The party is considered five or six minutes too short, while Craig Robinson’s departure could be shortened. — Bill Simmons
James Franco’s centrality and onscreen friendship with Seth Rogen are uncomfortable in light of their later estrangement and Franco’s disappearance from major films.
Emma Watson’s discomfort with improvised material is discussed with Seth Rogen’s later acceptance that communication failed.
3D televisions are identified as a dated technological fad. — Chris Ryan
The movie’s heavy marijuana culture is judged less funny after legalization and saturation. — Chris Ryan
The proposed Hitler scene remains disputed rather than a unanimous missed opportunity. — Bill Simmons
Apatow receives one opening choice, but two favor Rogen: proving he could lead this hit opened future starring opportunities, amplified by Superbad’s writing success. — Bill Simmons
His off-camera partnership with his off-camera best friend adds to the sense that he was doing more than the visible ensemble. — Juliet Litman
The couple's chemistry is really good and could have gone wrong in the wrong hands; trained actors are often the best people for movies like this. — Bill Simmons
Bridesmaids had already shown what Rose Byrne could do, and research for that episode found people surprised she could do comedy. — Bill Simmons
Byrne is floated as the most versatile actor of her generation: serious dramas, superhero movies, broad comedies and TV, always good. — Bill Simmons
She is called underrated with the most versatility; Nicole Kidman in the Hawaii comedy seemed to be trying, while Byrne could have made only comedies. — Bill Simmons
The stunt casting of Mintz-Plasse works: heavier, grown out and older-looking, a deliberate break from the McLovin spell. — Bill Simmons
Dave Franco's intentional boners, about three in the movie, are hilarious; a son first saw the movie during the pandemic and was angry he had not been shown it sooner. — Bill Simmons
The opening 'taking it to Bonertown' exchange kills, and the airbag gimmick is hilarious. — Bill Simmons
The soundtrack is essential, as with The Hangover, and the frat-party music choices were really good. — Bill Simmons
The music captures the 2008-2015 pop moment of Missy Elliott, Flo Rida and Kesha that played at any gathering of more than 20 people. — Sean Fennessey
Craig weighs in with a Flo Rida comment, prompting a joke about whether Flo Rida beats Bob Dylan. — Bill Simmons
Agreement follows: an Australian is just an Australian, and she is funnier in this movie because she did not have to worry about her accent. — Chris Ryan
The accent sets up jokes such as her thinking the Kudrow character is called Dean, and one reference is enough to account for it; strained American accents may inhibit improv. — Bill Simmons
Shandling's ending idea; champagne for a million feet of film; withheld American Humane credit; Leslie Mann's drunk footage; repurposed Staples set; influence on The Office
The host reports Gary Shandling came up with the ending, per Apatow, noting it was important to show Andy having better sex because he was in love, which led to the musical number. — Bill Simmons
The host reports the film company does send champagne whenever someone shoots a million feet of film. — Bill Simmons
The host reports the American Humane Association withheld its no-animals-harmed line because several tropical fish were accidentally killed; the hosts joke that the credit has no effect on release, making it an animal snuff film. — Bill Simmons
The host reports Leslie Mann got drunk at a club with Seth Rogen and her friend Denise, who filmed her, and she used that footage for the scene; outtakes show Apatow feeding her lines. — Bill Simmons
The host reports the electronics store was not a set but a Staples that had just shut down. — Bill Simmons
The host reports the movie changed The Office: after a first season where Carell's character felt too nasty and menacing, seeing him as a buffoon here led them to incorporate more of that. — Bill Simmons
The title; Kat Dennings; the poster; the loaded cast; Michael McDonald credits apology; Six Million Dollar Man action-figure reference; opening credits; smoking pot out of an apple; Lionel Richie 'Hello' scene; condom scene; Seth Rogen's shirts; the music; Stormy Daniels
Kat Dennings: a sarcastic 15-year-old daughter who is not a wet blanket, in a role that often goes wrong; she went on to a hit sitcom, and her 'no car and does magic' line is compared to D from What's Happening. — Bill Simmons
The action figures, including Oscar from the $6 million man, are a stealth mid-70s TV reference. — Bill Simmons
Opening credits that actually try, rather than running graphics of names. — Bill Simmons
Smoking pot out of an apple, which Rogen seems to have really done. — Bill Simmons
The Lionel Richie 'Hello' masturbation scene, a home run in 2005 though maybe lost on anyone under 25, is put in both aged best and aged worst. — Bill Simmons
The condom scene, where he goes through 10 condoms, the daughter and boyfriend walk in, and the boyfriend asks to be taught. — Bill Simmons
Seth Rogen's shirts: Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Public Enemy and Liquid Swords. — Bill Simmons
The music: a Joe Walsh song over the opening credits, Asia in the chase sequence, and Age of Aquarius. — Sean Fennessey
The opening store scene does a lot, with Seth Rogen's story about a Tijuana show featuring a woman and a horse, which turned out not as cool as it sounds. — Bill Simmons
Paul Rudd accosting Jane Lynch over the Michael McDonald DVD, ending with the 'Yamo burn this place to the ground' line; the speaker's son got bored about 40 minutes in but watched that bit on YouTube over and over.
