​Jann Talks JANN! (the show, not herself in the third person) 44:08

This is the Jan Arden Podcast. Breaking news.

Well, we don't have breaking news. Hi, it's Jan. Welcome back. Thanks all of our listeners. Thank you for joining us. We've got such a great show for you. I'm here with Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh. How are you guys doing? We're okay. Lovely. And we do kind of have breaking news because season two of A Certain Someone's show is coming back on Monday. I mean, I feel like that qualifies as needing an official breaking news intro.

Yeah, it's very exciting. We have Leah Gauthier and Jenica Harper are joining us today. They are co-creators and the main writers of the show. We have a group of five writers that are absolutely wonderful. But yeah, they're going to tell us just a little bit about how do you get a television show made, kind of their backgrounds, which are completely different. And

This isn't a spoiler, but Sarah McLachlan is our first guest. She's first up to bat on episode one on Monday night on CTV. Let me just say this. Sarah McLachlan is a good sport. Sarah McLachlan is really strong. You do not want to fight Sarah McLachlan.

In a dark galley way. That's all I'm going to say. So tune in just to see her. She sings a little bit. It's just, it's a wonderful first episode and a lot of questions from the cliffhanger of last season kind of get answered. Anyhow, thank you so much for being with us today. Right out of the gate, we want to talk about today's quandary. I'm passing it over to you, Caitlin. Thank you.

Okay, so we received a quandary, which I think is kind of timely for many, many people right now dealing with like a ton of news, political views, all that stuff. And this was sent into our wonderful Twitter account, which is the Jan Arden pod on Twitter. And so we got a little message here. So this week's quandary comes from Lindsay. Thank you for sending this to us. Hi, Jan Arden pod, quandary of the week. We choose who we want surrounding us. We also choose who we do not want around us.

like racist bigots. But what happens if that person is your father? I love my family, but we are completely different people. Wow. This is so common. I think this is a big quandary. The political divide in and of itself with even we see it with our friends with, you know, Trump or not to Trump.

I know that causes a lot of rifts in family, even in Canada, the progressive aspect and the liberal aspect. I think more now than ever, they really are split. There used to be like blurred lines. A lot of the parties had similar platforms. They believed in the same things. We certainly felt that way in Canada. We felt like, listen, we can't lose. We can't lose with either party because they're Canadian. They're going to do their thing. But now, yeah, racism is big. There's been such a huge shift with the BIPOC movement.

And I don't know what I would do. I know that my dad in particular used to say things that would send me. And I don't know how I would have navigated that as a young person because I was kind of scared of him, to be honest. So, I mean, gosh, what, Caitlin, like what are your thoughts on that? I know that you've,

dealt, you're younger than me. Like, yeah, it's tough. It's tough to deal with because you obviously love your family members and you love your friends and having differing views from them on anything can be, um, you know, a real source of contention. And especially if you spend time together, especially if you're having dinner together, maybe you're having a few drinks, voices get louder, inhibitions go down, who knows. But I think that when it comes to certain topics

This is, again, me personally. I saw funny, like there was a tweet about this or a meme that was going around that said, you know, well, we can just have differing opinions. And I thought, yeah, we can have differing opinions on pizza toppings. You know, this was the crux of the joke. We can have differing opinions on television shows. We can have differing opinions on things like that. But when it comes down to views that are harmful on a societal level to a race of people, a sexual orientation,

a gender, I'm going to draw a pretty firm line in the sand. And it's going to be that if you can't, if you can't discuss that in a constructive way, if you're saying things that offend me personally, and I know are contributing to, let's be honest, the downfall of society, I don't want to hear it. And I think that's at least I haven't had to do that with anyone in my life, personally, thankfully, I do know some friends who've had to, and they've had to leave it at the, you know, the old, we're not going to talk about religion and politics.

then. Like we just are not going to discuss it because you, you don't want to get into an argument every time you spend time with that person. And if you're always arguing with them, it's going to have such a bad effect on your relationship. So you gotta, you gotta call it sometimes. Marianne Williamson is, is a really great writer. She's written a lot of, I'm going to call them self help books, but they are much more in depth than that.

