Headgum // That Was Us: Kevin Does The Right Thing | "The Guitar Man" with Ryan Michelle Bathe (608)

Kevin Does The Right Thing | "The Guitar Man" with Ryan Michelle Bathe (608)

10/20/2026

On today’s episode of That Was Us, we’re diving into Season 6, Episode 8: “The Guitar Man.” Sterling K. Brown and co-host Ryan Michelle Bathe are joined in studio by the episode’s co-writer, Jake Schnesel, to discuss the making of the episode. As Kevin takes his twin babies to the family cabin on his own, he struggles with his confidence as a father.

Meanwhile, Cassidy experiences an unexpected trauma response, and Nicky helps Kevin understand that sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is simply be there.

In this episode, the hosts chat about:

* Jake Schnesel’s journey from assistant to writer, and how Dan Fogelman encouraged him to pursue his own writing career

* The differences between writing for a drama like This Is Us and a comedy-mystery like Only Murders in the Building

* The pressures and fears of working in a comedy writers’ room

* Parental guilt, grand gestures, and a fan’s special trip with her daughter to see the hosts live

* Ryan’s hilarious mispronunciations and Sterling’s stories about her language mishaps

They also break down the episode, including:

* Kevin taking his twins to the cabin alone and learning to sit with the discomfort of being a new parent

* Cassidy’s PTSD-related car accident after what seemed like an otherwise good day with her son

* Nicky sharing his own experience with trauma and teaching Kevin that he doesn’t need to fix everything for Cassidy

* The Pearson siblings saying goodbye to their childhood home at the pool, as Kevin grapples with feeling like he doesn’t belong in the deep end

* Kevin discovering a new sense of purpose through building homes for veterans and connecting with his father’s legacy

* Justin Hartley’s voice memo reflecting on Kevin’s journey and his experience working with Milo Ventimiglia as director

And a friendly reminder, you can catch new episodes of That Was Us every Monday, a day early, exclusively on Hulu. Available on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts on Tuesdays like usual!

That Was Us is produced by Rabbit Grin Productions. Music by Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith.

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🍋 About the Show:

The stars of This Is Us, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan, dive back into the world of the Pearsons, reliving each episode and all the life lessons that came with it.

Together, they dig in and dig deep, have the tough conversations, bring in very special and familiar guests, share never-before-heard behind-the-scenes moments, and feature listeners in highly anticipated fan segments.

Join your favorite family back in the living room to examine our past, cherish our present, and look to the future with new episodes of That Was Us every Tuesday.

Executive Producers: Natalie Holysz and Rob Holysz

Creative Producer: Sam Skelton

Production Coordinator: Andrew Rowley

Video Editor: Todd Hughlett

Mix & Master: Jason Richards

About Headgum:

Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com.