Zanna and Billiam
Susannah Abel-Zucker
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Briefly put, Zanna & Billiam is a podcast about television. It consists of the dynamic duo Susannah and Will: teenage, TV-obsessed, best friends. Together, they’ll cover a number of shows they find crucial to their friendship, shows like Portlandia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and 30 Rock. Recapping, reviewing, and relishing a different episode each week, you can expect plenty of strong opinions, deep dives, inside jokes, and above all, friendship, comedy, writing, dreams(both nighttime and aspirational), quotes, and above all, television.
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Sep 12, 2021
The Good Place: Most Improved Player (1.8)
This week, we're covering Most Improved Player from The Good Place's first season. And in addition to cubes of all purposes and striking differences from later seasons, this episode also contains Waterloo Seltzers, whose name Les Miserables superfan Susannah is only kind of obsessed with, preachy barefooters on Quora, Holocaust allegories, brand new ship names (#shellagonye), and loads and loads of whatever the audio equivalent of cacti are.
Next week, we're covering Parks and Rec's Harvest Festival with Audrey!
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Sep 5, 2021
30 Rock: What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year? (6.22)
We're back this week with What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year! And no, we haven't made a full-length episode out of our outro section. That would be kind of boring. Rather, we're covering it's namesake, 30 Rock's wonderfully chaotic season six closer! We discuss Kristen Wiig sightings, praise Mary Steenburgen at length, Susannah talks about YA and Will talks about Virginia Woolf, and we mention a PBS miniseries and a Courtney Love movie.
Oh and hey, there's a weird thing going on with the audio for this episode where if you're listening to it on headphones, we're each coming from different ears. So, yeah, apologies.
Next week, we'll visit The Good Place for the Season One episode Most Improved Player.
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Aug 22, 2021
B99: The Jimmy Jab Games (2.3)
For our coverage of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's classic Jimmy Jab Games, we're remote again due to Susannah's being in Martha's Vineyard. But what we lack in being in person, we make up for in Audrey! Also: carnival prizes, Larry David and Alan Dershowitz, sound effects, the dating lives and jail times of mobsters who dip children in acid, "moshing like there's no tomorrow", books, Will not leaving clothing in Carrie Brownstein's dressing room, paper plates, Susannah’s ability to make pompoms (with a machine), SNL references, and our recent travels to some of the least exotic places in the US.
Next week, we're fulfilling the prophecy we unknowingly gave when we named our outro segment "What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year" and covering its 30 Rock episode namesake.
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Aug 8, 2021
Portlandia: Weirdo Beach (6.4)
From Susannah's mom's attic office, it's our triumphant return to Portlandia with Weirdo Beach! Perhaps there's just something about Fred and Carrie, as while this episode isn't quite as hectic as Amore, it's definitely more hectic than the typical Zanna and Billiam episode. Susannah talks about A.A. Milne poetry, we imagine a virtual assistant with a strong Cockney accent, we sing some Free to Be You and Me and some Ice Ice Baby, we find a philosophy book by Susannah's great-grandfather, and Will (temporarily) takes over the deep dives! Not to be missed.
Next week, we'll briefly return to the remote days of yore due to Will being in Colorado and Audrey will join us for Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Jimmy Jab Games
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Aug 1, 2021
Downton: 201
We're back! After that loooong hiatus due to Will's camp and overall summer fatigue, we make our return with Downton Abbey's Season Two Episode One, which Susannah can honestly probably recite at this point. Besides trying to get back into the swing of things and marveling at the fact that we can record this in person and inside, we also compare William (the character, not the podcast host) to a Mormon vampire, dust off some deep dives from a year ago, and sing the Camp Portland song again because apparently that's all we do now.
Find us on Instagram @zannabilliam and email us at zannabilliam@gmail.com. Or visit our website, zannabilliam.com!
Next week, we'll be heading to Portland(ia) for Weirdo Beach.
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Jun 7, 2021
SNL: Andy Samberg (39.21)
Andy Samberg hosted SNL in 2014 and now we are, well, not really following in his footsteps by hosting this episode of our podcast! We talk about a real-life Hunchback of Notre Dame, our thrift shop, and calendars. Also, Will plays the Oldies channel again to drown out the sirens on his street, and Susannah rants about how much she hates Bruce Chandling.
