Best Unfamous Podcasts (2024)

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Episode 9 - Peace. Love. Local. 1:00:29

10d ago1:00:29

1:00:29

In this week's episode of Unfamously Unwell, join our fabulous trio on their journey to higher health as they sit down with the inspiring Lynsey Cole, the visionary behind the new clothing brand, Peace. Love. Local. Follow her on Instagram at @peace.love.local. In a world obsessed with defining who we are, Lynsey flips the script by sharing how und…

1
An Ode to Bob Newhart 7:45

6h ago7:45

7:45

When he heard news of Bob Newhart’s death, Rob Long reached into an old shoebox to find a picture of himself with the comedy legend. Like many who had such a memento, his first thought was, “Get that image on Instagram pronto.” But he held off. Why? Because if he learned one thing from the man known for comedic timing, it’s that sometimes less is m…

1
Episode 8 - Kyle is the Metamucil of this Podcast 1:03:58

17d ago1:03:58

1:03:58

On this week's episode, the Unfamously Unwell trio catches up over a double serving of Victories and Vices. Kyle recounts adventures and near misses from his trips to LA and Puerto Vallarta, and tries Chilis for the first time! Kaleb talks about his favorite recipe, adventures in Mexico, concerts and crafting. David talks about a new coach he's wor…

1
Episode 7 - Dating Q&A 1:06:51

24d ago1:06:51

1:06:51

This week, the hosting baton has been picked up by Kaleb. He runs us through a series of questions about the nuance of dating as a gay man in the world. Send us your listener mail and/or victory and vice to unfamouslyunwell@gmail.com! Send us a Text Message.By Kaleb Bruce, David Jones, Kyle Weber

1
Parking on the Top Floor 11:07

10d ago11:07

11:07

During Rob Long’s first job at Paramount, he would see a dusty, silver DeLorean on level two every day in the parking structure as he rolled in late for his gig on a hit show. Despite all the 1986 flash it signaled, its license plate gave the game away: That person had been on a popular show and now wasn’t. Everyone in Hollywood thinks they’ll alwa…

1
Episode 6 - That's a Gay Man - Coming Out Stories Pt. 2 1:12:59

1M ago1:12:59

1:12:59

Happy Pride Month, friends! This week, in continuation of the coming out stories, you'll get to hear from Kaleb and David. It's a long one. We know. And we decided to make it longer by recording a fresh victory and vice. Send us your victory and vice to unfamouslyunwell@gmail.com Follow us on Instagram @unfamouslyunwell You can find the boys on Ins…

1
Forgiving and Forgetting 11:03

19d ago11:03

11:03

Grudges and feuds make Hollywood go ‘round. But sometimes, they are so longstanding that, as Rob Long learned, the aggrieved sometimes forget why they’re even mad. Which is why Rob is an advocate for, if not forgiveness, at least forgetfulness. Because without it, we wouldn’t be repeating the constant storytelling themes of friendship, money and fa…

1
Episode 5 - Daddy Don't Listen! - Coming Out Stories, Part 1 45:12

1M ago45:12

45:12

Hey there, Unfamous Crew! Happy Pride Month! In celebration of this gay holiday month, we are telling our coming out stories in two parts. This week you get to hear about Kyle's journey along with some fun tidbits along the way. Tune in to learn why one of the gayest places in the world is a lockerroom full of straight men, some different ways to f…

1
The Showrunner & the FedEx 12:26

27d ago12:26

12:26

In this age of contraction, Hollywood is full of unemployed showrunners grinding out half fleshed-out pilot ideas. But a great sense of story isn’t the only attribute needed to be a showrunner. It also requires decisiveness, self-awareness and preparedness. And that last trait applies to more than just running a show. Just ask the medical professio…

1
No Place for Thinkers 12:45

1M ago12:45

12:45

As a child, Rob watched old sitcoms like Gilligan’s Island and Bewitched while pretending to do homework. He likes to say that his slacking off prepared him for the writing career he has now. Sure, he learned sitcom structure, but more important, by neglecting his schoolwork, he became less of a thinker. And in show business, thinkers just mess thi…

1
Episode 4 - Have You Been Reading My Diary? - A discussion of boundaries 1:07:23

2M ago1:07:23

1:07:23

This week, Kyle, Kaleb and David get serious and go deep between the laughs for a discussion of healthy boundaries. We shout out some of our heroes like Brené Brown and the millionaire matchmaker and get vulnerable with our victory and vice. Share your victory and vice with us and get featured on the pod! Send us an email at unfamouslyunwell@gmail.…

1
Episode 3 - Sponsor a Top For Just One Dollar Per Day 59:21

2M ago59:21

59:21

This week in the Unfamous Universe, the boys focus their wellness chat on sex. Gasp! We get vulnerable, weigh the emotional pros and cons of connected versus more distant sex, dive into the nuance of figuring out dating later in life, and decide once and for all who is the better friend. You'll have to tune in to find out which one of us keeps a li…