For a while in the United States, she was actually running, I think, for the Democratic ticket. She was. She was an interesting candidate. Yeah. Anyway, something that she wrote years ago really stuck with me. And she's not the first person to have said it, certainly, but she wrote, do you want to...

or do you want to have peace? And so I'm going to have to sort of side with you. Well, I am siding with you, Caitlin, that if you have to lay your guns down, I think to engage in something that's going to cause long-term rifts, that's going to have someone jump up from the table and throw their napkin down and leave their meal half-finished

finished and walk out of a restaurant or a family gathering. I just don't think it's worth it. And yeah, it's called biting your tongue. If you're the type of person that just wants to be in there and say, you're an idiot and that's not right. I mean, that's, that's the whole thing of, do you want to, do you want to have peace or, and nobody's right in any of this. Like what is right? This is so subjective. Politics is so subjective. Yeah.

To a point, I mean, we all all of us that have a modicum of intelligence kind of go, no, this is you just can't have people like that running the world with racism. It's unacceptable. So on that part of her question, her quandary, I think you absolutely have to stand up and be vocal about racism and about people saying inappropriate things.

derogatory, hateful, spiteful things. And I don't think, I think being complacent makes you complicit. I feel like there are times looking back on my life where I can remember somebody saying something that offended me about, you know, maybe it was a sexual orientation or race or maybe it was sexist. And I didn't say anything because I, you know, you're at a dinner party and you don't want to bring up, you don't want to be contentious. But I thought so loudly above my head, like, shut that up.

F up. I was so annoyed and angry and offended. And I didn't say anything because you don't want, I was like, oh, I don't want to ruin everyone's dinner. But this person was ruining everyone's dinner. Well, just in summary, I think you do have to make a choice. You definitely have to stand up for marginalized people to the point where just, I think you could say something like, hey, come on, that's, this isn't the place to be talking like that. And you're kind of making me feel uncomfortable. So, you know.

but to launch yourself into a fight, I don't think it's going to work. I hope that helped you with your, your quandary. And, and I hope you enjoyed the quandary music because it always makes me feel good. Just in the last couple of minutes here. I often think, I think we don't talk enough about dying. So, you know, keeping with the light jaunty topic of our conundrum, there is something,

a crazy kind of Dutch, well, not crazy, a biotech company that is really cultivating the whole idea of circle of life and what they're doing. I mean, the Europeans are so thinking forward. They are making a cocoon coffin, basically. It's essentially a biodegradable coffin, which I love. And it's made out of fungus spores, right?

So you get buried in this thing, and you can even be buried in a communal grave,

But you can be buried by yourself first and then you can be moved just so they're not taking up. Well, what do you think of that? It's a hard shell. Like you can have it open at the thing for the viewing, but it's made out of something that will decompose with you. I think that's great. I'm one of those people where I don't care what you throw me in. I do not want a fancy casket. Like pine box incinerate me, dump me over an ocean,

Like, I don't care. Listen to this, Caitlin. It's lined with soft moss. Oh, that's lovely. That seems like the way that, you know, if you were a fairy or some sort of an elf, that's the way you'd return. Covered on the inside with soft green moss for a comfortable final rest.

So the living cocoon they're calling it is, you know, they basically bury you and it decomposes in 35 to 45 days, which is unbelievable. That's like, that's the way you're supposed to go. In my opinion, I always liked when they had the option to of cremating you and turning your ashes into a tree. Like they put your ashes at the bulb of a tree and then it grows into a tree. I thought that was nice too. Well, your own body will increase biodiversity and,

And allow new seedlings to thrive. And that sounds really sexy to me. New seedlings. Yeah, I'm into it. You're listening to the Jan Arden podcast. We'll be right back. You're back with us listening to the Jan Arden podcast. I'm here with Caitlin Green, Adam Karsh, as always, as usual, because we, our motto is three people can't be wrong. That's our motto. Um,

