Hot Ones Versus is a spin-off of Hot Ones, where guests ask each other “difficult” questions and play a variety of games. I’m not sure why Hot Ones Versus exists, except to dilute the brand value of Hot Ones, which I think Conan O’Brien may have broken. Conan basically delivered the all-time greatest episode of Hot Ones, took the premise to its logical conclusion, and in doing so, may have destroyed some of the show’s novelty (this is unfounded speculation on my part, although YouTube views are clearly down this season—though that seems to be more a reflection of the guests than anything else).
In either case, Hot Ones Versus is kind of lame, but with the right guests, it can be charming. To wit: married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco, promoting their forthcoming body horror film, Together, appeared on the series yesterday. They are a very affectionate couple. They may also lick each other’s fingers after eating wings, which I’m just going to ignore and get right to the cute bit.
At one point, Brie has to guess Franco’s first crush. She is unsuccessful, and then Franco reveals his answer. You know that episode of Friends where Rachel claims her favorite movie is Dangerous Liaisons but her actual favorite movie is Weekend at Bernie’s? That’s how Franco plays it, claiming to Brie that his first crush was Helen Mirren when everyone knows it was actually Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Brie rightfully calls bullsh*t on the answer. “I’m sorry. No. Helen Mirren was your first childhood crush? From what?” she asks, because there’s nothing that Franco would have seen her in.
“From being gorgeous,” he says. “She’s like James Dean. She’s iconic for being the person that they are.”
For the record, Brie is right: There’s nothing for Franco’s pre-teen years that he would’ve seen Helen Mirren in, unless he was a weirdly huge fan of Prime Suspect in 1995.
