SmartLess is a podcast hosted by the American actors Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes, and Canadian actor Will Arnett. Its first episode was released on July 20, 2020, and new episodes are released weekly each Monday. Every episode begins with one of the hosts revealing a mystery guest to the other two hosts. Once revealed, the three hosts begin interviewing the guest.
In May 2021, the podcast signed with Creative Artists Agency. In June 2021, the podcast was acquired by Amazon for around US$80 million. With the deal, the podcast was made available on Amazon Music and Wondery+ one week before other podcast and streaming platforms. SiriusXM acquired the podcast from Amazon in 2024 for a reported US$100 million.
On May 23, 2023, Max premiered a six-episode documentary-style special following the podcast's North American six-city tour, which began in February 2022, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and celebrity interviews.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Dax Shepard" | July 20, 2020 |
| 2 | "Neil deGrasse Tyson" | July 27, 2020 |
| 3 | "Melissa McCarthy" | August 3, 2020 |
| 4 | "Seth Rogen" | August 10, 2020 |
| 5 | "Kamala Harris" | August 17, 2020 |
| 6 | "Will Ferrell" | August 24, 2020 |
| 7 | "Robert Downey Jr." | August 31, 2020 |
| 8 | "Maya Rudolph" | September 7, 2020 |
| 9 | "Jimmy Kimmel" | September 14, 2020 |
| 10 | "Gustavo Dudamel" | September 21, 2020 |
| 11 | "Jennifer Aniston" | September 28, 2020 |
| 12 | "Clayton Kershaw" | October 5, 2020 |
| 13 | "Adam Sandler" | October 12, 2020 |
| 14 | "Stacey Abrams" | October 19, 2020 |
| 15 | "Reese Witherspoon" | October 26, 2020 |
| 16 | "Brendan Shanahan" | November 2, 2020 |
| 17 | "Conan O'Brien" | November 9, 2020 |
| 18 | "David Chang" | November 16, 2020 |
| 19 | "Paul McCartney" | November 23, 2020 |
| 20 | "Sarah Silverman" | November 30, 2020 |
| 21 | "Ricky Gervais" | December 7, 2020 |
| 22 | "Ron Howard" | December 14, 2020 |
| 23 | "James Corden" | December 21, 2020 |
| 24 | "Megan Rapinoe" | December 28, 2020 |
| 25 | "Martin Short" | January 4, 2021 |
| 26 | "Bryan Cranston" | January 11, 2021 |
| 27 | "Julia Louis-Dreyfus" | January 18, 2021 |
| 28 | "Sam Harris" | January 25, 2021 |
| 29 | "Darius Rucker" | February 1, 2021 |
| 30 | "Judd Apatow" | February 8, 2021 |
| 31 | "Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell" | February 15, 2021 |
| 32 | "David A. Sinclair" | February 22, 2021 |
| 33 | "Awkwafina" | March 1, 2021 |
| 34 | "George Clooney" | March 8, 2021 |
| 35 | "Brad Paisley" | March 15, 2021 |
| 36 | "W. Kamau Bell" | March 22, 2021 |
| 37 | "Stephen Colbert" | March 29, 2021 |
| 38 | "Ted Sarandos" | April 5, 2021 |
| 39 | "Bob Odenkirk" | April 12, 2021 |
| 40 | "Jessica Meir" | April 19, 2021 |
| 41 | "Amy Sedaris" | April 26, 2021 |
| 42 | "Gwyneth Paltrow" | May 3, 2021 |
| 43 | "Tina Fey" | May 10, 2021 |
| 44 | "Zach Galifianakis" | May 17, 2021 |
| 45 | "Jake Tapper" | May 24, 2021 |
| 46 | "Mitch Hurwitz" | May 31, 2021 |
| 47 | "Rob McElhenney" | June 7, 2021 |
| 48 | "Justin Theroux" | June 14, 2021 |
| 49 | "David Cross" | June 21, 2021 |
| 50 | "José Andrés" | June 28, 2021 |
| 51 | "Elizabeth Banks" | July 5, 2021 |
| 52 | "LeBron James" | July 12, 2021 |
| 53 | "Ryan Reynolds" | July 19, 2021 |
| 54 | "Joy Reid" | July 26, 2021 |
| 55 | "J. J. Abrams" | August 2, 2021 |
