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SmartLess

INTRODUCING: I Need You Guys with Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate and Max Silvestri (w/ Sean Hayes)

with Sean Hayes

Published November 6, 2025
View Show Notes

About This Episode

Sean Hayes joins Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman, and Max Silvestri for a loose, comedic conversation about their early experiences making jokes, physical comedy bits, and nostalgia for old commercials and landlines. They discuss Jenny's discomfort with the White House using her Parks and Rec character in a political meme, how to handle online nastiness without engaging, and the challenges of keeping long-term friendships strong while turning them into a professional podcast. The group also fields an etiquette question about nose-picking in public, swaps stories about sleep struggles, ADHD, and old-school phone and internet habits, and ends by reflecting on Sean's "Olympic level" comedy on Will & Grace.

Topics Covered

Friendship dynamics ADHD Nostalgia Fame and celebrity culture Social etiquette Relationships Sleep Mental health Personal narrative

Disclaimer: We provide independent summaries of podcasts and are not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by any podcast or creator. All podcast names and content are the property of their respective owners. The views and opinions expressed within the podcasts belong solely to the original hosts and guests and do not reflect the views or positions of Summapod.

Quick Takeaways

  • Sean recalls starting SmartLess during early COVID as a way to keep hanging out with longtime friends when they couldn't be together in person.
  • Jenny and Gabe share early childhood 'first jokes,' showing how their comedy instincts emerged from everyday mishaps and TV commercials.
  • Jenny describes the White House using her Parks and Rec character in an immigration meme and wrestles with whether she should publicly respond.
  • Sean advises her to ignore the bait, sharing his own experience of choosing not to expose receipts against someone who publicly lied about him.
  • The group agrees that online nastiness says more about the writer's boredom and frustration than the target, and that non-engagement is often healthiest.
  • They answer a listener's question about nose-picking etiquette, concluding that it's normal but should be done in private, not publicly.
  • Sean gives advice on keeping a podcast from harming a long-term friendship, emphasizing honest arguments and letting conflict ultimately deepen the bond.
  • They trade stories about sleep problems, Ambien use, ADHD, and how quickly some of them fall asleep compared to others.
  • Nostalgic stories about landlines, phone sex/chat lines, and expensive AOL bills highlight how hard it used to be to get away with anything on shared phones.
  • The hosts close by reflecting on how surreal and special it feels to work with someone they consider an "Olympic level" TV comedian like Sean Hayes.

Podcast Notes

Clip begins: Sean joins the hosts of "I Need You Guys"

Sean reacts to joining the show and early pandemic memories

Warm welcome and joking that Sean is "the best"[2:59]
• The hosts enthusiastically tell Sean, "You are the best," then jokingly say, "And that's all our time" as if ending immediately.
Max recalls working with Sean on Q-Force in March 2020[3:15]
• Max says he, Sean, and Gabe were working together on the animated Netflix show Q-Force right as COVID hit and everything went remote over Zoom.
• He remembers Sean setting up a mic in this same room, explaining he was starting a podcast with friends so they wouldn't have to be in the same space.
• Max jokes that he thought Sean was wasting time on a podcast instead of focusing on their animated show.
Sean describes the origins and growth of SmartLess[3:10]
• He says SmartLess was born out of being stuck at home with friends of 20-25 years and wanting to hang out when they couldn't go anywhere.
• They decided to record their hangouts as a podcast instead of just Zooming.
• Sean jokes that at first two people listened, then ten, and then it built like the old shampoo commercial where each person tells two friends.