Here's my hot topic for the week. I recently was involved in a protest at the Calgary International Airport. And I'll tell you why. And I'll tell you why a group of us went there with our masks, social distancing, cool Alberta night. Every two weeks out of YYC out at the Calgary Airport, a very clandestine operation takes place. And it has been taking place

for a long time, probably upwards of 30 plus years, because nobody wants you, the Canadian consumer, to know about it. Between 80 and 100 beautiful, large breed horses. And if you can picture the Clydesdale type or the Belgian type of horse, picture the Budweiser horse and wagon that you often see in commercials.

that are being pulled by the huge black giant horses. So picture those, not racehorses. And these horses are raised specifically to be eaten by a group of people an ocean away in Japan. So these horses, every two weeks, between 80 and 100 of them are loaded four at a time, four horses at a time, into wooden crates. They're scared to death.

They are crapping on each other. They're kicking stalls. They're trying to get out. They are loaded probably at four or five in the afternoon. Nobody's around where they're loaded. It's all boarded up. You can't see through there except for a few cracks. And then they're all loaded onto a flight that leaves 4 a.m. So imagine them, they've already been in their crates for 12 hours by the time they're loaded on to a Korean Air flight.

that now flies at 4 a.m. for 16 hours to Japan and lands there. And you might be asking yourself, why?

for one thing, is Canada live exporting animals of such a majestic nature and why? I'm not saying that the horse meat industry is going to disappear because I know that's not going to happen in Canada. It's a much bigger issue. Some people eat horse. I can't argue with that. And I'm not, that's not where my concern lies. My concern lies with 80 animals,

being so mortified. Many times they're dead. There's one or two dead in their crates before they even land. Many times they're crumpled on top of each other in the crates because they just are, they can't stand anymore and they can't take it. The market wants them alive because they have a very specific way of slaughtering them. I'm not going to get into it because there's not one single listener right now that wants to listen to how these horses are

are killed and what happens to them before they're killed to make the meat a certain way. Let me leave it at that. And in order for the meat to be a certain way, their heart still has to be beating. Let's leave it at that. This happens every two weeks. It's a group of rich guys that are catering to the elite of the elite in Japan.

And these guys are quietly making 20 million bucks a year on these horses that they think nobody cares about. That's why we were protesting. And I just want people to know what's going on. It's a shame in this country, live export in general. I don't know if you and Adam, Caitlin recall just a few weeks ago, a very large shipment of cattle coming from New Zealand headed to the Mediterranean and

sunk, killing 4,000 plus cows and the folks on board the ship.

So, you know, live export of animals internationally is a travesty. This is agriculture taking a very sinister turn. And I think everyone listening would agree that the agriculture of our grandparents and our great-grandparents is so distorted. There are so many blurred lines. There are so many unethical things. And I don't know how we as a society have continually...

pushed our sensitivity levels to the point where we just would rather be blind to it.

Any comments at this point from either of you would be welcome, but this is why we were protesting. - Yeah, it bothers me so much, especially also that I didn't know. And I had heard about live animal exporting from a conversation that you had on a previous episode with Zaya Tong, and it wasn't specific to horses, but it was just about how unnecessary it is in general to live export these animals to other countries to be slaughtered there because the transportation process for them is absolutely horrible.

So you've added a layer of cruelty that doesn't make any sense. And when you have slaughterhouses here in Canada that could be doing the same amount of work, if you want the Canadian animals and that's the business that they're in, I just don't understand the process of sending these horses alive overseas or any animal alive overseas for that matter, especially in the conditions that you've been talking about.

I really don't think your average person knows about it. And I just think that the cruelty is just kind of, it's beyond me. I don't know. And, you know, just servicing this tiny little tiny market of the super wealthy elite. That just doesn't make any sense to me. I don't get it.

Well, what you have to understand is these particular horses are bred for this exact market. And a lot of people are saying, yeah, but, you know, people buy quarter horses and ponies and stuff and they don't look after them and they don't want to pay the boarding fare. This is a completely different group of horses. I don't want people to confuse that at all with pets that kind of go sideways with people being, you know, irresponsible for old, you know, we used to talk when we were kids about, you know, old Bessie, she made it to the glue factory.

