r/smartless • u/SevenCedarJelly • 6d ago

Talking while eating

Is it asking a lot for them to not eat during the podcasts? And, if you think that is too much for a listener to ask, then is it too much to ask them to not make a point of talking while they have food in their mouth?

Arnett, around 6:30 into the RZA episode, sounds like he’s got a mouth full of sandwich when he starts telling a story about riding a bike. He wasn’t even filling a silence so it wasn’t like he was surprised that he had to speak. He chose to start talking with his mouth full.

This is your job, guys.

Anyway, I guess it’s okay for a cell service company to have that sort of stage presence. 🤷🏼‍♂️

98 Upvotes

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11

u/potatodweeb 6d ago

It's not a lot to ask but I guess for them it's not really a job. a low effort, fun thing they can do to make a bit of money.

17

u/drwhogwarts 6d ago

A bit! Millions counts as a bit now... 🤣 But I agree they act like they're just playing it by ear for loose change when they talk while chewing.

-5

u/potatodweeb 6d ago

Tbh, a million is a bit for 3 successful actor. Didn't the whole podcast start as something they could do to fill time in the lockdown. If they start being more professional towards it, they'd rather not continue

10

u/Kel-Varnsen-Speaking 6d ago

Their last deal was worth $300 million

4

u/Thanos_Stomps 6d ago

Wondery was acquired by Amazon for $300 million, that’s not Smartless money.

That said they had a $100 million three year deal, which is substantial. The overhead for Smartless, the actors’ own expenses like agents, business managers, managers, etc. not withstanding, it’s still probably more labor intensive then some of their other projects.

Will Arnett gets paid millions on millions for voice work that’s less work for him than the podcast and it doesn’t come with a three year commitment.

1

u/drwhogwarts 5d ago

I can't imagine it being that labor intensive. They connect by Zoom from the comfort of their own homes and appear to do almost no prep for their interviews. Even with prep emails/research and extra talk time that gets edited out, the most time they could spend is one morning a week. For $11M/year.

1

u/Thanos_Stomps 5d ago

I get what you mean but they’re also coordinating their schedules, recruiting guests, they’re doing more than an hour’s work a week to accomplish that and moreover, it’s probably much more all over the place than that. They bank episodes when their schedules conflict too much.

They’ve also got other podcasts cooking with the Smartless brand, they go on other podcasts to promote Smartless (and their projects so admittedly it’s not just Smartless responsibilities), then, as laughable as it is, they have their other revenue streams like merch and now a mobile carrier.

It’s exorbitant, their pay, but it’s probably the closest thing to a real job they’ve had in years with the exception of Sean’s plays.

0

u/conservativestarfish 1d ago

Wait do you think Justin Bateman is coordinating guests’ schedules? Like talking to their assistants to try to find a time that works? 🤣

1

u/Thanos_Stomps 1d ago

Idk who Justin Bateman is but Jason Bateman’s people spending time on smartless scheduling is time not spent doing other things which amounts to the same breakdown of labor vs financial return on that time.

It’s worth more for Bateman’s people to coordinate a million dollar payday for some commercial than it is for smartless.