1
Money, Real Estate & Secrets 13:21

1M ago13:21

13:21

When Rob Long sold his house in Venice Beach for his move to New York, the question from neighbors was universal: “When did you buy your house?” In other words, it wasn’t about where he was going, but how much money he was making. Selling high, of course, requires also believing things will get worse. Not hard in showbiz these days. Which explains …

1
Episode 2 - Crying in Public is Fine 1:03:18

2M ago1:03:18

1:03:18

On this week’s episode, the unfamously unwell trio kick off with a lesson in vocabulary. David and Kaleb gush about grandmas and try to determine exactly what it means when Mercury is in retrograde. This week’s topic is a deep dive into our favorite spa treatments and the experiences that keep our bodies and minds healthy. Each week, we share a vic…

1
Are You a Showbiz Clown or Monkey? 17:31

2M ago17:31

17:31

Show business largely operates on what Rob Long calls the “Monkey-Clown Relationship.” Sometimes you’re the monkey who loses it and attacks the clown. Sometimes you’re the clown, waiting in fear of the monkey ripping your face off. Increasingly, though, as the industry gets tougher, Rob’s friends aren’t waiting for the monkey to snap, they’re wonde…

1
Episode 1 - Toxic Like My Personality 54:41

2M ago54:41

54:41

Well, the gays are unmedicated and unfamous today! Thanks for tuning in to the first episode where Kaleb, Kyle and David talk about the things that make them unwell, their desire for fame, and the ways they would want to kick the bucket. Tune in to find out which household celebrity Kyle made out with at a party, which restaurant chain the gays wis…

1
Lessons of 'Lenny & Squiggy' 13:15

2M ago13:15

13:15

Rob Long worked on the Paramount lot 15 years, and the pilot of Lenny & Squiggy — a spinoff of Laverne & Shirley — was a ghost that haunted the grounds, so mercilessly rejected by a focus group that the tape disappeared. Forever. Which makes Rob wonder: How can one hack a hackneyed system where random people are selected to give an opinion on your …

1
Unfamously Unwell Trailer 1:39

2M ago1:39

1:39

We are excited to announce your new favorite podcast: Unfamously Unwell! Join Kaleb, Kyle and David each week as they navigate their own journeys to higher health and mess it up along the way. They're notoriously unfamous, sometimes unwell, and always unscripted. New episodes launch each Wednesday wherever you find your podcasts. Send us a Text Mes…

1
Gaslit in TV Land 13:27

2M ago13:27

13:27

Everybody knows that one William Goldman quote: “Nobody knows anything.” But, Rob Long asserts, sometimes, people know something you don’t. And that’s where the mystery of the industry lies. Because as much shakra and selenite crystal as you can harness, your fate lies in the hands of others, and that can require going to desperate measures to main…

1
Famous vs. Unfamous 10:14

2M ago10:14

10:14

Movie stars and aristocrats are just like you and me: They put their trousers on one leg at a time. We don’t really have a proper aristocracy anymore, so there goes half that saying. But do we even have stars? Rob Long considers what a star was, what a star is, and what it means for the industry. Also, if you should wear a t-shirt with your name on…

1
Paramount: Buy, Sell, Fight 12:10

3M ago12:10

12:10

Rob knows a quote . . . from which Chinese philosopher, he’s not sure. It goes, “If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by.” Showbiz translation: If you stay in Hollywood long enough, you’ll see Paramount bought and sold many times over. Transcript here. Subscribe here for more showbiz news from The Ankler. L…

1
Dumpster Diving on the Studio Lot 12:30

3M ago12:30

12:30

No doubt, the internet and technology vastly improved the tedious labor of writing scripts and making revisions. But Rob Long believes something was lost in the disappearance of an actual paper trail: Archaeological artifacts that reveal the process of jokes moving, characters losing lines, and test audiences wanting (and getting) a happy ending. A…

1
Burger King Kids Club 11:34

3M ago11:34

11:34

Remember the Burger King Kids Club, the chain’s ad campaign targeted to “the kids?” There was Kid Vid, the white, video game-playing leader; Jaws, the Black kid who loved to eat; and a boy in a wheelchair named (seriously) Wheels. The idea, Rob Long speculates, must have been devised at one of those offsite retreats, the kind TV execs love to do in…

1
Gossipy, Critical, Snippy 13:39

3M ago13:39

13:39

Legendary fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld once complained about the way a room was decorated: “It was a lot of Louis Quinze mixed with Louis Seize,” he said. And then added: “Ugh!” The entertainment business runs on this sort of Lagerfeldian Ugh, a sort of lingua franca of Hollywood. But what if we tried, just for a while, to not slag others as con…