Well, that still very much happens. You know, horse hooves, every part of the horse, those things are used for all kinds of products that human beings ingest, use in their homes, whatever. Those horses do end up being slaughtered in Canada. And there's 60 or 70,000 of those, if not more. I don't know the exact numbers. So these ones on these flights that go out of

Calgary and and here's a more hideous point of it. We can say what we whatever you want about the United States Canada has the worst animal rights of all of the g7 that is known we are at the bottom of the pyramid Yeah, the Americans ship their horses. They don't do live exporting horses. They banned it a long time ago in the United States and

In the United States, they banned it. So guess what they do? Yes, you guessed it. They ship them up here. They ship them to Manitoba. They ship them to Calgary. They go out of flights in Winnipeg, and they go out of flight. So in another week, we'll be doing another protest.

And we're going to keep the pressure up. And there is something called the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition that they are mounting something legally right now. They're on appeal to get this practice stopped. So I have... Anyway.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. Well, when you care about something, you want to talk about it. So yeah, it's heartbreaking to see. And I don't think Canadians know about it. I don't think they under, and I think your average person, when they do know about it, and I've seen it on Twitter now because people are realizing it because public figures like yourself are trying to raise awareness around it. They're shocked and appalled. I'm shocked to learn about that from Canada, that we have this horrible rating amongst G7 countries for our treatment of animals. It's not okay. Yep.

Well, listen, there's lots you can do. On a cheerier note, Leah Gauthier, Jennifer Harper are going to be with us talking about the Jan show coming up Monday night, eight o'clock on CTV. We're going to be talking to them. We have lots more.

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You can say what you want, but I'm not your little girl. You can stand in my path, but you're never going to change anything that I do. No, you're never going to change me. Well, welcome back. And as promised, we have with us my two co-creators of the Jan Show podcast.

Beginning to air Monday. And yes, so Monday, 8 o'clock, CTV Network. You can find us. And then the next day, you can find us on Crave. You have to wait like 24 hours, but it shows up. I am here with Leah Gauthier and Janica Harper. Welcome to The Jan Show. Lifelong dream.

You guys look really, you guys look good. We do all these podcasts on zoom so we can see each other's faces. And this is how we did our entire writing room for season three. This is, this is what it looked like. In fact, you guys are in the same clothes. Yeah. I mean, you know, why change still wearing these leopard print pajama pants. They're just, they're a staple of this COVID wardrobe. Okay. So we don't, we, I have so many things that I want to ask you and not a whole ton of time. So making a television show,

I get asked constantly, how did you guys get a show that is on the air on a major network? And I know it's in theory, it kind of sounds like, oh yeah, you just write something, you take it to the network, they give you money, you do it, but that's not how it works. So maybe, Jenica, I'll start with you, and then we'll talk a little bit more about specifically how our show got made and how it ended up. But the business of television, Jenica, and writing, you've been doing it for a long time. Mm-hmm.

How do we tell young writers out there, people that are obviously interested in television, what is the to-do list? Where do you start?

Yeah. So I would say, okay, the to-do list of where you start is to try, is to write a lot and to try to, you know, to understand TV storytelling and to get good at that and write a lot of scripts. And then your goal as a, so my, my path, Leah and I will talk about our two different paths and they're very different. We've come to the same place, but I'll, mine is a bit of a

TV writing more conventional route, I guess you could say, in the sense that, you know, for many years, my sort of my jobs were to be a writer in someone else's writing room and try to, you know,

write what the showrunner wanted and expected for, for their show. So, you know, I've written on kids' comedies and crime procedurals and, and supernatural shows. And in those shows, I'm trying to write scripts that are good and strong and all that stuff, but also fulfill what the showrunner's vision of the show is.

is. So you're kind of trying to sort of fit, you know, fit a gap that, that is, that is needed there and, and be part of the creative process that's collaborative and everything. So it's not overnight. Well, for me, it sure wasn't, but I mean, we all have to learn our crafts, right? Whether you're a doctor or a lawyer. And I try and give people comparisons like,

when you become a dentist, you don't just show up for a weekend seminar and then you're drilling in people's mouths. You kind of have, yeah. Well, I mean, I would do it for you anytime. For $20. I will pull out your front teeth. Get them, get them gone.