Nostalgic riffing on old TV commercials and first childhood jokes

Sean references a 1970s shampoo commercial about telling two friends[4:22]
• He quotes the tagline idea that people tell two friends and "so on and so on," identifying it as an old shampoo ad.
Jenny remembers a commercial that made her want to eat soap[4:28]
• She says an Irish Spring commercial from the 1980s literally made her want to eat the soap and still has that effect when she thinks of it.
Sean recalls a Gleam toothpaste commercial[4:48]
• He describes a woman holding the tube upside down, misreading it as "megal" before correcting to "Gleam," then licking her lips in a gross but memorable way.
• Jenny calls it an artistic commercial and wishes more ads played with things like reading upside down or reversed letters.
Jenny and Gabe share their earliest "first joke" memories[6:06]
• Jenny starts to tell a story about Gabe as a little boy, triggered by her daughter asking why she doesn't take a school bus even though they live four blocks from school.
• They briefly explain to Sean that a bus is a big car that takes kids to school, joking that he needs pictures.
• Jenny recalls Gabe tripping hard in the aisle of a school bus as a small child, falling all the way down, then standing up and saying "Super Grover."
• Gabe explains Super Grover from Sesame Street and calls it his first real "joke joke"-the bus braked, he flew up the aisle, and he used the catchphrase to get a laugh.
• He remembers other kids staring to see if he was okay, and that he had the wherewithal at about age five to make the joke and then brag about it at home.
Jenny's first joke was copying a deodorant commercial[6:42]
• Jenny says one of her first jokes was mimicking a Sure deodorant ad: she'd raise her hand, push her armpit out and say, "Raise your hand if you're sure," to random adults.
• She felt everyone loved her when she did that bit and thought she'd better keep doing it.
Sean's high-school physical comedy prank at graduation[7:16]
• Sean describes a high-school bit where he'd open his backpack just enough so that when he tripped on stairs, his books would fly everywhere, to classmates' amusement.
• He was voted "senior most likely to trip at graduation" and delivered on it by purposely tripping when his name was called, causing everyone to stand and clap.
• They riff about whether he took out the podium like a football player hitting a tackling dummy; Sean jokes he was basically the podium.

Parenting, peewee football videos, and cathartic physical collisions

Viral videos of parents tackling their peewee football kids

Gabe describes a Southern tradition where kids go up against parents in football drills[8:22]
• He says kids are in full, cushioned pads like sumo suits, while parents are unpadded and just run full speed and "smoke" their kids, who comically explode on impact.
• He notes it looks cathartic for the parents, especially moms, to absolutely level their 12-year-old sons in this controlled, padded context.
They contrast this with the idea of kids tackling padded parents[8:22]
• Jenny says she initially thought the direction would be parents padded and kids tackling them, but instead it's parents flattening kids who think they can take their "old" parents down.

Jenny's White House meme conundrum and online nastiness

Setting up Jenny's "I need you guys" problem

Jenny explains the recurring "I need you guys" advice segment[11:49]
• She tells Sean that her conundrum this week is a fresh "I need you guys" where she asked Gabe and Max for help with something.
Sean jokingly guesses her problem is about her period[11:55]
• He interrupts to ask, "Did you have your period?" and riffs about tampons versus cups, before Jenny steers back to the real issue.

White House Instagram uses Jenny's Parks and Rec character in a meme

Jenny describes not really using her Instagram anymore[12:09]
• She says the account is still hers but she stopped interacting with it three years ago because it was bad for her, though she keeps it for things like promoting standup, a podcast, a book, or posting dresses loaned by designers.
The White House meme with Mona Lisa Saperstein[12:34]
• The official White House Instagram posted a meme using Mona Lisa Saperstein from Parks and Recreation, the character Jenny played, with Henry Winkler as her dad.
• In the meme, her character is saying "money, please" and Henry is giving money; the caption equates her to "illegal immigrants" saying "money, please" and Henry to "Democrats."

Sean's advice: do nothing and don't take it personally

Sean counsels her to ignore it completely[12:51]
• He says, "You know what to do, which is nothing," emphasizing that everyone understands she's just a pawn in the messaging and it has nothing to do with her personally.
• Sean believes both Republicans and Democrats will see that it has nothing to do with Jenny or Henry Winkler as people.
Jenny wrestles with the pressure to respond[13:37]
• She says she feels pressure not to respond because engagement would spring the trap-they have endless traps designed to suck people in and distract from issues like voting rights.
• They briefly joke about measles and a punny title "The Marvelous Mrs. Measles" and Cheryl Hines, before returning to the broader point.

Online nastiness and the absurdity of troll behavior

Sean marvels at people who spend time writing nasty things online[14:27]
• He notes it's amazing that people both have the time and the inclination to write mean comments instead of working or living their lives, and wonders what satisfaction they get from it.
• Sean mentions he has never written anything bad about anyone on Instagram.
Gabe imagines bored workers venting through anonymous meanness[15:27]
• He suggests many people in downtime-heavy jobs, with mean bosses or bad customers, use anonymous online meanness for a small endorphin hit.
• Gabe reiterates Sean's advice to let Jenny's situation metabolize without her engaging, warning that if she did respond, it would prompt dorky headlines like "Parks and Rec star Jenny Slate tells White House you suck."

Sean's personal story about choosing not to expose a liar

Emotional urge to "show receipts" vs. advice to stay silent

Sean recalls an incident where someone lied about him publicly[16:15]
• He describes a situation that got blown out of proportion where one person completely lied about him, and the story grew.
• Sean had emails and correspondence that could prove the person wrong and give them "egg on their face," and he felt a strong desire to reveal those receipts.
He ultimately followed counsel not to retaliate[16:43]
• On the advice of his lawyer, publicist, friends, and family, he chose to do nothing, even though it still bothers him.
• He affirms that staying silent was the right thing to do, despite his sense of injustice at the person's lie.