| 56 | "Tony Hawk" | August 9, 2021 |
| 57 | "Daniel Ricciardo" | August 16, 2021 |
| 58 | "Octavia Spencer" | August 23, 2021 |
| 59 | "Sean Penn" | August 30, 2021 |
| 60 | "Fred Armisen" | September 6, 2021 |
| 61 | "Tiffany Haddish" | September 13, 2021 |
| 62 | "Ken Burns" | September 20, 2021 |
| 63 | "Jon Stewart" | September 27, 2021 |
| 64 | "Jeff Daniels" | October 4, 2021 |
| 65 | "David Remnick" | October 11, 2021 |
| 66 | "Chelsea Handler" | October 18, 2021 |
| 67 | "Joe Buck" | October 25, 2021 |
| 68 | "Tom Hanks" | November 1, 2021 |
| 69 | "Jerry Seinfeld" | November 8, 2021 |
| 70 | "Vivek Murthy" | November 15, 2021 |
| 71 | "Halle Berry" | November 22, 2021 |
| 72 | "Dave Grohl" | November 29, 2021 |
| 73 | "Sandra Bullock" | December 6, 2021 |
| 74 | "Jimmy Fallon" | December 13, 2021 |
| 75 | "Will Forte" | December 20, 2021 |
| 76 | "Woody Harrelson" | December 27, 2021 |
| 77 | "Barry Sonnenfeld" | January 3, 2022 |
| 78 | "Kathryn Hahn" | January 10, 2022 |
| 79 | "David Byrne" | January 17, 2022 |
| 80 | "Michael Moore" | January 24, 2022 |
| 81 | "Johnny Knoxville" | January 31, 2022 |
| 82 | "Adam McKay" | February 7, 2022 |
| 83 | "Eddie Vedder" | February 14, 2022 |
| 84 | "Courteney Cox" | February 21, 2022 |
| 85 | "Charlie Day" | February 28, 2022 |
| 86 | "Paul Thomas Anderson" | March 7, 2022 |
| 87 | "Cate Blanchett" | March 14, 2022 |
| 88 | "Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood" | March 21, 2022 |
| 89 | "David Spade" | March 28, 2022 |
| 90 | "Jon Hamm" | April 4, 2022 |
| 91 | "Michael Lewis" | April 11, 2022 |
| 92 | "Craig Robinson" | April 18, 2022 |
| 93 | "Bill Maher" | April 25, 2022 |
| 94 | "Liam Neeson" | May 2, 2022 |
| 95 | "Mike Myers" | May 9, 2022 |
| 96 | "John Mulaney" | May 16, 2022 |
| 97 | "Ben Stiller" | May 23, 2022 |
| 98 | "Kristen Wiig" | May 30, 2022 |
| 99 | "Phil Lord and Christopher Miller" | June 6, 2022 |
| 100 | "Bradley Cooper" | June 13, 2022 |
| 101 | "Chris Pratt" | June 20, 2022 |
| 102 | "Jenny Slate" | June 27, 2022 |
| 103 | "Jeff Bridges" | July 4, 2022 |
| 104 | "Jack Black" | July 11, 2022 |
| 105 | "James Burrows" | July 18, 2022 |
| 106 | "Jordan Peele" | July 25, 2022 |
| 107 | "Kerry Washington" | August 1, 2022 |
| 108 | "Arcade Fire" | August 8, 2022 |
| 109 | "Shawn Levy" | August 15, 2022 |
| 110 | "Kenan Thompson" | August 22, 2022 |
| 111 | "Ewan McGregor" | August 29, 2022 |
| 112 | "John Legend" | September 5, 2022 |
| 113 | "Ethan Hawke" | September 12, 2022 |
| 114 | "Katy Perry" | September 19, 2022 |
| 115 | "Allison Janney" | September 26, 2022 |
| 116 | "Anderson Cooper" | October 3, 2022 |
| 117 | "Kevin Bacon" | October 10, 2022 |
| 118 | "Tony Hale" | October 17, 2022 |
| 119 | "Steve Carell" | October 24, 2022 |
| 120 | "Elisabeth Moss" | October 31, 2022 |
| 121 | "President Joe Biden" | November 2, 2022 |
| 122 | "Wayne Gretzky" | November 7, 2022 |
| 123 | "Charlize Theron" | November 14, 2022 |
| 124 | "Kumail Nanjiani" | November 21, 2022 |
| 125 | "Rian Johnson" | November 28, 2022 |
| 126 | "Sigourney Weaver" | December 5, 2022 |
| 127 | "Emily Blunt" | December 12, 2022 |
| 128 | "James Cameron" | December 19, 2022 |
| 129 | "Edward Norton" | December 26, 2022 |
| 130 | "Alejandro González Iñárritu" | January 2, 2023 |
| 131 | "John Krasinski" | January 9, 2023 |
| 132 | "Steven Spielberg" | January 16, 2023 |