And we're taking on a new show: New Girl! Join us for "Background Check" this time next week! (Well, not this exact time. Preferably somewhere in the Saturday to Sunday range.
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Jun 1, 2021
Parks and Rec: Bailout (5.16) (ft. Audrey)
Yes, it might seem a bit strange that we, shippers that we are, chose this episode instead of the previous one, Leslie and Ben (for non-superfans, that's the one where they get married). But hey, this episode's got mani-pedis, old movies, and several members of the sprawling Lerpiss family. And of course, it's the first appearance of the one and only Mona-Lisa Saperstein. Our attempt to cover includes lots of air quotes (which aren't great for this audio medium), a revisit of the various phases of Susannah and Audrey's friendship (oh yeah, Audrey's here), some Sex and the City, Will's portable radio, and the newest installment of Susannah's Wall Post-It's!
Join us next week for SNL's season 39 finale, hosted by Andy Samberg with a shirt-ton of cameos. Yes, we use Good Place swears in everyday life.
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May 15, 2021
The Good Place: The Burrito (2.12)
We're back in The Good Place for this penultimate episode of Season Two (of The Good Place, not the podcast. We're too lazy to put this podcast into seasons). Yes, this episode is shorter than usual, and yes, Susannah (who writes these usually very witty episode descriptions) can't think of anything to say here, but we have no doubts that this is just as enjoyable, as, I guess, whatever you'd do instead of listening to this episode.
Next week, we'll be joined by Audrey to discuss Parks and Rec's Bailout, which we chose because we couldn't think of anything else.
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May 9, 2021
30 Rock: The Moms (4.20)
We head back to 30 Rock(both the show and the place) for a very special(to be honest, it's not actually that special) Mother's Day episode. Even though this episode probably won't be heard until after Mother's Day. But we make like Victor Hugo and digress! (#ObscureLesMizRef)
Anyhoo, in this episode, Will mocks/performs slam poetry, Susannah(yet again) tells us about her parent's interaction with a celebrity(this time, it's her dad and Keith Haring, Will reassures us all that Susannah is not in a polygamous cult, and Susannah offhandedly mentions the huge age gap in Back to the Future 3. (#ShamelessBackToTheFuture3Ref)
Next week, we'll be covering The Good Place's The Burrito, featuring an abundance of Judge Gen brilliance. (#AlwaysNeccesaryMayaRudolphLove)
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May 1, 2021
B99: Debbie (7.5) (Ft. Audrey!)
Our good friend Audrey joins us as we cover this lace paper airplane of a Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode! After a bit of a confused beginning, Susannah directs everyone towards her favorite Belgian girls choir. Then, prompted by a country song, we question the logic of reviving ghosts, and go on a tangent about stuff in our rooms.
Next week, we'll head to The Good Place for season two's The Burrito, featuring a fantastic Maya Rudolph.
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Apr 17, 2021
Portlandia: Amore (7.5)
We restart our cycle once again with Portlandia's Amore! And as any episode recorded on the eve of a week off school is expected to do, it goes off the rails pretty quickly. We get to the major points of the Rachel-Dratch-starring episode, such as Fred and Giuseppina's ship name (Gred? Friuseppina?), but we also warn of the dangers of Portuguese businessmen, maybe accidentally stumble upon secret FBI codes, and talk about the crime family from the fictional Princess Diaries country. And that all happens in the sane part of the episode. Portlandia is probably the least popular of all the shows we cover on this podcast, but we can't stress enough how much we want you to listen to this episode. You don't even have to watch Amore. If you want to skip the boring on-topic bits and get right to the part of the episode that's so crazy and full of in-jokes makes you question why we even recorded it in the first place, head to 42:00 minutes and you'll find references to French reality television…
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Apr 11, 2021
Downton Abbey: 1.7
It's our very first Downton episode(or at least it's Will's), and we've got plenty of strong opinions about O'Brien, Edith, Bates, Marthew (Mary&Matthew), and pretty much every other thing that briefly appears on-screen, including umbrella handles. But first, we kick off with an unusually long cold open featuring two fill-for-time’s and a treasure found inside a book leading to a deep-dive. Then, Susannah tells you some of the things you need to know about Pitman shorthand, and Will briefly pitches an ad for feet. Finally, we shout out @MrAlexanderStar. Who? Exactly. (No, but seriously, listen to the episode to find out.)