But it's, I guess the practicality of taking something to a network and then get money, getting money to produce it and all those things. There's a lot of moving parts in these things, isn't there? Yeah. Let me tell you what often happens is, so for someone like me, as I'm working on other people's shows, I'm also developing my own ideas and pitches and writing scripts that, you know, for pilot series that like don't exist yet and to take them to producers and to take them to networks and

And for a while there, what you're really trying to do is sort of get into development. And development just means that the network is sort of floating some money to the team to get a script written as that kind of proof of concept of like, well, what is the show? Who are the characters? What's the tone of it? And you're just sort of hoping that first stage is just to get a script and to be able to sort of prove that, you know, yeah, there's a show here. It's going to be really great.

So that's what I've done a number of times. And this is the first time that I've been part of a team that went all the way and got that green light and actually got to make that show. So we're, you know, we can talk more about that, but really I think it's, it's people do need to understand that, um,

you know, that the, if you look at the iceberg, the top of the iceberg is a show getting made and getting on the air and everything below, you know, the surface of that iceberg is people writing scripts and trying really hard and pitching their guts out at the networks and trying to get something going. And so, and it costs a lot of money to make a season of television. So they, it really does millions of dollars. They can't just,

throw that change around to everybody. So they have to kind of know that people will come. So that's where I think having someone like an iconic...

songwriter and singer in your country is very helpful because like, it'll open the door, but it won't keep it open. Exactly. We have to deliver. We have to deliver. Sure. They'll come for that first episode, check it out, curiosity, what have you, but we have to continually. And when I say we, I mean, you guys as writers have to continually pique their interest. Leah, you have a little different way of getting here. And I really want people to hear like the abridged version of,

of how

kind of we met and how this thing started because this is kind of your fault, Leah, if I'm honest, because just a little bit of background, Leah did work with me on a couple of tours in production and she was pestering me constantly like, we should get cameras on here and do like a reality show. And I'm like, oh my God, I can't imagine people being on this bus because it is just a fart tube of insanity. So Leah Gauthier, go.

Yes, we did meet all those years ago. It's probably been about a decade now that we've been friends. Easily. And I was on a couple of tours with you as part of the production team. And back then I worked strictly in reality and factual TV. So I did a lot of casting and producing of

dating shows and child superstar shows and the Real Housewives. I worked on a bunch of shows like that. So it was top of mind when I saw something interesting to tap into, maybe we should follow this as a reality show. But you were never on board for that. It was never going to happen as much as I tried and tried. So eventually when I said, what do you think about scripted? You were sort of at a place where you felt ready, I think, because

because it had been presented to you a number of times before. And we sat down at your kitchen table and sort of mapped out how you'd like that to look. So my journey to scripted was just the complete opposite to Jenica's. We kind of came from these two different worlds to make this show. I think that's probably part of the success of it is that we have these vastly different viewpoints and we've all come together in this one space to create the best thing possible.

What is, so yes, we wrote, we, Lee and I sat at our, the kitchen table here at my house and came up with a zany idea, but Jenica, I mean, maybe you can speak to this, but like to call the show Jan, I remember how shocked I was when I got the call, call from the producers. I forget who the three of us thought that I was like, did I have a name? Was I like Linda Smithers, Nancy Peterson? Like it doesn't,

Someone fill me in on that because I know calling it the jam show basically was like an 11th hour decision. Janica, do you know? Yeah. I mean, I think that Leah and I, our dream was always that your name was Jan. Was it? Yeah. We really, really freaked out for a minute. Yeah. We thought the funniest version was you're playing a fictional version of yourself in that Larry David curb, your enthusiasm kind of vein. And,

And we did, at one point we were gonna call you like Jan Nielsen or something like that. That was sort of like, okay, it's kind of like her, but don't get freaked out everybody. It's not really her. She's not really this huge jerk narcissist. But in the end, we kind of kept coming back around to that conversation and we were having conversations with the producers as well. And just being like, all of us couldn't get it out of our heads. It's just the purest version of that juxtaposition was, wouldn't it be so funny if we pretended this was really her?