Jenny's bad bisque, family food poisoning, and bodily humor

The drumstick dinner and bisque gone wrong

Jenny sets the scene: raw chicken, marinated drumsticks, and a bisque[17:27]
• She explains she was cooking drumsticks for her daughter, who loves them like "King Arthur" gnawing on a bone, and had raw chicken on her hands when she saw the White House meme on her phone.
• Jenny had also made a bisque earlier that day, which she left on the stove at room temperature during their podcast recording and later reheated for dinner.
The aftermath: diarrhea and heartburn all night[17:52]
• Jenny says she had diarrhea all night and her husband got so sick he Googled "what is heart attack" because of his extreme heartburn and gas.
• She concludes it was the bisque, not the drumsticks, because their daughter, who didn't eat the bisque, felt fine.

Wordplay around "bisque" and "brisket"

They invent the concept of a "brisque bisque"[18:46]
• They joke about combining brisket and bisque into a "brisque bisque" that gives both diarrhea and heartburn.
• They imagine hosting a bris with a catering service called "Brisk It" (spelled B-R-I-S-K I-T), serving brisket and bisque while also jokingly referencing circumcision.

How to keep a long-term friendship strong while podcasting together

Max's question about professional entanglement and friendship

Max asks Sean for advice on putting friendship "on the air"[21:23]
• He asks how to let a strong, long friendship flourish while turning it into a professional, on-air relationship and entangling themselves further.
Sean clarifies the underlying concern[21:23]
• He interprets the question as essentially, "How do we stay friends through all of this?"

Sean's perspective on SmartLess and arguments among friends

They hang out off-mic and feel like brothers[22:32]
• Sean says he and his co-hosts all live in the same city, hang out even when not recording, and truly feel like brothers, similar to how Gabe, Jenny, and Max relate.
Arguments can strengthen bonds if you get through them[22:36]
• He acknowledges they've had arguments over the years but says getting through heated discussions about passionate topics ultimately makes the bond closer and stronger.
• Sean recalls only one or two real blow-ups, and those happened decades ago, framing them as sibling-like spats.

Hosts joke about their own dynamic and enjoyment of the show

Max and Jenny tease about sexual tension and outfits[23:18]
• Max jokes that their dynamic has more sexual tension than Sean's crew, but in directions you wouldn't think, while Jenny notes Gabe and Max have been staring at each other since Y2K.
• Jenny describes wearing both a turtleneck and a full-length corduroy jumpsuit, joking that both guys are going crazy.
Jenny feels more energized the more they record together[23:52]
• She says recording in person made her realize the more they do it, the more energized she becomes, and that she can talk all day anyway.

Sleep habits, ADHD, and constant talking

Jenny's endless daytime processing and boring dreams

Jenny talks so much by day that she gives her therapist a break[24:04]
• She jokes she doesn't stop talking to her husband Scotty, pointing out mountains and asking random questions all day, so her therapist gets a break.
Her therapist says she processes so much that her dreams are dull[24:20]
• Jenny says her therapist attributes her boring dreams-like waiting for SAT results or waiting for a sandwich-to the fact that she processes so much while awake.

Max's difficulty sleeping and long-term Ambien use

Max compares himself to a wild horse needing to be put down[25:32]
• He says he has to be put down like a wild horse and has been on Ambien and "all sorts of real" sleep aids for 15 years.
He feels unable to sleep well without Ambien[24:52]
• Max explains that if he tries to take a night off Ambien about once a month, he can technically sleep but wakes up feeling wrecked, like he just crossed the Delaware by boat.

Sean's self-diagnosed ADHD and instant sleep when watching TV

Sean says he has ADHD and falls asleep quickly with passive activities[25:26]
• He describes himself as having self-diagnosed ADHD and says if he watches a movie or TV, he's out in two minutes because he has to focus on something.
• The same thing happens when he reads: one paragraph and he's asleep, though if he gets a nap in, he can then stay up and watch the whole thing.

Jenny falls asleep instantly in cars

Gabe recalls Jenny's odd car-sleep posture[25:26]
• Gabe describes college van rides where Jenny would fall asleep pointing at herself with a kind of rigor mortis-like pose, as if unplugging but still present.

Listener etiquette question: how much nose-picking is acceptable?