Next week, we'll restart our cycle with Portlandia's Amore, the first episode ever that one of us (Susannah) hasn't previously viewed. Should be fun, or at least interesting!
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Apr 3, 2021
SNL: Paul Rudd/DJ Khaled(44.21)
We return to Susannah's sometimes-favorite show SNL with a vaguely recent finale hosted by Paul Rudd! Susannah talks about her father’s “breakthrough” Shakespeare research before getting into the Genovese crime family, while Will is yet again astonished by how little Susannah knows about popular culture(this time, it’s Ant-Man) and starts a Smashing Pumpkins-based feud with Paul Rudd’s daughter. Also, If you are/know Jane Fonda, Jackson Browne, or any of their children, and/or have any information on who said children were kissing in the 80s, please email us at zannabilliam@gmail.com. We really have to get to the bottom of this.
Next week, Will's tv-watching tendencies allowing, we'll be covering Downton Abbey's Season One Episode Seven, which will mark the third time Susannah will have to take notes on that episode.
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Mar 16, 2021
Parks and Rec: The End of the World (4.6) (ft. Audrey!)
We've headed back to Pawnee with a WONDERFUL episode form Season Four. Audrey joins us as we find various antonyms for 'palpable' (dubious, inferential) and mourn our lack of anyone else to invite to our podcast. Plus, Susannah's got a very special deep-dive that's months in the making, but she can't share it until she remembers the basic plot of "Who Moved my Cheese?" And once she finally does, she reveals that her research might have taken her to some illegal corners of the internet, and we ponder the specifics of the no-fly list.
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Feb 27, 2021
The Good Place: You've Changed, Man
We return to The Good Place with 'You've Changed, Man', one of the final (and strongest) episodes! We see Good, Bad, and Neutral Janet, as well as Animal Janet (from the Cat and Dog Good Place) and another Janet of unknown purpose. Plus, we tell our broken-glass stories, we discuss the merits of the concept of warm pretzels, Will talks about his admiration for Julia Roberts' niece, and Susannah displays her perpetual love for Downton Abbey.
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Feb 22, 2021
B99: 99 (5.9) (ft. Audrey!)
Audrey joins us again for the episode we promised you two weeks ago, rerecorded somewhat fatiguedly (is that a word? Not going to look it up) but nonetheless enjoyable. We, of course, do discuss every aspect of this landmark Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode, but we also learn about the fingernail equivalent of an accent wall from Audrey, talk about our distaste for various Die Hard films, examine stunt doubles, recall our previous (and dearly departed) recording in which Audrey turned to Reddit to figure out if one could microwave one's weed, and try to figure out if we can buy lemons at a gas station.
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Feb 13, 2021
30 Rock: Anna Howard Shaw Day (4.13)
We've decided to do a Valentine's episode, even though Valentine's Day is a sham created by card companies to reinforce and exploit gender stereotypes. But whether you're celebrating the birthday of famed suffragette Anna Howard Shaw or taking part on one of the many weird Valentine's traditions mentioned by Liz's coworkers (eating pierogi at the cleaning lady's husband's grave, anyone?), chances are you'll like this hilarious 30 Rock episode featuring Avery's debut, Horatio Sanz as Jenna's ex-stalker, and, of course, Liz repeatedly mistaking various houseplants for Jon Bon Jovi. We want a spinoff rom-com.
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Jan 30, 2021
Portlandia: Trailblazers (4.07)
It's our first second episode of Portlandia! That's right, we've restarted the cycle, and we're returning to the City of Roses with Will's favorite Portlandia episode, Trailblazers. Susannah likes the episode as well, but as a person with extremely long hair, she's a bit put off by that first sketch. Also, Susannah talks about how she got her ears pierced in the middle of a mall hallway(thankfully, it was not done by Michael Michael Jordan), Will's a bit disappointed Susannah won't let him tell a story from a scrapped cold open, and we gossip a bit about celebrity tattoo removals.
Next week, we'll have our first second episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine with "99", and we're overjoyed to have our friend Audrey join us for it!
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Jan 23, 2021
SNL: John Mulaney/Jack White (43.18)
We're finally doing an SNL episode, and what an episode indeed! John Mulaney's first stint hosting features tour de force sketches like Diner Lobster, sketches we have an obscure emotional connection to like Real Intros of Reality Hills, wonderfully random cut sketches like Wedding Toast, and two great musical performances by Jack White. Plus, Susannah has some exciting findings to share that she almost forgets, Will has a lot to say about the music, and some other stuff, I don't know, I'm writing this right before lunch and I'm really hungry.