And I think that when you decided to go with your actual name is when you decide to let it all go. And you sort of just committed to being this version of yourself that is a bit

Self-absorbed. So, yeah, a little bit. I'm glad I'm not her. If I ever become that, just really slap me. Your favorite part about filming, what is it? I know that we all go kind of nutty for craft services, and for anyone out there who doesn't know what craft services are, it kind of sounds like exactly what it is. It's food.

And it's candies and junk and sandwiches and chips. And they feed us all day because we have long days. But the three of us, especially, you guys have your favorites. I know when the chips come around, it's quite a popular moment.

For me, in terms of filming, I have so many things that I love about it. It's like hard to choose one. But I think one of the top ones is when we put you into physical comedy situations where you're in a garbage can or strung up on a barbed wire fence or falling out of a car. To put you in situations where you hate your life.

Well, don't forget falling off of a bull, a mechanical bull, I will say. Yeah, it's very fun. The physical comedy was really fun. And the two of you steal from my life, let's face it. You eavesdrop. For those of you who may not know this, we have done the first two writing rooms. I know that Adam is going ballistic because I can't see him. So we're going to be right back. We're going to be right. You're listening to The Jan Arden Show. We've gone nine minutes over. We have

We apologize, we have no sponsor. We'll be back.

Welcome back to the Jan Arden Podcast. Oh yeah, we have music and so much more. We're here with Jennifer Harper, Leah Gauthier, two writers from The Jan Show, co-creators. Our show starts Monday night at 8 o'clock on CTV. Don't miss it. It's so hilariously funny. This is kind of a little bit off topic, but in a perfect world, if you were going to like

like have your own projects developed. Cause I know both of you guys work on stuff all the time and that you're working on stuff without giving too much away to other writers that might steal your ideas. Are you guys like actively writing new fantastic game of Thrones type things? Yeah. You haven't heard of it. We're totally producing game of Thrones, the sequel. It's going to be a toilet of Thrones.

Actually, that actually almost makes me want to do it, to do like some kind of period fantasy thing. If you're going to be in it as like some, you know, dame of something, that sounds exciting to me. We are writing. Yeah, Leah and I are always writing different things. Some things we have ideas together and then some things we are pursuing sort of on our own. Just while I was falling asleep, for some reason I came up with this concept for a thriller, a film. Yeah.

that I immediately woke up and wrote in the notes of my phone. And then the next day I called Jenica and went, what are you doing with your life? You write like a film together that really only involves two people in one location. And it's a very COVID friendly thriller horror. Well, I think everyone's sort of thinking in those terms. People need to know that we were finished season two,

well, like four months before COVID sort of hit. So when people watch the series, they're going to see huge group scenes with hundreds and hundreds of extras. So it's going to be weird to see that. I'm actually really excited about that part because I think it's going to look like kind of what you're saying. It's going to look so incredible that it's like it,

it's going to be mind blowing. It was already kind of mind blowing because we have these huge set pieces. We have an awards show. We have, you know, big gala dinners and even just like a kid's school concert is like, just like, you know, a couple hundred people at a gym. And so it's going to seem like it's from another time, but I think in a good escapist way, I think it's going to be a very joyful viewing experience. Yeah. That's what we've been saying.

We've been breaking season three is that we were so happy that season two, we went really big with it. Because right now looking back, it's such a gift to be able to watch all these episodes and just feel a sense of normalcy. Yeah. Do you watch TV now when you see like kissing scenes or scenes with people shaking hands, even simple things like that, you're kind of going, oh my gosh, they're shaking hands. It's an outrage. Or like eight people in an elevator and you're like, are you people all crazy? Yeah.