The same DVD played over and over in the store is very real to anyone who has worked retail. — Bill Simmons
The poker game feels like an SNL sketch; the line about a breast feeling like a bag of sand makes it the speaker's personal favorite scene. — Bill Simmons
The Leslie Mann scene is bonkers, the only unrealistically unhinged scene, but in a good way. — Bill Simmons
The body-waxing scene was like Caddyshack's Baby Ruth scene coming out of the theater.
The hosts say the waxing was done for real with five cameras and an actress as the waxer, so the nipple was not oiled and his right nipple was ravaged; it was really Carell's chest, and they had to keep waxing it for later shirtless scenes. — Bill Simmons
Paul Rudd bringing over a big box of porn and the Boner Jams '03 mix tape, followed by the Everybody Loves Raymond tape; Boner Jams '03 is called the favorite line in the movie.
The speed dating scene is really good, with Mo Collins's character flagged to come up later for the Dion Waiters category. — Bill Simmons
Andy's first date call to Catherine Keener while the others do 'you know how I know you're gay', which has not aged well in some ways but is Rudd and Rogen cooking. — Bill Simmons
The support group scene and Seth with his dad, who berates him about his little Jew fro. — Bill Simmons
The ending, where losing his virginity turns into a musical number with the whole cast, is called a really good choice and credited to Gary Shandling because they couldn't figure out the ending. — Bill Simmons
A special shout-out goes to the extended version of the Kevin Hart and Malco scene, compared to Clemens and Cecil Fielder going toe to toe; the lister agrees and had it in what's aged the best.
Andy following Rogen's character's tips in the bookstore: the just-ask-questions bit, the 'be David Caruso in Jade' advice, then the best line in the movie and the 90-second seduction by Elizabeth Banks. — Sean Fennessey
The David Caruso in Jade reference may have aged best or worst, since producer Craig would not know what Jade was. — Bill Simmons
Formal pick: the poker game, because it is perfectly written. — Bill Simmons
A second voice agrees the poker game is the most iconic now: the chest waxing was, but the bag-of-sand line is the one quoted back. — Sean Fennessey
It fits the movie because the other guys' sex talk makes sex seem gross and foreign, so Andy's choice to stay home with his electronic drum kit seems understandable. — Chris Ryan
Mila Kunis auditioned for Knocked Up and lost the role to Katherine Heigl, but Apatow filed her away and she got this one; whether Hathaway was also up for that part is not remembered, which raises the question of whether Knocked Up would have been better with Kunis.
One host is not a fan of Katherine Heigl on screen in movies or television, with no disrespect to the human being, while another is a big fan of her in Knocked Up; the case against her is that Heigl is not funny, Kunis is, and nobody bought that she would ever be interested in Seth Rogen.
The rebuttal is that re-engineering the casting is like saying the New Testament would be better with Bruce Willis, though it is a clear case of picking one actress over the other; Heigl works perfectly as a specific, annoying kind of person, and one host was ready for them to break up the whole time.
Aldous Snow (transcribed as Algiers Snow) was written with Charlie Hunnam in mind, who had Apatow history from Undeclared, and was entirely rewritten for Russell Brand; one host suspects it was not written at all and Brand simply did the role.
Earlier, during the intro, the note that Kunis had gone for the Katherine Heigl part in Knocked Up was explicitly parked for Casting What-Ifs.
Keir O'Donnell won Todd, but Vince Vaughn really pushed for Justin Long, whose interpretation of the character was Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs and who thought he had the job; the hosts call it a phenomenal what-if that would have made the character more acceptable by being so ridiculous, instead of a gay art school kid who is also a psycho and is mocked homophobically by his grandmother.
The black sheep character can be awesome, with Spalding in Caddyshack (as transcribed) the greatest example, and Christopher Walken himself played one as the brother in the Minnesota scene of Annie Hall.
Asked whether he would rather have had Raquel Welch, the answer is that it is hard to see anybody but Jane Seymour in the role now, and he loves her. — Chris Ryan
Seymour was great stunt casting after Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman; Nicolas Cage was the next call after Ferrell's no, which the hosts would like to see, though Cage reportedly gets called for parts like this and it never quite comes off, as in a Seth Rogen story, because he still thinks it is 1999 and must be the star, with tax liens against his Scottish castles.