| 133 | "Bono" | January 23, 2023 |
| 134 | "Dana Carvey" | January 30, 2023 |
| 135 | "Tracee Ellis Ross" | February 6, 2023 |
| 136 | "Eugene Levy" | February 13, 2023 |
| 137 | "Billy Crudup" | February 20, 2023 |
| 138 | "Brendan Fraser" | February 27, 2023 |
| 139 | "Natasha Lyonne" | March 6, 2023 |
| 140 | "Al Michaels" | March 13, 2023 |
| 141 | "Jon Favreau" | March 20, 2023 |
| 142 | "Keanu Reeves" | March 27, 2023 |
| 143 | "Ben Affleck" | April 3, 2023 |
| 144 | "Rob Lowe" | April 10, 2023 |
| 145 | "Simon Le Bon" | April 17, 2023 |
| 146 | "Joaquin Phoenix" | April 24, 2023 |
| 147 | "The Russo Brothers" | May 1, 2023 |
| 148 | "Bill Hader" | May 8, 2023 |
| 149 | "Paul Anka" | May 15, 2023 |
| 150 | "Matthew Rhys" | May 22, 2023 |
| 151 | "Depeche Mode" | May 29, 2023 |
| 152 | "Kaley Cuoco" | June 5, 2023 |
| 153 | "Pedro Pascal" | June 12, 2023 |
| 154 | "Jennifer Garner" | June 19, 2023 |
| 155 | "Simon Pegg" | June 26, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Will Ferrell: LIVE in Washington DC" | June 29, 2023 |
| 156 | "Idris Elba" | July 3, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Conan O'Brien: LIVE in Boston" | July 6, 2023 |
| 157 | "Tom Holland" | July 10, 2023 |
| Bonus | "MIT Professor Max Tegmark: LIVE in Boston" | July 13, 2023 |
| 158 | "Danny McBride" | July 17, 2023 |
| Bonus | "David Letterman: LIVE in Brooklyn" | July 20, 2023 |
| 159 | "Steven Soderbergh" | July 24, 2023 |
| Bonus | "AOC: LIVE in Brooklyn" | June 29, 2023 |
| 160 | "Greta Gerwig" | July 31, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Andy Richter: LIVE in Chicago" | August 3, 2023 |
| 161 | "Paul Giamatti" | August 7, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Mark Cuban: LIVE in Chicago" | August 10, 2023 |
| 162 | "Jessica Chastain" | August 14, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Matt Damon (and Tracey!) LIVE in Madison"" | August 17, 2023 |
| 163 | "Rose Byrne" | August 21, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Kevin Hart: LIVE in Los Angeles" | August 24, 2023 |
| 164 | "Jen Psaki" | August 28, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Jimmy Kimmel: LIVE in Los Angeles" | August 31, 2023 |
| 165 | "Willem Dafoe" | September 4, 2023 |
| 166 | "Kara Swisher" | September 11, 2023 |
| 167 | "Matthew McConaughey" | September 18, 2023 |
| 168 | "Lars Ulrich" | September 25, 2023 |
| 169 | "Bill Simmons" | October 2, 2023 |
| 170 | "Paul Simon" | October 9, 2023 |
| 171 | "Peyton Manning" | October 16, 2023 |
| 172 | "Rachel Maddow" | October 23, 2023 |
| 173 | "John McEnroe" | October 30, 2023 |
| 174 | "Marshawn Lynch" | November 6, 2023 |
| 175 | "Michael Stipe" | November 13, 2023 |
| 176 | "Stephen Curry" | November 20, 2023 |
| 177 | "Taika Waititi" | November 27, 2023 |
| 178 | "Ronan Farrow" | December 4, 2023 |
| 179 | "Emma Stone" | December 11, 2023 |
| 180 | "Carey Mulligan" | December 18, 2023 |
| Bonus | "Santa" | December 24, 2023 |
| 181 | "Arnold Schwarzenegger" | December 25, 2023 |
| 182 | "Adam Driver" | January 1, 2024 |
| 183 | "Selena Gomez" | January 8, 2024 |
| 184 | "Mike Birbiglia" | January 15, 2024 |
| 185 | "Mark Ruffalo" | January 22, 2024 |
| 186 | "Penelope Cruz" | January 29, 2024 |
| 187 | "The Killers" | February 5, 2024 |
| 188 | "Sam Rockwell" | February 12, 2024 |
| 189 | "Natalie Portman" | February 19, 2024 |
