13:42

    The hosts note the live audience barely reacted when Laser Cats started, with only two people clapping at the end, possibly because the ending was emotional and people thought the clap should come sooner.

    the audience is still not that excited when a LaserCats starts.

11. Steve Martin's King Lear joke

    14:41

    Steve Martin asked Lorne whether he got that the sketch was King Lear, a joke the hosts praise and credit to Martin's pitch.

    Steve Martin asking Lorne if he got that it was King Lear, I thought was a funny joke.

12. Dennis Franz's butt on NYPD Blue

    18:24

    Akiva asks whether Seth recalls how everyone knew when Dennis Franz's butt would appear. Seth, a fan who taped the show and mailed VHS copies abroad, becomes the show's butt historian.

    did you go watch a video of Dennis Franz's ass after the video?

13. Fans point here

    18:30

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 4 likes.

    I have a question for you, Seth. It's a little off topic, but did you go watch a video of Dennis Franz's ass after the video? Oh, yeah. That's a key question. All right. I'm glad you asked about Dennis Franz's ass.…

14. Dennis Franz retired after NYPD Blue

    19:03

    Seth says Franz appeared in about 261 episodes of NYPD Blue, then retired and did not take on new work, which the hosts treat as rare.

    Dennis Franz was the best. Also, can I throw this out? Dennis Franz, guess what he's done since NYPD Blue? Not one thing.

15. David Caruso showed the first butt

    19:34

    Seth notes that the first butt on NYPD Blue belonged to David Caruso in the pilot, long before Dennis Franz's famous one.

    The first butt on NYPD Blue was David Caruso's butt.

16. Ike Barinholtz on Chicago suit store mural

    21:53

    Seth remembers a Chicago suit store mural of four local actors including Dennis Franz and Joe Mantegna, and asks Ike Barinholtz to correct him by voice note.

    Ike Barinholtz, feel free to send in a voice note. Tell me how wrong I am.

17. Jorma's sister-in-law sends a voice note

    24:28

    Jorma sends a voice note from Emily Heller, who the hosts call a massive Frasier fan. She's a comic and writer, and her Lazy Sunday role is noted as the Quaid Army's memory of her.

    this is Yorma's sister-in-law, Emily, or as the Quaid army might know me, the girl who acted like she'd never seen a 10 before in Lazy Sunday.
    Quaid Army

18. Emily Heller's Frasier theme explanation

    24:47

    Jorma's sister-in-law Emily Heller, a comedy writer and the 'Lazy Sunday' 10 actress, explains that the Frasier theme's tossed salad and scrambled eggs stand for the callers' problems, a metaphor because the show avoided saying psychiatry outright.

    It is a metaphor for the callers on Frasier's radio show. They're both mixed up.

19. Single laughs audio concern

    26:24

    The hosts want the audience's individual laughs audible on the recording, which is why they ask for the volume to be raised.

    Oh, yeah, so we can hear the single laughs.

20. Three Amigos poster in Lorne's office

    26:53

    The Three Amigos poster visible in Lorne's office is a longtime fixture, which Akiva notes as a nice recurring detail.

    I like that there's the Three Amigos poster in the background that's always been in Lorne's office

21. Opening credits applause history

    28:33

    Past audiences sometimes clapped at the opening credits of the short, but this live audience stayed quiet.

    Sometimes people in the past had even just clapped on this part

22. Fans point here

    29:50

    5 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 14 likes.

    So we saw Kenan came out of the elevator as a RoboCop, but he's got like Gatling guns. Is that what they're called? Yeah. Like six cats on each arm. It is that moment from the first RoboCop or second RoboCop? I think… — Akiva

23. Paul Verhoeven side note

    30:22

    Seth notes Paul Verhoeven directed both Total Recall and Starship Troopers, a tangent that ties back to last week's Hauser discussion.

    somebody also said Paul Verhoeven directed Total Recall, also directed... Starship Troopers.
    Hauser

24. Weekend at Bernie's riff

    31:14

    The hosts reference Weekend at Bernie's, a comedy whose title they struggle to recall, comparing its vibe to the Mars beach scene.

    Oh, Party at Mr. Bernard's? Yeah, yeah. Thank you for remembering the title.

25. Rooster from Annie as Goose's dad

    32:35

    A running joke about Goose's mustache leads the hosts to jokingly connect Goose to Rooster from Annie.

    Goose had a small Rooster-style mustache.

26. Anthony Edwards callback

    33:27

    Seth recalls the surprise over two famous people named Anthony Edwards from last week's episode, a callback to that earlier conversation.

    you just being shocked that two people are named Anthony Edwards

27. Gonk callback

    34:01

    Akiva says 'not a gonk' as a callback to the running gonk bit used when a bit fails to land.

    And he's like, ah. Again, not a gonk. Back to Laser Cats 4.
    not agonk

28. Cocking the cats

    34:55

    Seth argues the cat-cocking gesture should draw a laugh, but the live audience gave it nothing, suggesting the crowd reacted differently than the hosts.

    I always think that cocking the cats deserves a laugh and it gets nothing here

29. Fans point here

    38:30

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 4 likes.