What is wrong with you? Well, I mean, that's been the biggest questions asked of me is like, how are you guys going to go forward filming? And we've taken so much of that into consideration. Like when you guys are writing now, which you're putting the episodes together now for season three, do you have that in mind of how you can place your characters and how you can have them interacting? Are you really, really aware of their physicality?

Yeah, I mean, I think that the biggest change for us, which, you know, as you know, we were already talking about season three being a bit more intimate and a bit more focused on our characters, a little bit more grounded anyway. So we were, again, really lucky that all the stuff we'd been talking about as our dreams for season three were, there were a lot of like characters, you know, two character stories where that's the whole, that's the whole, you know, plot kind of thing. So we were really lucky that way.

But I would say there's definitely times where we're hoping there's going to be seven people in a room interacting. And I hope we can do that. You know, right now we're actually working on one of the episodes where the entire family is in one space sharing a meal. And that kind of structuring the way people are moving around in that space is one of the most difficult parts of it, to be honest. Yeah.

Well, I mean, there's a lot of filming going on right now. I know a lot of productions are up and running. I mean, I can just see it on my Instagram feed, my Twitter feed, that they're creating these pods. I worked on a TV show earlier. I've talked about it on this show. I worked on it in June, and it was very successful. They haven't had one incident. It's extremely clean. And for all you kind of germaphobes out there, COVID has kind of been a blessing because...

Those people are like, hooray, finally, global hygiene. I don't have to, you know, ever take this mask off and feel like a weirdo. Another thing that I think is helpful is I find film industry people extremely diligent about...

Well, first of all, everybody's unionized. So people are very serious about health and safety. And there's always like, you know, there's serious protocols plus serious, you know, guidelines that everybody gets these huge documents and everything. And I find film people very...

you know, they're, they, they, they don't come to play. Like they really mean, um, business. And so everyone is looking to protect, um, not only themselves and everybody they're working with, but also like the ability to go to work. And so everybody knows the ability for everybody to go to work rests on, um,

you know, being diligent, being truthful, following those guidelines. Cooperative. Yeah. No, I found the set really cheery. Lots of laughing. You know, you kind of have to, I think all our hearing, it's going to be a sense that's really developed because we can't really hear what anyone's saying. You're like, what? You know, because you're speaking through these masks. This is kind of a wacky question, but I want to know what you guys, your favorite childhood lunches were in your school boxes, what you took. Leah? Yeah.

Like, we ask people on this show, and I just think it's so fun. And I obviously have caught you by surprise, but, like, what was a memorable childhood lunch? To be honest, I mean, I think it was pretty basic and pretty similar every day, but also I was lucky enough that we lived beside each other.

the school and back in that that time i could just so you walked home i could leave the school grounds and go home for lunch so i would have a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches but i think one the thing that i remember the most when he's asking that question is one time my mom packing a kiwi fruit and sending me to school with it and the embarrassment like when i pulled this paper bag i'm going to die

Why? That would be super cool now. You'd be like, oh, la-di-da. Leah has a kiwi. Oh, it would be so cool. That is so you, Leah. It's so you. Because you're so sensitive about things. I can just see your little Leah Gauthier face pulling out a freaking kiwi. I wouldn't have known what to do with a kiwi. I ate it inside the bag. Also, it came with a spoon. So, like...

scoop it out of its shell so I remembered I wanted to eat it but I didn't want to did you go to the bathroom and eat a kiwi oh jeez you must have been so cute what did you drink did you have a drink um I I think we had juice boxes I'm pretty sure we had juice boxes every day

Leah just turned 40. So for those of you that want to know, I've revealed her age. She just had her 40th birthday. And a classic line that Leah said to me, we got together for a few days last week. We were able to get together and go hang out. But...

