Dive into the empire that Cheers built. Whether it was The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, Frasier, or Friends, Warren Littlefield oversaw all of it. NBC was a Thursday night powerhouse in the 80s and 90s. But now? That's all pretty much crumbled. Hear an extended interview with a real-life television executive. His book is called Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV. Plus, Oliver Wang explains how a forgotten Al Green record helped create a new kind of soul music.

Simon Rich is an absolutely hilarious writer. He sits down with Jesse, and says that he doesn't write about the way love happens, he writes about the way love feels. Rich has a new book out -- Last Girlfriend on Earth. Plus, we revisit an interview with comedian Bill Burr. The first time you hear Burr, you might think he’s just a macho, in-your-face type of comic. But most of the time you’ll find him pointing that aggression at himself.

Plus, Eugene Mirman finds an old notebook in his parents basement and hear how soul singer Solomon Burke absolutely, positively tears the house down.

Alex Zalben and Brian Heater offer up some of their all-time comics favorites. The comedian Moshe Kasher talks about his amazing memoir, rapper Lateef the Truthspeaker reveals how jazz scat changed his life, and Jesse talks to the directors of Undefeated -- it's a sports documentary, it won an Oscar, and NPR's Mike Pesca says it's better than Hoop Dreams!

(This episode originally aired March 27, 2012.)

Nathan Rabin and Marah Eakin from the AV Club talk about a couple of their all-time favorite albums from Warren Zevon and Fleetwood Mac, respectively. Aisha Tyler -- who stars as Lana on Archer, the animated spy show on FX -- talks about living a real-life version of Fame in high school and funneling her experiences as an outsider into performance and comedy. Plus, the jazz singer Bilal talks about his school days, too. He was voted the weirdest kid in his class. Bilal's new album is called A Love Surreal. And Jesse reveals the best cold open from a sitcom, ever.

[Segments from this show aired on previous episodes of Bullseye and The Sound of Young America]