Introducing the voicemail from a listener in Colorado

The listener asks about socially acceptable levels of nose-picking[27:27]
• She lives in Colorado, says the dry air makes everyone pick their nose and that it's also an anxiety habit, which she prefers to more harmful anxiety behaviors.
• She's particularly bothered by people "cranking up their elbow" and really going at it, and wonders about etiquette and what people do with what they pull out.

Initial comedic reactions to the question

They laugh at the phrase "what you do with what you get out of it"[27:03]
• Jenny says "what you do with what you get out of it" should be on a mug or a pillow, because it sounds like an inspirational saying.
Sean calls it a highbrow question they get on the show[28:25]
• He jokes that these are the kind of highbrow questions they receive, then says it seems simple because you probably shouldn't do it.

Gabe's nuanced view: outside-in vs inside work on the nose

He finds some kinds of nose-picking more acceptable than others[28:09]
• Gabe says a small pinch in the middle of the nose to manage something feels different than the "vaudeville hook" arm-up-deep-in nostril move, which he finds unacceptable.
• He says working around the lobe/outer nostril from the outside is weirdly worse in his mind, and he wouldn't want to be seen doing it even in his car.
They acknowledge how satisfying a clear nose can feel[29:51]
• Sean asks if they've seen videos of massive mucus extractions from noses; he admits his mouth waters watching them because it looks incredibly satisfying.

Cars as private zones for gross habits

Jenny says people do gross self-care in cars because they feel alone[29:51]
• She mentions seeing people go wild on their noses or pop pimples in cars, feeling it's fine as long as they're alone and not doing it with someone else in the car.
Gabe compares his nose-picking to using a gym locker room[30:28]
• He jokes that he has multiple gym memberships just to pop into locker rooms and "get screwed up up there," treating it as a place to do bodily maintenance before leaving.

Jenny's childhood nose-picking and learning etiquette

Jenny was an intense nose-picker as a kid[30:42]
• She calls herself "such a nose picker" growing up and says she had to learn to stop doing it publicly, even though she still thinks it's normal and satisfying.
She admits to being a "flicker"[30:52]
• Asked if she flicked or wiped, Jenny says she flicked and eventually realized it was unacceptable to others, even if she felt it was fine in private.

Group consensus on etiquette: try not to do it in public

They land on a simple guideline[29:50]
• Sean summarizes that you should really try not to pick your nose in public; etiquette is to avoid it around others and do it privately instead.
• They sympathize with the caller's anxiety about Colorado's dryness and joke about the abundance of brew houses and pizza places being another source of stress.

Nostalgia for landlines, phone eavesdropping, and early internet bills

Sean references the show's promo clip about getting your own phone

He recalls Jenny bringing up how big a deal a personal phone line was[33:31]
• Sean says he saw the promo clip where Jenny talked about getting her own phone and how family members could listen in on landline calls.

Parents listening in and calling expensive chat lines

Sean's mom catches him calling a gay chat group line[33:56]
• He describes secretly calling a gay chat group line from the basement in the 1980s; the calls were about $3 a minute.
• His mom noticed the huge phone bill, called the number before confronting him, and caught that he had dialed it five times for about an hour each.

Prank calls, 1-800-RED-TITS, and red-tinted imagery

They reminisce about prank calls before caller ID[34:32]
• They mention star-69 and blocking numbers, wondering if you can still block caller IDs on cell phones.
Gabe recalls a teen phone-sex number known among kids[34:56]
• He says the number kids knew about was 1-800-RED-TITS, and jokes about why they're "red" and how the image implies the entire breast is fire-engine red.

Max's massive AOL bill from slow image downloads

He accidentally racked up $750 in AOL charges[35:04]
• Max says his parents got a $750 AOL bill because he used a second phone line for dial-up and didn't realize the 40 free hours had run out.
• He left the computer on overnight to download tiny .gif images of Tiffany Amber Thiessen sitting on a Porsche, which took 15 hours and cost hundreds of dollars.

Sean's farewell and hosts' emotional reflection on working with him

Sean wraps his segment and signs off

He thanks them and leaves the Zoom[36:00]
• Sean thanks them for having him, calls them pros, says he misses and loves them, and logs off.

Hosts praise Sean and recall his "Olympic level" performance on Will & Grace

They gush about loving Sean and his home setup[36:38]
• The hosts call Sean an angel and one of the greats, admiring his bookshelf and earlier memories of seeing his kitchen island and living room on Zoom.
Jenny feels surreal gratitude for getting to work with him[37:42]
• Jenny says it doesn't feel normal to be able to talk to Sean Hayes, whom she views as one of the funniest people on TV who helped them have a podcast.
• She says she didn't say it to him in the moment because she felt she might start crying, so she tags it on after he leaves.
Daniel and Jenny rewatch Will & Grace and rate Sean as "Olympic level"[37:58]
• Jenny says she and her husband Daniel have rewatched old Will & Grace episodes many times, and Daniel teases her because she mumbles "Olympic level" whenever Sean lands a joke.
• She calls the writing hard to deliver and the character hard to play, noting Sean also did backflips and physical comedy, which she considers "absolutely crazy."