| 190 | "Kelly Clarkson" | February 26, 2024 |
| 191 | "Josh Brolin" | March 4, 2024 |
| 192 | "Amy Schumer" | March 11, 2024 |
| 193 | "John Oliver" | March 18, 2024 |
| 194 | "Jake Gyllenhaal" | March 25, 2024 |
| 195 | "Kristen Stewart" | April 1, 2024 |
| 196 | "Don Cheadle" | April 8, 2024 |
| 197 | "Larry David" | April 15, 2024 |
| 198 | "Jon Bon Jovi" | April 22, 2024 |
| 199 | "3 Presidents (Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton)" | April 29, 2024 |
| 200 | "Steve Martin & Martin Short" | May 6, 2024 |
| 201 | "Sarah Paulson" | May 13, 2024 |
| 202 | "David Beckham" | May 20, 2024 |
| 203 | "Trevor Noah" | May 27, 2024 |
| 204 | "John Goodman" | June 3, 2024 |
| 205 | "Daisy Ridley" | June 10, 2024 |
| 206 | "John Williams" | June 17, 2024 |
| 207 | "Jeremy Renner" | June 24, 2024 |
| 208 | "Andy Samberg" | July 1, 2024 |
| 209 | "Henry Winkler" | July 8, 2024 |
| 210 | "Nate Bargatze" | July 15, 2024 |
| 211 | "Mike Tirico" | July 22, 2024 |
| 212 | "Lisa Kudrow" | July 29, 2024 |
| 213 | "Vince Vaughn" | August 5, 2024 |
| 214 | "Nikki Glaser" | August 12, 2024 |
| 215 | "Rashida Jones" | August 19, 2024 |
| 216 | "Jared Leto" | August 26, 2024 |
| 217 | "Michael Keaton" | September 2, 2024 |
| 218 | "Ted Danson" | September 9, 2024 |
| 219 | "Howard Stern" | September 16, 2024 |
| 220 | "James McAvoy" | September 23, 2024 |
| 221 | "Laura Linney" | September 30, 2024 |
| 222 | "Gillian Anderson" | October 7, 2024 |
| 223 | "Sacha Baron Cohen" | October 14, 2024 |
| 224 | "Governor Tim Walz" | October 21, 2024 |
| 225 | "Keri Russell" | October 28, 2024 |
| 226 | "Alicia Keys" | November 4, 2024 |
| 227 | "Jude Law" | November 11, 2024 |
| 228 | "Hugh Grant" | November 18, 2024 |
| 229 | "Jim Gaffigan" | November 25, 2024 |
| 230 | "Zoe Saldaña" | December 2, 2024 |
| 231 | "Daniel Craig" | December 9, 2024 |
| 232 | "Denis Villeneuve" | December 16, 2024 |
| 233 | "Kieran Culkin" | December 23, 2024 |
| Bonus | "Holiday Bonus" | December 25, 2024 |
| 234 | "Luis Elizondo" | December 30, 2024 |
| 235 | "Jason Blum" | January 6, 2025 |
| 236 | "Peter Berg" | January 13, 2025 |
| 237 | "Tig Notaro" | January 20, 2025 |
| 238 | "Jesse Eisenberg" | January 27, 2025 |
| 239 | "Ariana Grande" | February 3, 2025 |
| 240 | "Bill Gates" | February 10, 2025 |
| 241 | "Mark Hamill" | February 17, 2025 |
| 242 | "Bill Burr" | February 24, 2025 |
| 243 | "Jelly Roll" | March 3, 2025 |
| 244 | "Millie Bobby Brown" | March 10, 2025 |
| 245 | "Adam Scott" | March 17, 2025 |
| 246 | "John Lithgow" | March 24, 2025 |
| 247 | "Elton John and Brandi Carlile" | March 31, 2025 |
| 248 | "Maria Shriver" | April 7, 2025 |
| 249 | "Jeff Goldblum" | April 14, 2025 |
| 250 | "Amy Poehler" | April 21, 2025 |
| 251 | "Paul Rudd" | April 28, 2025 |
| 252 | "Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca" | May 5, 2025 |
| 253 | "Pete Buttigieg" | May 12, 2025 |
| 254 | "David Leitch" | May 19, 2025 |
| 255 | "Shane Gillis" | May 26, 2025 |
| 256 | "Parker Posey" | June 2, 2025 |
| 257 | "Gordon Ramsay" | June 9, 2025 |
| 258 | "RZA" | June 16, 2025 |
| 259 | "Stephen Graham" | June 23, 2025 |
| 260 | "Taron Egerton" | June 30, 2025 |
| 261 | "Nicholas Hoult" | July 7, 2025 |
| 262 | "Graydon Carter" | July 14, 2025 |
| 263 | "Anthony Mackie" | July 21, 2025 |
| 264 | "Julia Garner" | July 28, 2025 |
| Bonus | "John Mayer LIVE" | July 31, 2024 |