Leah was just saying, I was looking at a picture in her apartment. I'm like, oh my God, that looks so great. Everyone was in gold. But May, it was this big Vegas birthday party. Like everything seems so weird to look at now. And Leah goes, oh my God, my 40th birthday. What a year, a complete waste of a year of that 40th year where you think, well, you can think back now and go, you know, what were you doing when you were 40? You're never going to forget this. Jim,

Jenica, what was your favorite childhood lunch? And you have a little girl. So I want to ask twofold, your lunch and her lunch. Okay. So my favorite school lunches were, you know, those thermoses, they're like the stubby thermoses, the like little...

like squat, squat little ones. So one of those filled with like alfaghetti, something like that. SpaghettiOs or alfaghetti. That was a real, real banner day in my house. And it's like garbage, right? It's like tomato flavored garbage, but it was good to have that warm, like comfort foodie kind of vibe. We don't send our child with anything like that. We've never sent anything warm once. It's just like not worth it.

So it's a, it's a lot of mini bagels and wraps, you know, little wrap up things with hummus and stuff like that. She's fairly picky, but she'll eat the carrots and all that stuff, but she's not a big sandwich person, which is disappointing to us because my husband and I are like, love a sandwich. I don't know. Go ahead, Leah. Maybe she'll grow into love in the sandwich. Maybe that's more of an adult. We'll just keep modeling the sandwich. Yeah.

Well, you guys stole a lunch idea from me once for the show, which I can't give away too much, but it ended up as part of quite a hilarious song in season two. But my mom sent me not, I mean, the alfagetti would have been great, but in my thermos, my regular sized drink thermos for like hot chocolate, she put a wiener into hot water, like just a hot dog wiener, a raw one, twisted the cap on. Oh,

And I remember telling you guys this story when I got to school, I was in sixth grade. And I took the lid off. I had it was this was unbeknownst to me. This is unbeknownst to me. So the wiener had absorbed all the water as it does.

And I couldn't, you know, and I know I've talked about this before, but it's obviously seared into my mind. What would be your favorite lunch now? We've got a couple minutes left and I know we should be talking about the Jan show, but I want to know a little bit more about you. Desert Island meal, like what would be one of your favorite? Okay, let me ask you this. What would be the last meal that you had? Leah? Well, maybe I'd,

I would probably choose, since I developed an adult allergy to lobster, but if I was dying anyway, I'd take the allergic reaction and drop dead. Do you like lobster? I do. It's a real shame. So what happens to you when you eat it? Well...

Twice I threw up and I was like, this cannot be a coincidence. And the third time there was a bit of a swelling of the tongue situation that was enough for me to be like, I'm calling it. This is not. Okay. Leah would die of lobster. Anyway, Jenica, last minute of the show. I'd be full carb and dairy situation. It would be like some amazing pasta, like a really hot, you know, high quality cheesy, something like that.

I think I just have to face that that is the case. Yes. I'm going to make you guys, I mean, if maybe we can just get an EpiPen, but I'm going to make you some kind of cheesy pasta with chunks of lobster on it.

And I'm vegan, but I'll still overlook that. And I'm also allergic to shellfish. So I will definitely have a throat situation. If I ever want to do away with you guys, this is such... Yeah, you only die once. So let's do it. Yeah. Listen, Jan's show airs Monday night. This Monday, it starts airing for eight weeks on CTV. You can catch it the next day on Crave. But eight o'clock Monday nights. I'm so proud of you guys. The way that you have conducted yourself and written...

you know, it all comes from the top on down and the writers have so much to do with setting the tone of the show. They're there 14 hours a day with everybody else watching things unfold and changing little things as you guys go. And, but I, I have to say, I'm so proud of you and the entire writing team. If I didn't have anything to say, there would be no show. So just know that, you know, it,

It all starts with the writing, everybody out there. It all starts with these brilliant people. Leah Gauthier has been here today. Jennica Harper, congratulations to you guys on season two. And of course on season three, thanks for, thanks for giving this old girl a job and we really appreciate it. And I love you guys and we'll see you soon.

The best is yet to come. Thank you so much for listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. Don't eat lobster if you're allergic to it. I hope to see you next week. We're so grateful for our listeners. Week after week after week and all your support. Write us at the Jan Arden Podcast on Twitter and let us know what you want us to talk about. See you next time, Toon Lady. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.