    I will say my favorite, you know, as we've established, we don't like any of the emails about this podcast or any of the texts. They make us miserable and sad. That's in the scheduling. When people talk to us about the… — Seth

30. Emails and texts make them miserable

    38:34

    The hosts joke that the emails and texts about the podcast make them miserable, a recurring bit about listener mail.

    we don't like any of the emails about this podcast or any of the texts.

31. Dennis Franz butt copyright joke

    38:45

    The hosts joke about asking for a shot of Dennis Franz's butt in the YouTube video and worry about a copyright issue.

    you guys asking if we could have a shot of Dennis Franz's butt in the YouTube video.

32. Used to be Quaid Army

    39:23

    A joke line about the NYPD Blue lawyer scenario: 'I used to be Quaid Army until they ripped me off,' riffing on the Quaid Army identifier.

    I used to be Quaid Army until they ripped me off.
    Quaid Army

33. Chicago Pope upfronts joke

    40:01

    Seth recounts a Chicago Pope joke he did at NBC's upfronts, worried it had already been done on SNL before going ahead with it.

    I had a Chicago Pope joke that felt like oh somebody's already made this joke

34. Pitbull at the Fox upfronts

    41:01

    Akiva recalls Pitbull performing four songs at a Fox upfront when Brooklyn Nine-Nine was still on Fox.

    I think Pitbull came out and did like four songs.

35. Laser Cats as wish fulfillment

    41:28

    The hosts note the short is intentionally poorly filmed, mimicking childhood home-video wish fulfillment.

    It's wish fulfillment of when you make your home videos as a kid.

36. Cyberface RoboCop comparison

    42:49

    Akiva ties Cyberface's half-human status back to the RoboCop movie, where the character keeps a human part deep inside.

    He still has a human part deep inside, like the Robocop in the movie.

37. Forte's Cyberface line

    42:52

    Andy notes that Forte says Cyberface a lot, a repeated line from the short.

    I think about how Forte says cyberface a lot.

38. Slow-mo shooting and background walker

    43:23

    A slow-motion shot of Cyberface being shot includes a random person walking by in the background, a detail the hosts point out.

    Getting shot, and it cranks into slow-mo, and there's just a random person walking by in the background.

39. Mask removal like Darth Vader

    43:47

    Taking off Cyberface's glasses is compared to removing Darth Vader's mask, a nod to the reveal of the human underneath.

    you take off the glasses and it's like taking off the Darth Vader mask.

40. Self-destruct cheek button

    44:06

    Cyberface's self-destruct button is his cheek, a gag the hosts find funny in the moment before he explodes.

    Pushes his own cheek and it says self-destruct.

41. Tiny blood squirt gag

    45:07

    Seth remembers the self-destruct moment as the best gag, with only a controlled squirt of blood when Cyberface explodes.

    You guys get hit with the tiniest amount of blood.

42. King Lear joke

    45:31

    The hosts joke about the Laser Cats ending being like King Lear, a Shakespearean tragedy reference that gets a laugh.

    Do you get that it's King Lear?

43. Ending applause debate

    45:57

    The hosts check the audio to see how many claps came after Steve Martin's final line, settling on roughly 10 to 13.

    Okay. I'll go back one more second there.

44. Never brought up again

    46:29

    A recurring joke: the hosts say a plot point was 'never brought up again,' a self-referential gag about unresolved threads.

    Well, I was going to mention this. Never brought up again.

45. NYPD Blue promo leaked

    46:48

    Jeff sends a link to the NYPD Blue promo, which the hosts watch live. It teases Bobby Simone and a shower scene with Andy Sipowitz.

    Jeff writes, someone found the promo.

46. Adult language and partial nudity disclaimer

    47:24

    The promo carries a viewer discretion advisory for adult language and partial nudity, which the hosts note as a bait-and-switch.

    due to adult language and partial nudity, viewer discretion is advised.

47. David Caruso left NYPD Blue

    47:50

    Caruso left NYPD Blue after one season, then did the Nicolas Cage film Jade, and later found success on CSI.

    He left after one season. He did. He left after one season.

48. Fans point here

    47:51

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 3 likes.

    I believe he left after one season, right? He did. He left after one season. Then he did that weird movie, Jade, which was, I feel like, a Nicolas Cage movie. Didn't work. But then in the end, he laughed all the way to…

49. Butts allowed on ABC

    48:33

    Andy jokes that butts are now allowed on ABC, the network that aired NYPD Blue.

    Assuming you're watching the show on ABC where butts are allowed now.

50. NYPD Blue screening parties

    48:41

    Seth recalls people holding NYPD Blue screening parties on Tuesday nights, chanting for the butt shot.

    People would do NYPD blue screening parties.

51. Doing it for the Quaids

    50:19

    The hosts sign off by saying they do the podcast for the Quaids, a recurring sign-off sentiment.

    It's very difficult, but we do it for the Quades.
    Quaid

52. Quaids asked about tiredness

    51:23

    The hosts ask Quaids whether they were tired while listening, a closing audience-engagement bit.

    Hey, maybe some of the Quades were tired. Write in with your comments.
    Quaid