| 265 | "Marc Maron" | August 4, 2025 |
| 266 | "Jason Momoa" | August 11, 2025 |
| 267 | "James Gunn" | August 18, 2025 |
| 268 | "Olivia Colman" | August 25, 2025 |
| 269 | "Steve Buscemi" | September 1, 2025 |
| 270 | "Mel Robbins" | September 8, 2025 |
| 271 | "Kate McKinnon" | September 15, 2025 |
| 272 | "Lionel Richie" | September 22, 2025 |
| 273 | "Michelle Pfeiffer" | September 29, 2025 |
| 274 | "Kirsten Dunst" | October 6, 2025 |
| 275 | "Julia Roberts" | October 13, 2025 |
| 276 | "Edgar Wright" | October 20, 2025 |
| 277 | "Oscar Isaac" | October 27, 2025 |
| 278 | "David Duchovny" | November 3, 2025 |
| 279 | "Tom Freston" | November 10, 2025 |
| 280 | "Claire Danes" | November 17, 2025 |
| 281 | "Benedict Cumberbatch" | November 24, 2025 |
| 282 | "Noah Hawley" | December 1, 2025 |
| 283 | "Laura Dern" | December 8, 2025 |
| 284 | "Walton Goggins" | December 15, 2025 |
| 285 | "Jeremy Allen White" | December 22, 2025 |
| 286 | "Macaulay Culkin" | December 29, 2025 |
| 287 | "Ricky Gervais" | January 5, 2026 |
| 288 | "Jennifer Lawrence" | January 12, 2026 |
| 289 | "Pixies" | January 19, 2026 |
| 290 | "Leanne Morgan" | January 26, 2026 |
| 291 | "Charli XCX" | February 2, 2026 |
| 292 | "Andrew Huberman" | February 9, 2026 |
| 293 | "Margot Robbie" | February 16, 2026 |
| 294 | "Chris Hemsworth" | February 23, 2026 |
| 295 | "Brian Cox" | March 2, 2026 |
| 296 | "Kris Jenner" | March 9, 2026 |
| 297 | "Cillian Murphy" | March 16, 2026 |
| 298 | "Maggie Gyllenhaal" | March 23, 2026 |
| 299 | "Elle Fanning" | March 30, 2026 |
| 300 | "Stephen Colbert" | April 6, 2026 |
| 301 | "Amanda Peet" | April 13, 2026 |
| 302 | "Aubrey Plaza" | April 20, 2026 |
| 303 | "Nick Kroll" | April 27, 2026 |
| 304 | "Colin Jost" | May 4, 2026 |
| Bonus | "Jonah Hill LIVE" | May 7, 2026 |
| 305 | "Kareem Rahma" | May 11, 2026 |
| 306 | "Sting" | May 18, 2026 |
| 307 | "Nick Jonas" | May 25, 2026 |
| 308 | "Bowen Yang" | June 1, 2026 |
| 309 | "Jon Bernthal" | June 8, 2026 |
| 310 | "Jennifer Lopez" | June 15, 2026 |
| 311 | "Amy Adams" | June 22, 2026 |
| 312 | "Emma Thompson" | June 29, 2026 |
| 313 | "Ike Barinholtz" | July 6, 2026 |
| 314 | "Olivia Wilde" | July 13, 2026 |
| 315 | "Timothy Olyphant" | July 20, 2026 |
| 316 | "Marcus Mumford" | July 27, 2026 |
| 317 | "Professor Brian Cox" | August 3, 2026 |
| 318 | "Robby Hoffman" | August 10, 2026 |
| 319 | "Tim Robbins" | August 17, 2026 |
| 320 | "Sandra Bullock" | August 24, 2026 |
| 321 | "Steve Zahn" | August 31, 2026 |
| 322 | "Andrew Garfield" | September 7, 2026 |
| 323 | "Sharon Horgan" | September 14, 2026 |
| 324 | "Benny Blanco" | September 21, 2026 |
Reception
SmartLess won "Best Comedy Podcast" at the 2022 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards.
In a positive review for The Irish Times, Fiona McCann stated that "the camaraderie between hosts and guests often works to disarm the latter and allow for something fresher than your usual famous-person-talking show". In November 2024, Apple announced that the podcast was the fifth most popular show on its platform in 2024.
Accolades
| Award | Year | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Globe Awards | 2026 | Best Podcast | SmartLess | Nominated |
SmartLess Media
SmartLess Media also produces the podcasts Staying Alive, Just Jack & Will, Bad Dates, GoalLess, I Need You Guys, and Owned.