1
'It Only Made, Like, $50 Million' 14:07

4M ago14:07

14:07

Howard the Duck might not have won Best Picture, but if you’re a sandwich shop worker, or a young Rob Long at lunch with high-up producers, it’s probably best not to espouse how big a flop you thought it was. See, failure in Hollywood is a relative term. Movies fail, pilots fail, but after a failure of your own, it’s tough to see anything that make…

1
The '10 Pages in One Night' Trick 12:45

4M ago12:45

12:45

When Orson Welles found an investor for a cheap little noir thriller, legend has it he devised a scheme. His opening sequence took up almost 10 pages of script, with descriptions and action all spread out. Except when he actually filmed it, he used only a high-tension, 12-minute “virtuoso” single tracking shot that became signature to Touch of Evil…

1
The Scariest Word in Hollywood 12:38

4M ago12:38

12:38

Sixty percent of Americans say they read the Bible regularly. But in Hollywood, where Jesus and religion can feel — how do you say it — downmarket, people rely instead on the series bible, where writers flesh out their TV series’ characters, situations and possible future episodes. But Rob Long suggests Hollywood, much like he has, take a fresh loo…

1
Shut Up and Pitch 10:09

5M ago10:09

10:09

When Rob Long pitches anything these days, he knows that he’s not going to sell that idea in the room. That’s over. But he wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t hear, “Fun stuff. We’ll talk internally and get back to you.” What’s fun about that? If we can identify fun — rather than fun stuff — the entertainment industry can get back to being like that big…

1
We Cannot Be Boring 12:39

5M ago12:39

12:39

Rob Long loved his tailor — a man who ran his shop with unpredictable, cigarette-stained weirdness. But when he died, the business became faster, and it was easier to communicate with the staff. It was even open into the evenings. The new and improved shop certainly made for a better business. But the old tailor, for all his idiosyncrasies, was hig…

1
I Don’t Get Any Important Phone Calls 13:28

5M ago13:28

13:28

Rob Long’s friend once wrote a line for a TV show where a character reveals he doesn’t have voicemail. You see, the character, explains, “I don’t get important phone calls.” The network executive in charge, however, was not having it, bellowing that no one would care about someone not important enough to not get important calls. And that was that. …

1
The Imaginary List of Approved Writers 11:53

6M ago11:53

11:53

Liza Minelli, Private Detective. Sounds pretty good, right? Unfortunately, the series — Rob Long’s brainchild — will never see the light of day. Rob was told Minelli was “not available,” and in show business, when someone’s unavailable, you move on. It’s one of those unwritten rules, or mysterious studio lists, that we all believe in. But are any o…

1
If Lucy Ran a TV Network 10:15

6M ago10:15

10:15

Whether trekking to the cable store or preparing for the TSA line, Rob Long expects disappointment. Not because he’s inherently negative, you see. Show business, and all its grinding rejection, has molded him into a pessimist. So, Rob questions whether we are all too invested in our work here (the answer: yes). And how we can be prepared — and read…

1
Fragile Egos Don't Take Fountain 12:29

6M ago12:29

12:29

Bette Davis famously answered “take Fountain” — an L.A. street with fewer lights — when asked her advice for actors starting out. Thing is, the questioner didn’t actually want practical advice. In fact, most of us say we want the truth when we actually prefer our feelings to be protected. Which is why executives wind up delivering notes with fluffy…

1
Cover Charge and a Minimum 10:42

6M ago10:42

10:42

Every question that comes up in Hollywood these days is really a variation on money, and the big one on everyone’s minds is: how are we going to make buckets of money in the TV business again? By reinventing an already reinvented model, says Rob Long. Hate the ad model coming for streaming? Well, Rob says consider it akin to the cover charge and dr…

1
Hey, That's My Joke! 12:56

7M ago12:56

12:56

Ever hear of iPartment? It was a Chinese knockoff of Friends, with some Big Bang Theory rolled in, that received complaints from viewers over lines and scenes ripped directly from these American shows. Outright joke stealing is, of course, wrong, but Rob Long can’t help but also ponder the full spectrum of today's content “borrowing” — whether it’s…

1
Hollywood's 2024 To-Don't List 15:11

7M ago15:11

15:11

An entertainment CEO’s to-do list for the year could include, among other boring and depressing things: layoffs, a merger with Paramount, a sell-off of local TV stations, an acquisition of Lionsgate, and the making of one’s quarterly debt payment. Long to-do lists are, however, as a psychiatrist once told Rob Long, self-sabotage. So instead, he sug…