Table read memories and imagining Sean at reads

Jenny recalls her first table read and thinking of Sean and Megan Mullally[38:55]
• She explains what a TV table read is-performing the script around a table for executives before filming-and remembers thinking how amazing it must have been to watch Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally at table reads.

Closing small talk and upcoming plans

Max's Trader Vic's and Dean Cain slip

He mislabels a retro tiki bar as Dean Cain's hangout[39:51]
• Max says he saw news of Trader Vic's reopening and excitedly told his wife it was a tiki lounge where Dean Cain used to hang out, when he meant Dean Martin.
• His wife just said "oh cool" instead of correcting him, and they all laugh at the idea of a lounge famously associated with Dean Cain.

Plans before next recording and baby pumpkin outing

They share short personal plans[39:57]
• Gabe says they're taking their baby to a big pumpkin light show at Descanso Gardens and might dress him in his costume.

Credits and identification of the show

Show title and hosts

They clearly state the show's name and stars[40:53]
• A voiceover says, "This show is called I Need You Guys, and it starred us, Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate, and Max Silvestri."

Production and executive producer credits

SmartLess Media production details[41:03]
• They state it's a production of SmartLess Media, list producers, editor, and music credit, and name Gabe, Jenny, and Max as executive producers of the show itself.
SmartLess Media executive producers[41:20]
• Executive producers for SmartLess Media are named as Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Richard Corson, and Bernie Kaminsky.

Audience engagement channels

Email and voicemail for etiquette questions[41:37]
• They provide an email address and a phone number for listeners to send in etiquette questions, encouraging voicemail so they can play listeners' voices on the show.

Recurring sign-off line

They repeat that they "need you guys"[41:43]
• The episode closes with multiple playful repetitions of "We need you guys," underscoring the show's title and concept.

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

When you become the face of a message you don't control-like a meme or public narrative-the most effective response is often to do nothing, even when you feel an intense urge to correct the record.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What current situation in your life makes you feel misrepresented, and how much does correcting it publicly actually change the long-term outcome?
  • • How might choosing not to respond free up your time and emotional energy for more meaningful work or relationships?
  • • What boundaries could you set around when you will and won't engage with criticism or misinformation about you?
2

Trusted advisors and loved ones can provide crucial restraint when your emotions push you toward public retaliation; listening to them can prevent you from escalating conflicts you'll later regret.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Who in your life gives you grounded advice when you're angry or hurt, and how often do you actually follow their guidance?
  • • How could you build a simple check-in ritual (with a friend, partner, or mentor) before you send a heated message or post?
  • • What is one past conflict where acting more slowly or consulting someone first might have led to a better outcome?
3

Long-term friendships can survive and even deepen through professional collaboration if you allow honest disagreements, treat conflicts as "sibling" moments, and keep nurturing the relationship off-mic or off-the-clock.

Reflection Questions:

  • • In your current collaborations with friends, where are you avoiding necessary hard conversations out of fear of rocking the boat?
  • • How might explicitly separating "work time" from "friend time" help protect an important relationship in your life?
  • • What is one specific practice you could introduce (like regular check-ins or debriefs) to keep a shared project from quietly breeding resentment?
4

Setting personal etiquette standards-like keeping certain bodily habits private-shows respect for others' comfort and helps shared spaces feel safer and more pleasant for everyone.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What everyday habits of yours might feel normal to you but uncomfortable or distracting to people around you?
  • • How could you redesign your routines so you handle unavoidable but gross tasks (like grooming or nose-clearing) in truly private settings?
  • • When have you appreciated someone else's discretion in a shared space, and how can you mirror that same courtesy?
5

Constant mental processing during the day-as with nonstop talking or media use-can blunt your ability to rest or dream meaningfully at night, so intentionally building quiet, offline time matters for psychological recovery.

Reflection Questions:

  • • How much truly quiet, stimulus-free time do you give your mind in a typical day?
  • • What small change could you make this week to reduce mental noise in the hours before you go to sleep?
  • • Where might you be using chatter, screens, or background noise to avoid sitting with your own thoughts, and what would it look like to experiment with doing less of that?

Episode Summary - Notes by Alex

INTRODUCING: I Need You Guys with Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate and Max Silvestri (w/ Sean Hayes)
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