Tune in next week for another Portlandia episode, Trailblazers! Will's very excited.
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Jan 16, 2021
Community: Mixology Certification (2.10)
If you think we're really into mixology, well, you wouldn't be wrong. It's pretty much our favorite thing, at least when it comes to television. And we can all agree that the only thing that could make this exceptional episode of the thoroughly unique sitcom Community better would be Andy Samberg as the mixologist. Sorry, the Mixologist. (Also maybe if it was less depressing.)
Tune in next week for John Mulaney's first SNL hosting gig, an episode with something for everyone.
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Jan 11, 2021
Parks and Rec: The Fight (3.13) (ft. Audrey!)
It’s our first Parks and Rec episode and it comes only a little bit late due to a file problem that may result in some low audio quality. I don’t know, I’m writing this part of the description before I’m done editing. But the real news is: Audrey is here! That’s right, our much-mentioned turquoise-haired best friend has joined us to talk about this legendary episode and bring her equally legendary insights(and mini deep-dives).
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Jan 2, 2021
The Good Place: Jeremy Bearimy (3.04)
This week, we're covering The Good Place's Jeremy Bearimy, a wonderfully weird and somehow simultaneously cozy and feel-good half hour of American television. We establish that we're platonically married by television (imaginary Lorne Michaels was the fake officiant); go on a tangent about encounters with celebrities and almost spill the Sufjan Stevens beans; and critique Chidi's fashion choices. And, we have an Instagram account now! it's @zannabilliam and you should totally follow it.
Next week, we'll cover hilarious Parks and Recreation episode The Fight with our much-mentioned friend Audrey (that is, unless Pat Benatar sues us). You can find it on Peacock!
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Dec 19, 2020
30 Rock: Episode 210 (2.10)
Not-live from the evening of the last school day of the semester, it’s Zanna and Billiam! And even though that first sentence made it sound like we’re doing an SNL episode, it’s actually 30 Rock’s “Episode 210”! And, because of the circumstances referenced in the aforementioned SNL-esque sentence, we get increasingly incoherent as the episode progresses! (blerg!) But all accidentally-calling-magnets-marbles aside, we really are excited for our first 30 Rock episode.
In two weeks, we'll be covering The Good Place's "Jeremy Bearimy", so get ready for heaps of marshmallow-candy chili.
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Dec 16, 2020
B99: "Johnny and Dora" (2.22)
This week, we're diving into Brooklyn Nine-Nine's "Johnny and Dora", also known as the ULTIMATE Peraltiago (if you're not familiar with that term, this episode's probably not for you) episode. We try to figure out what and where Atlantic City is; Susannah tries really hard not to say that it was just her b*rthday; we marvel at Don Johnson's personal life; Will's dog makes a cameo; and we engage in multiple who-can-google-it-first battles.
Next episode, we'll be covering 30 Rock's Episode 210, and inevitably idolizing both Liz Lemon and Tina Fey.
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Dec 5, 2020
Portlandia: "Mixologist" (2.01)
For our first actual episode, we're doing Mixologist, a Portlandia episode that might just be a perfect microcosm (Susannah's favorite word to misuse) of our friendship: it's got laughs, songs, California, very complicated restaurants, messages in bottles, and of course, Andy Samberg. When we're not vehemently expressing our love for "Mixologist", we're definitely probably not being hacked, luring one another into false Natalie Portman-related realities, defending our unfamiliarities with Denny's, NOT making death threats to Andy Samberg's family, and singing Mamma Mia.
Tune in next week for Brooklyn Nine-Nine's "Johnny and Dora" and new heights of Peraltiago insanity.
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Nov 28, 2020
An Intro To Zanna & Billiam
It's the first episode of our new podcast, and we're introducing ourselves to the world with a combination of well-formatted segments and completely unrelated tangents. In this episode: Will reassures Seth Meyers that he is not threatening to kill him; we redact the hell out of some personal information with a calm, robotic British man; we share our favorites and our aspirations; Susannah's sister drops by for a muffled conversation; and of course, we talk, gush, and rant about television.
Tune in next week for Portlandia's The Mixologist and some inevitable love for Andy Samberg.
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