1
My Holiday Cure for Greed 12:41

7M ago12:41

12:41

Rob Long loves Christmas presents — expensive ones, preferably — and money. Lots of money. It’s an affliction that impacts everyone in entertainment, he argues, where enough is never enough. Even during a particularly confusing and hard year, we’re lucky to be able to complain about the work most of us do, which Rob realized at the paint store. And…

1
Get Paid for Doing Nothing 9:32

8M ago9:32

9:32

This week, Rob Long reminds us that nobody likes to work for free — which is why, more often than not, writers find themselves in a tricky predicament. In an ideal world, a writer gets hired off a pitch. But other times, the writer ends up drafting a script on spec, a.k.a for free. And even when a writer does sell a pitch, the executives who buy it…

1
Murder, But Make it Funny 12:20

8M ago12:20

12:20

According to Karl Marx, “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.” And in the eyes of Rob Long, so, too, does material in the entertainment industry. When something works as a drama, for example, people will try to find a way to jigger it into a comedy (cue the side-splitting version of Breaking Bad). Most films and shows these days…

1
You Do Me Great Honor 13:40

8M ago13:40

13:40

This week, Rob Long explains his number one rule for sharing emotions in entertainment-industry relationships: Don’t. After all, the best and longest-lasting relationships in Hollywood are the ones that stay frozen in place, uncomplicated by unnecessary interactions until there’s a business reason to reconnect. Also: never confuse love for you with…

1
(#25) Rise of The Cheesecake Ninja: The Greg Franklin Story 44:40

8M ago44:40

44:40

If you like underdogs and cheesecake -- you’re in for a treat. Greg Franklin's story is a cross between "Rudy" and Will Smith’s "The Pursuit of Happyness". Featured in the book “Don’t Keep Your Day Job” by Cathy Heller, Greg described an annoying voice in his head that just wouldn’t go away. It pestered, persisted, and repeated the same thing over …

1
The Fix-It Rule 11:50

8M ago11:50

11:50

When asked an honest opinion about someone’s appearance, you’ve likely enacted the Fix-It Rule: that is, if someone has the ability to do something about it — a stray hair, for example — you say something; if it’s congenital, well, you keep your mouth shut (or lie). That philosophy extends to Hollywood too, where almost everything is fixable, but e…

1
Success is Contagious. So is Failure 11:31

9M ago11:31

11:31

Ever notice the insecurity of those flying to and from L.A.? Everyone is discretely eyeballing everyone else, figuring out who is in first class, and — in the case of one agent Rob Long met at the airport — over-explaining why he was not. You see, in an industry where people rise and fall, and often outright disappear, visible status symbols take o…

1
The Locker Room Encounter 17:07

9M ago17:07

17:07

Bone marrow biopsy? Hahahaha. Or so says Rob Long, who, after his procedure (he was fine!) was able to find the comedy — something that weirdly arrives in the wake of high-stakes moments, particularly around death, disease and crisis. So the world seems like it’s falling apart, but this time for real? As a writer who has spent decades in the comedy…

1
The Danger Zone 11:28

9M ago11:28

11:28

With the writers strike ended, execs all over town are figuring out which pitches they agreed to pre-walkout actually will get produced. Like chefs taking food out of the freezer, suits give a sniff test — assessing what kept on ice can be safely thawed out, and which should be tossed. And as Rob Long explains, the most dangerous place to be — in a…

1
Sexfluencing With Scotty Unfamous 58:01

9M ago58:01

58:01

The sexual wellness industry is booming with new products, platforms and apps joining the market all the time. When this is in combination with the huge role that social media and the internet plays in our lives, we can see that influencers have the potential to play a big role in starting conversations, raising awareness and breaking down taboos. …

1
Optimism and Gratitude 13:03

9M ago13:03

13:03

The industry today sorely lacks optimism, says Rob. How to get it back? Harness the memory of your early-career freedom. For more news on the entertainment industry subscribe to The Ankler at theankler.com/subscribe. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/s…

1
Interviewing Queer Icons With Jack Guinness 58:14

9M ago58:14

58:14

In this episode Jack Guinness describes how The Queer Bible is the book that the younger him needed and wished for. Growing up in Britain under Section 28 meant that generations of LGBTQI+ people grew up without seeing themselves or people like them in books, publications or media. This left so many feeling isolated in their feelings and experience…

1
Star of Your Own Show 13:42

9M ago13:42

13:42

From “enemy friends” to awkward former colleagues, Rob dives into the ins and outs of making amends in the entertainment industry, even with people you didn’t know disliked you. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choic…

1
Explaining Painful Sex With Dr Aziza Sesay 1:13:33

10M ago1:13:33

1:13:33

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists nearly 3/4 women will experience pain during intercourse at some point during their lives, and yet despite this many struggle to get answers to why they are experiencing this type of pain. There are multiple reasons that someone may be experiencing pain in their genitals and pelv…

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