Crowning Around

While waiting for the return of The Crown, Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, watch Jean-Marc Vallée's 2009 film The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent, Mark Strong, and Harriet Walter. Was this a political drama, a low-stakes romance, or a pseudo-thriller? Why not all three! Plus, Ivan...

Marisa and Sam discuss Hulu's How I Met Your Father Episode 212: Not a Mama Mia, which premiered on May 23, 2023. Has the show finally found its groove? And what are the odds that three people from the first Lollapalooza all end up in the New York metropolitan area. Plus, will Taylor return?

Marisa and Sam discuss Hulu's How I Met Your Father Episode 201: Cool and Chill, which premiered January 24, 2023. Sam wonders why Sid picked literally the worst line dance as his favorite, and Marisa is fully on board for the chaos to come that this episode teases. Plus, how likely are we to see more Sex and the City alumni show up on How I Met Your Father?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 10: Decommissioned, and to look back at Season 5 as a whole. Then, they look ahead to Season 6 and make predictions about what's likely to come. Plus, which American Idol winner would Carlyn have voted for?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 9: Couple 31. Ivan shares the secret to making a great omelet, while Carlyn again questions why The Crown refuses to introduce Darren to us. Plus, what did Diana do to make Ivan so angry?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 8: Gunpowder. Ivan has a new favorite character, and Sam is still not a fan of Martin Bashir. Plus, the three of them try to gauge what level of involvement Queen Elizabeth and John Birt would have had in the conception of Mr. Bean.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 7: No Woman's Land. Carlyn shares some of her favorite vending machine snacks and tries to explain how California's Lemon Law works. Plus, was Apollo 13 really the best choice for Diana and Dr. Khan?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 6: Ipatiev House, and come away with more questions than answers. Where is this Elizabeth and Philip disconnect coming from? Who else did Philip convince to be in his companionship gang? And why does King George V have a parrot? The world may never know...

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 5: The Way Ahead, which might just be the kinkiest episode of The Crown yet. Together, they break down why Charles doesn't get Camilla a cell phone, does the revenge dress scene make sense, and if this is the best version of Anne we've gotten so far. Plus, why is Carlyn...

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 4: Annus Horribilus. Was 1992 actually a horrible year? And do these flashbacks to Claire Foy and Vanessa Kirby work? Plus, how is this episode of The Crown similar to Grey's Anatomy?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 3: Mou Mou. Ivan's cameo prediction is proven false once again by some surprising but familiar faces. Also, serious question, do they now need to check out Chariots of Fire?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 2: The System, and largely feel a disappointing sense of deja vu along the way. Should this episode actually have been the Season 4 finale? Was there a conspiracy or not? Plus, a familiar face from the King Charles III movie.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 5, Episode 1: Queen Victoria Syndrome, along the way, providing their first impressions of the new cast and breaking down the transition from Season 4 into Season 5. Plus, Ivan provides his HMS Britannia expertise once again.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, watch the 2017 BBC film King Charles III, which later aired on PBS as a Masterpiece. Everything is strange, from the blank verse to the breaking of the fourth wall to the random POV shift from Charles to Kate Middleton, making this a fascinating film to dissect. Plus, it features a familiar face from The Crown Season...

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 10: War. This may have been the most fan-fictiony episode of The Crown yet, but there is something captivating about watching Elizabeth just go off on Charles. Plus, looking back, Sam, Carlyn, and Ivan each share which episode of Season 4 was their favorite, and look ah...

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 9: Avalanche. How long is too long for a standing ovation? And are Charles and Diana just bad at giving gifts? Plus, breaking down Liz discovering Billy Jo-el.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 8: 48:1. Is it the best episode of Season 4 so far? Sam thinks so, but Ivan isn't convinced. Plus, did Edward just serve us this line of the season? Ouch.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 7: The Hereditary Principle. Ivan recaps highlights from his recent trip to London, which included a tour of Buckingham Palace and an audio tour of Westminster Abbey narrated by (not Sir) Jeremy Irons. Plus, Carlyn's dentist is fancier than yours.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 6: Terra Nullius. Together, they try to determine which Olivia Rodrigo song best encapsulates the episode, and Carlyn shares the circumstances which led to her knowledge of Ayers Rock.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 5: Fagan. It's a fairly straightforward episode, but there's plenty of room for some detours about electric toothbrushes, floorplan logistics, and superhuman fight moves. Plus, Ivan recounts the times he's contacted his local representatives.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 4: Favourites. It's the first Queen Elizabeth focused episode of Season 4, and she has definitely been missed. Somehow, though, it's the second time this season someone has just decided to recite a poem at her...

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 3: Fairytale, along the way discovering the origin of smoothies, reliving positive chain restaurant memories, and trying to figure out the Adeane family tree.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 2: The Balmoral Test, in the process breaking down how they think they would fair at it. There's no protocol sheet for this podcast, so everything is fair game. Ivan laughably attempts once again to cancel the Kinky Crown Award.

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, are back to discuss The Crown Season 4, Episode 1: Gold Stick, in the process answering the very important question: would you rather find a nickel on the ground, or have your local hunter-rider team win a championship?

Sam Cheung, Carlyn Greenwald, and Ivan Vukovic, three regular everyday Americans, watch the 2005 film Whatever Love Means to try and get a deeper understanding of Charles' and Camilla's relationship, and about love in general. It turns out, love means giving yourselves couply nicknames based on old radio shows, getting married to other people, and watching your significant other fish. Who knew?